I frequently talk about mentoring occurring in moments, and this was evident at mediabistro’s Socialize Toronto conference last Friday. Profound conversations can take place over seconds and minutes. By watching conference attendees you could tell by the look on their faces that it was worth their time to attend the conference. People were not shy about asking questions, and they were interacting with each other during the breaks. You could feel the upbeat energy in the room. People who had only known each other online, now had the opportunity to talk offline.

Jim Hedger shared some great Search Engine Optimization tips with me during a two-minute conversation. Though it was a short time, I felt that I was mentored during that time. It was great to discover that conferences are great places to not only meet people and learn, but are also great for people to be mentored in sound bites.

In the EdgeRank (Facebook) vs. PageRank (Google) session, a tidbit that stuck with me is that when you think of Facebook, it’s the place to ask questions, and for Google, the place you find answers – that’s how you build engagement. That short answer by one of the panellists opened up a whole new world for me.

A Few Mentoring Moments at Socialize Toronto

1. When writing, think AIDA: Attention-Interest-Desire-Action (attract Attention, arouse Interest, stimulate Desire and present a call to Action).
2. Videos that go viral appeal to body, mind and spirit.
3. There is a button on your Google+ page that allows you to pull in YouTube videos into your updates.
4. Anayltics for Twitter – Edelman TweetLevel, and Twitalyzer
5. To find a schedule of Twitter Chats https://bitly.com/bundles/kmullett/4
6. For more engaging stories, move from one-way storytelling to dynamic storytelling.

There were lots of tips at Socialize Toronto, but the biggest highlight of the conference for me was learning about 40 Inventive Principles. The reason I found 40 Inventive Principles to be so fascinating is it’s another tool to help us to be more creative, and to solve problems more creatively. Just reading through some of the examples given for each principle will give you ideas on ways to change the way you do work. For me, that was another mentoring in moments.

Examples of 40 Inventive Principles

“Principle 1. Segmentation

• Divide an object into independent parts.

• Replace mainframe computer by personal computers.
• Replace a large truck by a truck and trailer.
• Use a work breakdown structure for a large project.

Principle 4. Asymmetry

• Change the shape of an object from symmetrical to asymmetrical.

• Asymmetrical mixing vessels or asymmetrical vanes in symmetrical vessels improve mixing (cement trucks, cake mixers, blenders).
• Put a flat spot on a cylindrical shaft to attach a knob securely.

Principle 6. Universality

• Make a part or object perform multiple functions; eliminate the need for other parts.

• Handle of a toothbrush contains toothpaste
• Child’s car safety seat converts to a stroller

Principle 17. Another dimension

1. To move an object in two- or three-dimensional space.
• Infrared computer mouse moves in space, instead of on a surface, for presentations.
• Five-axis cutting tool can be positioned where needed.

Principle 22. “Blessing in disguise” or “Turn Lemons into Lemonade”

• Use harmful factors (particularly, harmful effects of the environment or surroundings) to achieve a positive effect.

• Use waste heat to generate electric power.
• Recycle waste (scrap) material from one process as raw materials for another.”

I am sure that if you looked at the complete list of principles, you will find a few that resonate with you. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

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3. Adventures in Learning: DIY Mentoring Program
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5. Create Your Board of Mentors – January is National Mentoring Month

I have read a lot of really good books this year (2011 Books for Mentoring), and because I am at active reader, I always learn at least one thing from the books that I read. This is the time of year when you find the various lists for the best books of the year. I already gave you the list of some of the books that I have thoroughly enjoyed. But, I have also been thinking about which book was most impactful and practical for me.

And the winner is…

Drum roll please!

Cover via Amazon

…How to Read Literature Like  Professor by Thomas Foster. When I first started to read How to Read Literature Like a Professor, I thought it was going to be very boring and academic, but I was pleasantly surprised. The book is essentially a guide on how to read to get the most from what you are reading. Foster recommends that while you are reading to constantly ask yourself, “Where have I seen this before?” And you should also question what you are reading in the text. Since reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor, I now read very differently. And I pay even more attention than I usually do while reading.

Additionally, I ask more questions about the significance of events occurring in the book. If a character has a heart ailment, I ask myself why the author allowed that to happen. If there is water in a scene, I ponder about the significance, whether it’s a cleansing, or a rebirth and so on. Having read How to Read Literature Like a Professor I am a far more discerning reader, which deepens my understanding of the books I read.

Because of this new questioning while reading, I found out that The Hunger Games Trilogy was loosely based on the Greek myth of Theseus. The protagonist, 16-year old Katniss Everdeen is viewed as a modern day Theseus.

And another unexpected benefit occurred during the summer while I was researching and writing many Profiles in Wisdom. Another question I have been asking myself as a result of having read How to Read Literature Like a Professor is where have I heard of this person before?

