Back Yourself Up

Do you rely on an online platform to hold your content, your ideas, your opinions? Are you counting on it always being there?

It's easy to rely on a resource that seems plentiful, easy, and even free. Easy, but not safe. Platforms come and go. Platforms change without asking us, sometimes taking the convenience, facility, or economy away. That's aggravating and you know what? It's sure to happen.

I've been sharing ideas on training for a long time, and I've seen big changes or disappearance from some of my favorite platforms. I thought they'd be there. I counted on their archives. I didn't have to budget for their expense. But the changed, and I've at times had to scramble to rearrange my records. Some ideas and articles I've been able to adjust and change to other storage areas, but some have literally disappeared with no record of having ever existed, no matter how much work they were or how proud I was of them. For example, I contributed tons of entries on a Yahoo discussion forum that one night was simply deleted. Hundreds of influential trainers, consultants, and HR Professionals lost not only their favorite forum, they lost big chunks of their intellectual property.

Recently there was a big stink about how Flickr began to profit from the photo images people have trusted to that platform. Do you think you own something -- or does the platform police own it?

No doubt you've been part of the frequent discussions about how FaceBook uses your content. You might not like their decisions, but you have little or no influence over what they do.

Back your stuff up. Whenever you can, learn enough coding to keep it close. I like the approach that Stephen Downes takes at Stephen's Web in coding and developing his own platforms wherever he can. There's still the risk that your hosting service can cough up a hair ball, but at least you have more control and can archive your own stuff.

When should you start backing up your stuff? How about right now?

-- Doug Smith

Front Range Leadership

Music: Douglas Brent Smith

High Performance Leadership Blog

Don't expect any platform you're not in charge of to last forever.

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Get Started

Have you ever gotten resistance to a goal that you really wanted to achieve? Maybe someone told you that you weren't capable. Maybe someone told you that the goal was wrong for you, or unachievable. What do they know? Your goals are important no matter what anyone says. Get started when you're ready. -- doug smith

Influence, Not Manipulation

This could be a whole book, but I'll keep it short. Every day is a struggle to influence and to avoid being manipulated. Both struggles impact each other. We need to be open to being influenced. Sometimes we're wrong. Sometimes our perspective shifts, our approach changes, our actions respond. But, manipulation is inconsiderate. Manipulation is disrespectful. Manipulation says "we don't trust you so we're going to make it hard for you to do what we don't want you to do..." Influence all day long. Involve people in that influence. Make your circle larger and watch your potential grow. But as soon as you try to manipulate someone, you've crossed a dangerous line. What do you think? -- doug smith

Get Help Solving That Problem

Do you try to do everything on your own? If you're part of a team, and especially if you are leading a team, it goes better by collaborating. Working together. Helping each other. People like to be connected. What better time to strengthen your connections than when you have a problem? You don't need everyone in the world to help you solve a problem but you probably do need someone. Find out who that is, and get them involved. Besides, it is way more fun that way, too. -- doug smith

Motivation Is Contagious

Like most team behaviors, motivation is contagious. When people look around and see team members energized, charged up, focused, and engaged, it tends to spread. That's not a shortcut, though. Leaders still need to do the work by creating an environment that supports and challenges the team members. Leaders also need to develop relationships with individual team members and help those team members develop cooperative, cohesive relationships with each other. There's no quick fix, but it helps to start doing something that does work. One thing is talking with your people. Lead with questions long before you offer any answers. What motivates your people? Ask them. -- doug smith

Work With The Team You've Got

Maybe you inherited your team. Maybe your team just lost a key player. The game goes on. You've got to keep playing, keep producing, and keep developing your team. Work with the team you've got. When you do, they will astound you. -- doug smith

The Pursuit of Tough Goals

Great goals are tough. We don't remember the easy goals, but the tough goals change us. Set a tough goal and then run with it hard. The pursuit of a tough goal requires relentless dedication. Isn't that what you've been preparing for? -- doug smith

Nothing Cranky

Work your goals but make your goals serve you. No one needs a goal that makes them cranky. -- doug smith

The Seat of the Situation

Problems are complicated. We need to think clearly about them, to analyze their causes. We also need to act quickly because, oddly or not, some solutions expire. Sit, or move? Think, or act? This isn't a universal assertion, but maybe one with value: the situation isn't entirely the problem, and the problem isn't entirely the situation. As closely as cause and effect may nest, there are likely other causes, other effects worth considering. It's a bit like widening the circle in a jam session. Yes, the new instruments complicate things, and yes, sometimes the notes are discordant, but oh! the miracle of the unexpected harmonies can make the how piece better. That's the situation. What if it existed before the problem, and needs to exist beyond the problem? We can sit with a problem without making that problem the entire situation. What do you think? -- doug smith ps: The drawing is only partially related. It't a situation. It's a problem. I drew this danci...

A Sign to Learn

What's your reaction when you find yourself in conflict and yet you are absolutely sure that you're right? Do you dig in on your position? Do you redouble your efforts to convince everyone of your position? Or do you stay curious? Do you stay open to learning? The more certain I am that I'm right the greater the opportunity there is to learn. The next time you are absolutely sure that you're right try asking yourself -- what can I still learn here? It could change everything. -- Douglas Brent Smith

Subtle Motivation

People are motivated by their own individual needs, but also powerfully by what motivate those people nearby. Behavior, and motivation, is contagious. Winning leaders create environments where motivation is widely shared. It's not a contest, it's a team. -- doug smith

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