Creating Value

Meet Kenny

When this guy approached me on my way down Auburn Ave to the King Center I thought he was going to ask for a handout. I've got this a lot while in Atlanta last week. I had a tight schedule my last day in there, but wanted to walk to the MLK Center to see the city and "richest

Negro street in the world." (Dobbs) With my time short and things to do many, I had my usual quick pace--reading Wikipedia via my phone while looking for historic buildings and cars every few seconds.

Then Kenny stopped me. He said, "Hey man, slow down! Do you know where you are and what happened here? Some big things happened in this neighborhood not too long ago and you're passing right by them!" He then began to tell me the intricate history of the different buildings nearby with regard to the civil rights movement. After a 30 minute personal tour he left me at the Martin Luther King Jr Center, shook my hand and turned to leave. What??!! No request for some money? The law of reciprocity is in effect here...you can ask for something! I found out that he was homeless and in need from some of the questions I asked him. We talked for a bit more, and I suggested he advertise for free tours somehow...like the free tours in s

ome European cities. I was very satisfied with my tour so I gave him a few bucks and we both left feeling good about the experience because it wasn't focused on money. It was a fair exchange.

MLK Center

"Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. Life's most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others?" -MLK

"When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love.

Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice." -MLK

Shoe Shopping

I went shoe shopping recently and found myself the perfect rock climbing shoes! The shoes I've had in the past seem to just come to me...easy acquisitions. I would often just borrow them for short times when I needed to climb or I was at an REI garage sale and happened upon a cheap pair that seemed to fit alright. I was getting in to rock climbing more and more and I've always wanted a pair that I would really love. A good pair of climbing shoes that works well with your feet can work miracles on your climbing accomplishments. This is how it happened.

Patience

I was living in Cleveland and there was no really choices available. There was just one little climbing gym that didn't offer much selection. I was toying with the idea of getting some online, but they really need to fit perfect and need to be tried on if you're going to invest so much in them. I did the best with what I had...and made it work but waited until I went to West Virginia for better selection.

Desirable Attributes

With so many pairs on the rack, I began first by how they look and how I thought they would work with my style of climbing (I couldn't get a really flexible bouldering shoe with all the route climbing I do). I can't have a pink shoe or laces-they take too long to put on. So I weeded out most of the shoes through rapid cognition mostly and thinking about others for a sec.

Cost

The next thing I looked at was cost. How much of my time at work (where my cash comes from) am I willing to put in for these things. I decided that this would only factor in if all things else were equal (not likely).

Research

Before buying I made sure the shoe had good ratings...I didn't want to rush into this purchase so I used my handy-dandy iPhone to find out more about the shoes I was interested in. I've been burned for not doing this with past purchases. That effort is worth its weight in gold! (if effort weighed a lot).

Fit and Function

The last and most important step involves trying the shoe on and trying it out. Most shoes I could put 'em on for a second and know they're not right, but a select few I had to actually try them out on the indoor climbing wall before knowing. I must have had 9 boxes of shoes...all my size that passed the selection criteria above to try on. I was supremely disappointed when a great pair of shoes that I tried on was so perfect until I tried them out on the indoor wall and my heel would not stay down when on my toes. That just would not do.

My Perfect Shoes

The pair that won me over passed all the previous criteria, but blew them all out of the water when I tried them out. I actually didn't know everything that I wanted when I knew I wanted climbing shoes. I learned a lot about my specific needs from those shoes that didn't quite make it. When I tried out the 5.9 Anastazi, there was something different...they just fit so well around my heel and in the toe while I was up on the wall. My ability instantly improved! After a couple minutes I did notice they were not perfect. In fact there was a pressure point right by my ankle. It wasn't bad though, but I bought them knowing they weren't perfect.

What Changed?

I thought they weren't perfect at least. It turned out that after a couple climbs they became perfect! I don't know if the soft spot below my ankle toughened up or if the shoe molded to my foot--they became the perfect match.

