finite speck

Within 20 minutes we forget 40% of what we learned. After another 40 minutes, we forget half of it. One day later, we will have lost more than 70%. We only retain about 30% of what we learn. Typically what touches or interests us according to German philosopher, Hermann Ebbinghaus. So how do we remember more? Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Repeating something learned 3 times will help in remembering more of it. After learning something go over the information again one day later, then 3 days later and then 6 days later and your retention will be much greater. A lot of times I learn something and then never go back to it again and my retention is poor. Or I can remember in college spending hours cramming all at one time right before a test and also not retaining much. As I've been reading more, listening to podcasts and attempting to learn more lately I've noticed that repetition is a big player in those that are good "teachers". They say the same or simil...

Have you ever had something stolen or broken into? It's a weird feeling that comes over you. I can remember when my car got broken into my first year in Chicago and my Kenwood stereo and 6 disc CD changer was stolen out of the car. I remember walking up to my car right in front of my house and seeing the passenger window busted and being totally shocked that this happened to me. In last 2 years in Peoria, two of our neighbors have now had their cars stolen. One neighbor found there's on the cul-de-sac of our street because it was a stick shift vehicle and those that stole couldn't figure out how to get it in reverse. Our other neighbors haven't found their vehicle yet. It just happened two days ago. In both instances with our neighbors they shared on our Facebook group message feed to let everyone else know to lock your car doors and if you can keep your cars off the street. Along with the shock that this happened to me, comes wanting to let others know what ...

If I give a group of people an opportunity to participate in a discount program and there is never a deadline to get in on the discount, the likelihood of them participating in the program is very low. But, give them same group of people a deadline around 2 or 3 weeks from when the program starts and you'll see a much larger amount of participation. Typically the majority of the participation will be towards the end of that deadline. So what is this actually doing? It's pushing the procrastinator to make a decision by a certain point. The procrastinator is typically the majority, because the amount of people that don't wait until the last day or two of the discount is typically very small. Are you needing people to make a decision? In many cases giving a deadline and being persistent on communicating that deadline can be a good motivator.

We went for a walk last night on Grandview Drive in Peoria Heights and saw at least 12 people within a half hour taking photos. Why so many? Well it's a beautiful spot and kind of a cliché place to take a picture in the central Illinois area, but this time of year it is about the best time with all of the leaves changing color. Why does everyone want to take pictures with a background of red, yellow, orange, green and a multitude of other colors of trees? I don't know really know, but I think some has to do with just the scarcity of it and some of it has to do with the beauty of it. It's only a short period of time in the fall when trees have such diverse color. People don't come out in droves to capture a landscape of trees that are all green.

If everything in our house got put away, organized and was the way I wanted it today would I be truly happy? No. I do like things a certain way and despise clutter, but we have two little kids and my wife is now pregnant with our third. So, I can choose to be about me and what I think would make me happy on a Saturday or what would bless my family on this day. What I proposed at the very beginning of this post is not a bad thing at all, but if the only reason it's being done is for myself and the rest of my family is ignored on a day when I'm around all day I might as well have just gone to the office. So on Saturdays, self take a seat.

Little kids say hilarious things. Especially when they use the wrong words with emotion. Josie recently said, "I'm so complicated!" When she really meant, "I'm so constipated!" And she kept saying the same thing using the word complicated over and over again. She's also gotten pretty close to memorizing the Pledge of Allegiance since she's been going to AWANA, but currently she says, "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the AWANA States of America... with liberty and practice for all."

I find thinking about time interesting because it's something all of have and everyone probably uses it somewhat differently at least after you get your sleep out of the way. After watching a video from a co-worker recently that has a daughter diagnosed with Leukemia AML and hearing him talk about spending time with his kids it made me think about how much time I typically have with my kids a week. So I did a little math for an average week. It ended up being a little under 2 full 24 hour days a week. Or to put another way of my awake hours a little under 3 days out of a week I'm around my kids. That's roughly 156 days a year out of 365. Put one more way I get to spend roughly 40% of every week while I'm awake with my kids. It's actually more than I thought when I think about the amount of time during the work week that I'm home with my kids and the amount of time that my wife is with them. But it's still not a lot and it's only for a short period o...

My wife made a comment to me last night about people using an "*" to alter a curse word in their post on Facebook, saying "I don't get it." I agree. I'm not sure what the point is. If you're going to write a curse word why try to hide or soften what you're actually doing? Either commit to the word or just don't use it. I'm guessing if there's some sort of conviction about the word and you need to get creative on how to use it without using it, then maybe you should just be more creative and find a better word to use. So in conclusion just write it or don't.

Just thinking through the creative process this morning some as I've been in the thick of it right now at the office. A lot of times I've got these feelings in my gut of anxiousness and excitement a lot as I'm trying to accomplish the work. Since much of what I do is pretty objective there's no simple formula to get the best print ad, video, email, etc. But, I read a couple interesting articles this morning on creativity that surprised me talking about why our best ideas come when we least expect them NOT when we're the most awake but actually when we're more tired. When we get to a point that we're tired and have been thinking about something for a while doing something else like exercise, a shower or driving home are good distractions that also increase dopamine in the process and help us relax. During these moments many of our best ideas come and the key is to just be ready to capture them before they're gone. Really interesting article can be fou...

I took our kids to our small group bible study last night with out my wife and I came back home with more than we left with. My son came home with a mark across his cheek that I have no idea how he got. My daughter came home with a skinned up face from falling on the driveway while playing with the other kids. And I came home with a thankfulness in my heart that I don't have to do this parenting thing alone on a regular basis. It's tough. Tough to have conversations with other adults, tough to make sure your kids have what they need, tough to make sure you didn't forget anything when it's just you and the kids. I realize my wife does the solo parenting thing more than me on a regular basis, but I'm thankful that we can take turns going into the ring. Ultimately, I'm thankful for how God designed family where there's a mom and dad sharing the load of joy of teaching kids. Thankful that mom's and dad's also have another they can go to when the burd...

"If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter." I've often heard this quote attributed to Mark Twain, but digging in it actually appears to have first been stated by Blaise Pascal. “My dear Reverend Fathers, my letters did not use to follow each other so closely, nor did they use to be so extended. The little time that I have had has been the cause of both these things. I only made this letter longer because I had not the leisure to make it shorter.” — 16th letter The point here is that it easy to write a bunch of stuff down and send it out into the world. It's much more work to labor over it, condense it down and just communicate what's really important.

Last night our family picked up a Little Caesar's pepperoni pizza and "Toy Story 3" from the library. We shared an experience together of the same pizza and the same movie and I would say it was way better together than if I'd done the exact same things on my own. There just something about my 1 year old saying "Big one!" referring to his pizza. Or my 3 year old that asks, "When is the movie going to be done?" as the movie is getting to the climax. These moments that are shared by our family when we're doing something pretty normal together are what make it memorable and a highlight of my day. Sometimes I'm ready to just have some of my own time, but I need to remember to be engaged, because time together is what's going to build up our family.

Coming out of the workshop we attended this week for the first time in a while our plan has become very clear as to what our marketing needs to accomplish over all. Because our overall plan has clarity our team has confidence and is taking a lot of action quickly. A meeting yesterday comes to mind where we walked our website agency through a major shift of the homepage of our website. Prior to this meeting we believed that overall where we were going was looking good and had given little direction. But, with the 2 day workshop behind us from this week we had a plan and confidence to really evaluate where our website was headed and provide clear action steps on what was needed to get it to the place it really needs to be.

I work within a culture where we would say we want to be "fast to fail". In this type of environment struggle happens on a daily basis. We come up with what we think is a solution, get it out in the world to test it, realize it needs refinement and go back to the drawing board. There's more risk in this philosophy, but there's also more reward as well when you get it right much quicker than the organization that methodically plods along with a mindset of "failure is not an option". In the struggle is where we learn so much more than in the trying to avoid all struggle. We do remember the point when everything comes together, but where the story is really interesting is when those crucial points come when it's we have 24 hours to solve this problem or we fail. This is an area where our culture thrives. And these type of moments within our culture when we share the struggle infuses within our DNA a philosophy that there's always an answer and our tea...

