Action is always preferred to talk

You can talk all you want, but people aren’t interested.

You can do all you want, and people will always be interested in seeing what you’re planning next.

If you’re leading a tribe, a group of people with shared ideas and passions, then the best thing you can do is to show that you mean what you say.  The worst thing you can do is talk a lot and not show any interest in acting.

Results are highly valued; talk is offered at a discount.

It’s the weekend. I had a dream.

Last night I had a dream.  I drove to a popular nearby mountain with my mountain bike in the bed of my pickup.  The mountain doesn’t exist in real life, but it reminded me of the low, rocky Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma.

Once there, I unloaded my bike and rode the thing up steep trails, betwen trees and around rocky outcroppings.  I made it to the summit to survey my surroundings–a vast, expansive nothingness.  It felt great.

I’ve never been the type to dissect my dreams looking for meaning, but this one made me realize how long it’s been since I’ve been mountain biking.  You see, the last several weeks–maybe even a month or two–have been quite hectic, with different projects, tests and assignments all due at once.  The stress of it has kept me busy and I’ve ignored leisure activities.

Sometimes, though, you have to take a break.  Responsibilities are necessary, and you shouldn’t ignore them.  Every so often, though, you have to know when to break away and say “Enough.  I’m taking a break.”  Go out to a nice restaurant on the weekend, go camping by the lake–with the cell phone off–, relax with some good music and watch a movie, or go mountain biking.

It doesn’t really matter what you do; just know that it’s OK to take a break now and then.  Happy weekend, everyone.

Powerful e-mail

People get a lot of e-mail, too many to devote their full attention to.  So when you compose an e-mail and hit “send,” do you actually expect the other person to read it?

Ideally, yes.  But this isn’t an ideal world and they probably won’t.  At the most you hope they will thoughtfully skim it.

The keys to getting people to read your e-mail are brevity and authentic urgency.

Brevity
People hate long e-mails.  If I open an e-mail and it is several paragraphs long, I hardly look at it.  I should read it all, and I’ve been guilty of sending long-winded e-mails myself, but they simply don’t work.

Cut all unnecessary words and redundancies.  Do you “really hope that everyone will try and make time out of their busy schedules to come and see what an awesome thing we’re planning on doing”? Or do you “hope to see you there”?

When I see a one- to two-sentence e-mail, I rejoice.  I read it, and I appreciate it.  When I see an essay in my inbox, I trash it.

Authentic urgency
This is what trips a lot of people up.  They think nothing of shooting off several e-mails in a row because what they’re sending is really important…to them. Ignore how important you think it is and instead think of how important it is to the receiver.  If it’s not urgent, or you can tell him in person later, or you’ve already told him, don’t send it.

People don’t have time for your important messages.  They only have time for messages they think are important.

DO NOT use the “this message is urgent” button unless someone is dying, has died or is critically injured.  If it’s not one of those things and you still think it’s “urgent,” then give the person a call or tell him or her in person.  E-mail is not reliable enough for truly urgent messages anyway.

Finally, don’t repeat yourself.  I’ve repeated several points in this blog post because I’m trying to hammer home a point…in a blog post.  Repeating yourself has no place, however, in e-mail.  If you’ve said it, you’ve said it.  Done.  Period.  Move on.  If you can truly recap everything in a summary at the end, then delete everything else and make those sentences your e-mail.

The steps

1. Write your e-mail.
2. Read through the e-mail.
3. Cut out all unnecessary words and redundancies.
4. Read through the e-mail.
5. Cut out some more.
6. Read through the e-mail.
7. Double check that you’ve stated your purpose (does the receiver even know who you are or why you’re emailing them?)
8. Add your contact info at the bottom (or use a signature).
9. Double check that you actually need to send the e-mail.
10. Send the e-mail.

Whew!  Use these points and you’ll be well on your way to powerful, useful e-mail instead of ignored messages a-la-spam.

Why can’t rail work?

Call me crazy. Call me young. Call me inexperienced. Call me naïve. Call me what you like, but I think rail in America can work. I know millions of armchair theorists before me have cussed and discussed the viability of a dependable rail system in America, and certainly plenty of people much more qualified than I have put in their thoughts. But perhaps that’s what makes my take on the issue different: my inexperience makes my ideas unbiased, innovative and visionary.

This may seem a bit egotistical, but I think there’s some truth in it. College students, or anyone with little experience in a field for that matter, bring with them a freshness and unlikelihood of being bogged down by negative thoughts when dealing with problems that industry leaders see as complicated.

Throughout my travels in Europe, the thing that has fascinated me most has always been the rail systems of all kinds. I wait no longer than three minutes for the next Metro train. I hop on a light rail train to the next city 30 minutes away for about the price of a sandwich and it gets me there quickly and easily. I board the high speed AVE train in Córdoba and a cool 45 minutes later I’m meeting friends in Madrid. Amazing. Simply amazing.

So why has America had so much trouble with its rail past? Why has the wonder of the transcontinental railroad turned into the disaster of Amtrak? Why am I being impressed with the relative ease of a 20 minute train ride from Oklahoma City to Norman when I have to drive 30 minutes to the station and have a friend pick me up at the Norman depot? That service is laughable in even the most inaccessible European locales.

Call me an optimist. Call me a visionary. Call me imaginative. Call me hopeful. Call me crazy. Call me what you like, but I think rail can work. This is what needs to happen:

1. End Amtrak’s monopoly on rail. Healthy competition among rail companies will spur them into creative thinking and better service. In fact, see if we can’t lure a European system in to operate stateside as well.

2. First item on the to-do list: put in high speed rail service between New York and Los Angeles. (This is where you call me crazy). Use only the best trains with awesome amenities to avoid stopping in a lot of cities. By building a transcontinental high speed service, it will give rail the kick in the pants that’s needed to start a revolution. Hey, it happened last time. Remember the Industrial Revolution?

3. Make high speed rail high speed rail. “High speed” trains in America are ridiculous compared to their European counterparts. Stop putting fancy labels on mediocre service in an attempt to WOW an uninitiated audience. Call me when your train can go at least 250 mph. Then I’ll be impressed.

4. You’re in the service and people business, not the transportation business. People are not widgets that simply must be transported from Point A to Point B at an optimal cost-per-unit basis. People want luxury, people want service. The airlines could learn the same lesson. We want to board a high speed train ready for us with WiFi, meal service, impeccable design and cleanliness, friendly staff, unambiguous protocol, comfortable and roomy seats and a transparency to the customer service. Yes, we demand a lot. But major bucks await the company that is willing to step up and provide rather than rationalize cutting costs at the expense of services.

5. Learn something from the Ritz-Carlton concept. I recently watched a presentation given by Horst Schulze, founder of that concept. It’s a great presentation given by an obviously great businessman and someone who seems to also be a great person. He said something that stuck with me, that basically any fool can come in and cut costs by cutting services. Anyone can. It takes an especially good businessperson, however, to be able to create efficiency and thereby cut costs without unnecessarily cutting services. He said he knows that he spends a lot on flowers in his hotels, and that people criticize him for doing so. He knows they cost money…DUH! But he’s not interested in simply cutting out all costs that aren’t necessary. He’s interested in creating efficiency, while keeping those touches that make for an unforgettable experience.

So, rail systems: take heed. Keep the flowers, or better yet get some flowers in the first place, but don’t cut our service, and don’t aim for mediocrity.