Clear goals and expectations

Following on the Dilbert theme in the previous post let's talk a little about clear goals and expectations. I really like truisms as you can probably tell. I decided a few weeks ago that I was not going to subject myself to a burden of proof or provide serious documentation in this blog. This is going to be about what I've learned in a practical sense of life and business. These are knowings that have passed the smell test over and over again and worked for me. I don't need to check the references at this point.

Having clear goals and expectations in every relationship personal or otherwise is critical. Virtually all conflict stems from the disconnect between the realty and the expectations in any relationship. Now think about how bad it gets when the realities of a situation are present but the expectations are virtually non-existent. We're disconnected at step one with no hope of ever finding a path to a common understanding or a future moment when we can have a wild celebration marking our tremendous success. We have no milestones, no check points, no markers along the path to tell us how we're progressing. We only have the daily drone and the nerve racking vulnerability of being directed, redirected and redirected again into infinity. Does the fun ever start?

If football was played this way on each down the official would come to the line of scrimmage and arbitrarily decide how many yards the offense needs to gain for a first down on this play. Now that would be fun. "Gentlemen, on this play you need to gain 12 yards for a first down". On the last play they needed to gain 3 yards to get the first down and on the next play it might be 35 yards. If you think there are too many fights in hockey wait until they play football using these rules. Welcome to a lot of families and work places my friends.

The problem here is, things become very subjective and the balance of power shifts radically to the party who is setting, or should I say, not setting the standard. Many of these people are just plain incompetent but some are very slick manipulators who enjoy limited accountability and a world of flexibility. They enjoy the power this gives them. Someone is paying a price for this in goodwill and productivity and this group is large. It impacts businesses, schools, governments, families, marriages and friendships.

Is it really so hard to say .... this is what we want to accomplish and this is the time frame that has been set to achieve this goal. Mid-course corrections are expected but here is were we are going and this is when we expect to get there. Now let's get to work. For some this is impossible.

Thanks for reading.

Indy 500, Danica Patrick..... So much for no sports

Gosh I wish I could be as fiery as Danica Patrick. My favorite image from the 500 yesterday was her marching down the pit wall on her way to confront Australian driver Ryan Briscoe after he ran into her on pit row taking her out of the race. The sight of this little tinny woman with this huge helmet on ready to kick some ass and take some names was priceless. I applaud and admire her. She is undoubtedly one of those people in the world who will be revered for her skill and accomplishment and characterized as "difficult" my many. Good for her.

I love the purity and honesty in it. Yesterday she was asked if she felt different starting the 500 after her first Indy car win. She said yes, she was probably more nervous than ever. Once again honesty personified. She's here to do a job, she is going to do it to the best of her ability and yes by the way, she has all the normal humans emotions we all have and she's not afraid to let you see them.

I hope she shows up this week on the Late Show with David Letterman. I am sure Dave will do something brilliantly funny like greet her with a football helmet on explaining that he had heard she might have been upset with him. It will be good.

Bravo Danica. She is one of those people that brings brilliant color to life.

Thanks for reading.

INDY 500 !!!!! Yea baby, it's on

Indy is on and I'm planted in my chair ready to enjoy this year's race for the first time in HI-Def. It's better than being there. Maybe I'll be able to find my daughter in the crowd this year, there's only 300,000 people to choose from. I have some history with this race. It's probably the only sporting event that I look forward to watching on TV each year. Here's why.

I am sitting here watching the pre-race show with a ticket stub in my hand from the 54th running of the Indy 500 on Saturday, May 30, 1970. The ticket has a picture of the 1969 winner Mario Andretti on it. You would be amazed at the resemblance to his grand son Marco Andretti who is running in this years race. I love the tradition, the pageantry and the family dynasties that have surrounded this race for years. It creates a familiarity that make me feel all warm a fuzzy. I also love the intrigue of the ever present up-start challengers who have only been around for 15 or 20 years. Let's not even talk about those arrogant Europeans and farm boy NASCAR drivers.

