L me

Ideas and Insights from the

First Step Member Community
www.first-step-community.info
23rd August 2009

Thinking Ahead is a collection of blog posts from members of the First Step Member
Community. Each contributing author retains their copyright for their individual content. The
material contained in this publication is general and is not intended as advice on any
particular matter. The authors expressly disclaim all and any liability to any persons
whatsoever in respect of anything done by any such person in reliance, whether in whole or
in part, on this publication.
23 August 2009

Thinking Ahead
www.first-step-community.info

GIHAN PERERA GIHAN PERERA

People liked the e-learning Don’t take on-line discussions

community too personally
AUG 23, 2009 08:29P.M. AUG 22, 2009 11:57A.M.

One of my clients has just completed a year-long program within an I recently added a comment to a blog post on a well-known American
organisation. The final assessment survey showed some interesting speaker’s blog. His blog post was about a YouTube video he had seen,
results about the e-learning aspects of the program, which were which he included to make a point to his readers. My comment was to
extensive: suggest a slightly different interpretation of that video.

To my surprise, he responded almost immediately with a rude response

Admittedly, this is only a small sample, so it has no predictive value. But
my guess is that this is going to be a growing trend, with more and more
clients expecting you to include e-learning in your training programs.
GIHAN PERERA
25 Predictions for the
University of the Future
AUG 23, 2009 08:03P.M.
What will higher learning look like in the future? Emily Thomas’ blog
post makes 25 predictions about the shape and size of future universities.
Interestingly, 13 of her 25 items are about the impact of technology and
the Internet.
to my comment. And he made this response publicly on the blog, not
privately to me.
I was quite surprised - and a bit shocked - at his initial reaction to my
comment, which at the time I thought was fairly innocuous. But on
reflection I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to somebody who was
(innocently) undermining his authority. And after that knee-jerk
reaction, it was difficult for him to retract his words, so he was forced to
keep defending his position. For instance, when somebody else pitched
in and took my side, the speaker started attacking him as well!
I’ve seen this happen a lot on on-line forums, and it’s sometimes very
amusing to see people digging in their heels defending an irrational
position, when it would be far simpler - and more graceful - to simply
apologise once and then get on with their life.
It reminded me just how careful you have to be when posting something
on-line. I was making a logical point, but perhaps I should have been
more sensitive to his possible irrational reaction. For his part, he should
definitely have put more thought into his reaction before sharing it on-
line!

It also reminded me that there’s no law that says you have to take part in
every argument. I felt like I had walked into a friendly-looking pub,
entered a conversation with some people at the bar, and then suddenly
got attacked by a surly bartender! The sensible thing to do in that
situation is to walk out, not to keep defending your position.

I’ve always liked Jonathon Kozol’s saying:

“Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.”

This particular battle - one rude comment on an insignificant blog on the

other side of the world - just isn’t big enough to matter to me.

