"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.  Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

                                                                                                                                  Matthew 10:16

I've been asked to speak to a group in a couple months on a topic entitled Trust & Influence.  I'm excited because these are really fascinating elements -- the sort that undergird virtually all human interactions. 

The amount of literature in these areas is super-duper-bountiful, so let's make some moonshine today by distilling a few key ingredients into a couple potent drops.  These will be my primary talking points for the group in April.

Let's start with Trust.  My perspective on trust is that it is currency, so I tend to think of 10 'coins' -- the Trust Coins if you will.  Now, none of these coins is 'new,' they are, in fact, abundantly found in one form or another throughout nearly all trust literature.  But I like thinking of them in terms of money because, essentially, we're either broke, flush, or break-even in our relationships with others.  As Covey might say, "If you're broke in your relationship with another person, you cannot make any withdrawals."  Conversely, those who love us extend a great deal of grace...a relational 'line of credit,' perhaps.  (As an aside, a word of wisdom: Obey the 'platinum rule' [which is even better than gold] by treating others as they wish to be treated.  The day will come, as it always does, when you will screw up royally and wish you had been nicer, more forgiving or...more gracious.)

In short, if you want to be 'relationally rich,' mind your coins.  Be approachable (open door, receptive), Know your audience (meet others where they are, not where you want them to be), Demonstrate character & integrity (consider your 'brand' and live a life whole and undivided; contrast this with many current politicians), Be competent, Find commonalities with others, Be credible (believable, reliable), Demonstrate empathy (remember, the boomerang often returns), Demonstrate win/win/win intent (you, others, the organization at large), Demonstrate propriety (appropriate professional behavior), and Live consistently (back to the idea of integrity, your pattern of behavior over time is a huge predictor for 'being counted upon' or not). 

Continuing to the notion of Influence, then, the correlations become clear.  Someone who is 'relationally rich' is vastly more likely to be influential.  But influence is an exceedingly deep and broad topic, so let's break it down into 2 bites: Principles & Personhood.

Essentially, influence manifests through two sources -- a half-dozen principles and about nine related aspects of one's personhood.

What does this mean?

Well, take principles, for instance, which are sort of like phenomena.  Where we see Consistency occur (for example, if you behave consistently 'good'), we tend to see influence increase.  Where we see Reciprocation occur (for example, you 'give' because you realize this increases the likelihood that you will 'get'), we tend to see influence increase.  And the same is true for Social Proof (a group of us stares at a building across the street and 'everyone' stops to stare...something must be going on or important!), and Scarcity (the fewer iPads available on Day 1 and the longer the lines will be), and Authority (a police officer's badge 'does' something) and Liking (those who are liked tend to be more influential than those who are disliked).    

But personhood, while conceptually related to these principles, is unique: it is influence that emanates from who you are more than what you do or solely how you behave.  Indeed, it's difficult to uncouple the two, I know, but think of it this way: a principle is something 'going on' while my personhood is 'who I am or how I'm perceived.'  Intertwined, yes...but distinct.  A skeptic might argue, "But isn't WHO I AM...WHAT I DO?"  And the anwer, of course, is complicated.  In short, it is 'yes, mostly...' but 'no, not necessarily.'  Perhaps more on that another day. 

Your 'personal' influence, then, often derives from nine common sources, two of which (Legitimate and Referent) overlap with principles I've described above.  Legitimate influence emanates from the fact that you are, say, the boss!  And as the boss, "What I say goes!"  (But only so far, in fact.  Legitimate influence is actually among the least influential.  After all, when the boss turns his back, what do we do?  That's right...now you've got the idea.)  Referent influence is similar to Likeability...I am attracted to you, for whatever reasons, and as a result I tend to like you and, therefore, I'm more inclined to be influenced by you.

The dark side to influence is that charlatans, sharks, snake-oil salesmen, con artists and Ponzi schemers exploit these principles and elements of personhood by pursuing just the right sort of pigeons/marks/prey most inclined to be influenced: those in distress, the lonely/isolated, the naive/trusting/gullible, the caregiver, the person who thinks he is smarter than the ploy or -- as Jesus Christ indicated in the scripture above -- those who traipse through life as doves, always trusting and denying the existence of wolves.  (Just because I deny their existence does not mean they don't exist.) 

By way of interest, Mensa members and Nobel Prize Laureates are regarded by con artists as easier prey because their success and confidence give them a false sense of security.  Luminaries reason, "I'm smarter than everyone I know.  No one can dupe me."  And voila, just like that the credit default swapper (aka 'institutional pickpocket') distracts them with feigned awe, ignorance, brilliance or a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' that 'no one else sees,' pivots around their sense of imperviousness and takes them for all they're worth.

The remaining seven elements that shape influence include Affiliation (e.g., my mafia or gang membership gets me a good table on Friday night), Coercion (if you don't do what I say, I'm the type who will beat you about the head and shoulders with this bat), Competition (the pizza only has 8 slices and every piece I eat is one less for you, aka 'zero sum'), Expertise (I'm the doctor and what I say goes), Guilt (for as long as you disobey, you're in my doghouse), Information (I have the data and I lord it over you) and Reward (if you play nice, I'll give you a cookie).  No doubt, these seven elements have a lot to do with principles but, essentially, many people are 'wired' a certain way...nature, nurture, or the combination of both have shaped their personhood like a river stone and we come to 'know them' as being this way.  (There is, of course, flexibility or redemption, but these are unquestionably bigger topics for another month!) 

Summarizing then, Trust & Influence operate circuitously, one reinforcing the other.

On your journey to make the world a better place, keep a third eye on your own behavior (how you are seen, perceived) and the behaviors of others, lest you over or underestimate them.  Some are wolves in sheep's clothing -- seeking to manipulate and take advantage under guises, ruses, masks and the covers of trust...while others, like Christ himself, are mistaken by many for lunatics or heretics when they come open-handed with nothing but goodwill.

In his bittersweet swan song, The Last Lecture, Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch shared countless pearls of wisdom about living and dying.  Ten months later, he died at the age of 48 from pancreatic cancer, but not before saying, "You have to decide if you're a Tigger or an Eeyore."

Every hour and minute of every day is difficult and tragic for someone somewhere.  I've touched briefly on the subject of grief over the years, but paraphrasing now Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, "What perspective does a WASPy, middle class, opportunity-fortunate American have?"  Perhaps very little...as little as a Princeton and Yale Law School graduate might have. 

A few statistics to set a baseline for 'perspective:'

1. 876,213 children were reported missing in the United States in 2000 (FBI National Crime Information Center).  Remarkably, the NCIC estimates that kidnappings comprise less than 2% of all violent crimes against juveniles reported to police.  This means that a lot worse is likely happening than we know.

2. In the summer of 1931, between 1 million and 4 million Chinese died in a flood. 

3. In 2004, approximately 230,000 innocents died in what is known as the Indian Ocean earthquake. 

4. An estimated 230,000 more died 35 days ago in Haiti. 

5. Between 1348 and 1350, 'The Black Death' pandemic killed an estimated 30-60% of Europe's population. 

The list of such atrocities, from those perpetrated upon the most innocent among us (children) by the most evil among us (ill and/or wicked adults) to natural disasters, is a long one.  For all intents and purposes, it might as well be infinite. 

As I glance through my last 155 blog entries, it appears that I've written about loss or death perhaps a dozen times.  Generally, I strive to encourage.  So why am I periodically moved to consider end-of-life issues, wisdom for my daughter, or matters as seemingly vainglorious as 'legacy?'

As someone who writes often and has for many years, writing becomes -- in retrospect -- a bit like a Rorschach inkblot...reflecting (obviously) one's thoughts and emotions.  The same is true for all of us, of course, though I doubt very seriously that busy people proofread, for the sake of comparison, archived emails as much as I do this blog.  What glutton would? 

I share these uncharacteristically personal and intimate thoughts for a reason.  Yes, there is a point.  I am going somewhere with this seemingly random stream of consciousness...hang in there. 

This has been a difficult week, but only temperately compared to the grievous losses sustained by two dear families who -- quite unexpectedly and most certainly prematurely -- watched as beloved individuals died in their arms.

The pain at 'ground zero' is always the greatest, fading more forgivingly as it ripples out and away from the epicenter like waves in a pond.  9/11...the loss of a child...a sibling...a parent...a friend...we all know loss too well, undoubtedly experiencing our own round in the ring and logically concluding this tour with the ultimate reckoning. 

While the sum of all losses occurring across the globe is unfathomable, unimaginable, incomprehensible...we each have our very personal and proximate narrative of loss.  As budding storytellers in grammar school, we are educated to start with something smallish: a child is born, a boy hurts his knee, a girl falls in love, a family seeks a better life.  And from such seeds, we extrapolate.  The story bounces along, characters come and go, things happen.  On the way, the reader is drawn in, drawn down, drawn up.  And perhaps at the conclusion thinks, "Wow.  That's me."  Or, "That's humankind." 

I cannot wrap my head around famine and disease in Africa.  But I can wrap my hand around the hand of Kiki, the seven-year-old boy in Haiti who emerged from the concrete eight days after the quake.  Or I can hug him, or pay for his medical attention, or feed him, or promise to pay for his education, or all of the above.

So rather than minimizing my own life experience because it is too WASPy, simply lamenting the woes of nearly 1 million U.S. children who are reported missing each year, or throwing my hands up in despair because I do not know how I can possibly help Africa...I should instead ask myself something manageable like, "Will I be an Eeyore or a Tigger?"

This mindset applies not only to the most important matters of life and death, but also to the routine and trivial: Will I whine when my pizza has too much tomato sauce?  Or when the man with the world's longest torso places himself before me in the movie theater?  Or when the parking slot closest to the entrance is 'stolen' by a spritelike teenager in a Porsche?

No, I shall not.

Eeyore would, but I will not. 

I may not be the archetypal Tigger that Pausch embodied, but I cannot, in good conscience, be an Eeyore.

Eeyores are over-populated already, and it would be a crime to enlarge their number.

My own take is this: We rarely know even at the end whether we released Boomerangs or Balloons throughout our life, but no matter.  Both were meant to fly.

Sometimes I aim high and throw hard -- and life reciprocates.  I give love, and love comes back.  I study and work hard, and the world opens her arms.  I discipline my child, and she thanks me later by living a life replete with joy and grace and contribution. 

But sometimes, no matter how high I aim or how hard I throw, there is no echo...no feedback.  Just silence.  Or tragedy I cannot understand.  The love I give...gone.  The sacrifice I make...gone.  The job, the purpose, the savings, the home, the child, the dream, the freedom, the country...gone.

Whether a flood, an earthquake, a plague, or an intimate casualty -- we can only comprehend so much.

But we must, and we shall.

And when we're gone, so will those behind us and those behind them.

Humankind is resilient and people, particularly Tiggers, are wired to move forward.  And the rest must be encouraged to rise to their feet, dust themselves off, and soldier on.  After all, we're not always Tiggers or always Eeyores -- these 'labels' are really just descriptions of behavior...so from time to time, we're one or the other.  You'd be amazed at how contagious Tiggerness is.  (Or Eeyoreness, for that matter.)  Such things are viral and communicable (like clapping, laughing, and crying), as has been proven anecdotally, empirically, and statistically more times than you might care to know.  

The majority of people are inclined to inquire, seek, and find that boomerang you threw into the fray all those years ago.  Or that balloon you released in the stillness of night, the one they eventually untangle from the tree halfway across the state.

So don't worry about what life will bring or doubt whether you can make a difference.  The last move, whether a boomerang or a ballon, is the same: let go. 

The ripple effects of your life are best recounted by those who succeed you, for they will tell your story personally just as I am generally. 

If you lived estimably, there will be those who remember.  Who will wish they could call you, hug you, see your smile.  And they will weep at their loss but rejoice in your life.

It's one of the greatest ironies in life's orchard: The fruit only ripens when you leave the grove.

So do the very best you can with all you've got for as long as you're given -- and embrace joyfully the realization that those behind you will indeed experience your harvest. 

The list is in.

Be sure to read the brief article on #1 SAS; it's a fascinating bounty of best practices. 

I stumbled across an interesting article in a recent European issue of Fortune that explores the dollar-value of corporate virtue and, in particular, trust.  Perhaps you'll find it interesting, too.

This morning I received a rather humorous email alleging, "A magazine recently ran a Dilbert Quotes contest, eliciting quotes about real-life Dilbert-type managers submitted by their employees.  Here are some of the best submissions from corporate America..."

Alleged Dilbert-Manager Quotes.pdf (99.48 kb)

We have to do a lot of this these days, don't we?

Squaring of the circle...

In our personal budgets, we must find ways to make 1+1=3.  Or 5.  Or 7.

In our organizations, not only must we find ways to  s t r e t c h  limited financial resources, but also to periodically work with square pegs currently functioning (or failing to) in round holes.

Regardless the hurdle, an ability to think outside the proverbial box is paramount. 

Sometimes, when I'm working with a group that's struggling to think outside the box -- or simply...creatively -- I'll pass out six toothpicks to each person and make this request:  "Using these 6 unbroken toothpicks, create 4 equilateral (equal sided) triangles."

For several minutes, most participants struggle.  They create pentagrams (!) and beaver dams, but they rarely create four equilateral triangles without great effort, rule-breaking, or toothpick snapping.  And almost always, there are gaps/voids and overlapping toothpicks.

But then, with the briefest guidance and in one fell swoop, they solve the riddle. 

All I have to say is, "Think three dimensionally."

And blammo...they make a pyramid.  A 4-sided structure comprised solely of equilateral triangles.

The problem, of course, lies in our 'mental constructs.'  Too often, we think 1 or 2 dimensionally.  We look at problems myopically or traditionally or quickly...failing to turn them over in our minds like rocks in a dryer. 

Maybe you've heard the maxim, "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten."

Hogwash.

It's worse than that.  This assumes a polyanna, static view of ecosystems and the world which, of course, is unrealistic.  The truth is much harsher: If you do what you've always done, you'll get run over by progress, eaten by competitors, or forgotten by history.

So, the next time you or your family or your organization face a seemingly intractable or 'unsolve-able' problem, think of the toothpicks.

If they (through the formation of Egypt's pyramid, one of humankind's most enduring structures) can remind us the value of creativity and innovation, then many of life's most daunting problems are half-solved.

After all, once the solving-scheme is organized, the rest is often a matter of time and sweat, not whether and if.

Solve on.

A dear friend wrote to me earlier this week describing the tragic and unrelated deaths of two teenage boys in his hometown, both of which occurred as the result of automobile accidents over the holidays.  A third teenager, a girl, lost her leg while trying to beat a train.

Yesterday, around 3pm, a precious 12-year-old boy lost his life in yet another automobile accident as he returned home from school, not 2 miles from here.

As my wife and I struggled last night to wrap our heads around such inexplicable, gut-wrenching, and unfathomable losses, we did all we know to do in such circumstances: pray.  What else can one do?  There is no consolation for such grief.  It simply is. 

While hot meals, attentiveness, big ears, hearts, and hugs may slightly mollify -- they are feeble attempts to do the impossible.  But we all do them anyway, because we know of no other substantive ways to help and because they are part of the acts of the human condition which accompany the grieving process.

We lost our own son on January 4, 2006 of complications from trisomy 18 but, however horrific this loss, we never heard Will laugh or cry, never saw him run or jump or fall in love.  To lose a child whom one has put to bed on countless nights, whose sweaty forehead one has kissed, whose warm hand one has squeezed on long walks...I cannot comprehend it.

As our little family visited Will's gravesite in the cold and blowing wind on Monday night, we said our prayers.

And in returning to the car, the tombstone of a 12-year-old boy caught my eye.  On it was inscribed the children's epitaph known as "I Am Not Here."  I leave you with it today, along with the gentle reminder: Life is short.  Tell those you love that you love them and make the most of every minute of every day.

Don't stand by my grave and weep,
For I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint of snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning, hush.
For I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circle flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand by my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

We make countless decisions each and every day...every hour...every minute.

And most decisions aren't that hard.  We go with our gut, we experience 'behavioral shorthand' and know how, for example, to wind our way to work each morning without even thinking about it or, in the case of tougher decisions, we think, we pray, we seek counsel. 

But you know as well as I do that some decisions are very, very difficult.  Unimaginably gut wrenching.  Consider the sort our President is wrestling with this very week.  Or the sort our Supreme Court wrestles with each and every day.  Or the sort a grieving adult-child faces as her dying parent is placed on life support. 

And some of these decisions are in the oven for months...for years.  Indeed, they are very long in the making.

To describe this protracted 'deciding,' I use the analogy Decision Hill.

The first segment of Decision Hill is the ascent.  This is the acknowledgment that a decision, generally a complex, multifaceted one (and often an emotional one or one that will have 'tentacles' affecting others or 'collateral effects' beyond our immediate imagination) needs to be made.  Consider a neophyte playing chess with a grandmaster or a naive child wandering alone in the dark.  Neither is fully aware of the errors of his/her ways, much less the unknown and potentially devastating consequences that might follow an initial, innocent, well-intentioned mis-step.  In fact, consider the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy...or the pre-strike intelligence the NSA possessed on terrorists before the horrors of 9/11 in NYC.  Neither of these examples represent one huge or glaringly obvious oversight on anyone's part so much as an incremental, microscopic accumulation of residue...of tiny error after tiny error which, in the particulate, seem invisible, yet in the aggregate, seem enormous.

The ascent takes a very, very long time.

We wrestle with complexities.  With our emotions.  With possible outcomes.  We recall the past, we look to the future, we strategize, we visualize moves and countermoves, we think of the people who will be affected by our choices, we fall to our knees, we seek others' counsel, we T-chart the pros and cons, we flip coins, we toss coins in fountains, we wander and wonder, we rule things in and rule things out, we sleep on it, we eliminate outliers and finally...finally...after the grueling and the slogging and the swinging and the fighting and the traversing many meters to the top...we arrive, crestfallen, at the apex of Decision Hill.

And we straddle the tippy-top of this mountain.  We feel its enormity beneath and around us.  We accept the hollowness within us.  We long for the connectedness and renewal around us.  And we stare into the fog and darkness and storm and wonder if the heavens are with us. 

And we decide.

In an instant.

After the weeks and months or even years that preceded, we finally, exultingly, make a choice.

And this choice brings us -- in that singular moment -- from our ascension...to the second segment of our climb...the tipping point.

The slow boil is now a gas.

And with the clarity that cuts through the night like a knife through warm butter, we turn our eyes finally and fully toward the future.

The angst of deciding is behind us.

And we feel luminescent.  And buoyant.  And human again.

The weights slip off our shoulders, the bodice around our chest is loosed, the vice around our mind is broken, the chains around our ankles and neck and wrists are shattered, and we fall forward toward our destiny.

Like the child awaking to a pure and powdery snow on Christmas morning, it is the dawning of a bright, shiny, wondrous, clean, perfect day.

And we fall face-down upon our sled, grab the handles with shaky hands, and are restored and renewed.  We are officially in segment three: the descent.

Beloved gravity will do the rest.  Slowly, crunching...then quickly, now skittering...we gather speed and momentum and inertia and velocity...and we arrive, startlingly soon, at the bottom of the hill and find ourselves rocketing toward our future, snow spraying up all around us, ice crystals stinging our cheeks, laughter peeling all around. 

And like the shirtless, sledgehammer-wielding strongman at the summer fair, we are ready to slam forward into all the tomorrows that stretch out before us.

I want to encourage you today: It will get easier.  There is a top.  There is another side.  Even -- especially -- in the darkest moments of the darkest hours of the darkest days of the darkest seasons -- light shines on.  It always will.  It always has.  That's the benevolent nature of light.  It travels effortlessly and ceaselessly and swiftly across the darkest regions of the known and unknown universe to warm your skin.

That's all there is to it. 

Your charge...indeed, the only toll for your journey is pure -- and simple:

Believe

and

Keep Moving Forward

God speed.

Before dinner tonight, I found myself in the very first Starbucks -- the one that started it all. 

Though I'd been once before, I noticed something this time that I failed to notice last time: no chairs.  No seating whatsoever.  It's Starbucks as we know it...but totally stripped down and unplugged.

It got me thinking about this distinction between simplicity and elaborateness (the opposite of simple is elaborateness, not complexity, as we often suppose).

We're all biased, of course, and my bias is this: simple is better.  It just is.  The best car I've ever driven, the best home I've ever lived in, the best clothes I've ever worn, the best friend I ever knew...they were all very straightforward and simple.  And I loved 'em that way.  Preferred them, in fact. 

Just like I loved this Starbucks. 

It lacked all those messy chairs, newspapers strewn on the floor, squatters hogging the best spaces in the place for hours on end with their computer cables running this way and that.

Instead, this tiny 28-year-old joint was full of an eclectic energy, eager buyers, photogs, and folks just happy to get in, get out, and get on their way, steaming cups in hand.

I accept that there are times we wanna flop down in a big cushy chair, but this original Starbucks reminds me that often, we overburden great ideas with unnecessary elaborateness...and lose the essence that made something special in the first place.

On November 11, 2009 PBS's Charlie Rose welcomed Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, followed by Malcolm Gladwell who discussed his latest collection of short stories, What the Dog Saw.

I know that so very many of you are interested in their writing -- so I just wanted to share an opportunity to see them interviewed.  (http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/962 and http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/510 respectively.)

In conducting research recently, I came across the writings of Hippocrates.  Though he is miscredited with the precise phrase, "First, do no harm," he did write about abstaining from harming others -- medically or otherwise.

I really enjoyed a few, select lines from the contemporary version of the Hippocratic Oath, and thought you might, too:

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know.  Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death.  If it is given me to save a life, all thanks.  But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty.  Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability.  My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

Adapted from the works of Hippocrates by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, 1964 

I apologize for being remiss these past three weeks and not posting -- I cling to my bias: If one doesn't have anything worth saying, remain silent.

Hopefully there's a pony in the pile today worth finding.

I had a recent client engagement that simply reminded me, "Most of what we value is free." 

Too often, organizations focus on the 'extrinsics' (the 'havings and holdings') and strive to motivate employees through pay, policies, and pavement.  You know, bigger checks, better procedures, larger cubes or offices, designated parking, etc.

Along the way, they sometimes lose site of 'meta-pay,' which is free.  The 'intrinsics' (the 'beings and feelings') that foster a sense of achievement, recognition, growth, respect, personal esteem, value, etc.

Interestingly, of course, extrinsics cost money and can become sinkholes.  How much is enough?  A key fob, a company jacket, a steak dinner..."What have you done for me lately?"

When the intrinsics fall by the wayside, people receive too few at-a-boys and arm hugs to realize how much they are appreciated.

This past week, solely because I passed a hallmark birthday, I've received way more than my deserved share of arm hugs and at-a-boys.  And like everyone, I beam. 

More than wrapped packages, what I'll remember -- and what we all remember -- are the feelings communicated and shared by those who care.

So to the extent you can, seek to be that employer -- and person -- who engenders a particularly authentic, selfless and magnetic feeling in others, one whereby they know how much they mean to you.

I was exhausted last night as I shuffled onto the plane in the dark amid the sleety rain in Michigan.

I shoved one bag under the seat in front of me, another above me, and gingerly took my seat where I slept like a tranquilized boar for two hours.

When I awoke, I had a pleasant conversation with the young man beside me -- Brian.  Brian is around 30 and works at Sewell.  Begun in 1911, Sewell is a very values-based car company, "And we really believe in it.  For us, it's not just talk."  We visited for over an hour and, somewhere along the way, quite nonchalantly, Brian commented, "I have brain cancer.  See this scar?"  (It ran from ear to ear, across the top of his fuzzy skull, and was easily 3/4" wide and almost 3/8" deep.)  "I've finished seven weeks of radiation and now I'm in chemotherapy."

"Wow.  And you're working?  And travelling?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah.  What else am I gonna do?  I'm tired all the time, sure, but we gotta keep moving forward, right?  Plus, we just had a huge meeting in Detroit with GM."

"What's your prognosis, Brian, if you don't mind my asking."

"That's God's call, not mine.  I can only do what the doctors suggest.  After that, it's out of our hands."

It is indeed, Brian; it is indeed.

As we parted ways, he shook my hand.  "It was nice visiting with you, Blake."

"You, too, Brian.  You, too."

And with that, I watched him stride toward the front of the plane.  Along the way, he helped a businesswoman remove her very heavy bag from the overhead bin.  She was jabbering away on her cell phone, complaining to someone back in her office, "I simply will not work for that amount of money.  You can tell him I said so."  She never made eye contact with Brian and didn't say a word to him.  Not even a 'thanks.'  But he smiled and kept moving forward.   

As if the billions who preceded us are insufficient signposts, God repeatedly sends emissaries carrying more 'perspective' our way.   

No one promised you another day.  Make this one count. 

Oh, and another thing.  A couple personal favors, really.  One, remember to say "Please" and "Thank you."  It's just mannerly, okay?  And two, stay off the phone when you're in confined spaces.  We didn't call you and, frankly, we'd rather avoid the assault.

I noticed the Michael Jackson autopsy the other day.

You know what my impression was?  How small we are.

In the end, we simply leave these husks that we occupied for so long...and in the case of Mr. Jackson, we are reduced to an accounting of scars, tattoos, chemicals, and sundry measures. 

136 pounds.  Can you imagine?  So tiny. 

If we're not careful, we can make too much of ourselves, no?  Sure, the Jackson estate will generate $100,000,000 in new revenue in the next 12 months...but the progenitor is gone. 

Throughout the course of our lives, we are this, that, and the other thing.  We may build fortresses, armaments, or empires.  But in the end, it's all just rubble held together by water and sand.

This past weekend, our precious daughter drew two pictures, the first a toothy chipmunk, the latter a trumpeting elephant.  Despite my bias, each is irrefutably adorable: Chipmunk&Elephant.pdf (71.63 kb)

Let's make a pact: We shall not take ourselves too seriously, however serious our work.

After all, we're just moms and dads and kids and nephews and sisters-in-law and whatever.  We may dedicate ourselves to great causes, or hope to leave legacies for our children, or aspire to contribute something timeless...or to make a mark, leave a dent, achieve. 

But while Billie Jean will echo through time, as we all hope to, it's just notes in the wind. 

Here today, faded tomorrow.

Make the moments -- every single one of them borrowed -- the very best you can.

The announcement by GM yesterday that, in effect, "Saturn is dead" is a tough, tough blow for many.  Not just employees and their families, but customers and so many others who developed an affinity for the little-brand-that-tried-but-just-couldn't.

I remember all too well studying Saturn in 1988 as a Case Study.  Just three years old then, it held so much promise: to be union free, to be collaborative, to be lean, to offer no-haggle pricing.

It really did aspire to be different and to survive outside the GM solar system.  But in the end, it proved to be entirely unprofitable.  It was mostly "all show, but no go."  The hype proved incongruent to the product.

The many reasons for its demise are clear to anyone who's been paying attention, but I'm certain GM's Saturn will be as infamous a Case Study as Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol.

My focus for today, therefore, is hardly to flog such a valiant effort on a ruthless industry battlefield.  (It'd be akin to picking on an airline, where survival is victory.)  After all, there are far too many cynics and observers who host rock-throwing parties in glass houses. 

No, instead, I simply wish to remind you that you are not the sum of your employment.  Not at all.

For the many who remain unemployed this day, or who will be in short order -- be it from Saturn or wherever else -- you are much more than your employment.

You are a human being, potential incarnate, and I lift you up today.

Keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Remember, it's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how many times you stand up.

As Bruce Lee used to say, "Walk on."

Well, this is a neat idea!

Mike Gathright, a professional acquaintance, is now 8 months into a yearlong (or more, or less) sabbatical that involves traveling around the world with his family.

The photos are beautiful and the gang looks happy.  What a fun trip, especially during these times.

Let us live, albeit briefly and vicariously, through his amazing photo album and blog at www.3amtraveling.blogspot.com

We all -- each and every single one of us -- present.

Just as we all sell and negotiate each and every day.  Life is one long dialogue about what to do, with whom, and in the context of finite resources...be they time, money, attention, energy, effort, etc.

When I am asked for recommendations on Presentation Skills, I always recommend http://www.presentationzen.com/. 

And I do so again today.

Presentation Zen is a crisp, clean, clear blog rife with countless book recommendations, videos, checklists, and other wonderful resources.

Enjoy and, if it benefits you, please share it with others.

I usually restrain myself from sharing recommendations pocked with four letter words, the second of which is the only vowel.

But I stumbled across http://gapingvoid.com/books/ last week, bought the book at B&N, and read it last night.

It's hilarious and, though sometimes blue, full of great career advice for the 'creative thinker' or 'entrepreneur.'

i.e., You.

I spoke with the kindest man last week.  Mid-sixties.

Regarding his vocation, he commented, "I have finally found my sandbox."  And his eyes twinkled and his grin beamed.

Wow, yes.  Our sandbox...  That which we are called to do.

Remember..."vocation" -- from the Latin "vocāre" -- to be called.

May we each find our sandbox and, ideally, before the final straightaway of life's run.

I think this is really inspiring, beautiful, haunting, heartbreaking, overwhelming, and personally convicting: http://emichrysalis.co.uk/players/sigurros/unicef_photostream/ 

Count your blessings, pray, and work tirelessly each and every day to make this world a more tolerable place.

-------------- 

Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

Mark 10:28-31

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

595,000 small businesses closed in 2008.¹

2,500,000 jobs were lost within small businesses in 2008.²

Americans' net worth increased $2 Trillion in Q2 2009 due to increasing stock prices.³

And Southwest Airlines has announced they are discontinuing lemons.  Literally.  No more lemons in any in-flight drinks.  This will save them approximately $100,000 in the next twelve months.⁴   (I remember American Airlines removed one olive from every first-class salad...way back in the 90s...and it saved them $42,000/year.)   

As has been the case for a year-and-a-half, there continues to be sobering news, the periodic ray of hope, and examples that show the macro-consequences of micro-movements.

^1&2Source: Small Business Administration

^3&4Source: ABC News

It's been raining for days in North Texas.  We get rain here, but rarely like this.  Everything feels cool to the touch, moist, and downright soggy, from my shoes in the closet to the oversaturated yards across the street.

One of the interesting byproducts of such rain is the mushrooms.  They are growing everywhere.  Here are a few from our neighbor's house:

The mushrooms remind me of a story.  Several years ago, I found myself a thousand feet below the earth's surface, working with colleagues and interviewing several miners about their employer.  I asked an innocent question: "How clear is your organization's vision?" 

"Wow," a miner shouted back, standing knee-deep in an echoey ink-black cave...water dripping from the 'ceiling,' his headlight beaming me in the eyes, "that's a joke, right?  They treat us like mushrooms around here."

"Mushrooms?" I asked.  "What do you mean, 'mushrooms?'"

"They keep us in the dark and feed us sh_t."

"Ah, mushrooms.  Got it."

And away he picked.

Note to self and all leaders: Do not treat people like mushrooms. 

Fertilize, cultivate, and nurture people, yes.  But equally important, communicate, give 'em plenty of air, and let the light shine in.

On last night's SHARKtank, an entrepreneur named "Cactus Jack" (aka Jack Barringer from Ames, Iowa) pitched his "push-up machine."  (See 'Week 5, Episode 105.')

Nothing revelatory about the device, of course.

But he made a comment that I've heard in less memorable ways.  As he put it, "The one lesson my daddy taught me that I still remember: 'You can trade hours for dollars or ideas for millions.'"

You go, C.J.  Move those machines.

The world, of course, only goes 'round via both.  We need brain surgeons to create new ideas, but we also need brain surgeons to operate.  The equation doesn't work without a numerator and a denominator.

But I got a real kick out of Cactus, and I thought you might, too.

Yesterday, Blockbuster announced they're likely to close 20% of their stores...approximately 960 in total.

They intend to install 10,000 kiosks (like Redbox) around the country.

Call me an idiot, but I think this is one of the worst ideas I've heard in recent memory.

If one wanted to revolutionize transportation at the turn of the 20th Century but insisted on keeping the horse...Henry Ford and countless others would have kept us in the stone age.  But no, they realized there was a better way.  And it wasn't ponies.

Kiosks are more of the same.

Hulu, Netflix, even public libraries understand this.  Now that's saying something.

The answer, Blockbuster, is not to perpetuate infrastructure.  After all, Redbox already has over 15,000 kiosks.  Why try to out-amazon Amazon or out-wal-mart Wal-Mart?  No, no, no.  That isn't the way forward.

The way forward is to envision where the market is GOING and then BE THERE when it arrives.

Think online, download, cloud computing, Kindle, iPhone apps...anything, please, other than more 'boxes on streetcorners.'

We don't need a better record, 8-track, cassette, or dvd.  Au contraire.  What we need is a more seamless, frictionless, infrastructure-lite pull-thru delivery paradigm that keeps us coming back for more...without getting out of the car, swiping a credit card, or carrying a box to and fro.

What we need is what the FTP was to the five-and-a-quarter-inch floppy.

Bring it.  Please.  And then some.

Here's a fun article about Gen-Y and reading (or not) non-verbals. 

Gen-Y Johnny.pdf (168.09 kb)

Someone I respect shared it with me and, so, I share it with you.  Also because it references the late, great Ed Hall, one of America's premier anthropologists.

Enjoy.

At long last, I have finally escaped from and exorcised the 770 pages of Cheever: A Life by biographer Blake Bailey (based upon Cheever's 4,300 page journal which spanned multiple volumes and nearly five decades of reflection).¹

Upon completing the 1977 manuscript of what would become his most successful novel, Falconer, Cheever wrote, "I think the work is successful and that I may be rich and famous.  I claim not to care.  I can always scythe my fields and walk in the streets.  It is the strangeness of this excitement that I must examine.  Why should it seem so strange to succeed?  I do not mean pride or hubris.  I mean only to have solved most of my problems and to have exploited, to the best of my intelligence, my raw materials."

We should all be so lucky as to find use for our raw materials.

And yet, although Cheever did indeed achieve sobriety in his final years, "Rarely has a gifted and creative life seemed sadder," wrote peer John Updike after the publishing of The Journals of John Cheever, nine years after Cheever's death.

Cheever's 'lostness' for so long, coupled with the interpersonal destruction that accompanied his alcoholism is staggering. 

A Cheever friend reflected, "He was extraordinarily blessed by anyone's standards -- fame, wealth, a wonderful wife, great kids who did him proud and loved him, a long and highly successful career, talent, friends, on and on -- but he liked to say all he had in life was an old dog.  There was his despair.  And then there was his inability to comprehend the despair and self-negation he inflicted on others."

Having been consumed by Bailey's authorized biography in the nooks and crannies of many plane flights and otherwise wasted moments in boarding areas, I have completed the book with much relief.  Cheever's is a difficult life to inhabit, even temporarily and only intellectually and from beyond the veils of time and space.  His was a life in which brilliance was tempered and metered by such depression, addiction, and self-destructive narcissim that one cannot help but wonder, "What if?"

Posthmously, Cheever was described by Dave Eggers as "some kind of freakish winged book-writing angel beast."  Undoubtedly, his writing was periodically otherworldly and often breathtaking.

Yet his life serves, in my opinion, more as a cautionary tale than something to be desired or envied. 

After all, at what cost giftedness?

¹See August 10, 2009 entry.

I’m on an airplane now, straddling three cities in two days, and just wanted to share a few thoughts before they broke free like so many logs trapped in a tide pool.

In the early 90s, I had the great fortune to serve as one of several facilitators for a War Game hosted by Kodak in New York.  In attendance were executives from Hallmark, Wal-Mart, Apple, Sandia National Laboratories and, of course, Kodak.  Former PepsiCo CEO (then Apple CEO) John Sculley was there, along with other key industry leaders and thinkers. 

The topic was futuring, and I remember like it was yesterday – the CEO of Kodak stood before this group of eighty luminaries and commented, almost offhandedly, “I can’t envision the day when consumers won’t want to hold a photograph in their hands.”

Ooops.

I was stupefied.  Even little ‘ol me could see how wrongheaded this was, and I was a green outsider with nary three years’ experience.  Granted, the digital era was just upon us – cell phones were still the size of shoe boxes and Polaroid photos were cool at parties, but nonetheless, the outlines of the future were clear enough – hence, the War Game.

Fast-forward a decade.

Down from 57,000 to 10,000 employees or so – with the photography market primarily digitized now – Kodak failed to realize they were in the ‘memories’ business.  They mistakenly believed they were in the ‘photograph’ business.  The 2009 demise of Kodachrome color film (a seventy-four year success) is representative of their tragic and disappointing fall.

And the Ray-Ban that was once owned by Bausch & Lomb failed to realize they were in the ‘fashion’ business, mistakenly believing they were in the ‘highly engineered eyewear’ business.  That’s why today, the Ray-Ban we all grew up with is now owned by Italian behemoth, Luxottica.  (Oakley and the like cleaned RB’s clock in the late 90s and Luxottica gobbled up B&L’s namesake for a song.  But hey, maybe that’s okay; it’s easier to profit from salt-water solutions than try and manage unnecessarily complex, multinational eyewear manufacturing sites.)  To add insult to injury, Luxottica has now purchased Oakley, too, making the Italian manufacturer the largest eyewear company in the world.   

By the way, Avon and Mary Kay are not in the ‘cosmetics’ business, they are in the ‘hope’ business.  As long as they remember this, all the better. 

I see at the magazine stand the latest Fast Company issue noting that Nokia (who entirely upended Motorola by providing digital phones when analog was all the rage) is realizing they should be a ‘media’ company, not a cellular phone manufacturer.

Bingo.  Welcome to the epiphany, guys.  Enjoy competing with Apple, who realized this long ago.  And with NBC/Universal/Hulu and Google and Microsoft/Yahoo! and so many others who also populate the field.  It will be tough slogging for all players.  But it’s a game worth playing and one that must be played in order to survive.

I wonder who – which company – ‘known’ or ‘unknown’ will upend the media market for the next decade....

There are few, if any sanctuaries from the battles; no tide pools for organizations who want a breather.

So on and on it goes – organizations realizing more and more what business they should be in, or actually are in.

I wonder where Amtrak would be if, decades ago, they had thought to be in the ‘transportation’ business rather than the ‘railroad’ business.   

Whether you are the Girl Scouts of America, the University of Michigan, NASCAR, or the Catholic Church – you better know what ‘business’ you’re in¹.  What do you produce?  Whom do you serve?  What do you provide?  What (gag me with a spoon) is your ‘value proposition?’ 

Whether we like the jargon or not, we avoid the question(s) at our own peril.

(And don’t bother being the world’s best buggy-whip maker.  That market’s taken, and it’s a limited one.)

So how shall you proceed?

As usual, start with the simplest question: “If we went away, who loses what?”

Whether your organization is a synagogue, a national park, or the world’s best widget manufacturer, all must ‘serve some purpose’ and ‘answer some calling’ and ‘provide some value.’   Consider the market, unmet or unarticulated consumer/client/customer needs, and what benefit(s) you can provide in effective, efficient, unique, meaningful, or advantageously sustainable ways.

Because remember, the day will come when people won’t need to hold a photograph in their hands and, when it does, it’d be nice to know you’re still in the picture.

¹Relax – I don’t mean this ‘literally’ as in – “Business” with a capital B and ‘for profit’ and all that.  I just mean – know what you’re doing and why and for whom.

Strolling thru Barnes & Noble the other day with my wife and daughter, I stumbled across a biography by Blake Bailey entitled Cheever: A Life.  Reading the jacket, I bought the 770-pages brick and am consumed by it in the margins of night time and pre-flight checks.

John Cheever, the highly acclaimed and prolific author of Falconer, The Wapshot Chronicle, and dozens of The New Yorker short stories was one miserable soul.  He said it himself, and I agree.

I’m in 'Chapter 1960' (he lived from 1912 to 1982), and his life remains a dark, overcast sky of alcoholism, loneliness, identity confusion, and depression.

It is heart wrenching yet engrossing to read as he fights, fails, and rises again, only to be consumed by disparaging thoughts, self-doubt, worry, feelings of inadequacy, and so much more.  His life is a proverbial yo-yo caught in the downward position.

I remain hopeful that – as his alcoholism lifts – the clouds may part. 

But I am doubtful; the omens indicate otherwise and I suspect that my hopefulness for him will be dashed by reality.

But I will learn nonetheless and, perhaps, come to appreciate all the more what so many of us take for granted.  Namely, a belief that many if not all things work for good, that tomorrow might be better than yesterday and that, as Viktor Frankl wrote, there is meaningfulness in hope itself.

Don't say I never gave you anything practical!

Attached is a great checklist from a dear friend, itemizing the various items he often takes when traveling overseas.

Surely your list is unique, but who knows, maybe this one will come in handy some day.

List of Ancillary Items to Pack for International Trips.pdf (161.72 kb)

It appears this week that many, many friends, colleagues, and clients are on vacation.

Outstanding -- it's late Summer, and this is as it should be.

But if you know me, you know I love words, and this morning I was thinking about two, in particular: Vacation and Vocation.

(My minor musings may not necessarily interest or inform, but I'll share them nonetheless.  Heck, we're here.)

The root of Vacation is vacāre, which literally means, to empty.

And the root of Vocation is vocāre, which literally means, to call. 

Sometimes, if we are exceedingly fortunate and blessed, our profession/vocation/career is the same as our calling.  (You know, we're doing what we were designed and called to do, as opposed to 'doing this or that in the interim while going to school and then searching for a j-o-b.')  Pinch yourself if you get to, as one client recently said, "Spend the rest of my career here and be happy with that."

But for the sake of balance, be sure to periodically 'empty yourself.'  Emotionally, physically, labor-wise.  Forget things, lay things down, set things aside... release and let go.

We all need 'fresh perspectives' and the opportunity to get away, clear our head, recharge, and get in touch with who we are, who we've become, where we're going, what it's all for, and to reconnect with those intimates around us -- close family and great friends.

To be called, then to empty. 

A natural rhythm in life that must be heeded if we are to be intra- and inter-personally healthy.

Enjoy the kayaking, the hiking, the cycling, the swimming, the skiing, the camping, the riding, the driving, the flying, the sleeping in, the standing still, the breathing deeply -- the 'whatever' that may call you away in the near future. 

We'll see you when you get back.

Wisdom is an interesting thing.  Technically (etymologically), it is the confluence of knowledge (generally acquired thru experience), discernment (or prudence) and, as Hippocrates wrote, "self-control."

I spoke with a woman today who commented, "Sometimes things are better left unsaid."  Boy, is that a hard-learned lesson. 

Too often, in people's attempts to be honest, transparent, forthright, thorough, complete, accurate -- whatever -- they come across as hurtful or graceless or abrasive.

If there's one thing deficient in this little world of ours, it's forgiveness.  I have found the most sustainable relationships have, at their core, an abundance of 'benefit of the doubt' and 'trust' and 'forgiveness.'  As one dear mentor once said to me, "Trust is the lubrication of all good relationships.  Without it, there is much friction, irritation, burning, and pain." 

Indeed.

So, as much as you can be -- being fallible and human yet tolerant and gracious along the way -- be wise.

And relish those around you who strive to do the same.  Just as a tiny drop of food coloring can transform a large body of liquid, so too do wisdom and grace transform relationships.

Having described Grand Canyon & Grey Towers and a great haunt in Toledo, I'll conclude this 'photo album' trilogy (!) with one final entry: The Great Wall of China. 

All I can say is, it's a 50° grade in some places (compared to a standard U.S. grade-range for stairs of around 38° to 39°), it's visible from -- well, not quite space -- but far, because it's so large as to be practically unfathomable and, equally important, it's hot as Hades but more humid.

As always, for the interested, here is a photo album with brief captions.  The attachment concludes with a few organizationally relevant thoughts regarding vision, potential, and the like.  Remember, be patient as the file loads, it is somewhat large: GreatWall_WisdomFromTheSchoolOfHardKnocks_photos_July2006.pdf (1.36 mb)

I'm a sucker for great, small, fun, authentic... 'dives and diners.'  Packo's isn't necessarily either, but it's close.  It's smallish, high-energy, and serves a real gut-busting dog 'n chili mac.  But more importantly, it's a great example of a small, thriving, third-generation family-owned business. 

Every time I go there, the line is practically to the door, whether it's 11am, 1pm, or evening.  The food is simple quality, the service is great, the faces are friendly, and the 'barkers' keep the line moving.  (Simple behaviors, and ones that any organization would do well to demonstrate.) 

Enjoy the food and, as importantly, take a moment to appreciate how Packo's markets itself with clever ideas -- from hundreds of autographed hot dog buns to celebrity photos and a thriving little store... all in this unassuming joint by the river.

And just one more thing, don't forget the Tums.  The place ain't known for salads and tofu. 

In the past couple weeks, having sprinted from working with groups in the Department of Interior to the Department of Agriculture, I can't help but be awestruck by the tirelessness and commitment with which their employees and leaders serve.  They are literally 'on the ground' each and every day, year after year, decade after decade -- preserving America's greatest natural resources and interacting with and educating the public.  

Grand Canyon, of course, makes nearly any short list of "world's greatest natural wonders," but I have absolutely got to share how phenomenal and breathtaking the less-well-known Grey Towers is.  A 'summer cottage' for Gifford Pinchot, the Pinchot Institute at Grey Towers (the residence itself) covers a sprawling 105 acres and rambles pastorally across gorgeous hills in Milford, PA at the juncture of New York and New Jersey.   

It would require pages and pages and more energy than I possess to describe the experience of spending five days at Grey Towers working with some of the greatest thinkers and doers in the natural resources arena, so I'll suggest instead that you research Gifford Pinchot himself, his amazing wife Cornelia, read about the infamous Fingerbowl and, most importantly, if you ever find yourself in that neck of the woods, take the tour of the estate with your family.  The Grey Towers website has videos and podcasts about the Pinchot family legacy, and one cannot immerse him or herself in it without coming out the other side feeling... humbled and motivated.   

There is much great work to be done in the world, and it's individuals like the Pinchots and the often anonymous federal employees who extend their work and add anew who inspire us all.  

Research-on and, for the interested, 21 photos with brief captions.  Be patient while it loads, the file is relatively large: GrandCanyon&GreyTowers_photos_July2009.pdf (5.50 mb)

I recently watched Nothing But the Truth with Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda, Matt Dillon, David Schwimmer, Angela Bassett, and Noah Wyle. 

Movie synopsis: "In Washington, D.C., a female reporter faces a possible jail sentence for outing a CIA agent and refusing to reveal her source."  I won't give any of the plot twists away; I just wanted to share this great quote:

"Great people are inseparable from their principles."

And they then trotted out a few examples... MLK, Gandhi, Christ...

It was a stellar movie, very under-the-radar. 

And I just love that line, because to the extent we are blessed enough to come across people who are really committed to their principles, despite the cost(s), faith is buoyed.

With the recent celebration of our 16th wedding anniversary, followed immediately by the occurrence of Father's Day, I have a whole wallet stuffed with Barnes & Noble gift cards.  One of the 'givers' inquired, "What did you buy?"

In response to her, and a client this morning who asked, "What are you 'bedside reading' these days?" I offer this brief defense.

The table is spilling over with magazines: The Week, Inc., and Time -- to stay abreast of 'the serious issues.'  And I've got a couple issues of Entertainment Weekly, for those moments before take-off when my mind wants empty calories rather than world events.  There are undoubtedly moments when I cannot bear to read 'heavy stuff.'

I also purchased an assortment of interesting books, a couple new ones and a classic.  A Different Life by Quinn Bradlee looks promising.  A young man with VCFS who has memoir'ed his journey as a learning-disabled student, son, and friend.  I love the dedication page, "To my mom -- my archangel, and my father, who is my sword and shield."  We should only be so appreciated.  Losing Mum and Pup by Christopher Buckley, about his inimitable parents and their respective deaths in 2007-2008.  A loving tribute from a complicated son.  All the King's Men by Pulitzer Prize winner, Robert Penn Warren.  A classic, and more timely than ever, even 63 years later.  Finally, I've got an Idiot's Guide to Latin beside the bed because it has always fascinated me and I don't want my brain jell-o-ing to mush.  To keep a muscle, you gotta use it!

It'd be nice to be one of those folks who grows younger as he grows older (more curious, more free, more fun), rather than the other way around (less curious, less free, less fun)!  (Sort of a Benjamin Button, if you will, minus the drool and diapers at each life-endpoint.)

