Stocking Stuffers

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"The Language of Excellence just may be the only guide book to personal and business excellence you will ever need to read. A must-read for achievers."—Robert Hicks, New York Times 

Regarding his mysteries "Collins has a knack for painting a picture in the minds eye of the reader, using the history of Nashville and consistency of the characters leaving you wanting more."

Last Minute Gift--It is not too late!

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It is not too late for that last minute gift. From now through December 31st, you can save 30% on signed copies ofmy book on how to deal with almost anything business or life can throw at you. I think it is the best gift one could give to a young professional.  Your gift will be invaluable to the entrepreneur starting a new business or a seasoned executive frustrated by the difficulty of steering an unresponsive corporate ship. For free shipping plus a 30% savings go to thelanguageofexcellence.com and enter coupon code C214 when placing your order.

"Tom Collins' The Language of Excellence just may be the only guide book to personal and business excellence you will ever need to read. A must-read for achievers.”—Robert Hicks, New York Times bestselling author

Can You Read Me Now?

As an author with dyslexia, I enjoy passing along demonstrations based on research done at Cambridge University.   The material in this post is not original, though at this point, it has been repeated enough that I have no idea who to give attribution to.  What research am I referring to? Here is a summary:

 “...aoccdrnig to  rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the  ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last  ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can  still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed  ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe.”

If you think the above paragraph is “Azanming”, check this out:

  “7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5!
 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5!  BY N0W, Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17  4U70M471C4LLY  W17H 0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17.”

Note that in the preceding paragraph not only are things mixed - up, numbers have been substituted for letters.

The demonstration warms the heart of someone with dyslexia.  This is the world I live in even when the letters are in the right order for everyone else.  Forget for a minute about the unusual text used in the Cambridge demonstration. Consider ordinary written text. A person with normal reading ability might be confused or put off by a misspelled, missing, or wrong word.  Not someone with my particular dyslexic tendencies.  I read images and context not letters or even words as you think of them.  I would not notice that the word was misspelled.  My mind would fill in the missing word and auto-correct a wrong word to match the context without even realizing it has done so.

How does it work when I’m writing.  In the early days my smart wife interpreted and reworked my efforts.  With success came secretaries who were told that it was not my job to get the letters in the right order.  That was their job.  I just had to get close.   Now I have technology— auto-correct, grammar and spell check, and as a backup, professional editors.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Prepare for Opportunities and Contingencies

In a previous post I pointed out the five things that the successful do differently:

1. They engage in the planning process.

   

   Five Things

2. They set goals and objectives.
3. They develop plans for achieving those goals.
4. They prepare for opportunities and contingencies.
5. They measure progress and hold people accountable.

The fourth item on the list is of particular interest to me.  In a way, it explains that the planning process is more important that the plan itself!

Planning is an ongoing process.  It is a way of thinking and communicating—where the team is nimble and quick on its feet, constantly adjusting and refining the plan due to changing conditions and expectations.  Goals and objectives are merely temporary targets. As time advances on the future, assumptions become more accurate.  Decisions and actions made on the front line close in on a target that moves from a cone of uncertainty to a clearer target. Unexpected events create opportunities and contingencies that call for changes in directions.

Unexpected,yes, but not unprepared for.  A few years ago, I suggested that an organization’s management team meet monthly just to think about things that could happen. Their mission was to identify strategies that would allow them to benefit rather than suffer from those events. Over time it was surprising how often their imagined events closely mirrored reality, but more importantly, the team developed a way of thinking that enabled them to respond to new opportunities and deal with contingencies quickly.

Practice prepares individuals and teams to take advantage of events that are likely to surprise others. As Louis Pasteur said, “Chance favors only the prepared mind.”

# # #

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.