An Eleven String Guitar

How many strings are on a 12-string guitar? No, it's not a trick question, but if you're in my house on the right day, the answer could be eleven.

That's not the right answer, but it is the true answer.

Why? It's not intentional. The strings come in various gauges, simplified on the container as Light, Medium, and Extra Light (an interesting logic of its own) and the mediums are hard to find. Using light gauge strings on a 12-string guitar means that the thinnest string is so thin (.08 cm) that it's very easily broken.

Sometimes, I can break a string while I'm tuning it, that's how easy they are to break. When that happens, it's eleven-string time until the next trip to the music store.

If you don't tell anyone, an eleven-string guitar could go undetected for weeks (I've done it). The sound is pretty much the same and the strings are so close together to begin with that you'd need to really get close to see the gap.

It's not ideal, but the music is still good and the rest of the strings don't seem to mind.

What did I learn from an eleven-string guitar?

Plan ahead

Clearly, I've done this before. Why not have an extra string for when one breaks? By planning ahead my 12-string guitar will always be complete. Maybe I just like to live on the edge, when it comes to music -- but when it comes to business, are your "extra strings" in place?

Play on with what you've got

OK, so sometimes we don't plan ahead enough. That doesn't have to be the end of the song. Lots of great music has been made with pieces missing and lots of great teams have succeeded long after key players left. Play on.

Know your breaking point

That .08 cm thin string breaks for me about half the time, which is why I usually select the higher gauge. What parts of your machine, or team, or project are breaking under the strain. What can you do to minimize that? How do you raise the gauge of your work?

Points to Ponder

If you play a musical instrument, change something about it (use a different reed, re-tune your strings, use a mute, amplify it...) and play your favorite song. How does change for you to be more creative? What else can you do to increase your creativity?

Draw a picture of yourself (or your company logo, or your favorite cat...) using your non-dominant hand. What details can you miss and still make a recognizable picture? Can you still capture the essence of your message? What accidental lines or marks spark a memory or idea?

-- Doug Smith

WHO SAID IT?

"You do not merely want to be the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do."

Was it...

A. Jerry Garcia
B. Eric Clapton
C. Pat Metheny?

The answer is here.

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The Right People

Who do you get to help you solve your problem? You, of course, that's a given. Also, people who will be impacted by any solution you try. People who are feeling the effects of the problem right now. Even (especially) people who you think may be at the root cause of the problem. Get the benefit of many ideas. Enlist the help of people who will care how it turns out. Collaborate to gain commitment. Engage the right people in creating problem solutions so that they don't become the wrong people while implementing them. -- doug smith

More, please

How many solutions does your problem need? Sometimes the answer is just one more. It could also be that your problem needs twenty more before you find the one that sticks. Finding solutions is the fun part anyway so just keep going. Create more solutions to a problem than you need in order to find one that works. -- doug smith

In Front

Problems bring pain. Maybe it's physical, or emotional, or logistical-- as long as the problem is there, so is that pain. When we solve the problems in front of us we can put the pain behind us. -- doug smith

Only Goals That Matter

We're all busy. No one can do everything. Creating meaningful goals matters in order to use our time and resources responsibly. Even when the intention is good, a bad goal is a burden. Unless the goal is important, is is worse than unimportant, it is a distraction. You don't need more distractions, do you? -- doug smith

Shortcut

Your goals matter to other people when other people matter to you. -- doug smith

Healthy Goal Focused Habits

Successful goals are supported by productive habits. Some productive goal-achieving habits include: Working on your goal everyday Scheduling time to work on your goal Breaking your goal down into smaller, easily achieved tasks Telling other people about your goal What other productive habits do you use? -- doug smith

Better Results

We do get to choose. It's as easy to be positive as it is to be negative and the results are much more pleasing. What's your choice? -- doug smith

An Important Pause

We're all in a hurry. Urgency is a way of life. When we're working on a problem it feels as if the faster we solve it the better. But, have you ever solved a problem only to shortly discover that you haven't solved it at all? New complications arise. Surprises confound you. The problem roars back. The worry creates the hurry. The rush is not enough. Better to find the actual cause of the problem and face that issue. Taking time to analyze a problem will save time in solving it. And that saves time overall. That pause you take may be more important than you thought. -- doug smith

It's Not The Volume

It's so tempting to get louder when your words aren't delivering the results that you want. I've done it. Raising the volume feels like action, it's more of a reaction. Emotions are so powerful that they can make us forget what we're thinking. Emotions are also contagious, and that extra volume invites a loud response. If you've ever been in an argument where you're shouting at each other, you know how ineffective that is. Saying something louder does not make it more true. Winning leaders manage their emotions. They check their thinking to see if it aligns with their goals. It could be easier to meet someone halfway than to pull them all the way to your way of thinking. That doesn't mean we need to compromise every time -- but we do need to show that we're willing to consider someone else's point of view. And then, that we do understand that point of view. Louder is seldom better. (Unless you're playing guitar, then loud could be good...) -...

Likability

Think about the most likable person you know. It's probably someone who makes you smile, who cheers you up, who says positive things during an otherwise tough day. The most likable person you know is friendly. They treat people with kindness. They do their job without complaining, completely and competently. They clean up after themselves and sometimes even for other people without being asked. The most likable person around just seems to make everything better. Could that be you? You're the most likable person you know if that's what you decide to be. Try it for a day -- you might like it. -- doug smith

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