The Science Of Influence

Stormtrooper: Let me see your identification.
Obi-Wan: [with a small wave of his hand] You don't need to see his identification.
Stormtrooper: We don't need to see his identification.
Obi-Wan: These aren't the droids you're looking for.
Stormtrooper: These aren't the droids we're looking for.
Obi-Wan: He can go about his business.
Stormtrooper: You can go about your business.
Obi-Wan: Move along.
Stormtrooper: Move along... move along.

I just finished a book on influence that was fascinating! This is one of my favorite topics to read about in psychology. At first I became interested in the topic to be more persuasive, dreaming of Obi-Wan powers of influencing other people. Unfortunately just because I read books like these and understand these principles, does not mean that I can utilize them.

However...one key thing that I have gleaned from this book and others like it is how to not succumb to these weapons of influence as much when other's use them. I still have a long way to go, but my heightened awareness has been a good start.

Here is a summary of 50 scientifically proven ways to be persuasive.

Utah Weekend Trip

I had a blast last weekend in Utah! So much fun hanging out with family, friends, going to conference, seeing Betsy (on her mission!) and playing around in the Wasatch mountains.

Here are a few pics:

Cascade mountain on Squaw peak road...Perfect timing for this trip with the fall colors!!

Almost stepped on this guy hiking down from rock canyon. Andrew said that it must be a male b/c males go out to mate for two weeks and then die. Females stay hiding.

We drove the Alpine loop on Saturday...amazing back there! I really wished I had my mountain bike to ride the spectacularly speedy ridge 157 trail.

One of my all time favorite climbs is the big green monster. The 30 meter sustained 5.9 crack in the comparatively thin air in Utah got me breathing like I was sprinting by the time I got to the top.

On the trail among drab green and brown flora in Rock Canyon.

SCUBA!!!

SCUBA!!!, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

I signed up for scuba lessons and will get trained in a couple weeks.
But I couldn't wait for training and went last Saturday in lake
murky...I mean lake murray.

It was a pretty rad sensation to be suspended in a dark fluid like
that where any direction in 3 dimensions is an option. A couple times
my mind wandered and I imagined a huge fish coming at me ready to eat
me alive! I also couldn't tell my depth very well until I felt
pressure in my ears. I think I want to get a harpoon to carry with me
in case those dark spots aren't really just my imagination.

SC Pronunciations Guide

SC Pronunciation Guide, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

I just flipping through an SC tourist book and happened upon this page
detailing some of the oft illogical pronunciations of words down here.
I saw a couple that I have struggled with most notably huger st (HYOO-
gee). Then I broke the silence of the library by laughing when I saw "Sherman: SAY-tun".

I am ENTP...so is Bugs Bunny

Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator: Survey Says...ENTP

So I took the MBTI survey and found out that my preferences (a large part of how I interact with the world) are ENTP. A group of 17 people from work and I spent a few hours this week learning about what it means to have preferences for Extraversion, iNtuition, Thinking, Perception (or whatever you may be). It was fascinating to guess what I was, find out what the survey said and extrapolate what all this means.

It is fun to look at other famous people who are ENTP. Other than Bugs Bunny, some of my favorite ENTPs are:

Thomas Edison

Winston Churchill

Wolfgang Mozart

Tom Hanks

Weird Al Yankovic

John Adams

Rutherford B. Hayes

Garfield

Wile E. Coyote

Don't ask me how they got Bugs to take that survey.

Harmonica Tales

Harmonica Tales, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

One of my fondestest memories of a year in Cleveland is playing the
harmonica with falon Aaron and Adam while driving to kirtland. We were
going to a church mtg so we had white shirts...3 harmonicas blaring
with the windows down going 70 mph on the freeway. It happened to
catch the eye of a couple girls driving a land cruiser in the lane
next to us and we began a screaming conversation muffeled by the wind.
We successfully convinced them that we were a traveling harmonica band
from Washington state (where falons vehicle is registered) and invited
them to our show.

Aside from that, I can't count the number of smiles we've gotten from
other drivers as they enjoy the music stopped at a light with the
windows down.