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GIHAN PERERA
The value of mentoring
AUG 21, 2009 10:26P.M.
I’ve recently started David Penglase’s sales and marketing mentoring
program, and I’ve got to say ... I’m loving it. Lots of work, and my brain
hurts, but it’s very, very valuable.
It got me thinking about the value of mentoring in general. It’s
something I’ve done a lot - both as a mentor and as a mentoree. So I
thought I’d share some of my thoughts here. I hope you find this useful,
especially if you haven’t used a mentor before.
1. WORK WITH THE BEST.
If you’re going to use a mentor, you might as well get the best. I’ve had
Glenn Capelli mentoring me in presentation skills, Matt Church
mentoring me in my thought leadership and IP, Creel Price mentoring
me in entrepreneurship, Paul Counsel mentoring me in wealth creation,
Mal Emery mentoring me in marketing, and now Dave Penglase
mentoring me in sales. Some of these names might not be familiar to
you, but believe me when I say they are all masters at what they do.
2. MAKE AN INVESTMENT.
I don’t think it’s necessarily true that free advice is only worth what you
pay for it, but I do think it’s easier to be motivated to take action when
you pay for the advice. A few of my mentors offered to help me for
nothing, but I needed to pay so I could hold myself accountable for the
return on investment. I suggest you do the same.
(By the way, the going rate for one-on-one mentoring seems to be
around $3,000-$5,000 for a three-month program)
3. MAKE A COMMITMENT.
Paying for mentoring is a good start, but it’s not necessarily a
commitment. Do something more to commit yourself - set up a support
group with other mentorees, announce it publicly, hire a staff member
you can’t afford in anticipation of your success, whatever.
The first year Matt Church was mentoring me, I spent more time sitting
in airplanes flying between Perth and Sydney than I actually did sitting
down with Matt. That was a huge commitment of energy and time, but it
really motivated me to make the most of the mentoring.
4. SET A GOAL.
Come to your mentor with a clear goal. For example, for my mentoring
with David, I’ve set a specific income goal, with a specific deadline (this
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23 August 2009
financial year), and with the additional proviso that at least 80% of it has
to be earned without me leaving Perth. This makes it so much easier for
him to help me, and it keeps us both focussed.
5. DO IT THEIR WAY.
Whenever I learn something new, I immediately start thinking of how I
can improve it! I suspect I’m not alone! But this isn’t appropriate for a
mentoring relationship, so I have to keep stopping myself from
“improving” my mentor’s advice.
Ask lots of questions, but don’t argue. They’ve got the experience, so do it
their way, not yours. The path David has suggested for me is very
different from the path I had in mind. But it would be crazy for me to
insist on doing it my way.
6. FOLLOW THROUGH.
There’s no point getting the advice if you don’t use it. Mentoring is not
like reading a book, watching a keynote, or attending a training course,
where you sift through the information and figure out what’s relevant to
you. It’s not for you to pick and choose. That’s your mentor’s job; yours is
to do it.
(From the other side of the table, I know my favourite - and most
successful - mentoring clients are those who follow through with their
actions)
7. JUST DO IT!
I believe mentoring is the fastest way to accelerate your growth, in
whatever area of your business you’d like to improve. So please do it
sooner rather than later. Even if it seems like a big investment, it’s worth
it!
GIHAN PERERA
We Love Google
AUG 21, 2009 10:06A.M.
www.first-step-community.info 23 August 2009

Google is the world’s most popular search engine. But there’s a lot more
to Google than just searching. In this episode, Chris and Gihan share
their top 10 Google tools.

MP3 File

Our top 10 (links to the Wikipedia page about each):

10. YouTube
9. Adwords/Adsense
8. Picasa
7. Google Earth/Sky/Ocean
6. iGoogle
5. Docs
4. Blogger
3. Toolbar
2. Reader
1. Search

More complete lists of Google products:

Just finished reading Loretta Napoleoni’s “Rogue Economics:
Captitalism’s New Reality” (2008). Another bleak view of how the world
• from Wikipedia
is burning (I’ve got to get out and smell the roses)! We like to think
governments are in control and they can protect us from harm. But that’s
• List of Google Services and Products(Tech Talks)
a comforting illusion. The GFC has shown us that. Napoleoni’s “new
reality” is the tide of capital that lifts or drops all boats and is largely
New products that we’re excited about:
governed by collective self-interests. Beneath the veneer of social justice
and environmental protection is the rather too cynical machinery of
• Chrome: the OS and browser
thuggery and buggery! Should we give up now? I for one, still believe it’s
inherently human to work towards the common good.
• Wave: next generation email protocol

• Android: the mobile phone/PDA operating system

GET REAL YOU ARE CAPABLE OF MORE THAN YOU IMAGINE.........

How Alison is making a

PETER WEBB’S “WISDOM CIRCLE”
difference...
Rogue Economics AUG 19, 2009 07:52A.M.
AUG 19, 2009 11:05A.M.

