I have just finished reading Never eat alone, by Keith Ferrazzi. Some good points are to be found in this tome, worthy of immediate application. Ferrazzi sees a world in which your network, or circle, or tribe, now occupies the place that organizations used to occupy. This fluid tribe provides value, and demands the adding of value from us. It is a manifesto for the investment of our time, and energies, into helping others - The benefit that we receive is that we are helped along to achieve our own aims and goals when we do not manipulate the tribe to achieve these.

I for one will try to not eat alone as much in future.

 

I have recently finished this gem of a book that had been lying on my humongous reading pile for too long.  I have been really impacted by the message, and the heart behind, this little red book.  For those of you who want to taste the DNA of a movement (as opposed to the structure of an organisation) this is a must-read.

Providing a slight monastic tone to the evangelical scene, it effectively captures the essence of what a "European Move of God" looks like.  I say this, not because it is confined to Europe, but really because it was birthed in Europe, and consequently carries in it much of the European Evangelical world-view, rather than its North-American siblings.

If you want to turbo-charge your prayer life and want to sign-up to a post-modern subversive resistance movement, check out Red Moon Rising - you will be blessed to read how this God-ordained "accident" happened.

I just finished reading Seth Godin's book "Tribes" and have just been fired-up with its message of radically changing the rules of the game through the fluid, cause-based, leadership of communities that he aptly terms "Tribes". Anybody who is involved in influencing the market of ideas, would do well to take this book's central themes to heart. By the way, YOU are that person, involved in influencing the market of ideas. If you care about stuff, if you want to get things done, if you want to change things, if you use the power of words to bring about change...... then this message os for you.

If you are passionate about an idea, or a message, then there is a tribe out there waiting for you to take the initiative and lead. Your message needs you - your tribe needs you..... welcome to the new world.

Technorati Tags: Tribes, Seth Godin, Books, Viral, Marketing

Clowning in Rome - Reflections on Solitude, Celibacy, Prayer and Contemplation (By: Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Our cultures have pretty much put aside the values of solitude, celibacy, prayer and contemplation. As a result, we experience emptiness in our hearts and our relationships. Clowning in Rome will perhaps inspire us to risk to be touched by those in our homes and on our streets that we would rather put aside and forget. The homeless, belligerent, rejected, violent, lost, uncooperative, and vulnerable people are the prophets of today beckoning us to become clowns in the circus of life, where we foolishly squander our enormous energies of love and generosity. -Foreword (xviii)

... I [slowly] realized that in the great circus of [life], full of lion tamers and trapeze artists whose dazzling feats claim our attention, the real and true story was told by the clowns. Clowns are not in the centre of the events. They appear between the great acts, fumble and fall, and make us smile again after the tensions created by the heroes we came to admire. The clowns don't have it together they do not succeed in what they try to do, they are awkward, out of balance, and left-handed, but.... they are on our side. We respond to them not with admiration but with sympathy , not with amazement but with understanding, not with tension but with a smile. Of the virtuosi we say, "How can they do it?" Of the clowns we say, "They are like us." The clowns remind us with a tear and a smile that we share the same human weakness. -page 3.

The cross is the surest, truest and deepest window on the very heart and character of the living and loving God; the more we learn about the cross, in all its historical and theological dimensions, the more we discover about the one in whose image we are made, and hence about our own vocation to be the cross-bearing people, the people in whose lives and service the living God is made known. When therefore we speak... of shaping our world, we do not - we dare not - simply treat the cross as the thing which saves us 'personally', but which can be left behind when we get on with the job. The task of shaping our world is best understood as the redemptive task of bringing the achievement of the cross to bear on the world; and in that task the methods, as well as the message, must be cross-shaped through and through.

The line between justice and injustice, between things being right and things not being right, can't be drawn between "us" and "them". It runs right down the middle of each one of us.

Simply Christian by N. T. (Tom) Wright.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="240" caption="Screw it, Let's do it"] [/caption]

Just finished "Screw it, let's do it", the second of my four books on Richard Branson. This guy is an incredible agent of change in every industry that he enters. He seems to be like a walking hurricane that leaves results in its wake instead of destruction. He leaves the Virgin mark on everything he touches - a different way of doing business.

This book is very easy to read, and straight to the point. In a way supplemental to his "Losing my virginity", it reveals the lessons that have helped him build a global business empire. His formula for creativity is so revealing - he says that he just stays really positive all the time (his staff call him "Dr. Yes") and ideas just "drop into his head" (!!!!!)

The lessons that he explains in this book are the following:

Just do it!

• Believe it can be done
• Have goals
• Live life to the full
• Never give up
• Prepare well
• Have faith in yourself
• Try and try again
• Help each other

Have fun!

• Have fun, work hard, and money will come
• Don't wAste time - grab your chances
• Have a positive outlook on life
• When it's not fun, move on

Be Bold

• Calculate the risks and take them
• Believe in yourself
• Chase your dreams and goals
• Have no regrets
• Keep your word

Challenge Yourself

• Aim high
• Try new things
• Always try
• Challenge yourself

Stand On Your Own Two Feet

• Rely on yourself
• Chase your dreams but live in the real world
• Work together

Live the moment

• Love life and live it to the full
• Enjoy the moment
• Reflect on your life
• Make every second count
• Don't have regrets

Value family and friends

• Put family and the team first
• Be loyal
• Face problems head on
• Money is for making things happen
• Pick the right people and reward talent

Have respect

• Be polite and respectful
• Do the right thing
• Keep your good name
• Be fair in all your dealings

Gaia capitalism

• Leave the world a better place
• Pull your weight
• Take the long-term view
• Always consider the implications of your actions
• Big victories are made up of many small ones
• Confront the big issues, they won't go away
• Understand the situation then consider whether to fight and how
• Never lose sight of the end goal
• If something is wrong - fix it

Sex appeal

• Be passionate about the brand and make it sexy
• Use the normal to engage the enemy, the extraordinary to win
• Walk the talk
• Create excitement in everything you do
• If something needs doing, do it yourself
• Look beyond the obvious and put your a$$ on the line

Be innovative

• Nothing is impossible
• Think creatively
• The system is not sacred
• To win you have to break the rules
• Play the hand you've been dealt with
• Find another way

Do some good

• Change the world, even if in a small way
• Make a difference and help others
• Do no harm
• Always think what you can do to help

Pow! Shazam!

• Speed is the ultimate competitive weapon
• Be first in the field
• Do it now
• Keep it simple
• Cut red tape
• Keep your eye on the ball

Think young

• You've got to challenge the big ones
• Keep it casual
• Haggle: Everything is negotiable
• Have fun working
• Do the right things for the brand
• Smile for the cameras!
• Don't lead 'sheep', herd 'cats'
• Move like a bullet
• Small is beautiful
• Be a common, regular person

Richard explains how his best business ideas always come through having lots and lots of conversations with people - even when he is working through his long to-do lists. He has his entrepreneurial antennae always switched on and ideas are picked up and then developed. I look forward to reading the other two books on this Richard Branson palooza that I've embarked upon. Stay tuned for more.....