Reversing the E-Mail Spiral

Is This Your Inbox?

The “10 Rules to Reverse the Email Spiral” below was initiated by TED curator, Chris Anderson, and further developed by a consortium of people for the purpose trying to reduce the negative impact of E-Mail on people’s lives.

Consider taking a few minutes of your time to find what part you can play in helping everyone tame the e-mail spiral.

My personal additions to the list are;

-         Get Personal (i.e. Use the telephone more and if possible go talk to people)

-         Double the emphasis on rule number 1 as I believe it is the most important.

I’ve taken my first step by removing the Company logo from my automatically inserted e-mail signature line and by adding my [NNTR] in the subject line.

10 Rules to Reverse the Email Spiral

1. Respect Recipients’ Time This is the fundamental rule. As the message sender, the onus is on YOU to minimize the time your email will take to process. Even if it means taking more time at your end before sending. 2. Short or Slow is not Rude Let’s mutually agree to cut each other some slack. Given the email load we’re all facing, it’s OK if replies take a while coming and if they don’t give detailed responses to all your questions. No one wants to come over as brusque, so please don’t take it personally. We just want our lives back! 3. Celebrate Clarity Start with a subject line that clearly labels the topic, and maybe includes a status category [Info], [Action], [Time Sens] [Low Priority]. Use crisp, muddle-free sentences. If the email has to be longer than five sentences, make sure the first provides the basic reason for writing. Avoid strange fonts and colors. 4. Quash Open-Ended Questions It is asking a lot to send someone an email with four long paragraphs of turgid text followed by “Thoughts?”. Even well-intended-but-open questions like “How can I help?” may not be that helpful. Email generosity requires simplifying, easy-to-answer questions. “Can I help best by a) calling b) visiting or c) staying right out of it?!” 5. Slash Surplus cc’s cc’s are like mating bunnies. For every recipient you add, you are dramatically multiplying total response time. Not to be done lightly! When there are multiple recipients, please don’t default to ‘Reply All’. Maybe you only need to cc a couple of people on the original thread. Or none.

6. Tighten the Thread Some emails depend for their meaning on context. Which means it’s usually right to include the thread being responded to. But it’s rare that a thread should extend to more than 3 emails. Before sending, cut what’s not relevant. Or consider making a phone call instead. 7. Attack Attachments Don’t use graphics files as logos or signatures that appear as attachments. Time is wasted trying to see if there’s something to open. Even worse is sending text as an attachment when it could have been included in the body of the email. 8. Give these Gifts: EOM NNTR If your email message can be expressed in half a dozen words, just put it in the subject line, followed by EOM (= End of Message). This saves the recipient having to actually open the message. Ending a note with “No need to respond” or NNTR, is a wonderful act of generosity. Many acronyms confuse as much as help, but these two are golden and deserve wide adoption. 9. Cut Contentless Responses You don’t need to reply to every email, especially not those that are themselves clear responses. An email saying “Thanks for your note. I’m in.” does not need you to reply “Great.” That just cost someone another 30 seconds. 10. Disconnect! If we all agreed to spend less time doing email, we’d all get less email! Consider calendaring half-days at work where you can’t go online. Or a commitment to email-free weekends. Or an ‘auto-response’ that references this charter. And don’t forget to smell the roses.

Thank you Craig Crook for your presentation!  http://craigdcrook.posterous.com/inbox-to-zero-managing-the-demands-of-email

You can access the original list and learn more about the emailcharter.org at  http://emailcharter.org/index.html

You can learn more about TED (Technology, Entertainment, & Design) events at http://www.ted.com/pages/about

Greg McCrory
Information Systems Manager
Deister Machine Company

Are Children Hopeless Victims of Worldly Influence?

Do you feel like you are at a terrible disadvantage when trying to positively influence your children in the midst of all the unhealthy and unGodly messages that surround your children?

No one is at a disadvantage when the Lord on their side!

Please join me praying to the sovereign Lord Almighty, keeping all of our children daily before His throne in heaven!
Call out to the One who gave your children to you and ask Him to help your children to;
- see and reject the lies of the world that seek to destroy them;
- trust in the Lord with all their hearts, minds, and strength;
- have hearts to seek what is good and right in the Lord’s eyes;
- desire to honor their parents so that it may go well with them.

