Say Again

A while ago a magazine requested their readers to send in some statements made by professional
leadership at work that they found confusing, ambiguous or downright dumb. Here are some of the selected responses;

1: As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures for the cards will be taken next Wednesday and employees should receive their security cards within two weeks.

2: What we need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter.

3: Email is not to be used to pass on information or data.

4: This project is so important that we cannot allow things that are more important to interfere with it.

5: This memo is to inform you that a memo will be issued today regarding the subject memo above.

Not only are these comments from top leadership, they are verging on the precipice of ridiculous and most of them are are from leaders in Fortune 500 companies!

Clear and continuous communications is so very important. In business the self inflicted wounds that are created are more often than not a direct result of poor or non existent clear communications. The very same disconnect occurs in personal relationships. When communication is clear and direct there is far less confusion and the anticipated outcomes are much more likely. Many times individuals are held accountable for not doing what they were not told to do and that never has and never will work. When direct results are expected, a clear understanding of who, what, how, where and when must be understood and the only means to assure this is to clearly communicate. If the "why" can also be shared it should be shared. People feel much more positive about doing something if they know why they are doing what they are expected to do. The "why" gives those involved a sense of ownership and when a position of ownership is taken,  the outcomes are almost always more desirable because there is a feeling of important involvement. Clear and continuous communications is the answer, independent of the question.

The High Road

Years ago before modern paved roads and bridges existed most roads were built at ground level. Fewer roads were built at higher levels for easily understood reasons. The high roads were harder to build. When the weather was fair, most travelers took the low roads. The paths were more direct, requiring less effort and less travel time. When the weather was not good the high road proved to be a safer route even though it was surely going to demand more time and effort. Taking the high road was always harder.

When faced with a challenging situation, where tempers and emotions may very likely lead to the altering of facts always take the high road. Irrational people make irrational statements and behave irrationally and we all reach an irrational status at sometimes in our lives. People tend to emotionally skew the reality of the controversial event to meet their objectives and support their position. When you are on the other side of this emotionally charged event, you may also have a tendency to get emotionally charged and lash out...ready-fire-aim. Experience has taught me that only firemen should fight fire with fire. When people fight fire with fire, other people generally get burned. If the flames are high enough, both parties suffer wounds. The damage can become an everlasting part of some lives and no matter what is done to correct the wrong and get behind the scars to aid in the healing, the permanent damage is done.

Taking the high road may mean you have to humble yourself, ignore the facts and look the other way, but it may also save a relationship. You can always wait to address the issue when emotions are lowered and you are both on the same road. One of the many positive benefits to taking the high road is that you will learn about yourself and that education will lead to your personal and professional growth.

The Goat in The Bathtub

Our business, not unlike others,  is built upon delivering what a client needs in a timely and professional manner. One of the very valuable services we provide while pursuing this is goal is creative design of advertising. We are fortunate to have a very capable staff that creates over one thousand ads every month for our list of clients. The needs are often fairly straight forward. Basically, the ad needs to look good, be readable, be a professional individual reflection of the business and include  graphic elements that grab attention.

Recently one of our advertising professionals sent in a request to have the creative department, put a goat in a bathtub. The client, a unique gift shop, was planning a clearance sale and some of the clearance items were products made from goat milk. Thus the goat in the bathtub, covered in soap bubbles, represented a clearance sale! Our creative department has many resources available to them that provide excellent and very professional graphic elements they can select to use in the ads they build for our customers. However, a goat in a bathtub is not on the list. Therefore this customized graphic had to be created.

When the special request was received by our graphic department to put a goat in a bathtub, the response was one of; "We can do this" rather than, as others may respond to special request; "We cannot do this", We are not allowed to do this", We have never done this" and on and on with a exhaustive list of why something special can't be done instead of why something special can and should be done.

We have all made special requests from time to time and how the person, business or organization we are making the special request of responds, speaks volumes to their commitment to high caliber customer service. The lengths they are willing to go to to meet the requests will likely determine the value that is placed on their brand. Brands that are well known for going the extra mile are typically those brands that enjoy great levels of loyalty. The fullfilling of special requests starts at the top of any organization and flows through the hearts of the folks doing the job of meeting customer needs. It is a matter of culture. Does your culture allow you to put a goat in a bathtub or not? Ours does.

Attention All Students

School is about to start, just as school starts every year. I remember the excitement of the beginning of
the school year and then the reality of what I was in for, especially since I didn't care much for school. The beginning of school meant that I could, for the next nine months,  reconnect and stay connected to my many friends and perhaps make a few new friends. School also meant that high school football was imminent and that was reason enough, in my mind, to endure the exhaustive classroom drudgery. The things I liked the best about school were important to me but not academically relevant. The newness of the school year quickly wore off and the daily academic quest became more and more of a drag on my lifestyle. Homework was always getting in the way of more important activities such as sandlot football, shooting pool or just hanging out.

Whilst I was underachieving at my schoolwork, many of my teachers saw something in me that I did not, until later in life, see in myself. My Mother saw what the teachers saw. What they saw and what they insisted upon sharing with me was that, my self impression, that I was not capable, was entirely wrong. I was consciously not measuring up to my raw potential. I wasn't lazy. I was not focused. They saw a kid with unbridled energy headed it too many directions and found it very challenging to get my attention long enough to help me focus. I was the thoroughbred horse that just wanted to run and run, never making the turn on the track, I ran straight through the white fence, off the track and into the future.

What would have been if I had paid attention and applied myself during my school years. Here after all this time I still ask that question. Of course, I cannot allow the choices I made way back then to encumber me from achieving my goals and to a large extent they have not. But what if?

Stay in school, arrive on time, meet deadlines, apply yourself, be thorough, get the help you need, behave, show respect to your teachers and they in authority. Your school years are some of the most tremendous and turbulent times of your life. They matter, you matter and your teachers matter. Act like it, because you will never regret behaving appropriately and making a great effort.

Horizontal Roots

We have a few nice size flower beds around our home. The gentleman who completely restored this 1920's home had the foresight to not only put in these nice flower beds but he also put down a weed-barrier. This black sheet of material is rolled out onto the surface and then covered with top-soil. The plants you choose to grow are planted within a circle you cut in the barrier, allowing their roots to grow deeply. However, when weeds grow, their roots are restricted from growing down by this barrier. This makes the puling of the weeds extremely easy. The weeds roots cannot "Take-Root" and no matter the number or variety of weeds, the pulling is a piece-of-cake.

Roots matter. The foundation you possess is a fine example of your roots. The root foundation is comprised of the people who influenced you, the books you have read and the things you have learned by experience. Adequate root structures require a fertile environment and that means you have to be willing to learn and grow at every opportunity, especially when you make mistakes. The taller you grow in your endeavor the deeper your roots need to grow. When the growth is too rapid and disproportionately vertically focused the roots do not have adequate time to grow deeply, the top-heavy result is unstable. You look really good growing so high so fast but when a challenge comes you do not have a sufficient root structure to be able to overcome the negative forces.

Growth is desirable but the right kind of growth at the right pace is the kind that will develop a deep root system that will sustain your personal and professional experiences for a lifetime. Grow deeply as well as tall.

Waiting On The Thunder

My hometown in southeast Texas had a number of freshwater canals and ponds. Just behind the home I grew up in is a large field that, as inquisitive and gullible youngsters we used to explore. It happens to also be the location of The Spindletop oil field, where a world-changing deposit of oil was discovered on January 10, 1901. This field had a huge fresh water canal and a massive storm sewer we affectionately named; "The Cement Ditch"in addition to several ponds of varying sizes and depths. These canals, storm sewers and ponds were excellent habitats for; Macrochelys Temminckii, more commonly referred to as; The Alligator Snapping Turtle. One of these creatures, according to The United States Geological Survey, reached an incredible 250 pounds! These are intimidating and formidable creatures who possess extremely powerful jaw strength. The local legend we lived with (because our parents said so) held that if one of these fearsome creatures were able to snap down on you, they would not let go until it thundered. We were terrified and therefore we avoided these guys at all costs, especially on cloudy days.

There are a lot of people who hold on to something, or allow something to hold on to them, far too long and as a result they are continually burdened by the additional emotional weight. Things such as: when they were treated harshly by someone close, when they were unjustly targeted at the workplace, when they were treated as an outcast, the times they were picked on by their peers, jilted and many more instances that were beyond control. Then there is the emotional baggage holding on that is entirely the result of the individual being held on to. The list may look similar to the things already mentioned. The damage is considerable independent of the initiation.

Let it go or make it let go of you. The alligator snapping turtle does not need a clap of thunder in order to let go. What the turtle needs is enough of the focused energies sufficient to inform the turtle that holding on is a really bad idea. Anyone can let go or make something let go of them by making a decision and moving on. You don't need to wait any longer.

When it is Okay to Talk About UFO's

There really is a time and place for everything. The things we talk about are important to us and ideally to those folks around us. We continually communicate verbally and in doing so we must be judicious as to the subjects we discuss and the words we use, especially in a professional setting.

There are subjects we discuss that are relevant, important and meaningful in our professional walk that enrich our experience and hopefully the experience of those we engage with. Discussions that enlighten, inform and direct. These are the good words.

Choosing wisely, what we say in any setting, figuratively speaks, to the thought we have put behind our statements. The flip-side is that some folks  engage their mouth long before they engage their intellect. When you are in a professional setting your discussions should be largely about the tasks at hand. Sharing personal experiences, events, attitudes and opinions in a professional setting is going to happen. The problem arises when that is ALL someone continually offers and therefore the perception is that this individual spends greater energies with personal things that are not helping move the collective-professional-process forward. Then, they become a distraction and may lead the entire team off a cliff. This manifestation of a distraction is one that is often challenging to overlook and will likely lead to an uncomfortable event when eventually someone gets fed-up and takes the "distraction" to task.

So, after work, when you are with people you trust feel free to share your experience with little green men from Mars. But don' t be disappointed if they look at you funny and strongly encourage you to keep the Encounter of the Third Kind to yourself.