“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”
Spring
April 2021
It’s Thursday and this is another edition of “TauBits for the Taking” on 4/29/21. Diving deeper into Wikipedia I found luck. Isn’t that what we all hope for? Yeah, I thought so and that’s why this section of the natural experiment’s conclusions is:
Do I Feel Lucky?
“Harry Callahan: You’ve Got To Ask Yourself One Question: ‘Do I Feel Lucky? ‘ Well, Do Ya, Punk?”
There’s Dirty Harry and Harry Bosch. While Michael Connelly’s Detective Harry Bosch doesn’t believe in coincidences I just read a passage in “Black Box” where he drew energy after getting lucky — he knew reporters follow a story which leads to another story and then another or to a trusted source.
“But Bosch stayed positive. He’d gotten lucky with Pistol Pete and the serial number. There was no reason to think it wouldn’t hold.”
Of course, Harry had a run in with his newer Lieutenant a page or two later … “So much for his luck holding … he felt that more than his luck suddenly ebbing away. His momentum and positive attitude were eroding. It suddenly felt like it was getting dark out.”
We talk about luck in improbable, negative or positive terms when we’re faced with random or chance events beyond our control.
Luck is a form of superstition. We already mentioned how Carl Jung coined the term synchronicity, which he described as “a meaningful coincidence”.
Some evidence supports the idea that belief in luck acts like a placebo, producing positive thinking and improving our responses to events.
Richard Wiseman did a ten-year scientific study… concluding, to a large extent, people make their own good and bad fortune. His research revealed that, “Lucky people generate their own good fortune via four basic principles.
They are skilled at:
-
-
-
-
-
- creating and noticing chance opportunities,
- making lucky decisions by listening to their intuition,
- creating self-fulfilling prophecies via positive expectations, and
- adopting a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.”
-
-
-
-
We’ve heard from two Harrys, a Michael, a Carl and a Richard. What say we turn our attention to four of my favorite Steves?
You know Zahnny, I have to disagree with your opening premise. I could agree if you added “but there certainly ideal tribes which I call Talent Cultures in organizations, and (this is a big and) if you know which of 16 Talent Profiles you can claim, then you can more easily select the best and worst organizations and growth stages to pursue.
To your second Holiday Tau observation — yes, organizational change happens slowly and, thank you that fact alone provided years of consulting fees for me in mature companies heading towards decline, but desperately wanting to reinvent themselves.
“5” Steve Zahn, 51: “There are no ideal groups, though it’s fun to imagine things being better. Organizational change tends to happen very slowly; changing yourself is relatively quick and doing so will affect the entire group.” Scorpio
Random ones that make me want change my sign.
Which way should I interpret your TauBit of Wisdom, Steve? My first take more easily fit this passion project, especially as I write up my natural experiment’s report.
But now rereading it — probably influenced by Zahnny — I might reclassify it from practical, project and task orientation to how I went about my role as an external consultant and an intrapreneur in those declining organizations.
“5” Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Because you want to make your work the best it can be, you’re willing to entertain new ideas. You’ll banter, twist and play around with your resources. Changes and add-ons will take it to the next level.” Aries
WTF G&G? How lucky am I? All three of today’s Holiday Tau, yours included, describe what was foremost in how I approached my professional career and peeled away the onion layers to find the simplest answer to complicated challenges. Thanks, Steves.
“5” Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “Complex problems may not require complex solutions. However, finding the solution that works may be a long and winding journey that seems complicated indeed! Regardless, stay in it for the long haul and the satisfying end.” Virgo
“In the Knews Letter”
The Tau of Steves
- “5” Steve Carell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “While emotional energy, like love, may be invisible, to your eye, it animates the physical world quite obviously. You will easily tell how people are feeling, especially when they are trying to hide those feelings.” Leo
- “5” Steve Zahn, 51: “There are no ideal groups, though it’s fun to imagine things being better. Organizational change tends to happen very slowly; changing yourself is relatively quick and doing so will affect the entire group.” Scorpio
Trends Fresh from the Labs
Headlines and Highlights
Long-Form
-
- I enjoy any of the Harry Bosch detective books in the series authored by Michael Connelly. “A Darkness More Than Night,” described “A strange constricting feeling filled his gut. He didn’t believe in coincidences… (It) was a coincidence that even a believer in coincidence would have a difficult time accepting.”So much for detectives, tying up loose ends, relying on their hunches and reordering data, information and witness first hand accounts.
- Or, in “Black Box,” Connelly’s latest Harry Bosch adventure he writes, “But Bosch stayed positive. He’d gotten lucky with Pistol Pete and the serial number. There was no reason to think it wouldn’t hold.” Of course, Harry had a run in with his newer Lieutenant a page or two later … “So much for his luck holding… he felt that more than his luck suddenly ebbing away. His momentum and positive attitude were eroding. It suddenly felt like it was getting dark out.”
Progress and Procrastination
-
- Progress — Composing a draft of the Conclusions Section of the Report
Speaking Volumes
-
- Can I structure the “Volume Three Manuscript” story like in “True Believers,” the novel by Kurt Andersen? He describes the writing of a memoir and the horrible secret as the heart of his story, but in a fictional story.
Working on the Business
-
- @KnowLabs suite of digital magazines jumps from 8003 to 8088 organically grown followers
Inspired by Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION
The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip