I’d like to take you on a trip back in time to an event that occurred in the 1960s – on a snowy Christmas Eve;
When I was a boy I attended Church and "Sunday" School (school was actually conducted on Saturday mornings … I never understood that). My parents were adhering to the good guidance of Proverbs 22:6 - "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.".
On Christmas we would attend a midnight service which promised a great deal of pageantry and a full attendance. As a child I had mixed feelings about the midnight service. On the one hand, this was the one night I wanted to get to bed early. My philosophy about the night before Christmas was; the earlier I went to bed and fell asleep the faster the night would go by, thus accelerating the moment when I’d wake up early to sneak downstairs to behold the multitude of gifts that always seemed to magically appear in great abundance around our tree. On the other hand, Mom promised that if we ( I was one of four) behaved, stayed awake and did not embarrass her at the midnight service she would let us open ONE gift when we got home. That was incentive enough.
One Christmas Eve (I guess I was around ten years old), we set out on a particularly nasty evening. It had started snowing a fluffy, wet snow that had accumulated quickly. The temperature hovered around the freezing mark and the wind was blowing hard. The roads were sloppy with several inches of snow and slush. I was a little hopeful that our Church plans might be shelved on account of the weather … but no such luck. Off we went. It was miserable outside and we scurried to the comfort and shelter of the car. I remember sitting in the right rear seat with my face pressed against the window, my breath fogging it as I drew smiley faces and wiped them clean to see what was passing by in the wintry night outside. Dad drove slowly and was making comments on how bad it was. At one point, on a particularly dark stretch of country road, we swerved to avoid a man riding a bicycle at the edge of the road. I recall my Mother exclaiming as my Dad successfully performed the maneuver. Of all things! With my face pressed against the window my eyes widened as we passed the image of a man on his bicycle as it passed by like a gray specter in the night … his head low, shoulders mantled in snow, determined, his long coat draping dangerously close to the chain and sprocket as he earnestly peddled with jerky movements of the handlebars. Then he was gone … in our wake, like he never was. Why was he out in this and that this hour? Was he real? We settled down and arrived safely at Church.
The place was packed and it was fabulous. The Church was all brilliant with gold, silver, green and red - the choir in full robes. I always though it was odd to get so dressed up for a midnight service. I mean; corsages, three-piece suits, ties, fancy shoes … all for the middle of the night … and then you went home and right to bed. It seemed like a waste of dressing up to me.
We worked our way to our familiar seats, everyone greeting everyone in our church pew “neighborhood”, remarking on their clothes and politely asking about those who were not present … hoping everything was “okay” and all. I was the older son so, with my Dad leading the family “Von Trapp” style into our row, I posted guard in the rear, usher-like, and sat on the aisle. Male bookends. The crowd settled down and the service started as we all stood, opened our service pamphlets, the organ music rose and we all broke out in a hymn. Ten minutes later the music worship ended and we were instructed to be seated. It was time to think about the gift I would open when I got home.
Then, as the Church paused and fell momentarily silent, as if on perfect queue, one of the big double front doors to the Church opened behind us and a gust of cold wind blew in from outside. You could feel the chill half way up the aisle. I snapped my head around.
There he was! It was the man on the bicycle! He stood alone at the entrance with the night behind him silhouetting his awkward and out of place figure. He wore no tie, his overcoat was long and dark gray with dirty smudges (just like I remembered it). His face was flushed red and wet, his hair askew. He was a mess. He was a bum! Ushers hurredly closed the doors.
I welcomed the interruption, my curiosity peaked by his appearance. I craned my neck to get a clearer view of the man, trying to reconcile my memory of him from the car to what was presented before me … us. He truly was out of place. I couldn’t tell from where I sat, but be looked like he probably had a stale smell. But I was in the minority, if not totally alone, in my fascination. Faces contorted throughout the church. There were hushed, disapproving remarks. I could feel the pressure of those around me to turn around and face toward the pulpit … ignore this man. I flushed like some out-of-line soldier in a parade and snapped my head forward … for a moment.
Then something welled up from within me. It was an indignant anger of sorts that I had never before experienced. I disobeyed the pressure to face-front and turned to take another look at the man as he slinked into a back row, congregants nervously pressing in and away from him as though his filth had a force-field. And I reflected.
I knew why “I” was at church; to get it done tonight so we didn’t have to go tomorrow morning … so I could open that one present before going to bed. What was he doing here? What were any of the others doing here? My brain could only produce one analysis of that man, the church, the crowd … the whole scene. That man really wanted to be there. He was not there to impress anyone for sure since he had surely struck out on that account already. He could have satisfied any sense of obligation by watching service on the television or waiting until tomorrow. No, he was here for “church”, to worship. He wanted to be here so bad that be had peddled his bicycle in a snow storm to get here.
