Daily Intent

Santa Barbara, CA
This coming week, Paul Orfalea, the founder of Kinkos, will be speaking to a group of ten of us.  One of the messages he will bring to the table is “delegation”.  He is living representation of how one man delegated his way to founding and leading a multiple billion dollar company.  He is a “hyperactive dyslexic”.  Given this fact, he learned early on that there were certain things he either couldn’t do, didn’t like to do, or was terrible at doing.  The understanding of self enable him the gift of asking for help.  He claims to never be afraid of asking.

We hear this word rather often when discussing how to build out an idea, grow ones business, or even operate an efficient household where the kids have responsibility.   Have you ever looked up the definition?

I love the web’s definition of delegate:
“•transfer power to someone
•give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person)
•a person appointed or elected to represent others”

When you “transfer power to someone” you are often empowering them.  You are handing over the reigns.  This in and of itself is reason to consider delegating.  I feel it okay to write this, while not at all promoting abuse, for those within my email list are stand-up citizens.  You consistently make respectful decisions that aren’t abusive in nature.

Having said that, what is not in the description is how delegating can empower the delegator.  If delegating correctly, you can get more accomplished.  In getting more accomplished, you are encouraged to dream bigger.  In dreaming bigger, you are able to pinnacle at Mount Everest rather than the mole hill out back.

To delegate effectively you must know thyself.  What are your strengths?  What are your weaknesses?  Basic.  But implementation is rather difficult.  Why?

Example: Being an academic by nature, delegating is difficult for me.  I want to be good at everything.  I want to be good at both math and history.  I want have the ability to write a novel while understanding geology.  If I’m not good at something, I want to work on it.  So when I ask for help, I feel like I’m slacking.  I’m telling the world I’m not good enough at the particular task.

Great delegators will tell me to think otherwise.  Yes, it is good to work on your weaknesses, but it is also good to recognize them and find help from someone in which this area comes easy.

I ask us all, thus, to spend the next week focusing on our weaknesses.  Let them not depress us, but let us laugh about them.  Let us make light of them.  This is who we are.   We can’t be good at everything.  However, we have six billion people in the world to help us in the areas in which we fall.  Might it be more empowering to solicit a few of them to march along your side?
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PLAN
Catalyst for Thought - MINDS Lunches.  Within the coming weeks 10 person lunches will be shared with Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinkos (SOLD OUT), and Jim Eiting, past CEO and now Chairman of Midmark, a $300m medical device company and author of the recently released book, Focus for Success.  Klaus Schauser, one of the founders of Expert City which later became Citrix Online, will also be joining us.  Register at www.CatalystSB.org to ensure you receive the registration emails.
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LEARN
Buzzword: Fool in the Shower
“A phrase used to describe the idea that changes or policies designed to alter the course of the economy should be done slowly, rather than all at once. It describes a scenario where a central bank, such as the Federal Reserve acts to stimulate or slow down an economy. When the first stimulus is made, the effect may not be immediate, which can cause decision makers to increase the magnitude of the change, eventually causing too much stimulus.

The phrase is attributed to Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, who likened a central bank that acted too forcefully to a fool in the shower. When the fool realizes that the water is too cold, he turns on the hot water. However, the hot water takes a while to arrive, so the fool simply turns the hot water up all the way, eventually scalding himself.

Any change made to stimulate a broad economy, especially one as large as the U.S. takes time to work its way through. A move like lowering the fed funds rate takes about six months to fully integrate into the economy. Therefore, economists are always cautious about overreaching and prefer small consistent steps to enact change.”  -Investopedia.com

  Six Points to Ponder:

   1. Corporate Earnings.  The Markets were mixed this week as earning announcements clouded over other headlines.   - The Dow scaled up to 10,710, S&P 500 migrated North to 1148 and the Nasdaq meander to 2316.  Oil is down to $79/bbl.
   2. Bank Tax. The Obama Administration is currently drawing up plans to tax large banks in efforts to gain back lost bailout funds and punish banks for large bonus structures.
   3. Car Electronics Zoom.  With the consumer electronics show last week and the car show this week, car gadgets and gizmos are zooming into the future.
   4. Google Straddling Great Wall.  Recent speculation over the Chinese government hacking into Chinese Gmail user accounts coupled with their heightened censorship, has Google questioning whether they’re willing to stay in China. Moral dilemma?  Stand up to China and lose 35% market share?
   5. Haiti 7.0 Hiatus. A 7.0 Earthquake has the island of Haiti in shambles.  Over 3 million Haitians have been effected, with over 100,000 presumably dead.  Anxious to support? Visit: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/01/13/haiti.earthquake.how.to.help/?hpt=Sbin
   6. Champion ‘Bama.   The Heisman and his fellow comrades hobbled then pinned a tough Texas team to win the National Championship.  New faces in the Super Bowl?  Steelers and Patriots are out.

Positives:

    * There is optimism going into the heart of this earnings period.  The Markets are nearing 11,000.  Intel beat earning projections.  Layoffs are beginning to slow.  And Americans are beginning to spend, not much, but 15% more than a year ago. Moreover, oil at $80 per barrel is close to the optimal price level for economic progress while at the same time promoting green technologies.
    * “The Consumer Electronics Association [is] predicting sales of in-vehicle technology to top out at more than $9.3 billion in 2009 once the dust settles…”  This is a huge industry.  “As another Ford exec pointed out, even tires and auto glass contain electrical components, thanks to tire-pressure monitoring systems and windshield-mounted radio antennas.”  Now if only they could make a mass push for true “smart” cars that operate without a driver.
    * The Google Moral Dilemma I’m putting in the positive category for a couple reasons.  First, I believe the press it promotes regarding freedom of speech in China will, over time, lead to positive outcomes for not just the Chinese 1.2 billion, but also the world at large.   Google is throwing its weight around and rousing up the Chinese people. Having 1.2 billion more people being able to exchange and transfer information without worry, ultimately will result in a better planet for us all to live.  More outside the box thinkers equals better technologies, medical, innovation, etc… One well known blogger said “Google’s stature and the United States’ increasingly vocal stance on Internet freedom could not easily be ignored. Google’s pulling out, he said, would ’set a bad example for the business climate in China and make a joke of the government claims of a free Internet.’
    * The second round of the NFL Playoffs should be exciting this weekend as many of the best quarterbacks take the field.  Big yardage quarterbacks.  Peyton Manning.  Drew Brees.  Kurt Warner.  Enjoy the joy and anticipation of heightened competition.

Negatives:

    * Fool in the Shower perhaps with the government’s taxing of the banks?  They are attacking the banks and creating ever more stipulations after many laws have already been put in place.  They have pulled in the reigns, with some of the changes being quite positive, while others and future legalities could be over the top, long-term careless and scalding.  JPMorgan and Bank of America stand to pay $1.5 billion each.  Over the course of the next decade, fees could amount to $90 billion.
    * The destruction of a 7.0 Earthquake is fully dramatized when located in one of the poorest countries of the world.  It is a tragedy.  The US will be sending $100M in aid.  “Former President Bill Clinton, who serves as the U.N. special envoy to Haiti, called on people around the world to donate money to relief organizations or the U.N.  ‘We do not have the logistical or organizational capacity right now to handle a lot of things, even if we need those things,’ he said. ‘What we need now is food, water, supplies for first aid and shelter.’”  Be sure to visit the site listed above if you want to help. 
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GET INVOLVED
Local:

Food for Thought
Where: Mahakankala Buddhist Ctr.  22 W Mission St, Santa Barbara
When: Friday, January 15th.  6:30pm - 8pm
Cost: Not Available
Why:  Something completely different.   “A brief teaching and meditation, followed by a meal with like-minded friends.”  You are encouraged to bring a dish or drink to share (appetizer, entree, dessert, or drink…”  563.6000
For other fun ideas, go to www.lovemikana.com

Live and Be Well,

Jeff Bochsler