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www.first-step-community.info
My passion in life is making a difference and inspiring people to make a
difference. I am also inspired by people that make a difference. I met
Alison by accident on the beachfront at Terrigal on the weekend.
I was sitting in a beachfront cafe having a coffee when I spotted a woman
picking up all the discarded cigarette butts along the beachfront path,
she was just wandering along picking them up, putting them in a bucket
and occasionally stopping to say ‘hello’ to people passing by.
I thought, “what a terrible job, she must be working for the council as
surely no-one would do this voluntarily”. I watched her for a while and
for some reason got the impression that maybe she wasn’t being paid to
do it, so I just had to ask, and you guessed it she wasn’t.
I told her I couldn’t believe she would be wasting a beautiful sunny
Sunday picking up other peoples cigarette butts and asked if I could buy
her a cup of coffee. So Alison sat down with me and told me the story.
She is retired, from the UK and lives in the local area. On her morning
strolls she noticed how ordinary the area looked and one Australia Day
decided to do something about it.
She made up her own ‘Bin your Butts’ bins and put them out, expecting
them to be destroyed by the following day.
Much to her surprise they were not only there the next day but they were
full of butts. She then decided to take it a step further and pick up the
ones that don’t make it to a bin and she has now been doing this for
years.
Not only does she do it but she has raised the bar, she now also calls the
council if she discovers graffiti, vandalism or damage along the
beachfront.
Alison says that it keeps her young and alive by giving her something
purposeful to do, she gets great exercise, it makes sure she sees her
elderly dad who lives at the other end of the beach each day, she gets to
have conversations with heaps of people and she is doing something that
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23 August 2009
makes a REAL difference to the community.
You might think that she would not have much time for smokers but she
is quite the opposite, she feels sorry for them “they just want to relax and
have a few puffs” she says and when she asks them to be more careful
with their butts she says, “they are more than helpful”. Not only does
Alison do this herself but she also now has a website
www.wastewarriorsworld.com dedicated to helping others do the same
sort of thing all over the world.
I like the quote on the home page...
”Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed
citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that
ever has” Margaret Mead
If you see Alison in your travels, buy her a cup of coffee and take the time
to have a chat with a remarkable lady who has chosen to get off her
backside and make a REAL difference.
YOU CAN’T PARACHUTE TO SUCCESS!
Boost the Juice in your
Customers and Staff
AUG 18, 2009 08:28P.M.
Would you like to be able to create improvements in customer loyalty
and staff retention, year after year? A newly released study indicates that
Employee Engagement is the key.
Eight out of ten leading companies in the study attributed changes in
profitability and/or revenue DIRECTLY to employee engagement
initiatives. Even in these financially stressful times, keeping employees
connected with business goals and outcomes is delivering positive
business results. Read the study at
http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=6050.
“Top companies are moving beyond employee satisfaction — a one-way
street which only measures if the employees needs are being met by the
organization — to employee engagement, which is all about aligning
individual, organizational and customer needs,” comments Mollie
Lombardi, analyst at research firm The Aberdeen Group.
Employee engagement does not have to be an expensive project. Even
small changes can make a big difference! What changes could you make
today to increase the connection and communication with your team?
The good news is that it’s about implementing simple ideas to connect
your employees with your business, not about spending a fortune. A
simple way to start is to create is to conduct a survey of employee
www.first-step-community.info 23 August 2009

opinion and get input from your people. As a special offer for my blog
readers, call me in August for a free survey of the Juice Levels
(engagement, energy, alignment) at your place - either email me at
helen@helenmac.com or call +614 199 30864.
THE ALMOND EFFECT

CLUES Sharks, trains and

brains
GIHAN PERERA AUG 18, 2009 12:17P.M.

Reckoning with Risk, by Gerd Twitter

Gigerenzer I’ll be twittering in future! Quick tips and examples of The Almond
AUG 18, 2009 01:24P.M. Effect® and what to do about it. Help me get started. Follow me on
Twitter

Alone at the station

8.15pm - alone on a long empty platform waiting for the 8.30pm train
from London Paddington to Heathrow. Another person appeared. He
had the entire platform to choose a spot to wait but he came and stood
next to me. My heart started to race.

‘Stop it’ I said to my amygdala.

‘Calm down’ I said to my hypothalamus but it continued to flood my

The test for breast cancer is extremely reliable. It correctly detects breast
cancer in 90% of cases when the cancer does exist, and only mistakenly
reports it in 9% of cases when the cancer doesn’t exist. The incidence of
breast cancer in women is 1 in 100. Suppose you (or, for men, a woman
close to you) take a test for breast cancer, and unfortunately it returns a
positive result (i.e. it detects the cancer). What is the probability that you
do have breast cancer? Would you be surprised to know it’s just 10%?
Not 90%, 99% or some other high number?
body with adrenaline.
All my amygdalae could see was a “young man of middle eastern
appearance with a backpack.”
My pre-frontal cortex was appalled and embarrassed at my limbic
system response. My cortex had no idea whether the young man was
from the Middle East or not – and even if he was, so what?

