Liz Wiltsie

1. Post from any email enabled device. I am creating this entire post on my BlackBerry. I know many people have iPhones and can do lots of cool things, but I don't. But I can email with the best of them. And so can 90 percent of the rest of the people I know. When I was travelling across the country I could email pictures and posts from my phone without wifi access, good times.

2. Pictures. To add pictures to this post I have to attach them to this email. Posterous sizes them and puts them in an excellent gallery, which you can see below.

3. Autopost to Everywhere, or only some. Posterous allows you to autopost to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, hosted and unhosted Wordpress, and many many more. But I also like that by saying facebook+twitter@posterous.com I can post to just those two places. Autopost plus selectivity.

Those are the big ones for me.

(download)

Click here to download:

3_Reasons_Posterous_Rocks.zip (2.78 MB)

I told you it is my favorite place. Not a bad shot with my piece of crap phone.

One of my favorite places in NYC is Grand Central.

Whimsy and Nono helped me celebrate my birthday with cupcakes.

When I decided to get certified as a Wilderness EMT, I knew there would be lessons applicable to my life as a small business strategist. I learned new ways to approach problems and more about myself and my limits.

Your brain can survive for 4-6 minutes without adequate oxygen before you have brain damage. Your body can only lose 20% of its liquid volume before you go into shock and die. These are small numbers and short time frames.

We have lots of ways to remember what to do and when, but you cannot be paralyzed making decisions. EMTs have to think very quickly, act very quickly, make changes, and know when to get help AND keep a super cool face on the outside. I'm going to break these down individually and draw a comparison to the business world, also I've been reading a lot of Mark Suster's writing today and think he has valuable insight, so I've linked to some of this work where relevant. I plan on adding to these in the coming weeks.

Think Quickly:

• EMT: Part of EMT training (ok, a lot of EMT training) centers around doing the same things over and over again until it becomes second nature. You're training your brain to act in a specific way. This way when you turn up the pressure, you may forget your name but you wont forget what you have to do to get your patient out alive. In the beginning, there is no speed. But you build it up. Every encounter you have makes you a little quicker and a little smarter. You'll never be as fast as you want to be, and that's a good thing. Pushing yourself to be better is key.
• Business: In business, you have similar core competencies that can be honed with constant practice. You can get quicker on your feet, but only if you decide it is necessary. True, lives are not on the line, but thinking quickly is the first step in moving forward.

Act Quickly:

• EMT: Once you've gotten through your information gathering (for paramedics this takes less than 45 seconds, super cool to watch), you must act. There are certain times you stop and fix issues before you finish gathering information. If someone is bleeding, you fix it. If someone isn't breathing, you figure out why and help them (often at the same time). Either way, you can't sit around and second guess your decision. You have to move, and fail, forward. If something isn't working, figure out why and fix it.
• Business: This one is possibly my favorite business lesson. Are you dealing with the same consequences? No. EMTs are taught to trust their instincts. If something doesn't feel right, it usually isn't. Act with essentially very little and limited information. The faster you make mistakes the faster you can fix them. More reading: Mark Suster

Make Changes:

• EMT: You've gathered information, acted, and now something isn't working. EMTs make changes. There's no ego involved saying, but I liked that idea. It was my best work. Someone is bleeding, or not breathing, or seizing and you're not sure why. Fix it. Analyze (fast) and make changes.
• Business: Businesses don't always recognize when something isn't working. That's not true, someone does, but that someone may not trust their instinct or feel empowered to actually discuss a potential failure. Also, in business, there are always egos involved. It is hard to admit that a seemingly brilliant plan may not be working. But every day spent not making changes is costing money. More reading: Mark Suster

Know When to Get Help:

• EMT: An EMT needs to know when to transport, when to call in Advanced Life Support, and when to blast the sirens and go. Again, there is no room for one person to walk in and say, I've got this covered. There is always at least one more person. The decision to get outside help, and how fast is key. It takes a thorough knowledge of the EMT, patient, facilities and capabilities.
• Business: Small business owners and start-ups have to be able to do many things well. But everyone has to know where their limits are. Ideally, we're putting together a team of people who complement each other. Sometimes you need outside help, and knowing when to call in that outside help and who it will be is a very good conversation to have before you have your sirens blaring. More reading: Mark Suster

Cool on the Outside:

• EMT: Panic will exacerbate any situation. Someone who was mildly hurt or sick may work themselves into being seriously sick. As an EMT, you have to exude confidence, professionalism, and compassion. A patient cannot question whether or not they are safe in your care. Your team cannot question whether or not you are in charge. On the inside your stomach is in knots, but you can't let that show on the outside.
• Business: This one seems incredibly obvious. Has anyone else noticed that when working with others (or pitching) you have to exude confidence, professionalism, and compassion?

Seth Godin worked with some really talented people to compile an e-book entitled, What Matters Now. Take a look at his post about it here, and a list of the authors here. I've also uploaded it so you can download it here.

In the spirit of this work here is my list of the things that I think matter now:

Believe - in yourself, in others, in the capacity for goodness and change

Laugh - with your soul, until your face hurts and you're crying your eyes out

Apologize - and mean it Forgive - even long standing wrongs

Empower - everyone you can

Be Scared - at least once a day, maybe more

Authenticity - be true to your core beliefs, personally and professionally

Grace - forgive your own mistakes

Learn - something new, be better tomorrow than you were today

Move - in a direction, fail forward

What are yours?

I am a Joss Whedon fan. I have been since high school and Buffy. I think he creates smart, funny, compelling characters and stories. And because I love Whedon, I gave Dollhouse more time to get going than I would have given any other show. And I am super glad that I did. The second half of the first season was excellent. The unaired "Epitaph One" is possibly one of the best Whedon episodes ever.

So when the second season started I was very excited. And now, 3 episodes from the end of the series, I am sad. As a reasonably intelligent human, I am intrigued by the language I've been using when I talk about Dollhouse with friends. I've been saying things like, "at least we [Whedon fans] have closure this time." Why should I need closure? It is a television show for crying out loud, not my family. But Whedon creates worlds and fans that have incredible emotional connection to his work. I am fascinated by why that is. I'm not entirely sure. Although, I think it has something to do with his general attitude. I have never read or seen an interview where Joss does not recognize that the fans have given him the opportunities he has.

I am very sad that Dollhouse is ending. Watching the last several episodes makes me happy, because they are so good, and sad, because that brilliance is ending. Although there is something about a determined end that is making the show act with purpose. I know LOST will play out the same way this spring. I wonder what Dollhouse could have been if FOX said, you get 44 episodes and then you're done, from the very beginning. Thoughts on what creates that emotional connection? Or beginning with the end in mind, specifically?

Here's another set of articles and videos that I've found worth sharing.

Google Wave confused me to no end. I've had my invite for a while, but didn't really have the time to deal with figuring it out. I had a minute and I came across this video by Epipheo Studios (@epipheo). They do some brilliant work and I'm excited to keep up with them.

Stuff I've Learned at Microsoft by Sriram Krishnan has super useful insight for all businesses and businesses people. Well written and insightful.

Seth Godin discusses what brands are in today's society in a very accessible and useful way with define:Brand by Seth Godin (@thisissethsblog)

My Own Tiger's Tale by Matthew E. May (@matthewemay). Matthew E. May is one of my favorite writers these days. I like this discussion of the pursuit of perfection.