FlintsNotestag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2007-08-29://12012-05-18T13:12:02ZMovable Type Publishing Platform 4.0On The Danger of Too Much Correctiontag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5612012-05-18T12:55:49Z2012-05-18T13:12:02Z Observations/Reflections: On The Danger of Too Much Correction Category: Personal Written: 1/25/2012 Published: 05/18/2012 A father must pick his battles very carefully. Sometimes we think our job is to correct every weakness. This is fallacious thinking. Wisdom demands that...Austin McCraw
Wisdom demands that a father be selective in his corrections - selective about the issue and selective in his timing. The stone can only handle so much of the hammer.
]]>
On Our Inability to Help Truthtag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5602012-05-17T18:18:16Z2012-05-17T19:28:44ZObservations/Reflections: On our Inability to Help Truth Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Philosophy Written: 4/7/2012 Published: 05/17/2012 The truth is where you find it. We should invest more in discovering rather than defending. We work too hard trying to prove...Austin McCraw
The truth is where you find it. We should invest more in discovering rather than defending. We work too hard trying to prove our truth. What we are, in fact, doing is trying to prove ourselves with "our" truth. The truth does not need help - you cannot make the truth truer. ]]>
On the Priority of Velocity over Speedtag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5592012-05-16T20:11:52Z2012-05-16T20:21:04ZObservations/Reflections: On the Priority of Velocity over Speed Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Productivity Written: 1/12/2012 Published: 05/16/2012 We need to look ahead at our writing output to determine if our processing velocity is in sync with our producing velocity....Austin McCraw
Sometimes velocity is more important than speed.]]>
On the Value of Insights over Resultstag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5582012-05-15T20:59:10Z2012-05-16T20:11:24ZObservations/Reflections: On the Value of Insights over Results Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Marketing Written: 1/5/2012 Published: 05/15/2012 What we call "customer theory" might better be conceived as "customer wisdom". Too often, marketers pursue quick results rather than rich insights....Austin McCraw
profound understanding of the customer can be translated into profound advantage over the competitor.
]]>
On the Danger of Attempting to Answer a Futile Questiontag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5572012-05-14T18:41:00Z2012-05-14T18:45:07ZObservations/Reflections: On the Danger of Attempting to Answer a Futile Question Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Productivity Written: 1/5/2012 Published: 05/11/2012 You need to recognize when your mental gears are "grinding" and you need to stop and ask why. Most...Austin McCraw
Thinking, even difficult thinking, should be fluid - beware of "the grind."
]]>
On the Predicate as Existence in Timetag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5562012-05-11T14:45:12Z2012-05-11T14:59:32ZObservations/Reflections: On the Predicate as Existence in Time Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Philosophy Written: 3/11/2012 Published: 05/11/2012 Existence is subject-predicate. When Descartes said, "I think therefore I exist (Je pense donc je suis)", "think" was predicate. Predicate is evidence...Austin McCraw
Predicate is evidence of existence. Predicate is more than evidence; it is existence in time. In the structure of a sentence, we can separate the subject from the predicate. This is an artificial separation. In reality, the subject (the "amness") is always "ising" - and so am I. ]]>
On Leadership and Simplicity without Oversimplificationtag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5552012-05-10T13:38:52Z2012-05-10T13:43:57ZObservations/Reflections: On Leadership and Simplicity without Oversimplification Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Leadership Written: 1/12/2012 Published: 05/10/2012 People don't let you occupy too many categories in their mind. You are either this type or that type. It is hard for...Austin McCraw
The leader must communicate out of his complexity with unfeigned simplicity.
]]>
On Web Navigation as an Indicator of Internal Coherencetag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5542012-05-09T17:25:10Z2012-05-09T17:27:38ZObservations/Reflections: On Web Navigation as an Indicator of Internal Coherence Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Personal Written: 1/6/2012 Published: 05/09/2012 You don't understand who your company is or what your company does until you can create a proper navigation system...Austin McCraw
You don't understand who your company is or what your company does until you can create a proper navigation system for your website. The navigation system seems like some minor feature, but it is much more - it is a leading indicator of a company's internal coherence. It reveals the organization's structural integrity or (more likely their) lack thereof.
