This can be something related to business, community, leadership, a new sport or just something you have always wanted to try but never took the time.  Shortly after leaving college I gave myself a goal to try something new that year and was very happy and surprised at the result.  It stretched me in new ways and helped broaden my view of the world.  That started an annual tradition for me to each year choose at least one new adventure or experience to stretch myself.  I gladly will admit it has been one of the best things I have done.  I always know I have chosen well when at some point during that event I feel very much outside my comfort zone.

I encourage you to give it a try and please feel free to write a comment and share with others what you are doing this year.

Twin Cities Startup Weekend — February 10 – 12

There is a special event coming up that I would highly recommend and it just might be your one new thing for this year. The 3rd annual Twin Cities Startup Weekend is taking place at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota from February 10 – 12.  It is a great event where about 80 people come together to create something new in just over 50 hours.  It starts with everyone having a chance to share an idea they have for a project.  The group then votes and the top 10 or so get to give a little more detailed overview.  Then everyone else in the room chooses which idea they want to help with and over the next 48 hours they take it from idea to concept and pitch it to a panel of judges. I am always amazed at how much can truly get done in such a short time period when you have engaged people who have a passion to try something new.  Please checkout Twin Cities Startup Weekend to learn more.

Best wishes on whatever new adventure you choose and have a wonderful 2012.

Credit: J. Stephen Conn

I am extremely proud to be a Minnesotan.

Over the last week you have read a number of articles on this site about GiveMN‘s Give to the Max Day which took place earlier this week.  This was their 3rd annual event and by all measures it was a huge success.  In 24 hours they raised $13.4 Million dollars from 47,543 donors who gave to a total of 3,978 non-profits.

Generosity is alive and well in Minnesota just as it has been for generations.  GiveMN is helping to spark that passion in new donors and make it relevant to younger generations.  It is exciting to see how students on campuses and those involved with great youth development organizations such as Students Today Leaders Forever have embraced and thrived by getting everyone involved and even creating competitions around giving.  Our community and region has benefited greatly by the generosity of everyday people since our state was first founded.  People give of their time, talents and treasures every day of the year and that is what makes this an amazing place to live.

When many think about donations they first think of some of our founding families such as Cargill, Pillsbury, Dayton, Crosby and McKnight or our generous companies such at General Mills, Target, Starkey, 3M or Best Buy.  Each of these names has played a huge role in the success and vibrancy of our community but equally important is the support of each and every individual.  As Margaret Mead so eloquently put it “A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. “  This is still so very true as you think of the 3,978 organizations who received funds, each one was started by a very small group and grew because one person supported them and than another.

The majority of the time we never know the impact our involvement has on others.  We often think, my small contribution isn’t going to make a difference but as you can see from the GiveMN results, 47,753 small donations turned into $13.4 Million dollars which will make a huge impact in our community.

Thank you to everyone who participated in Give to the Max day — You are amazing, you may never know the true impact you made possible but all of us continuing to work together will keep this an amazing place to live.

Be Proud – Be Bold – Be Involved

Credit: www.digitaldesktopwallpaper.com

An email arrives from someone you don’t know and you go to open it.  As you read through it you find out it is someone that was referred to you, found you on an alumni database or saw your profile on LinkedIn.  They often give you a little bit of background and then ask you for a little bit of time to connect via phone or to see if it would be possible to come out for a coffee.   I strongly suggest you find a way to say yes, even if it takes a month to get on the calendar.

This is a scenario that I have had the fortune to see more frequently over the last six months.   As an individual becomes more involved in the community or their industry there will come a tipping point whereby you go from being the one always asking for a meeting to the person who now is being asked.  Being on the asked side now more than the asking side, I have a much larger appreciation for the wonderful people who took time out of their schedules to sit down and meet with me.

A thousand things run through your mind of things you need to be working on instead and are not quite sure you always have the time.  My personal philosophy is to make time — these are extremely important.  They allow you give back and in a sense pass along the goodwill that someone gave to you when they took the time to meet with you.  You also get a chance to make a new connection, learn about their story and what drives them.  Often times you leave thinking you gained more than you gave and also may have left a lasting impression that could dramatically impact their life.  In most cases you never will know the true impact you had but every once in a while you will reconnect with them a few years later and they will express back to you something that stuck with them and made an impact in their thinking.

