Kevin Vogelsang

This post is very important to me. It is the 2nd part of a set of posts that began with Our Sphere of Influence. A Sphere of Influence is our realm where we matter most.  Check out the post for further discussion.  These posts hinge on the concept. Do provide your input by commenting.

Technology gives us new capabilities.  Consequently, technology has an important side effect: it makes our Sphere of Influence more accessible to us.  And when a group of people gain access to their Sphere of Influence, communities form.

I don’t think people have thought of it this way, but this is the framework for most community-driven movements:  a group of people focused on their Sphere of Influence that connect with each other.

The initial motivator for getting involved in a community may vary (they may not even be aware of the community), but people recognize their Sphere of Influence within a community of people when they begin to be acknowledged for their work.  This recognition pushes them forward as they realize the importance of their work and realize their work matters.

In the open-source software movement, programmers needed better ways to use a computer, a piece of technology that was highly enabling for them.  They also wanted to have greater control over their tools, to make the tools better, and to learn.  The community pushes this forward as they recognize and appreciate each others work.  They know their work matters and they benefit from the work of others.

The Wikipedian community spends huge amounts of time contributing to Wikipedia.   They may begin by wanting to contribute to the project.  They’re pushed forward when they see the impact/appreciation of their work through recognition and gaining higher command of their realm within Wikipedia.

Technology has another side effect: it makes new Spheres of Influence available. New technologies eventually lead to social changes that cause new communities to form.  A given function becomes democratized and community-driven.

With rapid prototyping technologies becoming affordable, a much greater number of people can take part in designing and fabricating physical things: an open-source hardware community is forming.

The same is also happening with biology research.  There’s a Do-It-Yourself biology community forming completely outside of academia.

Gov 2.0 represents the true democratization of government.  Citizens don’t take part in government by voting for someone. They just implement functions themselves using government resources.

When new Spheres of Influence become available, we’re able to choose one that better suits us.   Entire industries and social constructs are being completely disrupted by technologies that allow  people to do it themselves.  Communities of people form that are willing to do it for free because it’s what they like to do, and its where they feel they matter most.  It’s tough for businesses to compete with, unless they daringly change their business models or create new ones.

But, it’s not impossible for businesses to cope.  The open-source software companies did it….

In the next post, I’ll talk about more about the application of these ideas.

-Kevin
2.8.2010

Being surrounded by good people is a blessing.

Persona: a "social mask"

I’ve met a lot of people in my short life.  Many of these people have been very successful.  They owe much of their success to their strong and magnetic personalities.

“Personality” is a complex thing.  And on the surface, our personality not only “changes” over time, but it also changes depending on context.  We shift gears according to our environment: we’re very different at work or with our college buddies or in front of a crowd.  Moreover, we’re not necessarily conscious of these shifts.  Our personality seems to have many faces.  These many different faces are called personas.

Personas are shared beetween people; you’ll find certain personas in more than one place.  This shouldn’t come as a surprise.  A persona is simply a cohesive package of behaviors.  And people certainly “rub off” on each other.

I find this deeply intriguing.  And over the years, as I’ve watched people, I started noticing patterns in these personas.  Specifically, I found certain personas to be especially powerful.

In my book, I highlight 10 powerful personas, personas that really stand for something and enable people to do great things. Here’s a few:

• The Artist
• The Cocky SOB
• The Helping Hand
• The Man in the Arena

I highlight these personas with a purpose, not merely for the sake of exploration.  If we learn to recognize these personas in other people, we’re more likely to be influenced by them, and therefore more likely to spread their valuable characteristics. This is a very good thing.

I’ll be announcing the release date soon–stay tuned.  Follow me on Twitter (@KevinVogelsang) for updates.

I hope you’ll check it out.  To date, this will be the most important thing I’ve done.

-Kevin
2.3.2010

All people must have or find a “sphere of influence.”

