Winterfest 2010

Photos from the trip to Winterfest in Jaffrey, New Hampshire this past weekend with boy scouts. Wonderful experience where the mounds of snow were welcome.

I always wonder about the poor souls who go to so much effort in vain attempts to catch a few elusive ice fish, (while ice fishing)

Anniversary of landing in the USA

Today we celebrate 9 years in the USA. On January 20, 2001, our flight landed at JFK and brought my family to the land of opportunities. We had $400 in cash with us, six suitcases and our hearts were full of hope.

I am pleased with what the USA has already provided for us, and the many new opportunities that have opened up this year.

I am looking forward to a fabulous future in the coming years in the USA.

Voorspeodige nuwe jaar vir Afrikaners

Ek luister na "Rock Daai Lyfie" (Nicholis Louw) en "De La Rey" (Bok van Blerk) op CD wat ons gekoop het terwyl ons in Suid Afrika was in 2009. Ek is glad nie lus om uit te gaan nie want dit sneeu alweer hier in Connecticut. En toe besef ek dat ek nog nie Voorspoedige jaar gewens het vir Afrikaanse lesers.

Ons se baie "Dis 'n klein wereld". Eintlik was dit nog altyd 'n klein wereld. Terwyl ek saam met die Boy Scouts gekamp het in 2009, het ek 'n ou oom ontmoet. Hy het onmiddelik die aksent opgetel en gevra of ek ex-Suid Afrikaner is. Hy vertel toe dat sy oupa in die Boere oorlog baklei het. Sy oupa was 'n khaki en die oom vertel hoe hy stories gehoor het van die ander kant van die boere oorlog - soos wat die khakis dit gesien het. Interesante insig terwyl ek na woorde van "De La Rey" luister.

In elk geval - ek wens almal a voorspoedige 2010. Met of sonder sneeu.

Best Wishes for holiday season

With best wishes from Botha family in Connecticut - hoping that you have a great holiday season and prosperous New Year.

p.s. This is the first blog posting from my Christmas gift to myself - the Samsung NC10 Netbook. (Did I mention that I am thrilled with this device?)

White Christmas for 2009

Snow from this past weekend (Winter storm Albert) is going to be on the ground and roofs for Christmas. Looking forward to a long weekend with wife and son and a white Christmas.

A little sad that we won't be able to enjoy Christmas celebrations with South African relatives this year. Part of the price we pay for following our dream and moving to the USA.

What is the price that you pay to follow your dreams? How can you make the investment exponentially worth it?

Thanksgiving - 2009

This is the thanksgiving weekend in the USA. Today, we will enjoy dinner with good friends, and take time out to recover from the flu that visited our household this week.

We give thanks for being in the USA, being employed, and being together as a family. What are you thankful for today?

During the weekend, I am setting goals and planning 2010 activities. What are your plans for 2010? Now is a great time to think about your professional development goals for 2010, and put your training workshops and courses onto your calendar. How will you improve your skills in 2010, so that you have more to be thankful for next year at Thanksgiving?

Camping trip with Boy Scouts

The leaves have fallen in Connecticut, as you can see from this photo. I just invested the weekend in camping with the boy scout troop, in Ashford CT. We had a great, great time in the crisp air. Thank goodness for Kelty tents and sleeping bags - I slept snugly and cozy.

It was fun and the weekend was very well planned and executed. I can't take credit for much of it, sans the relatively digestable breakfast pancakes.

Going into the final turn of 2009

We just returned home from our long weekend. Four days of relaxation, with time to think through my strategies for the rest of 2009, make preliminary plans for 2010 and enjoy my family.

Here is what you should be thinking about now.
1. We are going into the final quarter for 2009. What are your goals for these three months?
2. What obligations have crept into all areas of your life? Are you supporting charitable causes that are taking more and more of your time?
3. What are you tolerating in your life? What should you take action on to clean out some of the clutter in your life? Is it time for a "Fall cleaning" of your office? (My office is overdue for another cleaning).
4. What are your self-development plans for the rest of 2009, and 2010? (You do have plans to develop yourself during the coming 12 months, don't you?)
5. Where do you want to be on Dec 31, 2010? What are you doing now, to get there?

My plans are in place and I have renewed energy to put them into practise. What about you?

Sept 2009 Long Weekend - Day 3

Burgers and fries last night from Bongo's in Granville, NY. The server took pains to explain that the meat is fresh, and thus takes a little longer to prepare the burgers. The burgers were burgers and I didn't taste any difference.

We had antics with the wood stove last night. I lit a slow fire, just to take the chill off the air. Then mother nature turned up the temperature and shut off the wind. You can't instantly turn off wood fire, which resulted in in us enjoying open windows and doors while wishing that the fire would die.