I will never forget that man. I can still see him peddling to church. I remember the narrow imprint his tires made in the deepening snow. I remember him every Christmas. That man’s authenticity challenged me and illuminated a hypocrisy in my young self. His example, that brief taste of his fruit gave me a flavor of authentic faith that would stay with me for life.
And God does an incredible thing; so much is His love for us, so much does He desire to be with us that He humbles Himself and comes down to us, becoming a man and living among us and then, even in His perfection, suffers and dies for that which separates us from Him. But death can not hold Him and He rises from the grave conquering death for us all and forever. What a gift. What a God!
All the best!
Bill
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Pilgrim's Progress
As I contemplated what I might contribute to a November post, the typical themes of Thanksgiving came to mind ... and the Pilgrims. What also came to mind was John Bunyan's classic tale, Pilgrim’s Progress. Not that the book has anything to do with the Mayflower Pilgrims and nonetheless, I did some research which revealed that John Bunyan was actually born 8 years after the Mayflower Pilgrims landed in Plymouth. Of further interest I found that Bunyan wrote the book during his second term of imprisonment for preaching outside of the established law of England at the time. Ironically, the laws changed, Bunyan was released from prison and he became one of the most popular preachers in England - heading a Church in the very same town in which he had been incarcerated for over 12 years. That's perseverence for you!
The book begins thus; “As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a den, and laid me down in that place to sleep; and as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back. I saw him open the book, and read therein; and as he read, he wept and trembled; and he cried out, “What shall I do?”
There was a time when most every school child read Pilgrim’s Progress as part of their educational foundation. It’s allegorical collection of aptly named characters and circumstances reflect life, the pursuit of purpose and destiny. The story is just as applicable today as it was in the sixteen hundreds.
The word Pilgrim warrants some forensics. It dates back to the 12th century and it describes one who journeys in foreign lands - a wayfarer, one who travels to a shrine or holy place, one of the English Puritan colonists of 1620 and (contemporarily) an early/first settler to the U.S. western territories. John Wayne addressed wide-eyed, naive, newcomer/settlers to the west as “Pilgrim” in many of his western films. He also generally assumed a role as their reluctant yet “practical and savvy” protector … their gun wielding, jaw smashing guardian angel. Along the way Wayne’s characters usually came to respect the “Pilgrim’s” innocent honor and quest and it often became his own.
Considering all of that, I’ve always thought of a Pilgrim as a person drawn to something that they pursed often not knowing the dangers along the way - but pursued it nonetheless. I’ve seen Pilgrim’s as sometimes self-absorbed, obsessed with purpose and often exhibiting a child-like blissful ignorance and headstrong belief that they would prevail in their quest if they only persevere. Pilgrims dismiss the risks and “practical” advice of others and move ahead. Pilgrims generally travel in lands that are foreign to them … they are sojourners. They view hardship and estrangement as temporary conditions. There is always something noble about the Pilgrim’s quest. To me, Cervante's Don Quixote de la Mancha qualifies as a Pilgrim.
You don’t hear much about Pilgrims these days. They are a backdrop of our "americana" consciousness, a throwback to more naive times. Their spartan and severe lives are a spectacle at which to shudder. But do we ponder what vision would drive such people to such extremes? Are there no more worthy noble quests? Is there nothing grand enough that is worth sacrificing and struggling for unless it involves an immediate and rich reward? Surely there is. Why do we love the underdog so? Why do we root for the bloodied man in the arena battling a smug and formidable foe? To our core we love noble causes and our hearts are restless for their inspiration.
I think we were all created to be Pilgrims - sojourners for a moment that is but a vapor on this planet. I think that in each of us there burns a yearning for a noble cause, to be part of a bigger story, to face adversity, to be tested, to enjoy risk taking adventures as we pursue the impossible dream … to find out whether or not we have what it takes. Remember the song - - - ?
The Impossible Dream – Lyrics by Joe DarionTo dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star
That’s a “Pilgrim” song. The heart of a Pilgrim. A deep commitment to a quest that often meets with tremendous adversity, goes unappreciated, may be unpopular, costs dearly … but is pursued nonetheless simply because it is right.
Now imagine the realization of that quest and the utterly profound depth of thanks that would well forth from the heart of the overcomer … the Pilgrim. Get into that sort of mood on Thanksgiving Day …. Pilgrim!
All the best!
