I had the pleasure of meeting Erik Qualman and hearing him speak
at a book signing for his new book Digital Leader at House of Blues in Chicago last night
(many thanks to Brickfish who sponsored the event).

I’m always curious to hear what someone will share in a limitied “general” talk like this,
and though Erik shared ideas that many may have heard before, he articulated them in a way
that was very impactful and useable – and in particular, he raised great questions
we can ask ourselves as we begin 2012, and specifically as we navigate our relationship
with the digital world which now impacts us all.

Here’s a quick summary of some of the “take-aways” I walked away with:

First, what do you want your “stamp” to be online?

I love the visual and action-imagery this word conveys, and the simple yet clear question
we can ask ourselves – and which we can apply to our entire life.

As applied to the digital world — What do you want your kids and grandkids to find of you online?

And here’s a challenge Erik gave us – to write what you want your “stamp” to be in 140 characters or less
(the maximum number of characters that fit in one “tweet”). This challenge definitely requires some
thought and ultimate clarity.

And here’s what “S.T.A.M.P.” stood for in Erik’s talk:

S – Simplification. Something we could all practice is this day of information and attention overload.

T – True to yourself. This is where true flourishing, fulfillment, and impact can happen.

A – Act — take the steps you can take.

M – Map — create a clear map for where you want to go.

P – People — find out what’s of interest to the individual, and choose who you surrouned yourself with…

Here’s a great focus point for all of us who have many emails, messages, and other things
calling for our attention every day – focus on “output” rather than “input”. In other words,
rather than going straight to all the messages calling for your attention today,
begin your day by asking yourself,

“What are the two most important things I want to do today?”

This may seem very basic, but how many of us are practicing this on a consistent basis, and
really being intentional about where our time and energy goes each day?

Next Erik shared a concept called “LIFO” – last in, first out – again something you may have
heard before, but a great reminder and simple, clear way of articulating a very practical concept.
When you have a “pile up” of emails or messages to get to…besides “arbitraging” the most
important ones you want to address right away…for the rest of them, you have a better chance
of making an impact by responding to something that just came in than by trying to answer
something from 48 hours ago…and always being 48 hours delayed in your responses.
You can even “train” people – especially if you’re traveling or otherwise occupied –-
to re-email you if something urgently needs to be addressed.

And here’s a new way of describing goals – set laughable ones.

Set goals big enough that most people will laugh at them…and then when you find the ones
that don’t laugh – realize that those will be the people who will support you in attaining them.

Which brings us to another great question Erik asked last night – Who do you surround yourself with?
This will have a tremendous impact on your experience and “output” for 2012.

So there you go. Hopefully one of these tips or questions struck a chord in you and
you’ll begin acting on them right away to enhance your enjoyment of 2012,
and you’re experience of the “digital world”.

Meanwhile, I’m heading over to Amazon to buy Erik’s new book.

Dr. Ben