Using your position...to your advantage...is STEALING...

Good Morning!

I bet you think that I forgot about this week's update!

No Way!

I actually got focused on some required deliverables that were needed to keep iTalentCafe on track for delivery!

It is really shaping up and I am so excited!

Building a system like this from the ground up is an interesting proposition!  Much of it is transformational...

Would you expect anything else from me?

I am hoping that you can share in its success...either in support of the effort...or use of the website...or as a part of the transformational team!

Enough said on this...more coming...help me make it happen!

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This is so cool!

This past week I was driving the kids around and as we were driving...a police officer passed us...

His rate of travel was probably twice ours!

No lights...he was just driving fast...

Rachel asked if I was driving at the speed limit....which I was...

Then she commented that the officer was breaking the law!

I said...she was right...but who was going to give him a ticket?

I barely finished saying that and she said...You know dad...That is stealing!

That got me thinking!

She was right!

When a person uses their position to their advantage...they are stealing!

We seldom notice it...we have grown calloused to that behavior...

Our society has become oblivious to self-serving behavior to the extent that they are blinded to its existence...

A rule is a rule...if it is meant for some...it should be meant for all!

I have been a recipient of that behavior...and you probably have too!

Being held to a higher standard...or

Having been given blame for something that you didn't deserve!

I have seen leaders...not step up and take responsibility for their own inadequacies....or poor performance and discipline or fire undeserving people...

They do this in an attempt to save their own position...

The only redeeming thing is that their inadequacies catch up with them...and they are seen for what and who they really are...

The sad thing is that most corporations seldom go back and make things better for the mistake...as a result...there are a many innocent victims!

Stealing takes on many different shapes and forms...

These unscrupulous people steal the livelihoods from many people...

Whether it is something as simple as speeding...or extra time off because you are the boss...or stealing extra employment time by shifting blame...it is wrong...

Some may argue that position has its perks...

I disagree...a person's higher position comes with a demand for higher responsibility and integrity...

RACHEL...thanks for the reminder and the great life lesson!

Enough said for now!

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The New Brass Ring - Update

My next book...The New Brass Ring:  Process Improvement for the 21st Century is approaching release.  I got word this week that the book is in cover design (the final step).  It seemed like forever to get there!

For those who are not aware...this book debuts my DMADD methodology.  I am hoping that it is pegged with the NBR label...You can help me with that...

Also...when it is released...please ask for it at your libraries and whenever you are traveling...please stop in at the book stores and news stands...at the airports...my vision is to have them available there...

Finally...please buy a copy of the NBR.  You will not be disappointed!  It is both entertaining and informative...or at least my reviewers think so!

Process Improvement is ripe for change...the conditions and the environment is also demanding a different strategy to address organizational issues...

We can not win the war on poor efficiency or effectiveness with a static strategy...

In the "Art of War" it is said that victory comes to the army that is able to adjust with the ever changing tides of the enemy's movements...

Effective leadership requires one to be adaptive...A static set of tactics (the same old methods...because they worked in the past) will only lead to frustration and failure...

All colds and flus look the same...but the fact of the matter is...they are caused by different virus'!  Once you have had a specific virus...the body's immunity system creates antibodies that keeps you from ever getting that strain of virus again...however colds and flus are an annual and semi-annual event for most of us...

That is because the virus has changed!  Even though the symptoms look the same!

Organizational issues are somewhat the same!

The symptoms may appear the same...but the causes are entirely different!

Just as the practice of preventive medicine includes ever changing vaccines...PI needs to create new and adaptive tactics to address these issues!

NBR is one of those new vaccines!

It is time for us to begin spreading the word!

I want this book to become a best seller...

You can help me by buying the book...if you are so inclined...and also by telling your friends about it!

Enough said!

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This magical thinking stuff...it doesn't work!

We want to believe that our existence is significantly deeper than we perceive...

We want to find deeper meaning and exert more control...

The fact of the matter is...it is not deep...and we have no control beyond our contribution to the causes and then we have to live with the effects and impacts...

I have wrote a lot on "getting real" about our existence and real impacts!

We are not important to anyone but ourselves...and in reality the only one who really cares about what happens to us is...

...Us!

Do not be deceived by these snake-oil salesmen who are selling Secrets...and  mystical secrets to success...