Bill
The book begins thus; “As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a den, and laid me down in that place to sleep; and as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back. I saw him open the book, and read therein; and as he read, he wept and trembled; and he cried out, “What shall I do?”
There was a time when most every school child read Pilgrim’s Progress as part of their educational foundation. It’s allegorical collection of aptly named characters and circumstances reflect life, the pursuit of purpose and destiny. The story is just as applicable today as it was in the sixteen hundreds.
The word Pilgrim warrants some forensics. It dates back to the 12th century and it describes one who journeys in foreign lands - a wayfarer, one who travels to a shrine or holy place, one of the English Puritan colonists of 1620 and (contemporarily) an early/first settler to the U.S. western territories. John Wayne addressed wide-eyed, naive, newcomer/settlers to the west as “Pilgrim” in many of his western films. He also generally assumed a role as their reluctant yet “practical and savvy” protector … their gun wielding, jaw smashing guardian angel. Along the way Wayne’s characters usually came to respect the “Pilgrim’s” innocent honor and quest and it often became his own.
Considering all of that, I’ve always thought of a Pilgrim as a person drawn to something that they pursed often not knowing the dangers along the way - but pursued it nonetheless. I’ve seen Pilgrim’s as sometimes self-absorbed, obsessed with purpose and often exhibiting a child-like blissful ignorance and headstrong belief that they would prevail in their quest if they only persevere. Pilgrims dismiss the risks and “practical” advice of others and move ahead. Pilgrims generally travel in lands that are foreign to them … they are sojourners. They view hardship and estrangement as temporary conditions. There is always something noble about the Pilgrim’s quest. To me, Cervante's Don Quixote de la Mancha qualifies as a Pilgrim.
You don’t hear much about Pilgrims these days. They are a backdrop of our "americana" consciousness, a throwback to more naive times. Their spartan and severe lives are a spectacle at which to shudder. But do we ponder what vision would drive such people to such extremes? Are there no more worthy noble quests? Is there nothing grand enough that is worth sacrificing and struggling for unless it involves an immediate and rich reward? Surely there is. Why do we love the underdog so? Why do we root for the bloodied man in the arena battling a smug and formidable foe? To our core we love noble causes and our hearts are restless for their inspiration.
I think we were all created to be Pilgrims - sojourners for a moment that is but a vapor on this planet. I think that in each of us there burns a yearning for a noble cause, to be part of a bigger story, to face adversity, to be tested, to enjoy risk taking adventures as we pursue the impossible dream … to find out whether or not we have what it takes. Remember the song - - - ?
The Impossible Dream – Lyrics by Joe DarionTo dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star
That’s a “Pilgrim” song. The heart of a Pilgrim. A deep commitment to a quest that often meets with tremendous adversity, goes unappreciated, may be unpopular, costs dearly … but is pursued nonetheless simply because it is right.
Now imagine the realization of that quest and the utterly profound depth of thanks that would well forth from the heart of the overcomer … the Pilgrim. Get into that sort of mood on Thanksgiving Day …. Pilgrim!
All the best!
Bill
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sufficient for each day is its own trouble …
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” ~ Mother Teresa ~
Mother Teresa’s words reflect a life lived in the moment and such a life orientation can seem strange and even ill advised to the serious, planning, in-control professional business person. We are taught and encouraged to plan and execute, to visualize and strategize in all things professional. Plan your work and work your plan - right?
Something in our hearts is drawn to Mother Teresa’s words and we know deep down that it is right and good. One cannot deny that Mother Teresa lived a life of high impact and the difference between her and, say, a die hard professional business achiever can be summed up in her goal orientation. The world generally rejects wisdom such as Mother Teresa’s or writes it off as good advice for those "in ministry", wonderful anecdotal spice for a greeting card - heedful for those disconnected from the “real” and more important and more “desperate” work at hand. Her wisdom may present as impractical. And so, lifestyle statements such as Mother Teresa’s largely go un-reconciled as we move on with our business until the circumstances of our lives bring us back to them.
Mother Teresa tells this story;
"When once a chairman of a multinational company came to see me, to offer me a property in Bombay, he first asked: ‘Mother, how do you manage your budget?" I asked him who had sent him here. He replied: ‘I felt an urge inside me.’ I said: other people like you come to see me and say the same. It was clear God sent you, Mr. A, as He sends Mr. X, Mrs. Y, Miss Z, and they provide the material means we need for our work. The grace of God is what moved you. You are my budget. God sees to our needs, as Jesus promised. I accepted the property he gave and named it Asha Dan (Gift of Hope)."
