Matthew’s Blog

This came across my desk today. Fascinating presentation by Clay Shirky about gin, television, and the “cognitive surplus” that he gave at Web 2.0. The transcript can be found here

This really speaks to the new thinking that is and needs to continue to be generated as we awaken from our long sleep. This is one form of interaction at play in conscious capitalism. The question is not Where will we find the time?  the better question is - Where is the mouse not? or rather, “every place that a reader or a listener or a viewer or a user has been locked out, has been served up passive or a fixed or a canned experience, and ask ourselves, “If we carve out a little bit of the cognitive surplus and deploy it here, could we make a good thing happen?”

I’ve been doing “vision” videos for several of the projects I have been working on. The first is for Eat Your Elephant. This fun little vid talks about taking the first steps toward your dream and invites you to come make it real at one of the One Day Public Retreats at Eat Your Elephant. The next retreat being May 10th - Register today.

Have a dream? Make it happen. Eat Your Elephant

This story came in the mail today and thought it was worth repeating. I do not know its origin.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘Tell me what you see.’

‘Carrots, eggs, and coffee,’ she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma The daughter then asked, ‘What does it mean, mother?’

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water , they had changed the water.

‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength.

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Here is a great logical discussion of Global Climate Change and whether to act on it or not.

This story  arrived in my email today without attribution. Think outside the drum.

There was once a small boy who banged a drum all day and loved every moment of it. He would not be quiet, no matter what anyone else said or did. Various attempts were made to do something about the child.

One person told the boy that he would, if he continued to make so much noise, perforate his eardrums. This reasoning was too advanced for the child, who was neither a scientist nor a scholar.

A second person told him that drum beating was a sacred activity and should be carried out only on special occasions. The third person offered the neighbors plugs for their ears; a fourth gave the boy a book; a fifth gave the neighbors books that described a method of controlling anger through biofeedback; a sixth person gave the boy meditation exercises to make him placid and docile. None of these attempts worked.

Eventually, a wise person came along with an effective motivation. He looked at the situation, handed the child a hammer and chisel, and asked, “I wonder what’s inside the drum?”

These elephants don’t just live in Minnesota, they exist anywhere the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit and precipitated. This elephant has a more common name - SNOW shoveling. As I write this we are having our first winter snow storm. They expect anywhere from 6-12 inches today and tonight.

Now as I look out my front window, it appears that most people are saving up the snow and tucking themselves away in doors, nary a sidewalk or driveway cleared. Inch upon inch of snow keeps coming down. I on the other hand have been out twice already and have removed about 4 inches of snow. Many of my neighbors and perhaps even you might think I am crazy. Why not wait until its all done? What does this California native know about snow shoveling? Doesn’t everyone know that you are suppose to wait until it finishes snowing otherwise its “wasted effort”?

Well, yes I am a California native, and for the first 10 years that I lived in the Midwest I followed suit with the “common wisdom.” After every snowfall you’d see people emerge from their homes to tackle the elephant that awaited them. MN White Elephants are a lot of work. People sprain their backs, dehydrate, and bitch about it for a week. Being the perpetual entrepreneur I kept thinking there has to be a better way.

Then about 3 years ago I read this article in the local paper pining away over the lost art of snow shoveling His argument was that we have forgotten how to shovel snow properly. We’ve gotten lazy with our handy dandy snow blowers (that always break down) and our ergonomically correct snow shovels. He looked at the big orange elephants (snow plows) roaming the streets for guidance.

The art of shoveling snow is like eating elephants - one bite at a time. Don’t try to tackle the whole thing at once. Do it while it is easy. One layer at a time, as it comes down.

1. Go out immediately after the first inch has fallen. We all know one inch is easier than six inches of snow. So take your first bite. Do it before the snow gets stepped on, driven on, or turns to ice. Do it while the snow is light and not heavy with moisture. Also, if the first layer is sleet or ice - take care of it now before it gets compounded with six inches of snow on top.
2. Push don’t lift. All those fancy dancy new ergonomically correct shovels are built to LIFT heavy snow. Do you see the orange elephants lift? No, they push. Pushing is a lot easier, especially when you’ve only got one inch to move. Push a path in front of you. Let it all pile up near where you are going to end up putting it. (saves your back, less energy exerted, and more fun)
3. When you do lift: Lift in bites not chunks. Tackle the pile in layers. Take your time. Be easy on your back. Alternate sides. Lift only an inch or so, not 4-6. Snow gets heavier when packed. One inch at a time will quickly disappear a pile (try it).
4. Go in for some warm cocoa and repeat in two hours or in 1-2 inches. If you are lucky and the snow stops you are ahead of the game because the thinner layer of snow will melt when the sun comes out.

Copyright 2007 Matthew Rochte, Eat Your Elephant, LLC
Will appear on http://www.EatYourElephant.com when the new website is launched next week.

Last year I wrote about Paul Hawken and his presentation at the Bioneer Conference. I just found a video feed on QuantumShift.tv that gets to some of the heart of the speech, how all these movements (environmental, social justice, indigenous rights, bioneering . . .) all are really under the umbrella of one enormous cultural movement shift.