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

Am I a Linchpin?…What does that mean anyway?

Without a linchpin, things come apart!  

My wife and I just finished reading “Linchpin” by Seth Godin.  I love the interaction that occurs between my wife and I whenever we read books together.  We often have interesting conversations and sometimes very interesting developments in our household.  For example, over the past couple of weeks my wife has started several projects in our home and on the Internet.  “Linchpin” has been an inspiration.  Using Seth Godin language, she is “shipping”.  In other words, she is turning her ideas into action.

I like how Godin attempts to explain the self-defeating thought processes (the so-called Lizard Brain) that keep people from doing creative new things.  Especially interesting to me was Godin’s theory of how our culture tends to force people into the mold of the compliant factory workers; cogs in a machine.  It is the mysterious Resistance that tends to keep people in-line. 

Godin goes on with many examples of people who overcame the Resistance, their Lizard Brain fears, or broke from the “cog in machine” mold thinking, to accomplish amazing things. 

However, I found myself pondering the role of discipline in Godin’s theory.  Godin never explicitly addressed discipline in the success of people.  I believe it is the people who master discipline who become Godin’s Linchpins.  Linchpins are people who are able to establish a high value goal, establish priorities aligned with the goal, and then maintain focus while taking consistent action. 

Discipline is required to move forward; to ignore the disruptions or internal notions to quit or do something else.

Linchpins do not exist without Discipline!

Have You Ever Wondered Where Politicians Come From?

 

Have you given much thought to what motivates an individual to enter the political realm?  Have you wondered what it takes to get elected?  I have thought a lot about these questions recently. 

I desire to be represented by statesmen like you and me.  People compelled to simply serve people by serving our Country.  Serving by being a voice to speak for the common good, what is right, and hopefully, the majority.   Serving by helping others, not enabling poor choices.  Surely there are those who would seek the office for the sake of power and the prestige of being in the public eye…being in control.  May God help us keep the prideful power mongers out of office.

Unfortunately, a common theme in the political arena echoes loudly through our nation:  He who has the most money wins.  Money for television and radio commercials.  Money for newspaper ads.  Money to live on while campaigning.  Frankly, I find this money dynamic quite revolting.  I believe there are many people with great qualifications and great hearts who would likely be great civil servants in government.  It is not right for those who lack adequate funds to put a face and message in the public-eye, to be disqualified from being able to gain a winning quantity of votes.  This gives vistory not to the most qualified, but to the most financially endowed.  How can a nation of people of average financial means be best represented by those with great amounts of wealth?

However, I am hopeful that technology will level the political playing field by making it possible for those without huge bank accounts to make in-roads into public office.  Today there are very powerful social networks propagating throughout our society making it possible for people to communicate more effectively to the masses than ever before.  With a little creativity, the possibilities are great.  Internet-based Social Networks can be viewed as a multiplier to substantially increase the reach of a candidate’s message in a way that is not dependent on the expensive media outlets of television, radio, and print. 

 Social media may be a “game changer”! Let the games begin!

About Govenment’s Answers To Our Healthcare Needs

When I look at countries around the world, it seems big govenment tends to equate to oppressed people. I really don’t want to see people suffer not being able to get the healthcare they need.  However, could we possibly look to the creativity that flows within our free society to remedy our woes? 

I am confident Govt solutions will prove unacceptably costly in terms of money and freedom.  Let us stimulate the people our of truly great country to find creative and socially responsible answers!

reBlog from kylelacy.com: 5 Ways to Increase Donations through Social Media

I found this fascinating quote today:

Increasing Online Giving Through Social MediaView more presentations from Kyle Lacy.kylelacy.com, 5 Ways to Increase Donations through Social Media, Mar 2010

You should read the whole article.

Essence Of Trust

 

Trust

Trust 

 

 is a very precious commodity.  Trust allows relationships to flourish and is found at the root of happy and successful marriages, families,  teams, and business relationships.   

Consider with me how the lack of trust, or existence of trust, impacts your life everyday.   

My elementery-age daughters often fall asleep in our van.  They know when they get home, dad will carefully carry them in, up the stairs, and tuck them into bed with a kiss.  They trust me enough to fall asleep and entrust their safety into my care.  Occcassionally, they comment about enjoying Daddy carrying them to bed.  They feel secure and are at peace; they are displaying trust.   This beautiful picture of trust can be contrasted to situations where children and/or adults are fearful and guarded in their relationships inhibiting peace and security.