Our sphere of influence is a realm in which we are a mover, a high impact player, the X factor.  Within our sphere of influence, we matter…a lot.

This sphere may be large or small.  It may be easy or hard to find.  It could be a role within our community.   It could be within our family. It could be on a sports team.  It could be within lines of code.  It could be our garden.  It could be the entire world.

The most important thing is that we find it.  We need to find it for ourselves and for everyone else.  Our energy needs to be directed somewhere where it matters.

-Kevin
2.2.2010

Education through athletics is incredibly undervalued.

In school, I played varsity basketball, ran track, and played football.  I started playing because it’s what my friends did, I thought I could be good at it, and I wanted to compete.

Eventually in college, I realized athletics was the most important piece of my overall education.  I didn’t fully realize this until a sales class that I took at Sloan.  Bill Aulet was talking about hiring, and one of the main things he wondered about people was “did they play competitive sports?”

In US high schools, class room learning just isn’t that good.  You learn next to nothing about yourself, teamwork, leadership, politics, and performance. You certainly don’t learn toughness.

In the US, athletics is the only arena where performance is closely measured.  There’s stats on everything.  Through the entire education system, it’s also the only arena where you’re judged on your performance.  If you aren’t performing, you lose your job or your starting position.  This is important.

For nearly 20 years, I poured the majority of my energy and focus into athletics.  And it took me 20 years to realize the educational value–the value of understanding the athlete’s mindset.

It always pains me to hear people tell kids that they need to focus on classwork.  Our education system is full of flaws.  But I think one thing we need to value more is motivation. If a student enjoys something (anything) and is willing to work hard it, push them forward.  They’ll learn more doing that than half-ass reading Great Expectations and Frankenstein.  When it comes to valuable experience, my time as an athlete is the most important experience I’ve had, even more important than MIT or any work experience.  It’s where I learned all the core skills everyone should learn.

For business, particularly for startups, the competitive sports team is the closest experience you can get in school: You pick your team and go find a way to win.

-Kevin
2.2.2010

As the hardware for reading ebooks improves, eBooks will continue to be adopted. 

But, there’s one thing that eBooks don’t do: they don’t visibly sit on a shelf.

Books aren’t just for reading.  They express something about us.  A book on our shelf represents something we see (or want to see) in ourselves.

They’re also like trophies.  You can’t walk into my house and see all the eBooks I’ve conquered.  You can’t appreciate the grandeur of an eBook library.

eBooks are much more cost effective way of publishing and distributing content.  But, I still think people will continue to buy physical books for a long time.  But, they’ll likely become more of a luxury good.

Today, Apple announced it’s new tablet device–the iPad. They also announced iBooks, the iPad’s application/platform for ebooks.  Interestingly enough, Apple was smart enough to try and replicate the feeling of a book sitting on a shelf.  The idea of putting eBooks on a shelf is much more provocative than adding them to a list of text.

-Kevin
1.27.2009

Yesterday, I wrote a post about the surprising significance of the tools we use to accomplish a given task.

Bryan Hernandez wrote this comment:

I started to reply, but then I realized I had a lot to say.  People that take something seriously tend to have a very precise routine and have particular requirements for the way they go about their business: football players wear their pads a certain way, programmers may listen to certain music when they code, basketball players lace their shoes up precisely, and so on.  Especially when performance is desired, people pay close attention to the intricacies of their craft.

So how do I write?

My primary weapon is  a 5×8 Moleskine sketchbook. Hardbound to keep the pages flat.  Thick pages to keep my pen from indenting the following pages.  Elastic strap to keep it closed.  No lines because I do sketches it it as well.

I used to try and use regular, spiral bound notebooks.   That didn’t work. I didn’t keep track of where I put them. Pages got ripped out and bent.  Pages got messed up from writing on the pages on top of them (which is surprisingly annoying.) Because of these things, I didn’t write often.  A regular notebook just wasn’t special, so it felt like my writing wasn’t particularly special.    If you value something, you have to treat it right.

