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I’m Learning Spanish…. Really!

Apr 30
Posted by DaveOlson in Personal Development

It’s been a long time coming, but I’m finally taking spanish lessons.
I started trying to learn spanish back in 1995 on a trip to Ixtapa. I think I learned the basics but that’s it. Then with a few trips to Cuba I learned a little more and couple of years ago I took 5 days of lessons in the Dominican Republic.

The net result was I could almost get around in a spanish conversation as long as the speaker also knew english. I know… not a great scenario.

So this year I decided I’m going to get serious about learning the language. Fortunately I came across a Groupon for a year’s subscription to LiveMocha.

LiveMocha is a language learning community where you can study any of 36 languages. My choice obviously is Spanish.

The key with the website and the community is that you get feedback from native speakers of the language you are learning. So every lesson when I write a letter or record an audio dialogue, I get a critique from a native spanish speaker. Incredibly helpful. I can’t believe how much I’m enjoying it.

I have to admit though that every time I have to record an audio conversation, I get nervous. I still get that weird feeling of speaking a language that I’m not fluent in. I think I’m improving though so that’s good.

The bottom line is I would recommend LiveMocha to anyone that’s trying to learn a new language. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

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When Process Gets Separated From Purpose There Are Problems

Mar 16
Posted by DaveOlson in Business, Personal Development

Things can get ridiculous when you are stuck with a process but don’t know the purpose behind it. I’m sure we all have been required to do something when we don’t know why, but often we do it anyway.

We recently made a trip to Ecuador. Although we ending up travelling for nearly two days to get there, the delays were not man made. Coming back however, we encountered a definite separation of process and purpose.

In Guatemala City our plane landed and we were supposed to continue on the same plane and flight number. However, we were required to disembark and go through security again. Although we did security in Ecuador (x-ray and metal detector), we had our luggage scanned and another metal detector. In addition, right at the gate, someone went through our luggage and we had a pat down by a security officer. Even though it was redundant, I do get some of the paranoia and each country making sure security is done to their own standards.

The breakdown came when the officer was going through my wife’s luggage and he found a tube of toothpaste. It was the only liquid or gel that she had in her luggage so when he told her it had to be in a ziplock bag, I was really surprised. The reason for putting all of your liquids into one clear ziplock bag is to limit the number of liquids and to allow the inspector to see it clearly. Obviously he could see her toothpaste and it was the only liquid in her suitcase. Then a further disconnect from purpose was when she pulled out the ziplock bag that we got at the airport in Calgary when we first left on this trip. The inspector said it wasn’t good enough because it had a hole in it. Complete disconnect from purpose. Just a small thing, but very frustrating and time consuming.

When your process gets disconnected from purpose, things no longer make sense. To you or anyone else.

What can you do to make sure you keep your actions connected to your purpose? Maybe there is some way that you can help your company keep their process connected to it’s purpose. As always, I would love to hear from you in the comments below.

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To Win You’ve Got To Keep Things In Perspective

Jun 07
Posted by DaveOlson in Personal Development

I don’t know how many of you have watched hockey lately. There’s a bit of a big final going on now. My apologies if you live in a country where people don’t go absolutely crazy over adult men dressing up in funny costumes with padding in all the right places. These adults (sic) strap metal blades to the bottom of their feet and race around on ice chasing a small rubber disc with curved sticks. I know, it makes about as much sense to you as the Indian commentator during the World Cup cricket final does to me.

Anyway…. my team at least for the playoffs are the Canucks. They would be my team the rest of the year but I only watch hockey during the playoffs. It’s a deal I made with my wife when we first got married. Long story…

So last night the Canucks got roasted by the Bruins. They lost 8 to 1. A dreadful showing. However, that’s not the main thing. In the Stanley Cup finals, the winner is the team who wins the most games, not gets the most goals. A small but incredibly important distinction. The Bruins could win the game 100 to 1 and still not win the cup if they don’t win the most games. Goals only count in one game.

To me that raises an important question about life. How often do we focus on the wrong score?

I remember hearing a story about a young couple and their son riding his swing in the back yard. Every time, he swung over the ground he would drag his feet and tear a little of the grass. His dad was pushing, the son was laughing and they were enjoying the moment. All of a sudden mom yelled at the boy to lift his feet because he was ruining the grass. The dad stopped for a moment, walked over to his wife and held her in his arms. He whispered in her ear, ‘sweetheart, we’re not raising grass, we’re raising a son’. Perspective strikes again!

We all probably realize that winning is important, but you’ve gotta win at the things that count. How does that play out in your life? I know that I have to remind myself that somethings just aren’t that important. I almost always win when I shrug off the unimportant concessions so I can focus on the important battles. Is there a time when you focussed on the wrong thing and lost? How about a time when realizing what was important made you a winner?

As always comments are open below and on Twitter

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