Working for 10,000

In the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, he explains what this term means:

"Outliers is a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience"

Then, he applies the same term to people that seem ahead of its time, outstanding in their fields and with huge success. People who you might think are gifted or naturally talented. 

Truth is these outstanding people have (according to the theory in the book) one big advantage compared to everyone else: 10,000 hours of experience. If they are outstanding musicians, writers, entrepreneurs or dancers it's because they have 10,000 hours or more of experience in their fields.

The 10,000 hour number is, of course, an approximate number, but to me it only translates into one thing: hard, constant, persistent work.

If you want to be the best, work for your 10,000 hours.

One last piece of advice: find something that you love and then work in it for 10,000 hours. I'm sure no matter what you do, you're going to be one of the best. 

¡Lo encontre!

¡Finalmente se cómo se siente! Es una sensación que te provoca llorar de manera incontenible y te hace reír a la vez. Parece que tu cabeza no alcanza a procesar lo que está experimentando y todo tu mundo da vueltas y la sensación de euforia es increíblemente intensa.

Finalmente se cómo se siente el encontrar tu verdadera pasión. Y me siento inmensamente orgulloso. Me siento orgulloso de haber encontrado mi momento de epifanía en alguien que es latino como yo. Alguien que en un discurso de 17 minutos me enseño cual es el camino que toda mi vida he buscado. Finalemente se lo que quiero hacer y sé que puedo hacerlo porque por primera vez tengo algo más en la mente que como hacer que un negocio sea exitoso. No quiero volverme un empresario, quiero volverme un agente de cambio y no me importa no obtener un centavo por hacerlo. No me importa el no tener nada con tal de ver este sueño, que es el sueño de alguien más que hoy comparto, realizado.

Y prometo comenzar a trabajar a partir del día de hoy en él.

En este video, el Maestro José Abreu da su discurso en el que recibe el TED Prize 2009. Es el mejor discurso que he oído en mi vida y me ha hecho sentir inmensamente orgulloso de ser latino. La noción de "la música sirviendo a la sociedad" resume lo que el maestro ha buscado fervorosamente toda su vida y que hoy comienza una nueva etapa en el logro de este TED Prize 2009.

La pasión y trabajo de este hombre, de este maestro ha dado frutos increíbles, que hoy se ven plasmados en gente sobresaliente como Gustabo Dudamel que conduce a la Orquesta Juvenil Teresa Carreño en una interpretación que me deja sin habla y con "ojos brillantes" para citar a Benjamin Zander

Gracias Maestro Abreu por mostrarme el camino y hacerme saber como quiero que mi vida sea trascedente y cuál es la historia que de hoy en adelante quiero contar.

Free!!! Twitter Beginner's Manual

Have you heard about Twitter? There is a big hype going on about this social media platform as a way to communicate short pieces of information about you or your brand. This micro blogging tool can seem like a waste of time, but there's more to it than it seems. 

From Duct Tape Marketing comes this free beginners guide to the use of Twitter as a business tool. It's very good help in getting to know the ropes of the platform. As a plus, you can find it in Spanish too!

Maybe you won't find any use in Twitter for your business or as another social media platform, but I think it's worth reading the document to understand what all the hype is about.

The document covers everything from creating your account to ways to find people who have similar interests and how to use it as a tool for your brand. Enjoy!

And they answered...

It was easy to know. Probably 15 years ago it would have been impossible, but today networking probabilities are endless. I love to have this example so near me and to know personally the people who began the movement. This is the first time people in my country put their minds together and thinks positively about doing something together and believing it is an achievable goal.

We still don't know for sure if it's going to happen or not, but as I mentioned before, we were going to have an answer. And here it is. At least I'm happy to know that now they are taking us into account, for before this had happened we weren't even being taken into consideration. 

Congratulations on a very successful effort!

Be serious for a moment!

In fact, you have to always be serious about what you do. In this Serious Play talk, Paula Scher shares with us why being serious at play is far better than being solemn at work.

The one lesson I can draw from this talk is: be as serious as a child with the things that you do. When this turns into a job and becomes solemn look in a different direction.

Quick guide to finding your passion

When you look for Sir Ken Robinson on Wikipedia one of the first pieces of information you find is "He is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources". To me he is one of the most influential persons in the field of modern education and is redefining what this should be like. 

In his book The Element he states different people have different kinds of intelligence and measuring it cannot be done solely on the grounds of fields such as mathematics or language. Painters, dancers, musicians, storytellers can be just as remarkable and influential as mathematicians, economists and entrepreneurs but standard "intelligence" measures (like an IQ  test) fail when it comes to this other kinds of intelligence.

These people can underperform in their school years and struggle in the process, but once they find their Element they are headed to making a big impact around them.