For instance, Ada Lovelace was the first computer programmer and she worked with Charles Babbage the father of computers. Lovelace was the daughter of Lord Byron and Lady Byron. Lady Byron was an abolitionist who became great friends with Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. At one point in her life, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) was her neighbour. Beecher Stowe met with Abraham Lincoln who remarked, “So this is the little woman who wrote the book that made this big war,” in reference to the American Civil War. Through Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace met Mary Fairfax Somerville who became one of her mentors. Mary Somerville was also one of the people who American astronomer Maria Mitchell had letters of introduction to when she visited Europe. Lord Byron made several references to Sappho, one of the greatest female poets who ever lived.

It’s uncanny how many connections were among the people who I researched, and it wasn’t planned on my part – it just happened – and it strengthened my knowledge on the people who I profiled. As I upload the many profiles I have already written, you will see the many connections for yourself. That’s what reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor will do for you.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor is a book that you will constantly refer to because it is packed with so much useful information. This is the book that has had the biggest impact on me in 2011. Of all the books that you’ve read in 2011, which one has had the most impact, and is the most practical? If you haven’t read Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, pick up a copy today and click here to read my review. How to Read Literature Like a Professor makes a great book for mentoring.

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Some book links are affiliate links.

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4. Booked for Mentoring: Review – How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster
5. What to Expect for 2011

Do you know how to solve your own problems? You have been asked by the new management team to look at the feasibility of re-introducing a product, which failed five years ago, what steps do you take before you report back to them in two months?

I am experimenting with the way I present information, so I am posting a previous post but in a different format. Please let me know which format you prefer. How can you use the information in the presentation to solve the challenge outlined above? Are the steps given, detailed enough for you to follow them?

Now let’s re-frame the problem slightly, the management team has asked you to re-introduce a product, which failed five years ago. You have been given six months to launch the product. Using the Reverse Problem Solving Technique, how do you proceed? Let’s keep the conversation going, what are your thoughts?

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Technique for Producing Great Ideas

How to Problem Solve

Reverse Problem Solving

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

The Art of Invention

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5. You Cannot Step Into the Same River Twice

I created the presentation below for a Slideshare competition, but while I was creating it I had my blog readers in mind because I thought it would be beneficial to you. Please let others know about it if you find it useful. In the presentation there are influential book lists that can help you decide what to read.

There are clickable links within the presentation to make it easy to download the reading lists as well as visit the websites mentioned.

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A few days ago I promised that I would create a slide show with photographs of nature to see if nature can really mentor us. Here is the slide show, please let me know what you think.

Here are my thoughts on the photos with accompanying music. Life may be cloudy but there is beauty in everything, even our sorrows. All we have to do is take time for reflection. We all need nurturing to sustain us and we need to nurture others so that we can all spread our wings and soar. Life is fluid and squirrely, but it is important to enjoy the fruits of  life and its many wonders. If we stretch ourselves we will grow because lessons are always around us. Mother nature can guide us, if we let her, is that not what a mentor is?

What are your thoughts, could nature mentor you?

Music Credit: Say Hey (I Love You), Michael Franti

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Small changes can give you very different results in your life. View both slide shows below, they both have the exact photographs but I changed the style effects: one is remix and the other is prism. The slides were created using the technology at Slide.org.

Which of the slide shows do you prefer? What emotions do they stir up in you? What do you see, and what do you feel when you watch the slide shows? Now turn the sound off your computer and watch the slide shows again, do you feel differently, how? In the busyness of our lives, we live without really feeling or seeing? Reflect on your life, how might some small changes in your behaviour give you very different results? What one small change can you commit to making? The popular quote attributed to both Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin says “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Photo credits: Avil Beckford

Song Credit: Faith Hill, This Kiss

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I wanted to do a slideshow blog post but did not have a clue how and where to begin. I knew that I would have to figure it out someday, but kept putting it off. Have you ever done that?

Joanna Young at Confident Writing is having a Mission Im(Possible): Group Writing Project where she asks individuals to write a post in a format that they are unaccustomed to, and I thought that someday has come. I used my close friend Google to figure out the technology that would allow me to create a slideshow that is compatible with a WordPress blog. This post is my entry into the Mission Im(Possible): Group Writing Project. I created the slideshow using the tools at Slide.com.

If a picture is really worth a thousand words, what is your story now that you have watched the slideshow? Mine would go something like this. As I journey through life, I take different paths because I stumble, but always pick myself up. Some paths are easier than others, sometimes they are steep, cloudy, crowded, or busy. I reflect on the experiences that I have on my journey so that I can course correct if necessary. I look up and see the beauty in all things, and I try to laugh and not take myself too seriously. There are lessons all around me, I learn, move on, but most importantly I remember that though the destination is important, the journey is the key and so I smile because all is well.

Exercise

Select photos that have a special meaning to you and write a cohesive story based on what you see and feel. The Invisible Mentor is about peeling off layers and getting to the real you.

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