Archive for March, 2006

The first audio book in my MBA on the Run series is a classic listen. This is a book that every student should have in their library. Entitled “On Writing Well“, author William Zinsser takes the subject of writing and breaks it down into four simple principles. They are Clarity, Simplicity, Brevity and Humanity. If you keep those four principles in mind, your writing will shine.

Zinsser states that “Clutter is the disease of American writing” and gives many examples of bloated and disorderly writing. Zinsser tells us that we have to examine every word that we put on the page, and try to find those that don’t serve any purpose. His quote, “Fighting clutter is like fighting weeds-the writer is always slightly behind.” is so true. Zinsser reminds us to drop the cliche’s, simplify our writing, and improve through revision.

While this is a great book in print, it really comes to life when read by the author. Mr. Zinsser adds a lot of personality and dry wit to make a compelling presentation. When I first started listening I was a little put off by his ideas. I thought the result would be 6th grade English. But the opposite was true. I found his four principles create sharp and concise prose that is easy to read and understand. This is a classic work that should be reviewed at least once a year.

As I completed the book many ideas came to mind. These concepts were new and exciting and I wanted to get a professional’s viewpoint. I decided to interview a fellow Toastmaster and professional writer Karen Robertson about her views on the subject of writing better.

Karen is a business owner, personal coach and the author of Raising Kids Right. She brings an interesting niche into the writing equation. She has been published in over 70 magazines and newspapers and has written a new step by step guide, “Do The Write Thing” about taking your ideas from creation to publication. We sat down for a few minutes and created a podcast about her book and some ideas to help you expand your writing horizons.

As a blogger I have employed many things to add traffic to this site. I’ve worked with search engine optimization, links, and word of mouth. Publishing an article in a magazine or other publication had never occured to me. Karen really got me thinking about the possibilities and her ideas that she shared should make the process much easier. Check out the 10 minute interview and you’ll be on your way to a successful publication in a magazine or newspaper you may not even know about.

Get Published Podcast

Karen’s business, Giant Step Success has a great website where you can buy her books and find out how she can help you reach your Big Hairy Audacious Goals and take a Giant Step to Success.

This has been an incredible weekend. On Saturday I posted an article entitled “MBA on the Run“. The concept of the article is to listen to MBA related Audio books on a Ipod while walking through interesting business districts. Sounds like a crazy idea doesn’t it. I have to say this is one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced.

When I wrote the article I had no idea how profound the experience would be. Last night I picked up Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki from Itunes and downloaded it onto my Ipod Mini. I decided to follow through with my plan and I drove down to Old Town Murrieta which is a few miles from where I live. I parked in a strip mall on the edge of the main street. The Audio book had been playing while I was driving in the car so I had an overview of the first chapter.

I plugged in the earphones, put on my jacket, and clipped the Ipod to my belt. I started walking south along Washington Ave about 7pm. The story on the Ipod was one of two boys growing up in Hawaii in the 1950’s. The reality I was seeing was an old town that could have been out of that book. As the Author talked about his adventures growing up and the lessons that he learned it was if I had been transported back in time. Robert talked about working in Mrs Martin’s store for 10 cents and hour… I looked across the street and there was the rustic Murrieta Market. There was a young boy in the door dust mopping the floor and shaking the dust off in a huge cloud. Probably the same thing had been happening for 40 or 50 years… different kids… different times..

I walked further and I passed a Bar & Grill. The noise was loud and somebody inside was causing a commotion. I walked past the entrance and the story on the Ipod talked about people who didn’t understand how money worked would always be spending their money on frivolous things like alcohol and gambling. This was getting more profound by the minute. I continued down the street fascinated by Mr. Kiyosaki’s stories. The words were literally before my eyes.

As I reached the other end of town, I crossed the street and headed back. I soon heard people singing and I noticed a very small church building off to the left in the darkness. It could probably hold 30 people at the most. There was a glow around the front door and the singing got louder as I approached. All of a sudden the front door burst open and a young gal came running out at full speed. She ran right in front of me and continued down the street to a tattered mini van. She grabbed a book out of the back, muttered a faint hello, and hurried back in. The interesting thing was there was no name on the building… no worship times , no denomination, … nothing.

The audio book was talking about the desperation of people and businesses that didn’t understand financial principles. I couldn’t help thinking that this church needed to invest in a sign so the people of the neighborhood could get more information. Why wasn’t there a name or other information? If I lived nearby how could I get involved? It seemed so odd. And then it got more interesting as I walked further. Across the street there was more of a ruckus at the Bar. The noise level increased and someone was yelling from the front porch. What would happen if that little church had an outreach and a name, I wondered?

I continued on and Robert talked about the lesson’s he learned from his rich dad and how he invested in Real Estate. The stories of how he took dilapidated old buildings and turned them into high rises. I looked up to see an amazing dichotomy. On one side of the street was an old house from the turn of the century… boarded up and a rickety for-sale sign hanging from a post. The other side was a new two story office building that was under construction.