Sir Ken Robinson defines The Element in one phrase:

"The Element is the place where the things you love to do and the things that you are good at come together". 

Imagine you could find such a place. Imagine you could find your true passion. And I'm sure you can. 

But the only way to do finding this place is by creating. You won't be able to find your passion just by picking into your brain for big ideas and once you find them ponder upon them. You have to put these ideas to work, get them out of your brain and make them come to life. This is probably the hardest part for anyone trying to live of their passion.

Most people will be afraid because doing this can mean challenging status quo, or be disappointed

in the process because the first time they try making their passions come true they fail. The only way of living of your passion is through making, trying, failing and trying again until you can get your big break. Hard work will pay off. But never stop trying.

Below you can find Sir Ken Robinson's talk on TED. One of the best.

Being a teacher, being a leader

Recently, Mike who is the president from a big company in El Salvador told a story during a staff meeting: when he was in fourth grade he had an English teacher (his native language is Spanish) who was constantly tormenting him about his performance in the subject. He just didn't seem to get it. His teacher didn't have the patience to guide him through the course as he needed extra help and the natural skill for learning a second language just wasn't Mike's strength.

So Mike took matter in his own hands and set out to make an extra effort. He would dedicate an extra hour or two daily with the sole purpose of learning the foreign language. But results didn't show. He failed the tests and his improvement was slow.

After months of trying, he came up to his teacher and told him "I've been trying real hard to pass your course and learn but I just don't seem to get it. What can I do? I'm trying very hard!" To which his teacher replied "Too bad but I'm not grading your effort. Your grades are based on results". 

He told this story to his staff to point out that no matter how hard they tried, if they didn't deliver results, they didn't have a future in the company.

I think there are two misconceptions in this story:

First, if your staff doesn't deliver the expected results it's more likely that there's a leadership problem, rather then lack of capacity. In the story the teacher doesn't have the patience to help a student who has difficulty learning a subject. This doesn't mean his not able to learn, this only means he has to learn in a different way or maybe needs more guidance than other students. So this is a clear leadership issue. As a leader you have to identify inside your organization your employees skills and assign them in the right positions. You have to make sure they have proper training as well, but it is your responsibility as a leader to develop people in your staff.

Then we have the effort issue in this story: rewarding effort is a basic element that enhances performance and develops creativity. You have to make sure the efforts are focused and aligned with the company's objectives and goals, but again you as the leader have the task of guiding those efforts and convincing people to go down the right path.

Remember, when you become a good leader your employees will certainly deliver the results you expect. 

It's all about the money!

Of course it is! That's the measure of success, isn't it? That's what makes you happy! It doesn't matter if you don't want to get up and go to work every day. Or if stress is killing you because of your boss's pressure. If the money is good it's all worth it... isn't it?

I used to have this point of view (I have to confess). But things have changed. A lot. At least for me. I have found recently that most people I admire who are very successful have three things in common: 

They don't do what they do for the money. They don't even think about being rich when they launch their products or services, when they start their communities or when they write their first book. Most of them start doing it for other reasons: because they identify a need, because something is terribly wrong and someone has to correct it or just for the fun of it. Guy Kawasaki goes deeper on this subject in his book "The art of the Start". This to him is making meaning, the first step to beginning your startup (I reviewed this subject on my very first post in this blog). Carrerbuilding.com makes a fine point in this video. Please reconsider your job if you feel like this.

They do whatever it is they enjoy doing. In many cases they end up resigning from jobs they didn't want and had the courage to go on their own to do what they had fun doing. As Stephen King mentions on his book "On Writing":

"...when I'm not working, I'm not working at all, although during those periods of full stop I usually feel at loose ends with myself... For me, not working is the real work. When I'm writing it's all the playground, and the worst three hours I ever spent there were still pretty damn good."

This to me is the perfect example of what everyone should experience while working. It shouldn't fell like work at all. That is what everyone should look for.

And finally, they took the plunge and gave it a try! If you don't lose fear you will never know if you are going to be able to make it. Fear of failing, of not being heard, of ridicule, of people laughing at you are some of the reasons why people don't try to achieve that which they've always wanted. Get over your fears. Trust me, it pays.

I'm only writing this to make you realize that you have everything you need to be successful. So give it a try. Money comes as a consequence of all this and should not be your primary goal. Once you find your passion you'll see it all clearly.

Know your audience

Has it ever occurred to you? Have you ever been in a presentation where you feel so disconnected from the speaker and the subject that provokes you to get up and leave? Or have you experienced it the other way around: It is you the one that's giving the presentation but somehow you are not able to reach out and truly connect with your audience.

