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“So What Have You Done About It Today?”

Richard Neumann

I wrote - it may have just been in my blog, but I wrote.  Writing is like any form of exercise, the body and mind need to do it every day to stay sharp.

Visit My Past Blogs for an Interesting look into the Evolution of an Indie

May 11, 2009

I'm back! Closing down www.survivalguide2009.com and focusing on www.the bizconnexion.com and The Magic Paint Box.  more on both as the days progress.

05-11-09

Until my backorder from Harbor Freight comes in - I'm having to consolidate my efforts.  The Magic Paint Box and The Biz ConneXion are taking 137% of my time.  So, I'm moving my blog back to www.stoneinthesurf.com AND putting this site up for sale.  Interested in buying this site?  Go to ...

04-27-09

Too much time has passed since my last entry.  Lots of stuff happening.  First I took what I thought was only going to be a few days off to move my son to Warren (just north of Portland) Oregon.  Towed a 1950 Dodge Hot Rod with a Chrysler 331 Hemi under the hood.  The engine alone weighs in at 970 lbs!  And you wonder where the term "lead sled" comes form.  Got there on a Chamber of Commerce picture perfect day.  I have to say Portland is a very nice place.  I could see moving there for the right opportunity.  We were all supposed to caravan together.  My son showed up three days late - he has his mother's sense of time.   This move, I hope will be a personal reinvention for him.  A place to find his passion in life.

Work continues on The Magic Paint Box.  The PSA's shot on the 19th and they went very well.  Looks like the Pilot is set to shoot on the 24th of June.  Fingers crossed.  I'm pushing to add an additional educational shoot on the same schedule.  I think this will give the series a two pronged approach to media and education.  It's truly amazing to see your words take on life.

Phil and I are inching forward with The Biz ConneXion.  You can check out our holding pages at www.thebizconnexion.com.  I think this will be a great site for people like myself with expertise they have to share to connect with businesses in need of help.  Imagine LinkedIn meets FaceBook meets eHarmony meets CraigsList.

One final note for today, Helaing Stories just featured Charlie's Treasures as their book of the week!

  http://www.healing-stories.com/index.php?page=botw.php

2009-04-26 - Here’s a story about acknowledging what’s special.

Charlie's Treasures by Richard Neumann. Illus by Dian de Wolf. 36 p., Stone In the Surf Press, 2003.

Charlie proudly shows his collection of marbles to an old man who listens carefully with empathy and appreciation. Charlie tells the story of each marble and explains why each is special. Like friends - and like parts of oneself - Charlie's treasures embody attributes such as endurance, toughness, happy energy, introspection and thought, creativity, and individuality. This story may encourage children to value their own uniqueness and treasure their connections.

04-15-09

TAX DAY or AUTOMATIC EXTENSION if you're really in a bind.  While working the reinvention side of my life I've been keeping an eye out for a more classical gig - hey it happens to the best of us.  Got to keep that cash flow coming.  600 resumes out and nada.  Wow.  Then again, do I really want to go back to being a soulless bean counter? Nah.  I just, and I mean just co-founded a great company called The Biz Connexion.  Teamed up with my ol' Brit buddy Phil from Tegal and helped to put a fire under his brain child.  This will be a way to get people with skills matched up with small to mid-sized businesses that need help.  Hmm - putting people to work in a down turn economy.  That's not such a bad thing.  One of our first supporters is Steve Schneider of the Sawyer Business Center in Santa Rosa, California.  The Sawyer Center is nationally know as a key resource for small and start up companies. Steve see this as being a key asset to the SBDC (Small Business Development Centers) across the nation.  Keep an eye out for new developments at www.thebizconnexion.com

04-09-09

Be careful what you wish for...  Sometimes we wish we could be famous, known for something great or remembered as a significant part of history.  My brother-in-law among other things is a former "rock star" - no seriously he was/is.  Turns out every year there's a big cannabis celebration on April 20th after the term 4/20.  The term 4/20 was coined by my brother-in-law's brother (OK beginning to sound too much like a family south of the Mason Dixon Line) when they would meet after school at 4:20 to partake of the herb.  And so Dave lives on in infamy, his days in high school in Marin, immortalized for generations yet to come.  Dudes, wish carefully.

04-05-09

Today is the first production meeting for The Magic Paint Box.  Apparently my script for the pilot and the 4 PSA's are a hit with the Executive Producer.  Now the challenge will be - will it work in real life.  Kind of like writing a biz plan and then putting that plan into action.  Hmmm?  Wonder where I gained some of those skill sets? 

On another note, I'm meeting with my Brit friend on Tuesday to discuss the project we're embarking on.  I'm hoping to have a few minutes to pitch two of my projects to the web developer.  I seriously think they will be a smash.  So this morning, while my other half is dreaming away and the sun has yet to peak above the Nike Silos on China Camp, I've been building process flow charts for a web site.  But wait a minute, I'm an an accountant from Burbank what the heck do I know about process flow charts.  Oh yeah, all of those years of system implementations and continuous improvement....  Dang.   Once again I drive the point home, you probably know a lot more about a lot of things you have no idea you knew.  Confusing, well kind of.  Try this, make an inventory of all of the things you can do that have nothing directly to do with your current occupation. Like me, it could be writing or publishing or hang gliding, or yes ... janitorial.  (Can you believe while I was the Director of Finance for the Napa Valley Opera House, we were between custodial help and I actually had to clean the Opera House and Rita Moreno's dressing room - Ah the things we do for our stars.)

Now, take that list and move everything over to a column that represents what you want to do.  Unless your goal is way out there, like being an astronaut or brain surgeon, you should have 90%+ of the skills you need.  If you are wondering what skills your new career does require, try going to a job site like www.indeed.com and searching on your ideal job.  Scan a few jobs and you'll get a good idea of what skill sets a new employer is looking for.  Match that against what you already have accomplished and you'll see the few items you need to fill in. 

Remember, never give up and forget what the word "no" means. 

03-27-09

After much a do about a lot, I've finally finished a really sharp scripts for the pilot and 4 PSAs (Public Service Announcements).  Not, without having to use a whole stack of tools I gained over 25 years as a CFO.  It's amazing how much we know that we don't give ourselves credit for. 

I'm also working on a very exciting new web based project which I spent several hours working on with a rather wonderful Brit friend of mine.  Not once did I speak "accounting".  Instead we talked customer experience, data mining, multi-dimensional marketing, multi-level pricing strategies, etc.  All stuff I've had to deal with in the course of my work, but none of which is defined by the brand "accountant".  When you take stock of your own skills, think hard about all of the stuff you know that is very valuable in any occupation, you'll be surprised. 

On a slightly different subject.  One of the characters in the children's show I'm writing is an artistic chap named Remy - take off on Rembrandt.  I know it's completely wrong since I should give him a Dutch accent, but the actors playing him has created an old English persona.  I started digging up quotes from Shakespeare.  I was amazed to discover just how many of our common phrases were penned by him. For instance;

In my mind's eye

We have seen better days

For ever and a day

My kingdom for a horse

Off with his head

Love is blind

The world is mine oyster

This is the short and long of it

As good luck would have it

He will give the devil his due

He hath eaten me out of house and home

The first thing we do, kill all of the lawyers

and many many more

I was just amazed when people think they don't know Shakespeare, they have no clue they probably recite something he wrote everyday.  Was it that he knew the common person so well?  Or is that we a people have changed so little over time?  Dress up society in wiz bang gadgets, but the human nature has changed little since we were kicked out of our first pad.  I especially like the last quote.

03-27-09

Finally I think the format for the TV pilot is taking shape.  All those years of project management and facilitator training has paid off.  Amazing what you learned, thought you'd never use and wind up needing in the next chapter of your life.  I applied some similar mindset with a friend of mine last night.  He's working on a project to raise money to help send "care" packages to our troops in Iraq.  The whole process started a year ago when the son of a friend of his sent home $30 and asked his mom to buy some stuff and mail it to a guy in his regiment who never got mail form home.  By Christmas they sent out several hundred packages.  This year, the goal is over 500!  Since Ron knows I have a bit of a flair for parties, he wondered if I would help on some ideas for decorating the fund raiser.  Heck yeah!  Last night we brainstormed a ton of good ideas.  And there it was, again, all of that process management stuff I learned over the last 25 years was coming into play. 