]]>
On the High Art of Raising Sonstag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5532012-05-08T20:58:25Z2012-05-08T21:07:55ZObservations/Reflections: On the High Art of Raising Sons Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Personal Written: 1/4/2012 Published: 05/08/2012 It's important to let your son excel against you in certain activities. A young man needs to be "certified". He needs to...Austin McCraw
A young man needs to be "certified". He needs to be "certified" as a man. This certification should come from his father. There must be other ways to achieve it, but the most natural, and perhaps the most gratifying way comes through the father.
I can certify that my boy is becoming a man in three ways: (1) with saying the right words, (2) with delegating the right responsibilities, (3) or with allowing him to excel me in the right activities. Point three is particularly important: while these activities in themselves do not have to be especially significant (on the surface), they are especially important when performed in front of others.
Here is an example (it's personal and specific; but it conveys the point): When I am with my son in front of a group of young men throwing knives, it's better for me to be a bit careless, to throw well enough, but not as well as I can. I want him to do better than me, and he will soon enough. But part of "getting him there" is building his confidence.
Raising sons is a high art. It requires sacrifice. While most fathers think of sacrifice as the work they do on behalf of their family, or the luxuries they go without for the sake of their family, it may be that the greatest (and most difficult) sacrifice is our own egos. We need to lay our ego down, or we will raise our son with a need inside to prove himself. Much of the foolishness, and much of the harm in this world, comes out of the need for a young man to prove himself.
]]>
On the Things You Cannot Learn from a Teachertag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5522012-05-07T14:40:55Z2012-05-07T17:42:56ZObservations/Reflections: On the Things You Cannot Learn from a Teacher Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Personal Written: 1/3/2012 Published: 05/07/2012 There are some things you can learn from a teacher; and there are some things you can only learn from...Austin McCraw
Intelligence is no substitute for experience, and there are kinds of knowledge you can only "own" if you have acquired them directly. The talented youth must purchase experience with his most valuable asset - time.
The irony of this purchase is poignant on two levels: First, that is he unable to appraise this asset until it is almost gone. Second, that he rarely values what he received in exchange for it - experience.
]]>
On Leadership and the Seduction of What We Do Welltag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5512012-05-04T17:42:39Z2012-05-04T17:44:47ZObservations/Reflections: On Leadership and the Seduction of What We Do Well Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Leadership Written: 1/13/2012 Published: 05/04/2012 The greatest danger for the leader is not what we do poorly, but rather what we do well. We...Austin McCraw
The greatest danger for the leader is not what we do poorly, but rather what we do well. We recognize what we do poorly and most often seek help. "What we do well" seduces us; it steals energy away from what we do best.
]]>
On Leadership and the Balance between the External Push and Internal Pulltag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5502012-05-03T21:20:59Z2012-05-03T21:23:40ZObservations/Reflections: On the Balance between the External Push and Internal Pull Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Leadership Written: 1/12/2012 Published: 05/03/2012 Leaders must achieve a peculiar balance in the way they manage their team. On the one hand, they must...Austin McCraw
The external push, unless accompanied by the internal pull, never generates sufficient sustainable force.
]]>
On Content that Does Not Fit within a Containertag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5492012-05-02T17:05:42Z2012-05-03T21:26:04ZObservations/Reflections: On Content that Does Not Fit within a Container Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Productivity Written: 12/21/2012 Published: 05/02/2012 When my mind is engaged in multi-layers of introspection, the structure I embed my thoughts within can sometimes prove inadequate....Austin McCraw
]]>
On Seeing Inwardly in Order to See Outwardlytag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5482012-05-01T17:07:48Z2012-05-01T17:20:06ZObservations/Reflections: On Seeing Inwardly in Order to See Outwardly Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Personal Written: 1/11/2012 Published: 05/01/2012 All my life I spent these morning sessions achieving clarity. I will not operate when I cannot see any more. I...Austin McCraw
What I know about who I am is going to determine what I know about what I will do.
]]>
On Distilling Data to Its Predictive Powertag:www.flintmcglaughlin.com,2012://1.5472012-04-30T13:34:57Z2012-04-30T13:52:52ZObservations/Reflections: On Distilling Data to its Predictive Power Status: Dictated and Reviewed Category: Communication Written: 12/20/2012 Published: 04/30/2012 Customer research can yield an intimidating mound of data, more than we can truly assimilate. We need a way to discipline the...Austin McCraw
all that I need to know about the customer is that which contributes to my predictive power. I must be able to predict their behavior. Any element that does not contribute to this predicative power is waste.
]]>