Keep the recommendations coming; I'll read all I can.  As a great mentor, Carveth Kramer, once said to me, "Leaders are readers" or, at least, they should be. 

Among several others, I had a couple of specific, very interesting conversations in the past week (one with a CEO, the other with a researcher) that I thought I would pass along today.  In both, the opportunities and challenges associated with innovation and commoditization arose.

These visits were unrelated to one another, and days apart.  But in both sittings, I was told, "It's important for an organization to innovate more quickly than it is consumed from behind by its own commoditization."

I just love that.

We've all heard this sentiment for years, but rarely so pithily.  It is all the more important today, in this economy, as the desperate, shortsighted, or lazy are inclined to simply mimic whatever is working.  I believe the evidence is everywhere... from car manufacturing to failed credit default swaps.  Easy 'initial money,' when predicated on a sandy foundation of mimicry and commoditization cannot survive the stresses of change, diluted profits, or shifting consumer desires.

Here's to a more innovative America, and world.

Create on!   

As is often the case, I notice things when they happen in 'threes.'  Sometimes, perhaps rarely, I'm quick enough on the uptake to notice things in isolation, but more infrequently than I care to admit, even to myself.

This past week, I spoke with and coached a few folks who were frustrated with what we might call 'taking behaviors.'  Specifically, people with whom they were frustrated because the relationships were lopsided: my 'coachees' were GIVING and the 'wrongdoers' were TAKING.  You know the drill; we've all been perpetrators and victims in the same circuit.

Such is the human condition; always has been -- always will be.  Don't mean to be a fatalist, just a realist.

That said, I've always most admired The Invisible Man.  Not the cheesy-movie one, but the real man (or woman).  You know, the unassuming type, like Clark Kent, whom we later learn is really super.  Or the quiet one in the back row, whom we later learn is illuminatingly bright.  Or the awkward and seemingly powerless one, whom we later learn is a mogul's son and thrice-over gazillionaire eyeball-deep in curing cancer. 

I share these thoughts, not because anyone need be super, smart, or rich in order to be worthwhile (quite the contrary, I postulate), but because there is something to be said for not placing oneself onto every stage.

But moreover, I believe, because the legacy of Takers -- whether others' time, attention, credit, or sundry finite resources -- is one of emptiness.  I have been to many a funeral, and the Taker's is the least attended.

Better to be humble in life, listening to and encouraging others and supporting them behind the scenes, than to gluttonously devour the entire banquet table for oneself.

Give me the Givers, please, though we should all give regardless.

While checking email recently, a link popped-up with a few interesting workplace articles from the writers at Career Builder.  They're worthwhile and, given their locations, transient, so -- if you intend to read them, do it quickly.

Here are three of the best:

How Toxic Behavior Leads to Sinful Behavior at Work

10 Worst Work Habits

10 Worst Things to Say in the Workplace

For the last two nights, this 211-pages-page-turner absolutely possessed me.  The [not-long-but] short of it is this: after four years at Princeton, and just prior to attending Oxford on scholarship, author Walter Kirn gets pneumonia while visiting his parents.  Late one night he notices, for practically the first time, a few classics in his mother’s bookshelves.  From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to Great Expectations, he becomes engrossed and reads them, really reads them, for the first time in his life.

Setting his pretenses down – the ones he honed to enter and survive Princeton – he says, in the final lines of Lost, “And so, belatedly, haltingly, accidentally, and quite implausibly and incredibly, it began at last: my education.  I wanted [for the first time in my inauthentic life] to find out what others thought.”

Like ants in a mound, we all sense the vibrations of impending change.

In particular, I am feeling in my bones, perhaps for the first time ever, bona fide (sorry for the pun) traction in the Green Movement.  Similarly, I also sense the early tremors of a tectonic shift in Workplace Expectations in smaller, more nimble organizations.

The minority of "crackpots" are now becoming the mainstream, and with them... the trains are beginning to steam-up, rumble, and leave their respective stations.  The 'get on board' or 'get left behind' decision-point is now becoming less theoretical and more tangible.

On the topic of the green movement, the media is dripping with books like The World Without Us, The Earth After Us, and The Last Human and 'thought-experiment-documentaries' like Life After People are springing up through the cracks of every sidewalk.  Long overdue regulatory emissions and fuel economy standards have just passed, and now more and more grocery stores are charging a tax for consumers who use paper or plastic sacks at checkout.  (Even Michael Moore has joined the proverbial greenpeace parade, with his latest entreaty on what should be created in the wake of GM's bankruptcy.  GoodbyeGM,MichaelMoore.pdf (15.29 kb))

On the topic of shifting workplace expectations, there is a trove of research -- two decades old now -- that has tracked and highlighted and forecasted all the varying expectations between 'generations' in the workplace.  Given the recession and an average 40% loss in wealth among those with retirement plans, the 'social contract' between employees and employers is under assault and will result in a renegotiation of what truly matters.

I am running into more and more people, often in their sixties and seventies, who spent some fifty years away from their families to create a nest egg which barely remains.  "Why?" is pretty much all they can ask.  The 'deal' they made with the devil was a house of cards and, as the economy melts down, much of their 'earthly treasure' has become tragically diluted.

For all the parents who worked tirelessly, barely seeing their spouse or children in the mornings or evenings or on weekends, "why?" indeed.  The then-logical, selfless, and sacrificial decision by these millions to create income as a means to secure financial and familial stability has been wholly undermined by a few reckless risk-takers in the most opulent buildings in NYC.

As a result of coming to terms with 'the casino sets the rules,' more and more employees are accepting that 'the house always wins.'  And so, as Wall Street lands on featherbeds of bailout dollars and safety nets while Main Street shutters its windows and closes too many doors, individuals are taking stock and starting to reclaim what they can -- their lives -- for the benefit of their families and the sake of their own sanity.

I witnessed it just last night on Charlie Rose as he interviewed Claire Shipman and Katty Kay about their new book, Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success.  In it, many startling admissions that, hitherto, would have been blasphemous.  But in the harsh sunlight of 2009, many people will say, "Of course."  Read it and decide for yourself, but I predict it will be one of a raft of such books to follow in coming months.  Books about owning reality, speaking truth, and reclaiming one's life on her or his own terms.

I am also hearing and reading more and more about such things as ROWE, Results-Only Work Environment as espoused by CultureRx and embraced by clients like BestBuy.  This is a trend I have seen coming for years, and it goes hand-in-hand with expectations held by many Generation X-ers, Y-ers, and Millennials (20-somethings).  Few within these generations will agree to be chained to a desk, tracked or monitored to within an inch of their life, or to serve as a cog within a large, cold machine.  Most of them will commit to accomplish results and be accountable, but not in exchange for balance, community, or altruism.  And most of them studied George Orwell's 1984 as required reading somewhere in high school. 

With all implosions and explosions, there is debris and fallout.  And following forest fires, be they accidental or prescribed, there is regeneration and new life.  New growth is the 'creative' that follows 'destruction.'  What will the Recession of 2009+ yield?  Only time will tell, but if the hairs on my arm are any indication, Bob Dylan's line was spot-on: the answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind.  People are questioning. 

As is the case every hundred years or so, this will likely prove to be a season, nothing more.  In time, the pendulum has a tendency to swing back.

But it is also possible that rather than a Season, we are dealing with a Genie or Pandora.  And they, once out of the bottle, lamp, or box, prefer to stay out.

Either way, I'm sure the questions and changes are welcome.  The way we worked throughout the Industrial Revolution is neither sustainable nor compatible with what is coming. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, with new and fervent questions come better answers.  And this, in the words of the "venerable" Martha Stewart, is a good thing. 

"The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them."

                                                                                                - Albert Einstein

Once upon a time, in an organization far, far away, I coached a young man who sniffed, "I don't read management books, because they're what everyone is reading.  I read other stuff, so I have something unique to say." 

"I understand your rationale," I replied, "but that's equivalent to saying, 'I don't speak English, because everyone's speaking English.  Instead, I speak Gomatan¹.'  What I suggest you do is read both.  Read the drop-kicks... Drucker, Peters, Covey, Senge, Collins, Katzenbach and all the rest, and also read as much -- or more if you wish -- that is outside the norm.  This way, you'll have the foundation everyone else has, but the added probability of being able to contribute a unique perspective every once in a while that dislodges groupthink."

I know that management books can sometimes feel quite pedestrian; that's a bit of what this young man was saying, but he was also exhibiting a scintilla of elitism, inferring that 'all the rest of the cattle can read -- sniff, sniff -- management books, but I'm going to read Literature.'  (Thankfully, every once in a while, really stellar 'management' books arrive, like Outliers and Made to Stick.) 

Alan Weisman's The World Without Us is no management book, but it is a book about sustainability, impact, legacy, systems theory and, as much as all these, it's flat-out fun. 

It's a thought experiment, nothing more.  And how.

Your mind will whir, some cogs will click, and all manner of ideas and implications will flutter through your mind.

It's deftly written, hums along quickly, and packs a periodic punch.  It will perhaps require a few sittings because it's quite dense, but it's a great guilty pleasure.

Try it, if you like.  It's not a management book in any pure sense, but that's precisely the point, isn't it?

¹Save yourself the googling, it's an invented-here language.

Jim Collins' (or, ahem, Collins's, if I am to be contemporarily correct) reputation is beyond reproach, but I must say, his tendency to convert what should rightly be a 'snack' into a bloating 'meal' is becoming wearisome.  (Call me jaundiced rather than scathing, but I expect better from Collins.  One could glean more insights from a playground, yet he's been rubbing elbows for two decades with the world's best and brightest and this is all we get?)

His latest book is just a 200-page exposition on the 4,000-year-old idiom (and timeless truth) "pride comes before the fall."  

No doy.  It took him 5 years and thousands of interviews to determine this... again?

Consultants get a bad rap because of such swill.  It's like the client asking, "What time is it?" and the consultant responding, "May I borrow your watch for a moment?"  

Collins's 'illuminating, revelatory, and epiphanic' stages of How the Mighty Fall include such nose-on-the-face nail-biters as:

Stage 1: Hubris Born of Success
Stage 2: Undisciplined Pursuit of More
Stage 3: Denial of Risk and Peril
Stage 4: Grasping for Salvation
Stage 5: Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death 

I think I get it.  We all do.  Pride, Excess, Denial, Demise.  Hmmmm... sounds like a combination of VH1's Behind the Music, Kubler-Ross, the Weight-Watchers/Slim-Fast methodology, and Common Sense.  Hardly worth $25.

His parting shot, captured on the back cover, [almost] says it all, "Whether you prevail or fail, endure or die, depends more on what you do to yourself than on what the world does to you."

Yes indeed, I'm responsible for Me.  Got it.  I'll try to remember that.

I'm confident that Collins's next book will be better; I think How the Mighty Fall is simply his Blink¹.  (For the record, both Built to Last and Good to Great were, to my way of thinking, exceptional.)  Publishers have a way of teasing books out of best selling authors like Collins and Gladwell, and oftentimes before there is a book... and sometimes even when there is no book.  (I know this is all very doorman-critiques-Bach, so far be it from me to judge, but alas, these are my two cents.  Take 'em at face value.)

Publisher's full synopsis

This week as I travel, I'll be reading The World Without Us, written in 2007 by Alan Weisman.  I have high expectations for this book, and hope to confirm them in my next review.  More then; make it a great week.

¹Sorry, but I thought Blink was as 'worthless' as The Tipping Point was 'priceless.'  I mean, "thin slicing," come on.  Talk about making a snack into a meal!  Since when are the notions of 'go with your gut, use your instincts, and trust your first impressions' noteworthy?  The Tipping Point was excellent, and Outliers is arguably the best social-science book of the last five years, but I thought Blink was much ado about nothing.

As tomorrow is Memorial Day, I hope that all Americans who can... will appreciate the many 'ultimate sacrifices' made for this great country.

It is 'holidays' like tomorrow that serve to remind us what liberty and freedom really cost.  For millions, it cost everything.  Through democracy, we elect and assign our leaders -- and fire those with whom we disagree.  Our soldiers, however, serve where they are sent, and whether we agree or disagree with their literal marching orders, their service warrants our respect and honor.  After all, were it not for them, we would lack our freedom of speech and the right to, in public fora, approve or disapprove of what they are called to do.  We all understand that war is not the answer, but en route to the day when peace is unilateral and terrorists and jihadists surrender rocket launchers in exchange for olive branches, we are left with irreconcilable ideologies and conflicts during which we have the responsibility to demonstrate values while preserving the security and rights of those without voices or defenses.   

As a great nation, we are duty-bound to be grateful for those who do this and put themselves in harm's way, and as any entity which possesses much, we are obligated to be humble.  And so, today, a few brief words on gratefulness and humility.

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."  (The letter of Paul, to the Philippians, chapter 2, verses 3-4.)

Regardless our petty differences, be they individual, organizational, or geo-political, we are called to love one another and be gracious with others, especially those with whom we disagree.  Similarly, to become great, we are to become nothing.  To die unto ourselves that we may serve others and, forsaking ourselves, help others become greater.  In short, we are to be grateful.  Where we are currently insatiable, we are to be satiated by little and pour ourselves out for others; to appreciate and be thankful for the difficulties and sorrows, that we might appreciate more the seasons of bounty and blessing.

And equally important, to find that in giving to others and contributing beyond ourselves, we are more fully restored.  In the words of a great counselor-friend of mine, "Nothing helps the clinically-depressed so much as volunteering and serving others."

To provide a tangible example of gratitude, gratefulness, humility, forgiveness, and service, allow me to share a super-brief story. 

Three hundred years ago, the prolific Matthew Henry, scholarly theologian and commentator, was attacked and mugged and beaten to within an inch of his life on a dark, London street.  As he reclined in his bed, recovering, he was asked for reactions to his assault.  He thoughtfully replied, "I am thankful."  Seeing the puzzled look on others' faces, he elaborated, "I am thankful, first, because I was never robbed before.  Second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life.  Third, because although they took my all, it was not much.  And fourth, because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed."

Is this how you reacted when you realized half your net worth had evaporated in the last fourteen months?  Is this how you reacted when you were laid off?  Is this how you reacted when the world or its many minions danced gleefully on your failures, stomped on your heart, stole your livelihood for personal gain, or crushed your soul?  I doubt it.  And yet, we are to count our losses as blessings, and our sorrows as joy, if we are to be a grateful lot.  May Matthew Henry serve as a gentle reminder this coming Monday, week, and year.  When all seems lost, may you perceive the gain. 

Despite your worldviews, political persuasions, or views on the hereafter, may we all bow our heads on Monday and say a prayer for those who made -- and make -- it possible for us to enjoy this land, our family, and our harvests.  However great or small we perceive them to be, we undeniably and inarguably reside in a free country that has gone out of its way for 233 years to endow each and every citizen with three very enviable, exceptional, and uncommon rights.

e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...

On Monday, if you do nothing else, give thanks and count your blessings.  They are likely more abundant than you perceive, starting with the truth that you choose how you will spend your Monday, while many around the world cannot.

For those of you who were kind, curious, and committed enough to devour my last blog in its entirety, today I am serving a tiny and tasty morsel for dessert. 

This very morning, I had the most wonderful time attending a Professional Women's Networking Breakfast and sharing some ideas on the topic of Resilience.

Throughout, and particularly afterward, I was overwhelmed by their own resilience, positive spirit, degree of engagement, stories of inspiration, and general entrepreneurship and drive.  These dynamic women are clearly tackling the world with a zest for life; the morning was absolutely buoyant.   

One of the most common topics that arose in the 'post-presentation' dialogues was Purpose & Calling.  A number of the attendees inquired, "Where can I learn more about 'purpose' and 'calling?'  I am personally at a crossroads, and eager to read and learn and discover more about myself and where I am destined to contribute, collaborate, and work."

In answer to this perennial question, I offer up the work of Richard Leider as a great "go to" resource.  Dick is a best-selling author, executive educator, life coach, teacher, speaker, and counselor.  His most well known books include The Power of Purpose, Claiming Your Place at the Fire, and Re-Packing Your Bags.  He is a calm spirit in a blustery gale, a temperament which serves him well -- especially given his profession.  I consider him one of the most pivotal mentors I ever had in my earliest years as I stared-down several proverbial 'forks in the road.'

If you have, are now, or ever do face your own 'fork in the road' moment, bookmark the following two resources.  You'll be glad you did.  

Are You Deciding on Purpose?  (An easy, breezy interview from Fast Company Magazine) 

Purpose&theGoodLife.pdf (1,016.52 kb)  (A rich, scholarly study on Money, Medicine, and Meaning as subsidized and published by MetLife) 

 Robert Frost

On my last trip to the great northwest, I had the distinct displeasure and responsibility of working with a very angry, broken team.  I will share a brief synopsis of my adventure’s lowlights and highlights, should they benefit you when faced with a similar constellation of dysfunctions.  

The vast majority of teams (because they are, at their most elemental level, coalitions of individuals) face the pedestrian and routine issues of ‘poor communication, periodic conflict, unclear direction, and too few resources.’  These challenges almost go without mentioning because they are as natural and inevitable as hunger, ideological differences, and war.  Though we may desire they not exist, to deny them is naïve, idealistic, and fantasy.  Wherever resources and minds co-exist, so too will opinions and differences of opinion – and subsequently divisive priorities, power, control, hierarchy, and struggles.  These are realities of the human condition and only Utopia, Shangri-La, and Heaven lack them. 

Any leader’s challenge (and opportunity) is to reduce, manage, or redirect differences toward things which are – on balance – more constructive than destructive. 

The leader of the team with which I worked was, however, plagued with an overabundance of challenges.  In addition to the ‘typical four’ described above, he faced a range of others, from in-office harassment claims, grievances, and physical fisticuffs to an employee lawsuit, intra-office dating, theft, and a caustic grapevine that thrived on jealousies, half-truths and mean-spiritedness.  In the particulate, none of these is all that unique or necessarily insurmountable, but in the aggregate, they formed a furious storm. 

As he said to the team when we first convened, “Some people would rather judge others and throw rocks than follow; these people don’t make good employees – but they make great critics and derelicts.  Regardless, I will not be deterred.  We’re not leaving this room today until each of you decides to get on board, off, or run the risk of getting run over.” 

And with that, I thought we were surely cooked turkeys.  Such toothpaste rarely returns to the tube. 

For nearly three hours, we heard each team member’s grievances and complaints.  The leader had been clear from the start, “What is not aired here will not be aired elsewhere again.  I have met with each and every one of you and [our HR person] offline on countless occasions, and now it’s time to address the issues affecting our team as a whole and this organization from the inside out.”    

The emotions and feelings on that day of reckoning ran the gamut, from a sense of betrayal, belligerence, and frustration to indifference, haughty arrogance, and depression.  It was true, each person thought he or she could run the team better; they all wanted to be chiefs.  

Given the circumstances, the besieged leader did a remarkable job.  I was impressed with his directness, astuteness, and willingness to be critiqued.  “Get it all out,” he said repeatedly.  And boy, did they.  He was relentless, and they responded in kind. 

Spitting in the cup, clawing the air, knocking peers, evil-eyes, rolling eyes, crossing arms, bouncing legs, pacing against the back wall, pounding fists, scribbling pens, pointing fingers, shouting, accusing, blaming, denying, hiding, conspiring, ganging-up… before the morning was done, I’m certain we’d seen all that could be seen without needing to summon the security guard. 

I stepped in repeatedly – facilitating, guiding, berming, and doing my best to referee and bring things to a healthy head without allowing any faction to overrule or any individual to be overwhelmed.  The meeting and its inherent conflicts were destined to occur, I reasoned, so my responsibility was to do everything in my power to keep the wheels on the rails. 

As the team of apparent vipers bared their fangs and spit their venom, two quotes hooked through my mind like a one-track record: 

"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."  (William Congreve)  

“All those who have been wronged, or believe themselves to be wronged are terrible, for they ceaselessly seek revenge.”  (Aristotle)  

This was unquestionably a team which felt they had been wronged by one another, their boss, and their organization at various turns in the tracks.  They had become vengeance-seeking individuals, no doubt.  And yet, somehow – miraculously – a team destined to be redeemed.  A team of people, remember, and people needing to be heard and healed.   

Even the largest lion, when thwarted by the smallest splinter in its paw, welcomes a mouse. 

Real-world redemption began late in the afternoon. 

And it began with an admission. 

And an admission was followed by an apology. 

And one apology was followed by a second. 

And apologies were followed by mea culpas. 

And in time, the boil was lanced.  And it flowed.  And sooner than I have seen before when facing similarly intractable circumstances, it was drained and began the long and arduous process of healing. 

Two team members resigned, not only from the team but the organization itself, confessing they could never forgive.  Their slights, wounds, and nefariously competitive aspirations ran too deep. 

One team member was terminated forthwith, having violated too many organizational policies and being exposed. 

A half-dozen team members, having fully ‘dumped their buckets,’ arrived at the much needed place where rationality finally trumps emotionality.   

And the rest, having admitted their ‘enabling’ of the scheming and undermining and lashing-out behind the leader’s back resolved to be accountable for their behavior.  ‘Get-Well Plans’ were developed, ‘Action Items’ were documented, and for two final hours, the team’s remaining members did the most amazing thing… they spoke peacefully, respectfully, and with an energy that was constructive and positive rather than bitter and contemptuous. 

They listened, they heard, and they responded.  

Three weeks later, I joined a conference call with the team.  “We just wanted to let you know how much things have improved.  Those who could no longer support [our leader] and our team have moved on, where they are much happier and healthier.  And we have come together.  Our performance has improved dramatically, we are drama-free, and ‘outsiders’ are taking notice – so much so that we have a long list of candidates to fill the vacated spots.  Our reputation, it seems, is improving.” 

And perhaps most meaningfully to me (at least from a personal standpoint), one of the women on the team commented, “Blake, I haven’t been sick the past three Sundays.”  She had told me (in the weeks preceding the ‘come-to-Jesus blowout meeting’) how violently ill she became on most Sunday afternoons – undoubtedly in anticipation of Monday mornings and rejoining the war.  (Our bodies, by the way, are wonderful barometers of our stress.  I encourage you to listen to yours.)   

Eighty percent of my vocation, it seems, is spent at the tails of the bell curve.  I am rarely called in by ‘average organizations, teams, and individuals wishing to accomplish average results.’  I am, most often, called in by ‘those in crisis’ and ‘those of excellence.’  The former need resolution and the latter seek perfection.  (I equate this to fitness, as well.  The very fit, world-class athletes are constantly exercising and working to improve while the sedentary or at-risk are motivated to seek help after the heart attack or other near-disaster.  Either way, both groups are taking action.  Meanwhile, the majority of us simply carry on, status quo, with the usual motivators of pleasure and pain remaining too minimal to incent.) 

Spending time at these tails means, predictably, that for all my experiences of excellence and A-team performance, I correspondingly have had what amounts to a trove of challenging assignments.  A small portion of these can barely be described without considering the words ‘wickedness’ or ‘evil.’ 

During those quiet flights home afterward, when I feel more like a priest having concluded an exorcism, I am careful to distinguish what I have experienced from ‘typical’ behavior.  Teams ‘on the edge’ are, after all, people who have often lost their way like Darth Vader, succumbing to the darkness bit by bit, trial by trial, and temptation by temptation.  Few people, save the sociopath, set sail for the dark side intentionally.  Instead, they typically find it when they find nothing else. 

Many philosophers have, in various ways, expressed the same notion.  “Only by darkness do we know the light.” 

I am comforted by the reality that I have witnessed many teams return, astonishingly, to the tube.  We must be careful that the ‘L’ on the forehead and the ‘A’ on the sweater not become self-fulfilling prophecies of Our Gang’s “The Little Rascals” or Welcome Back Kotter’s “Sweathogs.” 

With admissions, apologies, ownership of wrongdoings, mea culpas, forgiveness, liberations or excisions as necessary, hope, and plans, most teams can make it back to the light. 

And it is after such returns that I get a bit of myself back and remember why I do what I do in the first place, despite its inherent risks and difficulties.  With others’ reputations, fulfillment, health, and performance restored, I find that something equally important is reliably restored along the way: my own faith in people and their capacity to do right.