When we take on the challenge of reinventing ourselves, most often we are our own worst enemy.  There is so much we know, so many talents we have that we never give ourselves credit for knowing.  It's often times a good idea to just sit down and write a list of all the things you can do - you will be amazed.

03-22-09

This journey of reinvention has taken far longer than I would have liked.  But, progress is there, things are moving forward.  Penryn Studios is interested in turning my Adrian Smith books into a TV series.  Nothing immediate, but even a year or so out is better than nothing.  As I have mentioned in earlier blogs, the greater your new path diverts from your old, the long it will take before people start to accept you in your new role.  You need to have the persistence of a pit-bull puppy.

03-19-09

I'm back from 5 days of sequestered writing on the pilot for The Magic Paint Box.  Who'd have thought a 1/2 hour pilot would take so long to write.  When I fired off my proud creation to the Executive Producer and Director, instead of "Wow!"  I got a, "good start."  What I discovered was something exceedingly common in business.  A lot of people and no clearly defined roles and objectives.  Instead of getting disheartened, I pulled on my consulting CFO hat and began to attack the problem like a business.  The first thing we need to do is define the mission of the program, then the roles and rules that govern the characters, the Magic Paint Box and the imaginary world of InspiriA.  Without this in place first,  the process will continue to be like telling a contractor to build a house without giving them any instructions as to where, the number of rooms, size, style etc.  Each time the contractor comes back with a finished house the customer says, "Hmmm, no that's not what I had in mind."  But wait a minute!  I'm a writer!  NOT a program manager.  Then again, here's the cool thing about reinventing yourself.  All that learning about PERT charts and going to those gawd-awful CSCSC classes while working for a defense contractor paid off.  Matter of fact they might just make me a better writer in this particular environment.

While I was writing, the Executive Producer has been working hard to sign a celeb to sing the opening title song and a few in between.  She's also hopefully going to lend her voice to one of the characters.  Not to jinx it, but she was once the girlfriend of a governor AND a guy I wanted to work for thirty years.  Go figure.

AND, now that I'm really a writer for a TV series, this led to being asked to be on the Laney College Advisory Committee for their media group.  Very cool.

I can't stress enough the greater the deviation your reinvention takes you, the more patience and determination you will need.  And, the greater the personal reward.

03-12-09

I'm off to work on the Pilot and 13 Episodes for The Magic Paint Box.  Which means, I won't be able to blog for a few days since I'll be hiding out in a friends cabin in Tahoe surrounded by snow with no distractions.  It's a cool place to write.  If only I had a better wifi ...

We just added a new feature to the Stone In The Surf website, a job listing.  At moment we're looking for a web developer to help design and build The Write Cause website.  Check it out at 

JOBS

Back in a few days ...

03-11-09

Craig's List.  One thinks of it as a friendly community place to post ads and search for jobs.  that is until you try and actually post an ad.  Yesterday I posted an ad for the first time for a web developer/programmer for The Write Cause.  I searched other ads, asked their "experts" for advice and wrote what I thought was a pretty good and honest ad.  It lasted about 30 seconds.  So now I'm learning to reinvent myself as a Craig's List ad writer.  Seems to be a very exclusive club.  One could get very pissed off at the person who flags and deletes your ad.  That's the problem with a community patrolled environment.  Sort of like how my son describes going to a new place to surf.  No matter how good of a surfer you are, there's a pecking order you must go through.  The unfortunate thing about Craig's List is the community that self-patrols it is brutal.  They offer criticism where advise should be given.  Meanwhile, projects go unstaffed and people go unemployed.  I consider it a "right of passage" and yet another challenge to over come.  On the road to reinvention, this is a minor detour.

03-07-09

Some things are just not meant to be.  Some of you have had the pleasure of reading my auto-biographical tale of my 30 years of failed attempts at landing a job with George Lucas - When The Force Isn't With You.  Today I spied an ad on my trustee morning search of Craig's List for an Executive Director for GL's Edutopia.  There was a time in my life when I would have sold both my right and my left (you fill in the blank) _____ to work there.  I still would love the chance.  Heck I've been involved in education for years, worked in publishing, developed a school fundraising program and am now the head writer for a children's educational TV show.  Perfect fit!  But alas, I am older wiser and know better.  It is important to know when a door is now a wall.  There's a famous saying, "Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  For me, the road takes a different path.  Be persistent in your pursuit of reinventing yourself, but also be cognizant of the direction your path is taking you.  Some times, more often than not, the path from point A to point B is not a straight line.

03-02-09

Amazing how time flies ...  It's now March, wow.  This weekend I managed to survive my 3rd 24 Hour Project for Round Belly Theatre Company in Oakland.  It's nuts and a little crazy to lock yourself in a room with 3 other writers and pound keys through the late night and into the wee hours of the morning.  Then you go home, crash and crawl back at 8pm to see how the director ad actors breathed life into your words.  I'll be honest, and as many of you know, there are many nights like that for CFO's (usually on the eve of a not so positive board presentation).  No one ever laughed, or cried (unless hysterically counts) and no one, not once, ever applauded and they never, in my quarter century of presenting financials, ever thanked me.  Last weekend was again amazingly fulfilling as a writer and encouraging in my quest to reinvent myself.

It's key when you consider reinvention to take those steps that will hone your skills, test your metal, and give you the feed back necessary to be as successful at this as you would your old vocation. When people ask me how to get on Oprah, I tell them to buy a ticket like everyone else.  If you want to be a writer - then you write at every opportunity you possibly can.  The same is true for any new direction you want to take your life - dive into to every possible avenue you can.  You never know who you might meet and everything you do will take you one step closer to where you want to be.

02-27-09

My personal goal of reinventing took three major steps forward this week.  For those new to this blog, my personal goal has been to transition form a CFO to Storyteller (author, scriptwriter, motivational speaker).  Not the easiest choice considering the economy.  Probably would have been easier to say, transition to being a neurosurgeon.  But, one must go where one's heart leads.  And mine has always drawn me to the creative side in life.  I just got one foot stuck in the dark side.  My quest (queue King Author's theme music from Monty Python and the Holy Grail) is to show people that if an Accountant from Burbank can reinvent himself - anyone can.  So this week's encouraging news is;

1. I landed the gig as Head Writer for The Magic Paint Box, a children's television series.  I've signed on for the pilot and 13 episodes.  I promise no Barney smarmy stuff.

2. Steve Shlisky, that award winning producer and childhood buddy (12 Emmys; 12 Tellies, 6 Joeys, 3 RTNDA (Radio Television News Directors Association), AND a Mark Twain Award), just shot a screenplay I wrote called Plague - a bio-terrorist plot.  He needed 6 scripts for the film class he teaches at Laney College.  He shot the first one on the 18th and his class shot the remaining 5 on the 25th.  All 6 short films are vignettes that complete a larger story.  Very cool to watch 5 films being shot all over campus at once!

3. Tonight I dive into my third 24 hour theater project for Round Belly Theatre Company in Oakland.  Very cool.  I'll have until 6am tomorrow morning to write a script for Actors, a Director  and a theme I won't know until I get there.  It's a great process for honing your skills AND really fun.

So back to Number 1. Is writing for a kid's puppet show really what I want to do?  Probably not in a perfect world.  But, we must all pay are dues.  You must be willing to start in the mail room if you truly believe in what you want to do.  There is no other way to forge the metal that will make you great at what you want to become.  I take this project seriously and will give it my all and my best.  You must take pride in all of the work that you do as it reflects upon who you are.  You never know who's watching....

