Determination

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© Copyright Cheryl Sterling. All rights reserved.


When I announced that I was going to execute on one of Andrew Dubber's ideas, and subsequently opened up the project space to anyone that would commit to writing one blog post a week about it, I really had no idea what was going to happen.

What's happened is that I'm now working with people I've never met, from multiple countries, and who all bring amazing talents and unique perspectives to this still as of yet unknown project. By joining, they've influenced what kind of idea I'm likely to execute on and have already helped to keep the momentum going.

Cheryl Sterling is one of the people that joined the project, and in addition to making spectacular hand made quilts, she also takes some pretty incredible self portraits. When I was checking out her blog, the photo you see at the top of the post just jumped out at me. I think it's really striking, and complex, and even a little scary.

But one word kept coming to mind when I saw it. Determination.

I asked Cheryl if she'd allow me to post it on my blog as a sort of kick-off to the project, because I'm determined to make good on my promise, and actually ship one of Andrew Dubber's ideas. There was something about it that set the right tone for the start of the project. It's like a visual that's saying: "I'm serious. We're going to do this thing."

The other reason I thought this photo was so great though was because the longer I looked at it, the more gentle it seemed. It's like someone that has their game face on.

So don't be scared, we're just a group people determined to do something fun and have a unique experience. Today's the last chance to get access to my project space. If you've been on the fence, I hope you'll join.



The difference between teaching and coaching

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I've been thinking lately about the difference between teaching and coaching, and how by understanding the difference between the two, we can learn more from those who are doing both. Likewise, understanding this difference can also help us properly focus our energy when we are ourselves showing someone how to do something.

Both teaching and coaching are of course helping someone learn a particular skill or sharing a certain piece of knowledge, and both of them are gifts that are given to a student. Teaching however, is primarily a one way interaction. A person that knows something shows you how to do something or tells you some piece of information that they know.

If I write a blog post on how to use Google Apps to set up your company email accounts, I'm teaching you. The only interaction required is that I send this information to you, and you receive it. There, I've taught you something.

Coaching on the other had requires a cyclical, ongoing interaction. In order to coach someone, you need to first teach them something, then observe the student, and then provide feedback again. Unless all three of these interactions are taking place, it cannot be considered coaching.

The biggest difference is that, ultimately, teaching is about the teacher and coaching is about the student.

Think about who your favorite teachers were. I bet you'll find that the thing that made them so great was not just the way they taught you. Most likely, they also watched how you did something and gave you great feedback.

The best teachers aren't just teachers. They're also coaches.

I think about this when I'm reading blog posts. There's a difference in tone in those that are coaching versus those that are teaching. People that teach talk about what they're doing, how they did something, and teach you how you can benefit from some of the same things that they've learned.

People that coach though, their posts seem to be based more on the observation of others, and then giving feedback based on those observations. It's a subtle difference, but an important one.

The other way this difference can be seen is based on how people react when you reach out to them. If you reach out to someone that's taught you something and you don't get a response, it just means that they can't coach you. If someone writes you back though, and gives you a little bit more insight or perspective based on an observation, then that's an entirely different kind of gift.

Coaching, by it's nature, is more scarce. One person can teach a room of 1,000 people how to do something. It's very difficult, if not impossible, for one person to coach 1,000 people because observing those 1,000 people would require an extraordinary amount of effort.

I point these differences out not to say that the teachers aren't doing enough. Again, it's simply impossible to coach as many people as you can teach. Instead, it's important to recognize and truly appreciate when someone takes those extra steps to observe what you've done and gives you feedback. They can't do it for everyone, and it's really important to understand that they've given you something much more rare than teaching.

Likewise, if you're teaching people, think about how you can coach someone now and then. Because when you do, you're taking a moment to invest in the student.

It isn't the point of coaching of course, but in return for doing so, you're likely to earn a true fan for life.

The first followers

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By now hopefully you know the backstory - but if not, check it out so the rest of this post makes sense. In short, I'm going to execute on one idea that this guy comes up with and ship it by May 1st, 2010. And, I've opened up my project space to anyone who will commit to writing about the project once a week on their blog.

Already, 11 people have signed up to be a part of the project and blog about it and I wanted to share their blogs with you so you can check them out. It's crazy the diverse group of people that have already joined in on the fun. There are musicians, a fitness professional, someone who takes awesome self portraits of themselves, and a bunch of others.

There a are people from the US, the UK, and the Netherlands that are already part of the project.

It was pretty funny - I sent out a little welcome message to everyone yesterday after adding them to the project, and a couple responded by saying they weren't really sure what was going on yet, and I was thinking to myself - yeah, me either!

I've literally never done anything like this before so it's a little scary - but also really exciting. Here are some of my first followers - you should check out their blogs and read a bit about them.
It's really great that all these folks have signed up - and a few others have sent me notes saying that they're getting a blog going for this and will be sending me links - which is awesome.