Recently, my father-in-law invited me to go hunting.  My wife gratiously sent me off without any concern.  Because she trusts me, and her father, I enjoyed three hours hunting.  Other couples often experience significant difficulties in their relationships due to suspicions of honesty regarding whereabouts, activities, finances, etc.  

I recently observed a great workplace example.  I was asked to look into a problem that occurred in ordering materials for a rush production job.  I delegated the fact-finding effort to a very capable individual.  Theoretically, the effort should have taken less than thiry minutes.  However, after two days and three clarifications, it was time to regroup.  I pulled the employee aside to ask why this effort was not going well.  He told me he felt as though he was being a snitch which was being confirmed by the attitudes and comments he received during his inquiries.  When I looked at the details reported, key information was absent; when events occurred, names of employees involved, and specific details of the situation. It was a classic case of “CYA”.  At this point, nearly ten employees had been asked about the issue and still the answer was obscure.  The investigation caused employees to become defensive and evasive.  The employees were willing to trust the request to accelerate the process, but did not trust the motives of those initiating an inquiry into the problem.  

I like the symbology used by Steven Covey in his book “The Speed of Trust”.  He refers to the existence of Trust paying dividends and the lack of trust costing a tax.   Where trust exists, Speed goes up and Cost goes down.  Conversely, where Trust does not exist, Speed goes down and the Cost goes up.  In other words, Trust pays dividends and lack of Trust costs a tax. 

Trust is beautiful when present…but painful and costly when absent!

_________________________

“Having spent many years trying to define the essentials of trust, I arrived at the position that if two people could say two things to each other and mean them, then there was the basis for real trust.  The two things were “I mean you no harm” and “I seek your greatest good.” – Jim Meehan, British Psychologist and Poet

Observations in Discipline

Aging has a way of putting a lot into perspective.  Generally speaking, as one gets older, one gets wiser.  Being a responsible father, I have attempted to leverage this life-acquired wisdom with my children, telling them. “As long as I am alive, they will never have lived longer than I.”  I realize there are places where this position is weak.  For example; my children could choose to become wise about things I would choose to avoid.  I would probably go on to say that avoiding being wise about some things is in fact being wise. 

Over the past year, I have been contemplating the pervasive importance of discipline.  And recently, I have come to realize all significant progress somehow depends on disciplined behavior.  Whether one is trying to be healthy, wealthy or wise, purposeful and planned behavior is required for progress.  Without purposeful and planned behavior chaos reigns.

The Law of Entropy comes to mind.  An overly simplified description of the Law of Entropy states that systems left to themselves always go from order to disorder.  In other words, thinking of any particular system of concern, the system will naturally become less ordered unless work is added to create order.  For example, take my home as a system.  There are four people, a cat, and a fish living in the home.  Suppose at the beginning of a given day, everything in the home was in its designated “put away” place.  I have observed with absolute certainty, order moves to disorder within seconds of the start of every day.    

Hopefully, you will find some humor in this simple example of entropy at work; and furthermore, realize that disciplined effort is required to overcome the entropy which is at work all around us.  Just as entropy is pervasive, likewise, disciplined behavior is required for pursuing progress in almost every significant aspect of life.

More thoughts on discipline to come….

What’s In A Name

I enjoyed reading a blog entry yesterday where one individual was recounting a lunch conversation with a colleague about being remembered. (Read It Here). The story goes that a person dies two deaths; the first being physical; the second being when a person’s name is spoken for the last time. The author’s primary point was to encourage  people to pursue life in a way that will cause them to be remembered in a positive way. I found this concept a bit thought-provoking.

I have often encouraged my children to be careful how they live their lives and to protect their name.  My son, who is now in his thirties, occasionally tells me of remembering my encouragement to him; to protect his name by living his life carefully.  After all, the wise King Solomon wrote, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”  But I believe there really is more to the story…

What happens when one’s name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?  Is this person ever really forgotten?  Perhaps this person could be forgotten in an earthly sense; but how much better to be remembered in an eternal sense.  I would propose there can be nothing better than to have one’s name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. 

To have one’s name missing from the Lamb’s Book of Life is really the second death (Read it Here).