Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .
IN OUR WORLD Coming to you live from the famous Strip in
Despite coming to Vegas all the time I find my amazement to be renewed on every visit. It is both elegant and bizzarely chintzy at the same time.
Doing work at the Wynn gave me access to the new sister hotel, Encore, that had a soft opening (see Ocean’s 13 for definition of “soft opening” ) the last week in December. It is breathtaking! Their main restaurant is called, SWITCH and the entire place changes its theme every 30 minutes to music and light. The walls and ceilings change in a mechanical ballet that is an engineering and creative work of magic. The new Palazzo is enough to make you just sit and look at the design and marvelous interior water features. The “living forest” is incredible. If you don’t gamble (I don’t)
Just when you see small shimmers that the economy might, just might give us the smallest glimmer of good news, well FORGET IT. The Dow went from touching 9,000 to barely holding on to 8,000 in the blink of an eye. Nobody believes that all those companies and industries in trouble have really told us the truth of how bad things are. Citibank is a great example where it appears even selling off key units like Smith Barney may not be enough. I am usually an optimist in times of bad news, but the only way to see sunshine is to completely ignore it.
Launching a couple of new projects, one an educational curriculum design for a new commitment to training and education for a client and the other a strategic platform designed around a single goal – GENERATE NEW IDEAS!
Finally off of rehab for the knee! I get to cautiously step back on the tennis court!
Special thanks to my agent/manager extraordinaire Chris Ryan, who did a great job on my behalf this week!!!!
Next week it’s off the
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Jim Collins , the author of the wonderful book – Good to Great recently was interviewed and discussed his ideas around good decision making. Here are a few highlights:
- Learn to say; “I don’t know”. This opens the doors to constant learning.
- The higher the question / statement ratio the better. By learning to utilize open and probing questions (part of the Socratic Method) you can find a pathway to the most correct answer.
- Deciding is not doing. There is always the need for a decision maker. Discover consensus, but making a decision is a leadership trait..
- Big decisions really decide a tiny fraction of the outcome. It is the daily, in the trenches activities, each driven by micro choices that really make the difference.
The bottom line is that decision making needs to drive ACTION. We are defined by the forward steps we take and the occasionally falling on our butt.
ENTERTAINMENT
MOVIES:
NetFlix Fans: Paul’s Last Stop: I just saw the marvelous, very little movie on Showtime. Made for a couple of bucks it is both like a documentary and movie, as it follows two young men on a trip around the world to scatter the ashes of their friend. FANTASTIC!
TV: It’s disaster time for me as American Idol kicks off and Laura is a big fan. The good news is that they have moved House MD to Monday nights so he won’t be bumped by Idol.
BOOKS: Presentation Zen – By Gary Reynolds is a pretty good read about the impact you can have as a strong presenter.
MUSIC: At the end of the day I am a singer/songwriter fan. I love the storytelling aspect and the skill to do it with a simple riff and a cleaver turn of the tongue. Now I dig OAR, Counting Crows, My Morning Jacket and bands like that, but give me the troubadour to spend my musical time with and I am in music heaven. Here is a great tune by Tony Lucca.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJXW8gf7XIA
WEB SITES: Looking to find some research articles?
http://findarticles.com/p/advanced?tb=art
SOUTH OF
It takes the time it takes to get it right.Tony Lucca
Drop me a note with your comments at steve@creativeventures.com
Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Adios and Aloha.
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