Did Mother Teresa have NO plans? Of course she had plans. But she did not invest time or energy worrying about them. The chairman’s question about budgets comes from a heart in need of control over uncertainty, doubt and trepidation. Outcome control. Mother Teresa refused to live with such anxiety – turning it over to God’s providence. What a luxury - eh? One must ask if this only works for Godly projects and, if so, are our projects, our lives and our businesses un-Godly? Not necessarily.
Come to think of it, if you examine a bit closer you will discern that, while a “live in the moment” mindset involves a healthy measure of trust, relinquishing of control, patience and confidence, it is not at all a “wait and see and hope” approach to life. Indeed it very much requires a “carpe diem”, tremendously adaptive, agile and change-ready constitution. Practical but not for the faint of heart. For a scorekeepers approach to a life of faith in the moment that any Accountant would endorse, read about the life of George Mueller some time.
Take a turn back in time with me for a moment to February 1862. The American Civil War is raging. President Lincoln has lost friends and colleagues to the war and now he loses his 11 year old son “Willie” to typhoid. Nothing is going right. In that vulnerable moment of grief and despair the President’s perspective of control is rocked. Historians say that the words of a Presbyterian Minister, Dr. Phineas D. Gurley, at Willie’s funeral penetrate the heart of an already reverent Lincoln. In his eulogy Gurley says, “In the hour of trial one must look to Him who sees the end from the beginning and who doeth all things well.” Lincoln asks for a copy of the eulogy. Shortly thereafter he writes the Emancipation Proclamation and the moral trajectory of our country, and it's greatness amongst nations takes a decidedly positive turn upward thereafter. God has plans.
The tide of our times takes us with great velocity into vast mazes of information and opinion, greater interconnectedness and a consciousness of myriad potential outcomes. Such a frenzy of information can drown us in a cocktail of variables, fear factors and imaginings that can paralyze even the stoutest of souls. Ironically, it is from that same cloud of swirling chaotic uncertainty and uncontrollable variables from which unforeseen opportunities come.
Mother Teresa was an opportunist! Let that sink in.
Not long ago, in meditation, these words came to me which I wrote in my journal; “You are being taught humility, patience, to depend on Me, to hear Me when I whisper to you. Do what is before you. Not for any end that it may represent but for what you will discover along the way. Nothing you are doing is for waste. Do it. Experience it. Explore, discover and express who you are. This is the adventure! I will keep you along the way. Be anxious for nothing. Let opportunity present itself. Seize it when it does. Rest in this.”
Funny how life sometimes puts a string of related pearls before us – to consider. Oh, that we would be of a mind and heart in the moment to recognize these strings of wisdom so expertly crafted and personalized for each of us and so gently and unobtrusively dangled before us as if to say – “this can be yours – put these on - you are worthy of them”.
Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not yet come, pause and be still, stand firm in the torrent of the nervous frenzy around you and contemplate.
All the best!
Bill
Mother Teresa’s words reflect a life lived in the moment and such a life orientation can seem strange and even ill advised to the serious, planning, in-control professional business person. We are taught and encouraged to plan and execute, to visualize and strategize in all things professional. Plan your work and work your plan - right?
Something in our hearts is drawn to Mother Teresa’s words and we know deep down that it is right and good. One cannot deny that Mother Teresa lived a life of high impact and the difference between her and, say, a die hard professional business achiever can be summed up in her goal orientation. The world generally rejects wisdom such as Mother Teresa’s or writes it off as good advice for those "in ministry", wonderful anecdotal spice for a greeting card - heedful for those disconnected from the “real” and more important and more “desperate” work at hand. Her wisdom may present as impractical. And so, lifestyle statements such as Mother Teresa’s largely go un-reconciled as we move on with our business until the circumstances of our lives bring us back to them.
Mother Teresa tells this story;
"When once a chairman of a multinational company came to see me, to offer me a property in Bombay, he first asked: ‘Mother, how do you manage your budget?" I asked him who had sent him here. He replied: ‘I felt an urge inside me.’ I said: other people like you come to see me and say the same. It was clear God sent you, Mr. A, as He sends Mr. X, Mrs. Y, Miss Z, and they provide the material means we need for our work. The grace of God is what moved you. You are my budget. God sees to our needs, as Jesus promised. I accepted the property he gave and named it Asha Dan (Gift of Hope)."
Did Mother Teresa have NO plans? Of course she had plans. But she did not invest time or energy worrying about them. The chairman’s question about budgets comes from a heart in need of control over uncertainty, doubt and trepidation. Outcome control. Mother Teresa refused to live with such anxiety – turning it over to God’s providence. What a luxury - eh? One must ask if this only works for Godly projects and, if so, are our projects, our lives and our businesses un-Godly? Not necessarily.