Rained overnight and looks like today will be an indoor day of relaxation.

Sept 2009 Long Weekend

We just drove four hours to a lakeside cottage for a relaxing long weekend getaway. From Connecticut, through Mass, Vermont and into New York state. I believe we are now in the middle of nowhere, as we have driven for the past two hours on country roads at 25 MPH.

There is a hint of fall colors along the drive, but not yet worthy of photos. The crisp Vermont air reminds everyone that winter is just around the corner.

The directions to this lake house include a section of "... drive through a beautiful valley...". The directions did not mention the dairy farms which has turned it into "... the valley of the cow smell...". One could believe that the beauty comes from unforgettably powerful manure.

Freddy (our family cocker-poo) came along for the weekend. It is become important for our family to seek out pet friendly travel destinations so that we don't have to deal with boarding kennels if we can help it.

The priorities for this weekend are:
1. Catch up on some writing (including a new case study on project management in action for volunteer projects, based on my work for Project SPUD).
2. Rest.
3. Hang out with the family.
4. Enjoy some serious thinking and strategy work to maximize the rest of 2009, and prepare for a prosperous 2010.

Photos from King Richards Faire

Photos and video from King Richard's Fair in Carver, Mass.

4th of July BBQ

We had an enviable BBQ this afternoon, with juicy steaks cooked to perfection by the experienced chef.

I tried to send this photo to Facebook from my phone, but no success yet. I would never have imagined I would have a need to upload photos from my mobile phone, but this is just one more example of how we must continue to be lifelong learners. You never know what you will learn in the next 5 years.

Only one day left of our long weekend. :(

Car Show - June 28, 2009

We visited a car show in East Windsor today. This is an annual charity event. I am standing next to a Graham. I think this is the first time I have seen a Graham in real-life, and it has a striking profile and distinctive design.

The yellow hot rod started life as a Ford Anglia. The new engine and other improvements makes it a completely different vehicle to the one that left Henry's factory.

One of the enormous benefits of summer time in Connecticut is the car shows. There is a car show almost every weekend within driving distance, much to my delight.

A friend in need is a friend indeed

I am cleaning out my home office bookshelves for greater efficiency in 2009 - Also known as "Now where did I put that?" syndrome.

I see that my personal library grew considerably this year. I have acquired and read books by Alan Weiss, PhD - most notably both editions of "Getting started in consulting". Also, in no particular order, I have added works by the following impressive authors:
1. David Schwartz
2. Jeffrey Gitomer
3. Shad Helmstetter
4. Larry Winget (self-published and commercially published books)
5. Lilly Walters
6. Dr. Mel Levine (Highly recommended)
7. John J. Ratey, MD (Super recommended)
8. Vincent J. Monastra, PhD
9. Thomas J. Leonard
10. Marcus Buckingham
11. Randy Gage
12. Marcia Yudkin
13. Robert W. Bly
14. Garr Reynolds
15. Anne Miller
16. Jerry Vass
17. Jeff Herman

On a side note - I was forced to abandon my personal library when we left South Africa in 2001. There was no way for us to bring weighty books, and I slowly building up my library again thanks to Amazon's ability to purchased used and out of print books. You should look on Amazon and eBay to find those hard to find books.

The result of my acquisitions is that my bookshelves were sagging and in desperate need of a new-year's cleanup. As I sorted my bookshelves, I realized that I could not cope on my own. Have you ever moved house and thought "When did we accumulate all this stuff?". I wondered why and when I accumulated this stuff in my home office as well. Printouts, outdated contracts, projects in progress and newsletters from organisations that I am involved in.

There was far too much stuff to sort through, and store again. It was time to call in two friends. Firstly, Mr. Garbage Can. It is surprising how much stuff Mr. Garbage Can will take out of your life without you ever missing it. Secondly, Miss. Shred Der happily accepted the confidential documents that have outlived their purpose.

How do you know if you should store something, or give it to one of these two friends? Here is my rule of thumb. If I have not used it in the prior nine months, and don't expect to use it in the next three months, then it goes .

Anything that I keep is put in a box with a label to identify the contents, and the date it was sealed. Then, on the next cleanup round, the same rule applies and complete boxes can be discarded without further analysis.

Use my rule of thumb to help you clean out your workspace. You feel better with less clutter and can work more efficiently in 2009. Then all you have to do is set goals so that you can work more effectively as well.

P.S. Call on your friends (Mr. Garbage Can and Ms. Shred Der) if the task overwhelms you. You can travel lighter than you think. If in doubt, throw it out.

