Cute but Hokey

It's always interesting to see what others are saying about Juggling Elephants. A "googling" of the book title brings a myriad of sites where people are talking about the book. One review I found particularly unique was one in which the reader initially thought the book was "cute but hokey." What happened next, however,changed their mind. They wrote:

...but over the course of the next 2 days, I found myself asking the question of "what ring am I in now?" and "should I be putting this in a ring at all?" So, I guess it had an impact on me. Any book that makes me think about how I think is worth it. (Read the full review at http://blogs.msdn.com/maamktg/archive/2007/10/06/book-review-juggling-elephants.aspx)

How have you been impacted by the message of the book? We'd love to hear from you. Send us an e mail at info@jugglingelephants.com.

And The World Record Was Not Beaten

To celebrate Domino Day in November, a group of people from 12 european countries (Domino World Record Bid Falls Over) worked eight hours a day, five days a week for eight weeks putting together what they hoped would be a domino world record. Over 3 million dominoes fell during a two hour period, but the record was not broken when the dominoes on a bridge did not fall correctly to continue the process. I saw the video and it was painful!!! While there were literally miles of dominoes set correctly, the section that failed was about 1 foot long-Over 320 man hours of work lost due to an area that would have taken about 10-15 minutes to prepare correctly.

To see the dominoes falling so perfectly only to have a single line about a foot long not work correctly highlights one of the key principles from Juggling Elephants. In the circus, every performer must be fully engaged in an act or the act will fail-or fail to get a standing ovation.

Think about the acts you have planned for the end of the year or to start 2008. Have you got all the performers properly engaged? Do they have the resources they need to be successful? If not, all your hard work may not be enough to "keep the dominoes falling correctly into place."

Nothing New

One might think we would be disappointed to hear that people read Juggling Elephants and comment that some of the concepts are not new. That is certainly NOT the case. We take great pride in knowing that the book reinforces powerful strategies and tools that have been tested over time.

As Pat Snyder, a humor columnist (Balancing Act), writes:

Just had to let you know how much I l enjoyed Juggling Elephants, which I've been listening to in the car. I love the way you took a familiar visualization (the three-ring circus) and used it to convey well-established but easily forgotten principles of time management and prioritization. Just as elephants never forget, I expect I'll be remembering the art of the ringmaster for a long time to come!

Great Feedback from a Teleconference

Last night I participated in a teleconference on Juggling Elephants. The audience was made up of students from Kaplan University. Many of them are individuals in their thirties who are attempting to get a degree while still working full time AND being parents and spouses-true Juggling Elephants candidates!

One of the most interesting comments from the moderator was:
You are making a huge difference in the lives of your readers when you remind us that we can’t do it all. Several students were typing in the chat area that your point hit home that they must establish priorities and determine their goals in a concrete fashion.

I appreciated their honest feedback and questions and look forward to my next opportunity to help anyone stop the Juggling Elephants routine in their circus.

Seeking Balance Isn't Always The Best Answer

As the authors of Juggling Elephants, we have always been passionate about not using "work-life balance" as one of the key phrases describing our book. Our belief is that seeking balance only gets you part of the way to a solution and also factors out the importance of focusing more energy on key events or circumstances unique to an individual-and less on others at that point in time.

The M.A.P. Maker has written a great blog (The Great Balance Boondoggle) about the fallacy of balance and how Juggling Elephants is a more effective way to accomplish what is most important.