Overall it is a huge gift to the community and your network to make time to accept as many requests as possible.  It doesn’t mean you have to cancel your current meetings or negatively impact your projects.  In many cases it might be a few weeks or a month out before it works for your calendar but they are still ecstatic that you took the time to connect with them.  As you talk with them also be thinking about who in your network they would benefit from meeting or who might benefit from meeting them.  Be willing to open doors and make connections because you never know where one of those connections might lead.

What is Coworking?
It is coming together with many different businesses to share work space, create connections and spark innovation.  The costs can be much cheaper than renting a full office space and is much more flexible.  You might choose this type of arrangement once a week or find that it is something you want to do regularly instead of visiting a coffee shop.

The environments are built specifically around the idea of co-working.  Furniture is designed to be modular, flexible and encourages collaboration.  Although some users will have a permanent desk, others are completely mobile and take their things with them.

CoCo & Minneapolis Grain Exchange
This last weekend, CoCo (http://www.cocomsp.com/) launched a state of the art co-working location at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange building.  The location that CoCo is using is a wonderful story in itself.  Minneapolis was built on the fortunes of the milling industry and one of the central institutions which made Minnesota a global leader in milling is the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.  For over 125 years the Grain Exchange has been the key market for many commodities and had a very active live trading floor.  At the end of 2008, the last live trading session on the Grain Exchange floor took place as they switched to a completely electronic system and the historic trading floor fell silent.  This amazing space has sat empty for the last two years but now will again be a thriving environment that is positioned to help launch and support the next generation of companies whom hopefully can grow into the General Mills, Target, Best Buy or Medtronic of the future.  This is also a space that could be an amazing innovation center for current companies to come together, get out of their regular routine and work together to spark new ideas.  Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak looks to this space as the new “Brain Exchange” — a fitting name for the future.

Give it a try
The energy and innovation this and other locations create are outstanding.  Give it some thought and if nothing else stop in to CoCo — an amazing historical space that is positioned to make an impact for future generations similar to what it did for past generations.

1. Passion – The first question I always ask myself is if the work of this organization excites me – Would I look forward to attending the meetings and commitments?  An organization may be the best in a sector and doing amazing work but if it doesn’t align with your passion you should strongly consider saying no for both the benefit of the organization and yourself.
2. Time – Do you have the bandwidth to give the organization the time and attention it deserves to be an engaged and enthusiastic supporter of the organization? Stretching yourself too thin and not showing up at the meetings is going to be frustrating to both you and the organization.  I am a big believer in the concept that we make time for those things we believe are most important.  If you truly believe a new opportunity is one that you can commit to making the time to be involved, look at your other commitments and ask yourself if there is something else you could reduce or transition out of to free up time.
3. Exit Strategy – Just as important as making the decision to join an organization is making the decision to step down from an organization.  An easy way for me to know it is time to move along is when I am no longer looking forward to attending the meeting and events.  It is vitally important that you are with an organization for some time to contribute your skills and have stability so this is assuming you have served a term or longer and it isn’t something you just joined and have not given your best shot.  Where this can be the hardest is when you have been on the board or committee for an extended period of time and are comfortable with the role but no longer learning or helping improve the process.   At these junctures it is important for you to start transitioning off to give the next person an opportunity to have a similar growth experience.  Transitioning off will frees you up to move onto your next role and open the door for the next person.

Overall the best quote I have heard that makes the decision so much easier is:
“It is always fine to say NO because that gives someone else the chance to say YES”.

Remember that when you say yes, you are taking the spot someone else could have to learn, grow and help the organization succeed.  If you say yes and are not committed to engaging with the organization or you don’t have a strong passion for the work, you are depriving the organization and another person of the opportunity to get involved and make an extraordinary impact on that organization.

At a minimum I would recommend that you sleep on any request to get involved so that you can step away from the conversation and reflect on the opportunity to make sure you are passionate, have the time and are clear why you are willing to get involved.