It feels great to be back in Cleveland if only for a week at a work
training.

Why yes, that is a praying mantis on my door knob

Why yes, that is a praying mantis on my door knob, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

So I have noticed that there are a lot of bugs near my door at
night...but tonight takes the cake.

STOP GIVING ME HIGH FIVES!!

"No high fives for at least a week."

-self prescribed treatment for dislocated shoulder.

So I was at the bouldering gym 3 days after dislocating my shoulder and this chica wanted to give me props for climbing with said injury by slapin hands. Despite the topic's freshness on both our minds, I cringed (on the inside of course) with the enthusiastic high five as I realized what I was doing seconds b4 impact.

This is the second time I've dislocated my shoulder...and it wasn't very bad. It popped right back into place after landing funny while tubing north of Charlotte.

For those that haven't seen it and would like a good laugh, here is the vid of my first should dislocation. I really can do a backflip...and I know I didn't set properly or tuck at all... the lights came on and freaked me out!

Some Pictures From the Last Triathlon

These are pictures from the Triathlon I did on 7/11/09. Just got 'em.

Jailbreak!

Jailbreak!, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

After about a year with my iPhone I was starting to get board with it
so I thought I'd have to get the 3gs to get something new and
exciting. I decided instead to jailbreak it.

Now I have the freedom to put my own background on my phone, I can
have other ring tones, more access to system preferences, video
recording, + more! And on top of that I just added a notch of
geekness to my belt [pushes up glasses].

Sleeping sideways on a large bed

Sleeping sideways on a large bed, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

I've been in a hotel for the last 2 weeks and I really enjoy the king
sized bed. I found the best way to sleep on it is sidways. This avoids
the uncomfortable tucked in ends at the bottom that either result in
duck footed sleeping or a frustrated thrashing to release fettered
feet that works me up so much I can't sleep for 20 minutes.

Usually I sleep pretty well in a hotel, but last night
a fuzzy black speckled cloud like a face that has been hidden to
preserve identity on tv was floating at the head of the bed (where
most peoples head is). That fuzzy blob floated there for a moment and
then all of a sudden came at me with movement that reminded me of the
big spiders on arachnophobia. Fearful of floating fuzzy spider like
blobs as I am, I swatted at the watermelon sized thing only to find my
hand went right through it. I let out an uncontrolled girly
"MEAHHHHHahhhH" which woke me up.

I wonder if the neighbor that I hear all the time talking on the phone
heard me through the paper thin walls...

Home Sweet Home

I haven't lived in the same place for more than 1 year for the past 7 years. I've had over 15 different front door keys over that same time period. It feels great to be home--Northern Michigan will always be home. Since I moved to South Carolina, I wasn't sure when or how often I'd get up to Petoskey. It just so happened that I was needed in Grand Rapids for work--only 3 hours from home!

When people ask me where I'm from I always say Northern Michigan. It is a very different feel in Grand Rapids or Lansing or Detroit. I love the "tip of the ring finger" so many fun things to do and so pleasant here. Green rolling hills...bright blue lakes...historic downtown...fudge...ice cream...woods

My mom and I went kayaking in Crooked lake this morning.

A guy took a pic for me down at the water front doing a little slack lining at the waterfront.

What Should Be Complementary?

Just checked into the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids and I was impressed and blown away with the view (below) for being a company approved hotel. This beautiful building with gold plated ceilings, historic ballroom, complementary turn down service, great location and great restaurants was at one time in the top 10 hotels in the US.

Its too bad one little thing shot it for me. Something that any respectable, modern hotel should have. Even the not so respectable or modern hotels have it. Free Wi-Fi. They are already making bank off people who stay here. How much does it cost to put a few routers in and pump the ubiquitous Internet through? They want to charge $10 per day! This disgusts me. In an era of constant connectivity where your primary customer is more likely to have a wi-fi enabled lap top than a pen and paper on his person, it only makes sense to cater to them. I am disgusted.

I almost got over that when I tethered my phone to blog this. Then I noticed strike two. $5 to use the gym!?!?

