The Joe Schumacker Blog first appeared in October 2009. After two months of posts, events conspired to cause what was anticipated to be a short break in posting.  Now, three months later, I am back. I have elected to restart with a reprise of my initial message. You will also find in the Archive section the pieces posted to the first incarnation of the blog.    

I restart the Joe Schumacker Blog with a quote from Charles F. Kettering, “It is the follow through that makes a great difference between ultimate success and failure, because it is so easy to stop”.  

I have come to realize that our failure to be successful is seldom due to the lack of a good idea, but rather the lack of the determination needed to convert an idea to reality.

Joe Schumacker

3/10     

Those who know me, but not well, know I say a lot. Those that know me well know that I have a lot to say. Having a lot to say is an admirable, but useless trait, unless someone is listening. In the past, I have had the benefit of a captive audience as I spoke to various groups within Bowling, and particularly within the businesses operated by my company, SpareZ, Inc. Now, as Past President of the BPAA and operator of significantly fewer businesses, I find myself in search of an audience for the messages that still need to be delivered.

I come to you as a new blogger. As such I know that it is my responsibility to hold your attention, not your responsibility to give it to me. I realize that your time is at least as valuable as mine and should not be wasted. The topic which I present needs to be relevant and the time needed to absorb the content needs to be acceptable to you, my audience. I also realize that routine is good and frequency is a matter of balance. With all of this in mind, I have established the following parameters for my blog:

√  I will limit my messages to one per week.

√  I will whenever possible send my message on Friday.

√   I will maintain an upper limit of 800 words per message.

√  I will not bore you with stories of our new kitten, or details of vacation trips.

√   I will have a point to make with each message, although I will not guarantee it will be in bold print.

√   I will seek to have you think rather than tell you what to think.

With the ground rules set and about half of my allotted words used, I am ready to present to you the first bit of content from the Joe Schumacker Blog.

Words, the Building Blocks of Change

If we want our World to be different, we need to do things differently.

If we want to do things differently, we must think about things differently.

If we want to think about things differently, we must use words differently.

Change the words and you change the World.

Albert Einstein is widely quoted as having stated, “A problem can never be solved at the same level of thinking used when it was created”. Einstein is also credited with defining insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. What problems are you trying to solve with the same solutions that have not worked many times in the past? What problems are you attempting to solve with the same leveling of thinking that has existed since the problem first developed?

In an effort to solve a persistent problem within an organization, the problem is frequently transferred from one person or group to another. The logic is that the new owner of the problem will think about it differently and new, previously unseen solutions will become visible. Many times the process works. A better solution is found. The new owner of the problem is not necessarily smarter or has access to better information. The solution comes from shifting the context. Talk about things differently and you will think about things differently. Think about things differently and you will find different ways to do things. Do things differently and you will generate different results. It all starts with your words. You use your words to build a prison or a paradise. You use your words to build your world.

In coming weeks, I will be challenging you to think differently, to change the context in which you attempt to find solutions to persistent problems.  The solutions to our problems and the keys to our opportunities are within us and they can only be brought out by our words.

Joe

Taking it Deeper:

“The Four Agreements”, Don Miguel Ruiz

“The Strangest Secret”, Earl Nightingale

“Fierce Conversations”, Susan Scott