Author: aaronross383
PebbleStorm: combining the best of capitalism & buddhism
Freshly painted in Kauai this morning, an image based off of an idea of Jose Caballer’s of www.thegroop.net: Subscribe to PebbleStorm by email
Remember to smile (It’s only work)
If you’ve ever taken a few yoga classes, you’ve probably seen this a few times…in the middle of the class during some difficult pose, while people are straining and grimacing, the yoga instructor says “Remember to smile, it’s only yoga!” And you can feel the whole class lighten up as they smile. Next time you’re…
Kauai update – some thoughts and pictures from our work + play event
In a post in May, The Power of “Why Not?”, I outlined some reasoning for “why not do some work from kauai?” A half dozen people agreed, and here we are now 😀 It’s my first time here, and Kauai is amazingly beautiful! For the first part of the trip, Will Jessup (founder, www.CitrusByte.com), Tony…
A “5th Work Option”
In 2007, while thinking quite a bit about what I wanted to do next in work and life, I realized along the way that what I wanted wasn’t among the most common work options you can jump into: A corporate job (working for someone else? Nah.) – I’m including “start a company that takes outside…
The Five Stages of PebbleStorm – an introduction (and other goodies)
Introduction I’m excited to put this information up, and so I’m doing it before it’s fully baked! This is something that will keep evolving over the coming months. But I just couldn’t wait to share 🙂 Also, if you’re a fan (or skeptic) of meditation, check out the last part of this post. First…
[CEOFlow] Love or fear this company; and a sales compensation example
Semco is a company that has been incredibly inspirational to me – I love it! However, some people get the creepy-crawlies when they learn about it and how the executives let go of control: “Semco has no official structure. It has no organizational chart. There’s no business plan or company strategy, no twoyear or five-year…
Better than brainstorming: “TryStorming”
[Aaron’s note: this is a guest post by Scott Krajca, a highly talented friend and collaborator of mine. I’m a believer in rapid prototyping, whether of ideas, tools, products or even businesses. When Scott told me about the practice of TryStorming, I asked him to write it up! I’ve noted below a couple of points…
Where does your work fall on an “Enjoyment Map”?
People can enjoy the process of what they do, and/or enjoy the outcome of what they do. Examples of the difference: Process – > Outcome Write -> Publish book Prepare for a presentation -> Give presentation Sell -> Receive contract & check Code software -> Use or share software Paint -> Show painting Write songs…
Mash your passions! How can you combine yoga and poetry and…?
People have a variety of things they love – and my belief is that there are plenty of ways to combine those passions into life and business in order to have the best of all worlds. You don’t have to keep them separate, and in fact, your business can become more powerful when you integrate…
A visual/circular business plan
One thing I know about myself: I like circles 🙂 I draw them in my notebooks constantly, to frame or communicate different ideas. Maybe it’s related to Buddhism (“everything is interconnected”), or the circle of life, or… As I mentioned before, I personally can’t do classic business plans, so I often find myself coming up…
Thought provoking questions
I’ve been thinking about a PebbleStorm presentation that leads people through a series of questions. The objective is to walk them out of the day-to-day work mindset that traps people, to awaken them to the fact that they have amazing, untapped potential already there inside themselves…if they’re willing to discover and explore it. 1. Are…
[CEOFlow] Management values that lead to CEO (and company) Flow
The ends of the push v pull management motivation spectrum are: There are some fundamental management values or operating principles that a CEO and managers can take to heart to move their culture away from push and closer to pull: Trust, Transparency and Alignment. The CEO must be the one to lead by example in…
Are you on a Hamster Wheel?
How did you make your last career move decision, whether between companies or within a company? Are you considering a career move soon? Will you take the next step up (a promotion/upgrade in your current function) because it’s easy and will be more immediate money, or will you decide to look for a right, non-obvious…
[CEOFlow] New book: “Why Work Sucks, And How to Fix It: No Schedules, No Meetings…”
Is your demand for your people’s office facetime and amount of effort actually hurting your employees’ productivity? Do you demand quantity of work over quality? This morning, Tim Ferriss posted a great entry about a new book on Best Buy’s ROWE project (“Results-Oriented Work Environment”): No Schedules, No Meetings—Enter Best Buy’s ROWE I remember reading…
Work can be energizing. It doesn’t have to be exhausting! (And PebbleStorm’s “three phases”)
…and it’s true whether you’re an entrepreneur or CEO. True, in the past work did have to be exhausting – no one ate unless the fields were planted. But the only reason we still make work so damn hard on ourselves is our conditioning and cultural habits. We’re trained to believe that “enjoyment” and “success”…
The power of “Why not?”
I’m living as virtually as possible these days. As my Small Pebble, Big Wave Self-Manifesto says, my “perfect working world” includes working on what I want, when I want, and with whom I want (and I’ll throw in now, ‘from where I want’). I’ve structured my work and projects (both setting expectations or turning down…
Upcoming PebbleStorm events (LA, SF, DC, Kauai)
Here’s our first batch of PebbleStorm events that are coming up in the coming weeks. If you’re interested in any of these and would like to find out more about them (especially the Kauai retreat), or would like to get updates as they’re organized, please contact me at aaron (at) pebblestorm (dot) com. Los Angeles:…
The PebbleStorm Los Angeles Meetup
I just created a Meetup for people in LA. It’s the best way to find out about the events, or to let people you think would benefit know about them: PebbleStorm LA Meetup
[CEOFlow] “Pull Management” vs. “Push Management” systems (v1.0)
Are we working harder, under more pressure, but running in place? The internet has changed business – in helpful and challenging ways: * We have more information and metrics – and more confusion from all the clutter. * We can develop and deploy products faster – far beyond our clients’ ability to absorb them. *…
“Drama-less success” presentation
In 2006 I gave this presentation to my old sales team when they asked me to come speak. Although it could use refreshing to make it more self-explanatory, its intention is still exactly on point for what I’m talking about today through PebbleStorm. It was one of those epiphany decks…it came to me in a…