Happy Christmas 2008

Happy Christmas everyone.

Here is Connecticut we have a sunny day today, after a few dreary days of rain and clouds that followed the snow storms over the weekend.

I am catching up on some quality family time and a touch of personal reading. Also getting ready to set goals for 2009. How about you? Are you getting ready to set new goals for next year?

Take every opportunity to laugh

Life is tough. Slow traffic, struggling to get the homework completed and getting stuck behind a certified coupon clipper at the supermarket is enough to sour Dr. Peale's best attempts at PMA.

We do not get many opportunities to laugh out loud. Keep a watchful eye and embrace every opportunity. Laugh out loud whenever you can. Lead the people in your company with a good laugh when something funny happens. Lower your stress and the stress of others. This is your civil duty.

Tolerations. Stop them.

I am reading "The Portable Coach" by Thomas J. Leonard. Very interesting material. I got interested in the benefits of personal coaching since my coach asked if I would accept coaching while he completes his training and works on his certification. My interest in coaching led me to research personal coaching, which led me to purchasing a copy of "The Portable Coach".

One of the many lessons in this book, that I want to pass on, is to stop tolerating things in your life that suck up your energy. What are you tolerating today that is taking up energy? Is your desk a mess? Then invest some time and clean it, to remove the toleration and give yourself more energy.

Does you car need repairs? Is there something small broken around the house that you tolerate, but should just have repaired? If so, then there is no time like the present. Give yourself an energy boost and remove some of things that you are unhappy with in life and are currently tolerating. Stop tolerating them to improve your life.

Exceptional Mentor Coach - Jerry Wistrom

Today I attended the monthly meeting of ICF-Connecticut chapter. ICF is the International Coaching Federation which is the foremost governing body of Professional Coaches. Today's meeting was a panel discussion with some of the most experienced and leading professional personal and business coaches in Connecticut.

The panel answered questions and gave honest advice and feedback on many aspects of the business side of professional coaches. Five coaches served on today's panel.

An exceptional Mentor Coach - Jerry Wistrom

Jerry has been there, done that. As a coach focusing on helping small business owners achieve remarkable results, and serving the coaching profession as mentor coach and at national level of the ICF, he has the experience. Jerry answered questions about accreditation and what it takes to get to ACC, PCC and MCC. The ultimate compliments were paid as successful coaches in the audience greeted Jerry warmly and shared testimonials relating the exceptional impacts of Jerry's coaching on their own careers. Jerry is the best of the best, and as we say in South Africa, "What a nice guy!!"

I thoroughly enjoyed today's panel discussion, and met other interesting people who are Professional Coaches. The authenticity and of coaches and the fact that successful coaches are living out "Who I am" versus "Doing what I do" is unstoppably attractive. If you have not yet worked with a coach who is working from the abundance of "Who I am", then you owe it to yourself to take up the opportunity when you get a chance. Listening to the panel answer questions helps me to understand work/life balance.


On a side note, as a presenter, I was grateful to enjoy a live panel discussion today, and not a boring PowerPointless presentation. I have come to cringe at the thought of being invited to meetings and watch the presenter begin his "Death by PowerPoint" routine. Fortunately, the stars aligned for me this morning, and my horoscope excluded PowerPointless presentations for me today :)

WAH, WAH, WAH

This week the SNEC-PMI (where I am VP Of Membership) held our monthly meeting. The topic of Working at Home came up for discussion at my table.

Work At Home (WAH is one of the common acronyms while another is W@H) refers to modern day telecommuting. As Project Managers with teams located all over the globe, many of us are as effective working from home as we are when working from the office. We have high-speed Internet connections and reliable telephones in our home offices.

The appeal to W@H is naturally the lack of commute and flexible work hours. You don't have transportation expense, traffic nor frustration when you W@H, which results in less time wasted on the road, more time for productive Project Management, and a better work/life balance.

The consensus around our table was that W@H has advantages such as higher productivity and "to-do" lists becoming "got-done" lists. My dinner mates testified that you are more productive when you W@H.

The W@H downside is a complete lack of water-cooler chat and office gossip. My informal survey showed that when given the choice, 80% of Project Managers prefer to work from the office if their team is also located at the office. Productivity may be lower, but our social needs are met in the cube farm, even with the inherent disadvantages of zero privacy and frequent interruptions.

A few years ago, I frequently heard the wailing from colleagues "If only I could work from home, I would be more productive and a happier Project Manager".

So there you have it – no more crying allowed to Work at Home. WAH, WAH, WAH no more. Because W@H also has a downside.