A woman, very important to me, recently shared this story:

"I spent last evening with my friends of fifty-nine years and drove home in the fog.  During the drive, I was thinking, 'Can it be that when I was eight and putting my books in my cubby in elementary school, one girl, who just sat across from me at dinner, had first approached me and asked, 'Some of us go out and play and talk on the playground now during recess.  Would you like to come?'  Well, I had experienced a horrible couple years in kindergarten and first grade at another school, though no one knew that.  I had worried much about the playground, and even planned to hide behind a tree!  But, there I sat last night with seven friends of fifty-nine years who had invited me out to the playground.  They had made all the difference decades ago, but the eleven years we spent together in school have paled in comparison to the lifelong friendships we have experienced ever since."

To varying degrees, everyone has a need for friends and friendship.  While some people need friends to survive, others need them as touchstones.  Either way, their place in the human experience is undeniable.  It is these connections that provide a sense of belonging, acceptance, and affirmation.

Some friendships are not; they are -- instead, one-way.  One person does all the giving, while the other does the taking.

Some are destructive and cancerous.

Some are shallow and predictably splinter upon the rocks.

Some last for moments, while others last a lifetime.

In the end, those that prove the most fruitful are the ones in which each person is refined and made better as a result of the relationship.  I have met too many couples and 'friends,' for example, who simply pollute one another or prove toxic.  (I am most haunted by a woman I counseled years ago who said, "My husband hurts me.  I feel so ashamed."  In Battered Person Syndrome, as in unhealthy friendships, the beater beats and the victim apologizes.  These are not friendships; these are cyclical-crimes that feed on themselves and only worsen with time^.1)

A good friend once asked, "What sort of person should I marry?"  My only advice at the time was, "Marry someone most beautiful on the inside." 

The enduring, adhesive (sticky) friendships bring each person closer to greatness than before.  (Jerry Maguire wasn't too far off base.) 

Just recall the slogan, "Friends don't let friends drive drunk."  Said conversely, "Friends are the means to make you better (not worse)."  They mean you no harm, have your best interests at heart, and serve to help you fulfill your destiny.  The same is true of great organizations, great employers, great supervisors/managers/leaders/colleagues.

For several years, we all heard the mantra, "There is no 'I' in TEAM."  A colleague of mine most effectively addressed the shortsightedness in this logic when he said, "The greatest teams 'sponsor' individuals who -- together -- become much greater than the sum of their parts."

I've always liked that idea -- that the greatest teams make individuals better, pull them to greatness and, generally, 'sponsor' them... their personhood, their character, their integrity, their value, their potential, their humanity.

As leaders, just as parents, we sometimes resist creating friendships with employees, believing such a dimension might alter or complicate an otherwise simpler relationship.  I understand this conceptually, but have found that some of the greatest leaders and parents are friends (not exclusively, primarily, or predominantly), but also.

In the words of the beautiful Maya Angelou, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Now, go befriend someone, maybe a newbie.  Ask them to lunch, to join you during recess, or to save you a spot in the next meeting.  You never know, it might just lead to a decades-long rapport or relationship that brings you or them out from behind that tree, or makes you both better individuals than you are today.

Workplaces are grapevines; that's just the way it is.  Sadly, there are too few exceptions to the hypothesis that, "Where there are three, there gossip be."

Turn on practically any TV channel or Radio station: innuendo, rumor, speculation, gossip.

See countless Websites...

Countless News programs...

Countless 'Reality' programs...

My feeble Blog entry for today won't do one iota to stop gossip from metastasizing, but if it underscores the importance of not gossiping, abiding gossip, or feeding the gossip machine for even 'one day,' all the better.  A chain only works when each link does its part.  By refusing to engage or tolerate gossip in your workplace, you not only differentiate what IS and IS NOT appropriate, productive, and right, but you sometimes preserve a person's reputation.

And THAT is something which, once tarnished, dented, or broken, suffers from Humpty Dumpty Syndrome:

In Doubt, the haunting play and film by John Patrick Shanley, there is a wonderful sermon delivered by the character Father Flynn.  I will close with it, as it so powerfully captures the viral and infectious nature of gossip:

A woman was gossiping with a friend about a man she hardly knew - I know none of you have ever done this - that night she had a dream. A great hand appeared over her and pointed down at her. She was immediately seized with an overwhelming sense of guilt. The next day she went to confession. She got the old parish priest, Father O’Rourke, and she told him the whole thing.

‘Is gossiping a sin?’ she asked the old man. ‘Was that the hand of God Almighty pointing a finger at me? Should I be asking your absolution? Father, tell me, have I done something wrong?’

(Irish Brogue)
‘Yes!’ Father O’Rourke answered her. ‘Yes! You have borne false witness against your neighbor, you have played fast and loose with his reputation, and you should be heartily ashamed!’

So the woman said she was sorry and asked for forgiveness.

‘Not so fast!’ says O’Rourke. ‘I want you to go home, take a pillow up on your roof, cut it open with a knife, and return here to me!’

So the woman went home, took a pillow off her bed, a knife from the drawer, went up the fire escape to the roof, and stabbed the pillow. Then she went back to the old parish priest as instructed.

‘Did you gut the pillow with the knife?’ he says.

‘Yes, Father.’

‘And what was the result?’

‘Feathers,’ she said.

‘Feathers?’ he repeated.

‘Feathers everywhere, Father!’

‘Now I want you to go back and gather up every last feather that flew out on the wind!’

‘Well,’ she said, ‘it can’t be done. I don’t know where they went. The wind took them all over.’

‘And that,’ said Father O’Rourke, ‘is GOSSIP!’

What a difference seven months make.

In October, as the unwinding of our world's economy became crystal clear, so many perceived it as 'temporary.'  "The prey must make its way through the python, then all will be well in the end," they seemed to say.

And perhaps that is entirely true.  2010, 2011, 2012... I suppose things could return to 'normal' by then.

But I think not.

I think what's done is done, what was was, and we've entered a New World Order.  I believe the 'unwinding' was, in fact, a re-calibrating. 

I believe the waterline of the former market was, for all intents and purposes... former.  And we may not see Dow Jones at 14,000+ for another generation.  Call me a heretic, an idiot, or a doomsday-sourpuss-naysayer; I've been called worse.  But I believe the snake oil salesmen who are selling fiction disguised as hope are unrealistically optimistic or altogether deceptive. (I see the difference as their 'knowledge' x their 'intent.')

I attended an economic conference several weeks ago, and ALL the economists were prophesying, "This will blow over in a few months.  Q3 2009 will see a return to business as usual," guess-hypothesis-theory-lie.  I'm sorry; I just don't buy it.  While I fully understand FDR's lamentations about 'fear itself' and the need for positive psychology to lead the market, I believe it's time to come to terms with reality and adapt rather than hope for stable sand castles found primarily in Utopia. 

I imagine the market as we knew it before -- with easy loans, bottomless debt, and raging home sales -- is a thing of the past. 

Is the bottom near?  Perhaps, though I agree with Warren Buffett's sentiment that we probably won't experience it until the Government stops reaching in and tweaking the knobs.  At some point, probably where 'rescue' and 'reality' intersect, we will indeed experience a legitimate transition, but I don't think 'bottoming, leveling out, and climbing' are synomymous with 'back to business as usual.'  (At least, not for everyone.  One of the great ironies of this current economy is the disparity between the haves and have-nots.  While many people and clients and states I interact with are STARVING, many others are THRIVING.  On the one extreme I hear, "The sky is falling!" while on the other extreme I hear, "Crisis, what crisis?  We have so much money we don't know where to spend it all!")

Some might argue that I am sounding a bit like Chicken Little, but I believe that history and conventional wisdom will reveal that I am among an unintentional chorus of Shepherd Boys who would rather be wrong.  And by unintentional, I mean to say, "non-economic types" who wind up being in the majority and on the side of right, not because of knowledge, but because of intuition. 

I believe we're entering an era of Business as Unusual or, said another way, The 'New' Economy is The Economy.

2,600 years ago, the Greek slave, Aesop, wrote well over 200 brief fables, and many of them specifically for children (though they apply to most everyone).  Among them is The Shepherd Boy & the Wolf, more commonly remembered as The Boy Who Cried Wolf.  The theme of the story is best recalled in the final line of the fable:  "Even when liars tell the truth, they are never believed.  The liar will lie once, twice, and then perish when he tells the truth."

Only time will reveal whether the 'renowned and expert economists' are right (and Q3 2009 will reveal a miraculous, magical, and unheralded 'market bounce' that eventually leads us back to earlier Dow Jones health, employment, and worldwide productivity as before) or if those who said once and twice (without knowing why), "the world is changed for a generation" will be deemed right.

Again, I would prefer to be wrong.

At this point in life, most of us have endured one sort of surgery or another.  I equate today's Shepherd Boys as those who scratch at our scar tissue.  What was once sensitive and irritated (October 2008) is slowly becoming thick and numb (May 2009).  The 'jump' in our step has faded a bit, we've ignored the alarms for too long, and many are awakening and coming to grips with a potentially new reality.  A sense of, "Okay.  Um.  So, this REALLY isn't going away next month?  It wasn't just a drill?  All righty then, let's see... what shall I do now?"

History has an enviable way of efficiently and accurately sorting the misfits and malcontents from the rest.  I know most of us would LOVE to see a return to a pre-9/11 or pre-2009 economic world order, but the hairs on the back of my neck just don't sense that coming anytime soon.  Do yours?   

Meanwhile, whether it's only a few years or an entire generation plus, I suppose we should return to our work, reprioritize, rebalance, and find ways to survive through and thrive within a minor economic winter.  There is plenty of work to be done, there are many fields still lacking qualified applicants, and as Nature reminds us, life is binary.  It's either 'find a way to Grow' time, or 'embrace the slumber that has no end' (e.g., die). 

I elect to fight, as I'm sure you do, too.  It's buckle-down time.  Not for an illusory and fabled 'comeback' of lore, but in pursuit of creating a more sustainable future for our children, our customers, our constituents, and all those we hope will follow.

Onward.  Perge.  Semper fidelis.  It's on.  Let's roll.  Bring it.  Go time.  All that jazz.

Sometimes the smallest, simplest things catch my attention.  I don't know why, but it intrigues me, as do the teensy lessons the things themselves reveal.

Last week, Lowe's delivered several pallets of mulch to our driveway.  Once the bags were emptied and spread, I began to wonder what we might make of the remaining wood from the pallets themselves.  Coincidentally, my wife, Dawn, had been talking about a "flower wagon" for our front porch for several days.

Though it took a while for the cogs to engage, eventually... klunk-kerplunk, eureka... Mother's Day is coming. 

She printed a photo from the internet, and bam -- I was off to the races.

From Friday evening through Sunday, I became a man possessed.  My aged and creaky body beneath me, I painstakingly broke down the eight pallets with a hammer, crowbar, pliers, and ripsaw.  Our family ran the errand to Lowe's and purchased chain, hinges, angle brackets, more screws, a second drill, and another saw blade.  Three days later, we have five wagon-bodies awaiting the arrival of their axles and wheels.  Upon completion, we'll distribute the wagons around the yard and load them up with flowers, grasses, watermelons, or pumpkins as the seasons dictate.  In time, and with age and weather, we think they'll work well.

But as I was bending, standing, hobbling around my sawhorses, experimenting, screwing up, starting over, measuring, re-measuring, marking, cutting, re-cutting, drilling, screwing, sanding, and spraying, my mind was free to drift and float.

On Saturday night as I did 'bedtime' with our six-year-old daughter, Lauren, we played a memory game.  She's working on her math and, as we wound-down for the evening, with all the lights off in the room, she said, "Let's play a numbers game.  I need to work on my math, okay?" 

Into the ink-black darkness I said, "Okay.  How many curtains are in your room?" 

Her mind whirred through the room and she said, "Five."

"Yes, five," I replied.  "That's right.  Good.  Okay.  How many doors do we have upstairs?  Downstairs?  Be sure to count the closets, attic, and doorways with no 'literal' doors, okay?  And how many gates do we have outside?"

In time, she gave me great numbers for every question.  She was right-on.  And then she said the coolest thing,

"Isn't it neat that while my body is here in bed, my mind is roaming the house and yard?"

Y e s    i t    i s

It is, literally, mindblowing.

And as my body and hair and eyelashes and shoelaces and fuzzy legs and arms became covered and more covered with fine sawdust, my mind traveled to Beijing and Paris and London and Toronto and Phoenix and Toledo and Orlando and to the movie and grocery stores down the street and the mall across town and that terrible O'Hare which always strands me.  It roamed to cars and planes and people and politics.  To religion and mailboxes and dogs and squirrels.  To the wind that blew and the rain that fell and nearly ruined my tools, to the neighborhood boys revving their engines and blaring their tunes, to birds and ants and leaky roofs and mosquitos, and to the meals I could smell through the windows and the shower I longed to take when I was finished each evening.

And like our precious Lauren, growing inch by inch and word by word, I thought to myself, "Isn't it neat that while my body is here, my mind can go anywhere."

Y e s    i t    i s

The mind is a terrible thing to waste, but too often, I see organizations and leaders who don't allow (much less expect... demand...) their people to hope and dream and think.  And we confine people, and their minds, to cubicles and repetition.

Henry Ford once lamented, a century ago, "Why, when all I need is a pair of hands, do I have to get a whole person?"  (Yes, people are complicated, but oversimplifying the workplace so people can solely be more effectively 'managed' borders on malpractice.)  Toyota, and countless companies defined by 'predictability,' have found ways to ensure job enrichment and variety.  Have you?  After all, though it is indeed complicating, you get much, much more from a person when you demand they also think creatively and constructively about your business.  And yes, sometimes the most constructive changes arise like a phoenix in the face of 'creative destruction,' not unlike Market Darwinism and what we are seeing in broad scale around the world today.  

(There is an anecdote that Bill Gates, Sr. tells about his then-adolescent son.  After repeatedly yelling up the stairs at Bill, Jr. to come down and get in the car, his exasperated mother inquires, "WHAT are you DOING?"  "I'm thinking, Mom.  Don't you ever do that, too?" he replied.  Later that evening, his mother and father admit to one another, "No.  We really don't take enough time anymore to just think.  Just think.")

And no, I am not advocating 'daydreaming,' but I am encouraging you -- as a leader -- to facilitate and foster an environment in which people can indeed imagine and think, wherein you allow their minds to explore new and heretofore uncontemplated opportunities.  As they do at W.L. Gore, we should consider allowing people 'dabble time.'  It's where Gore finds breathable plastics and 3M finds Post-Its.

And for all of us, including my daughter and me, it's where we find doors and freedom.

We stood at the counter, Dawn, our six-year-old daughter Lauren, and me.

And from Lauren's tiny mouth come these words, "I'll have a banana smoothie, please."

She had read this $2.50 line-item from 20' away and ordered it herself.

My, oh my, how times change.  A year ago, she could read one and two-syllable words.  Two years ago, at age four, I think she 'recognized' words, but I don't recall her reading many sentences.  But here we are, May 2009 at the age of six, and she's reading chapter books, street signs, movie titles, Viagra commercials, Disney Channel barrages... she can, in short, read just about anything.  Words like 'catastrophe' throw her, but with these wily exceptions, she can pronounce most everything.

Like soft mid-sections and wiggly skin, I know that, as adults, undesirable things creep up on us.  But the year the world begins to reveal itself to a child like a blossoming flower in Spring is a welcome year indeed.

Life itself is like this, I believe.  We are born into utter darkness, ignorant of all.  And year by year, bit by bit, our eyes open.  They open to the good, the bad, the indifferent -- but they open.  And over time, we assert ourselves (or fail to) and become a person with proclivities, opinions, preferences, and biases.

What an amazing thing, life. 

Relish it.

And every now and again, stop and smell the flowers -- indulging and appreciating the awesomeness of simplicity.

After all, there's more to saying, "I'll have a banana smoothie, please" than meets the eye.

Sometimes I’m slow on the uptake, but having heard this sentiment three times this past week from employees in different organizations, “message received!”

Indeed, there are many loser-bosses.  Why so surprised?  The rungs of leadership and management are not immune to the bell curve of life.

The succeeding questions, however, are what matter more: “Why?”  and more audaciously, “How can I remedy this?”

First, to the Why.  There are generally 5 Root Causes for Leadership Failure.  Quickly (lest this become a 10,000 word essay), they are:

1.     Selection: We’ve started with an acorn, hoping it will grow into a pecan tree.

2.     Understanding: The individual fails to grasp, intellectually, what is expected as a leader. 

3.     Behavior: The individual fails to acquire or master the skills required to blossom into leadership competence.

4.     Barriers: Whether personal (e.g., drama) or organizational (e.g., hierarchy, ambiguity, limited resources), there is an Achilles Heel that continually pulls the leader down and away from performance.

5.     Desire/Motivation: Sometimes resulting from the preceding, but often evolving from burnout or rustout, the leader simply fizzles out.

Considering these root causes and their branches, it’s relatively simple to pinpoint an individual’s reasons for failure.

And now, a tad on Remedy.  I will provide only the broadest of strokes and address just three factors here, because entire FIELDS and INDUSTRIES exist to fully remediate leadership deficits.

To develop a leader, just like a diamond, three key ‘environmental factors’ are helpful.  (This is to say ‘nothing’ of the perennially important ‘nature vs. nurture’ dialogue and innateness.) 

1.     First, great leadership generally emerges over Time if it is to sustain deep roots and broad leaves. 

2.     Second, enough Pressure must exist – in terms of consequences – to berm, direct, and focus leadership talent.  (This is the ‘push.’)

3.     Finally, enough Heat must exist – in terms of personal drive – to regularly motivate and inspire oneself to achieve, ascend, serve, contribute, sacrifice, whatever.  (This is the ‘pull.’)

From within environments where adequate mentors, coaches, and role models exist… where there is solid feedback and developmental opportunities combined through education and experience, organizations are more inclined to breed leaders.  All the more so when these leaders overcome the five roots of failure and experience the time, consequences, and motivation consistent with aspects of pressure cookers, kilns, or crucibles.

In short, if you want fewer “loser bosses,” start with the right seeds and afford them the right mixture of soil (which includes water, oxygen, sunlight, etc.) and fire.

Wow, do we have ambiguity in spades today, or what? 

Surely it’s not just my own little perception!

Surely not.

I’ve heard it by the truckload lately.  Here are four quotes from four different clients:

“There’s so much ambiguity that we cannot make decisions.”

“Our environment is rife with ambiguity; our people are wandering aimlessly.”

“We’re waiting for direction we know will never come.  Can you help us help our people to ‘lead through ambiguity?’”

“Until this economic mess clears up, we’re flat-footed.  We can’t seem to catch, roll, or run.  If it’s 2011 or 2012 by the time things improve, we’ll be long-dead by then.” 

What are leaders, organizations, employees to do?

The short answer is, “Leverage what you’ve got.”

As I described with one organization this past week, many entities currently resemble Swiss Cheese.  They’ve got ‘some’ of the answers, but not all.  Opportunity, challenge, and competitive advantage are found by those organizations FIRST able to fill in enough of the voids to move on.

It’s true… we NEVER have all the elements we need to form a perfect or complete answer.  But yes, we generally have a much clearer vision than today’s “survive.”  In lieu of that clear vision, there are many aspects of direction that we CAN marshal from the cheese.

For example, a sense of Purpose or Calling.  Values.  Key Strategy Categories like Talent Development (which includes dozens of helpful touchstones like recruitment, selection, development, appraisal, promotion, compensation, and succession planning), Image (branding, marketing, messaging, advertising, and promotion), and Financial (business economics, accounting methodologies, and anything remotely sales or revenue-related).

Sure, we may not have a full set of maps or navigational equipment, but we’ve been in the ocean before and we can generally make out a flicker from the distant lighthouse.  Knowing the storms are striking each market and industry differently, some organizations will need to identify and pursue entirely different beachheads and destinations, while others simply need to decelerate, accelerate, or make tiny course corrections. 

In the process of “organizational evolution” (lest one experience Market Darwinism and risk extinction through failing to adapt), we accept that DNA adapts slowly where at all.  Sweeping changes are less realistic or required than pivotal 1° tacks which, in the aggregate over time, generate significant transformation and success, all the while holding onto the riggings of what is familiar.

We know that for every sixty miles traveled, each degree of change throws us off course by one mile.  Said another way, even the smallest tweaks can take us to an entirely DIFFERENT, NEW, or BETTER destination.

Don’t let ambiguity cripple you or your organization’s ability to remain fixed on a long-term objective while accomplishing small and short-term wins.  They are indeed there, hoping against hope to be found.

I recently visited with an Operations Manager in a factory who was clearly distressed.  “But I learned something long ago that serves me well in times like these,” he said.  “Never get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired, or Scared.  As long as I manage H, A, L, T, and S, I’ll be fine.”

Knowing that few things in the universe are ‘original,’ I Googled this acronym and discovered it originated as a mnemonic in the treatment of substance abusers, be they alcoholics or drug addicts.

Whomever it was originally designed to help, I love its simplicity, ‘memorability,’ and relevance.

Indeed, when we are too hungry – be it for food, drink, or practically anything, we make poor, immediate, irrational choices that we predictably regret later.

When we act out of anger, we are really re-acting.

When we become too lonely, we succumb to poor choices, depression, and thoughts of failure or inadequacy.

When we get tired, everything collapses.  We become agitated, distracted, and shadows of one’s self.

And when we get scared, we convert shadows into monsters and make big decisions in belittling ways because fear reduces us to fight or flight instincts.

H.A.L.T.S… I just love this handy little reminder, and hope that – while ideally you would never require it – perhaps it will serve you well in a needing moment.

A brief entry for today…

First-up, THANK YOU for your many responses to help TBLG shape our Research Question as proposed in my preceding blog entry dated April 8^th, 2009.  KEEP ‘EM COMING, and please share the link with others so they might also contribute.  We have received several Comments and scores of Emails on the proposed topic(s).  As with all research, this project will take some time and we will nurse it in the background as we multi-task with daily chores.  Keep one eye open for forthcoming Calls to Action, as they will describe progress and ‘next steps.’

I am emboldened by your passion, guidance, and willingness to help with and participate in the research.  So many contributions were intriguing that the task becomes richer as it becomes deeper.  Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

Stay tuned. 

Last-up, speaking of multi-tasking, this is my signal to make a Lane Change, as I will momentarily upload a few waylaid blog entries that accumulated in recent days, as I found myself on several airplanes.

As I listen to and exchange ideas with contemporary leaders on the front lines of today's economic battlefield, I am encountering a troubling theme. 

It revolves around a notion I wrote about several weeks ago... the 'treading water' phenomenon. 

So many leaders are 'waiting to see' what the new world of work will look like... that the 'see' is being thwarted and delayed!  It is a vicious, self-fulfilling cycle not unlike the 'prior experience required to be hired' dilemma we all faced as we exited school. 

To provide answers/clarity/solutions for clients and colleagues, we intend -- in the coming weeks -- to embark on a new Research Project. 

Here's where you come in.  We are in dire need of your help. 

We are in the early, embryonic stage of crafting, honing, and refining the Research Question itself.  Currently, it messily goes something like this:  

"What are the most burning Issues or Questions leaders need Answered for the burgeoning 'new world of work' and the 'to-be-determined' new 'social contract' between Employees and Employers to manifest?"

In simpler terms, "What the heck do employees need or expect from their 'bosses' in order to engage, thrive, re-commit?"  Or, "In our unstable environment, what can leaders and organizations realistically do to gain focus and performance from employees?"

But now I'm starting to put words in your mouth.  Here's the 'call to action;' the specific Ask and How You Can Help:

Please email us a stronger Research Question or whatever Issues or Questions you would like to better understand to more effectively lead your people in the 2009-2011 timeframe.  As our economy ebbs, flows, and ultimately reshapes itself, what burning Answers do you require?  What do you wish to understand?  Have a better handle on?  Need in order to more effectively lead your people?

Based on your responses, "TBLG" (The Blake Leath Group) will refine the fundamental research question with the most value to the most leaders -- and launch a research project that we hope will provide CONTEMPORARY (not re-hashed) tools, frameworks, or answers to serve you through this volatile season of ambiguity.

We are searching for both new wine and new wineskins and hope to make a statistically-oriented contribution that is equally scholarly and pragmatic in nature. 

