Motion does not always equal forward motion, and forward motion is not the same thing as progress.

I learned this at a “ropes course” during my business-school orientation. In one challenge, our team had twenty minutes to cross an imaginary chemical spill using a few props (e.g., some rope, two small platforms and a long pole) and subject to a few constraints (e.g., maximum two people on a platform, the rope can’t touch the ground, etc.).

When the clock started, I said, “Hey, let’s take a moment to think this through.” And we did, for a moment. But then some people wanted to start trying things. I pressed back, “C’mon — just another minute to plan?” And we did. For just another inconclusive minute. Then we started trying things, and they seemed to be working. But then they didn’t. Then time ran out.

Later our instructor said, “You may be surprised at how soon I knew — without doubt — that you would fail.”

What do you mean?” we asked. “How? When?”

“As soon as Phil chickened out and quit pushing you to think before you started moving, you were doomed.”

What triggers your ADD? For many of us, fear is the number one trigger. Fear of a difficult task, a negative outcome or an unpleasant encounter makes us look for any new candidate for our time and attention. The only requirement for the new thing is that it feel less stressful.

We’ll write more on this topic at the ADDexecutive, but let’s start with this quote from Frank Herbert’s Dune. Dune is known as a work of science fiction, but it spends a significant fraction of its time discussing business, economics, and the leadership mind:

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

– Frank Herbert, in Dune

‘Be Quick But Don’t Hurry.’ By that, I meant make a decision, take action; decide what you’re going to do and do it. Keep this word of caution in mind: ‘Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all’.

– John Wooden, from his website CoachJohnWooden.com

“Be Quick But Don’t Hurry” is usually quoted by itself, without extra explanation from the coach.  For the ADDexec, the “don’t hurry” part may be the most important part of Wooden’s advice.  But the full explanation has value, too.  Especially when unmanaged attention fails to engage the gears of action.

Coach Wooden is widely regarded as the best coach in the history of college basketball. After winning ten national championships at UCLA, Wooden has also emerged as a voice of leadership and ethical behavior. His most-frequently quoted advice is the title of his new book.

Available at Amazon: Be Quick But Don’t Hurry

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels.

The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Apple Computer advertisement, 1997. Watch the video at Wikipedia links here.

Bad signage contributes to more people getting lost than a poor sense of direction. Consider the times that you failed to see a sign because it was too small or obscurely placed. Or stood baffled before a directory that was illogically organized and badly lit. In the realm of graphic information, wayfinding systems abide by their own set of rules. Many typefaces that are easy to read on a printed page are frustrating to make out in signage. The same goes for colors. This is why some designers and their clients are chagrined to find that the system that looked so stunning in miniature mock-up failed miserably when installed at actual size. [For guidance on how to do things the right way, a] recommended source is “Wayfinding: People, Signs and Architecture” by Paul Arthur and Romedi Passini (Focus Strategic Communications Inc.)

From: @issue The Journal of Business and Design, Fall 2005

Our businesses may not have to worry about wayfaring and road signage, but are there other ways we make it hard for people to see what we want them to see, and to find their way to the place or message we want them to get to? “Signage” has analogues in many things we do: from the way we organize our speeches, write our reports, or “sell” our plans. To build good signage, we need clear thinking, we need clear commitment to our message, and we need consideration for our audience. Failure to give good signs may be a symptom of missing something even more important.

Two takes on working in the wee hours…

On the one hand:

For night owls like [Mike] Faith [of Headsets.com], 8-to-5 is now a prelude to the 9 p.m. to midnight (or later) shift when they finally have some quiet time to think, work and plan. “Distractions during the day make it impossible to work on larger projects or [tasks] that require more complex thinking,” says Jonathan Kramer, Ph.D., founder of San Diego-based Business Psychology Consulting. At night, he says, entrepreneurs “can do a more effective and efficient job.”

On the other hand:

Susan Battley, founder and CEO of Battley Performance Consulting in Stony Brook, New York, hears about people gutting their late-night work the next day, however. “It proved to be tangential, faulty or irrelevant,” says Battley, who suggests entrepreneurs delay sending important e-mails and reports until they can read them with fresh eyes.

Ultimately, you have to know your workstyle to make late-night sessions productive, Kramer says.

Source: Bring On the Night, in Entrepreneur magazine, April 2007.

Kramer’s final point makes much sense: what works for you? And if you do like the late night focus time, how do you make sure you get rest time, also, when the 9-5 world assumes they can have your attention during regular work hours?

Battley makes two observations in one: (1) if you’re trying to create “finished” work, there’s not much point in doing it when you’re tired, and (2) final products often require a final review (with fresh eyes, whether yours or someone else’s). And that review requires time, preferably scheduled in advance.

How effectively you allocate your attention in traffic is influenced by your emotional state at the moment. …

Learning to allocate our attention more proficiently while driving is an attitude. …

Improving visual attention skills is not limited to novice or elderly drivers. These skills can be developed over a lifetime.

Professional trainers believe that we can improve our attention skills year after year. However, most drivers do nothing to hone their skills during long hours in the car. Many drivers assume that their attention skills are adequately developed; they have become comfortable with their day-to-day driving challenges. This familiarity promotes a sense of immunity from accidents. Some drivers don’t recognize the value in attention training because they assume this training is intended only for professional drivers. Others simply don’t believe that such an easily acquired skill can yield a large payoff.

– from Disciplined Attention: How to Improve Your Visual Attention When You Drive by Kenneth Mills, PhD (2005)

In reading this book, I was surprised at how much of the text about attention in driving seemed entirely relevant to attention in managing our businesses and ourselves. Two themes in the book seemed most apt for transfer to the business world:

(1) “Paying attention to paying attention” is a critical attitude.

(2) Attention management is a trainable skill — not a “you have it or you don’t” talent.

Disciplined Attention is a resource book used for various “traffic school” programs in North Carolina and elsewhere. The book draws on two highly but differently qualified pools of experts: (1) cognitive psychologists who study how the brain and body work while tracking multiple streams of info, and (2) expert driving instructors from areas such as law enforcement and auto racing.

For the executive with attention deficit disorder, Disciplined Attention may be useful on two counts: (1) for the insights into ADD that may come in a little more clearly because they’re framed in a different context from our usual readings about attention deficit disorder and (2) for the important lessons on attention management for driver safety. I haven’t read any studies about ADD and traffic safety, but it’s a fair guess that adults with ADD are extra prone to distraction-oriented accidents.

Buy a copy at Amazon from $10.93: Disciplined Attention: How to Improve Your Visual Attention When You Drive

You can’t have a lot of balls in the air unless you’ve got a lot of balls.

– an anonymous friend of the ADDexecutive