Category: motivation

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motivation

Effective Communication in the Information Age

Cartoon of a dog and a treed cat. The dog says, "Come down! All I want to do is talk about taking a bite out of crime."

The more we automate information-handling, the more we will have to create opportunities for effective communication.

Pete Drucker in The Effective Executive

Communication doesn’t get more effective with today’s technology. It may get faster, but something gets lost in the process.

The other day, I discovered an email sent in my department was misunderstood. The message was correct, but the context and way it was said came off blunt, rude and made a customer feel like we were bossing him around.

Of course, that wasn’t the intention. But an email doesn’t show body language. The tone of voice can only be interpreted through the words. A please and thank you go a long way in showing politeness and a friendly tone in an email. It may sound overly polite in a conversation, but just right in an email.

The cat in my cartoon is wise to assess the dog’s tone and body language. Unfortunately, we don’t have those advantages in texts and emails. We have emoji’s and our words. And a smiley face in business correspondence may not be quite the professional feel you are going for!

Cartoon of a dog and a treed cat. The dog says, "Come down! All I want to do is talk about taking a bite out of crime."

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children's ministry cartoons motivation

Why We Need Others to Make Progress

Cartoon of a guy dressed in bright, gaudy clothes and wearing a lampshade. A boy says to his dad, "Does our family ministry include Crazy Uncle Carl?"
Previously published in "Kidzmatter" Magazine

If it wasn’t for my wife, I would probably be that crazy uncle in my cartoon. The shirt that Crazy Uncle Carl wears reminds me of a hot pink shirt I had in the eighties. And those striped, neon green pants? Well, I may not have had them, but I would have bought them in a heartbeat! The lampshade would have attracted my design “sensibilities” as well.

If my wife didn’t come along at just the right time, my wardrobe may have remained stuck in the eighties and the course of history would have changed forever.

When our relationship started getting serious, she began purging my wardrobe. The obnoxious colors, old t-shirts and corduroy pants had to go. On the outside, I wasn’t very happy. But I knew she had good fashion sense and she was saving me from a life of being that crazy, single uncle.

We all have blind spots. If you think hot pink and neon green go together, your blind spot may be quite large. We need each other to make progress. We also need others to help us see where we are weak and to show us how we can make progress.

Cartoon of a guy dressed in bright, gaudy clothes and wearing a lampshade. A boy says to his dad, "Does our family ministry include Crazy Uncle Carl?"
Previously published in “Kidzmatter” Magazine
Categories
Marketing motivation

Marketing Doom and Gloom

Cartoon of two boys on a trail. a signpost says, "Trail of Doom." A boy says, "If they want me to take it, they should use better marketing."

The concept of haunted houses and trails of terror mystifies me. What is it about humans that we want to seek out danger and fear while avoiding it at the same time? In other words, why is marketing doom and gloom so successful?

The boy in my cartoon assumes the marketing isn’t working for him. He has no interest in something suggesting a bad ending. Yet, experience suggests it’s exactly that kind of marketing that makes the most impact. 

  • We gravitate towards the news items with disaster footage and crime
  • The headline format that states the story then adds a line like and why this should scare you, gets a lot of clicks
  • We tend to demonize someone who doesn’t agree with us

Personally, I like good news stories. I want something uplifting that challenges the belief that the world is going to pot. The other kind of marketing may get a lot of attention. But thoughtful media and marketing that inspires and motivates us to be better, now that is a challenge that is well worth rising up to!

So my advice is to cast our anxieties aside and to stay away from marketing doom and gloom!

Cartoon of two boys on a trail. a signpost says, "Trail of Doom." A boy says, "If they want me to take it, they should use better marketing."
Categories
motivation

Making the Best Use of Pain

Cartoon of a boy on the ground in pain and another boy. One says, "They call it a medicine ball because if you catch it, you'll need pain killers."

Yesterday was painful. Without going into detail, there has been a lot going on in my life. There are challenges that call for change in an old, broken system. There are emails that have a ton of information but not the details necessary to get a job adequately finished. To top it off, one of my parents and several of my friends are going through health crises. Yes there has been a lot going on and much of it has been painful.

Our society tends to encourage us to numb the pain. They implore us to take this, or try that. It may work for a time or two, but only leaves a person a zombie that demands more of the “medicine.” It causes addiction, avoidance, and makes a person care less about themselves, their loved ones and the world around us.

There are people going through chronic pain, and I am not telling anyone in constant pain to just deal with it. What I am saying is that all of us face pain in one form or another on most days. How do we make the best of it?

  • Acknowledge pain instead of pretending it doesn’t exist
  • Allow yourself to grieve when the pain is a loss
  • If the pain is a situation, ask yourself what you can learn from it
  • If the pain is because of growth, ask yourself if this is natural and if it needs to be endured
  • If it is a slow pain of an ancient system, ask yourself what needs to change. What does this make possible?
  • If the pain is from a toxic situation or relationship, get help to determine if you need to leave it

Some pain is inevitable. We live in a broken world filled with broken people. Sure, we all need medicine to ease the pain once in a while. But consider if it is something to learn from, grieve or leave instead of denying or numbing the pain.

And if it is a medicine ball in a gym class, perhaps the best thing to do is let the pain producer pass you by instead of catching it.

Cartoon of a boy on the ground in pain and another boy. One says, "They call it a medicine ball because if you catch it, you'll need pain killers."
Categories
motivation

Relying on Technology or Persistence?

Cartoon of woman spying a periscope in her backyard.

You have to wonder how animals would fare if they had similar technology to what humans have. There are some critters like raccoons, coyotes, and moles that are so persistent, they have learned to thrive in spite of human intervention.

They also thrive despite their lack of technology.

  • They have no smartphones to tell them where to go
  • They can’t text their friends or use workflow software to stay productive
  • They keep plugging away with what they possess
  • They can get quite creative in evading capture without group chats

I tend to rely on technology a lot. Email is the primary form of communication at work. It’s necessary when I communicate with people across the country. But we use it a lot internally, even though we may be within walking distance of visiting a coworker and clarifying a confusing conundrum.

At the end of a busy day, I’ve found it is persistence, creativity and a good attitude that keeps me going. I have learned to use technology when it is helpful and pull back when it is not. Relying too much on one type of tool can become a crutch, and even a hindrance if I am not careful.

Even so, I have always loved periscopes. Perhaps I should get one of those whenever I am searching for someone in a cubicle. Maybe I can find one with a HUD (Heads Up Display) and night vision! Wouldn’t that be cool? Now here I go, geeking out on technology again!

Has there been a time when you found technology wasn’t helping and you had to find another way? Let me know in the comments.

Cartoon of woman spying a periscope in her backyard.