Step 2 will be to ask you to recommend 5-10 leaders to participate in a subsequent Survey/Assessment/Questionnaire to be predicated on the final Research Question.

We anticipate a broad Umbrella Topic and various Sub-Topics, and TBLG will publish its findings in ways to be identified in coming weeks.

Thank you, in advance, for your responses.  Please email them directly to bleath@blakeleath.com.

In recent months, the ‘noise’ regarding the eroding viability and the non-future of Newspapers has reached an all-time-high decibel level.  The crescendo is now practically deafening.  

And yet there are no accordant answers. 

A lifelong friend and colleague of mine (who resides vocationally at the nexus between “what was” and “what may be”) forwarded this absolutely salient blog entry by Clay Shirky, who shares his prognostications on the matter.  Like my friend, Clay has also been thinking about the internet since before the internet.

Though arguably a bit long for today's microwave-mentality, I am certain you will find his perspectives fascinating and hope you will read to the end. 

http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/03/newspapers-and-thinking-the-unthinkable/

About a week ago, I learned of an Organizational Development position within a local, premier hospital.  I was asked by a colleague if I knew anyone who might be interested in the slot.

I sent an email to 80 like-minded associates, colleagues, friends, professionals, contractors, the works.  I kept track of the respondents for several days because they were so many.  I nearly had to build a spreadsheet.  Within a week, 29 people had replied.  Some ten days later, I have lost count – but perhaps 37 to 40 OD professionals have responded to my first feeble feeler.  (I don't know yet if any of my 'referred' will get the job, but I do hope I've been more helpful than disruptive in the sourcing phase.)

And talk about 6° of Separation – it amazes me how ‘connected’ our world is.

And yes, there is a lot of unemployment hurt in the world right now, but that is not the point of today’s blog, either.

Years ago, I earnestly thanked my best CEO for all he had done for me, meant to me, and provided to me.  “Keep your thanks, Blake.  All I did was give you a shot.  After that, it was all you.”

(It wasn’t, of course.  It never is, though I appreciated his selflessness and graciousness in equal measure.) 

------------------------------

The wall of water that burst as a result of my innocuous email got me reflecting on two groups of people in my career:  the Helping Hands and the Helpless Hands.

The Helping Hands are those who have truly helped me along my journey.  Who saw me in need at various points in my career and said, “Here, let me help you.  Let me show you how this works.  What more can I do for you?”  And they did it.  They broke down doors, wrote letters, scheduled meetings, sent emails and notes, made phone calls, busted barriers of all sorts and sizes.  They often went out of their way, exerted time and energy, risked their reputation(s) on my trivial pursuits, and worked tirelessly and authentically to really move the needle in my life.

The Helpless Hands did the opposite: nothing.  Or worse, they served as obstructionists.

In my career (beyond the equally irreplaceable and anonymous friends and colleagues), I have also periodically interacted with a handful of well-known individuals (some more well-known than others, sure).  People like Tom Peters, Stephen Covey, Peter Block, Tony Jeary, Jeffrey Gitomer, Steve Buchholz, and others who shall remain nameless.

I have been frequently amazed at the altruistic contrasts between people (several of whom had significant access to resources with which to help). 

When I was writing my second book, I reached out to a number of such folks to see what introductions or support each could provide for a publishing deal.

While some individuals responded with encouraging comments like, “Who do you want me to call?  Name it and I’ll make it happen,” others (‘God Makers & Career Destroyers’ as one colleague describes them) nary lifted a finger to help.  “Wait your turn in line,” they seemed to say, with a scintilla of territorialism or zero-sum-thinking wafting through the air. 

As we would all attest, some things in life come easy, most come hard, and others simply never come.  They were never meant to be, perhaps.  They’re not in the proverbial cards.

I get that.  I come to terms with that month by month and year by year.  We all do.

But from my own, exceedingly miniscule and modest chair, I do whatever I can to help others; to move the needle for them.  To give them the shots or opportunities that I have been given literally hundreds of times over the years by so many generous advocates. 

Rather than come to the end of my days and have others think at my funeral, “Blake did nothing for no one,” I hope they might be able to say, “He didn’t have much to give, but he gave it all to anyone who asked.” 

------------------------------ 

You’ll live your life according to whatever software you choose.  That’s our individual, inalienable, God-given prerogative.  Free Will, Choice, and all that.

But I do hope that as you are blessed, you will live humbly in your own skin, appreciating the fragile and ephemeral nature of whatever we periodically, delusionally perceive we ‘control.’ 

One serious health scare, loss of job, or loss of a loved one serves to remind us we are but dust in the wind.

But to someone, somewhere, someday, we may have the great privilege to be a fortune. 

We may find ourselves holding the Key they have been searching fruitlessly for lo these many years.

Should you ever find yourself blessed enough to stand at such a door with another human being, I do hope you’ll consider opening it for them.

"Morality, when vigorously alive, sees farther than intellect and provides unconsciously for intellectual difficulties."

                                                                                              J.A. Froude

Earlier today, I spoke with a man in Westford, Vermont.  "It's damn cold here," he shared.

Cold.  Yes, I remember that feeling.

But last week I was in Hawaii, this week I'm in Texas, and next week I'll be in California, which I'm sure will be glorious.

Several years ago, I attended a workshop in Montpelier, Vermont.  It was colder-than-cold.  (I don't fare too well in the cold.  Some people thrive, but my blood's so thick that I sputter and shake.  It's as if my fluids turn to sludge and the 'ol body just sorta seizes up.)  But wow, Montpelier was gorgeous, and it wasn't even Spring yet.  I'd love to go back some day.

I've spent my fair share of time in the cold around the world... scraping windshields, trudging through snowdrifts, fighting to open doors in the howling wind, wishing I had galoshes or waterproof socks, and sitting on miserable airplanes after midnight -- waiting for the de-icing machine to make its third pass.

But today, my observation is one about Weeds -- the sort that have been recently exposed across the blanket of our lawn as Spring hits our region.

Texas weeds are world-class.  Enormous, like the State they occupy.  And my, oh my, have we got some weeds in our yard.  As I gingerly wandered around our yard this past Sunday, I found weeds of all sorts and stripes. 

Broad, squatty weeds... the kind that hug the ground and hide too low to be whacked by the mower.

Circular, spindly weeds... the kind that run and shoot and trail off in countless directions like an octopus.

Bright, flowery weeds... the kind my daughter plucks and mistakes for flowers.

Tall, milky weeds... the kind that catch on your armpit as you wade through what might as well be a cornfield.

And dandelions... the kind of weed that reproduces so amply that rabbits and the octomom herself are shamed.

Meanwhile, in Vermont, it's cold.  And weeds will not be seen for weeks.  (This may be one instance where the grass really is greener somewhere else.  Or perhaps not.  The weeds certainly are.)

I think this contrast of Vermont v. Texas is a good reminder for us all.

Everything is seasonal.

Things grow, things die.  What came, went.  What is not, will be.

For many, it's still Winter.  For some, it's Spring.

And with Spring come Weeds.

As the tide turns with our economy (and it will, one day), the greener pastures we've been longing for all winter will be accompanied by weeds.

Some of us will greet the green with open arms like Puxtahawney Phil, eager to crawl out from the dark lair of winter.

But some will greet the green with derision, turning their noses up at imperfections and commenting snootily (as the critic Anton Ego in Ratatouille, played brilliantly by Peter O'Toole), "Oh.  Weeds."

I understand this.  This is human nature.  It is captured by turn in the notions of Selective Perception, Broken Windows Theory, Boiled Frog Phenomenon, The Pygmalion Effect, Target Fixation, and Chevreul's Pendulum.  Some people are simply inclined to see the smudge on the Rembrandt. 

No matter; it is what it is and they are who they are.

But alas, for you and me -- however frustrated we might be when Spring is accompanied by those buggery, parasitic Weeds -- let us revel in the fact that Winter has gone and Summer is but a couple months away. 

The world is full of people who only see the weeds in the meadow.  So be it.  Though they themselves might very well be weeds in our own organizations, everything and everyone has a purpose.  With the toil that is required to remove or tame whatever challenges lie in our path comes the appreciation of all we have and the joy its beauty brings.

In these days when our respective governments are taking actions to curtail, quarantine, and repair our ravaged economies, I cannot help but equate their work with plastic surgeons.  Plastic surgery seems to be one of those very delicate pursuits.  With just the right nip or tuck, ducklings might become swans.  But too many surgeries, or too radical... and we have a Michael Jackson problem of disfiguration.

There are no panaceas for the ills that have befallen us.  What is required is transformative, systemic, holistic change that will take years of exercise and diet to manifest fully into a healthier global economy.  This is perfectly representative of one situation in which morality must indeed see farther than intellect, because there is no chance that everything that will be tried will work right out of the chute. 

There will be foibles and mis-steps, errors and blunders.  Such is the case with governing, with public policy, and with complex issues that span countries, cultures, and currencies.

But as the gardeners demonstrate, with a little patience and pruning, together we can plant and nurture a healthy and lush field everyone can enjoy.

Some of these are so appropos, they simply scream to be shared. 

As a comedian might say after delivering his punchline, "I don't care who you are.  That's funny!"

(My sincerest apologies to lawyers and politicians.  Don't shoot the messenger.)

1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.  (John Adams) 
2. If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.  (Mark Twain) 
3. Suppose you were an idiot.  And suppose you were a member of Congress.  But then I repeat myself.  (Mark Twain)  
4. I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.  (Winston Churchill) 
5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.  (George Bernard Shaw) 
6. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.  (James Bovard) 
7. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.  (Douglas Casey) 
8. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.  (P.J. O'Rourke) 
9. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.  (Frederic Bastiat) 
10. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it.  If it keeps moving, regulate it.  And if it stops moving, subsidize it.  (Ronald Reagan) 
11. I don't make jokes.  I just watch the government and report the facts.  (Will Rogers) 
12. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!  (P.J. O'Rourke) 
13. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.  (Voltaire) 
14. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.  (Pericles) 
15. No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.  (Mark Twain) 
16. Talk is cheap... except when Congress does it.  (Anonymous) 
17. The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.  (Ronald Reagan) 
18. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings.  The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.  (Winston Churchill) 
19. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.  (Mark Twain) 
20. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.  (Herbert Spencer) 
21. What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.  (Edward Langley) 
22. A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have.  (Thomas Jefferson)

As a boy, I just loved the book A Separate Peace.  Sad, yes, but beautifully written, simple, and powerful enough to make an impression that has lasted thirty years.

In recent months, two acquaintances and one good friend have metamorphosed into three quite different people.  Two at the hand of a stroke, and one at the hand of encephalitis.

Today, I find them even kinder, warmer, gentler, more patient – and altogether delightful and inspiring to be around.  One jokes that he’s had “a personality transplant,” and he’s right.  His new perspective has led to a heightened appreciation of so many things.

Expectedly, when tragedies initially befall us, we struggle to come to terms with our new realities.  I know this is true for me in my own tiny circumstances.  Since December 2007, I have lived with chronic pain that subsequent surgeries merely refashioned rather than removed.  For perhaps eight months, I prayed and expected to fully turn the corner and get my old life back.  Fifteen months later, I remain increasingly acceptant of my new reality. 

Whatever befalls us, it’s best to carry on in whatever ways possible and find purpose and joy in every viable nook and cranny.

We are not promised Happiness, but Hopefulness is there for the taking.

And while we are not destined on this 3^rd rock from the Sun to achieve any lasting peace, it is possible to find a separate peace, unlike the temporal sorts we generally seek.

I’ll close with two quotes that really move me.  I hope they move you, too. 

“Hi, Jules.  It’s Brian.  I’m on a plane and we’ve been hijacked, and it doesn’t look good.  Hopefully, I’ll talk to you again, but if not, please have fun and live your life the best you can.  Know that I love you and no matter what I’ll see you again someday.”

n  Brian Sweeney  (At 8:58 A.M. on September 11, 2001, Brian Sweeney, a businessman who had once flown F-14s for the Navy, was on his cell phone trying to reach his wife, Julie.  She wasn’t home, so he said goodbye into the answering machine.  Moments later, Sweeney’s plane [United flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles], crashed into New York’s World Trade Center.)

“Nothing so infuriates me as the incapacity of seemingly intelligent people to get it through their heads that God doesn’t go around this world with His finger on the triggers, His fist on knives, His hands on steering wheels… never do we know enough to say that a death was the will of God.  My own consolation lies in knowing that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God’s heart was the first of all our hearts to break.”   

n  William Sloane Coffin, former chaplain at Yale, in a eulogy for his son Alex, age 24   

This is a first-hand account from a passenger (Gerry McNamara) aboard the infamous US Airways flight 1549.  Mr. McNamara is a Partner at Heidrick & Struggles in NYC. 

Several weeks ago, we learned a great deal about Captain "Sully" Sullenberger, the heroic pilot who handily guided the plane to safety. 

I thought you might enjoy another perspective, which follows below and comes in the form of an internal correspondence that Mr. McNamara shared with his colleagues.

Of particular interest are Mr. McNamara's lessons, shared at the end.

Thursday was a difficult day for all of us at the firm and I left the Park Avenue office early afternoon to catch a cab bound for LaGuardia Airport.  I was scheduled for a 5pm departure, but able to secure a seat on the earlier flight scheduled to leave at 3pm.  As many of us who fly frequently often do, I recall wondering if I'd just placed myself on a flight I shouldn't be on! 

Just prior to boarding I finished up a conference call with my associate, Jenn Sparks (New York), and our placement, the CIO of United Airlines.  When I told him that I was about to board a US Airways flight, we all had a little fun with it.  I remember walking on the plane and seeing a fellow with grey hair in the cockpit and thinking "that's a good thing... I like to see grey hair in the cockpit!"  I was seated in 8F, on the starboard side window and next to a young business man.

The New York to Charlotte flight is one I've taken what seems like hundreds of times over the years.  We take off north over the Bronx and as we climb, turn west over the Hudson River to New Jersey and tack south.  I love to fly, always have, and this flight plan gives a great view of several NY landmarks including Yankee Stadium and the George Washington Bridge.  I had started to point out items of interest to the gentleman next to me when we heard a terrible crash -- a sound no one ever wants to hear while flying -- and then the engines wound down to a screeching halt.

10 seconds later, there was a strong smell of jet fuel.  I knew we would be landing and thought the pilot would take us down no doubt to Newark Airport.  As we began to turn south I noticed the pilot lining up on the river -- still -- I thought -- en route for Newark.  Next thing we heard was "Brace for impact!" -- a phrase I had heard many years before as an active duty Marine Officer but never before on a commercial air flight. 

Everyone looked at each other in shock.  It all happened so fast we were astonished!  

We began to descend rapidly and it started to sink in.  This is the last flight.  I'm going to die today.  This is it.  I recited my favorite bible verse, the Lord's Prayer, and asked God to take care of my wife, children, family and friends. 

When I raised my head I noticed people texting their friends and family... getting off a last message.  My blackberry was turned off and in my trouser pocket... no time to get at it. 

Our descent continued and I prayed for courage to control my fear and help if able.  I quickly realized that one of two things was going to happen, neither of them good.  We could hit by the nose, flip and break up, leaving few if any survivors, bodies, cold water, fuel.  Or we could hit one of the wings and roll and flip with the same result.  I tightened my seat belt as tight as I could possibly get it so I would remain intact.  

As we came in for the landing, I looked out the windows and remember seeing the buildings in New Jersey, the cliffs in Weehawken, and then the piers.  The water was dark green and sure to be freezing cold.  The stewardesses were yelling in unison: "Brace! Brace! Brace!" It was a violent hit -- the water flew up over my window -- but we bobbed up and were all amazed that we remained intact.  

There was some panic -- people jumping over seats and running towards the doors, but we soon got everyone straightened out and calmed down.  

There were a lot of people that took leadership roles in little ways.  Those sitting at the doors over the wing did a fantastic job... they were opened in a New York second!  Everyone worked together -- teamed up and in groups to figure out how to help each other.  I exited on the starboard side of the plane, 3 or 4 rows behind my seat through a door over the wing and was, I believe, the 10th or 12th person out.  I took my seat cushion as a flotation device and once outside saw I was the only one who did... none of us remembered to take the yellow inflatable life vests from under the seat. 

We were standing in 6-8 inches of water and it was freezing.  

There were two women on the wing, one of whom slipped off into the water.  Another passenger and I pulled her back on and had her kneel down to keep from falling off again.  By that point we were totally soaked and absolutely frozen from the icy wind.  The ferries were the first to arrive, and although they're not made for rescue, they did an incredible job.  I know this river, having swum in it as a boy.  The Hudson is an estuary -- part salt and part fresh water -- and moves with the tide.  I could tell the tide was moving out because we were tacking slowly south towards Ellis Island, The Statue of Liberty, and The Battery.  The first ferry boat pulled its bow up to the tip of the wing, and the first mate lowered the Jacobs ladder down to us.  We got a couple people up the ladder to safety, but the current was strong pushing the stern of the boat into the inflatable slide and we were afraid it would puncture it... there must have been 25 passengers in it by now.  Only two or three were able to board the first ferry before it moved away.  Another ferry came up, and we were able to get the woman that had fallen into the water on the ladder, but she just couldn't move her legs and fell off.  Back onto the ladder she went, however, the ferry had to back away because of the swift current.  A helicopter arrived on station (nearly blowing us all off the wing) and followed the ferry with the woman on the ladder.  We lost view of the situation but I believe the helicopter lowered its basket to rescue her.  As more ferries arrived, we were able to get people up on the boats a few at a time.  The fellow in front of me fell off the ladder and into the water.  When we got him back on the ladder he could not move his legs to climb.  I couldn't help him from my position so I climbed up the ladder to the ferry deck where the first mate and I hoisted the Jacobs ladder with him on it... when he got close enough we grabbed his trouser belt and hauled him on deck.  

We were all safely off the wing.  We could not stop shaking.  Uncontrollable shaking.  

The only thing I had with me was my blackberry, which had gotten wet and was not working.  (It started working again a few hours later).  The ferry took us to the Weehawken Terminal in NJ where I borrowed a phone and called my wife to let her know I was okay.  The second call I made was to Jenn.  I knew she would be worried about me and could communicate to the rest of the firm that I was fine.  

At the terminal, first responders assessed everyone's condition and sent people to the hospital as needed.  

As we pulled out of Weehawken my history kicked in and I recall it was the site of the famous duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in 1804.  Thankfully I left town in better condition than Mr. Hamilton who died of a mortal wound the next day!  

I stayed with my sister on Long Island that evening, then flew home the next day.  I am struck by what was truly a miracle.  Had this happened a few hours later, it would have been pitch dark and much harder to land.  Ferries would no longer have been running after rush hour and it would not have been the same uplifting story.  Surely there would have been fatalities, hypothermia, an absolute disaster! 

I witnessed the best of humanity that day.  I and everyone on that plane survived and have been given a second chance.  

It struck me that in our work we continuously seek excellence to solve our client's leadership problems.  We talk to clients all the time about the importance of experience and the ability to execute.  Experience showed up big-time on flight 1549 as our pilot was a dedicated, trained, experienced professional who executed flawlessly when he had to. 

I have received scores of emails from across the firm and I am so grateful for the outpouring of interest and concern.  We all fly a great deal or work with someone who does and so I wanted to share this story -- the story of a miracle.  I am thankful to be here to tell the tale. 

There is a great deal to be learned including: Why has this happened to me?  Why have I survived and what am I supposed to do with this gift?  For me, the answers to these questions and more will come over time, but already I find myself being more patient and forgiving, less critical and judgmental. 

For now I have 4 lessons I would like to share:  

1. Cherish your families as never before and go to great lengths to keep your promises.  

2. Be thankful and grateful for everything you have and don't worry about the things you don't have. 

3. Stay in shape.  You never know when you'll be called upon to save your own life, or help someone else save theirs. 

4. When you fly, wear practical clothing.  You never know when you'll end up in an emergency or on an icy wing in flip flops and pajamas and of absolutely no use to yourself or anyone else. 

And I'd like to add: Fly with gray-haired pilots!

Enjoy this uplifting story about a young police officer, Bryce.  Devastatingly injured in the line of duty, yet making remarkable progress.

Bryce Video

This past week, my wife and daughter and I traveled to Kauai and spent time with some wonderful people there.  As you can imagine, Kauai is struggling.  The hotel where we stayed reported 30% occupancy, compared with 100% occupancy for the prior seven years.  Yowza.

As we strolled a small shopping area one afternoon, we came across this sign outside an art gallery.  My Republican friends will surely love it, as will entrepreneurs, small businesses, capitalists, and for that matter -- most taxpayers.

My clients run the gamut.  Indeed, some are bailout-beneficiaries, others are government-centric groups, and some are small banks hanging on by their fingernails.  A great many are manufacturers and service providers in the private sector.  (One banking executive recently said to me, "In our new economy, the government seems to view an organization as 'too large to fail' or 'too small to save.'  In the end, we're all citizens committed to re-starting our economy.")

And as taxpayers, when we disregard the 'Wall Street vs. Main Street' rhetoric, I see much common ground.  In fact, more common than uncommon ground. 

Because in the end, we want justice, equality, opportunity, health, safety, happy children, and our shot at the pursuit -- or dare I say it -- the arrival of happiness.

Sometimes we wind-up feeling like Job, who lost ten children, his health, and everything he possessed.  But when he prayed for his friends, "the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before."  He died, old and full of years.

If you're not wishing the best for others or praying for them, maybe now is the time to do so.

All the best to you and yours; enjoy the weekend.

Knowing NOTHING about Jackson Pollock, his place in the pantheon of American artists, or the fact that one of his paintings sold for $140 Million U.S. Dollars, I subsequently watched Pollock, directed by and starring Ed Harris. 

When it was over, I had one distinct reaction: Disappointment.

Not in the movie, which was fine enough, but in the life and loss of Jackson Pollock himself.  The absolute 'unrealized potential.'

I know that may surprise, given his work and how highly art critics, collectors, and historians regard it, but setting all that aside -- the man's LIFE was tragic.  Manic depressive, alcoholic, philanderer... just lost and wayward.  Read for yourself, if interested. 

Thankfully, he found what appeared to be some periodic, transient (though ultimately fleeting) moments of peace in the faithfulness of his wife and fellow artist, Lee Krasner.

It's impossible to complete the documentary and movie without thinking of others who experienced the "Behind the Music" arc of Obscurity, Struggle, Moonshot Fame, Excess, Demons, Loss, Collapse, Dissolution.  (Beyond question, fans are fickle and fame is fleeting, but that's not my focus here today.  Nor is the undeniable amount of collateral damage that one individual creates through his or her own self-destruction.) 

The dubious 'honor roll' of those who died as a result of their own doing, who regrettably and tragically saw their Gifts and Talents pass through their fingers like fists of sand is a long list indeed.  Too long.

And then there are those who remain among us, but whose lives of unrealized potential linger on, zombie-like.  Their possessors are alive, but the talents themselves appear dormant or atrophied, like a limb exercised infrequently or none at all.

I think, too, of Dennis Rodman, Mike Tyson, and the countless other souls who, despite their once-greatness, find themselves 'cast' in what appears to be some recurring, off-Broadway play entitled, "Good Once, but Gone Now."

When I think of these lives, I'm not pacified with the contention that they were "awesome in their day or way."  Instead, I always wonder, "But what might they have been?  What could they have accomplished, given healthier upbringings, robust life-management skills, stronger coping mechanisms, broader perspectives, or even hope or meaning or garden variety love?" 

Would they still have hungered... had the fire in their bellies to achieve 'exemplarity' in the first place?

Perhaps.  And perhaps not. 

We'll likely never know, and the phenomenon will continue in perpetuity, a constant virus in the strain of life.

But there are those who accomplish many great things and carry on -- carry on for years and years, slogging through the quicksand and briars of life -- with grace and perspective in equal measure.

I know the legacy of Abraham Lincoln has received a renewed heaping of appreciation these recent months, but it gets me thinking.  What tragedies he sustained, what depression he and his wife fought, what sadness he experienced, including the greatest loss any parent can endure, the death of a child.  And in the White House, no less.  The apex of achievement, rendered potentially meaningless by such catastrophe.