02-22-09

While paying the bills with my financial skills, I work tirelessly on reinventing myself as a writer.  As I like to joke, some of my best works of fiction were business plans during the dot-bom era.  "No seriously...we just need another $10 mil ..." I have a shot at landing a gig as head writer for a children's TV series.  My first reaction was "No way in h-e-double-toothpicks would I write for puppets!"  Then again, that goes against my basic philosophy that to master a trade, one must start by sweeping the shop floor.  I used to despise the arrogance of Stanford MBA's who thought they could waltz into a company and with no experience whatsoever manage a production operation, or worse yet be CEO.  I myself had gained my CFO degree in the school of Hard Knocks, the ol' Black N' Blue U.  I began my career auditing nuts, bolts, washers and machine oil in a two mile long production line that built armored personnel carriers for the military.  I don't have an MBA nor am I a CPA, but I have honed my skills from the ground up.  My screenplay, "Plague" is in production by my long time friend (known him since 7th grade) Steve Shlisky.  Steve has so many Emmys that he used them as yard Gnomes.  Steve and I made tons of amateur movies together in Jr High and High School.  He blames me for getting him into the business.   I commented the other night, "Just think of what we could have done with the video camera and PC editors kids have today?"  When we made films in Super 8, it cost between $50 and $75 for three minutes of film, and once shot, could take a week or more before you'd see the final product.  Editing was a painstaking process of actually cutting the very small, very fragile film and taping it back together again.  Steve made an interesting comment.  "I am a good editor, because I began my career by starting from the ground up."  Another interesting point relates back to my love for cars.  Not that I like Porsche's, (lots of reasons) but you can't ignore they are well engineered and exceedingly well built.  To work on the production line, one must first go through an extensive apprenticeship.  This means you stand there and hand tools to the assemblyman for years before you are actually allowed to touch a car. 

So why should this be any different.  In fact in many ways writing for a children's TV series is far more difficult than writing for adults.  There are more restrictions, and far more limitations from a production stand point.  I've written stage and screen plays for adult audiences, I've written books for adult readers, and even though I have written a children's book, the story was actually written as a message for adults.  So for me, I have a new challenge, to learn as much as I can about writing for children's TV, call in a few good friends, like the amazing illustrator Eirik Paye and reinvent my self into this new roll.  With luck, tomorrow I can convince them I would be their best choice. 

I remember when I was learning to hang glide, I began at Marina beach in Monterey, California.  The and dunes aren't very high and the ridge lift in narrow and sketchy at best. One day when I was very frustrated with flying there, my mentor, Mark Lillendahl told me, "If you can master flying at Marina, you can fly anywhere."  And, he was right.  Marina taught you to be hyper-aware of very subtle changes in the lift, caused by the wind and minute changes in the landscape.  These were skills you may not have mastered in other locations.  So, this chapter of my life, I hope will help to challenge and hone my story telling skills.

02-19-09

Old Dawgs can learn new tricks!  Cue the Jacobs Ladders, raise the platform, engage the lightening blots!  It's Alive!  Bwa-ha-ha!  OK so I can get a little carried away by the dramatics, but I have been successful in bringing my trustee laptop back to life.  And for only a few bucks, $37.00 to be exact.  So?  So, it's proof that we can reinvent ourselves into what we need and what we want to be.  I have no formal training, matter of fact I have no background whatsoever in notebook computer maintenance.  And yet, I can draw upon the skills I've mastered in my past and mixed with a little miserly determination, restored my computer to her full potential.  And, if I can do it, anyone can.  Each of these accomplishments is proof of the fact that you can reinvent.  Once proven to yourself - time to prove it to the world.

02-17-09

Too often we find ourselves in a mental rut without the hope or belief that we can possibly reinvent ourselves. And yet, we do it every day. We use what we know from on experience in life and apply that to new ones. I find myself often times pigeon holed into the role of an accountant, a fate I find very frustrating. Today however I became something new. Actually several something news. First I became a failure analysis engineer. My trustee Gateway Laptop which has traveled to almost as many far away places as I, died. More precisely as Captain Kirk observed in more than a few episodes, "All the stars have gone out!" on that big monitor that was his window into the galaxy. The question was, why? I could hear the hard drive and the all too familiar beep when a successful connection has been made to my wifi. I guessed there was still life inside. Using skills I had learned working on cars as a kid and then in numerous jobs, I began to analyze the process of getting a signal from my mother board to the LCD screen. It's a Zen that applies to anything from Motorcycles to Daimlers to PCs to cooking and just about dang near anything in life. For a system to function all the parts have to work together. (I could go on and on about the failure of the Y-Gens because they never had cars they could work on - I'll save that for another blog). Connecting an external monitor allowed me to verify that the computer was working, the screen wasn't. Then I had to teach myself everything I could about how an LCD screen works. There are three basic components; the power inverter, the light and the LCD screen. Then I had to determine which of those was most likely to be the cause of my darkness. MTBF - Mean Time Between Failure on the power inverter is 50,000 hours. I blew past that 4,000 hours ago. Combine that with some characteristic symptoms of a power inverter failure and I had the first of my culprits. Then I got to reinvent myself as a buyer, "procurement" specialist. Got a good price on an AS023183117. In two days, I get to reinvent myself as a computer technician.

We reinvent ourselves every day. The key is to first convince ourselves we can, then prove that to others.

02-12-09

I grew up watching far too much Monty Python which probably explains a whole lot.  Combine that with my unfortunate initial choice of occupations and you wind up with a rather disgruntled accountant.  But think of this lads, if the gents in this video clip can break the chains that bind them and set sail to new horizons - we all can.  So on the eve of Friday the 13th - enjoy a spot of vintage Brit humor.  Click on the flag and chart your new course!

02-09-09

As I do sometimes both from necessity and occasional business, I run away to a friend's cabin tucked away in Carnelian Bay at Lake Tahoe.  And, I can honestly say I was snowed in.  This trip mixed a bit of business and pleasure.  I hoping that Jason Matthews www.vote4mystory.com (a new approach to cooperative publishing) can form as a platform for www.thewritecauseusa.com (my scholastic fund raiser).  After meeting with fellow author Jason Matthews and his web developer - looks like they've got 80-90% of what we need.  Now it's up to me to get the specs to them.  I found Jason through NCAP an association of indie publishers.  He happened to announce his new website to the group and like they say, one thing led to another.  The point is, often times its all about timing and coincidence.  If you are looking to engineer a change in you life or career I don't believe it will knock at your door.  I also don't believe in the old mouse trap theory of build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door.  Oh they might, but first they need to know you have one.  Being your own promoter, networkers and opportunity seeker is the best way of letting people know who you are and what you want to become.

Oddly enough in the journey of mine I happen upon more accountants that wish that they were something else. Hmmm, what does that say about our choice of profession.  Actually most of the accountants I meet who wish they were something else feel into accounting because it came unusually easy for them.  This allowed them to pursue their true dreams on the side.  But I toss out the very insightful words of Franchee Harmon, "I was successful at a job I hated.  Just imagine what I can do in one that I love."  And to my list of things I will learn in 2009, I'm adding the art of "manifesting".  Jason's wife, Jana Groscost is a trainer and coach in career, financial, and personal change.  www.janagroscost.com.  For those interested in a coach to help them realize their dream of change, please check out her site. 

My goal today is to manifest myself out of a snow bank.

02-05-09

As a writer, the best possible complement is when your work is recognized by others.  I happen to be fortunate to know the multi-Emmy winning producer/director Steve Shlisky.  Recently he asked me to write several scripts which are actually vignettes that have a common story line.  I have something to celebrate, on February 18th he start filming on Plague a bio-terrorism action piece.  And the best part is ... I get to stand on the sidelines of the set while they film.  We must celebrate each step forward to reinvention.

02-02-09

Some news today, it looks like the team from Access Financial Education will be joining Survival Guide 2009 as the personal finance gurus.  This group has an exceptional and educational approach to managing your personal finances, a must in today's difficult economic times.  They might also be helping with the Real Estate portion.  We're still seeking a blogger(s) for the Recruiter portion of the site.  Also spoke with Sunita at CAREERAPPLE a very cool site for those looking to find the "right" career.  Check it out!  Long over due, but I'm also working on a "Resources" link page for the site - hopefully coming soon.  In other news, the search continues for a web platform partner for The Write Cause.  With luck, we'll make some progress with that this week!   And, part of reinventing yourself is a constant effort to throw yourself into the lime light.  Today a series of letters went out (including one to President Barack Obama) outlining my plan for a NASCAR inspired economic recovery plan.

Great things coming soon!

01-27-09

Reinventing the stimulus plan ...

The Neumann Plan

The current economic stimulus plan won’t work.  It’s not that it won’t help, but it falls far short of really stimulating the economy.  When you refinance your house, you may change your payments, which helps your cash flow a bit, but you still owe the money and it doesn’t increase your earning.  So it helps, a little. 

For the plan to be effective there needs to be a large multiplier on every government dollar spent.   For every one dollar the Plan puts into the market it should get at least 5 if not 10 back.  Giving it to banks won’t work.  They are the most conservative of lenders and if you are an entrepreneur you know if you want to get turned down for a loan, go ask a bank.  

The current stimulus plan also doesn’t take into consideration what really drives Americans – a good challenge.  We love auto races, horse races, football games, even bowling.  Take a car race.  You’ve got 20 teams all of which have put lots of their own money and sponsors money into wining the grand prize.  If you just wanted to have one car go around the track really fast, you could take that $100,000 prize money and buy a car and drive around in circles.  Yawn.  Now offer that same $100,000 to the fastest car.  Now you have twenty teams all vying for that prize.  Each team has spent hundreds of thousands on cars and mechanics and drivers, etc.  You’ve filled the stands with people, munching on hot dogs, buying beer and hats, and sold air time to ESPN.  That $100,000 has just generated $20 or $30 million in business.  That’s a stimulus plan.

I suggest that Barack take one of the $800+ Billion and split it into ten grand prize challenges of $100 million each.  Now think of ten things he’d like to see the country excel in that will change the economy.  Things like clean diesel that comes from a 100% renewable source, an electric car that has a range of 250 miles, a software that eliminates the duplication and paperwork of medical records, affordable zero energy homes, etc.  Line ‘em!  Gentlemen and Ladies start you engines!  Drop that checked flag and watch the race begin.  In every race you find teams filled with the best we have, and behind them are VC’s and investors willing to be part of that challenge.  Why, because at the finish line is a prize that can take an idea and launch it into a company.  A company that will create jobs.  That $100 million prize just created a $ billion  boost to the economy.

Americans love a challenge – let’s give them ones we can all root for!

01-26-09

Butterflies from Caterpillars.  That's what one would hope would happen from this morning's announcement of Caterpillar Inc.'s disastrous financial report that resulted in an 18% cut in their work force.  20,000 families are now without an income to support them.  Home Depot is cutting 7,000 and eliminating their Expo stores.  I think for many of these companies, these cuts are knee jerk reactions to the market combined with poor financial planning.  So much of the media blames individuals who wound up living pay check to pay check or worse yet had to draw upon plastic to survive.  There are those who foolishly put themselves there and they deserve a few skinned knees.  But the rest most likely got there not of their choosing.  I put most companies in the first category.  Doesn't anyone plan for bad times anymore?  As a CFO, I never felt a company was healthy unless it had six months, or better yet a year's worth of cash tucked away to cover operations.  I think the word here is "duh".  I recently had a client who could measure their cash inflow in dollars per second.  And yet, they had less than two weeks reserve in the bank. 

Two Phoenixes will rise from the ashes of this economic pyre; a change in consumer values and a change in the way employees look at employers.  Both, I think will seek longevity over hype.  Gone may be my father's day of working for the same company for 45 years and then retiring with a gold pocket watch.  But, employees will start to wonder, "Will this company be around in 5 or 10 years?" or "Is is worth my time and effort to make some arrogant CEO a ton of money and then be tossed out in the street?".  They are also going to start looking for things they buy to last.  Do I really want to spend $700 on a new iPhone when six months from now it will be $200 and six months after that it will be obsolete? 

Today, this Monday morning, 27,000 people (more people than the entire population of the town I grew up in) are faced with the difficult challenge of reinventing themselves.  For all of them they have instantly and without choice gone from workers with a career to independent job seekers, competing against their friends for that one barista job at Star Bucks.  Some will find that reinvention in the same roll in a different company.  Others will find it on a path divergent from where they thought their life was heading.  And for some, they will be lost.

These are difficult times and yet we as a nation brush ourselves off and get back up.  It's what we do.  The most important thing to remember is - you are not alone.  Ask for help.  And as you are raising your hand to ask, be sure to reach back and offer your other hand to the person behind you.

01-21-09

On his first day of reinventing himself and a nation, Barack faced the same challenge most people will face in their own reinvention, some idiot decided since there was a minor flub in reciting the oath, Barack may not really be president.  OK, even though by the constitution he was officially the president at noon on the 20th no matter what he did, take the oath, watch a White Soxs game, or dance with his wife.  But there's always some pant load who's going to point out every minor mistake.  Barack made a great statement in his inaugural speech directed at world leaders (including our former president) that people will judge you on what you create, not what you destroy.  No statue was ever erected to the guy who interfered most with progress, stilted technology, or squelched the most human dreams.  So in a special meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts he retakes the oath.  Even that some piss-ants are questioning.  Wait a minute we're in the midst of an economic depression and two wars.  Don't we have a few things that are more important to worry about?  I heard a comedian tonight that had a great idea for revising the oath process. 

Roberts, "You George Bush?" 

Obama, "Nope?"

Roberts, "Congratulations, you got the job!"

You might not be president of the United States, but your reinvention will be no less challenging.  Remember the humility and lesson from Obama's first day in office.  When faced with skeptics often times you may find yourself appeasing a seemingly ridiculous set back.  When that happens, smile and capitulate, for they will never be remembered for their failed attempt at stifling your dream, but you will be remembered for what you are about to become. 

01-20-09

Today is a day that has not only changed a nation, but changed the world.  It is an important day as it is a very symbolic day of reinvention.  It is a day that calls upon a Senator with humble beginnings to reinvent himself as the president of the United States.  He in turn has called upon the citizens of this country to reinvent ourselves.  And, he has called upon the citizens of the world to reinvent this world.  A significant challenge to all of us.  To pull ourselves up by our bootstraps to rise from our economic depression will require that we reinvent the way we see ourselves, our jobs and our participation in our community.  I push this challenge to those who are seeking talent to help their companies and organizations meet this challenge.  It is time to look beyond the resume and the black and white stats that fit neatly on a piece of paper or pass an OCR word search.  To truly succeed, we must be willing to take the risk on those who only need a chance to prove themselves as instrument of change.  The future of your team is not directly in front of you, but in the person you'd least expect.  To change the destiny of a company, you must radically change the composition of the team.

01-14-09

BLOGGERS WANTED

I'll keep tossing this out there.  Great opportunity for recruiters, personal finance, and real-estate experts to get the word and their services in a new venue! 

Off and running into the new year.  To push my own re-invention tonight I'm participating in RBTC's 3rd 24 theatrical marathon.  Writers are given the director, actors and a theme at 8pm Friday night.  We have until 5am Saturday morning to create an original play.  The actors and director will rehearse all day and at 8pm the curtain goes up!  This is exceedingly challenging from a creative aspect but also very rewarding.  To write and then see your work come to life almost instantly is amazing.  If memory serves me, Clint Eastwood sat on the script for Grand Torino for more than ten years!  A little faster feed back is essential when you are in the process of reinvention.

01-09-09

A key part of reinventing yourself is to find out first what it is that you do well and love.  George Lucas once said, "Do what you love and the money will follow."  OK, so it worked for one guy.  For the rest of us the first part is true.  The second part - the money will follow - works if you have a secure base to work from and time and to wait for opportunity to knock.  For the rest of us we must be determined to create those opportunities for ourselves.  For me, my love is writing.  Not just writing, but storytelling is novel or script form.  A few days ago, Steve Shlisky (a multi-Emmy) producer asked me to write a series of short scripts for his film class at Laney College.  We toured the campus so that I could get a feel for the setting the students have to work in.  His initial thought was for six short scripts, one for him and five for the class, all unique.  Then we tossed the idea around that it would be interesting if all six shared a common theme.  He felt that might be too difficult to achieve.  I went home and pounded the keys of my trusty laptop.  By 9am the next morning he had the six script package - with outlines for half a dozen more.  For me, this stuff comes naturally.  What I am still trying to master is the "how to get the money to follow me."  That's my goal for 1Q09.

01-03-09

Welcome to the new year!  2009 wow, who would have thought.  It's interesting to note that when I wrote The Chronicles of Adrian Smith, I set the story in San Francisco in 1915, then pushed it 100 years into the future to 2015, thinking "that's way out there".  Maybe not.  And, in 1990 when I first drafted the story on a dark and stormy night in a car port in Arizona, I figured CDs weren't going to be around for ever.  I imagined very small portable devices (built by Sony) that used ROM memory to store music and dubbed it a Sony Rom-man.  I realize now that I should have called it an iPod, but at the time Apple was only making snooty MAC's for the ultra geek computer crowd.  Besides it had taken years to evolve from vinyl to 8-track to cassettes to CD's.  We'd have to pass through the entire evolution of mini-cd's first - right?  Such has been the plight of futurists since humans dropped out of the tree and started looking forward.  I collect old Sci-Fi pulp magazines and one of them spoke of giant computers buried beneath a planet with 50 foot tall vacuum tubes stretching as far as the eye can see. 

The point of all of this reminiscing and hind-sight is, we can never truly guess what the future has in store for us.  I often ask my clients "In five years what is going to make you obsolete?"  They are usually insulted by this, as their company sits on the bleeding edge of technology.  Then I remind them that they are making someone else obsolete who thought they were the new industry standard.  And, in a dorm room or garage out there somewhere is a kid who is going to make your company look like an 8-track.  What this boils down to is, you can't wait for opportunity to find you.  You must aggressively knock on every door and turn over every rock.  Somewhere out there is the catalyst that will change your life.  It most likely will not come to you. 

I'll close this entry with two interesting items.  The first is a snippet from Yahoo's 2009 horoscope for me for 2009. (from astrology.com)

And, oddly enough as the last grains of sand slithered out of 2008, I met someone who might just possibly be my catalyst for 2009. 

12-31-08

One extra second!  That's what you'll have at mid-night this New Year's Eve, one extra second.  How will you spend it?  Blowing on a cardboard horn, tossing confetti, kissing a total stranger?    Or, will you use that one second lapse, that mathematical anomaly, that pause to let time and the universe catch up, wisely.  I'm no one to preach on what others should do, especially at such a grand moment as mid-night New Year's Eve.  I can only share what I plan to do.  Before I plant a slightly inebriated smooch on the lips of my SO, I'm going to use that bump in the cosmic machinery to make myself a promise.  I will once again dedicate my efforts in 2009 to successfully re-inventing myself and my career.  Maybe this year, we can slip our promises through that rift in time, between those tears in the very fabric of the universe, and wedge that promises into our futures. 

Best of Success in 2009!

Richard Neumann

12-27-08

Christmas has passed, the eggnog is turning into yogurt and the batteries are waning.  The eve of the new year is looming on the horizon.  Many of us are dusting off the resolutions, loose weight, jog four miles before breakfast, play with the kids, read a book, change careers.  Most of those are easy to do with a little self commitment, the last one will take some work.  One of the recommendations I give my business clients when they are looking to expand or change their markets, is to take stock of what they do well and find a new niche into which their products or services can fill a unique need.  At Grace-Sierra, we created some of the most elaborate and sophisticated time released nutrients for the container, greenhouse and landscape businesses.  When the Captain Hazelwood so deftly allowed the Exxon Valdez to collide with a continent, the oil spill was devastating to the almost inaccessible coastline.  Turns out nature makes a whole bunch of highly specialized little microbes whose sole purpose seems to be to breakdown nasty things like crude oil into harmless CO2 and biomass.  Those little guys need help reproducing.  It was too difficult to provide candle light, min glasses of Champaign, and Barry White tunes, so instead we used carefully formulated nutrients in a time release capsule, just like our other fertilizers.  Bingo!  The little guys took to it like free Viagra at a Rotary Club meeting.  Product we used to sell at $25 a bag, we could now sell at $125!  Same product, same process, entirely new market.  Such was born a bio-remediation business.  While your scribbling down those new year's resolutions, take stock of all of your skills, experience and abilities, then begin to consider who and where else that unique combination of talents can be put to use.  You just might find a new a exciting way to change your career.

12-20-08

Wanted, a few good Bloggers

Check out the site and email me at rich@survivalguide.com

I'm meeting with a couple today who are trying to re-invent their careers.  He is a former rock-star and 10+ years with Adobe who was one of the 700 rif'd recently and she is an executive for a major medical group in charge of patient quality.  Both have had enough of the stress and corporate games and are looking to create a more rewarding second/third career.  Mar Meston is going to facilitate their brainstorming session.  Should be very interesting.

To wrap up my analog between career reinvention and a home remodel, yesterday marked the completion of my biggest challenge, copper pipe.  The good thing is that this house is on a hill and everything under the house is a good 7 to 10 feet high, no crawling around on my stomach in mud squeezing under floor joists.  The bad thing is, copper and I haven't found our Zen.  Not that I don't like copper.  Matter of fact I worked for a company, COGNIS that created a really cool process for recovering copper from PCB production lines.  But when it comes to plumbing, we haven't found that rhythm I have with wood, and electricity.  What should have taken two hours took six.  In the end, after flooding the underside of the house twice, success was mine.  I have the blisters and burned flesh to prove it.   So what the heck does this have to do with a new career?  Everything.  You're going to have to learn a lot of new skills, some that you may not particularly care for.  You have a choice, hire a plumber (pay someone a lot of money to do it for you) or learn to do it yourself.  Me, I'm cheap and I'm persistent.  Still smoldering, soaking wet, and looking more like a coal worker than a CFO, I emerged from the bowels of the home triumphant.  There is a certain satisfaction that comes with overcoming a challenge.  Especially one that hinders your progress.  No one will ever see my work, but I know it's there, it's done right, and hey the toilet flushes and the shower works - what more could you ask for.  Your challenges shouldn't involve burning flesh - I hope, but it may feel like it.  Hang in there, master the new skills - you never know when it might come in handy.  Besides, ou get the right to stand back and say, "Yep I did that."

12-18-08

Re-inventing - I still can't get away from how analogous a career re-invention is to a home remodel.  Nothing goes exactly as you planned.  And I have a sneaking suspicion that I have a random tape measure.  Nothing happens without a lot of dust, hammering, sawing, dust, fitting with a big crowbar, dust, a bag of parts to return to Home Depot and dust.  In the end, one steps back, bleary-eyed from exhaustion and says, "Dang!  I think that looks pretty good!"  Such is the case if you take on the challenge of re-inventing your career.  There will be plenty of dust, the need to a large hammer and crowbar to make things fit, spackle to patch the holes and paint to make everything look fresh and new.  And there will be a bag of parts filled with those things you thought were going to work and somehow just didn't fit.  Take heart, in the end you will wind up with something far more grand and to be proud of than you ever imagined. 

Now, I'm off to return a few of my own left over parts.

12-15-08

Just ten shopping days left until Christmas!  What are you going to ask Santa for?  If I were sitting on the big guy's lap after standing in line at the Mall for hours, I think I'd ask him for an extensive network.  One of the key elements in successfully re-inventing yourself is to maintain and build an extensive network.  It's simple math, the more people who know about you and your goal of re-invention, the higher the likelihood that you'll connect with someone who will help you along the way.  Hey great segue ...

I promised myself not to get too far away from an event at my recent book signing at the Kaz Vineyard & Winery.  For those who know me, they know in addition to this blog I have an Indie Publishing Company called Stone In The Surf Press.  The name has a unique story behind it (read about it at ABOUT).  In brief, life gives us signs if we are willing to be open to see them.  This one hit me like a freeway billboard.  I had a series of posters made to help draw attention to my both.  One of them is the story behind the name.  A young woman read my story and was deeply moved.  "That's exactly where my life is!"  She was at a very crucial turning point in her life and I hope, the story behind my stone might just give her the inspiration she needed to put her own change in motion.  There are two kinds of chemicals (my chem major nephew will cringe at this one) reactive and catalytic.  Reactive chemicals, when combined with another force a violent reaction that changes both chemicals.  Catalysts trigger a change that exists potentially within the chemical they are brought in contact with.  Like the stone was my catalyst, I feel at times it is important to be a catalyst to others.  If you are contemplating changing your career, my hope is that within this site you can find the inspiration and some help in triggering that change.

12-12-08

Job hunting.  Want a scary statistic?  Over the 25 years of my career as an executive finance guy, I have sent out roughly 3,600 resumes!  Three-thousand-six-hundred!  And, that doesn't count all of the ones I've sent Lucasfilm, Ltd (read When The Force Isn't With You).  How many jobs has that landed me?  1.  That's it, one, uno, just slightly more than zero.   With more than half a million people added each month to the list of unemployed job seekers, the battle to find a conventional job is going to get tougher.  Not that you shouldn't devote X hours a day to a traditional search.  If you were like me, a single income household supporting a wife, kids, pets and a mortgage, it is the right and responsible thing to do.  Then buy a lottery ticket - seriously.  But then devote some quality time to reinventing yourself.  Examine carefully what and where you want You to become.  Learn all you can about it and then crate a plan of action.  Sounds like a Yahoo advice bite.  Gawd don't I hate those.  They show up every now and then on my landing page and just tick me off.  They are always something trite like, "How to become a nuclear physicist?"   Go to MIT and study real hard, then get a job at Lawrence Livermore Labs.  Truth be told, no change comes easily.  But no change will come unless you, initiate it and plan.  I'll go into this more as time goes on.  For now, I'll leave with a note - see the warning.

WARNING - apparently there are a lot of "scams" trying to take advantage of people in just your position.  Out of work, looking for something new to turn to.  Just be weary of "Home based internet businesses."  Read the fine print carefully.  Know exactly what you're getting into.  Ask for lots of references.  This is your chance to reinvent your life.  You may not get another opportunity like this.  Dig in, ask questions, seek advice.

12-11-08

"They" say a picture is worth a thousand words - this says it all.

This appeared in San Francisco yesterday.  The interesting thing is I found this while perusing Craig's List under writing gigs (a place I scan often for unique opportunities).  There is a communications company that is looking for the woman holding the "Will Blog 4 Food" sign.  Bottom line - a little imagination goes a long way on the road to reinvention.  I've done a few off the wall approaches to attracting the attention of an employer - specifically Lucasfilm Ltd.  Never did land a job there, but the thirty years of failed attempts made great material for my autobiographical tale "When The Force Isn't With You".   One skill you will need to successfully reinvent yourself is the ability to self promote.  Some people have a natural knack for it, others can learn it, some folks resort to buying it (something I never recommend) and others shy away from it. If you can learn to be positive about who you are, and what you can accomplish and contribute, that feeling of self confidence is contagious.

12-05-08

533,000.   Let that number sink in for a moment.  Five-hundred-thirty-three-thousand people.  That's how many people had their jobs cut in November.  In one month!  That is the highest single amount in 34 years, bringing the unemployment rate to a staggering 6.9%.  To put that in perspective, imagine every family in Atlanta, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City or Portland waking up to find themselves fired!  No income, nothing to support their mortgages, feed their kids, pay for medicine, or just plain survive.  A rule of thumb I used to use to gauge the health of a company is to divide the gross sales by the number of people, the higher the number, the healthier the company.  A number of $100,000 in sales per employee was good in the 90's, now the number is more like $250,000.  That would mean to justify hiring those people back into conventional jobs, companies would have to increase their sales by $133.25 Billion dollars, which equates to an increase in the US GNP by almost 1%.  And that is for one month.  I don't care what the Washington Spin doctors want to call it, we are in a recession.

While there are still jobs out there, it's a buyers market for talent.   "They" know they can ask for a PhD in Global Economics, a CPA, an MBA and 15 years of experience for an entry level Accounts Receivable Clerk.  Why, because there are a dozen people with those qualification who are willing to do anything to support their families.  I know, I've been there and done that more than once.  Industry can and will recover, but it takes time.  To quote Douglas Adams, "Don't Panic!"  It is prudent to hunt for that new job, allocate as much time as you feel healthy to that.  Soon, we should have our Recruiter section up and blogging and that will be an excellent source of inside information on how to maximize your job search.  Instead of SEO we'll call it CRO - Career Recruiting Optimization.  Next be sure to spend this time wisely with your family.  Take time for them and you.  Stress does horrible things to your body.  Remember you don't have an incurable disease, you are simply between jobs.  Then allow yourself some quiet time to think of how to turn this horrible moment in life into an opportunity, perhaps to reinvent yourself.  For those who feel there is something better than waiting for the economy to change, for those who want to control their destiny and not be controlled by it, now is the time to consider reinventing yourself and your life.

At a recent book signing at the Kaz Winery in Kenwood, California, I met a young gentleman named, Noah Beecher.  Noah works with Access Financial Education.  It's a group who's purpose is to help people understand their financial position and to understand what they can do to maximize it, and potentially change their life.  What I liked about their approach is that they use a mentor model when working with their clients.  What I found fascinating was the key note speaker at last night's meeting was Frank Ocino, a man who had reinvented himself from a Physical Therapist to a Financial Mentor.  I recommend people check them out and with luck - we'll see them here on this site.

12-03-08

Life is nothing if not change.  Right now for 250+ retired folks in Los Gatos and 650 to 700 folks working for Adobe Systems they've just been handed a change that is out of their control.  My folks live in a retirement community in Los Gatos, California where they thought they had bought into a place they could live in for the rest of their days.  Turns out that facility is closing and now, in their late eighties they are faced with the difficult task of finding a new place to live.  Some might argue at least they have the opportunity and ability to look for a new place.  So true, but no less upsetting and disruptive. 

Worse yet is the news this morning that "due to the merger with Macromedia", Adobe will term 650 to 700 folks.  What heartless accountant thought pink slips instead of Christmas cards was a good idea.  Being a CFO I know the there's a boat load of tax implications, and since the Feds dragged their feet on approving the merger, it's really their fault not Adobe's for the timing.  You see, if Adobe lays off the employees this year, they can take the hit at year end and apply the cost of the layoff against the merger and not against normal business.  But what does that tell us about where the world has come to?  Ebenezer you old SOB, you were right after all, "Bah Humbug!"  To Bruce Chizen, CEO Adobe and Shantanu Narayen, president, may I remind you of those immortal words of Jacob Marley, "The chains we forge in life, we are bound to wear for eternity."  Sweet dreams.

For those faithful Adobe employees now cast aside like useless packaging, take heart.  Allow yourself a few days to decompress.  SIGN NOTHING.  Watch the Surviving Layoffs blog on this site.  Mary promises good tips and advice in the coming days.  Don't hesitate to ask questions.   Allow yourself time to enjoy the holidays.  Remember very little if anything happens job wise between now and the first of the year.  Take time to enjoy your family.  Imbibe with caution and restraint.  Recently I have done quiet a bit of research on the physiology of the human brain.  Let it compute the possibilities.  Then after the first of the year, find a quiet place and listen to year heart and your brain.  This more than any other time in your life is an opportunity that may never come again.  This is a chance to reinvent yourself and your career. 

Hang in there, you are not alone.

