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Special Comments for the PMI Fort Worth Chapter

Don Dalrymple

Don Dalrymple

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I appreciated the time to share how to increase productivity and approach the challenges of being a knowledge worker in the new economy.  It is a message which affects all of us who are traveling a journey of rapid change.  I have had requests from many audience members to share some of the highlights that I shared.  Here some of the important thoughts to integrate into your life:

    • We have outgrown the old models.  Organization is ineffective. It is about being fast and agile in a world of information onslaught.
    • "Every 1100 days your ability to transform information into work becomes twice as important." - Bill Jensen Think about what this means.  You could be half as slow three years ago.  You must be twice as fast three years from now.
    • You are a knowledge worker.  You make intangible things and get paid thousands.  "In knowledge work the task is not given, it has to be determined." - Peter Drucker
    • You must think like a free agent.  Your boss, your customer and your colleagues see you this way.
    • It's not about you anymore.  It's about your customer. Everyone is a customer.  How you respond and how fast you respond brands you.
    • Achieving greater things requires clarity so you can execute.  Clarity is a competitive edge with your competition - every other person competing for your job and your customer.
    • Change Is Exponential - 31 Billion Google searches per month in 2009 vs. 2.7 Billion in 2006
    • The future is full of tools we have not seen yet.  "If you don't like change, you are going to dislike irrelevance even less." General Eric Shinseki
    • Embrace cloud computing - the web is the computer.  Devices are commodities.  It's a knowledge game now.
    • It's a Google world; search don't organize.
    • The 4-Hour Workweek shows us about leverage and work without boundaries.  Anyone can take your job from anywhere.  Adopt the mindset and get in the game.
    • To win, you must do three things excellently:
      1. Make Decisions:  How fast are you at making a decision?   Indecision causes a lack of clarity and affects results.
      2. Move to Action: This is the culmination of work.
      3. Increase Speed:  It is the variable which separates you from average workers.
    • To win, you must think like a FedEx engineer.  Analyze your movements.  Make it important to you.
    • In a world competing on talent, productivity is a key differentiator.

For those of you who have sought some of the book titles I had referred to, here is a list:

Book Title Comments
Love Is The Killer App by Tim Sanders If we are in the knowledge economy, then you must be a broker of knowledge.  Learn the habits to win.
Talent by Tom Peters The old models of doing business are eroding because of a whole new reality around how business gets done.  Learn about thinking in terms of gigs and growing your talent.
Simplicity by Bill Jensen The rate of change has set up new social and work contracts.
Emotional Branding by Marc Gobe This book speaks about positioning with consumers.  Generational differences are highlighted and used to help marketers understand the very real distinctions which drive preferences.
The Age of Speed by Vince Poscente We are a culture addicted to speed.  Those who offer this will thrive.
Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson The cheese is continually moving.  What will you do about it?  Ignoring it makes you prone to behaviors which will cause you to go obsolete quickly.
Ready, Fire, Aim! by Michael Masterson Understand what it means to grow any venture and doing it through embracing failure and speed.
Emotional Branding by
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb Success is highly statistical in nature.  The choices you make fall into areas of probabilities.  Master this to get more strategic.
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss Learn about leverage and how to continually use this in your life as a strategy.  The world and is a playground to grow anything you are willing to work hard at.

May your journey and growth in advancing productivity in your work and life do the inevitable - open opportunities and vision for you.  Feel free to share your comments below:

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