Come to think of it, if you examine a bit closer you will discern that, while a “live in the moment” mindset involves a healthy measure of trust, relinquishing of control, patience and confidence, it is not at all a “wait and see and hope” approach to life. Indeed it very much requires a “carpe diem”, tremendously adaptive, agile and change-ready constitution. Practical but not for the faint of heart. For a scorekeepers approach to a life of faith in the moment that any Accountant would endorse, read about the life of George Mueller some time.
Take a turn back in time with me for a moment to February 1862. The American Civil War is raging. President Lincoln has lost friends and colleagues to the war and now he loses his 11 year old son “Willie” to typhoid. Nothing is going right. In that vulnerable moment of grief and despair the President’s perspective of control is rocked. Historians say that the words of a Presbyterian Minister, Dr. Phineas D. Gurley, at Willie’s funeral penetrate the heart of an already reverent Lincoln. In his eulogy Gurley says, “In the hour of trial one must look to Him who sees the end from the beginning and who doeth all things well.” Lincoln asks for a copy of the eulogy. Shortly thereafter he writes the Emancipation Proclamation and the moral trajectory of our country, and it's greatness amongst nations takes a decidedly positive turn upward thereafter. God has plans.
The tide of our times takes us with great velocity into vast mazes of information and opinion, greater interconnectedness and a consciousness of myriad potential outcomes. Such a frenzy of information can drown us in a cocktail of variables, fear factors and imaginings that can paralyze even the stoutest of souls. Ironically, it is from that same cloud of swirling chaotic uncertainty and uncontrollable variables from which unforeseen opportunities come.
Mother Teresa was an opportunist! Let that sink in.
Not long ago, in meditation, these words came to me which I wrote in my journal; “You are being taught humility, patience, to depend on Me, to hear Me when I whisper to you. Do what is before you. Not for any end that it may represent but for what you will discover along the way. Nothing you are doing is for waste. Do it. Experience it. Explore, discover and express who you are. This is the adventure! I will keep you along the way. Be anxious for nothing. Let opportunity present itself. Seize it when it does. Rest in this.”
Funny how life sometimes puts a string of related pearls before us – to consider. Oh, that we would be of a mind and heart in the moment to recognize these strings of wisdom so expertly crafted and personalized for each of us and so gently and unobtrusively dangled before us as if to say – “this can be yours – put these on - you are worthy of them”.
Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not yet come, pause and be still, stand firm in the torrent of the nervous frenzy around you and contemplate.
All the best!
Bill
Monday, September 27, 2010
Prosperity & The Truly Fruitful Life
It’s fair to say that – relatively speaking - many people are going through a tough time right now. Emphasis on “relatively”. In reflection we might take a moment to compare our present circumstances “relative” to the rest of the world and see how far they have yet to go. But we’re in America right? So we’re deserving and we’re special, we’re blessed - so how dare anyone challenge our looking glass lens on reality. Well, the Apostle Paul declared, “We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing Him directly (and His plan) just as He knows us!” (1Cor13:12, The Message Bible, annotated)
Many religious or so-called people of faith are doing a lot of praying and genie lamp rubbing for God’s will to take a turn toward affluence in their lives. Affluence pursued is a phantom never caught. If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it many times; “I pray for God’s will to manifest itself in my life.“ or “I know that God has a plan for my life and I can’t wait for Him to present it to me.” when they really mean, “God I know it’s your plan for me to win the lottery so - how about it?”
God does have a plan and that plan, His plan (like it or not) is working every moment of our lives – perhaps especially during those “worst” days, moments or seasons.
I have a Christian brother who is going through a difficult time. He and his wife are drawn to God and have committed to follow Him. They are both go-getter professionals and achievers. They have a young son and they are building a life together. They’ve also been drawn to a deeper relationship with God as a family. Just the kind of fledgling, delicate situation you would ask God to grace with mercy and good fortune. So, of course, with not perfect but exquisite timing – the wife lost her job under some unsavory circumstances – a victim of egos and selfish managers protecting themselves first. The setback is significant to their existence and it is testing their faith. Rather than whine and blame, they are living more in the moment, questioning the basis of their lives before their present circumstances, drawing closer in love and support of each other as never before in their lives and together they are searching for His purpose in it all. Do you see God’s plan?