I agree that part of the equation is related to attitude...but that is just the foundation to success...

Wishing and dreaming is only the first step (the map)...proper attitude over the long haul is the fuel to success...but the vehicle is still and always be HARD work!

One of the immutable laws of success is "return on investment!"

You are not guaranteed greater value or a larger return on investment...or a profit...on what you give...

The most important question  that you have to answer for yourself is...

What am I Willing to pay for what I am getting?

If you are dreaming of (envisioning) getting something for nothing...or even getting more for a little investment...you are deceiving yourself...

Success requires hard work and sacrifice...

Enough said!

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My last thought for today is an explanation of what I really meant by a statement made on Twitter and linked to Facebook...

It said, "No eulogy is require for someone who simply does their duty..."

This was meant to be rather thought provoking...but it elicited no reactions at all!

The fact of the matter is...few if any people ever achieve their real potential...which I infer is their duty...(their responsibility)...

People work to create a eulogy...an epitaph...

But who can claim that they have reached AND exceeded their full potential?

Again....let's get real about what we are doing for (or perhaps to) this world and the people around us...

I would challenge you to leave every day better for your having been there...in every instance and interaction...

We all need to strive to be significantly more altruistic!

We need to realize that anything that we do for ourselves disappears when we die...only those things that we do for others exists beyond our exiting this world!

If it is lasting meaning that you strive for...you are best served by focusing less on what you do for yourself and more on what you do for others...

Like the speeding officer...any effort like that is stealing!

AND...I would bet that you (as do I) abhor thieves!

Call them out and at the same time...avoid this larceny at all costs!

Enough said...AGAIN!

Have a great weekend!

Pura Vida!





 

Let's Get Real...

Good Morning...

Mt PC is still in the shop...so I am doing the best that I can...writing this on my Blackberry...

I am learning to do the best with what I have...without regrets...

Thank you for understanding...it is quite a challenge...

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I hope that this week you:

- Achieved what you set out to do...or...
- Got one step closer to what you wanted...or...
- Realized that what you desired was not worth the effort....AND...you changed your direction!

There is that old cliche..."winners never quit and quitters never win"

As I think about it...there may be times that quitting is winning!

That is especially true when you are pursuing the wrong things (goals)...or those aspirations that are truly unrealistic...

The reality is that one must be realistic about their pursuits...in order to achieve them...

I recently posted a thought on Face book...

"Unless you have received a posthomous award for your efforts...you have never even approached giving 100%..."

We have become unrealistic about performance and the amount of effort invested in our pursuits...both of ourselves...and of others...

How many times have you said or heard...he or she gave 110% to this job or project?

Let's "Get real!"

How much are we really giving in pursuit of our goals...

Ignorant or deceived people believe that they have given more than 100% or that their friends or subordinates have done the same...

Few have given level of efforts approaching 100%.  Those few are the heroes of legends...not those who are standing and breathing around you!

These are the people who have made the supreme sacrifice (died) to achieve what they believed in...

Oh...I know...it is just a figure of speech...

But sayings like these things are viral...

If we start using them...we soon begin to believe them...

and it is those beliefs that move us further from the truth...

let's do a back of the envelope calculation...

suppose that you work 12 hours/day...5 days per week...(that is a lot of work)

In total...that is 60 hours/week

There are 168 hours in a 7 day week...

Given those two figures your career investment is about 36%.  This a quite a distance from 110% isn't it?

110% is not real or possible! 

Stop using that cliche!

Even 100% is not real unless you died in the effort...

I would love to see a sentence in a performance evaluation that says..."X" has gone above and beyond expectations giving a full 38% to the effort!  Sounds silly doesn't it...but it is real!

If you are reading this blog...you have never given 100% to anything that you have attempted...

That actually is a good thing...I am glad that you are still alive!

Yet true success...depends upon being realistic both about your goals and the effort used to achieve your goals...

What are you willing to invest in your goals...

I have "ranted" enough!

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I was channel surfing the other evening and happened upon one of my favorite "classic" movies...

Forrest Gump

One of my favorite lines in the movie is

"Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you are getting until you bite into one..."

A great thought...it is profound and elegant in its simplicity...

As I reflect on this...I think a bit more needs to be added...

Every chocolate in "the box" is delicious...but some do not appeal to individual tastes...

