Let’s focus on focus. Great ideas are bouncing all about. Figuring out which ideas should move forward and how to turn them from the ideal into the real is another matter. Show Notes:* The Sun is a Powerful Source of Energy. Every Hour the Sun Washes the Earth with Billions of Kilowatts of Energy.  Yet with a Hat & Some Sunscreen You Can Bathe in the Light of the Sun for Hours at a Time with Few Ill Effects. A Laser is a Weak Source of Energy.  A Laser Takes a Few Watts of Energy and Focuses Them in a Coherent Stream of Light.  But with a Laser You Can Drill a Hole in a Diamond or Wipe out a Cancer.  – Al Ries, Focus * We Live in the Distraction Economy. – Wegs* Bright shiny objects have overtaken substance* Too often technology distracts us from the task at hand* I Have a Device in my Pocket that Gives Me Instant Access to the Entirety of Human Knowledge. I Use it to Look at Funny Pictures of Cats and Share Pictures of my Breakfast. * There’s a War Between the Urgent and the Important. – Wegs* Long-term needs too often take a backseat to short-term tasks* We’ve got to prioritize what we’re doing* The Two Pizza Maximum* Amazon’s Jeff Bezos won’t allow more people in a meeting than 2 pizzas can feed* Too many people can become a distraction* Breaking the Chains of Keynote* Don’t allow slides to distract from your message* There are alternatives to projected presentations, Amazon has their people prepare memos that the group reads together and discusses* Men Have Become the Tool of Their Tools. – Henry David Thoreau* Said this back in the 1800’s* Technology can’t cover for fundamental human issues* If It Keeps Up. Man Will Atrophy All His Limbs But the Push-Button Finger. – Frank Lloyd Wright * I Would Trade All of My Technology for an Afternoon with Socrates.– Steve Jobs* Technology is amazing, Mankind is even more so* Technology brings ideas to life, but the ideas still have to be good* Study the big ideas and you may just come up with some yourselfTranscripts: Welcome to Episode 11 of Navigating the Fustercluck—a podcast full of snackable insights to help you navigate the love/hate world of creativity. My name is Wegs, like eggs with a W, joining you from Deaf Mule Studios in Dallas, and whether you work in advertising, design, gaming, fine art, commercial art, content creation, whatever it may be, we’re here to talk about focus today. Yes, we’re going to focus on focus. I’ve always loved this focus quote from Al Ries… The Sun is a Powerful Source of Energy.  Every Hour the Sun Washes the Earth with Billions of Kilowatts of Energy.  Yet with a Hat & Some Sunscreen You Can Bathe in the Light of the Sun for Hours at a Time with Few Ill Effects. A Laser is a Weak Source of Energy.  A Laser Takes a Few Watts of Energy and Focuses Them in a Coherent Stream of Light.  But with a Laser You Can Drill a Hole in a Diamond or Wipe out a Cancer.   That’s the power of focus. However, if you have a business or practice it’s easy to want to do it all. To offer both the high and low end. Have a 20-page menu that takes 30 minutes to read. It’s just too tempting for most people. Classic movie star Mae West said that she could resist anything but temptation. I love that line, but for our purposes, let’s see if we can show a bit more restraint. Because without doubt, focus is the way to go. Yep, focus is an immensely powerful force, yet we live in… The Age of Distraction and —Hey! Look! A Puppy! We Live in the Distraction Economy. — WegsThe Industrial Age gave way to the Information Age, which gave way to the Social Age, which has now given way to the Distraction Age.  From ads to apps, games & gossip to fashion & political cheerleading, there are people dangling shiny bright objects and catchphrases that keep your eyes off the ball and away from what really matters.