So what's exciting me now?
Steven Covey's "The 8th Habit", that's what.
And "The Art of Getting Things Done" (a.k.a., GTD), by David Allen.
Really just starting reading the former, and have watched one of the short films included on the accompanying DVD. (BTW: Got this new book with still-sealed DVD for a grand total of $5.79, including s+h, on amazon.com. Goes right along with the "The 8th Habit" tab in my Franklin Planner.)
ANYway:
Things are not going well, to say the least, at my day job. I just can't get into all the forms and processes they put around putting in a new process and tool to get something done. Seems like we went through lots of forms in 2004, then again in 2005, and each time funding ran out, or was approved too late for us to complete the project before it was deployed into production.
Even so, we kept track of all the stuff we developed (hours of work by several people on a team and tracked by one person who gave it to us mid-2006 for the third go around with new meat -- er, I mean, PEOPLE -- involved in the project.
But apparently there was more to be done: A vision. A strategy. A grand set of ideas yet to be uncovered from the innermost regions of our individual and collective brains. The boss knew about them, but wanted us to draw them out. Everyone else on the team brought ideas to the boss, but I didn't because I'd been through two failed exercises in brainstorming for two consecutive years, wasting a total of perhaps a hundred hours on cancelled initiatives.
Pardon my cynicism, but I'm not really interested in wasting hundreds of hours of time. Again.
So I want to do something different; but what? Enter the 8th Habit. It wasn't like I didn't have enough self-help books in various stages of consumption (and bookmarked to show it) already; no: I needed another book. And I realized I already had not only the 8th Habit Audio CD and the 8th Habit workbook in my planner, so this seemed like a natural addition to my reading "to-do" list.
So the 8th Habit advocates that we "find our voice and inspire others to find theirs." But what's a "voice"?
Voice is where our passion, talent, conscience and need converge to define our unique, personal significance. Am I alone in getting a big charge out of this stuff? I mean, doesn't everyone want to know why they're here? Seems like this title will help put some meat on that bony framework.
So I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Next, GTD (or, Getting Things Done). This I've had for months but I'm only halfway through the book. It's a GREAT resource for organizing and setting up a system; it's just that every time I read two or three pages I get so excited I have to hurry and do what it suggest... before I continue reading.
Don't laugh: I've had people comment on my clean desk and productive time at the office (though not my boss, whose complaints have compelled me to begin reading the other title, above).
Gotta go. Stuff to do for work, still.
Back soon!