Some people are very "picky" and will only eat a select few chocolates...while others will devour the entire box...

Hidden within this observation is the fact that contentment comes from either finding and eating only the chocolates that appeal to your tastes...or learning to appreciate every chocolate that you bite into...

I seek the latter!

Although I would prefer to eat only what suits my tastes...

Satisfaction comes from learning to appreciate every chocolate that we are given...

...Life is more complete for those who are content with whatever life hands them...

...while knowing that there are always more treats to be had...

Enough Said!

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Today's update may seem a bit fatalistic...

It is not meant to be...

It comes from my realization that I need to be simultaneously content with what I have received...and in pursuit of the right things in the future...

I disagree with the statement that we do not know what the future holds...

The laws of "cause/effect" are immutable...the future (the effect) will be exactly what it is going to be...based upon the sum total of the "causes"

These causes have been amassed from one's past and combined with present decision and situations...

Some things coming are unavoidable...some can be averted...

The beauty is that can "water down" the unavoidable negativity of some of the effects...by the correct decisions and action...TODAY...

We can shift the tides...by choice...

Life is not fatalistic...it is dynamic...

It is meant to be enjoyed...

We can enjoy it if we simply get real and stop deluding ourselves...

Have a great weekend!

My thumbs are tired...

PURA VIDA!

If you chase one thing...

Good Morning...

I can't help myself!  My PC is dead...and I initially thought that this was an opportunity to take a hiatus from writing on my blogs...

As you can see...I found a way to get back out here...via my Blackberry...and give you some thoughts!

I hope that this past week you found yourself making or guiding the right decisions...

It is interesting how demanding decision-making is!

It calls for the ability to identify the right things to address...

AND...the right things to do...

WITH the right people engaged...

In fact...decision making requires all of the "5 Rights" that I talk about...in order to be effective...

Not only in your organizational life...but also in your personal life...

Decisions made with less than all 5 of the "rights" will consistently fall short of the intended results...

Seek out each of the 5...and before you decide or guide...make sure that you have addresses each...

ENOUGH SAID...for now...

Early in my youth...I recognized that there was a difference between knowledge and wisdom...

I passionately wanted to be smart...and recognized as smart!

I do not think that there are many people that do not want to be smart!

"Smart" is only part of the equation however...

I do not remember the details...but I do remember the outcome and the effect that it had on me...

To show someone (Whom I admired) that I was smart...

I presented a wonderful plan for fixing a bad situation...

Their response was...

"That will definitely fix that...but if you do that...it will also hurt X, Y and Z!"

I do not think that you want to do that...do you?"

I was taken back!

My plan would have fixed the situation...but at a cost of X, Y and Z!

I was narrowly focused on the result...my knowledge (smarts) actually could have caused more harm than good!

This was the moment that I saw the difference between Knowledge and Wisdom!

From that point onward...O sought out and watched "wise" people...

I attempted to emulate them...

I spent more time watching how they thought...than what they thought about...

I observed individuals who were experientially wise...

and those who were intellectually wise...

I also found a few who were naturally wise...

It was the process and the discipline that set them apart from the majority...

I one simply set of words I could differentiate them from the hoard!

"Global impact thinking"

They thought through each situation and not only looked at the results related to a specific action...but it impact on its world...

Wisdom seldom seeks recognition...in fact it seeks acceptance...

Wisdom can not be effective without it being accepted...

I could go on for hours on this subject...but the crux is that wisdom can be systematized!

You do not have to wait to be 80 years old to get to a place in your life to be wise!

If there is one thing that you should chase...it should be wisdom!

Enough said!

Great leaders are wise...not smart!

Smart people can be easily hired...used and fired...

Wise people are an asset...

I actually could carry this logic out to a point that if a leaders does not possess wisdom...then they too should be given walking papers...

The cool thing is that wisdom is not subjective...it is measurable!

A wisdom measurement system can be based upon my 5 Rights!

It would be cool to create a wisdom based WQ in the same vein as Intelligence has it IQ!

It also may be quickly rejected because the majority would score dismally low on the scale!

Then again...if we clearly define the judgement (measurement) criteria...perhaps people will then strive for the right things!

Use this to your benefit...

Show that you possess great leadership skills and ability...and most of all...

That you possess WISDOM...

Enough Said!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Above all things...seek wisdom!

Pura Vida!