Passion + Participant Directed + Free Food

Passion

The first key to building community is that you must ignite the passion of those involved and spark ideas for a vision of what the future holds.  Passion is critical because it will be what will provide the initial burst of energy as well as get you through the valleys.   First and foremost you must have passion for what you are starting and then you need to look for others who share that passion.  It doesn’t need to be a large number at first but if it is a topic that has broader appeal, the size will grow rapidly.  As Margaret Mead so appropriately stated “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Participant Directed

Allow everyone involved to feel a sense of ownership and the ability to contribute in their own unique ways.  This can take many forms but one of the most successful allows individuals at all levels of the community to make decisions and shape it in their own ways.  Too often organizations and non-profits feel that they have to hold decision making at the board level where a very small number of people decide on the plan and the others are informed what they can do.  This model doesn’t encourage everyone in the organization to contribute their own ideas and talents.  Don’t get me wrong, there is a need for strategy, policy and process at the board level but as many decisions as possible should be distributed to the lowest levels of the community.

Free Food (Always Helps)

A good way to get people to attend the first time is to offer free food.  Not all communities require this step but some need the extra push to drive attendance.  The key learning here is that food might get them to one or two meetings but if they don’t connect or the passion isn’t ignited, they more than likely will quickly stop attending.

Minnebar

Personally, an outstanding example of this success formula that I recently experienced in the Twin Cities was the Minnebar (un)conference held at the Best Buy campus on May 7, 2011.  This amazing full day conference brought together over 1,200 individuals who are passionate about technology and growing it in Minnesota.  This was the 6th annual conference and it has been successful because participants are allowed to present and direct the content.  Overall there were 62 independent sessions split across 9 rooms and 7 time slots.  To read more specifically about the event and see some video I recommend reading Jeff Pesek’s article on Tech{dot}MN — Latest MinneBar puts Minnesota Tech on the Map.

Minnebar Formula = People Passionate about technology + Letting 62 participants present their own session + Huge amount of Free Pizza for lunch and Free Surley Beer for the after party

There are countless examples of this success formula demonstrated throughout history and across all sectors.  Political campaigns are also great examples of taking this formula where it is headlined by the person running for office who has a deep passion for their issue areas and building a grassroots movement where participants are empowered to act.  A great political example of this is what President Barack Obama was able to create during his 2008 presidential campaign.

The constant connection helps us keep connected to the pulse of work but in many respects leads to an increased level of stress.  Here are three tips for email management (some easier than others) that I have personally adopted which make a huge difference.

Turn off the new mail alert indicator (Quick and Easy but a Big Impact)

You know what I mean, that little icon in the system try that lets you know that you have mail or the even more noticeable “New Email Notification” popup in Microsoft Outlook which gives you a little preview of the message.  At first thought, you would think this would be good but take a second to think about it.  Every time you see that alert, your mind immediately starts to think, “I just received something — I wonder what it is?”.  In a lot of ways it is like getting a birthday gift, you have to stop and open it to see what you received.

These interruptions may seem to take just a second to look at but reality (and research) shows that little distraction takes your focus away from what you were working on and as a result, it can take five minutes to get back to where your mind was before the interruption.

Action Step – Turn off the indicator for a week and see if you miss the interruption.  This is the simplest thing you can do to have a huge impact on your productivity.

Check your email only 3 times a day

This might sound impossible, but after initially trying it for a few days it has become a standard routine for me.  In my routine, I now check all my email (business and personal accounts) at 8 am and 3 pm, and my business email right after lunch.  Outside of those times I have my email closed on my computer.  It is amazing what this has done for my productivity — it allows me to focus on the most important task without getting sucked into the latest topic.

The biggest concern that I hear from people is that they could never do this because they get emails that they need to respond to immediately.  My question to them is if it is really life or death that they respond within four hours.  Unless your main job is to respond immediately to customer service requests, I would argue that the business need to respond immediately isn’t required.  The individuals still have your phone number that they can call if they need you immediately.  Just let people know you focus your email to only certain times and they will quickly understand and adjust accordingly.

Action Step – For the next week, choose three times during the day you are going to read and respond to emails and then turn off the program in between.  You will go through a mild form of withdrawal at first but that will lessen with time.