Remember, anyone can sign up to be a part of the project - but only until March 3rd. Come on in, we'd love to have you join us.


Dancers need music

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I thought a lot over the weekend about the Dance Party post I wrote, and the absolutely amazing response that I received. Derek even tweeted about it, Andrew Dubber wrote another post about it, and many of you commented on the post. I really feel like I've joined some huge thing and all of a sudden I'm.....well, I'm dancing.

I'm so excited I can barely contain myself.

I've also been struggling with something a little bit though. I want and need to follow Derek and Andrew's lead by doing everything I can to make sure that this project isn't about me, but continues to be about the larger idea. Embracing the reality that in our own way, when we follow someone first, we become leaders ourselves. But also understanding that the only way to lead is to make it easy for people to follow you and to embrace people that want to join in on the fun.

I've had to juxtapose this against the reality of managing a project; understanding that the more people that are involved, the more channels of communication there are, the more complex it becomes - the more difficult it is to then actually ship something on time.

My point is, I've been thinking about this a lot. I guess I just want you to know that I'm serious about not just executing on one of Andrew's ideas, but also in following Derek's original lead - that this is about giving not taking. It's about including, not excluding.

And so, I've come up with a couple things for my particular project that I think can make it possible for anyone that wants to join in on the fun to do so, while also giving me the appropriate amount of control over the project that's going to actually ship something.

Here's the plan:

1. Anyone in the world that wants to observe this project (the specific unknown thing that I'll be working on) can do so by filling out this form. I'm going to call you music makers - though you'll be dancers in your own right too. In exchange, you agree to write one blog post a week about the project. Anything you like. Good - bad - anything. If it's in the project space, you can write about it. One caveat - this invitation is open only until March 3rd, when Andrew Dubber begins publishing his ideas. Want to join in? Get in now!

2. All profits - every single last penny - of whatever is made will go to charity. My time will not be an expense for this project, but if I have to buy $3,000 in materials to make this "thing" then I'll recoup that. All profits though - they all go to charity. I'm currently talking with a non-profit that I like very much and I'm trying to get a few specifics worked out but I hope to have some more details by the end of the week.

There are a couple reasons as to why I'm doing these things. First, by opening up the project, I'm letting anyone that wants to follow to join in. One thing I became concerned about was that as a lot of people expressed an interest in helping, I didn't know who I was going to need help from to make the as of now unknown thing.

I thought about opening the project and saying, "we'll get together once I have the idea and figure out who's going to do what", but I fear that would possibly just make the scope fly out of control, bloat the project, and basically put everything at risk. Since the whole point is to actually ship something, I'm going to need to maintain a certain amount of control over my portion of the project.

This bring us to the other reason of letting anyone in. What's the point in making something if no one is going to know about it? One of the things that really stuck a cord with me in Seth Godin's latest book Linchpin is that "art", by it's definition, has to change people. And in order to change people, it must be received. So even though I don't know what we're going to be making yet, I know I want it to be received.

So spreading the word - continuing to make this dance as big as it can be - that's one thing I know I'm going to need help with. And, it'll let YOU be creative with how you want to follow.

If you play music - maybe you want to follow by writing a song. If your a cartoonist - maybe you want to make a drawing for the website. If you make videos.....you get the point.

By joining the project, you get to see what direction the idea/product/service/thingy that I'm working on is going - and if you want to let that influence your dance you can. You'll have access to every note, every conversation, every file......everything.

And so then this brings us to the second item above - donating any proceeds to charity. As I explained in a comment on Andrew's blog, Derek's idea started with giving, not taking. Plus, I know that I'm going to need help and I don't think helping me make money would be much of a motivator.

But what if collectively we all got together, and made and promoted something that literally changed peoples lives? What if Derek's act of giving away his idea spawned something that even he couldn't have imagined? What if a human being lives because I shipped something and you wrote about it?

And look, I know it's scary to care. Because when you care about something you can be disappointed. When you care about something you can fail. But remember, nothing worthwhile has ever been accomplished by people who didn't care.

I really hope you'll consider joining the project, and thank you so much for all the support you've already given me.

Podcast Episode Five - What can a project manager learn from a chef?

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In this podcast episode of "What can a project manager learn from X?" I interview Dale Levitski, Executive Chef of Sprout Restaurant in Chicago and Season 3 Top Chef runner-up on Bravo's wildly popular TV show.

We talked about the creative process involved with making a new dish, the challenges involved with running a restaurant, and the process of training new chefs, and a host of other things.  I had a blast doing this interview with Dale and am really grateful that he took the time to sit down with me.

Dale also writes and video blogs on The Sprout Crowd, which has quickly become one of the most popular food blogs in the city of Chicago.

I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did and can take something away from it that can help you better manage your projects, run your business, make your music, write your software or whatever it is that you're working on.

As always, you can listen right here on this blog, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.
Thanks again Dale!