The 5×8 size is versatile size.    Putting little notes doesn’t look awkward–it seems right. But, it’s not a problem to write something longer.  It feels good to fill up some pages sometime.

It also doesn’t take up much space, so I can keep it right on my desk next to my computer mouse.  When an idea comes to me or I have an epiphany, I can quickly and easily write it down and get it out of my head before I forget it, and more importantly, before it distracts me any further.

My 2nd weapon is my pen. I use a Pilot G-2 pen (black, blue looks gaudy).  It makes my handwriting look a little wiser, and it glides along the paper quickly.  You need to be able to write quickly when the thoughts are coming.  Otherwise you’re wasting moments of inspiration, you will more quickly lose momentum.  You certainly won’t be able to get into a state of flow.

I don’t like using a word processor to get rolling.  It’s weird, it makes me feel less like a writer.  I just can’t get my “game face” on.

My 3rd weapon is this blog.  Blogging imbibes the words with an added purpose: you’re talking to someone.  There’s an audience out there conversing with you .  Additionally, talking to someone, talking through a concept, forces us to think and speak with even greater clarity.  And conversing by the written word takes this clarity to new heights–you can talk without thinking, but you can’t write without thinking.

-Kevin
1.27.2010

A tool doesn’t just make implementing a solution easier or possible: the tool defines the solution.

You want to write.  You are given a choice as to what paper you are able to write on.  You can write on post-it notes that you carry in your pocket, a small notebook you can carry in your bag, or a large hard-bound notebook that resides on your desk.  How will this effect how often you write?  How much you write?  What kind of things you write?

It comes down to our perceived costs.  These perceived costs are defined by the tool. If a tool makes one solution easier than the other, you’ll gravitate to the ostensibly easier solution.  It has a lower cost, it takes less energy, to implement that solution.  And thus, the product of our work and desires is affected.

If you only write on post-it notes that you carry in your pocket, you’ll likely end up writing down quotes, limericks, and little thoughts.  If you have a big piece of writing paper on your desk, you’ll write big things, but only when you’re deeply inspired.

And if you want to write, but are never deeply inspired, you’re better off starting with post-it notes in your pocket.  Thus, the tool not only dictates the solution, but whether there is an outcome at all.

It also dictates our behavior.

The implications of this thought run far and wide.  But you and I should probably let it stew for a little while first.  But if you have thoughts on those implications, you should probably write them down in the comments, before you forget.  Unless of course you have some post-it notes in your pocket.  Those work too.

Kevin
1.25.2010

There are two common philosophies on life.  People that say, “Just enjoy life.”  And people that say, “Make a difference.  Matter.”

These aren’t the only philosophies on life.   But, they seem to be the most prevalent attitudes in the US.

Of course, ideally you can have both.  The best way to achieve that is by doing work that makes you happy.  You produce value that makes a big impact, while at the same time enjoying doing it.  However, it may take years of training and toil to get to that point.  (I talk about this in the book I’m writing, which you’ll see published soon enough–god willing).

Unfortunately, many times enjoyment and impact are in deep conflict.  There’s a lot of chores to do, but you just want to go out and play.

Most people that are at least semi-successful seem to try and balance them (or end up balancing them by putting themselves within structures that help them to do this).  They work hard and take  care of their responsibilities, but they still enjoy themselves when they can. Party one or two nights a week and work hard the rest of the time.

I’ve certainly met many people that don’t balance them; there are the modern day Hedonists.  They sacrifice impact for having a good time.  Party six nights a week and find a way to make some sort of living. It’s easy to swerve that way, especially when you don’t have many responsibilities.  (Example: I’ve known a lot of guys that were…considerably irresponsible…until they had kids.)

Upon writing that paragraph, I wonder if most Americans actually fall into that camp. They just try and put all their work in early in hopes that they can cruise later on.