In 1970 I went to the race with my dad, I was 17 years old and I don't know for sure but I suspect this was the last race we attended together in the years after my mother died. I suspect I got busy with college and my stuff after this. These trips were the highlight of my year because it was one of the few times during the year that I had his undivided attention. Yes, this day is flooded with emotions and really good memories for me. It really wasn't so much his attention I enjoyed it was a connection that was hanked together, and reinforced by the shear joy of being part of Indy. It's not possible to simply attend an Indy 500 without becoming a part of it. If you haven't been there it's hard to understand but 99% of the experience has little to do with the cars circling the track. The race is the catalyst. It still works the same way for me today, right now, just as powerful, sitting in my living room watching it on TV.


Thanks Pop for giving me some wonderful memories. I love you. I know you're out there watching the race with me today, touching my soul and sharing your spirit with me and others. But, I really wish you could see this in Hi-Def with surround sound and better yet we wouldn't have to lug the cooler 110 rows up into the stands.

Thanks for reading.

PS: Well there's the icing on the cake. Jim Neighbors was unable to attend the race last year and sing the traditional Back Home Again in Indiana. He's back this year. There it is again that flood of emotion. But Jim Neighborss??? that's just scary.

Dilbert, sez made up numbers are just as good as real ones

More and more today business is being run by the numbers. OK, that makes sense we all have computers so let's run things by the numbers now. To what extent should we run the business by the numbers? Do the numbers drive the people or do the people drive the numbers? At one point in my career the CEO of the company suggested that the best way for him to reduce expenses in the business was for him to terminate the entire senior management team. That is a pretty extreme case of numbers based management. Part of me wishes he would have done it and I could have been a fly on the wall watching the outcome.

There was a Dilbert series a couple of weeks ago talking about numbers. In the first frame Dilbert is making a presentation and has a number on the flip chart beside him. He says, "studies have shown that made up numbers are just as good as real numbers". In the next frame he says, "so I made up this number". Next frame, someone asks how many studies? Dilbert says "67". As is true with most of the Dilbert comics there is enough truth and absurdity in this theme for it to be meaningful. Hey, is it proper to quote a comic strip character?

Virtually all the numbers used to justify decisions are in some way made up. We all do it. Yes, even Mr. high and mighty Lester has been known to stretch a decimal or two. We don't really make the numbers up we just find the numbers that are friendliest to our cause. I like the numbers that make my case and who could blame me or anyone else for that matter as long as we don't go too far. This is just how it's done and we all know it deep down. How many different ways can a single passage in the Bible be interpreted? The interpretation can be very liberal or very conservative depending on what you are trying to prove. I rest my case.

In my last job we always tried to be as reasonable and true to the cause as possible. We always wanted to make the right decision so we did our best to deliver the right facts. I would bring a set of numbers to my controller for him to look at before sending them on to the board or using them to make a decision and he would always say; "I need a little time to check your math but they seem to pass the smell test". You know what, I can't remember a time when a set of numbers passed the smell test and failed the math test.

In the end common sense has to rule. Whatever we try to make the numbers say they need to pass the smell test or we are venturing into dangerous territory. We all have observers who are checking us out. They may not have the resources to check all the detail when we make a decision and offer a justification but they do have extremely good sniffers. They can tell whether the story and the action fits the situation. This is the root problem that both Bill and Hillary have. They just can't pass the smell test, it all seems a little fishy, we can't exactly put our fingers on it but somethn ain't right.

Our observers, whoever they may be, can smell a snake oil salesman coming a mile away. So I say let's avoid the snakes and the oil and do what we can to improve the aroma of our decisions by floating on the sweet smell of the truth and appropriate facts. We'll all be better for it.

Thanks for reading.

And by the way, I bought the little video camera today. Very cool little toy. My dog looks fantastic in Hi-Definition and he smells better too.

Wild success... is my head swelling?

I want to let all my loyal readers know, yes both of you, that there is a blog groupie among you. OK one of the two of you is a blog groupie. Yes, I am happy to report, and you can read the comment yourself on the Happy Times post, there is someone out there who would die if they could not read this blog. OK, perhaps I over state a bit, but I am in sales. There is a person out there that has been reading this blog since the beginning. And this person thinks I should teach or publish this stuff. I thank you and enthusiastically I agree.

I am so pleased to have this wonderful bit of uplifting feedback. It made my night last night and my day all day today (doesn't take much does it?) and launched me into practicing my acceptance speech for my big award. It went something like this "You like me , you really really like me".... wait I think that's been done. I think it was Sally Fields. Oh well so much for originality.

This reminds me of how easy it is to really uplift someone with a kind word a smile or a small deed. It takes so little and can be so meaningful. My brother is a master at this. How about tomorrow we all go out and say something nice to someone for no reason at all. That's it!! Tomorrow is officially UP LIFT DAY.

I better trademark that fast before the bra companies get a hold of it.

Thanks for reading.

Here's the answer, it's email

This post will make more sense if you read the one before it first.

It's the Internet, DUH, sometimes I'm just not too quick. And more specifically the problem is email. (By the way I love it, I'm a junkie) We can move ideas, concepts, information, tasks, appointments, assignments, reports, explanations, evaluations and the data that supports all this instantly. All this moves light years faster than our brains can manage it. The information is also highly fragmented. We send 25 little pieces of data as it becomes available rather that sending cohesive and well articulated reports, as we did in the past.

On April 12, 1978 the Federal Express Company issued it's first public shares of stock. It was years before the use of this service became common place. Affordable fax machines started to appear in our offices in the mid 1980's. Do you remember your boss complaining about how expensive the fax paper was. As if to say we have the machine but please don't use it.

In just 20 or so years we have gone from "snail mail" and the telephone to email, web cams, webinars, this includes audio, video, voice, data and images. The only thing missing is the smell of a bad cologne and the occasional coffee spill. In effect, we have real time communication, on demand, around the world and it is virtually free. However, this is only the communication piece of an increasingly complex business landscape.

The elements surrounding a business issue must be assimilated, considered, balanced, shared, discussed, judged and evaluated by humans before final decisions can be made and these decisions are becoming more complex with the passing of time. An added challenge is the human brain is not working any faster or more efficiently now than it did 25 years ago. In fact, the overload of information we are experiencing today is causing us to work less efficiently and less effectively.

So we are attempting to accomplish more with modestly less brain capacity. My observation is we are seeing a lot of activity but not much in the way of achievement in many settings. This is not to say that a lot of really good things aren't happening in the world. I think there are some leaders who have learned to slow things down or to effectively balance resources with the human capability and technical capacity they have to produce winning results. There is no change here this has always been the secret of great managers with or without technology.

Those who haven't figured this out will spin their wheels and their teams will feel the pain and frustration of having no sense of accomplishment in their jobs. In my opinion, there are far too many people laboring in these circumstances. Activity does not equal achievement, productivity or profitability. It never has and never will. The sad part is I know far too many people who are trapped in these unbalanced and unfair environments.

Remember carbon paper? It wasn't that long ago was it?

Ok, now it fits. It makes sense to me now. I think it's horrendously foolish and grossly unproductive to let this powerful new technology throw so many of us out of balance but now I understand. What company uses the tag line "The power of one"? That's me from now on, using the power of one to offset the disruption of email in the universe. Too bad I don't look better it tights and cape.

Thanks for reading.

Why and how does it fit?

I am a person who needs to know how and why things work. This does not apply to all things. I am oriented toward systems that involve business, human interaction and machines. The bigger the machines the better by the way. I am analytical at a macro level being more than happy to leave the detail to someone with more patients.

When presented with an idea or a personal situation within the realm of my experience or knowledge my mind immediately begins to diagram the possible solutions and potential outcomes. It's instant and I really can't begin to grasp the full meaning and weight of any circumstance until I have some form of this flow chart in my mind. This trait allows me to simulate a range of potential solutions and outcomes before coming to a decision. In my role as a senior executive this is a very useful talent.

My challenge over the past couple of years has been to try to figure out why the business environment is so much different now than it was 10 or even 5 years ago. And why it is that so many people seem to have accepted this crazy nutso environment as normal, healthy and productive? In a very short period of time we have come from a fairly peaceful and predictable Ozzie and Harriet life style and gone to poorly directed Keystone Cops episode running on fast forward. I know that people have not changed all that much we evolve very slowly. So you can imagine how difficult it has been for me to struggled with this question for so long.

I have an answer which I will offer in my next post. Here is a hint. What ever it is it spread like a virus and everybody got it.

Thanks for reading.