I had now reached the other end of town and I headed back to my car. When I opened the door I turned off the Ipod and I was suddenly transported from 1956 back to 2006. I can’t tell you how amazing this short little journey was. I will finish this audio book up in the next few days and then I hope to interview someone who has learned some of Robert’s financial principles.

This book tells an amazing story..

Back to the future 2006… Wow!

I received an invitation in the mail the other day to attend a MBA presentation put on by the University of Redland’s School of Business. They just opened a new branch in Temecula so I called and got more information. The sticker shock was expected but the overall program will probably not work for me. With my education background and my focus on technology certificates instead of a degree, I would be looking at 4 to 5 years of work to complete the program. The price tag in the $50,000 dollar range will also be a little difficult to justify.

I work in the K12 education field and master degrees are very common and required for upper level management. A few of our senior cabinet members even have doctorates. Given my age and my goals I have some interesting choices. I can bite the bullet and spend the next 4-5 years of my life with little spare time and a singular focus or I can pursue something a little different.

In researching this topic I’ve found many other people in the same quandary. Most people are frustrated but I found an interesting little manifesto on changethis.com that may help. Entitled “The Personal MBA“, this program consists of reading 42 books on business and applying what you learn to increase your effectiveness at work.

The books cover a wide range of subjects and are written by many popular business authors. The manifesto was written by Josh Kaufman and he has put together a website with an online forum for comments and an ongoing discussion. Josh lists the pros and cons of the program on his site…

* Can a traditional MBA program help you? Yes. You’ll meet a lot of great people and get acquainted with a few professors and corporate HR recruiters who can help you land a new job. You will also sink very deep into debt. If you decide to enroll in a full-time program, the opportunity cost of lost wages and future investable savings is huge.
* Will a traditional MBA teach you anything you can’t learn by yourself? Probably not. Classroom discussion can be beneficial, but there’s nothing presented that you can’t learn by studying a good book on the subject.
* Is a traditional MBA worth the time and money? Sorry – there’s no universal answer. If you’re looking to go into advanced corporate accounting, finance, quantitative analysis, commercial real estate, consulting, venture capital, or investment banking, an MBA or MS in a business-related field may be expected or required. In those cases, caveat emptor: once you decide to attend, the only certainty is that your bank account will be significantly smaller.

If you decide not to go to business school, the Personal MBA is a low cost way to educate yourself about business. (Even business school graduates can benefit greatly from reading these books.)

The bottom line: You get the education but not the piece of paper (degree) that may be critical. After looking at the list of books and the probable time commitment, I considered doing this. I asked myself the question… How will this fit into my time schedule and can it be somehow worked into my 12 habits program? When will I be able to read 42 books? I thought to myself… I’m already time strapped and a commitment this big may not fit.

Just then my e-mail popped up and there was a special offer from Audible.com for audio books.

The light went on…

Do this program with Audio books on my Ipod…

Another light went on…

Do this program while I’m already doing something else…

Another light went on… it was getting brighter..

Do this program while walking or exercising… something I’m already doing 30 minutes a day.

A crazy flashing light went on…

Walk or run in different business areas for greater continuity

Neon lights popped up…

While out walking Interview business owners about the subject material

A bright white spot light came on…

Blog about the results. Create an online thesis…

An MBA on the Run!

I can do this!

So here is my plan and my 6th habit in my 12 Habits quest. Listen to two new audio books a month and create two new articles or posts about the subject. While putting together the material interview a real-world business owner about the subject.

My first Audio book will be “Purple Cow” by Seth Godin and I plan to listen to this while walking through Old-Town Temecula. The goal will be to assimilate the material and find a remarkable business that is truly a “Purple Cow”. A short interview with the business owner should make the material come alive.

I’ll need a few materials to make this happen. Technology is the key to success.

1. Ipod with a belt clip or Ipod armband so I can walk and run with it

2. Audio book from Itunes or Audible

3. Pocket voice recorder for doing the interviews

4. Naturally Speaking from Dragon software for speech to text translation

Other books should be easy to choose and many good ones have been listed on Rosa Say’s Love Affair with Books. A few good ones come to mind like Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazi and another of Seth’s books… All Marketers Are Liars
The exercise part of this plan is compatible with Five Factor Fitness and Core Performance Essentials routines.

Since this program will use Audio books the book selection will be somewhat different than the Personal MBA, since some of those titles are not available in Audio form. I will purchase some of the books that are good for reference in both audio and bound versions. Given the two books per month timetable a great education can be put together over the span of two years.

The synergy of this program combining exercise, learning, communication, and writing is very powerful and it ties in great with my ongoing 12 habits program.

The entire cost of the whole program… under $1000 including the Ipod, pocket recorder, Naturally Speaking software, and 50 audio books. This is much cheaper than any conventional MBA program that I have found.

The upside is a great wealth of blogging material, an online thesis, and online stories (and possible podcasts) of real business success. This may not be a conventional MBA with a sheet of paper but I think this might look pretty good to a prospective employer especially with comments and feedback from readers of this blog.

I picked up all of the materials this week and they work great. Naturally speaking is amazing and the little pocket recorder will record up to 8 hours of speech. The Ipod allows you to bookmark sections of the audio book for future reference.

The first step starts… today