We agreed that a combination of W@H and work in the cube farm for some days of each week is the best of all worlds. Two days at home and three days at the office seems to keep our scales in balance.

Learn to pull the trigger

Yesterday I was out on the shooting range with a good friend. We shot rifles in .22 Magnum, 223 Remington (with his delightful Colt AR) and 357 Magnum calibers. The sun shone down while a gentle breeze stirred the warm air. It was perfect weather, perfect companionship and we enjoyed a truly pleasurable day.

What does this have to do with you making presentations? What value do you get from my day on the shooting range? Read on and I will explain, I promise.

Back in South Africa, I was an active member of a full-bore, high power target rifle shooting club. The photo above was taken on this shooting range. The objective of full-bore target shooting is to consistently shoot accurately at long ranges that vary from 300 yards to 1000 meters. Many factors affect your ability to shoot accurately at these ranges, including the wind, your ammunition, your rifle and other equipment.

One Saturday morning, with the African sun showing no mercy, my weathered instructor told me in his gruff voice "Wayne, you have to learn to pull the trigger". I thought he meant that there exists a secret technique to pulling the trigger, but this is not what he meant at all. I came to learn that once a target is in sight, you only have about 2 seconds of opportunity to pull the trigger and take the shot before fatigue sets in or the wind changes.

In other words, you cannot take aim for an extended period before you pull the trigger. When the time is almost right, you must pull the trigger and live with the consequences. To continue aiming after you should have pulled the trigger is dysfunctional and your results show that you missed the window of opportunity.

When you are preparing for your presentations, you also have to learn to pull the trigger. How do you do this so that you take aim pull the trigger and deliver your presentation?

Firstly, when you prepare your presentation, define what the audience needs to know about the message that you are communicating. Then deliver that information. Do not try to communicate all the information that you have about this topic. Take aim at what you want to communicate, and pull the trigger.

Secondly, when you are creating handouts for your audience and your slide show, remember that "Done is better than perfect". You will quickly get to the point where your handouts are very good, your slides are acceptable and your speech structure is good. Now you need to be ready to pull the trigger.

If you continue to improve your presentation at this point, you are in danger of taking aim for too long and starting to waste valuable. time. When your presentation handouts, slides and speech are nearly ready for delivery, then you are probably ready to move on.

Thirdly, while you are getting ready to go on stage before the presentation, go through your normal warm-up routine. Walk around to warm up your muscles and release some tension. Warm up your voice by talking to people in your audience and doing vocal warm-up exercises. Then pull the trigger and go in front of your audience to deliver your message. I have heard presenters use phrases to remind themselves that it is time for the delivery, such as "Here I go, and let the chips fall where they may" and "It's show time baby".

Lastly, while you are in front of your audience, while you are presenting your message, go ahead with your presentation. If you forget a story or don't make a point as strongly as you wanted to, then don't agonize over it. Keep going.

The advice from my weathered instructor under the brutal South African sun, proved valuable to other members of the target shooting club as well. The successful target shooters commented how they each learned to take aim, pull the trigger, and fire. Time and time again, my instructor would point out the less successful shooters taking aim, adjusting the aim, taking aim, adjusting the aim, pulling the trigger, firing and often missing the target.

The results in our shooting competitions proved that you have a higher success rate when you learn to pull the trigger when the short window of opportunity opens, not as the window of opportunity is closing.

Take the lesson from a shooting range in Pretoria, South Africa into your presentation: Take aim at getting your message across to your audience, pull the trigger when you define your message, as you prepare, while you deliver your message.

I believe that you will be far more successful than the presenters who take aim, adjust aim, take aim, adjust aim, pull the trigger and miss the target.

Now, it is time to pull the trigger and publish this blog posting ...

Lessons from the Classic Chevy car show.

Picture this. July 6, 2008. Sunny Sunday morning in Connecticut. Chevys on display for everyone to appreciate. I find it sobering for 2 reasons.

1. Many of these cars are over 50 years old. So what you say. Well, imagine that you are walking to church in July 1908. What you have given to drive in a Chevy from 1950? Henry Ford debuted his Model T in 1908. Do you see the progress cars design and engineering made in the first 100 years of automobile transportation, and how undramaticly cars have improved since the 1950's? Are your presentations showing revolutionary improvements, or are your presentations merely "improving" each time you speak?

2. Many of these cars are over 50 years old. The steering wheels, body panels, wheels, carpets, transmissions and the remainder of the materials were pressed, machined, formed and painted 50 years ago. Long before blogs, September 11, the internet and when George W. Bush was a toddler. Sobering to think that these vehicles have been transporting families, consuming fossil-fuel and providing pleasure to car lovers for half-a-century. What about your presentations? Will people in your audience remember your message in 50 years? Will anyone remember it next week? Will they remember what you said when they walk out of the meeting room?

