A revised version of 12 thoughts along the way

"...And listen closely to what I say.
And if you do this
It will help you some sunny day.
Take your time... Don't live too fast,
Troubles will come and they will pass..."

"...Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul,
And you can do this if you try..."

"...You'll find yourself.
Follow your heart,
And nothing else.
You can do this,
If you try..."

"...be a simple, be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand..."

Lynyrd Skynyrd

 “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Lao Tzu.  Ok, in my case maybe two steps as I tried to publish a version of this when I first entered the world of beBee. 

Be simple my friends, stay thirsty and make a difference along the byways and pathways of your journey. I hope that in reading this and in taking your own individual single steps that you can find a gem or two despite potential typos and incoherent sentence structure.  Whether you subscribe to any of this, I hope that you make a difference in a world that needs difference making.

Let me be clear up front--I write for me.  I write because something has moved me to at least voice an opinion on a topic.  I write to express a view on something that I am passionate about.  

I am a digital immigrant. I am a person that just wants to make a difference.   

• I am not an emotional intelligence guru. 
• I am not a big data aficionado. 
• I am not an insight or knowledge management "C"-suite person. 
• I am not a Pulitzer Prize kind of author. 
• I am not a Nobel Peace Prize kind of transformer. 

I am, as Lynyrd Skynyrd might say, a simple kind of man.  I am me.  I believe in me; and I believe in you!  That is why I write.  And for that, I am thankful to each one of you who have taken the time to read, like, find relevant and comment on any of my musings as they have been posted. 

In writing I attempt to use the opportunity, through the mysteries of it all, to thoughtfully and in as civil a manner as possible provide a personal expression on any given topic in a hope that in my simplistic world of insight I might just make a difference; one person--one step at a time.

So here again are 12 thoughts along the way:    

1. Dare to be original and do the difficult things: In the world of globalization, it is ok to be different. In the end it all boils down to a pretty simple fact: There is only one world. So in the grand scheme of things let’s do the difficult things and make the world a better place, despite our differences!

2. Intelligent Emotions. Use your intelligence wisely: Why allow outside influences dictate your being? Might it be true that at its essence--if your heart is pure, your being authentic, and your journey straight and focused; you and you alone dictate the vitality of the journey based on your own convictions.

3  Quietued: Use your quietness to advantage: Sometimes not saying anything--just sitting back in quite solitude, listening, hearing and thoughtfully thinking through and reflecting on it all, just might be the important thing.

4. 1-22-41-?: Take the time to notice and help others: Take the time to notice if someone is struggling. Take the time to open your eyes to truly see. Use your ears to listen to and hear the subtle indicators and statements that far too often go unheard and unnoticed. Take the time to make a difference. One life handed over to despair through suicide, is one too many!

 5.  Relish the momentary snapshots in your time line: Take the time to see the moments in your life and reflect on the importance of each of them.  Far too often they are taken for granted because of the fast pace hectic nature of the world we live in.  Cherish the moments from your past, revel in your current moment in time, and yes know that there are moments yet to come. We live in a very fast paced world. Put the fastness into perspective and context, understanding how moments can have profound effects on us individually and collectively. Here is to each of you; a hope that you make the most of each of your moments.

6. Irrelativity: The manipulative power of information. Are we being crowdsourced into irrelevance through a war on words and artful use of information? In the book “Disconnected: Haves and Have-nots in the Information Age” William Wresch discusses the power of information, where “In the Information Age, information is power. Who produces all that information, how does it move around, who uses it, to what ends, and under what constraints?  Who gets that power? And what happens to the people who have no access to it?” With respect to the latter question, I might add “And what happens to the people who have lost any semblance of control over it?”

