by Charles Bohannan
on March 31, 2010
All it took was a half-hour conversation with some desperate, charged-up nut to let me know that I need to write a manifesto. Here’s why:
When you have a great idea and can’t hold it in anymore and start talking to people about it, some of those people might have the notion to steal your idea and make it their own. Maybe it won’t be the same as your idea but the root — the genius — will be rooted in your hard work.
By writing a manifesto, you’re laying down the law on your idea. You’re staking claim to it. You’re making it public. You’re taking action on it. You’re letting people know that, “Hey — this is what I think and why. Thanks for listening.”
A manifest also helps clarify and develop your idea to a fine point. My idea is a 5-part manifesto that would look like an inverted pyramid. So imagine an upside down triangle with the following modes:
- Philosophy. The statement that reflects the deepest meaning of your idea and why, expressed as efficient and crystal clear as possible. Pure vision.
- Cause. A longer treatise of why. What’s causing you to think this way? What exactly needs to be changed?
- Expected outcome. What good (or bad I suppose) do you expect to come out of this?
- Application. How it could apply to the real world (or whatever industry/business problem you want to solve)
- Examples of how you’d apply it to the business challenge.
I’m not too sure about that, but it’s worth considering. As long as the manifesto gets published, than I suppose that counts.
Also, by writing a manifesto, that puts you in charge of the idea as well. You’re making it known that you are the owner of this idea, or at least the originator, and whatever hopeful immediate action you take on it after it’s published will be under your domain.
Control is critical, and that’s what a manifesto can help maintain.
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by Charles Bohannan
on March 30, 2010
I’m tired again. Writing This from iPhone. Good day: I need a team to be effective.
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by Charles Bohannan
on March 29, 2010
Short form today. Realizing that my ideas die with me still. Meaning they’re no good until I release them. Plus, they need daily nurturing with research. And writing. Of course.
Sometimes we fall apart. One by one. We take our respective turns and tumble over at imprecise, sloppy angles. As a family we have to pick each other up no matter how hard it is. That’s what families do.
There is a shortage of greatness in the world. I will not let an opportunity like that pass me by.
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by Charles Bohannan
on March 28, 2010
After all, I’ve practically stopped doing it.
Like now, ’cause I’m too tired again. And depressed.
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by Charles Bohannan
on March 27, 2010
Right now I’m in a tent camping with my boys. I’m writing this on my iPhone. We’re well-fed and comfortable.
Something in still amiss. I wonder if I’m really going to make it. Am I a joke?
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by Charles Bohannan
on March 26, 2010
I’m at the point of feeling like whatever it is I’m working on is something that could be big….BUT….part of me thinks I’m crazy. Like really crazy, like an idealogue or zealot.
Part of these feelings comes from the fact that nobody in the known Universe knows what I’m doing. That’s because it’s not complete yet. It’s not like I’m sharing along the way (which perhaps I should be doing).
So I’ve decided to work on a manifesto. It’s the first start to getting some public feedback. I have to do it. I have to release this and see where it takes me. And if I truly am crazy, then I’ll know.
Let’s says it takes off…then what? Just some discussion for awhile, then it drops off the map?
Hmm. The manifesto has to be perfect. It has to be something of my own, not just snippets of Godin or other wisdom. It has to be something someone cannot touch or replicate.
Lately I feel obsessed, like an inventor in the thick of his greatest invention.
If the manifesto takes off, then I need to have an intended path in mind. It needs to be guided into the right corridor, which is: trusting people, venture funding and sustaining public interest.
So is this real or am I just crazy? I sure wish I knew.
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by Charles Bohannan
on March 25, 2010
Just saw The Hurt Locker tonight. Solid war flick. But it’s not for my consumption level, really. There was a scene — several perhaps — that made me think: there’s no way I can understand war. A film can’t even get close to the feeling.
I understand why my dad didn’t like war, but I wonder what it was like for him to be unsettled as an Army helicopter pilot. The military provided such a identity for him no matter troubled he felt.
I look around my life, my house, my soft beautiful family and I can’t imagine any country in the world not wanting to have those same things. I can’t comprehend the dichotomy of life-embracing and life-erasing among all humans on Earth.
I do understand what people call the necessity of war: as a manner of defense to protect oneself or others. But isn’t there a better way? What lies in the spirit of man that wants to conquer, rule, kill and fight?
These questions cannot be answered, and there’s something very wrong with that. I’m usually an optimist but war is something that spoils it all for everyone.
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by Charles Bohannan
on March 24, 2010
is an amazing thing, especially when the idea you’re working on is so original that nobody is talking about it expect you (often to yourself!).
I notice that when I don’t focus for a day on my “thing”, my mind tends to sluff off. Not my passion mind you, but rather my ability to focus on the details that really can make a difference.
Continuity is key, therefore.
Naming Things
I like what Seth Godin does when he writes a new book: he assigns simple, clear and memorable words to select concepts he wants us to remember. Like sneezers, linchpin, etc.
I’ll need to start thinking in those directions soon.
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by Charles Bohannan
on March 23, 2010
- I could not live for long in New York, but stints of time there would be good for the mind.
- I’d miss the bluest parts of the ocean and the beautiful power of the waves. The inside walls of giant blue waves.
- Life should always be about progress. When I’m at a tough point I sometimes ask myself, “What would Obama do?” And my answer is to stay the course, stay focused and true.
- I miss Chinese fast food from Panda restaurant. So bad but so damn good.
- I can hear the grinding of teeth coming from one of my kids upstairs, all the way from down here. I wonder what’s wrong.
- I’m on a mission to develop a super ideavirus that will change people’s lives, including mine.
- Most people are hard to relate to because they just don’t get it.
- Today I feel true and bright and strong. Not usual.
- The extent of my life’s planning only covers survival thru 2012.
- When is my tipping point coming?
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by Charles Bohannan
on March 22, 2010
It’s been a tough day. Right now I’m sick. The request this morning was poorly timed. I have a headache and cold.
The key to my success is daily focus on my goals. There is no other way.
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