12-01-08

Only 24.5 shopping days left!  Time for that frantic mad dash.  Most of us aren't thinking about re-inventing our life during the holiday season.  But on the off chance you're stuck in traffic or waiting in line to see that jolly old man, take a deep breath and think about the possibilities.  This last weekend I had one of my most successful book signings at the Kaz Vineyard and Winery in Kenwood, California.  Nestled in the heart of the wine country, you might easily miss the smallest winery.  But for those of you who are wondering if you can reinvent your career, I highly recommend you visit. What makes Kaz unique is his wines, always a wonderful blend of tastes and aromas.  What makes him an inspiration is his ability to reinvent himself.  Kaz - short for Richard "Rick" Kasmier, didn't start out making wine.  He didn't even have a degree in viticulture.  Kaz started out in what some of us would consider to be a dream job, he was doing what he loved, being a commercial photographer.  I happen to be fortunate enough to have a very large print he did of a vintage car - very cool.  What we don't see from the outside is that the world of commercial photography is highly competitive and very stressful.  He and his wife, Sandi would often times escape Southern California and bask in the tranquil vineyards of Kenwood.  The stress finally overwhelmed him and he sold his photography business and bought a piece of land.  Becoming a wine maker, is difficult enough, being successful at it is darn near impossible.  There's an old saying in the wine business, "Do you know how to make a small fortune in the wine business? ... Start with a large one."  It wasn't easy. I met Kaz and his family when I moved to Kenwood in 1994.  I can say for a fact they struggled and worked incredibly hard.  And this weekend I watched as people crowded into the small tasting room or under the tent in back where his son Ryan was pouring wine and listened to the guests talk about the fact that this was by far their favorite winery.  To give you an idea of the competition, I used to joke that Kenwood is a town of 1,200 people and 1,200 wineries.  It's actually more like 30, but some of those are huge corporations like Kenwood, Kunde, Landmark, Benziger, Chateau StJean, and Blackstone, even Tommy Smothers and John Lastister have wineries there.  And yet Kaz Vineyard and Winery succeeds by being unique among giants.  What Kaz has accomplished is a testimony to the determination of reinventing yourself.  It is also a testimony to the fact that you can't do it alone.  You need the support of a strong family and good friends.  Kaz didn't give up photography altogether, his wild creativity can be seen on every label.  Kaz says he likes to reinvent himself every ten years.  I can't wait to see what he has planned. 

Be inspired - visit www.kazwinery.com

11-26-08

Happy Thanksgiving.  Interesting to think that a celebration of "thanks" has transformed into yet another "Hallmark" tradition.  Pausing in life to be thankful of the blessing we have goes back thousands of years. My guess maybe as far back as the dawn of human awareness.  Why?  Because it is an essential part of being human that we stop for a moment and re-ground ourselves.  I watch as the "Y-Gen" speeds by at ninety-thousand miles per hour and never once stops to think about what we have.  "My cell phone doesn't get reception!"  I remember talking with my co-workers at Micro Power Systems and thinking, "What a dumb idea.  There's no way you're going to put towers all over the place so people can talk on a phone."  Should-a bought stock.  My great-grandfather, George Kuhns, one of the most successful businessmen in American history, died an untimely death because penicillin hadn't been invented yet.  And that was less than 100 years ago.  If you assume we - homo sapiens have been around to at least 50,000 years, the last hundred accounts for only two-tenths of one percent.  A blink in the eye of time.  And yet how often do we truly stop to "smell the roses" 

OK so Rich's is thankful for ... the last hundred years of technology and penicillin?  Yes and no.  The point here is to be thankful for those small accomplishments you make on your journey forward to a new career.  There'll be a lot of hunting and gathering to do before you get to drive you're Ferrari California.  When thinking about why I love to write, I remember the gentleman at the LA Times Festival of books who stood at my booth and read Charlie's Treasures cover to cover.  When he was finished he looked at me with a tear in his eye and said, "Thank you for writing this story."  In twenty five years of finance, no one has ever thanked me for writing a financial statement, nor for the many times I've saved them countless millions of dollars.  Nor have they ever cried, except after reading the bottom line.  I remind myself that I write, because the rewards far outweigh the effort.  So I am thankful for those who have picked up a copy of one of the books I have written and enjoyed it. 

And now the stop and take stock moment.  I am thankful for my family, especially my sister who I seem to have misplaced for twenty years.  I am thankful to my nephew who is turning out to be an exceptional young man.  I am truly thankful for my partner Mary for being my navi-guessor, interrupter, photojournalist, and spotter in my life - best friends are hard to find.  Speaking of which, I am thankful for long lost friends returned like Seth and Bill and for those that never left like, Steve and John and Mark.  I am thankful for my life.  I have traveled and met wonderful people, I have flown a hang glider three miles above the Earth, dove beneath the Sea of Cortez and own one very rare and very unusual British car.  I write.  I would be remiss if I did not add that I am truly thankful and proud of my son. 

I am thankful for that Stone In The Surf.

As you push forward to change your career and reinvent yourself, always take to be thankful for the positive things that happen, the people around you and your accomplishments.

11-26-08

Change.  Sometimes this is a good thing - other times - well not so good.  As I remind people, an auto wreck is change.  I'm in the middle of helping a friend with a very tangible change, remodeling a bathroom.  Not just changing the paint or a faucet, but a rip it down to the studs, bare bones, start from scratch, remodel.  So what does that have to do with reinventing your career?  Well quiet a bit actually.  For instance, many people can "change" their career simply by going to work for a different company doing the same job.  This is like changing the toilet or towel bar.  OK, you did change it, but the basic room stayed the same.  As you begin to remove the toilet, the vanity, the towel bar and TP holder, there's a point where you know you can always go back.  If you change your mind and want to stop the process, you can either put things back they way they were or maybe replace the bits you've removed.  Your still in that safe zone.  You, think, I can always go back to being a CFO, full time, right?  Even when all of the fixtures, the vanity, the toilet, the lights and fan are gone, you can still go back.  You are still in that safe zone, on the edge, nearing that fuzzy borderline, but still safe, sort of.  Then that first piece of sheet rock is knocked down and tons of old moldy insulation pours out of the wall.  And you still try and convince yourself, maybe a new piece of sheet rock and I can put this back together.  When you finally pull the ceiling down and rip the tile off the floor, you are truly past the point of now return.  There is nothing left to do, but charge forward.  Pzzzzzpft!  Oh and watch out for that nasty 220 line hidden behind the board you are cutting off. 

And now as the dust settles, the sparks dwindle and the smoke drifts away, you can survey what you have to work with.  A lot more room and a new beginning.  A chance to build a new and better place.  It has taken a lot of work, just to get to this point and there is a lot of work left to go.  But from here, everything you do begins to build and create something new and fresh.  In this case a place where one can take a shower in something larger than a phone booth. 

Reinventing your career is very much like remodeling a home.  From a personal standpoint, you have to rip out and haul off to the mental and emotional dump all of the stuff that got you where you didn't want to be.  Many people will do a little cosmetic change, few will have the courage to carry on.  You will have times of doubt and times when you think the world has cast you off.  You will feel stuck somewhere in the middle of an insurmountable project and wonder if you have done the right thing.  And, just when your on a roll and you think everything is going your way, "Zap!" You'll get that unexpected setback.  (Why is it that the microwave oven in the kitchen is on the same circuit as the ceiling light in the master bedroom on opposite sides of the house?)  It's at this point when you need to believe in yourself more than you have ever believed in yourself before.  Follow your heart.  Fill yourself with conviction.  Because just around the corner is success. 

Now I'm off to the dump, recycle center and to buy a few feet of new wire.

PS anyone want a really cool set of matching avocado green, toilet, sink, and shower?

11-21-08

10,000 hours.  You'll hear this term tossed around the change of presidential power.  It's not just a phrase.  Daniel J. Levitin talks about this in his book "This Is Your Brain On Music" and I cover in my upcoming book "The Fourth R".  The interesting thing is that human brain is a learning system.  It learns by repeating patterns and changing old ones.  That process takes roughly 10,000 hours.  Oddly enough I also ran some numbers on how long a journey of 1,000 miles takes, about 20 months give or take.  What this means is that there is a good rule of thumb on how long change takes.  This has been understood if not widely discussed for thousands of years.  Why?  Because it's the nature of the human brain to lock into patterns and reinforce those patterns.  Almost, if not harder than changing the way the world thinks of you, will be to change the way you think of you.  This is the very first step in changing your career.  It is a change that you need to plan to be gradual and take time.  This doesn't mean that you can't start today.  Every journey begins with a first step - cliché but very true.  Give yourself time to change. 

Just heard a bit on KRDT an NPR radio station in Davis where I'll be on Saturday to tape a show with a long time friend Bill Buchanan.  Koren Motekaitis is one of the hosts and I just caught her webcast with Kim Lavine talking about her book, Mommy Millionaire.  A must read for any entrepreneur - or someone planning to change their career.