This is not a sales pitch for this book or the myriad of others that discuss the power, use and misuse of information. It is a discussion on the subtlety of the underlying theme of being disconnected. Intentionally, unintentionally, by design or by happenstance. Might we just be under the spell of those who understand the power of information, the power of its divisive use and the potential influence that information has on dividing us through the relatively new phenomena of crowdsourcing? And, in looking at how information is used more pervasively than ever, how by design and the artful use of insight and knowledge management we may find ourselves being played in a way that is making most if not all of us irrelevant. Is that what we really want? I don’t have all the answers, and maybe for that matter I don’t have any, but I am curious.

7. Anger, divisiveness, and managing it all, one person-one step at a time. Taking control in the midst of turbulence, chaos and change: If I can control me, and have a positive influence on one other person, then maybe just maybe others too can use restraint despite the turbulence, chaos and change unfolding around us. The power of 1 can have an exponential impact on the world around us as 1 becomes 2; 2 becomes 4; 4 becomes 8……….Kind of like the “love Train” by the O’Jays—

8. Emotional Sensationalism: The responsibility of personal accountability in conveying information: We are inundated daily with a myriad of "news worthy" stories that pull us in this direction and that direction. Often it is almost impossible to get to the essence of any particular subject as we see politicians, news media, and a cast of thousands, no millions, drag us into an emotional abyss of sensational stories, challenges and issues of the moment. Far too often, the root issue gets lost as a result because we immediately get sucked into a labyrinth of rhetoric and caustic debate, generally at the expense of finding the truth in between.

We need to do better. We need to get out of the emotional and sensational weeds and use our intellect to assess, address and find solutions to the challenges, any challenge, or issue before us. Let’s not lose sight of how those who use emotional sensationalism do so for some form of advantage or gain.

9.  Hear, See, Speak: A prime example of the current state of dysfunction: Every day we see leaders around the world obfuscate the issues and challenges confronting us. Climate, Population, Religion, Race, this challenge and that challenge. How about we get to the essence of the issues and challenges confronting us and try to hear, see and speak differently?

Blanket statements, bold maneuvering, strong rhetoric can only be assumed as jockeying for economic position, bolstering agenda, and parochial efforts that merely shuffle the issues in order to capture strong soundbites that feign concern and a real and concerted effort to solve the challenges. I have to be honest; all the positioning, all the rhetoric, and all the vocal sabre rattling is merely viewed as maneuvers to shift focus from one issue to the next and perpetuate a status quo that needs to stop.

10.  If the shoe fits:  The Jaw-Jackin and Rhetoric of baited communication: For all the issues.  For all the challenges.  For all the necessary hard work that needs to occur in addressing things that might apply to and impede our ability to “just get er done.”

Why is it that we passively allow the press, our politicians, and pundits on one side of an issue or another to continue the lip-smacking unchecked? Why is that we don’t hold folks accountable for their actions and words? Is this an evolutionary phenomenon that is getting worse, or is it merely a reflection of our being content with a long standing lip moving status quo?

11.  Grand Challenges abound where “east is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet.” The duality of it all as we seem content in obfuscating issues:  The nexus of Water, Food, Energy, Population & Climate; Race; Religion; global relationships and interdependencies and the potential complementary nature of opposites that may just be interconnected.

Each of the above elicits, no foments, no evokes, (ok maybe all of the above) specific opinion on one side of the issue or another. I am writing this because my daughters are concerned about a world that they are just beginning to navigate as adults. I have an obligation to them and future generations to try and make a difference; for their sake not my own. Let’s find common ground and interconnectedness to meet these challenges regardless of which side of the fence we reside.

12.  Leadership, manager-ship, and global transformation. Lead, follow or get out of the way—the saga of the secret sauce: In a world where we see folks provide insights on emotional intelligence, best practices, effective traits, top this list and top that list, maybe we just get to the simplicity of it all and subscribe to the role we find ourselves in as leaders, managers and transformers. Let’s just embrace our collective humanity and put the do and be-ing back into it all. Carefully (not blindly), thoughtfully (with purpose) and collaboratively (with understanding) lead, follow or get out of the way. Do what you do and all the rest will come into perspective.