On listening...

So some friends of mine are doing something pretty cool. They are starting a business that might just start a travelution. I have to say, some of my best adventures have been those where i have been hosted by real live locals, and if they pull it off (and i am sure they will because they are creative, ethical, and driven), it will be pretty awesome. So they hang out here: http://talkingaboutatravelution.blogspot.com/at the moment, and their mission, once accomplished, will hang out here: www.arribaaa.com (I think).

In any case they are also pretty insightful people and i finally got around to giving myself some time to read and think lately, which resulted in reading their blog. I am sure that this was time that i could have spent reading science itself but well... perhaps not.

Vinko wrote a post about "listening":

http://talkingaboutatravelution.blogspot.com/2011/10/necessity-of-listening.html

As i read it, and some of the other things on their blog, i pondered. I have been doing a lot of analysis lately, and i look a bit like the chick in the third frame of this comic: (when i find it again, i will post it here), so whilst it runs, i can ponder just a little, a luxury (yes luxury) that i do not often allow myself. A spate of dragon books have come out recently and i have also been reading them, another luxury that i don't get much time for lately. In any case upon reflection I started to think about the "water cooler effect", the phenomena wherein it seems as if all the good ideas arrive over morning tea or other coffee breaks, beers or other varied activities that involve hanging out and chatting with people who think about the same sorts of things you do... or things which link to or bear on the things you think about. It seems the same reason that people always come back from conferences and workshops motivated and idea filled... it's all about focused listening!

Reflection doesn't hurt either, and i think it comes from the same place, focusing on something makes it clearer.

and to end... something i found interesting today...

"There's nothing wrong with having a plan. Plans are great. But missions are better. Missions survive when plans almost always fail."
- Seth Godin