At the end of the day – if you believe in the God of the Bible - we are created for one thing – to return to and glorify Him, our Lord Jesus Christ who created us and who loves us. While orchestrating the activities of the whole universe down to every hair on your head and every sparrow that falls to the ground - that’s His primary interest. Few humble themselves to intellectually accept that simple concept. Fewer still give their lives to it. As St. Augustine famously surmised, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”
In John’s Gospel (NKJV) in Chapter 15 verse 2 Jesus says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” You may think it satisfying to produce your own fruit – but that fruit spoils, rots and turns to dust – there is no eternal joy in it. His fruit comes from His resources (the sap from His vine that draws through vast roots from resources far beyond our ability to comprehend). Relying on His resources we produce His fruit by abiding in His Spirit. His desires become our desires and we experience authentic joy in seeing Him come through, using our lives as His conduit (we, the branches) through which He flows unimpeded to produce His magnificent and eternal fruit.
Have you ever done any serious gardening? Can a pear tree produce grapes? When you cut back the dead wood doesn’t more than one fresh shoot spring forth? Have you ever had any serious gardening done on you? Those who bear fruit are not left alone. God is a diligent and expert vine dresser. They are cut to the quick – the sap of the Vine oozes forth from the wounds - so that fresh growth is possible – and more fruit! The most fruitful have the most scars from pruning. His vine is a perfect vine – everywhere it is green. There is no dead wood to be found. But there is pain, change, transformation and growth in the process.
There is an elite fighting force that claims as a slogan during their arduous physical training regimens that pain is the experience of weakness being driven from your body.
In James 1:2-8 (NKJV) the author writes, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (a fruit). But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in (abiding) faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” Read the rest of James for inspiration, encouragement and conviction.
Are you a person of faith? Are you going through a tough time? Consider the purpose for it and focus on the moment. Look for the good reason for it rather than focusing on some outcome you want in some uncertain future full of variables you do not control. What does He want? Why is He putting you through this? How can you glorify Him through it? Then, after a time, some serious prayer, an abiding heart, contemplation and quiet time away from others; invite God to speak to you personally. Then, finish this sentence; “I’m beginning to realize ____________.”
All the best!
Bill
Many religious or so-called people of faith are doing a lot of praying and genie lamp rubbing for God’s will to take a turn toward affluence in their lives. Affluence pursued is a phantom never caught. If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it many times; “I pray for God’s will to manifest itself in my life.“ or “I know that God has a plan for my life and I can’t wait for Him to present it to me.” when they really mean, “God I know it’s your plan for me to win the lottery so - how about it?”
God does have a plan and that plan, His plan (like it or not) is working every moment of our lives – perhaps especially during those “worst” days, moments or seasons.
I have a Christian brother who is going through a difficult time. He and his wife are drawn to God and have committed to follow Him. They are both go-getter professionals and achievers. They have a young son and they are building a life together. They’ve also been drawn to a deeper relationship with God as a family. Just the kind of fledgling, delicate situation you would ask God to grace with mercy and good fortune. So, of course, with not perfect but exquisite timing – the wife lost her job under some unsavory circumstances – a victim of egos and selfish managers protecting themselves first. The setback is significant to their existence and it is testing their faith. Rather than whine and blame, they are living more in the moment, questioning the basis of their lives before their present circumstances, drawing closer in love and support of each other as never before in their lives and together they are searching for His purpose in it all. Do you see God’s plan?
At the end of the day – if you believe in the God of the Bible - we are created for one thing – to return to and glorify Him, our Lord Jesus Christ who created us and who loves us. While orchestrating the activities of the whole universe down to every hair on your head and every sparrow that falls to the ground - that’s His primary interest. Few humble themselves to intellectually accept that simple concept. Fewer still give their lives to it. As St. Augustine famously surmised, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”
In John’s Gospel (NKJV) in Chapter 15 verse 2 Jesus says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” You may think it satisfying to produce your own fruit – but that fruit spoils, rots and turns to dust – there is no eternal joy in it. His fruit comes from His resources (the sap from His vine that draws through vast roots from resources far beyond our ability to comprehend). Relying on His resources we produce His fruit by abiding in His Spirit. His desires become our desires and we experience authentic joy in seeing Him come through, using our lives as His conduit (we, the branches) through which He flows unimpeded to produce His magnificent and eternal fruit.
Have you ever done any serious gardening? Can a pear tree produce grapes? When you cut back the dead wood doesn’t more than one fresh shoot spring forth? Have you ever had any serious gardening done on you? Those who bear fruit are not left alone. God is a diligent and expert vine dresser. They are cut to the quick – the sap of the Vine oozes forth from the wounds - so that fresh growth is possible – and more fruit! The most fruitful have the most scars from pruning. His vine is a perfect vine – everywhere it is green. There is no dead wood to be found. But there is pain, change, transformation and growth in the process.
