The 6 Habits of Highly Defective People

Going to put this one to music... good ole' classic rock.

1. Self indulgent. "Life's Been Good" Joe Walsh.

It's all about me, me, and me... did I mention me? It's an important thing to consider the aspects of one's life as it relates to ego-centric operations. I'll post elsewhere about the success literature phenomenon, but suffice it to say there is deep truth in "what you sow, that shall you also reap." Having a life that somehow impacts the world in a positive way is very important - and without it, I believe emptiness is the result. Beware folks that want to celebrate without a good reason to... and also look out for the stone crab claws! Something is up!

2. Deceitful. "Lyin' Eyes" The Eagles.

Apologies to Fred Wilson for the Eagles tune... but you ever noticed how the perpetual liar has some strange gleam in their eye? It can be such a subtle thing, but if you've seen it you know it. It's also an interesting parallel between this and the gleam that you see in the eye of a person who is dramatically successful or confident. At the end of the day though, the lack of integrity shows through - at the base of our being, we need to be "real", this type of defect never gets the level of depth that is rewarded with significance... at least not without jail time.

3. One man rodeo. "I Drink Alone" George Thoroughgood

Cowboy coders fall into this category. This is completely different from confidence and interdependence; both of which are good qualities. There is a point at which it crosses a line and the phrase is like "I don't need anyone!". Well, if it were possible that you could be the best at _everything_ then this might make sense. But it generally yields a whole bunch of "chief cooks and bottle washers". Let's put it this way - you can't scale.

4. Lack of focus. "Takin' Care of Business" Bachman Turner Overdrive

A hundred miles to nowhere. You ever been around those folks who act like a hurricane? Flurry of words, e-mails, calls, IMs, any type of communication, they're on it - or even a flurry of code... with a lack of a solid deliverable. Now, this isn't someone who gets stuck on a problem and works through it, or someone who is overburdened with tasks. It's scattered effort in such insignificance that it doesn't move anything forward. This often is a result of a lack of vision or defined purpose.

5. Inflexible. "Roll with the Changes" REO Speedwagon

"My way or the highway" is daggers to most startup businesses. Now, I'm certainly not advocating that you abdicate responsibility for critical decisions, but you just have to take some risks. Calculate them, keep them in the right place, and fight for what is core to your vision. Embrace the risks that fill in gaps in your strengths. If you're strategic, take chance on the tactical. But you can't expect to win without rolling with the changes. People change, technology changes, business environments change - don't get hung out to dry. This is like fishing in the same hole all day and catching nothing. For goodness sakes, move to a different hole!

6. Always too much to do to get anything done. "Beast of Burden" Rolling Stones

The "successories" (to be defined in another post) call it the "positive mental attitude". It's the first thing you lose when you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some people can fake it, but generally they end up falling out at some point. They lose their focus on why they're doing what they are doing and just fall apart. And it's ridiculous. I can't say that I haven't let this one grab me, but I'm incessantly making lists and that helps get a handle on it. I'm not a full on proponent of GTD, but I certainly believe that folks ought to take some of that to heart. Make a list, put stuff on it, cross things off when they're done. Pick the top 6 things for the day and DO those. Just get 'em done and everything else push.