But he rose.  Again, and again, and again, Mr. Lincoln rose. 

Among so many other admirable qualities, it's his perseverance that marks me the most.

I'm reminded of a childhood football coach who once admonished, "Leath, I don't care how many times they take you to your knees.  I care how many times you rise to your feet."

Let's commit to encouraging one another, to realizing our potential -- whatever we understand it to be -- and in the doing so, to achieving in reality what we possess in potentiality.

Today's earlier blog ("Enjoying the Journey") got me thinking about that 'ol Robert Fulghum poem, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

For those of you who enjoyed it then, or have never crossed it, here it is.

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All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten.  Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.

These are the things I learned:

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life -- learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder.  Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup -- they all die.  So do we.
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned -- the biggest word of all -- LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.  The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation.  Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.  Think what a better world it would be if we all -- the whole world -- had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap.  Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together. 

© Robert Fulghum, 1990.  All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten, Villard Books: New York, 1990, page 6-7.

http://www.robertfulghum.com   

Please bear with me today; I'm blown like a bubble with competing thoughts, so I'll trickle a stream of consciousness and do my best to tie things together near the end.

These past three weeks have been a whirlpool; I'm hopeful there's a point of encouragement somewhere in the swirl. 

1. Random Thought Bubble #1.  This past week, I was the last to board a plane and as I proceeded toward the rear of the aircraft, I scanned all the overhead bins before me, noticing they were closed.  The flight was oversold, and I was simply thrilled to have caught it.  As I passed the only open bin (about halfway to my seat) I stuffed my bulky overcoat inside, knowing I'd barely have room enough at my feet for my bag. 

The flight was uneventful, but within the final few minutes, as I gathered all my things and shoved them in my bag, I found a stranger's notebook in the seatpocket in front of me.  A prior occupant's.  I scanned it quickly, looking for a name, card, phone number, anything.  Finding nothing identifiable, I wrote "28A" on the cover and prepared to hand it to a flight attendant, should the occupant realize his forgetfulness and seek it later. 

I was the last person off the plane.  As I proceeded to the bin where I had stuffed my coat, I discovered it was gone.  In its place was a different coat!  I looked around, saw no other coats, grabbed this one, bolted up the jetway and looked everywhere for someone wearing my coat.  No one was to be found.  I returned to the plane, found a flight attendant, and in a very confusing way, handed over the notebook and the coat.  "Here.  Neither of these is mine; they are from different people.  And by the way, someone has my coat."

It was mild madness.  She was perplexed, unsympathetic, and I spent the next thirty minutes explaining the 'loss of my coat' to an equally disinterested redcoat and baggage claim agent.  (Apparently, the airline has no 'claim process,' and retrieving the coat is not as easy as emailing the passengers and asking, "Anyone take a coat or missing a coat?")  Needless to say, it is gone forever, and I'm confident that both the notebook and remaining coat are also lost to eternal winds by now. 

2. Random Thought Bubble #2.  A few nights ago, about twenty of us had dinner at the rollicking Hofbrau House on the outskirts of Cincinnati.  One of the men at dinner made an interesting comment -- one I've heard before in similar ways.  "After about ten years [with my former employer], I could read the writing on the wall.  It occurred to me that I couldn't work there another twenty years, and that no leaders had taken a particular interest in my career.  I ejected." 

Today, he seems much happier.  He is with a great group of people, doing meaningful work, and I'm confident he'll thrive.

3. Random Thought Bubble #3.  Several quotes have crossed my radar these past few weeks.  I've heard some of them before, but it always intrigues me when I hear several in a row -- from disparate sources -- that seem somehow related or similar.  In these trying times, I hope they resonate or encourage you somehow: 

"For those who believe, no proof is necessary.  For those who don't believe, no proof is possible."  Stewart Chase

"In youth, we learn.  In age, we understand."  Marie Ebner von Eschenbach

"I never teach my pupils.  I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."  Albert Einstein

"You can measure a person's greatness by how much it takes to discourage him."  Robert Savage

"He who argues for his limitations gets to keep them."  Richard Bach

4. Random Thought Bubble #4.  In the last five days, I have heard from several dear friends who were either passed over for a promotion or let go.  Their frustration, disappointment, and anger are palpable.  Concurrently, I am also aware of others, both friends and acquaintances, whose organizations are thriving and raging successfully. 

The contrast is so amazingly stark.  It's as if there are two economies running in tandem.  On the one hand, there is misery, challenge, worry, fear, paranoia, and insecurity.  But on the hand right beside it is elation, opportunity, hope, excitement, and security.  Bizarre.  At the very point in time when hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people are losing jobs each month, there are pockets of people whose businesses are experiencing their greatest growth in a decade. 

Fascinatingly, it is so representative of our world.  Just as a billion people awake each day to running water, heated homes, adequate nutrition, and healthy living conditions, nearly five billion people awake each morning without many or any of these....

5. Random Thought Bubble #5.  On Sunday, when discussing 'the coat incident,' I told my wife and daughter that I wanted a new sweater and sportcoat for the Spring.  (I can count on two fingers the new clothes I have purchased for myself in the last twenty months: in June 2008, I bought a $19.00 shirt for my twenty-year high school reunion.  In October 2007, I bought the coat that someone mistakenly snagged!  Needless to say, my closet is a well-preserved time capsule.  I can [and do] still wear clothes I wore in high school, and I recently wore my 1993 wedding tuxedo to the local Father-Daughter dance on February 7th.  Because I wear so few articles and repeatedly, I have several other things in my closet that last for 'decades.')

As we spoke of these two items to purchase, little Lauren grabbed a pink spiral notebook and wrote the words, "Daddy."  "Coral."  "Salmon."  And so, with the mommy-recommended-colors in hand, we set out for a daddy-daughter-date-day to fish.

Eight stores later, having caught only ice cream, we returned home empty-handed. 

I think I'll just wear what I already have in the closet.

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But what a fun day we had, Lauren's tiny, sweaty hand gripping mine as we trudged through parking lots, malls, and along sidewalks of every hue.     

We had a purpose, she and I.  Despite our legs nearly giving out, we bounced along for hours.

And although our 'fishing expedition' hadn't quite worked out, we still enjoyed the journey, laughed, talked a great deal, and rewarded ourselves with ice cream. 

I think the day served as a great reminder for me.

Sometimes in our distractedness, we lose things -- or they are taken from us.  We needn't perceive this as maliciousness. 

Sometimes in our career, we realize we've leaned our ladder against the wrong organization.  We need only move it. 

Sometimes, when we get really still or quiet, we see or hear things that were right there all along.  We need only look and listen. 

Sometimes, when we feel really small or frail or as if we've failed, it's important to keep things in perspective and realize how blessed we truly are.  We need only appreciate. 

And sometimes, when we set out to sea for whatever expeditions lie before us -- whether fishing for coral, salmon, or joy -- we should keep our hands and hearts open and give thanks for the journey itself and our companions along the way.

Several days ago, our six-year-old daughter brought home her most recent Report Card.

The 'Academic Subjects' include Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Composition, Reading, and Spelling.

The 'Fine Arts & Specials' include Art, Music, Spanish, and Physical Education.

And then there are a dozen or so 'Life Skills' that include things like 'Accepts Responsibility, Demonstrates Organization, Exhibits a Positive Attitude,' and so forth.

She brought it home as she always does, given she is in First Grade... with beaming hope and curiosity, not knowing what it means or how she did.  Ah, the innocence of youth.  Soon enough, the world will clamp down upon her, and Report Cards will become more than they ever should be; they will become perversely internalized -- as they are by too many -- as a measure of one's own worth.  I did that; perhaps you did too.  Get straight A's, and all is right with the world.  Get a C, and the end is near.

So there we stand, all three of us in the kitchen.  My daughter has placed the Report Card on the kitchen table, that her mother and I will review and interpret it.  And so we do.

My eyes scan the categories.  Making sense of them, I then scan down the columns, quickly taking in the grades.  97, 98, 99, 96, 97, 99, 97...

Fixating first (and solely) on the 96, I say into the face of my beaming daughter, "96.  Talk to me about 'Language Composition.'  What's going on there?"

And so we talk for a few minutes about this lowest grade.

After a few minutes, my wife elbows me in the ribs.  Clearing her throat, she looks at Lauren and exuberates, "Wow, you're doing really great.  You must be enjoying yourself; just look at all these awesome scores!"

See the difference?  (Just recounting it makes me feel so ashamed of myself.)

I, like most people, fixated immediately on the 'lowest marks' and the 'perceived failures,' working immediately to understand them, in hopes that they might be improved or repaired.  (As if a 96 in First Grade is anything worrisome.)

My wife, however, focused on the exemplarity of Lauren's scores, affirming and encouraging her.  (One can see so readily how the slippery slope of well-meaning but poorly executed 'parental Report Card reviews' begins.  Left to my own devices, I'm sure that by the 3rd grade, Lauren would twitch as she approached me... sheepishly handing me her Report Card with her eyes cast downward!)

Realizing my own error, I quickly caught on and joined my wife's tact and together we worked with Lauren to understand ALL of her Report Card.  By the end, she was indeed where any parent would like for his or her child to be: affirmed, encouraged, educated, and aware of the opportunities and strengths and prepared to address and extend them all.

The clarion irony is The Lesson Was On Me.

On a regular basis, I am teaching the lesson that my wife had to demonstrate for me; the very same lesson that Marcus Buckingham and countless others have written about.  From Selective Perception, Broken Windows Theory, and the Boiled Frog Phenomenon to the Pygmalion Effect, Target Fixation, and Chevreul's Pendulum... we see again and again the relationship between Vision, the Mind, and Behavior.  We know that we are to acknowledge and address shortcomings, but more importantly, that we should focus upon and extend strengths with great fervor, as these are indeed Talents that should not go unexploited.

Over the years, having supervised dozens of trainers, teachers, and consultants, I have seen all of them periodically deflated or devastated by 'course' or 'project evaluations' that were not 100% positive.  It's amazing (though totally understandable) to see a forty-year-old professional, adept to a zenith of near flawlessness, emotionally decimated by a handful of poor or low 'scores' received out of hundreds. 

Specifically, there is one course in particular which comes to mind that five of us team-teach twice annually.  This class generally has around 150 participants.  By way of a representative example, I recall the Friday evaluations after a long week of instruction a few years ago.  One of my colleagues received a '5' (perfect score) from 138 participants.  A handful of the remaining scores were 4's, and there was one 2 and one 1. 

That's amazing.  92% of the participants perceived this instructor as Excellent... essentially without demerit.  7% perceived him as Above Average.  Approximately 1% of the participants were critical.

In short, the instructor blew the socks off nearly everyone.  A few important outliers disagreed, yes, but that's it.

In my book, that's irrefutable success, because to my way of thinking, when an instructor gets perfect 5's across the board, he or she is not taking enough risks.  Not challenging the students.  Not questioning them, pushing back, calling them on the carpet.  Not probing their paradigms or pushing for change.  Generally, he or she is 'entertraining...' performing a well-rehearsed routine or shtick, playing for some broad laughs along the way, but not really consulting.  I've seen it far too often.  A student provides an anemic answer (however well-intentioned it may be), and the instructor congratulates him rather than converting it into a teachable moment. 

Or a facilitator refuses to deviate from the pre-printed lesson plan, thereby missing the real-time moments to address immediate and expressed needs.  Any material exists only to serve us, not the other way around.  The most powerful sessions I've ever attended were often those during which the facilitator took a risk and said, "Tell you what.  I'm observing all sorts of issues that our planned agenda won't address.  Out the window it goes; let's get real with each other and start over.  Where shall we begin?"  This responsiveness differentiates professionals from amateurs, so don't be hard on yourself when improvising; it's the hallmark of a good teacher. 

When entertraining, the entire potential of a given course is essentially betrayed by the pursuit for comfort, likability, popularity, fun, appeasement, and accommodation.  (Limited learning occurs, but the instructor sure was cool!)  And when sticking so closely to a training script as to not deviate when necessary, a teacher misses untold extemporaneous opportunities to meet students where they are.  ("I didn't resolve any pressing needs, but at least I covered all my slides and the pages in the binder.  Yea me!")   

Mark Twain wrote, "If we both agree, one of us is unnecessary."

Differences of opinion are the starting point of knowledge, and it is through the expression of varying perceptions that we grow and learn from one another.

The key, as my wife gently prodded me while reviewing the Report Card, is to retain perspective.  To see beyond the outliers or perceived deficiencies to the massive trend of successes and strengths.

My conscientious instructor, the one who received poor feedback from 1% of our participants, called me on Saturday after our long flight home.  I was exhausted and recuperating, and his voice sounded thin and tired like mine.  "I've been thinking," he began.  "Do you think I'm really cut out to do this?  I feel that I failed you.  The team.  The client, even."

"Oh, my.  No, no, no, no," I responded.  "Listen, it may take you several days and one unicorn success to put this behind you.  I understand; I've been there, too.  Anyone who tries has.  The short answer is: 92% success is not failure.  I'm proud of you; you were superb.  You invested the hours to prepare, you had your A-game on, and just because a few people didn't fall in love with you does not approximate, in any conscionable way, a failure."

We spoke for quite a while.  It took some time to talk him off the ledge he had wandered upon.  It wasn't until he had succeeded 'wildly and on his own terms' some days later that he regained his confidence.

Participants, managers, employees, spouses... individuals of all sorts and stripes can be very critical and judgmental.  They are not to be faulted, as it's human nature to judge others.  We come by it quite naturally, though that does not make it right. 

Sit 100 people down in front of a flipchart pad with a small blue dot on it, and what will 99 people say they see?  "A blue dot."

How many will say, "I see a whole lot of white space, and a blue dot."  About 1 in 100.  (Try it; you'll see.)

One of our responsibilities as leaders is to demonstrate grace, understanding, and humility.  We are all flawed, horrifically so.  And we all rely mutually on one another to succeed.  Today's economic environment is difficult enough; employees don't need another knife in their back.  Learn from my mistakes and be better -- be a constructive conduit, not a critic.  Give people the benefit of the doubt, and realize that the appropriate and logical slack you cut another for his or her human-ness is the slack you'll desire for yourself one day.

My final encouragement to you is to realize the vast capacity and successes of yourself and those around you; to acknowledge the A's (and affirm them) and keep the C's in perspective.  Don't let your shortcomings consume your magnificence.

If any of us is expected to achieve 100% perfection, I can guarantee a life of misery and unslakeable thirst that contorts one's existence into a twist of perpetual disappointment like the ouroboros... the snake always consuming its own tail.

Be lifted, as I have been by those who love, coach, and care for me along the way.  Work to improve your shortcomings, as we all must, but take great joy in your talents, gifts, and successes.  Life is rife with joy-robbers and critics, but as Teddy Roosevelt reminded us:

I don't know about you, but there are times -- times in the nooks and crannies of a given month, whether while waiting for an airplane or returning from a stretch break in the office -- that I can find myself utterly perplexed and overwhelmed by the 'online social networking sites' I have been 'encouraged' to join... or perhaps more accurately, pseudo-ordered to join, lest I risk being seen as a 4th generation Luddite.

I am both too old to invest more-than-partially in a social networking presence, and too young to admit full and utter defeat resulting from the sense of having felt 'passed' by the phenomenon.

Moreover, it's difficult for me -- and perhaps many of us -- to manage our many 'online and technology-based' identities.  By this, I don't mean anything lurid or second-identity-ish, but rather, the simple reality of remembering all my User IDs, Log-Ins, and various Account Passwords.

I mean, seriously. 

Think about it for a minute.

I'm sure you're no different; you likely have the very same issues and challenges.

1) I have an AOL Account (maybe yours is gmail, yahoo, hotmail, netzero, mac)... a Screen Name and Password.  (Five actually, each created since 1994 or so... and each representing different 'phases of life' or whatever.  Today, I have sloughed-off four of them, sticking to just one now for the past few years.)

2) I have my Outlook Account for the office and my 'professional' life.  It, expectedly, has a unique User Name and Password.

3) Being told perhaps two years ago that 'Linked In' was the 'professional's Facebook,' I obliged and created a User Name and Account and completed a full-blown profile there, though I seldom check it.  People often Link In to me, but I must admit, the tangible value of the presence is highly fuzzy.

4) Being ping'd (e.g., 'friended') repeatedly by others to "Join my Plaxo Network," I again obliged so I could simply respond to them and, subsequently... I have a User Name, Password, and maybe even a profile as well, though I haven't checked Plaxo in months.

5) I have my Cell Phone, which leads to lots of 'Voicemail checking' that we all do throughout the day.

6) We have our Office Phone, which requires more Voicemail checking.

7) There's the Home Phone, which periodically gets backed-up with all sorts of calls.

8) And there's MySpace and Twitter, neither of which I have ever visited, partially because I don't entirely know what they are (sorry/eeeek/forgive me), and partially because the pervading water-cooler-reputation of each is that they are more 'adolescent.'  This, despite my realization that MySpace has over 120 Million monthly site visitors and even more members.  I suspect that I am indeed a troglodyte, having abstained from joining yet another community, and clearly the biggest.

9) And finally, the coup de grace, Facebook.  Which I very stubbornly refused to join... quite successfully, in fact, until earlier this week when I was informed that "to not have a Facebook account is equivalent to lacking a cell phone; at some point you're simply out of touch."  Well, okay then.  I relent.  So, voila, another online presence and profile to maintain.  Or avoid.  And goodness, this one's needy!  It has all sorts of Info and Wall Graffiti and the like that could very well take over a universe like weeds.  I'm not sure what, precisely, the site is about... and so my 'overwhelmed-ness' grows.

I yearn for the day when "the Internet 2.0" or whatever my guru friends are describing actually comes true.  A day when my 'online identity or presence' can be carried with me wherever I go; exported, imported, plugged and played into whatever and wherever I am. 

I would much prefer to have just one online Portal, rather than these half-dozen sources of 'presence' and 'messaging' that make checking notes the equivalent of some masochistic and labyrinthine Easter Egg hunt.  (I have a difficult enough time locating my car keys.)

I recollect, with great nostalgia now, the simple mustard-yellow wall-phone in the kitchen of my childhood.  The one with the twenty-feet-long cord that my sister would twirl around her fingers as she sat and talked just around the corner on the shag-carpet in the living room.

If it were a couple decades ago, and I were in college again, I am certain that MySpace and Facebook would hold much allure for me and my cohorts.  After all, they would serve a real utilitarian function!  "I'm going to the library," one might write.  "Find me in the southeast corner of the fourth floor."  And then, one could Twitter his or her way there, iPhoning or Same-Timing or Texting or Beaconing or Looped-ing or GPS'ing until arrival.  And sneak in the requisite shake or snack or slice of pizza. 

But alas, high school and university life are decades behind me now, and I doubt very much that a colleague wants to know, in real-time, that "I am stepping away from my desk and will be in the Break Room if you need me."  Or, "I will be in Terminal D at Gate 7 for the next 2 hours if you need me."  Or, worse, "I will be replying to emails for the next hour, please Twitter me and we'll IM!"

I read an interesting article earlier this week, probably the culprit for today's rant.  It described one of the benefits (?) of online presence: "Ambient Awareness."  This idea that we are constantly aware of others' comings and goings and, as a result, when we see them -- we're largely 'up to speed!'

Hmmmm.

I'm not sure if I like that.

After all, part of the fun of reconnecting with an old friend, a former colleague, or a long-ago client is the very process of catching-up.  The inquiry.  The, "So, what have you been up to these past eight years?"  That DIALOGUE is presumably diminished by ambient awareness. 

I can only imagine the current 'catching-up.'  It would go something like this: "So, what have you been up to?  Oh, wait.  Don't tell me.  I know.  We're done here.  Great seeing you.  Thanks for meeting me.  Check please!"

Hmmmm.  That's a downer.

And yet, here we are.  Carried by the rising tide that raises all boats -- social networking, online presences and identities -- so ubiquitous and 'seemingly required' for any contemporary professional that to lack them, one runs the risk, not of social banishment, but rather, of being forgotten or written off altogether.  "Oh, that hermit.  Gosh, I don't know what happened to him.  He just vanished.  Must have had a meltdown or gone all Howard Hughes on us.  I Googled him and he couldn't be found.  I e-mailed, called, voicemailed, texted, same-time'd, IM'd, Facebook'd, MySpace'd, Linked In, Plaxo'd, even mailed him a paper letter with my handwriting on it and an actual stamp... I did everything short of knocking on the front door of his home or rousing him from his bed, and he was nowhere to be found."

Should that ever happen to me, please don't panic or worry.

I can probably be found in a fetal position around the corner in the living room, hoping against hope that the mustard phone doesn't ring.

Lots of folks are requesting literature like this.  I hope it falls on big eyes and itching ears.

Five Missteps to Avoid in Volatile Times.pdf (118.98 kb)

A very dear mentor passed away yesterday, February 3, 2009. 

He had battled cancer valiantly for 18 ½ years, living a remarkable life along the way.   

My library is highly enriched by the many books he sent me, each of which includes a beautiful and personal inscription.  He was always thinking of others.

"Moose" was first-class, all the way.   

I vividly remember an occasion when he and I were to speak together, perhaps back in 2004 or so, and he could not leave his house from his illness.  It had been a bad day.  But he called me nonetheless, and encouraged me... HE ENCOURAGED ME... from his bed. 

That’s vintage Moose, and there was much more where that came from.  His final note to me read, "Keep swinging, Blake.  You'll keep hitting.  Cheers, Moose."

God speed, dear friend. 

-blake 

p.s. Yesterday's entry reverberates again today.  "Better to overdo than underdo."

Indeed.

Thank you, Moose, for always overdoing it for everyone fortunate enough to have crossed your path.     

High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence.  Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air...
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew –
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941  

BIOGRAPHY: Terry "Moose" Millard 

Exploring the edge of the performance envelope had been part of Terry “Moose” Millard’s life since he earned his pilot license at age 15.  That is when he discovered that if you love what you do, hard work can be fun – and fun fuels productivity.  Moose believed that just as professional pilots must understand the performance envelope of their aircraft and crew, great leaders must understand the performance envelope of their organization and people.  That understanding is crucial to achieving maximum performance without running out of fuel.  After 40 years of study and experience as a leadership and service practitioner, Moose knew how it felt to be there and what works to get you there.

His formal education included a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and a Masters degree in Human Resource Management.  However, his best education had been working his way through pre-college and college years in real world jobs like heavy construction laborer, janitor, night watchman, sales person, appliance repairman, and supervisor.

Moose added to his hands-on leadership experience with a 20-year Air Force career in fighter jets, including two combat tours in Vietnam, duty as an evaluator of management and leadership, and commander of a combat ready F-16 Fighting Falcon squadron.

Moose joined the Southwest Airlines team in 1988 and stayed at the company until the age 60 rule forced him to retire.  In addition to performing duties as an airline captain, check airman, and assistant chief pilot supervising over 600 pilots, he was deeply immersed in company culture initiatives like pilot hiring, human factors team training, and intra-departmental employee relationship building.  After Moose retired from Southwest Airlines the company contracted with him to help lead a new business initiative called Plane Smart Business, which more deeply engaged pilots in understanding and participating in business performance enhancements for the company.

Since 1990 he shared his experience and research as a seminar leader, consultant, and professional speaker.  He spoke with passion and humor about building and maintaining maximum performance cultures, developing the heart of service, nurturing gutsy leadership, and dealing with adversity through Possibility Mentality which he had used in his continuing 17-year adventure with cancer.

The origin of his nickname remains mysteriously obscured in the hazy history of a bygone era.  He resided with his wife, Allene, in Colorado Springs, CO and Henderson, NV.

My father shared an interesting story with me the other day about a dear family friend who passed away.  Fortunately, upon hearing of his illness, my parents moved quickly -- rushed to the hospital to be at his side and to visit with his wife.  He died later that same evening.

Today, I have attended several meetings.  The first one included an overview from an architect and emphasized the importance of a Master Plan for a potential project.  The second described the necessity of a Project Plan for a particular project.  The third detailed a specific Plan for an ongoing project, and the fourth meeting -- you guessed it -- included an Overview & Status Update on a current project!

In each of these instances, the words of my mother ring true: "Better to overdo than underdo."