There is an elite fighting force that claims as a slogan during their arduous physical training regimens that pain is the experience of weakness being driven from your body.
In James 1:2-8 (NKJV) the author writes, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (a fruit). But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in (abiding) faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” Read the rest of James for inspiration, encouragement and conviction.
Are you a person of faith? Are you going through a tough time? Consider the purpose for it and focus on the moment. Look for the good reason for it rather than focusing on some outcome you want in some uncertain future full of variables you do not control. What does He want? Why is He putting you through this? How can you glorify Him through it? Then, after a time, some serious prayer, an abiding heart, contemplation and quiet time away from others; invite God to speak to you personally. Then, finish this sentence; “I’m beginning to realize ____________.”
All the best!
Bill
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Pursuit of Purpose
Sometimes you have to wonder if progress is being withheld for a reason – a purpose. And you begin to reflect. The recession and its reluctant recovery have us all questioning ourselves, our motives, our methods, our very lives and our purpose.
In the years that I’ve been a manager and leader in business and in volunteer service a recurring theme continues to surface – people have a desire to be inspired. At the root of that desire is a DNA-level yearning to serve a purpose.
In the past year I have never had so much time to contemplate my life and its purpose. This summer has been slow and I believe that most have made a concerted effort to slow down, assess and collect themselves for the future. I hope and trust that the pause is more out of true contemplation and less of procrastination and fear to act.
There is nothing worse than to go through life without a purpose. The accumulation of stuff and titles and power is not purpose. William James was a wealthy heir, notable psychologist, philosopher and contemplative of the 1800s. He was a member of a literary and intellectually elite family that included his brother the novelist Henry James. He said, “The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.” That statement rings of eternity, purpose and calling. We may all be created equal but we are not all the same. While equal before the law, we are each unique and uniquely gifted – special - purposeful.
I am forever confounded by the free-wheeling misuse of the statement “… life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. The American Dream. The phrase itself is adapted from a more materialistic statement made by political philosopher and existentialist John Locke – pursuit of property. It has become every man’s declaration of his/her unalienable individual sovereignty. It is a statement made by men adapted from scripture and there is a nugget within it that draws us and draws our spirits – the pursuit of happiness. What is that? What is happiness? Is it joy? Is it self exaltation? Is happiness the accumulation of things? Truly, it’s whatever you make of it and our so-called unalienable right is not to the attainment of “it” per se but to the pursuit of “it”.
I believe that true happiness lies in discovering the fine line and direction one takes in either the pursuit of a kind of happiness found solely in the pursuit of perishable things or in the pursuit of a kind of happiness or fullness found in the pursuit of purpose toward things that go beyond this life and its “stuff”.
When times are easy and success flows freely, we are easily distracted from our true purpose as individuals and the place where we will find joy – true happiness. It is a narrow path and few find it. It is also a path from which we easily stray.
What defines us? Purpose? Profession? Is it the collection of our possessions? French writer Andre Gide had this to say about possessions, "Complete possession is proved only by giving. All you are unable to give possesses you."
But don’t take my word for it. Let’s get a perspective;
"You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." ~ James 4:14 ~
Or take it from King Solomon who had it all – the greatest of knowledge, discernment and wisdom and all the riches of the world at his disposal. He authored the book of Ecclesiastes;
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 “ Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;
“ Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
3 What profit has a man from all his labor
In which he toils under the sun?
4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes;
But the earth abides forever.
5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,
And hastens to the place where it arose.
6 The wind goes toward the south,
And turns around to the north;
The wind whirls about continually,
And comes again on its circuit.
7 All the rivers run into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come,
There they return again.
8 All things are full of labor;
Man cannot express it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
Say what you want about Lee Atwater’s politics, but he was an accomplished man very early in his life, rubbing eldbows with and relied upon by some of the most powerful men on the planet. He died swiftly at age forty of a brain tumor and this was his contrite commentary on his life (from a Life magazine article in February 1991), “My illness helped me to see that what was missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart, a lot of brotherhood. The '80s were about acquiring — acquiring wealth, power, prestige. I know. I acquired more wealth, power, and prestige than most. But you can acquire all you want and still feel empty. What power wouldn't I trade for a little more time with my family? What price wouldn't I pay for an evening with friends? It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. I don't know who will lead us through the '90s, but they must be made to speak to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society, this tumor of the soul.”
Thousands of years apart – same bottom line - same conclusion about life. What do Donald Trump or Ted Turner have to say on that? If their pride will allow it we may find out some day from their death beds.
