Derek Scruggs

I’ve been a devoted practitioner of Getting Things Done for almost five years. During that time I’ve experimented with lots of software to help me manage my to-do list, and I’m excited to have found the best one yet: OmniFocus is still in beta, but it ships January 8 and you can bet I’m pre-ordering it.

Not only am I fan of the product itself, but I’m also impressed with how it came into being. It’s origins date from Kinkless GTD, an amazing set of Apple Scripts developed by a guy named Evan (couldn’t quickly find his last name) that run on top of OmniOutliner Pro. I first heard about Kinkless from 43 Folders and quickly drank the kool aid. While it wasn’t perfect, it was the best realization of GTD in software that I’d seen so far.

The Omni Group noticed this phenomenon and, apparently being smart people, contacted Evan about building a dedicated product that suited his vision. Which they did. Initially they worked with Evan as a consultant (they also consulted with Merlin Mann at 43 Folders), but they just announced that he is joining the company full time as VP of marketing. What a great story - a company the embraces that community and delivers a product from the bottom up, to the point that the community’s most prominent leader becomes an executive!

OmniFocus has been in alpha for a while, but I didn’t touch it because I didn’t want anything buggy potentially destroying my to-do list. But a couple days ago they announced their public beta. I downloaded it immediately and gave it a whirl. There were a couple of crashes initially, but it’s already self-updated a couple of times since then and I haven’t had any crashes since Friday.

I’m extremely happy with it and am already becoming a ninja. I can’t tell you how psyched I am about this product. It’s a great step forward toward the ultimate “mind like water” state GTD promises. Great job guys!

One of the big memes of the whole Web 2.0/social media phenomenon as it relates to business is the importance of listening. Stop talking about how great you are and start listening. To your customers, your advisors, your employees, the blogosphere - you get the drift.

But what do you do if they don’t say anything? When people complain about their computer catching on fire on their blog, it’s relatively easy to figure out what you need to do to fix it. And if they love you they’ll usually let you know that, too. But what if they’re just kind of, you know, “Meh.” Or maybe they have some sense that they want to do business with you, but aren’t sure where to start?

One thing I’ve learned the last few years is that listening often isn’t enough, because they don’t really say anything. You know why? Because first you have to ask them a question.

And during that time I’ve discovered a magical question that is useful in almost any situation: sales, customer service, dealing with employees, even job hunting. Here it is:

If I could wave a magic wand and make this problem go away, what would that look like?

Big whup, right? It turns out that it is.

I’ve found that asking this question puts the buyer/customer/employee into a different mindset. Instead of treating you as either a pesky salesman or a target for their anger, they start to envision a better future. Instead of you convincing them to buy your product or come around to your way of thinking, they tell you exactly what solution you need to offer to make them happy.

Of course, you won’t always have the solution. Sometimes they don’t need your product (or you may realize you’re selling the wrong product and start to make changes as a result). On the other hand, if you do have the solution, you don’t have to waste time talking about the 87 features & benefits because you already know the two or three that really matter to them. I’ve found that on a good sales call, the prospect talks at least 70% of the time (and they often thank me at the end for such a great meeting). They talk not just because they like to gab, but because I ask questions.

Or in the case of an employee, they may realize they’re working for the wrong company or that their request is unreasonable. I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of this question with employees. Not only do they appreciate that I’m listening, they also realize that they are an active participant in the solution and thus more open to adjusting their own behavior or expectations.

In a customer service situation, they will be shocked that you even think this way. I can’t tell you how many pissed off people I’ve disarmed with this over the years. (Not that I’ve personally pissed a lot of people off, but you know how testy people can get in email they send to customer_service@yourcompany.com…)

A couple variations:

Sales: What do you need to see, hear or get a feel for to feel like you have enough information to make a good decision?

Business development: If I guaranteed to you that this will be a great partnership, in hindsight how would you know I was right?

Recruiting: What would make you feel like you made the perfect decision in coming to work for us?

Job hunting: I know the job title is [insert title here], but what are some of the specific results and behaviors that will let you know, in your gut, that you’ve hired the right kind of person?

It even works with your spouse:

What’s the one thing I could do tonight at dinner/on our vacation/while visiting the in-laws that would make you feel like I’m the perfect partner?

Try it and let me know how it works for you.

Seen this morning during my bike ride to work: a fox! It was in this little park near a very busy street that it tried to cross a couple times. I hope it made it across because this side of the street is basically nothing but the CU campus, houses and small parks. The other side eventually leads to the mountains.

As usual, Paul Graham says something most entrepreneurs have heard before, and yet somehow it’s new:

So I’ll tell you now: bad shit is coming. It always is in a startup. The odds of getting from launch to liquidity without some kind of disaster happening are one in a thousand. So don’t get demoralized. When the disaster strikes, just say to yourself, ok, this was what Paul was talking about. What did he say to do? Oh, yeah. Don’t give up.

More here

The only thing that can really destroy us is us. We shouldn’t do it to ourselves, and we shouldn’t use fear for political purposes—scaring people to death so they will vote for you, or scaring people to death so that we create a terror-industrial complex.

That would be Colin Powell .

I’ve been wondering about this myself, then Dave supplied the answer:

Now if you showed that diagram to most educated people, they probably would call it a network, and before we talked about social graphs we called them social networks, and you know what — they’re exactly the same thing, and social network is a much less confusing term, so why don’t we just stick with it? (Answer: we should, imho.)

Fans of Waking Life will recognize the technique, though I'm sure it had been done before that movie.

Memories of Fantasies Forgotten from Dovely on Vimeo.

I’m watching the last 15 minutes of the US vs. North Korea in the Women’s World Cup am reminded once again that soccer is the best women’s team sport. Why? Because there is essentially no difference between the men’s and women’s game. In basketball, for example, it’s very obvious that you’re watching a very different game from the men’s version: the almost complete absence of dunks being the obvious differences.

Though women’s soccer is a bit slower than men’s, that’s not really noticeable on television. And the tactics and ball skills are all exactly the same. There is even similarity within countries: Brazilian women’s soccer mirrors the men’s beautiful game - amazing ball skills and a flair for the dramatic offensive push.

The game ended in a tie, but from what I saw the North Koreans were better. Terrific ball skills and excellent passing. It was raining like hell and the ball was slippery. The USA was very lucky to get away with a tie.

One of my favorite memories from childhood is of a rainy overtime match I was in. We lost the game (we got screwed by the refs. No, seriously…), but it was a great game.

Seen in China’s western frontier at a Silk Road market where the craftsmen specialize in handmade rugs:

Seen in Gmail web snippets today: