Day 21: Learn to code

Day 21: Learn to code

Computer code touches nearly every aspect of our modern lives.  Even if you don’t plan on making a living by writing it, it’s probably a good idea to at least have a basic understanding of what’s going on.  Heck, you might even enjoy it.

One [free] resource I’ve used is Code Academy.  They do a great job of breaking the lessons down into easily digestible chunks with exercises to help you understand what’s going on.

Code Academy Logo

Give it a try and let us know what you think.  You never know, maybe you have a talent for the binary?

 

Day 19: How to be Average

Day 19: How to be Average

Ways to be Average

Todays post is a continuation of yesterday’s theme of being realistic.  Really this is a 2-for-1 repost of a pair of posts by Zen Pencils, where he creates comics from inspirational quotes.

The first is a quote from Chris Guillebeau about 11 ways to be average.  In it, he reveals the formula for living a boring and unremarkable life.  For those unfamiliar with Chris, he is a Portland resident, author of “The Art of Non Conformity” and “The $100 Startup,” host of the annual World Domination Summit, and has nearly accomplished his goal of visiting every country on the planet.

Click the images to see the entire comic.  

How to be Average Quote by Chris Guillebeau

The Timing Always Sucks

It’s almost stating the obvious, but it’s true that for the most important things in life the timing can always be better.  To put it another way, there will always be a reason not to do something; especially stuff that really matters.   The second quote is by Tim Ferriss from his first book, “The Four Hour Work Week.”  Tim is know for his “lifestyle hacking” (among other things), and like him or not, it’s hard to ignore his ability to distill things down to their essence.  Be it a skill or life philosophy.

Bad Timing by Tim Ferriss

It’d be easy to dismiss what both of these guys are saying, if what they were saying wasn’t so important to living a life worth living.  We are not automatons whose only function is to perform some mundane task with ever increasing efficiency.

Do something Interesting…then tell us about it.    You never know who or what you might inspire.

Day 6: Nine Talks That Will Change You

Day 6: Nine Talks That Will Change You

The most amazing thing about the internet is the access it gives us to people and information. From my office in Washougal, Washington, I can listen to some of the smartest people on the planet share their stories. I can engage with people I’ve never met and access an almost unlimited amount of information.

Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders ProgramOf the endless possibilities, one of my favorite resources is the Stanford University Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Series. Since 2005, I’ve listened to their weekly podcast (while school is in session) and am consistently impressed by the diversity and quality of speakers they are able to attract. One week it could be the CEO of an up and coming tech company, and then be followed by the leader of a non-profit fund. Past speakers include people like Mark Zuckerberg in 2007 (back when it was still called ‘The Facebook’ and they had just launched their photo sharing feature), Steve Young (the former San Francisco 49’s quarterback), Evan Williams (the co-founder of Twitter…before he co-founded Twitter), and William McDonough (Architect, author, and one of Time Magazine’s ‘Hero for the Planet’), among many others.

Over the years, I’ve listened to countless hours of brilliant insight because of this series; I’ve listened to talks while running, on the way to work, road trips, and in lieu of television or radio.

Interestingly, the podcasts I’ve enjoyed the least (you can still learn something) have been from venture capitalists, politicians, and really ‘successful’ CEO’s. There’s something off-putting (to me) about a canned speech or those lacking authenticity. My favorite talks were by the speakers who revealed their shortcomings and how they learned from adversity; the ones that offered experience and thought process over instruction.

At the risk of excluding many worthy talks, in no particular order I offer nine of my favorite talks for your consideration. Give them a listen and let me know what you think.

william mcdonough

William Mcdonough

jensen huang

Jensen Huang

guy kawasaki

Guy Kawasaki

tom kelley

Tom Kelly

Jack Dorsey

Jack Dorsey

David Heinemeier Hansson

DHH

shia agassi

Shai Agassi

vinod khosla

Vinod Khosla

tim o reilly

Tim O’Reilly



I’m looking forward to upcoming talk by Sal Khan and learning more about what he’s doing at the Khan Academy, where their mission is to provide a world-class education for anyone anywhere.

Where do you like to go for information?

The #1 Question You Should Ask Customers

The #1 Question You Should Ask Customers

How can we help you?

There. That’s it. It very simply gets to the heart of the matter. Businesses exist to serve the customer’s needs.

Before you try to meet someone’s needs, it helps to know what those needs are. Many businesses (and salespeople) mistakenly assume to know what the needs of their customers are. Maybe they do, but you know what they say about assuming- something about making an ass out of….well you know the rest, so why take the risk?

The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.

Thomas Berger

Ask and you shall receive! You never know what you might learn from asking questions. At a minimum, you’ll confirm what you thought you knew, but you might just uncover a need you never knew existed.

At Workshed, we like solving problems, and we really like solving problems for our customers.

So how can we help you?

Contact Us

Update WordPress for the Last Time

Update WordPress for the Last Time

Workshed WordPress 3.7 LogoWordPress recently released version 3.7 affectionately dubbed “Basie” in honor of “Count Basie,” and with it come automatic updating!  Of course, this might be a nightmare for older sites with “custom” themes, but for most people it’s a helpful way to improve website security. (more…)