11-20-08

Reinventing your career is not something for everyone.  This can be an incredible opportunity, if you have a severance combined with unemployment benefits, you may have time to devote to changing your career.  It is amazing to me how many people are working in jobs they don't like and would rather do something else.  The key to success is the same as it would be for any business venture - you need to understand the business of the new career you want to undertake as well as a good idea of the time and effort it will require.  In the upcoming blogs I will talk more about how to approach a change in your career.  Being laid off, as bad as it may seem, might actually be the career enhancement opportunity, Cisco likes to claim it is.

11-18-08

Jerry Yang has something in common with far too many Americans.  Not to mention that his personal portfolio is now half of what it used to be, but he's been canned, rif'd, re-engineered, down-sized, right-sized, and been given an involuntary career enhancement opportunity.  Not that my heart is full of too much sympathy for a guy who's personal net worth still exceeds $2 billion (with a capital B!).  But, through factors beyond his control, in this case the collapse of the market, the Board of Yahoo has given him his walking papers.  Jerry Yang is now faced with the challenge of re-inventing his career.  Mind you if I had 2 Bil in the bank, re-inventing my career would look a lot different than most.  The point being is that no one is safe from the collateral damage caused by the current economic depression.  Yes I used the word depression.  We're not in soup lines like my grandparents stood in, but mark my words if the NSE drops below 8,000 all heck will break loose.  Speaking of grandparents, mine had left Des Moines, Iowa in October of 1929, to start a new life in California.  My Grandmother was the daughter of one of the most successful CEO's in history and my grandfather was manager of the first radio station WHO.  They put all of their possessions in storage and their money in the bank.  Halfway across the country the banks failed.  When they arrived in California all that they had left was what was in their pockets.  And, yet they survived and never once lost their dignity.  Matter of fact, I don't think I ever heard my grandmother complain once about life.  A little bathtub gin, some numbers on the ponies, and a séance or two kept the lights on and food on the table for five people living in a two bedroom apartment.  Sid Wilson, the founding member of the rock group, SlipKnot now lives their stately Victorian in Des Moines.  From the top of the upper class society to barely scraping by, they reinvented themselves time and time again, adapting to survive.  We are not the first generation to go through an economic down turn, nor unfortunately will we be the last.  Maybe, just maybe, with the world a little smaller we can ban together and lend a helping hand to one another.  I say let's put an end to the mindset of "It's all about me".  After all isn't that what got us into this mess in the first place?    

11-17-08

This site is nearly completed and ready to let loose on the world.  This fact alone is an example of reinventing one's self.  I'm an accountant by trade and one that has seen more than two decades in the same career.  Not long ago I was cleaning out a box and found a copy of Lotus 1.0 on 5.25" floppies.  Those were the days when 128K was a lot of memory and the internet wasn't even a glimmer in Al Gore's eyes.  And yet to survive, we must learn and adapt or become obsolete and perish.  First thing I tell aspiring authors when they are ready to publish - get a website.  It used to take months and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to set up a website.  Now, it's virtually free and with the right template - you can be set up and running in an evening.  There are those out there who would shun my continued use of Microsoft's FrontPage.  I have the latest version of Dream Weaver and yes I need to migrate - habit can be such a horrible thing.  So, keep this in mind, no matter what you do, be it continue in your same career or launch into a new one, consider setting up your own website.  It's just one of the many ways you can let the world know what you're up to and who you are.  I've even notice some of the job posting no only ask for a resume, but a link to your own webpage as well.  Definitely something to consider.  If I can do it, anyone can.

11-14-08

I began this site as I have begun most projects in my life - it seemed to be crying out to be created.  These are difficult times and people are facing problems that will test their metal and present them with challenges they had never imagined.  Once you leave the comfort of a job, no matter how good or bad the work environment was, it is easy to suddenly feel cut off from the rest of the world - alone - and like Atlas as if the weight of the world is on your shoulders alone.  For nearly twenty years I was the single source of income for my family and with every merger, acquisition, layoff and rif, I felt more like Damocles than Atlas.  And yet, having survived more than two dozen such transitions, I am still standing.  If I can do it, so can you.  The key to remember is you are not alone.  That is why I created this site, to give people a place to seek answers, advice and community.  Recently I helped to establish a non-profit foundation for the purpose of educating young people about the dangers of drug abuse and addiction.  My association with them came about through one of my many "reinventions" which I'm sure will be the subject of future blogs.  The CEO is a former drug addict and while working with him I had the opportunity to accompany him to an AA meeting. One of the keys to their success is building a feeling of community.  The hardest thing most people face in change and hardship is the feeling of abandonment and being alone.  If you can remove fear of being alone from a person they can generally accomplish almost anything.  I now I did.  In 2004, I went through a devastating divorce, the result of which I lost everything I had worked my life to accomplish and in the end lost my job, my house, my retirement, I even had to buy back my own inheritance.  Such was the price of freedom.  My love in life was never finance, but writing.  I did manage to save one small thing from the divorce, the rights to a story I had written called, Charlie's Treasures.  Instead of diving back into the world of finance, which probably would have been the "correct" thing to do, I set out to re-invent Richard Neumann.  With no place to live, what few possessions I had crammed into a "u-rent-em" storage locker and nothing but debt to my name, I did what any rational human being would do.  I set out to start my own publishing company and turn my stories from ideas into print.  You can read more about this on my websites www.stoneinthesurf.com and www.charliestreasures.com.  The point being I made every mistake in the book and invented a few of my own.  Had I known then what I know now ....  After a few years, I realized that there are other aspiring authors out there who are destined to make the same mistakes I had.  It was then that I decided to reformat www.stoneinthesurf.com to be a place where aspiring authors can go to learn about the rapidly changing world of publishing and how to avoid many of the pitfalls that I had blundered into at full speed.  A lot of what I do is try to bring a "business" savvy to the decisions that  one would face in trying to navigate which of the hundreds of possible courses to chart is right for you.  This is technique is one I have honed from years of experience as a CFO in high tech and established industries.  And, such became the idea for this site.  If I can help aspiring authors, I can (with the help of some amazingly talented experts) help other people to understand how to navigate a course which will get them through these treacherous waters.  I've picked my expertise on helping people who see this time of change as a chance to re-invent their careers.  If you need help or encouragement - please send me an email.  If I can I will answer you question as part of this blog or get back to you personally.  Every expert on this site is a professional and is dedicating their time to help others.  If you have a project that may require a significant amount of their time, you may consider contacting them about consulting with you directly. 

Hang in there, you are not alone.

The best of success.

Richard Neumann

February 21, 2009

Has it been that long since I've blogged?  Not actually, I've been pounding keys on my new site www.survivalguide2009.com and been a bit pre-occupied to touch base here.  But, lots of good things happening.  I've since written a ton of screenplays, one of which went into production on the 18th and they should wrap up shooting on the 25th.  It is being produced and directed by Steve Shlisky, multi-multi-Emmy winning director!  Very cool.  The title is Plague and it's a series of six vignettes that complete a bio-terrorist plot.  Kind-a cool if I do say so myself.  Also produced another play for RBTC.  Wind Chill was a very dark piece which mixed the current economic times and one of my favorite tales, The Little Match Girl.  On the 27th-28th, I'll be doing my third RBTC 24 hour writing project.  I highly recommend it to any writer.  It really challenges you to keep your story telling skills honed to a razor's edge.  More soon I hope...

October 22, 2008

Austin, Texas

Wow!  Just got back from Austin.  What a great town.  Met some really amazing people - best of success Ellen at Guero's in SoCo.  Also met with DynaPortal about The Write Cause - with luck that idea will take off.  One of the coolest things in Austin is watching the bats fly out from under the Congress Bridge.  We missed the millions, but the bachelor bats that hadn't flown south for the winter were impressive none the less.  (see pic).  The bats swarm out from under the bridge then make a right hand "U" turn and go back under the bridge.  I happened to mention that it looked something like NASCAR.  To which a local next to me said, "Well ya.  Only they're going the wrong way."  Well, dang if when I got home and zoomed in - those little guys were running a NASBAT competition. 

AND

On the Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th of November I'll be at the KAZ Winery in Kenwood - lots of books and cool freebies!  See ya there.