These are things that should not be charged for! It should go with out saying that these are complementary!

There are somethings that I expect to be included. They already do pay per view whats next? pay per flush?? A buck to ride the elevator?

Have you been turned off to an establishment because you had to pay for something you thought should be free? (like the notorious fee charged to use some European toilets?)

What else should be complementary?

Personal Soundtrack

Personal Soundtrack, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

Have you ever been watching a movie that has you engulfed-you are
there in the shoes of the protagonist feeling what he is feeling.
Think of your favorite movie, of a scene when he is relieved but
focused. Then a key element of the scene comes through your ears:
the perfect music. A team of people have chosen the music that would
just fit. The music competes the scene. It just makes it right. Like on the Matrix when Neo just killed the bad guy and he is walking through the street of crowded people and Rage Against the Machine comes on. Or on Dumb and Dumber when they first start their road trip and they are so excited to ge going to Aspen where the beer flows like wine and the women flock like the salmon of capastrana.

The soundtrack for me that made the scene of passing through a crowded
O'Hare airport perfect?

Chicago by Sufjan Stephens.

Congaree National Park

Congaree National Park, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

I love national parks. We have so many beautiful and diverse areas
here in the US. The first national parks I went to were out west. The
mountains of Zion national park, arches, yellowstone etc are awesome,
but so different than the congaree near Columbia.

Serious Cramp During Triathlon

Serious Cramp During Triathlon, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

Coming from a background of mountain biking, I chuckled to myself when
a group of 250 triathletes groaned when the short dirt road on the
bike section was discussed at the pre-race orientation. When the
announcer told everyone to go slow here I couldn't help but envision
myself easily breezing by all these roadies who are used to smooth
warm asphalt. It turned out to be not easy. This picture was taken on
a straight away when I was crossing over the soft center of the road
and almost ate it. I caught myself but while doing so embers of a mild
cramp in my left calf raged into a roaring fire. It was almost
completely dehibilitating. This moment right here caught in this photo
caused 3 days of a sore calf and a slight limp.

What causes cramps like this? And how do I prevent them?

It is supremely gratifying to finish a race and feel like you're about
to die just after crossing the line. But you know that it is over and
that you gave it your all...nothing left. Pain makes the
accomplishment sweeter.

Emotional Decision Making or Vulcan Logic?

After watching the movie Star Trek when it came out, I wished I could make decisions like Spoc: purely based on logic. Vulcans don't let their emotions cloud their decision making and can analyze the facts and make the best choice. So when a vulcan is faced with 175 different salad dressings at the supermaket, he will pick the best one factoring in price, quality, taste etc. Spoc would know which one would lead to the most utility not letting his emotions get in the way. Right?

WRONG.

Truth is, we would not be able to make good decisions without our emotions. We don't have the concious mental capacity to take in all the facts and weigh it out. If we had no emotions we would be stiffeled in each choice that comes our way.

"Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio studied people who had received brain injuries that had had one specific effect: to damage that part of the brain where emotions are generated. In all other respects they seemed normal - they just lost the ability to feel emotions.

The interesting thing he found was that their ability to make decisions was seriously impaired. They could logically describe what they should be doing, in practice they found it very difficult to make decisions about where to live, what to eat, etc."

From changingminds.org

The Love Log In Action

The Love Log In Action, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

Can u see the love?

Friends in Columbia on the love log (aka the turd, dookie turd, that brown thing...similar to love sacs)

What does a popular youtube video do for me?

So I recently noticed that a youtube video of mine (below) has several links to it. It has about 67,000 views and 88 comments right now. What does this do for me? I don't think this video is even that good. It was a hastily made video on making a longboard (skateboard). I could make one that is tons better. But why?

It would be a lot of fun to make videos that lots of people would watch, but how would I capitalize off of it if I just did it every so often?

Another mechanical

Another mechanical, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

(that's what I call it when I crash while mountain biking...a mechanical)

I got this lovely bruise on my left thigh on the trails at Harbison near my house. There are some awesome trails there and I've decided I want to get back into mountain biking. In high school and middle school that is all I did. I was always on my bike.

