0-100 kph: 4 seconds. I don’t think I have ever accelerated as fast as I did yesterday, when I was pulled up by a winch to just above 1,000 feet in little more than 30 seconds in a glider. I was breathless and speechless, and my instructor asked from behind me: “Are you ok?” Of course I was; what a rush.

I’m boarding the glider for my first flight ever. You can see the parachute on my back.

Since I was little, my father has talked about gliders. In his young days, he was a glider pilot, and he has always allured me with his many great stories from back then. When I met my good friend Simon Schock about three years ago, we quickly found out that we had a mutual interest in flying. After waiting for more than two years (I just checked my record, Simon sent the first request for being put on a wait list in December 2006), we got accepted to a local Copenhagen gliding club, Flyvestation Værløse Svæveflyveklub.

Yesterday was our first day at the air field (see it on Google Maps), a sunny, blue sky day. We met with our instructor — a super cool guy — slowly getting introduced to many of the basics, among others how to perform a daily check of the aircraft you are going to fly. Already very early in the morning, we had to prepare for the first flight. It suddenly became very real when putting the parachute on, and repeating the instructions for what to do in case of something goes wrong (which is extremely rare, by the way).

• Flight 1: Winch start. 10 minutes flying time. Getting (more) comfortable with flying.

Flying is not only flying; it’s also everything that surrounds it. So after the flight, we spent time learning some basic ground handling procedures, for instance coupling the aircraft to the winch, signalling to the winch operator, etc.

Around lunch we spent time in the simulator as well as getting further theory introduction from our instructor.

Take-off: My instructor behind me with the radio. At the far end tip, you can see a guy signalling ready.

In the early afternoon, we were ready for the second flight. My second flight was amazing. We were towed after a motor plane to 3,000 ft, and then released. We found a lot of thermal activity, and bounced back and forth between 2,000 and about 3,500 ft. I had plenty of opportunity to to practise some of the very basic manoeuvres: Turning, speed control, and flying on course. (I may not have got all the English wordings right; bear with me). We also got the chance to do a little sightseeing as we flew over Frederiksborg Castle — an amazing sight from above.

• Flight 2: Plane tow start. 50 minutes net flying time (net of the towing time). Getting turning and speed control right. Starting to fly on course.

After flight 2, I spent the rest of the day with ground handling and speaking to some of the other guys at the club, while Simon was flying. We ended with cleaning up and a little theory.

It was an amazing day. The guys at the club are great, very welcoming and open, helpful and willing to teach — they were a large part in making this a good experience, and I can’t wait to get up to the air field again. I love it.

Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He died from pancreatic cancer last summer at the age of 47. I had never heard of him before late spring last year, where I read about his Last Lecture, which he held on September 18, 2007. So this may be familiar to many of you, but I still wanted to type up my notes from the summer, because he seemed like a fantastic guy and because he had a thoughtful and moving lecture worth watching (you can watch it at the end of the post).

It’s about achieving your childhood dreams, which through my glasses is a metaphor for achieving any dreams you may have. The lecture is more than an hour long, so I will just pick up some of the smaller topics (but still bricks to achieving your dreams) that he brings up:

• Drive: “Brick walls are there for a reason; they let us prove how badly we want things”
  I like this metaphor a lot. If everything was easy to get, we would have no good way of prioritising our resources, but more importantly our own time, attention, and devotion. Brick walls make us reflect upon what we want and makes us prioritise. Most importantly, however, is that once established what you do want, do not let brick walls stop you — let your drive and passion climb it. (from about 5 minutes and 20 secs, and perhaps an even better example from about 17 minutes in and forward)
• Patience: Give people time and they will impress you. About 23 minutes in, Randy tells us about one of the lessons he learned from one of his role models, almost in a subordinate clause. I like this, because it is something I often forget — many of us do. Our believing in other people’s ability declines drastically with time. Patience is becoming a more and more precious commodity; and lack of patience stops us from achieving our own potential, but also experiencing that of others. Sit back and give people time; they will impress you.
• Motivation: While patience is sometimes required for people to impress you, some people will blow you away in seconds. What do you do to motivate people when they are outstanding and impress the pants off of you? Well, one way, Randy talks about, is to say: “Guys that was pretty good, but I know you can do better.” They will keep blowing you away, and they will do better and better. (34 minutes in and forward)
• Feedback: Several times throughout the talk, Randy stresses the importance of feedback, and, almost more importantly, the way you give it. I think this is one of the single most important levers in our personal development and how we help others to develop. I think it takes skill to become good a giving useful and non-offensive feedback, and it takes equal, if not even more skill to receive feedback, use it constructively and not neglect or reject it. If someone has taken the time and effort to give you feedback, you should take it as a great compliment (that someone cares for your personal development) and as a real development area. (fun, but good example about 58 minutes in and a couple of minutes forward)
• The head fake: “The best way to teach somebody something, is to have them think they’re learning something else.” The concept of indirect learning — or what Randy calls a head fake — is a theme throughout his presentation. The first example, about 11 minutes 40 seconds in, is about all the indirect learning children get, when they start to go to team sports like soccer. While it serves a functional purposes to learn to tackle, make passes, etc., perhaps the greatest learning of all is the indirect learning that you go through, e.g., team spirit, social and emotional intelligence training, and being fair. The best head fake he describes is 1 hour and 15 minutes in, and I won’t spoil the plot here, but I can say it works best if you have seen the entire lecture before you get to here.

Watch the lecture; it’s time well spent. Beyond a fun ride, you will also feel the seriousness of his situation and the emotions between him and his wife and children towards the end of the lecture — at least I felt a choke towards the end.

And finally: Did you figure out the head fake of this blog post — or my blog in general?

Last year, my good friend Christoffer and I decided to start a scholarship. I first wrote about it here.

Now, just over a year after we originally had the idea, we have been through one round of applications — and — also handed out the Scholarship for this year to an impressive girl, Rikke Krause. Read much more about her and her application essay over at the Scholarship website.

I was amazed by the applicants for the Scholarship. As part of their application they had to write a 700-800 word essay on something they were passionate about, and I enjoyed reading every word. Rikke’s essay, which is the one you can read on the Scholarship website, is a great example, which is a fun and serious tour de force on Heinz Tomato Ketchup.

Somehow it makes me feel very reassured that we have such a group of people, with desires they fight for and an impressive “pay it forward”-mentality. I wish all the applicants the best — but I am sure they will not need it. Their positive spirit and helping mentality will serve them well, without a doubt.

I am also very happy with the positive response this project has received from friends, family, and strangers alike. Christoffer and I will, as intended from the very beginning, carry on next year. In the mean time, pay it forward is much more than just this. It is every day from the very small things to the very big things and all in between. If you have feedback or great ideas that I should know of, I would love to know.

I’m slowly settling down into vacation mode, spending time at the water side with jazz & rock and books. This spring, unfortunately, has been way below average on the books side. So I hope to make up for it during vacation, although I’m sure I’ll get to prioritising at some point.

It’s a mixed bunch of novels, poetry, and business/factual books — and some of them are re-reads. Re-reads go for Atlas Shrugged, The Great Gatsby, The Pyramid Principle, and the Fifth Discipline.

Some of you may notice that there are some key classics in the reading pile as well. Embarrassing, but at least I will get around to them this summer. If anyone thinks I’m making a huge mistake in reading any of the books in the picture — or — have recommendations for great reading in the summer, do let me know.

Soundtrack for this summer is, beyond the jazz age we are now in (Copenhagen and Montreux!), Alphabeat, the Broken Beats, Gnarls Barkley, Hot Chip, John Legend, John Mayer, Neil Young, Portishead, Rasmus Nøhr, and the Stones. I love vacation.

See you on the other side — take it to the max (P.Y.T).

New interpretation of the classic M1. BMW — please serial produce this. More here.

I’m listening to soft jazz, while I read Weekendavisen, a weekly, Danish newspaper (the best), which deep dives on domestic and foreign affairs, liberal arts, natural science and more. I nearly skipped one article, Fear only your own fear (Frygt kun din egen frygt) by Louise Windfeld-Høeberg, but I’m glad I didn’t.