There's a reason why phone numbers are grouped in 3 clusters. There's a reason why an area code is made up of 3 digits. There are primary colors. There's a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the Olympics that get medals. There's a small, medium and large option at most restaurants. We like the number 3. We like information, but only so much or it begins to paralyze us. It's fairly easy to get people to remember 3 things together, but once you go to 4 it gets a little harder and once you go to 5 it's almost impossible. As I think about communication moving forward, organizing the steps I want someone to remember into no more than 3 parts is going to be something I need to challenge myself with. It's a good exercise with proven results.

I'm half way through a workshop this week in Nashville and we're working through a framework called "Storybrand" and it's challenging. The creative process is messy and even though you want to get it right I'm learning through the process that it's evolving and we're not going to get it perfect in these two days. We're learning some tools that help organize the chaos and form a path ultimately for the customer to walk down that leads to their success.

Ever wonder why the name? There's always a reason. Never thought about this one until yesterday, but why is a combine called a combine? Well, prior to 1835 when it was first built and patented, the harvesting process was 3 steps–reaping, threshing, and winnowing. The invention of the combine "combined" those 3 steps into one machine that did them all together. Next time you hear a name that you don't know the history behind, look it up. You might learn a little something you never knew.

This was on a postcard from my parents who just recently took a trip to Washington D.C. "Never put off tomorrow what you can do today." "Never trouble another for what you can do yourself." "Never spend money before you have earned it." "Never buy what you don't want because it is cheap." "Pride costs more than hunger, thirst and cold." "We seldom repent of having eaten too little." "Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly." "How much pain the evils cost us that never happened." "Take things always by the smooth handle." "When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry count a hundred." Thomas Jefferson

"You made my day." I received the above sentence in my personal email box yesterday that I rarely receive "personal" emails in anymore. I decided to send a thank you to this person to let them know I appreciate the effort they're putting in to a class they are teaching and they came away encourage to the point of this being a highlight of their day. For whatever reason I believe we are far too lazy in offering written words of encouragement via any form of communication than we should be. The response back to my short email was proof that these can be huge in someone's day as long as they are true. Don't just try to inflate someone's ego. But, when you see something in someone that you value, let them know.

I can see now some of the things that I really enjoyed growing up and how those things have fueled where I am today. One memory in particular stands out of planning a concert one Christmas where me and 3 of my cousins played some music for the rest of the family. I remember coloring light bulbs with red and green permanent markers and putting them in my grandparents lamps in the basement to really bring up the feeling of a concert. Permanent marker colored light bulbs give off a distinct smell when they're on for a while! I think we also put together programs. I was all in. Today, I see that Christmas concert along with other "shows" I did as a kid as setting the stage for a lot of what I get to do now. One of the biggest events of the year at my work is our Winter Conference. It's basically a huge show, that I never would have imagined helping envision and create every year as a kid. It's a highlight of my year with close to 5,000 people attending. So if yo...

I've noticed in the last month as I've started helping teach 3 year olds at church that there's one time that they all pay attention the closest out of the roughy 90 minutes that we have them. What do we do that gets their undivided attention? The puppet show. Typically it lasts about 5 minutes, but I've noticed that all of their eyes are glued on the puppets and they are tracking with the story that unfolds as part of the show.

I've come to enjoy the early morning hour more than I ever used to now that I have kids. Back in my post college years when I worked in Chicago for some ad agencies I would stay up late and get up late since I didn't have to be in the office until 9. A lot of times I wasn't up until about 8. Now I'm usually up everyday between 5 and 6 and at the office at 7. I'm also usually in bed by 9 on average. It's a totally different schedule. I've had to change because my kids are up by 6. So, if I want a little time to myself, time to think, read, write, to be quiet, early works best for me when I'm freshest. So I guess you could say I've gone from the 9 to 5 to the 5 to 9.