Empty your inbox at least once a day

I realize this sounds impossible at first but with focused effort it is possible and once you are at zero and have your routine in process to keep it going you will be amazed.  A large productivity issue occurs when you read an email and then let it sit in the inbox.  That causes you to reread the same message three to five times on average before you act on it.  What I have found easiest is to ask myself as soon as I read a message this question –  “What is the next thing I have to do with this email?”  It could be filing it, asking a clarifying question, scheduling time to work on it or deleting it.  Any one of those four options will result it in moving out of my inbox.

This tip is the hardest of them all but the peace of mind it brings is amazing.  You no longer have to worry what is buried in the inbox that you may be missing.  Even if you are not able to get to zero right away, the small step of asking yourself what is the next thing you need to do for each message when you read it the first time will improve your productivity.

Action Step –During the next week, whenever a new message arrives, ask yourself what is the next step you have to take for that message.  Just this step will keep your inbox from growing any larger and hopefully will give you time back to go and take care of some of the messages already in your inbox.

These are just some of the tips that have really helped me improve my productivity and implement a process where email is not controlling me.  A great book that I highly recommend is “Getting Things Done” by David Allen.  It is a fantastic read and has many additional tips to improve your productivity.

Public Access Television

Minnesota State law requires that a cable franchise contract exist between a city and the cable company and that the franchise support community television.  Many Minnesota cites took advantage of this by establishing non-profit organizations funded by the cable company to provide operating, capital equipment funds and channel space for public use.

In the Twin Cities we are very fortunate to have many options to utilize these resources.  You are not able to use the equipment or space for commercial use but have full access to it when used to get information out for public benefit.  That means you can’t use it to video tape a birthday party or wedding but if you want to put together a talk show, share information about a non-profit organization or do your very own ”Best Sites of the Twin Cities” show that is perfectly acceptable.  Each site has slightly different rules so please check the rules for the organization.

My Experience

I have known about Northwest Community Television (NWCT) for a number of years but just recently took the time to learn more and attend an orientation.  I was extremely impressed by the access to equipment and the fact that in the case of NWCT, there is no costs to use equipment or the facility.  The facility consists of two large studios, a prop room where you can use anything for your set, a shared control room, three cameras in each studio, a half dozen editing suites, as well as cameras and two portable studios that can be checked out.  The building was busy with activity covering a diverse cross-section of community members that were actively using the equipment.

Great Opportunity

Over the last few years the ability to capture and use video has become easier — camera phones, Flip Video, YouTube, etc.  With this explosion in video, people of all ages have an increased interest in capturing and sharing video.  Take advantage of our public access facilities to learn tips on how best to capture video and use state of the art equipment to try new things and learn.  The editing suites alone are amazing and give you access to Apple’s Final Cut Pro which is the defacto standard for video editing today.

Process and Links

The first step is to attend an orientation which is typically completely free and lasts about an hour.  During that time you are given an overview of the building and what services are offered.  After orientation you can sign up for additional classes which are either free or very low cost.  Please take a look at the list below to find your city or do a search for Public Access Television along with your city name.

Minneapolis Television Network (MTN) – http://www.mtn.org
Serving residents of Minneapolis

St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN) - http://www.spnn.org
Serving residents of St. Paul

Northwest Community Television (NWCT) – http://www.nwct.org
Serving residents of Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, Medicine Lake, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale

CTV North Suburbs (CTV) – http://www.ctv15.org
Serving residents of Arden Hills, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Mounds View, New Brighton, North Oaks, Roseville, St. Anthony and Shoreview

Suburban Community Channels (SCC) – http://www.scctv.org
Serving residents of Birchwood, Dellwood, Grant, Lake Elmo, Mahtomedi, Maplewood, North Saint Paul, Oakdale, Vadnais Heights, White Bear Lake, White Bear Township and Willernie

Minnesota Community Television Listing
Comprehensive listing of Minnesota cities and the corresponding public access organization.

My Day Monday is the Answer

My Day Monday is a concept that you can use to do just that for your team – set aside everything that is currently on their plate for one day and let them focus on what they want to do to make an impact for the team.  It doesn’t have to be earth shattering; it just has to be their own!  They have complete control to decide how they do it, when they do it, where they do it, how they work for that day and what they are going to deliver.  Employees can choose to work together with others or on their own.  The only requirement is that come Tuesday, they share what they learned with the rest of the team.