If you want to make your messages memorable then ditch the text-laden slides. Use visuals and photographs while you tell stories to support your points.

These Classic Chevys are now well-cared for and they may be preserved for another 200 years or more. I wish I could be around to visit the 2308 Classic Chevy Car Show in Connecticut. Will your presentation be worth anything in 2308?

PS. The top photo is a Right-Hand Drive. I had to look twice before I realized my eyes were not playing tricks on me. It is from Australia. I noticed because cars in South Africa are also Right-Hand Drive and I felt a twinge of longing for my land of birth as I pointed it out to my son.

USA - Independence day on July 4

Happy fourth of July in the USA!! I hope that you enjoy yours.

It is a long weekend for us here. A weekend to enjoy time with our family and friends.

Remember that we came from South Africa in January 2001 to live in the USA. Independence Day has special meaning to us because as first generation immigrants we identify so closely with the spirit of claiming the self-evident truth"... all men are created equal".

For a laugh, read below.

At dinner this evening, the discussion with my son was:

Me: This is 4th of July weekend.
Son: What are we celebrating?
Me: The signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Son: And that started World War II, right?
Me: No
Son: So it was World War I, right?
Me: Uh-uh.
Son: The Civil War?
Me: No
Son: What are they going to call the war in Iraq?
Me: Don't know.
Son: Why are we fighting a war in Iraq?
Me: Don't know (Preferring to enjoy dinner that discuss the Iraq war)

Son: I get confused. Why did we come to America anyway? There are too many wars here.

We grow faster, when we grow quiet

You don't want to see a personal photo on this topic :)

I have been under the weather the past few days with flu, sore throat, headaches and so on. Not a pretty sight. Starting to recover today.

This led to a lot of time for reflection - time to grow quiet. Both while I lay on the couch watching mindless daytime TV and while watching the fabulous History channel during sleepless nights.

I realized the value of downtime and this forced quiet time gave me opportunity to think when I normally don't have time during my hectic schedule. It gave me an opportunity to cement my priorities for 2008 and realize how much I want to reach certain goals in 2008. Here is my foundational phrase for this experience:

"We grow faster when we grow quiet".

When last did you take a morning, afternoon, or - gasp!! - a whole day, to grow quiet and reflect on the value of your goals, the the value each goal will bring for you? Are you satisfied in your soul that reaching these goals is what you want for 2008? Or are you too busy (like I usually am) to stop chasing the daily routines and make time for reflection?

You can start the process by asking questions. What will it feel like if I reach this goal? How much time and money will it cost to reach this goal? Where else could I invest this time and money? Which would I rather do - goal 1 or goal 2, if I had to decide. You are sure to come out of your quiet time with a clearer picture of what you want, perhaps with stronger conviction to reach your goals than ever before. I was able to select one personal goal for Q1, and realize that if I reach only this one goal in Q1 (the first quarter of 2008), then I am totally successful for Q1.

Can you find the single goal that you believe will indicate success for you in Q1?

Disney 2007 Vacation Diary now available

We have finished unpacking from our family vacation to Disneyworld last week and I have compiled a diary of our adventures. We took 393 photos in 5 days and have reduced the total to 120 of our best photos for printing. This is still too many and we will weed out more before sending to Wal-Mart online for hard-copies.

Read all about my family's Disney vacation here.

Scooter on day after Thanksgiving

Where were you this morning at 5 AM? In the United States, the day after Thanksgiving is when stores open at 4 AM with sales, discounts and zealous shoppers to create the Homo sapiens equivalent of a school of Piranhas.

In our seven years in the USA this was the first day we participated in the shopping frenzy. Why? Because my son saw an electric scooter on sale in yesterday's newspaper. For him, I went shopping with women in night clothes and tracksuits at 5 AM.

I set the conditions:

1. He must get up at 4 AM with me to go shopping at 5 AM.

2. No grumbling about getting up early, comments on the long lines or any other unpleasant remarks. (I agreed to not complain either)

3. He pays for the scooter out of his allowance.

The result:

5 minutes to get the scooter. 45 minutes in the checkout line. The happiest child I have seen in months. And the scooter works fine. He has enjoyed riding it all day today. He insisted I post a photo on this blog. Dad's chest bursting wht pride as my son graduates to his first set of "wheels". He is growing up into a fine young man.

Will I get up at 4 AM and go shopping again next year? No. Definitely not. Out of the question. Unless my son asks again :)