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New Year, New Goals!

My resolution for 2017 is to get back into the habit of reading as much as possible. I used to be pretty good about this, but with a young family and evolving responsibilities, available hours became more precious. Reading time didn’t seem as attractive from an ROI standpoint as it once did.

Until I read this article in Inc Magazine (see, resolution already working!) about how some of the world’s smartest people dedicate five hours per week to do something that develops them personally, such as reading or learning.

I’m sure that in the weeks and months to come, there will be days when I don’t get a full hour’s worth of reading. But on the whole I hope to achieve this resolution more often than not. It may require an earlier alarm clock or a purposefully misplaced remote control, but its not a resolution if its too easy!

I also know that making your resolutions publicly known is a great way to hold yourself accountable. So here’s mine…what are yours? 

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Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
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Replies

  1. I am new to the community(joined last week) and look forward to learning more about the Public Spend Forum.

    My goal for 2017 is to read and reply to three articles a week.  I’m always consuming content but rarely engage.  This response is actually my first of the year!  Two more articles to go.  

    Thanks for sharing Frank!  If Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Oprah are reading 5 hours a week, let’s give it a try to better ourselves.  

    ——————————
    Steven Bryan
    VP of Government Division
    SmartProcure
    Deerfield Bch FL
    ————————————————————————-
    Original Message:
    Sent: 01-03-2017 08:37
    From: Frank McNally
    Subject: New Year, New Goals!

    My resolution for 2017 is to get back into the habit of reading as much as possible. I used to be pretty good about this, but with a young family and evolving responsibilities, available hours became more precious. Reading time didn’t seem as attractive from an ROI standpoint as it once did.

    Until I read this article in Inc Magazine (see, resolution already working!) about how some of the world’s smartest people dedicate five hours per week to do something that develops them personally, such as reading or learning.

    I’m sure that in the weeks and months to come, there will be days when I don’t get a full hour’s worth of reading. But on the whole I hope to achieve this resolution more often than not. It may require an earlier alarm clock or a purposefully misplaced remote control, but its not a resolution if its too easy!

    I also know that making your resolutions publicly known is a great way to hold yourself accountable. So here’s mine…what are yours? 

    ——————————
    Frank McNally
    Director, Learning & Content Development
    ——————————

    0
  2. Hey Steven, welcome to the community and glad you are here! 

    This is the best thing I read today, from Steve Kelman’s latest blog post highlighting the different cost pressures of the United Space Alliance and SpaceX:

    “Vance also quotes an engineer who came to SpaceX from TRW, a defense contractor, “where he’d been used to various internal policies blocking him from doing work.”

    “I called it the country club,” the contractor told the author. “Nobody did anything.”

    Such employees, Vance writes, “were used to traditional aerospace companies that had huge, multiyear government contracts and no day-to-day survival pressure” the way Musk’s startup, which had a near-death experience during the 2008 Great Recession, did. At SpaceX, they built many items for the rockets from off-the-shelf products; one on-board radio cost $5,000 compared to the Space Alliance’s high-end milspec radio for $100,000.

    “They wanted a turbo pump to be built in less than a year for under one million dollars,” Vance writes. “Boeing might do a project like that over five years for one hundred million. …Build quick and learn quickly was Elon’s philosophy. He was relentless in wanting the costs to come down.””

    The article, and particularly this excerpt, remind me of my good friend and regular PSF contributor Dan Ward‘s writings and research into fast, inexpensive, restrained & elegant innovation. Dan spent 20+ years as an acquisition expert in the USAF leading high tech, high speed, and high risk projects.

    He found in nearly every case that teams that value speed, thrift and simplicity outperform teams that value the “take your time, spare no expense” approach. I’m fascinated by lean startup principles, and you can see them reflected in Mr. Musk’s SpaceX and in the videos we produced (and continue to produce) using Dan’s findings that view this through a public sector procurement lens.

    Check them out!

    Simply Innovation Learning Path – YouTube

    ——————————
    Frank McNally
    Director, Learning & Content Development
    ————————————————————————-
    Original Message:
    Sent: 01-03-2017 17:45
    From: Steven Bryan
    Subject: New Year, New Goals!

    I am new to the community(joined last week) and look forward to learning more about the Public Spend Forum.