In the case of the Master Plan, we know the additional expenses and change-orders that arise in the absence of pre-planning can be exorbitant.  In the cases of Project Plans and ongoing Status Updates, I am reminded of the carpenter's colloquialism, "Measure twice, cut once."

This very day, our Senate is wrestling with an Economic Recovery Package/Stimulus Plan.  If our lawmakers are not careful, they might very well make things worse.  (a big surprise for some of you, i'm sure.  unfathomable, isn't it?)  Harvard economist Martin Feldstein commented the other day, "$800 Billion is a terrible thing to waste."  And Larry Summers (controversial former President of Harvard University and current Director of the National Economic Council in the Obama Administration) commented that whatever government does, it should be "targeted, timely, and temporary."  Amen.

To my way of thinking, I like the potentially paradoxical combination of these three ideas:

1. Better to overdo than underdo.

2. Measure twice, cut once.

3. When rescuing, be targeted, timely, and temporary.

A dear friend of mine, who today is wildly successful in every sense of the word, grew up impoverished.  Many years ago, as he and I were discussing welfare and the like, he commented, "The poor need a helping hand, not a handout.  Just facilitate, don't rescue.  It preserved my pride and gave me all I needed -- opportunity and access."

As leaders, this crisis is alchemy -- the opportunity to take ordinary parts and create an extraordinary whole through the right combination of support + access.  What began as a mortgage collapse exacerbated by credit default swaps and a full-scale financial and economic embolism provides a phenomenal OPPORTUNITY for the United States to right the ship.  But haste makes waste, and while there is very little time remaining to 'move quickly,' it's key that whatever will be done... be done well.  Otherwise, we'll simply add insult to injury and worsen an already complicated morass.

But from the individual perspective, which is the only one we control, I propose we focus on doing right in all the little things; erring on the side of exceeding customer expectations, building strong and informed plans (pre-thinking as much as possible), and being targeted and timely.  

Like a child's training wheels, they've got to come off some day.  Our responsibility is to ready the rider for independence so he/she can perform beyond our existence... and this can most effectively happen when we err on the side of "pre-habilitation and pre-planning," lest we remain forever in the process of "re-habilitation and rescue."

Like food coloring or plastic surgery, if we're not careful -- we'll add just one drop too many; perform one surgery too many -- and create an unintentionally eugenicized country that was neither what we settled, nor what our founding fathers set out to create.

In this time when 'psychology trumps the economy,' our Group embarked on a research project that involved interviewing a number of executives.  In short, we wanted to know, "How 'ya doin'?  How's the morale, the focus, the organization at large?"

Though not particularly surprising, the findings are certainly interesting and instructive for many of us.  The results are trimodal, with three distinct 'camps' emerging within this representative sample.  Some of the organizations are:

1. COUNTDOWNERS.  These leaders and organizations are fixed on the countdown clock as it ticks to Zero.  They perceive an organizational-apocalypse of sorts; the end is near.  They hope to divest, sell, be acquired... and are meticulously dismantling their organization for bankruptcy or closure.

2. TREADERS.  These businesses are treading water; biding time.  They hope to emerge healthier one day, but don't know if... how... or when.  They are hopeful yet realistic, and are exerting a great deal of energy to survive.  They describe battle fatigue, a bunker/siege/foxhole mentality, and difficulty leading through ambiguity.

3. GROWERS.  These organizations are engaged in due diligence.  They are reorganized, lean, and hungry.  They are searching for and gobbling up as many weak competitors as possible for pennies on the dollar.  Their leanness will morph into plumpness as they continue to hire and expand their proverbial 'footprint.'

I'm not sure which of these three camps most adequately describes your organization, but I wanted to offer a few thoughts for all of us in these Turbulent Times.  Think of these ideas as a sort of People Prescription to Foster Resiliency:

1)First, during turbulence and severe negative stress ('Distress' or 'Crisis'), we generally see 10% of the population ascend to lead.  In other words, they take charge.  We see another 10% of the population panic.  And we see 80% of the population waiting for leadership.  Those individuals who possess a Plan always fare better than those lacking a plan or waiting on leadership.  So regardless your position in an organization, be engaged, have a plan, and collaborate with others to execute.

2)Second, understand that most 'survivors' (whether experiencing PTSD or more benign distress) share six common characteristics.  They are (a)Hardy, (b)Interested & Alert, (c)Confident & Expectant, (d)Goal-Oriented, (e)Joyful, and (f)Peaceful.  A very interesting mix, indeed.  Both goal-oriented and expectant yet peaceful.  This, by the way, is also indicative of mature adults.  And by that, I don't mean age.

3)Third, the most resilient people behave in four particular ways during distress.  (a)They exhibit a 'Sense of Coherence.'  This means they perceive that crises make sense, they understand them, and though they may not like them, they remain rational.  (b)They believe they possess the Skills and Capacity to adapt to distress.  (c)They are Engaged and Accepting of Change.  And (d)they participate in Active Problem-Solving.  They participate and create their solutions and options, rather than wait longingly for a rescuer.

4)Fourth, and as important as anything mentioned thus far, great survivors and performers on the battlefield (a)have strong Support Mechanisms (e.g., Friends & Family) and (b)purposefully Refresh their Life Objectives/Goals on the return to normalcy.  In other words, they don't curl into a fetal position indefinitely; instead -- they RISE.

5)And finally, leaders and employees who survive and ultimately thrive often experience a supportive organization that is (a)Accessible, (b)Collaborative, and which (c)Creates Transcendent Goals that put the business's crisis in perspective and provide a rallying stake for all.

In summary then, whether your Employer is 'Countdowning' or 'Treading Water' or 'Growing,' we can all be wiser and more successful by studying the behavior of those in Crisis.   

It’s a blustery day across North America, and for this reason, Christopher Robin has crossed my mind.

Our saga begins happily enough…

Winnie the Pooh, one of my all-time favorite book series, was a gift by A.A. Milne to his son, Christopher Robin Milne, who adored a bear at the London zoo named Winnie.  He ultimately purchased a stuffed bear he named after him.  In 1925, this affection set Papa Milne (writer) and E.H. Shepard (illustrator) on a timeless path to describe Christopher Robin and his growing collection of stuffed animals in a setting they named the 100 Acre Wood (the surrounding area near Milne’s home in Sussex, England).

Fast-forward 71 years…

Christopher Robin passed away in 1996.

And correct me if I’m mistaken, but as I recall, Randy Pausch alluded to both Eeyore and Tigger in his beautiful Last Lecturepresentation.  Indeed, some of us are Eeyores, and some of us are Tiggers.

But there’s more. 

Let’s review by returning to a profile of Christopher Robin’s stuffed animals:

1.     Eeyore = The modest pessimist who’s always losing his tail, his house, and his hope.  He’s pleasantly surprised when people remember his birthday.

2.     Tigger = The excitable bouncer.  Assuredly, "the only one."

3.     Winnie = Our beloved protagonist; always searching for "the honeypot" and his friends.

4.     Piglet = Though diminutive, Piglet is brave and hopeful.  "I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today."

5.     Kanga = Roo’s doting mother.

6.     Roo = The inquisitive.

7.     Gopher & Heffalump = Disney’s newer and posthumous additions to Milne’s work.

And then, of course, there are the ‘real’ characters:

8.     Christopher Robin = The inimitable steward of the cast of the 100 Acre Wood, replete with mismatched socks.  A true pacifist.

9.     Owl = The wise.

10.  Rabbit = The organized, linear, and task-focused.

What a beloved and well-rounded cast of characters.  (Christopher Robin’s real stuffed animals remain on display in the Children’s Room in New York City’s Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42^nd Street.) 

I believe that as any one of us reads about these cute critters, we think of ourselves – or others we know.  There are certainly times I feel like Piglet, wondering what exciting things may happen today… and other times when I feel, in turn, like Rabbit, Roo, or Eeyor.

I presume you can say the same. 

But alas, returning to the subject of our saga, some unhappy news now…

Christopher Robin’s life was, in his words, "a disappointing affair."  He was reared primarily by his nanny, and his parents spent a strikingly limited amount of time with each other and with him.  They generally saw one another for short periods just after breakfast, at tea time, and in the evening right before Christopher went to bed.  As he grew, he spent more time with his parents, but because of their estrangement, his time was divided between each.

Though he enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh series early in his childhood, it soon became a source of taunting and adolescent difficulty.  By adulthood, he and his father had become estranged as well.  "It seemed to me almost that my father had got where he was by climbing on my infant shoulders, that he had filched from me my good name and left me nothing but empty fame."

Ouch.

Equally disappointing, he did not visit his mother in her final fifteen years of life.

Ouch again.

Christopher Robin died an atheist, despite an innocent enough line in one of his father’s works, "Hush!  Hush!  Whisper?  Who dares?  Christopher Robin is saying his prayers."  Schoolmates teased him ceaselessly about this and other lines from his father’s enormously successful series.  (My mind’s eye can imagine such taunts and how their seed was the beginning of adolescent resentment.) 

And so, one of the tragic ironies of Christopher Robin is the life he lived at the feet of his parents.  The life lived outside the very constellation of creativity and possibility and imagination that swirled within the fertile world of the Winnie the Pooh series.  A life surrounded by brilliance but deficient in love and affection.

Here is a case of a timeless band of brothers, set in motion within a palpable, rich environment – the 100 Acre Wood – launched into quaint adventures and odysseys by the kind and curious Christopher Robin.  But fast-forward and fade upward; gaze upon the life and times of Christopher Robin and the Milne family, and we see lives undone and bitterness in full bloom.

All the wisdom of Alan Alexander Milne, and yet both his – and his immediate family’s lives were set unalterably on a course of difficulty and disappointment resulting from success.  (This is an ageless narrative: sour grapes that are the fruits of the vine of success.)  All his life, Christopher Robin sought to distance himself from his parents and Winnie the Pooh, his childhood friend who had originally brought him such joy.

-----------------------------

Fade to present... 

Today being January 26, 2009, my six-year-old daughter has handed me a flier for the Valentine’s Father-Daughter Dance at what will likely be a local discotheque.  In hopes of learning from Papa Milne, I shall make this dance the highlight of my week – and ensure that Lauren knows it.  I will pause, turn everything off, unclutter my mind, and carry her in full regalia to what will surely be a special night, despite my dancing (which is only slightly less disturbing than Elaine Benes’s). 

Furthermore, I will continually strive to be present in all the tiny moments, and remind my family of their primacy in my life.

Despite our instinctive drive to overwork (the natural reaction to an economy riddled with unemployment, underemployment, and a high Suffering Index), our work must never swallow-up our families as it might have in our "unwiser years."

And I will commit myself anew to reminding each of you the lesson Christopher Robin taught Winnie when he said those ironic words: "Promise me you'll always remember – You are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

To which he might have added, "And I love you unendingly."

Years ago, I heard the phrase 'Organizational Intimacy' from a colleague, Michael Kroth.  I did a double-take; perhaps you did too.

Long story short, researchers and writers (from William Bridges and Steve Buchholz and Richard Leider to many others) have long-written about the importance of 'fulfillment' and 'meaningfulness' at work; the importance of purpose, and so on.

"Finding one's music," as Buchholz describes it.

I love that.

Finding my music...

Anyway, I've noticed an interesting trend these last few months.  Many employees who used to groan about their employer are now moaning their praises.  Occupational Intimacy indeed. 

In preparation for several upcoming presentations, our team has conducted a number of phone interviews in recent weeks, and the pattern is undeniable.  Here are some common quotes:

"I used to HATE it around here.  Now, I'm THRILLED to be employed."

"Sure, we could improve, but heck -- I'm just happy to have a job!"

"Oh, the grass used to be greener on the other side, but I'm delighted to be where I am.  THIS SIDE pays the bills, the checks don't bounce, and I sleep well at night knowing my industry is practically recession-proof."

"I've received more thank you letters in the last month than I have my entire career.  People are singing our praises and saying, 'Thank you for this place.'  They're simply joyous to be gainfully employed right now."

Yes they are.

From government to healthcare employees, many individuals are indeed THRILLED to be employed these days.

And oh, what a change this is.  Several years ago -- at the peak of our Economically Caligulan Era (or, the ECE... the 'easy' era one might say) -- when unemployment hovered around 4.6%, anyone who wanted a job could have his/her pick of the litter, executive salaries were obscenely high, materialism reigned, and 30-somethings were surfing the dot-com bubble and everyone presumed he would be driving a Lamborghini by 35 -- no employer could 'do right enough' and many bosses were written off as dullards.  Now, most bosses are luminaries.  After all, their organization remains, they are the boss, and employees still exist... so someone must be doing something right!

Last night I attended a presentation and the speaker described his hand-me-down grandfather's desk.  "I love that desk.  I've been around it my whole life, from the early visits to my grandfather's home to today, where it sits in my office.  As a boy, I'd crawl all over it and under it.  I remember pretending to do important things behind it, pretending to write checks and sign important documents.  But most people, when they walk into my office and see that desk now, they just see all that's wrong with it.  The wood's cracking and peeling, there are cigarette burns here and there, one of the legs wobbles.  'That's pitiful,' they'll observe.  'You need to get a new desk, man!'  But I never notice these things, because to me -- that desk is INVALUABLE; it represents my history, my childhood, my youth, my grandfather, and all the things I loved about him.  I'll never get rid of that desk, and hopefully my boys won't either."

For many, this desk is representative of their employer.  For too long, they only saw what was wrong.  Broken.  Peeling.  From the rattly fax machine stand or squeaky chair to the curling carpet by the water fountain.

But perhaps these days, we're starting to think of our employer like Grandpa's Desk.  Sure, it could use some restoring.  But I value it, love it as it is, and frankly, consider myself privileged to sit behind it and do important things.

Today, I encourage you to send that email.  Deliver that handwritten note.  Or personally look your employer in the eyes and say, "Thank you.  It's my honor to be here; what more can I do to support this organization?"

Cuz cigarette burns or not, all good desks need caretakers, and you might just be surprised how much fulfillment and meaning will result from your appreciation and engagement. 

What a fascinating example of the Pygmalion Effect (people rising or falling to the expectations of others).

And through American football, no less.

I don't want to give away the story, so I'll leave it up to you whether you read it or not.  It'll take about four minutes if you're interested.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/Story?id=6530495&page=1 

Tomorrow is Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009, and while I am no Presidential scholar, I sense the weight and significance of the day deep in my bones.  Perhaps more importantly, I sense the promise.

I know that many are hanging great hopes on President-elect Obama, hopes that are unlikely to be achieved by any mortal.  Likewise, many others write derogatorily about him, continuing the whispering campaigns that began 2+ years ago now.

But my comments today are apolitical and apartisan.  Instead, I mean to reflect on the forthcoming Obama Administration from a Leadership perspective.  Admittedly, when I watch the news at night, as I did last night, there are so many nuances to the political machinery that is the United States that I periodically find myself recalling the words of Oscar Wilde, who once wrote, "I am not young enough to know everything."  Regardless, there are things I do understand -- that we ALL understand deep in our souls.  It is a few of these understandings that I wish to mention, however briefly, today.

First and foremost, on January 15, 2009, Martin Luther King, Jr. would have turned 80 years old.  He gave his infamous, I Have a Dream speech 46 years ago.  A number of people were interviewed on TV last night describing the significance of this Presidency, and as tears flowed and the history of slavery in the United States was recounted from the year 1619 forward, the profundity of Inauguration Day was palpable.  By now, we all know Obama's history quite well... white mother, distant father, raised by Grandparents, Hawaii, Harvard.  Arguably, this arc could become as well-known as Lincoln's one day. 

Which brings me to a second observation.  As Obama stood in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial yesterday and addressed the crowd, those who had just moments prior tuned-out U2, Shakira, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Usher, and other musicians, the contrast was stark.  When Obama took to the podium, all eyes were fixed on him and the crowd grew silent.  All of us who have respected and read Lincoln with admiration could not help but be moved by the fulfillment of Lincoln's aspirations in our soon-to-be 44th President.  It took us long enough to get here, but we're well on our way now.

And so, a third point.  There are many in the halls of academia, politics, popular culture, the media, and the streets and halls and churches and synagogues across America who are dialoguing about the progress we have made on the battlefield of racism.  Or, as some argue, the lack of progress still.  Indeed, the battle is far from over, as one cannot help but notice as he traverses this country.  Bigotry has always and will always exist.  It is a symptom of the hardships of life.  But indeed, Inauguration Day will mark a turning point and will serve as a beacon for many.  As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you must keep moving forward."  It was said yesterday that Lincoln crawled so King could walk so Obama could run so our children could fly.  My goodness.  If that doesn't bring tears to your eyes then you're not alive.

Fourth, it is against this canvas of history that we see HOPE in all its radiant glory.  The American people have a history of electing the right leader for the time, and as has been said before, "Hope beats Fear in most elections."  I'm sure that Tuesday's Inauguration Speech will be a blend of Lincoln, Kennedy, Roosevelt, and yet be uniquely Obama.  He will predictably describe the difficult years ahead, the trade-offs and sacrifices that must be made, the Grand Bargains and dampening of expectations we must accept, and then plant seeds of soaring hope and rhetoric that can only be fulfilled if we all join together.  The past few years have been difficult for all Americans, and many lives have been lost protecting our borders and citizens.  A complicated inheritance lies at the feet of Obama and his circle.  A Pandora's Box if there ever was one.  We cannot expect that Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Economy, Healthcare, Education and a myriad of other pressing challenges will be resolved to anyone's satisfaction within one Administration.  Indeed, I'm certain these issues are a complicated morass that is worsened by bureaucracy and the gunk that retards any democracy committed to choirs vs. soloists.  As we learned in grade school, "Any number times zero equals zero."  So tape-up and suit-up; we've got to take the field together if we stand any chance of winning the war on mediocrity, failure, and stagnation that has strangled our K-12 public education system, our worldwide reputation, our ability to create and implement progressive reform across industries, technologies, sciences, and social infrastructure.    

And finally, an observation on the importance of listening, curiosity, and remaining a lifelong student.  In the months leading up to the November 2008 Presidential Election, as we all engaged in bipartisan debates about the candidates, anyone who stood far enough back from the fray to observe the behaviors of Obama couldn't help but be impressed by one singular distinction: his approach to problem-solving.  For decades, I have been disillusioned by politics, having seen elected official after elected official who failed to keep his campaign promises, who lived a life of hypocrisy and absent-integrity (by preaching 'family values' while involved in a debaucherous lifestyle), but most importantly -- by seeing the absence of an 'abundance mentality.'  Like the racoon in Where the Red Fern Grows, our elected officials seem to latch onto their party's shiny silver object, whatever that object is, and never let go.  They conduct closed-door meetings, they exclude others with potentially brilliant insights, they do what their gut tells them, they remain committed to their personal convictions and ways of thinking, however shallow or poor they may be.  Sure, all great leaders demonstrate a courage and fortitude, but only ignorant leaders presume they know all or perhaps even enough.  If we are to know anything, we must often exit our inner-circle and seek wisdom wherever it may be.  

I've commented to my wife (often after seeing luminaries like George Will and others who have such a broad grasp of the body of knowledge of politics), "I wish our President would just go to dinner with a bunch of folks like George and treat them as a Think Tank.  It could only help to get a more well-rounded perspective."  And so, with great delight, I watched the footage of Obama at an intimate dinner party at George Will's house no less, along with nine other conservative intellectuals.  What I would have given to have been a fly on THAT wall.

But this is promising, regardless of your political viewpoints, because it demonstrates what unquestionably worked so well for Lincoln: the surrounding of oneself with counter-views and disparate thinking.  Through divergent thinking, we then converge on a solution that is robust, well-rounded, and ultimately the most informed.  Indeed, it will be Obama's Presidency and Administration, and I have no doubt that he will make his own decisions and perhaps periodically, 'from the gut.'  But his process of arriving at those decisions will be a rigorous one, inviting skeptics and naysayers and conservatives and the like to the table for a healthy debate and dialogue.

You gotta love that.  It's what this country is predicated on and, like any great democracy, it's what's required to move forward.

Like it or not, we're off to the races now.  We've got many hurdles ahead, lots of water-jumps and perilous conditions, fierce competitors, a rowdy crowd, and more saboteurs than we can count.  As for my prediction regarding our placement in the upcoming photo finish, I like what they say... "Whether we think we can win or think we can't, we're right."

I attended a networking-lunch-workshop-session today to learn what's happening 'on the front lines' and encourage job seekers.  We are all just a hair's breadth away from unemployment at any time, whether it's due to illness, injury, a lost contract, a fragile employer, a national disaster, a scandal... nearly anything can obliterate whatever illusory sense of security one hopes to amass.

The lowest tracked unemployment figure for the U.S. is 4.3% (achieved during WWII); we reached 4.5% a few months ago... but as you well know, the sky has fallen, the bottom has fallen out, and -- if we include the wind chill factor -- unemployment is currently hovering as high as 9%.  In downtown Detroit it's 12% and expected to reach 20% by year-end.  (Which reminds me, Thank You, Mitch Albom, for your dynamite article that reminds us to show more empathy for others: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/01/07/detroit/index.html.  Also, to Clint Eastwood, for filming the beautiful Gran Torino in metro Detroit -- your contribution to the economy is noticed.)

But back to the numbers.  9%.  That is a HUGE number; one with untold tragedies behind it.

The times, they have already changed.

Alas, a number of folks are pounding the pavement searching for a job amidst the worst market since the 1930s.

By way of encouragement, I am sharing a resource I learned about today that helps candidates 'do better' in job interviews.  Yes, sometimes 'information' is the greatest -- and only -- gift one can give.  These come by way of "Denham Resources," but I located them at YouTube.  If you intend to interview anywhere anytime soon, you might review a few of these to 'study and learn,' in hopes that you won't fall prey to a poor interview and become your own achilles heel.

Watch on, and whether you are gainfully employed or searching, be thankful for all you DO have, and count your blessings daily.

God speed, 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1D9uu8pZwo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR-IhZJOq3U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoK8FiNXBJc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDhbLdFJAF4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ttwYpA50U

This afternoon, a client asked, "Do you have any clever recommendations for how I might go about finding coaches for all my managers?"

Ah so, indeed I do.

Try here: www.29000feet.com

I know the company well, and they're great.  Though they chide me for it, I refer to them as "e-Harmony for Coaches."  Specifically, they'll hook you up.  Customers (whether 'coaches' or 'coachees') simply complete a few fields about themselves and the computer algorithm matches "those in need" with "those who can help."  And vice versa.

Pretty slick.

Enjoy! 

A business associate forwarded this to me, and I found it worth sharing.

I remain amazed at the treasure trove that is the world wide web.

If you are an entrepreneur, you should check this site regularly.  You never know what great ideas may stimulate your brain:

http://springwise.com/

Here's an interesting story shared by a reader just this morning.  Amazing things are possible, indeed, especially when we don't allow what otherwise might stand between us to stand between us. 

In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs.  Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth.

The mother tiger, after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine.  The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression.  They decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve.

After checking with many other zoos across the country, the disappointing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother.  The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment.  Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species.  The only 'orphans' that could be found quickly were a litter of weanling pigs.  The zookeepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin (I’m not certain where they got this ‘skin’) and placed the babies around the mother tiger.  Would they become cubs or pork chops?

See for yourself:

A fun little snippet about Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach, and how he has revolutionized college ball.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/31/60minutes/main4694714.shtml  

Just a few quick thoughts before the year concludes; housekeeping items, mostly:

This past week, a great 'double feature' on Charlie Rose... Malcolm Gladwell discussing his late, great book, Outliers (http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9855), and Geoff Colvin discussing his similar book, Talent is Overrated (http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9856).

And then, on 12/23, Charlie interviewed Bill Gates, a consummate polymath, as I describe in Cultivating the Strategic Mind.  Anyway, Gates mentioned a number of things that interest him these days, and one of them is the university course Big History, by David Christian.  You can order your DVD and learning materials here http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/CourseDescLong2.aspx?cid=8050.

Thirdly, I look forward to seeing The Reader sometime soon.

I just saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  Much ado about nothing.

Yesterday, I saw Gran Torino with/by Clint Eastwood.  Outstanding.  Absolutely phenomenal.  Small, simple, then powerful and majestic.  A great film that challenges the real meaning of racism.

