Quote of the week

"Adventure is just bad planning".
- Roald Amudsen

As a frequent 'accidental adventurer', I can only nod and laugh at this brilliant quote.

Quote of the week

"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing"
- Larry James

Sometimes the simplest advice is the best advice.

Learning Moments:

Quail Chicks at Carmel Mission, CA

It's the time of year when you need to keep your eyes open. Warm weather brings bare skin, ice cream trucks, fresh blooms, and babies of all types.

I was taking photos at beautiful Carmel Mission this afternoon, when a little bird sprinted across the courtyard in front of me. My first thought was, 'uh oh... someone fell out of a nest'. After watching the little bugger do three hundred-yard dashes, however, I realized that he didn't fall anywhere. This was a ground bird.

Soon, a couple of his family joined him. They zipped back and forth maniacally, like the Keystone Cops. I just sat back and watched, snapping photos on the few occasions that they stood still. The groundskeeper and I had a short conversation about them. He hadn't seen them, so he just stood, smiling with me.

Quote of the week

"Ain't got no distractions, can't hear no buzzers or bells. Don't see no lights a flashin', plays by sense of smell."
- The Who, Pinball Wizard

What a great description of focus, or the 'flow state'. There's a reason why that boy 'sure plays a mean pinball'.
What can you do to reach a similar state of focus this week?

Learning Moments:

Hummingbird Nest in our backyard

This is cool. We've got a hummingbird nest in the tree behind our condo. The nest is about 5 feet outside our back door, and about 10 feet up. Mama, pictured above, has been flitting about - putting the nest together and sitting (I assume) on a couple of eggs.

Hummingbirds are one of my three favorite birds (pelicans and kingfishers are the other two), so I'm psyched about watching a little hummer grow up in our backyard. I know nothing about hummingbird life cycles, so I'll be doing some research on that over the next few weeks. What I do know is that the next is about the size of a sake cup, so that's got to be one small egg...

Quote of the week

"Objectives are not fate; they are directions. They are not commands; they are commitments. They do not determine the future, they are a means to mobilize the resources and energies of the business for the making of the future."
- Peter Drucker

This is a brilliant response (like there's any other kind from Mr. Drucker?) to the tired complaint, "I can't make goals, my work changes too much".
Well, duh, says Drucker. You can change them!

Quote of the week

"Focus on eliminating anyting that doesn't serve the fulfillment of your goals".
- Michael J. Gelb & Sarah Miller Caldicott, Innovate Like Edison

I can't say it any more clearly than that...