Are there people that are solely focused on making an impact?  I’m not sure.  It’s hard to say.  No one wants to be unhappy. They are certainly not healthy if they do. It could be that impact plays a much larger role in their equation for personal satisfaction.  Either way, people need to take time away, take a rest, in order to reach their full potential.  The degree of necessary does vary.

Personally, I cannot believe that the purpose of human existence is to just be happy.  However, incentives exist for humans to be pleasure seeking, and it isn’t a bad thing.  It’s a part of human nature that we should fully accept.

My stance: shoot for impact–on other people, on the world–and you’ll seek out and find enjoyment along the way.

What do you think?

-Kevin
1.24.2010

Yep, it’s true.  I’m an MIT Bioengineer working as a mover.  One, maybe two days a week, I get up real’ early in the morning to go move furniture and boxes for people. It’s definitely tough, physical labor.

“That sounds like it sucks. That has to be terrible right?”

Nope.  I’m lovin it.  I’d do it once a week, even if I didn’t need a little extra spending money.

For one, there’s something extremely satisfying about working with your hands to directly produce value for someone.  Moving is very stressful for people.  Can you imagine having someone that you don’t know come move all your belongings for you?  Much less worrying about the move itself.

People are relieved and extremely happy when they meet us, see that we’re competent and enjoyable people, and then watch us do a great job and fast.  Run to the truck.  Grab a stack of boxes. Pass them off to the next guy and repeat.  We do great work and get a lot of extremely tangible work done.

Secondly, for men (I can’t speak for women), there’s something about working with your hands that let’s guys talk.  Some of the best conversations I’ve ever had between a group of guys was while working–painting, hanging drywall, framing a house.  I’m not sure what it is.   I think part of it is the fact that there is a valuable objective involved, but at the same time, once the work begins, there is still plenty of mental capacity to talk while passing the time.

Thirdly, I get a workout and get away from my desk and computer.  Something very good about that.  There’s something much more natural about being out in the world and moving heavy objects.

Fourthly, it’s always important to get out of your “bubble.”  People tend to forget what the world is like outside of their immediate environment or community.  For me, my community spends a lot of time focused on technology and getting jobs on Wall Street.  That’s a small part of the world.  And closing yourself off from the world is a huge loss, in addition to being dangerous.

Lastly, in addition to other reasons, no one can say that I’m not interesting.  (Well, they could, but would you believe them?)

Kevin
1.23.2010

Over the past week or so I’ve written about why it’s important to find your passion and gain expertise.

Blogging can help you with these, and more.

Blogging is an awesome thing.

If you blog consistently, you’ll blog about what’s on your mind.  And soon enough, you will realize what’s on your mind and what you want to share.  This says a lot about you.

You’ll talk about things you know.  People will challenge you and ask you questions.  This will cause you to learn more.

People will learn from you.  People will appreciate your experience and the shared experiences between you.

People will also learn about you.  It’s strange how little we know about what is on each other’s minds and what our interests are, even our close friends that live next door to us.  Our minds are in a constant state of flux.  It’s hard to keep up with.  (Ever written something and looked back at it even a few months later?  It almost always gets the response, “Did I write that?  What was I thinking?”)

Blogging gives you an audience to write to.  Writing to people will require you to write clearly, and consequently, think more clearly.  Therefore, you’ll learn from writing.  One of my primary motivators to write is just to figure things out.  When I start writing about a topic, it leads me to unexpected ideas and conclusions.

It’ll also help you stay in touch with others and help them stay in touch with you.  You’re constantly offer people something to talk about with you.

Lastly, when someone writes a comment, or just visits your page,  they provide you with positive feedback.  Your work has been noticed.  As you see your number of visitors slowly increase, you’ll want to keep doing it.  Like running, once you get in shape, once you get in a groove, you won’t want to give it up.

Starting a blog is easy. Just go to Wordpress.com .

-Kevin
1.22.10