Incredibly well-written with the occasional dry humour, Louise tells us the story of a conversation with Fabien, a Rwandan priest, on a long-haul flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam. Louise, sceptical at the beginning of their conversation, ends up unveiling some of herself while shedding some light on two very important topics: embracing life and taking risks. These themes are potentially stating the obvious to most people, but the same people neglect to live by them. And iteration has never hurt anybody.

Embracing life

Life is only as positive as you make it. Although we all have valleys of life, we should embrace the opportunity to make of it what we can. If you feel your morning sucks, then the rest of the day is an uphill battle. And a large part of the effort is changing the mind, rather than wishing the world around you is different. Fabien, from Louise’s flight conversation, comes from Rwanda. Try to search for Rwanda on Google and see what you find (hint: not all positives), but the first thing Fabien says when he describes his home country is much different:

“Rwanda is the most beautiful and fertile country in the world. It is like paradise. Everything can grow there. Everything. Sweet potatoes, corn, yes, all fruits and vegetables — and, not the least, the most delightful bananas,” he says proudly.

I’m not advertising for obliviousness, but I do advertise for a positive mind and an embracing mind towards the world around us and to life.

And Fabien is extremely persistent in this regard, and maybe hinting towards being a little too pervasive. At the end of their flight, Fabien realises that he does not know why Louise is flying back to Denmark:

“What are doing in Denmark?” Fabien asks.

“I’m actually burying my grandmother,” I say

“My condolences.”

“Thank you.”

“How old was she?”

“Almost 90.”

“How fantastic! What an age!”

“I will miss her.”

“You should rather say: ‘Thank you grandmother, for staying with us for so long!’ And be happy for her long life.”

“Hmm.”

Although it may border to being too pervasive, as mentioned, nevertheless it is often this perspective that is needed in the valleys of our lives. And in any case, Fabien’s freshness and naturalness is really compelling.

Taking risks

Part of embracing life is also to take chances. Louise tells Fabien about the school that her children go to — a school that really puts an extra effort into teaching the children to take chances — or risks. To become risk takers.

“The bravest even get an acknowledgement for their efforts. They are called up at the monthly morning gathering in front of hundreds of students, parents, and teachers, awarded a risk taker diploma, and applauded all the way back to their seats.”

We should also do this in our schools and in our society at large. It seems as if risk-taking is actively discouraged in the way we interact with each other. Being cautious of not becoming reckless, we should actively encourage risk-taking and make people believe. One of my favourite quotes these days is from Disney and illustrates this very well:

If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.

Potentially the word risk is a problem in itself. It sounds negative to begin with. Louise notes this very well in an anecdote that will stay with me for a long time:

“We sit and are quiet together. And then, I remember that in Nyanja, the language that most people talk home in Lusaka and in the Eastern part of Zambia where Fabien was a refugee, is only one, common word for risk and chance – it is mwayi.”

Let taking risks and taking chances be synonymous, equally compelling and actively encouraged.

—ooOoo—

And so, while writing this, my jazz playlist ended. I resorted to one of my favourite bands these days, Munck//Johnson — if you don’t know them, give them a listen

All quotes are from the article and freely translated by me (except the Disney quote).

Some time ago I started donating blood — if I remember correctly it was yet another one of those extra things you just had to do instead of sitting yourself down and writing your thesis. When I found that my blood type was AB RhD negative, the most seldom type, I felt that I was being especially helpful. Right until, of course, that I also found out, that then less people demand AB RhD negative blood :-). It seems, that the O RhD negative blood type is actually the most helpful, because everyone can receive it — at least according to Wikipedia.