History

This concept is loosely based on what companies around the world have been doing for years.  It is what brought 3M Post-it Notes and how Google developed GMail.  These were all ideas that their employees developed when they were given a little time to try new ideas.

My Day Monday is a concept I developed for my own team which I now do once a month.  It is a great way to give it a try and softly introduce into an organization instead of having a formal mandate to dedicate a certain percentage of time to innovation.

Examples:
Atlassian “Fedex Day” (Australia) — http://blogs.atlassian.com/rebelutionary/archives/000495.html
Google “20% Time” — http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/googles-20-percent-time-in-action.html

My Day Monday Rules:

1. It must be out of the ordinary — something that they are not currently working on — They can’t use the day as a catch up day!  This is their day, they should choose something fun to work on that they have passion for and want to do but never have the time.
2. It must be something that they can work on and have something to share during Tuesday’s recap meeting.
3. It must have an anticipated benefit to your team.

Logistics

1. Sunday Night or Monday Morning — Employees turn on “Out of Office” message and direct users with an emergency to please contact their manager (aka You!).  Managers participating in My Day Monday will cover for all emergencies as best as possible and will only contact employees if there is a business critical issue that cannot wait till Tuesday.
2. Monday – Employees work on whatever they want from wherever they want.
3. Tuesday Morning – Team meets and everyone has 10 minutes (or more if multiple people work together) to tell everyone what they did on “My Day Monday” and how it will help the team.

Does it work?

I have done this with my team for over a year and the results are outstanding.   The first few months you will see a little uncertainty from your team as they test you to see if you are serious.  Resist all urges to give them guidance on their projects — it is completely up to them!

Throughout this program we have identified new ideas which are now part of regular projects on the team.  We have looked at new technology and incorporated some into our processes and we have found others to not fit our needs (often an equally important finding).

Here’s How!

My Day Monday is easy to try and you will start seeing results very quickly.  Employees start keeping a running list of ideas, job enjoyment increases, new ideas are tried and overall productivity increases.

The first thing I hear when I share this ideas with most managers — “I like the idea but my team is too busy”.  I would argue that it is our responsibility to help make the time since this is how we continue to move forward and I believe my team is even more productive now than before because their engagement, motivation, passion and excitement are more closely aligned.

Please share your thoughts, successes and challenges in the comments section below, and share the My Day Monday idea with others.  If you tweet about it please use #MDM.

Over the last six months I have started to plug into this community more and am very excited about what it means both for the people involve and even more for the State of Minnesota.  These start-ups are important to our economy and create new jobs that help keep us a vibrant and growing region.  If you are interested in technology, I highly recommend following TECHdotMN which has some of the best coverage of this industry in Minnesota.

Twin Cities Startup Weekend

One of the many events which show this excitement is the Twin Cities Startup Weekend.  Imagine a group of sixty people who love technology coming together on a Friday night.  Many within the group have never met each other before entering the room and each has decided to give up their weekend to try something new.  The event starts off with some introduction about what is ahead and quickly moves into the pitching phase.  Anyone in the room is encouraged to step forward and share their new idea in 30 seconds or less.  This process will easily produce twenty new business ideas.  Once complete, everyone votes and the top eight are given a minute to share a little more about their idea.  After this overview the entire room splits up and individuals self select into the team that is most interesting to them.  Over the course of the next 48 hours these groups will work (some all throughout the night) to bring that idea from concept to prototype to be presented to a panel of successful entrepreneurs on Sunday night.

The outcomes are amazing and even more so when you think about the fact that none of these teams existed 60 hours earlier and yet they have been able to make great progress on their idea.  Working in the IT industry and having experience on how long it takes to pull together a prototype, it is amazing to see the energy and passion these groups have as well as being able to channel that energy to accomplish what otherwise could take weeks or even a month.

Startup Weekend reaffirmed how much a person can accomplish when passion, purpose and opportunity are combined.  Each day we have many great ideas yet they get set aside for another day when we have the time — Many times that day never arrives.   We owe it to ourselves and those around us to encourage each other to try something new and support those that take the initiative.

I wish everyone a very Happy Holidays and a wonderful new year.