Another example: DNA testing on a murder weapon matches your DNA,
and a forensic expert says there’s only a 1 in 100,000 chance of that
happening. Are you doomed? Would you be surprised to know that in a
city of, say, 2 million people, this means you’re 95% likely to be NOT
guilty, based on that DNA evidence alone?
Do these examples surprise and confuse you? If so, take heart: They
surprise and confuse most people - laypeople and experts (doctors and
lawyers) alike. Unfortunately, this can have disastrous - sometimes tragic
- consequences in law, medicine and other fields.
This is the topic of Gerd Gigerenzer’s excellent book about working with
risk and uncertainty. Read it and you might be horrified at some of the
horrible mistakes being made by experts giving advice. At least you’ll be
in a better position to question them and become better informed.
Is this the best book ever written about dealing with uncertainty? I’m not
sure. But it’s certainly well worth the read.
I took deep breaths. I kept telling myself that my reaction was irrational
and that my body should calm down.
Stop Think Act.
Eventually the 8.30pm train arrived. I stepped on, sat down and my
heart rate slowed. I started to Rewire...
Deep in the ocean
Two months later, off the Neptune Islands in South Australia I was in a
cage heading towards the ocean floor hoping to get up close and personal
with some Great White Sharks.
One came soon enough - ‘Cheeky Girl’ – 4.2 metres and 1000 kg. She
was BIG! And I saw her many teeth as she passed several times within a
metre of me while she attempted to snatch the bait hanging off the back
of the boat!

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www.first-step-community.info 23 August 2009

The Almond Effect® - the fight/flight response - even though our lives
The 30 minutes in the cage passed in a flash. are not at risk.

But did my life flash before my eyes?
Back on board I realised that my heart rate had not increased at all when
I came face to face with this enormous predator. All I felt was awe and
wonder as I watched one of the most amazing animals I have ever seen.
When that happens, use the STAR technique – and focus especially on
Rewiring afterwards – what can you learn from the experience? The
more times you experience something confronting, the less confronting
it becomes. Your amygdala learns that it is nothing to be overly
concerned about.

So what was the difference? Why did I experience the fight/flight
response so fully on a London train platform but not at all when within
touching distance of a Great White Shark?
Preparing for sharks – the type we find at work
The answer lies in preparation and learning (Rewiring) from experience.
Some of you will recall from previous CLUES that I searched for GWS
once before. But even with 3 days of turning the ocean red with burly
including tuna heads, blood and guts – no shark appeared on that trip.
So much for ‘blood in the water attracts sharks!’
But do not beat yourself up for reacting even though your pre-frontal
cortex knows you should not have. We are hard wired for survival and
our amygdalae do not know the difference between physical and
psychological threats.
However when you know that a ‘scary’ situation is coming up (Cheeky
Girl) – do everything you can to minimise the impact of The Almond
Effect® by preparing as much as possible. Show your amygdala that
there are no potentially fatal consequences to what you are about to do.
Then perhaps you’ll even enjoy coming face to face with your Great
White Shark

However what we did do on that ‘no show’ trip was to talk a lot about
GWS with experts, practice descents in the cage, watch videos, look at
GWS photos and listen to research – all of which prepared us for the
recent trip – and took away the fear.
MATT CHURCH
In contrast, the man on the platform was a complete surprise. It was the
end of a fabulous trip to the UK; I had just been shopping in Oxford Don’t let the turkeys get you
Street and was looking forward to returning to Sydney.
down
I simply wasn’t focussed on what was happening on the platform or that AUG 18, 2009 09:47A.M.
any risks or dangers could be lurking there.
Most of the time when you are presenting to a difficult or hostile
So I was unprepared for the possibility that a man could appear on the audience you will get questioned on content, so don’t use examples…
platform and trigger an ANT (automatic negative thought) that cracked create frameworks for discussion instead.A well-designed context will
my almonds (amygdalae) with a sledgehammer! help you make your point without creating too much dissent. Once you
get agreement on the big picture you can begin to present your stuff so it
And I had no previous experience from which to train my amygdala not supports the established framework.Here are five
to react to a racist stereotype automatically stored in my brain’s
‘database of nasty things’ after September 11, 2001.

Face the fear and defuse the almonds

At work, ‘the man on the platform’ might turn up as a surprise outburst

from the boss; an urgent deadline abruptly imposed; a retrenchment to
be made, a dramatic fall in share price or an unanticipated cut in
funding.

But ‘Cheeky Girl’ could show up when you anticipate the performance
appraisal next week, a future presentation to the Board, an interview for
a promotion, the switch over to a new system.

In other words, there will be some sudden and unexpected events that
will catch us off guard. At those times, it is likely that we’ll experience

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