But regardless of your blood type, the people working at the blood bank makes you feel special. Just this morning, I went to donate blood yet again, and, now having been to two different banks (four visits in total, so I don’t have that many data points yet :-)), I must say, every company should be a blood bank. At the very least, they can learn from them:

• Blood banks are good at donor retention
  When enough time has passed so that I’m allowed to donate again, I get an e-mail. If I don’t respond I get a call, and they are flexible, yet persistent, in getting an appointment agreed on the spot. Companies should be good at customer retention as well — it is much cheaper to get a customer to return, than to get a new one.
• Blood banks are good at word of mouth
  They have merchandise, they have stickers, and they have a “feel-good-product” that people love to talk about. The Danish organisation even has a rather popular Facebook group. Companies should make you proud that you’re using their product as well.
• Blood banks are good at understanding donor needs
  They are open early, so you can go there before work. They are also open late, so you can go there after work. You can book time via e-mail, you have easy-access parking — there is no end to the madness of customer friendliness. And the front-line staff and nurses are right up there too: When you lie down with blood running out of you, you for sure don’t want a grumpy nurse, but I nice person to interact with.
• Blood banks realize that if they have no donors, they have no blood bank
  No blood, no bank. No money, no bank (does your bank think this way?). In fact, no customers, no company. Blood banks can lecture on this.

Blood banks do it well, in my experience, and the best companies do too. Every company should be a blood bank.

And you can be a donor :-):

• Wikipedia: Blood donation
• GivBlod (Danish website — click here to find out how to donate blood here in Denmark)

At some point in the beginning of my university studies, I started tracking my time, because I was not entirely sure of where all these hours went. How much time did I spend in school? At work? Watching TV or surfing the Internet? Something completely different? Or absolutely nothing?

I can remember, one of the categories I had for registering my time was helping others. Setting time aside and helping others in one shape or form or another. This became a focus area for me — long after I stopped registering my time (I think I stopped again after three months or so). I wanted to increase my time spent helping others — and I still want to. (So now is the time to provide me with proper feedback on how you think I can do better and improve — all input is highly welcome.)

In the summer of 2007 on a vacation to New York City, my friend Christoffer Husted and I, came up with an idea to hand out a scholarship. After some maturation, we are now live with the Husted Rasmussen & Clauber Ruwald Scholarship — perhaps the not the most inspirational name. But the idea counts much more than the name. And the idea is so much more than a scholarship, but you have to start somewhere, and everything counts.

The journey does not stop here. I want to increase my time spent helping others — and, again, your feedback on how I can do better is very welcome.

I’m experimenting a little with micro-blogging, or tumblelogging as some has called it — check it out on ruwald.tumblr.com. The purpose is not to replace my blog, but to also have a space to share small bites of information, links, pictures, etc. I’m still experimenting, so I don’t know whether I’ll continue to use it. However, it has some very apparent advatages:

• All of my shared items from Google Reader (blog posts I read and want to share) and del.icio.us (my bookmarks) will be consolidated into my tumblog
• My blog posts will also show up in my tumblog
• My blog is kept clean for “normal” posts, as you have known it until now
• Easy access on your mobile (ruwald.tumblr.com/mobile)

See it as a complement to my blog, not as a replacement :-). I am using tumblr to run it so far, but I would like to find out how to include under my own domain. (If you have any input on that, let me know — constraint: No use of subdomains)

In other news today, from the strange and weird fact file, my web site received a small face-lift over the weekend:

• More pictures on the front page (click refresh, and you will receive a random photo from the pool)
• Sandbox (previously I experimented in the dark, but I decided I might as well get your input)
• Slight design revision

Let me know what you think. And if you have/create a tumblelog, please let me know :-)

From left to right: Kenneth, Danny, Johanne, Louise, Peter, Morten, Sara, Jakob, Mathilde, Uffe, Lars, Esben, Nete, Søren, Jens, Mads T, Anne, Marthe, Henrik, Thomas Bo, Thomas, Marie, Charlotte (my sister!), and me. (Mari and Mads B could not make it to the photo session).

Merry Christmas from me to all of my family, friends, colleagues and school mates! This is the CBS Case Competition Christmas Card, and I look the look and feel to it very much–maybe because I like the people in it and spend so much (too much?) of my time with them :-).

Hopefully, I’ll have the time for another Merry Christmas post before we actually get to Christmas.