Did some simple math this morning. Based on the average of 8 hours the National Sleep Foundation recommends adults sleep every day, one third of every week we spend sleeping (56 hours a week). It's something that most days I give little thought to, but everyone needs sleep. No one can go much more than a 24 hour period without needing it. Our bodies were designed to need sleep to recharge. It's just a bizarre thing to think about sometimes (as my wife has told me before) that every person in this world has goes to sleep everyday and sleeps for hours. We are dependent. This is just one little example of our frailty and dependency that I need to be reminded of in a culture that thrives on being independent. God designed us in a way that our bodies are dependent on rest, food, drink and air just to name a few. These things point us to our need for something even greater, the God who created all these things that temporarily satisfy all of those needs. And these ultimately poin...

Just a few things I've jotted down over the last year that I want to become go to sayings in our home. "Obey right away, all the way, with a happy heart." "Whining will keep you from worship." "Worry will keep you from worship."

I asked my daughter this morning what the best part of her day was yesterday was and she replied, "Going to the library." I asked then asked her what was the best part about going to the library and she said, "Getting the new books and the new CD." I had a similar thought yesterday morning about newness as I was driving in to the office yesterday. Not necessarily the best part of my day, but I was also enjoying something new in listening the new music releases that had just come out that morning. There's something about things being "new" to us, whether it's a book, music, movie, clothing, restaurant, destination, etc that brings excitement. There's an aspect of unknown to it, even if we've read the reviews or heard someone talk about it, it's not the same as actually experiencing that newness for the first time. I don't know if everyone is like this, but I think most of us have at least some of this wired in us. I also believ...

Our family eats at Chick-fil-A at least once a month if not more and we don't eat out every week, so this is frequent for us. But, if it wasn't for the Cow Calendar that they offer I'm not sure if it'd be as often. The calendar is a genius idea that provides a monthly "free" item to the customer and gets them in the door on a regular basis. It's a unique way that Chick-fil-A has regularly communicated with customers once the customer has bought the calendar. We've in a sense joined an exclusive club of customers that get special perks on a monthly basis. I bring this up today, because I've heard the calendar is going away after doing it for 20 years. There's even an online petition to bring back the Cow Calendar here . It will be interesting to see if Chick-fil-A will continue to create an exclusive club type of group moo-ving forward.

As an Art Director/Designer by trade I struggle with this idea of perfection in everything I do. Sometimes it can be a good thing pushing me to do the best work I possibly can, but other times it keeps me from doing work that probably should be done because I won't be able to put the time in to get it perfect. I came across something today from Seth Godin that I liked in relation to the idea of perfection and realizing what the driver is. "You can’t name someone you befriended because his eyeglass frames were just the right shape, or the last book you loved because the cover was perfectly typeset. For surface shine, 80% might be more than enough. After that, the tweaking is for us, not those we seek to serve. " As I think specifically about the industry I'm in, this 80% rule rings true and it probably rings true in more industries than we think.

Yesterday our family went to run a few errands. Two stops were in-store pick-ups of items my wife ordered online. The experiences couldn't have been more opposite. I parked in the "15 minute" online pick-up spot after driving around the parking lot for a few minutes with the kids in the car as we waited for my wife to get the item. After at least 20 minutes she finally came out. She explained to me she waited at the counter while the person at the counter took care of a customer on the phone and another employee was taking care of work for his department in lighting. The employees continued to ignore my wife until 4 more people got in line behind her. Then the employee asked that she get more help to take care of the people in line there. The wait was long even though the idea of order online and pick-up in store is supposed to be fast, when employees don't have this as a goal there's a break down of the idea. Fast forward to Target, our next stop, where we al...

Thinking about the opportunity to reach more people with a message as a creative person. I've been intrigued by Andrew Peterson and his latest song "Is He Worthy?" and the reach that it has gotten and I believe it will continue to get. Andrew Peterson have a great following of listeners, and readers as well, but he's definitely not a mainstream artist and I don't know that he desires to be. My main point is to express something I admire in this artist as he's released a song that has resonated deeply with so many people in "Is He Worthy?". He has created something beautiful and then let it go for many others to also recreate it musically that it can reach even more people. Specifically, Chris Tomlin, a friend of his and artist with a huge following, asked him very soon after this song was released if he could put the song on his new album. Many of his fans expressed concern over Andrew's song being recorded by another artist and here was his...