    My goal for 2017 is to read and reply to three articles a week.  I’m always consuming content but rarely engage.  This response is actually my first of the year!  Two more articles to go.  

    Thanks for sharing Frank!  If Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Oprah are reading 5 hours a week, let’s give it a try to better ourselves.  

    ——————————
    Steven Bryan
    VP of Government Division
    SmartProcure
    Deerfield Bch FL
    ————————————————————————-
    Original Message:
    Sent: 01-03-2017 08:37
    From: Frank McNally
    Subject: New Year, New Goals!

    My resolution for 2017 is to get back into the habit of reading as much as possible. I used to be pretty good about this, but with a young family and evolving responsibilities, available hours became more precious. Reading time didn’t seem as attractive from an ROI standpoint as it once did.

    Until I read this article in Inc Magazine (see, resolution already working!) about how some of the world’s smartest people dedicate five hours per week to do something that develops them personally, such as reading or learning.

    I’m sure that in the weeks and months to come, there will be days when I don’t get a full hour’s worth of reading. But on the whole I hope to achieve this resolution more often than not. It may require an earlier alarm clock or a purposefully misplaced remote control, but its not a resolution if its too easy!

    I also know that making your resolutions publicly known is a great way to hold yourself accountable. So here’s mine…what are yours? 

    ——————————
    Frank McNally
    Director, Learning & Content Development
    ——————————

    0
  3. ISM agrees – but read what?  Here’s an interesting note from them offering a sort of cliff’s notes version for business favorites:

    Here’s an astounding fact: People who read business books make more money — a lot more!   According to a number of studies, business people who read at least 7 business books a year earn over 2.3 times more than those who read only one book per year.*

     Why?

     One reason is they have a constant flow of new ideas and strategies they can use to help their careers, their teams and their companies.  And isn’t doing everything you can to help your team and your company the best way to not only safeguard your career, but to help it grow?

     Where can you find a stream of new and practical ideas to drive your success?

     From the world’s top business experts.

     How? 

     Many of them have written books offering their proven strategies and winning ideas.

     The problem … Who has time to do all that reading?

     A study by Bersin & Associates** found that while 74.9% of all managers understand the correlation between reading and competitive advantage, they simply don’t have the time to read more books. This is directly impacting their careers — and incomes! The solution…

     The Institute for Supply Management® has partnered with The Business Source to offer the Business Book Summary Program – concise summaries of books you need to read. Each month, learn best practices and get powerful insights from leading-edge thinkers, industry experts and renowned business gurus.

     The summaries take just 15 minutes to read or listen to and you get two summaries monthly, so your total time investment is only 30 minutes a month! 

     

    Or take 5 minutes to watch a video. The video summaries give you the book’s key points and strategies in a fun format that increases memory retention by as much as 50%!***

     

     * Sources: United States Department of Labor, Survey by Yahoo! Chief Solutions Officer Tim Sanders and Business Majors ** Source: Bersin & Associates Research Study –How Executives Stay Informed: A Study of Resources Used and Time Spent Locating Critical Business Information

    ***Source: Wharton Research Center on the benefits of video learning

     

     

    ——————————
    Joseph Sandor
    Professor
    ——————————
    ——————————————-
    Original Message:
    Sent: 01-03-2017 08:37
    From: Frank McNally
    Subject: New Year, New Goals!

    My resolution for 2017 is to get back into the habit of reading as much as possible. I used to be pretty good about this, but with a young family and evolving responsibilities, available hours became more precious. Reading time didn’t seem as attractive from an ROI standpoint as it once did.

    Until I read this article in Inc Magazine (see, resolution already working!) about how some of the world’s smartest people dedicate five hours per week to do something that develops them personally, such as reading or learning.

    I’m sure that in the weeks and months to come, there will be days when I don’t get a full hour’s worth of reading. But on the whole I hope to achieve this resolution more often than not. It may require an earlier alarm clock or a purposefully misplaced remote control, but its not a resolution if its too easy!

    I also know that making your resolutions publicly known is a great way to hold yourself accountable. So here’s mine…what are yours? 

    ——————————
    Frank McNally
    Director, Learning & Content Development
    ——————————

    0
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