Simple is better

I saw these and had to post.  These are leadership ducks - well, at least one is. . .  

I was trying to find a photo that conveyed leadership as seeing a vision not easy to visualize and pointing others in that direction.  As I searched - this photo came up. 

Credits to the blogger and his original post here - http://mariviam.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/classics-winning-wisdom-for-work-and-life-8/

It's perfect!  I don't know that I have seen a better "picture" of what being a leader means than this.

Sometimes the simple things are really the best. 
Have a good weekend.

Failure is always an option

OK - I admit it, I am a Mybusters fan.  There is something about watching people (highly trained people) get such enjoyment out of blowing stuff up that I find amusing.  But somewhere in there is a lesson or two as well.  

One of my favorite Mythbusters' quotes is
"Failure is always an option."  

Even the great Yoda said - do or do not, there is no try. You succeed or your fail. Failure is always an option.
Here's the key - Failure is not the end, it is just a step.  

In fact, while working on a presentation for a future seminar I ran across this quote - "Success is falling nine times and getting up ten."  Jon Bon Jovi

I like that one.  Falling down nine but getting up ten.  Not only for the inspirational thought, that try try again theme, but for something bigger.  While every failure should teach us something, helps us figure out a change we need to make, a tweak our project needs, or a perspective we didn't have before, it shouldn't stop us dead in our tracks.  Why - because maybe, just maybe that next change was the one we needed and our next attempt will be success.  How many people stopped 1 yard short of a touchdown but never knew it?  

So don't let failure stop us, or define us, but rather let it teach us. Let it show us a new angle or help us gain new perspective. After all, failure is always an option. 

A quick point for the weekend

I have one or two friends online who often share some really great thoughts.
Here is one of them from this week.

Yesterday's Problems & Today's Solutions

Here is a link to a post that really struck me through this sentence
"here's the unshakeable fact: you don't get to tomorrow by solving yesterday's problems."

What old problems are we trying to solve in "library land" that are really a waste of our time and what new problems should we be focusing our attention on instead?

I am including the opening section here but please take a few minutes and read the entire article - the link is at the bottom.

If You Were the Next Steve Jobs...

by Umair Haque  |   8:00 AM September 3, 2012

...what problems would you try to solve?
Let me answer that by telling you a story.

Every writer will tell you: first, find a good café. And while I was hunched over my laptop in one my favorite tiny cafes in London — the estimable Kaffeine, purveyors of some of the best coffee I've had the privilege to have — something tiny, yet remarkable, happened.

After a few days, James, the barista, noticed that I'd come in, order a flat white, write like a man possessed for an hour or so — but never finish my coffee. He asked me why, and I replied that I espresso leaves me too wired to write, but paradoxically, I always need a little. Without missing a beat, James simply proceeded to create an entirely new drink for me, on the spot: a mini flat-white, which he half-jokingly named after me.

Now, this might sound entirely trivial. Until you ask yourself: how often, despite billions spent on "service," "creativity," "innovation," "changing the game," "motivation," "leadership," and assorted other magical buzzword-incantations, has something like the preceding happened to you, anywhere — ever? My bet is: outside of a truly excellent bar, almost nowhere, probably never.

Imagine, for a moment, that you (yes, you) were the next Steve Jobs: what would your (real) challenges be? I'd bet they wouldn't be scale (just call FoxConn), efficiency (call FoxConn's consultants), short-term profitability (call FoxConn's consultants' bankers), or even "growth" (call FoxConn's consultants' bankers' lobbyists). Those are the problems of yesterday — and today, here's the thing: we largely know how to solve them.

Whether you're an assiduous manager, a chin-stroking economist, a superstar footballer, or a rumpled artist, here's the unshakeable fact: you don't get to tomorrow by solving yesterday's problems.
To solve today's set of burning problems, you just might have to build new institutions, capable of handling stuff a little something like this...

read the whole article here -
http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2012/09/if_you_were_the_next_steve_job.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Small and Rural

Just wanted to thank those of you who came to the workshop on Sunday morning at the ARSL Conference.  There were some great insights and discussions on planning and several of you had good comments and questions after the workshop.  I always learn something new each time I have this workshop and appreciate your contributions to the topic. 
Please feel free to share, question and comment here or on the ARSL member listserv. 
It was good to see you!

Remembering

A brief post to remember those who we lost 10 years ago on 9/11.  To those who were innocent victims, in rememberance of those who fought back and in tribute to those who gave their lives so that justice would be served in the days, weeks and months after 9/11 - a moment of silence . . . . . .

The Journey of a Thousand Miles. . . begins with one step.

I am in Frisco, Texas this week, at the Association for Small and Rural Libraries Conference. Why is this important? Well, perhaps it is not. But if you are someone who is considering whether or you should listen to my advice and invest some time and grey matter into a plan for your library, it may weight in your decision if you know that what I write here and what I present when I talk about planning is all geared for the small, rural, sometimes isolated libraries that populate our country.  Did you know there are more public libraries than McD's in the US? 
Trivia aside, this practical, close to the vest type of planning resonates with folks.  It simply makes sense to think about where you want to go, consider how you are going to get there, and plan what you need to make the trip happen.  It works for taking a vacation, or building a house, figuring out what you need to do to retire.  Why would you not plan the future of an institution that provides vital services to many of the residents of your community? 
I encourage you, no, I challenge you, in fact I double dog dare you to spend time over the next few days thinking about where your library should be in 3 years.  Don't allow the current economic depression to limit you.  Go beyond the physical, think in global terms (at least the globe that is your community). what vital role does your future library play?  What services or resources does the community count on that you can provide?  Mull it over, dream about it, let it simmer on the back burner for a day or two.  Then do me a favor - and write it down.  Once you do - you have taken your first step toward a strategic plan for your library.  Congratulations.