Here’s a great short framework I heard on the Accidental Creative podcast this weekend while shoveling.  I like it because it is a brief but effective scorecard of any creative project.

Excellence Defined:

Product:

• Are we proud to put our names on this?
• Did we create a qualify end product that solves the problem?

Process:

• Did it honor the people involved?

• Was the process to produce the results an excellent process?
• Did the process honor the people involved in the work?

Did it honor the mission?

• Did we honor the overall mission of the organization?
• Does it support the foundational ‘why?’ of the organization?

I think I followed my mission on the MarathonBQ project.  I think we had a quality process that created a quality product.

I think we honored the mission.  I’m proud to put my name on it.

Chris,

Crazy Day!

It was -11 deg F when I got up yesterday so I took my long run to the gym yesterday afternoon and did 3+ hours on the treadmill.  I’m getting soft!  It snowed all night with zero-degree temps and high winds.  When I got up this morning the snow was drifted like crazy.  I shoveled and snow-blowed for 4+ hours and I’ll probably have to do it again at some point because the wind keeps moving it around.

The snow banks are higher than the snowblower can throw it and it just rolls back down.

The book hit Amazon last night.  It was very exciting.  🙂

A friend of mine posted the announcement on her timeline in FaceBook.   Immediately people started putting negative comments.  About how it was another example of our quick-fix mindset, grammar correcting the title, and just being negative in general.

It’s an awful testament on us when we are so quick to criticize.  It’s such an attitude of scarcity.  What are people afraid of?  How does me writing a book about how I used to train for Boston make them unhappy?

I offered to send them copies! Because I believe in abundance, not scarcity.  I guess that also makes me the kind of guy that would push himself to qualify for Boston for no good reason other than  thinking it’s a worthy goal.

I guess it also makes me the kind of guy who gets up in the morning to write a book instead of trolling Facebook looking for others to practice a weird inverse Schadenfreude where it’s good to hate on others achievements?

It’s a book about how I successfully qualified for Boston many times using a difficult but simple training process.  It’s a book about the way I train.  The medals are mine.  I worked for them.  The book is mine.  I worked for it.

I hope you’ll give it a read and I hope you like it.   I sincerely hope you get your own medals and write your own books that change people’s lives.

Happy Snow Day!

Cheers,

Chris,