Let's face it. Most professionals have the responsibility to prepare presentations, but somehow fail to dedicate enough time to prepare. Sometimes you blame it on your boss. It's common to hear something like: "We have to prepare a sales pitch for this big client. The meeting is tomorrow". Does this sound familiar? And sometimes you have so much going on that you just don't have the time.

Personally I think that there are many professionals that don't give the importance they should to preparing their presentations. If they did, they would find the time to prepare. 

The base for preparing an effective presentation is to know your audience. To quote Nancy Duarte from her book Slide:ology:

"Start by building audience personas before building slides. Painting a picture of a real human with real needs helps you connect to them more effectively".

Some of the advantages you get by doing this are:

• You know how to speak to them, how to make your message get through. When you know your audience it's easier for you to decide which way to "speak" to them: do images work best or do you have to present hard data to convince them?
• You can identify what they expect from you. Remember: people are coming to see you because they are expecting you will deliver something they need or desire. You have to make sure they get it from you 
• By knowing them it's easier for you to get them to "take action". This is the final goal: to get them to buy your product or make a donation or join your community. Remember to be clear about what you want them to do

I hope you find this useful for any of your future presentations. I know your audience will appreciate it.

Leading in crisis

Just recently I had the opportunity to listen to a top Director of an important multinational company giving a speech about how 2008 was a lousy year in sales. The basic message was he wasn't going to put up with this again in 2009. He had more than 500 people listening.

Later on, in the Q&A section of the conference someone had the courage to ask a question that many people has had in their minds for a long time: "how can we stop top down directives?"

It was a brave question, but the answer was one of the worst answers any Director could ever give: "Top down decisions are not going to stop. And these won't stop because I'll make sure they keep coming. Many of them will come from me".

In a time of crisis people needs a reason to believe. People need someone to believe. People need someone that leads, someone to follow. The last thing anyone needs is to be bullied.

The only message I could get by hearing this is that people inside this organization lack real leadership and the only way to get things done is by fear.

In times like this, you need to hear what employees have to say more than ever. The best ideas always come from people who are in the trenches, working with your clients up close. If you keep thinking the only one that has all of the experience and all the answers is you let me give you some news: you are heading the wrong way. The only way to survive in today's economic environment is to change and adapt fast. Without the ideas and commitment of people working inside your company this is impossible to achieve. And to commit they need leadership not a bully.

U2 and their tribe

In the last months  there has been an effort going on in order to lead a tribe. This tribe is all the people who are U2 fans in El Salvador. And the effort is being lead by one DJ in a radio station called La Femenina.

Frankie Rivas is trying to bring together the tribe and organize it to create a movement. The goal: to make U2 come to El Salvador.

This seems unreal to many people. In fact, there are lots of people who think the effort is just pointless, that U2 is never coming, that it's just some kind of gimmick in order for the radio station boost the ratings. I think they're dead wrong.

Today, anyone can achieve the necessary leverage in order to lead a tribe, organize it, connect their members and get them to make any kind of goal come true. And i mean anyone. There's only one requirement for this to happen: you have to be willing to become a leader.

This is what La Femenina is doing. This is what Frankie Rivas is doing. He is using the leverage anyone has access to in order to make "U2 veni" ("U2 Come") come true. But the difference is he believes this can be achieved and he is willing to lead the tribe. And there are many people that think he's right. 

Sure there are those who think it's not worth their time, and those who will try to diminish it or even bring it down. But if people notice you and talk about what you do, it means that you have developed something out of the ordinary. Criticism is part of doing things in a different way.

It is possible that Bono and the gang don't show up. But what I know for sure is that we will have an answer from them. Positive or negative, we will have an answer.

I got the best birthday gift ever: Steve Vai's Guitar!

Yesterday I got the coolest birthday present: i got Steve Vai's Jem Ibanez signature guitar along with notes from some of my closest friends with congratulations on my birthday (see the pic above). This was the result of two weeks hard work of my girlfriend (and by the way: thanx my love for giving me the best present ever!).

She gave it to me early in the morning, and to be honest it brought tears to my eyes, seeing that so many people that i care about wrote something in their own unique way to congratulate me.

But the best part came afterwards when all those people that took a time from their busy schedule to write something down for me, also took some time to give me a call. This was the best part: to receive so many calls through the whole day saying "Congratulations!".

As always, there is a lesson in all of this: doing something good for someone makes you happy. Making people do good things for someone else can accomplish amazing things!

Thank you all for giving me the best birthday yet!

We are not in charge

I am currently reading Seth Godin's "All Marketers are liars" (Very good book, I highly recommend it), and I couldn't agree more on the fact that on marketing "You are not in charge".

Companies keep spending high marketing budgets on media with the sole purpose of reaching as much people as possible (TV, radio, newspapers), hoping this will get consumers because they have a product that "fits all sizes". Nothing is farther from the truth nowadays.

Consumers are looking for products or services that are relevant to them in many aspects, but when your product tells a story in which people engage and takes interest, all other aspects become less important.

Developing stories behind your brand that fits the point of view of the people you want to reach is much more important than TV ads or even pricing. The idea behind this is that if you have a great story to tell, an idea that's worth spreading, then people will make sure other people hear about it. And then you can quit this addiction to mass media or trying to be the cheapest in the market.

Don't give up... it'll come to you.

You can spend all the time in the world thinking about how people who is successful has this powerful ideas constantly. We whine thinking they are gifted and how we will never be capable of having this kind of ideas. 

Truth is, they don't get ideas from thin air. This ideas come from different sources, but only come after a lot of hard work.

If you really want to get to have great, powerful ideas don't stop looking for them. Read constantly and more important put your ideas into actions so you can learn what works and what doesn't.

Steve Jobs started studied calligraphy before having success with Apple, Stephen King wrote for his school paper and almost gives up Carrie (and thank God his wife encouraged him to finish writing it) and Michael Dell got the idea for his company (Dell inc. in case you are wondering) by breaking an Apple II computer. 

Look for your muse. Trust me, it will come to you.

Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

YouTube Symphony Orchestra

YouTube Symphony Orchestra is a group of people joining to form the first online orchestra in the world. This only proves the power of having networks of people with different talents collaborating with each other to one sole purpose: playing a piece of music.

What’s most important about it is that you are welcome to participate. If you have the same interest as these people you are welcome to join even if you’re not that gifted in the performing arts of an instrument.

Tan Dun is conducting a “Tribe” of people (as taught by Seth Godin) and we will be able to watch the results on February 2009.

Care to join in?

Make your presentations worth

Yesterday I had the opportunity of attending a presentation at work. It was addressed to people who work in the field and on a daily basis has contact with our costumers (I work at NESTLÉ in El Salvador as a Trade Marketing Manager), and I believe that some of the basics of how a presentation should be handled were overlooked. Here is a brief list of some of the points you should never forget when addressing presentations with your colleagues and reports:

• Always be on time: I know this is a very obvious statement, but is more often than not overlooked
• Think about your audience: one of the most important aspects of doing a presentation is to know who you are talking to. The best way to do this is to have a little profile of the people you are speaking to in order to know what the best way to get your message through is. More information on this subject can be found in Nancy Duarte's book slide:ology.
• Keep it short and sweet: attention span from your audience is limited, so you should try to make your point as soon as possible. This doesn't mean low quality in your presentation because of lack of information, it means you have to be very specific about your message. Which brings me to the next point.
• Focus on one idea: clearly establish what the whole point of your meeting is. Again, you need to move your audience into action with your message. Give them one simple message that they have to recall and your chances of getting through to them are higher.
• Use handouts: if there is simply too much info that has to be shared, don't try to squeeze it in a 30 minute presentation, instead use handouts. Complex numbers and graphics show better in this format than on screen and your audiences has the opportunity to have a better look at them.

If you really need to get people to connect with you and move them to action, remember that your message has to be clear in order for them to remember it.

If you want more information on the subject go to Garr Reynolds Blog that has tons of info regarding presentation design, and from which some of these ideas come from.

Day 1 2009: start now!

It is day one of 2009 and i can´t think of a better time to begin. This blog is intended to provide resources to anoyone who is looking foward to improve on marketing efforts and results with clear and simple ideas from some of the most influential people, experts in multiple fields and my own experience.

Now that i´ve cleared what my intentions are, here goes the first piece of advice on the first day of 2009: it´s time to start!

The most difficult part of getting anything done is actualy starting. It´s not having a great marketing idea, it´s all about implementing that idea and putting it to work.

In the "The Art of the Start" Guy Kawasaki gives "great ideas for starting things" (i recommend Guy´s blog as well). In his book he talks about 5 ideas but to me the more relevant are these 3:

• Make meaning: you absolutly need a reason to begin. Finding meaning on what you intend to do is what drives you. You have to think about the reason why what you are doing makes your job, your campaing, your life or in the best case better.
• Make mantra: people spends lots of time trying to build mission statements that are supposed to be the beacon for their enterprises. Instead, Guy recommends you "make mantra" wich is a short phrase that refflects more specificly what is you do so people inside your organization knows where you are headed and gets everyone on the same track.
• Get going: start implementing right now! You can get feedback on the way. It´s better to get feedback from your costumers when they have tested your product/service.

I really recommend Guy´s book if you are trying to get started and don´t know where to begin.

Happy and succesful 2009!