There is one issue though. That bike I was on in High School is the same one I'm riding now. It has several issues with it and I will use them to justify them to you that I need a new bike.

Reasons I should get a new mountain bike:

• missing teeth on the chain rings (gears)
• messed up front rim
• the geometry doesn't fit my body well
• it is a hardtail
• it's 10+yrs old
• rear derailleur is shot
• no suspension from the front suspension
• still uses rim brakes

Presentation Mastery

I have been reading a lot about how to be good at presenting and it has OPENED MY EYES! I'm reading presentation zen by Garr Reynolds right now. It is excellent at explaining key aspects to a good presentation.

The problem with this awareness of what makes good presentations is two fold:

1) Now it is excruciatingly painful to sit through a poor presentation (that category of poor presentations has grown as well).

2) This means I can no longer give poor presentations with the excuse that I am ignorant.

Below is one style of presentation that is AWESOME. Notice the amount of information and the contrast on each slide.




To those that say not all presentations can be pleasing...here is an editorial about technical presentations. The punishment for a poor presentation should be stoning in the eyes of this man.

Creativity

Creativity, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

What do you do be creative? What conditions are the best for you?

If you had a pile of shells what conditions would put you in the right
mindset to make a masterpiece? For me I need to have confidence and no
fear of failure.

I call this "what the fetch".

Rotational Program (GOLD)

Rotational Program (GOLD), originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

As a participant in th Global Operations Leadership Development
program at Avery Dennison I get the opportunity to work and live in
different locations each year for three years. I am very happy with
this, but it has it's ups and downs for sure.

It is great to live in and engulf myself in different cultures and
friendship circles. But it sure is tough leaving. My wonderful friends
at the strongsville site had a party for me leaving and to my surprise
they did it before I left :) and provided this cake. It shows a
grasshopper on it's way to south Carolina. They called me grasshopper
because I was just begining to learn things like on the tv show Kung Fu.

As I start here not knowing people very well I wonder what our
relationship will be like in a year.

It's exciting to have control over what that will look like here. I
hope I will make it the best it can be.

-Ben

My new pad in Columbia

My new pad in Columbia, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

Here are a few pics of my new place in SC. I'm calling it the
penthouse. I like it but I don't know what the fireplace is for it's
100degrees everyday!! (I'm told it actually does snow-every couple
years).

I had a very southern experience for lunch today. A nice co-worker
exhibited some southern hospitality and gave me a couple firsts that
are truely southern. She gave me some of her sweet potato pie and
some fried chicken from Bojangles (a fast food chicken place that is
everywhere). Both were delicious, but I think I Covered my fried fat
intake for the week).

Breadth vs Depth--Which to Focus on?

For the longest time I've wondered which I prefer to do: dive really deep into a subject or activity or get more of a variety. Do I want to be the Jack of all trades or the Ace of one or two?

I see and have read of pitfalls of both. Are you going to fix the side panel on your Accord at Ben's Books, Barbies and Auto-Body Shop? Or at Japanese Auto Body? Maybe there's someone who just happened to need a particular mix though. What if a guy addicted to the Twilight series needs the newest book and a gift for his daughter who loves barbies? He would love BBBAB!

This is where breadth fits in. With the right mix of skills and strengths comes optimization--optimization of of fun, of performance, of design, of creativity, of relationships, of everything. I love when my skills or background fits perfectly in a situation for optimal experience. One example of this was while riding a gondola in Spain. I enjoy meeting new people and conversing with them, I speak Korean and some Mandarin and had just visited Holland. All these came into play when crammed in a small place with a group of Koreans, Chinese speaking woman and a family from Amsterdam. I am not an expert in any of this, but I didn't need to be. Here is where breadth was my ally.

I'm torn though. I love new experiences, but I am also reading a book called "Strengths Based Leadership". The premise of this book is that you get more mileage if you build on Strengths than you would by spending the same effort on weaknesses.

I will have to go into this later...about to lose power on my laptop.