Sixthly (!), if you run Windows Vista, check out: http://www.mojaveexperiment.com/html/?fbid=5lsbMXRT_dk. 

All for now; continue those Happy Holidays! 

Friday -- yesterday -- was our daughter's last day of school "for FIFTEEN days!"

As she bounded in the door at the conclusion of her day, she shot her fisted-hands into the air and shouted, "It's over!"

...you should have seen the look on her face when we reminded her that she had piano this morning at 9AM.  It was as if she was in high school, circa 1984, and someone shouted, "Psyche!"

After a slow, cold start, she enjoyed piano this morning, and as we walked to the car to return home from the lesson, she shot her fisted-hands into the air and shouted, "I'm done!"

...and now, officially, she is.

We can commence with her Christmas holiday, returning her to school some two weeks from now.

Her exuberance reminded me of something.  (Yes, it certainly reminded me of my own childhood and that feeling when school was indeed over, if only temporarily, and both lazy and fun days were ahead.)

But it also reminded me of something I see with many leaders:  the failure to CELEBRATE SUCCESSES.

A close second to 'communication,' the failure to celebrate workplace successes is an all-too-common ailment.

It's as if the employees arrive at the top of Mt. Everest, red-faced, breathing heavily, stooped over, and the boss (looking forward to the horizon and future peaks & projects to summit) shouts, "NEXT!"

Wide-eyed, the employees nearly pass out.  "Are you kidding me?" they think.

As year-end approaches, promise me that one of the New Year Resolutions that you do keep will be this one: acknowledge successes, relish them, enjoy them... and allow people to savor them before proceeding to the next fire.  Even if it's only a couple days, a simple pizza party, or hearfelt words or cards.  Do something by allowing them to fill dead-air with laughter, celebration, and congratulatory praise.  THEN, and only then, tackle the next summit.

People can summit only so many mountains and extinguish so many fires before they themselves collapse or burn out.  We each can learn a great deal from professionals who practice deep and prolonged recovery techniques to recharge the 'ol batteries.  And yes, there are ways to do this in today's harried environment.

But for today, just remember that "It's over" and "I'm done" followed by a "PSCYHE!" wasn't funny in high school, and it sure ain't funny now.

While some of you might appreciate this less than others, there are a number of you who will -- and you know who you are! -- absolutely love this series with Marcus Buckingham on Oprah, taking participants through his materials for these difficult times.

http://www.oprah.com/article/money/career/pkgmarcus/20080401_orig_marcusbuckingham_course

Enjoy or ignore; I've done my part by pointing! 

This comes from a dear friend, who asked me to share it with others.

www.iamsecond.com

Happy Holidays.

Earlier this week, I had dinner with a Dane and learned a great deal more about Copenhagen and Christmas.

Bottom-line: Christmas is SUPER-BIG in Denmark.  Much bigger than it is in the United States, and that's saying something.

http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/content/press/press_information/sights_events/basic_facts_about_christmas

My wife and I spent one of our loveliest Christmases in London many years ago, and I'm assured that London and Paris "pale by comparison" to how Copenhagen celebrates the holiday.  That's also saying something.

Alas, one of the main traditions I learned about that struck my fancy was the importance of elves.  Who doesn't love elves?  What's not to love?  Are you an elf-hater?  Surely not... presumably most if not all of us are elf-o-philes!

Anyway, one of the roles of elves in Denmark is to provide periodic, tiny treats and surprises prior to Christmas Day.  Little 'breadcrumbs,' if you will -- to help children endure the countdown, which begins... get ready for it... in July!

So anyway, I'm listening to stories about the machinations involved in the 'countdown to Christmas,' and it occurs to me, "I gotta get me an elf!"

And so, I return from my trip, walk in the door, and what do you think my wife has purchased?  Entirely without my having said A WORD about this... get ready for it... AN ELF!

I am not kidding you.  Not one iota.

In a gleaming white box, she possesses an "Elf on the Shelf."

http://www.elfontheshelf.com/#/home

She explains to me how we are to move him around at night, place him here and there in the remaining days to Christmas.  Wow; that's perfect.  Adorable.  He's about 8" tall and all garb'd out in red and white.  Pointy hat, the whole deal.

(bear with me; yes -- this has to do with work.)

So, that night, my wife and I tag-team bedtime and explain to our six-year-old daughter how this ELF has arrived at our home to observe and see if Lauren is being naughty or nice.  The elf, whom we name Peter, is to return to the North Pole each night, along with all elves, to report back to Santa.

It's adorable, though my daughter is initially creeped-out by it all.  "Really?  He's going to be WATCHING me?"  (Yeah, sort of like Anthony Hopkins' ventriloquist's doll in Magic http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077889/).

Well, eventually she recovers from the potential-paranoia, and really gets into it.  Now, each morning, she awakes to find him all over the house... by the window, on a shelf, behind the advent calendar, in a drawer.... you name it, Peter's there.

And it occurs to me, as things do when I'm still and quiet and pondering, "What we BELIEVE so profoundly affects how we behave."

I've expressed this for years, that our BELIEFS precede most everything that follows: values, behaviors, organizational design, management philosophy and bias, treatment of others, etc. 

For example, some people treat "those whom they believe can benefit them" well.   Conversely, they treat "everyone else" poorly.  That's why shows like Secret Millionaire http://www.fox.com/secretmillionaire/ are so fun to watch: we're in on the secret, and thrill to see how people embrace or miss opportunities because of their suppositions and predispositions and biases about others.

This notion of WHAT WE BELIEVE AFFECTS WHAT FOLLOWS touches on self-fulfilling prophecy (which I've written about before), on our marketplace, and of course -- on relationships. 

Once Lauren got past the initial skepticism and doubt and fear, and came to see Peter doing silly and encouraging things (like eating M&M's while pointing at dirty clothes on the floor that needed to be picked up), she really got into it, and now she awakes each morning, eager to find where Peter is and what he's up to.  It's an adorable kick.

As leaders, as managers, as employees, as citizens, as parents, as people... what we believe has such a powerful determinacy to it.  Like the Danes, we see months of energy put toward a celebration that generates pride and joy by millions.  Like the elf, we see how something so tiny -- like the trimtab on a sailboat -- can create such dramatic effects on the behavior and attitude of a family.

I encourage you to always remember the importance of beliefs, whatever they are.  "We can solve this."  "This cannot be solved."  "This will get better."  "This will never heal."  "I am worthy."  "I am inadequate."  "I am okay."  "I am a miserable failure."  "I am loved."  "I am unlovable."  "Peter is creepy."  "Peter is cute."

I believe in you, I believe that people can change (and have seen it countless times over the years), I believe that ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things (and moreover, that no one is ordinary), I believe that most people can lead, and I believe in Christmas.

I also believe in the potential of humankind to make this a better world; fallible, fallen, and flawed, yes.  But worth fighting for.

May you, too, possess beliefs that enable you to bound from bed each morning and tackle the day with joy.

Rock on; have a stellar weekend.

I won't mischaracterize this as a 'book review,' because it's not.

But I encourage you to read The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb.  Not because you'll particularly agree with it, or enjoy his obvious though constantly denied hubris, but because the book is required reading for anyone involved in triaging the recent economic hemorrhages that have occurred on Wall & Main Streets.

The Black Swan is indeed provocative and fun, however, and you'll enjoy a number of Taleb's stories and metaphors, not the least of which involves an over-confident turkey.

Here is Taleb's home page:

http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/ 

And here he is on my beloved Charlie Rose:

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9713 

Continuing then, from my prior post --- HERE'S A TINY EXAMPLE of what it means to live in a possibility mindset.

You MUST watch this; it's only 00:03:37, and you'll enjoy every second:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLF9iEXnBRo

Have a stellar weekend; sing your lungs out. 

I spoke with a dear client this morning who commented, "Blake -- our people have lost their way.  Business is tough, we're pounding for more sales where there are none, and I don't know how much longer we can hold our breath."

Ah, yes, that sounds very familiar.  I've heard something similar for several weeks now from many corners of the world.

The greatest panacea is perspective, so I offer that in large doses:

1. First, remember the Paradox of Change: During difficult times, when we need people the MOST focused, they are generally the LEAST.  Keep things simple; don't chase rabbits.  Pick an attainable lighthouse and focus on it.  "The vital few always trump the compelling many."

2. Attend to Energy: Remember, people's energy tends to drift and dilute during change.  Again... focus.

3. Encourage Others: A kind word goes a long way... intrinsic often trumps extrinsic.

4. Be Thankful: Someone has ALWAYS got it worse.  Count your blessings, and explore making lemonade from lemons.

Times will get drastically worse before they get any better -- and probably not for a few years yet... so rather than holding one's breath, learn to find eddies of comfort within the tsunami.

"He is richest who is content with the least, for contentment is the wealth of nature."

                                                                                    - Socrates

Now go hug your family.

The day after Thanksgiving, I located my cell phone (which I had stuffed in a sock drawer) to find a half-dozen kind "Thank You" texts from several friends, colleagues, and clients.  Back in my saddle this week, I find the same is true of my email inbox.

To these, I can only say, "No.  Thank YOU."

I am a part of all whom I have known, as well as "all the better for it."

Blessings to each of you as we teeter into December 2008.

 and  are both fine reads. 

Make it Plain and The Millionaire's Secret are great reminders of what mighty things come from humble beginnings.

This past week I was in Savannah, GA.

While eating at The Gryphon Tea Room, I observed an interesting exchange between a waiter and a hostess.  The hostess asked the waiter, "Would you please serve the table against the window?"  To which the waiter replied exceedingly ironically, "Sure.  I have nothing else to do right now.  Are YOU working today?"

Harumphhhh.

And then, a day later, as I waddled through the security checkpoint at the quaint Savannah "International" Airport, I witnessed a very 'put out' TSA agent harumph behind the x-ray machine (carrying more than his fair share of 'curious items') shouting, "Man Working Here!  Step aside, step aside!"  He was bellowing, not at me mind you, but at his co-workers.

I found it interesting that within a twenty-four hour timespan, I had witnessed two very put-out employees 'harumphing' about their colleagues!

You know, times are tough.  I get that.  We all get that.  We are that.

But I'm ceaselessly flabbergasted when employees vent and harumph in front of customers.  The very, ahem, customers they are meant to be serving.

I remember, several years ago, working with an airline to help it restore its reputation.  (Long story short: the airline remains its own worst enemy.)  As my colleagues and I flew dozens and dozens of trips to ride jumpseat and observe Flight Attendants in the air, we were literally dumbfounded by the negative, disruptive chatter that consumed them and which was all overheard by paying customers within earshot.  When we reported our findings, the airline acted somewhat SURPRISED.  Surprised?  Are you kidding me?  Who's not paying attention here?

As leaders and co-workers, let's remember the Golden Rule of Customer Service: "Keep your miseries to yourself."

Customers are paying for a service, not for the sidebars that distract and diminish what could otherwise be an acceptable or stellar experience.    

p.s. If you are ever in Savannah, be sure to visit The Gryphon Tea Room.  Despite my dismay at the single blip I described above, the food is phenomenal and the experience is worth the wait.

I shudder to share this unwieldy “book list” – this bibliography of sorts – in its current state of disrepair.  But time is our collective enemy, and if I wait until it’s “edited,” it will likely never see the light of day. 

And people are waiting! 

I am frequently asked, “What books do you recommend I read?”  "What magazines do you read?"  "What television shows and movies do you watch?" 

And I cobble together lists of books (and articles and shows and movies) I’ve read or even enjoyed (!) only to lose the lists months later. 

Alas, I have spent the better part of the past hour cutting and pasting my various, located lists into one document. 

Yes, it is a rat’s nest, but at least “here it is.”  (PLEASE forgive any errors, key omissions, or outright unattractiveness of this list.  It is redundant, unformatted, and outright ugly.) 

Maybe one day, someone will Pay it Forward by boomeranging it back to me – neatly organized, academically formatted, and much beautified!   Hint, hint.  (Don't worry, I won't hold my breath.)

But until then, here it is – a messy, but quite thorough accounting of some of the books (and articles) I’ve read or skimmed and referenced and recommended since the early and mid-90s.  

I have excluded nearly all HBR articles I have read, because they are simply too many and it's easier to say, "Subscribe to HBR."  http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu   

It occurs to me already that I have also forgotten the pleasurable Mental Floss (www.mentalfloss.com) magazine.  See there; the list is already outdated and I haven't even uploaded it yet.  Please help me... send us your recommendations and we'll try to include them in v2.0 several months from now!

I hope these books serve you as they have served me but, moreover, that you enjoy them and find them both “educational and implementable.” 

Read on. 

TBLG_Monograph_BookList_12-01-2008.pdf (461.75 kb)

With Gladwell's third book, he is officially "2 for 3" in my book.

I give Outliers a solid, solid A.

With the exception of the Chapter Five and the Epilogue, which comprise the least engaging sections in the book, Outliers is one of the most remarkable books I've read in the past six months.

Gladwell's first published book, The Tipping Point, was simply outstanding.  Blink, however, was a real snooze.  (My own personal opinion is that he was rushing to cash-in on the success of The Tipping Point, but there was hardly a kernel worth writing about in Blink.  "Thin-slicing?"  Come on... much ado about nothing.  Thin-slicing, indeed.)

But this latest contribution, Outliers, is a real treat.  Candy for the brain.  It reminds me of all the great, wonderful, intriguing ideas that led me to study the human and social sciences in the first place.  To learn more about Outliers from Gladwell himself, check out http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html.  But the reasons I enjoyed it can be captured in the following representative list of topics that reminded me of undergraduate coursework in psychology, anthropology, and sociology that spurred me to continue studying and reading until... well... this very day:

1. patterns

2. selection, streaming, and differentiated experience

3. accumulative advantage

4. the 10,000 hour rule

5. divergent vs. convergent intelligence

6. general and practical intelligence

7. concerted cultivation vs. accomplishment of natural growth

8. the culture of honor

9. mitigated speech

10. the ubiquitous and unparalleled work of Geert Hofstede

So, why don't I give Gladwell an A+?  Well, setting aside Chapter Five and the Epilogue, my greatest concern is more substantive, of course, and it has to do with "too much cultural determinism."  By Gladwell's way of thinking, we achieve what we achieve, in large part -- in fact, practically predominantly -- because of the culture in which we are raised.  He strives to prove this through a series of stories and examples that are, indeed, fascinating.  But they are not quite enough to fully convince.

In the particulate, his anecdotes are super.  But in the aggregate, they border on stereotypical and ring somewhat hollow in today's increasingly 'post-racial and post-cultural' world.  Indeed, differences remain among and between people of various backgrounds, but as a dear friend of mine from Portugal once said, "We are not all that different.  There is TOO MUCH STEREOTYPING and GENERALIZING."

As Morris Massey articulated in his infamous, What You Are Is Where You Were When, some mild generalizations can be helpful, but they are inadequate.  Indeed, with any taxonomy or typology, generalizations give us what Robert Cialdini (Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion) would describe as 'a shorthand way of interacting with each other,' but beyond that... generalizations and stereotypes can be dangerous and altogether misleading.

I am certain, as are countless others, that MANY individuals achieve a great deal on their own, as well as overcome and transcend the shackles of their culture, background, history, and surroundings.  I know that Gladwell does not believe, 100%, that who we are and what we accomplish is solely because of those around us, but he works himself into a corner of sorts by arguing so strongly that we do.

But, my goodness, out of 309 pages (all of which you will, indeed, read in a B-L-I-N-K)... if this is my only concern, then color me IMPRESSED and DELIGHTED and AMONG HIS BIGGEST ADVOCATES.

This book will prove to be enormously successful, and millions of people will soak it up like a sponge. 

Here's hoping they do... and wishing Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded could have achieved the stickiness of Outliers.

Wow -- this book was a figurative and literal  B E A T I N G .

I know he's a three-time Pulitzer Prizer winner... perhaps that's why I expected better.

Sure, he knows his stuff, but the book is circular, redundant, dry, and only momentarily compelling.  Given his obvious zealotry about the important subject matter, it's unfortunate he becomes his own worst enemy. 

Friedman makes his point SO WELL, AND SO MANY TIMES that I wonder how GREAT the book might have been were it only half the overwhelming 438 pages.

In time, it will prove to be a classic... ahead of its time... brilliant... and will be heralded as "the book that encapsulated it all."  His sources, data, statistics, and stories are second-to-none... but then become second, third, and fourth-only-to-himself after perhaps 200 pages or so.  His hypotheses and recommendations are dynamite, but hardly pithy.  I feel guilty for perceiving the book to become tiresome about something that is so profoundly critical to us all. 

But today, it is simply overkill, and too wonk-ish to attract the millions upon millions who need to read it if we are to truly democratize and integrate what has hitherto been known as 'the green movement.'

Thanks, Tom, for writing it.  I only hope that enough of us are up to reading and implementing it.  In time, perhaps an abridged version or summary will follow that can be distributed and implemented by the majority. 

Bringing Down the House led to 21 with Kevin Spacey.  I have not seen the movie, but a number of friends have recommended the book.

It's a quick read -- one of three I enjoyed over Thanksgiving 2008 -- and I predict you'll crank through it in a few hours too.

The bottom line: it's a blast, but also a bleak series of recollections.  Given the many dark and twisted characters, you may feel the need to bathe afterward.  The underbelly of Vegas attracts all manner of humankind, and most of them are in rare display here.

For the mathematician in all of us, the feats accomplished by the merry band of blackjack raiders is quite impressive and always fascinating.

Enjoy the book... I'm sure it's much better than the movie.

Given the amount of change occurring around us, I have noticed a marked 'uptick' in the number of requests to facilitate 're-organization.'  In short, many companies and organizations are forced 'to do more with less.'

In light of this need, I submit a brief White Paper that may help.  It is merely one of many required 'stakes in the ground,' but it is indeed one.

Happy Reading.

TBLG_WhitePaper_OrganizationalDesignElements_12-01-2008.pdf (256.63 kb)

For too many years, I entered Thanksgiving with a TON of work to be done on the backside of it.  My first week of December has often been as busy as – or busier – than any other week in the year.  It’s generally the mad client rush to ‘get in what we can get in’ before year-end. 

As a result, it’s hard for me to remember enjoying Thanksgiving all that much, at least – in recent years.

Instead, what I recall is being consumed by work over the Thanksgiving week, preparing for and anticipating all that would be required of me the week following.  And then, of course, the same onslaught often just grew and grew, snowballing into the Christmas and New Year week, leaving me zapped every January!

I remember one Thanksgiving where I spent five days – Wednesday thru Sunday – writing a course for a client that had to go to press the Monday after.  Another year, I spent the ten days around Christmas day developing a three-course curriculum for a large banking client because they wanted to ‘go live’ in Mid-January but didn’t decide this until mid-December.  (On both occasions, my family was NOT happy.)  The list of ‘Thanksgivings and Christmases barely had’ is too shameful and embarrassing and personally convicting to mention.

Being an entrepreneur in a service company – exacerbated by this year’s tough market and thin dollars – can make ‘the going’ quite rough.  As is the case for most every for-profit organization the world over, saying ‘No’ can be hazardous to one’s health, and so I have generally found a way to say ‘Yes,’ but often at my family’s expense.

So here we are, the week of Thanksgiving 2008, and how am I doing?  With all my limbs crossed and knocking on wood as I write this, I am very optimistic that I’ll have a more balanced Holiday Season this year than I can recall in a long time.

Yes, I have several curricula to write – a 12-module Leadership series, a new Strategic Thinking module, an entire semester’s worth of content for an Executive Education series, and several smaller projects too minute to mention here – but alas, for all but one of these deliverables, I have ‘more than three weeks’ to finish!

My writing time will be punctuated with two final trips for the year – but I am confident that I can pull it off and not lose my mind in the process.

My wife, daughter, and I will be spending Thanksgiving with family in and around Hilton Head Island, SC and Savannah, GA.  Something about the Southeast always calms my soul.  I don’t know if it’s the billowy moss that swings and drapes like ghosts’ linens or the easy manner of those who live there, but I find myself drawn to the area year after year.

Two of my favorite movies are The Prince of Tides and Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil.  Both possess such haunting soundtracks and engulfing moods and scenes that whenever I watch them it’s all I can do to avoid packing and heading for the airport.

And so this year, it’s away we go.  A big trip, ripe with expectation and hope and recovery at the end of a hectic, tumultuous year that runs concurrent to most people’s summary of 2008.

Ironically, as the world seemingly spins out of control, many of us are blessed with good family and health enough to find comfort in those we have known all our lives.  Thanksgiving is a fine time, as good as any, to tell them how much we love them, how much they mean to us, and how fortunate we are – despite our many losses – to either have them still, or to recall their sweet memories and all they did to prop us up on the wobbly bike of life.

My mother sent me a sweet note the other day, commenting, “You make a living by what you get.  You make a life by what you give.”

Amen.

Now get thee to thy family gathering, and rip yourself off a plump turkey leg and dig in.

Nothing says, “I’m home” like eating meat around a homemade fire.

And do your family a favor, would ‘ya please?  Try turning off the stinkin’ Blackberry for a few days.  If you can’t, try stuffing it in your sock drawer until Monday, or hand it over to someone who loves you.

Amen².

Last night, my wife and I watched "Jonestown: The Life & Death of Peoples Temple" on PBS. 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jonestown/

It was a fantastic exposé, very well done.  And of course, the content and story itself -- the tragedy that was The Peoples Temple -- was heartbreaking, infuriating, and devastating.  There are literally hundreds of families still walking this earth that were scorched by the mania of Jim Jones.  One survivor alone lost nineteen relatives at the 'kool-aid-cyanide-suicide' which, as another survivor describes it, "Wasn't a suicide at all.  Those who did not imbibe were shot in the head."

The images of babies, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters... 909 in all, who died that fateful day, November 18th, 1978 -- are absolutely heartwrenching.

From sociological, psychological, anthropological perspectives -- the sleep deprivation, the communal property, the preying upon and taking advantage of the weakest and poorest, the intertwined subjugation and messianic messages, the 'turning' of husband against wife / wife against husband / parents against children / children against parents / neighbor against neighbor -- were... and are predictable recipies for baking the perfect cult.

In time, the idealism that began with peace and love was eclipsed by Mr. Jones' psychoses, and a dysfunctional, fear-based organization was created that began to turn on itself like ouroboros.  And once the implosion began, it raged swiftly, reaching its predictable conclusion within hours.

As we watched the documentary from our Monday Morning Quarterback Chair... our Hindsight is 20/20 Chair... the groupthink, peer pressure, and manipulative tactics were so obvious, so heavy-handed.  It's like watching a magician AFTER he's explained the trick.  "Well of course, I saw that coming."  But too few did.  Even those who expressed an interest in the preceding weeks to 'get out' could not resist the undercurrent.  Of those who survived, approximately 80 of them were 'elsewhere' that day, including Jim Jones adopted son.  Of the 5 or so who literally 'escaped into the jungle,' they only survive today because the gunmen surrounding the compound were unable to shoot or capture them.

This all reminds me of something I read in the fantastic, albeit short book, Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, which is -- the greater the perceived losses of our current path x increasing commitment to that current path = a very difficult magnetic force to avoid.  Read the book for yourself, and you'll see how this applied to LBJ's "Great Society" and the War in Vietnam, to George W. Bush's "Iraq War" and "Surge" strategy, as well as to a decorated airline pilot who singlehandedly caused the worst airplane collision in aviation history.

It occurs to me that as organizational leaders, we are not immune from the kool-aid.  For many of us, our workplaces become a meta-family of sorts, with their own rituals, chants, slogans, values, and requirements.  We burn the midnight oil, devote ourselves wholly to the enterprise, feel guilt or remorse for giving our all yet perceiving it's never enough, and so on.

All I can say is, "Remain objective."  Welcome disagreement, keep perspective, don't over-consolidate power through excessive centralization, maintain a balance of power through diversity of thought and creativity, and always be open to contrarian perspectives and the freedom to experiment.  Sure, in the end, we must have alignment on a common course of action (or risk wasting resources, time, labor, and energy), but only after thoughtful, participative, engaged dialogue about those most important decisions that affect everyone and those who follow them.

In the end, I am haunted by the words of one Jonestown escapee who said, after describing the loss of his wife and newborn son, "I knew in my head 'this is wrong,' but I couldn't bring myself to speak the words."