Is life summed up in some “bucket list” of “to dos”, “thrills” and “to gets” that justify the self? Or is it about purpose discovered and devoted. In that there is no vanity. While we’re on it, here’s the Merriam-Webster definition of vanity; something that is vain, empty, or valueless, the quality or fact of being vain: inflated pride in oneself or one's appearance: conceit. A cutting word. Surely I am not vain! But is my life vanity?
Another fellow who died young but “in” his purpose was a young missionary by the name of James (Jim) Elliot. If you ever want to watch a compelling documentary film about divine purpose take a look at Through Gates of Splendor which is based on a book written by Jim’s widow Elizabeth Elliot. There is also a movie on the same topic titled, End of The Spear. Convicting to say the least – and perhaps senselessly fanatical in the opinion of some not so focused.
Two Jim Elliot quotations;
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
“Wherever you are, be all there.”
Finally, I present to you, William Borden (1887-1913). Yes, he died at age 26. Borden, of the wealthy Borden family we all know, was a well educated millionaire of privilege who had a promising life in industry before him. He turned it all down because early in his life he wrestled with the question of eternal “purpose” as expressed by this passage taken from the book, Borden of Yale '09 written by Mrs. Howard Taylor in 1926. “Borden's first disappointment at Yale came when the university president spoke in a convocation about the students' need of "having a fixed purpose." After that speech, Borden wrote: "He neglected to say what our purpose should be, and where we should get the ability to persevere and the strength to resist temptations.”
Borden died of spinal meningitis as he trekked to China and his mission field. Written on the inside cover of Borden’s Bible in his own hand – “No reserve – No retreats – No regrets”.
Our lives are finite yet despite our intellectual knowledge of it our end creeps up so surprisingly on each of us. The wealthiest and most powerful among us, when asked what they would want more of respond without hesitation – “time”. In the time that we have, to be the best in what we do, not in the eyes of others but in our own eyes and those of our Creator is to live in the purpose from which we derive truest joy and truest happiness.
You only have so much time to_____________________________.
I think we are meant to struggle with our pursuit of purpose.
All the best!
Bill
Acknowledgement: This Blog was a partially crafted draft of thoughts and fragments of thoughts in a file folder until the exhorting, challenging and encouraging words of my Pastor (Gerald Martel, Grace Gospel Church, Swansea, MA) goaded me into action for its completion. I also attribute to Pastor Martel's research the examples of Lee Atwater and William Borden into which I further delved for inspiration.
In the years that I’ve been a manager and leader in business and in volunteer service a recurring theme continues to surface – people have a desire to be inspired. At the root of that desire is a DNA-level yearning to serve a purpose.
In the past year I have never had so much time to contemplate my life and its purpose. This summer has been slow and I believe that most have made a concerted effort to slow down, assess and collect themselves for the future. I hope and trust that the pause is more out of true contemplation and less of procrastination and fear to act.
There is nothing worse than to go through life without a purpose. The accumulation of stuff and titles and power is not purpose. William James was a wealthy heir, notable psychologist, philosopher and contemplative of the 1800s. He was a member of a literary and intellectually elite family that included his brother the novelist Henry James. He said, “The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.” That statement rings of eternity, purpose and calling. We may all be created equal but we are not all the same. While equal before the law, we are each unique and uniquely gifted – special - purposeful.
I am forever confounded by the free-wheeling misuse of the statement “… life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. The American Dream. The phrase itself is adapted from a more materialistic statement made by political philosopher and existentialist John Locke – pursuit of property. It has become every man’s declaration of his/her unalienable individual sovereignty. It is a statement made by men adapted from scripture and there is a nugget within it that draws us and draws our spirits – the pursuit of happiness. What is that? What is happiness? Is it joy? Is it self exaltation? Is happiness the accumulation of things? Truly, it’s whatever you make of it and our so-called unalienable right is not to the attainment of “it” per se but to the pursuit of “it”.
I believe that true happiness lies in discovering the fine line and direction one takes in either the pursuit of a kind of happiness found solely in the pursuit of perishable things or in the pursuit of a kind of happiness or fullness found in the pursuit of purpose toward things that go beyond this life and its “stuff”.
When times are easy and success flows freely, we are easily distracted from our true purpose as individuals and the place where we will find joy – true happiness. It is a narrow path and few find it. It is also a path from which we easily stray.
What defines us? Purpose? Profession? Is it the collection of our possessions? French writer Andre Gide had this to say about possessions, "Complete possession is proved only by giving. All you are unable to give possesses you."
But don’t take my word for it. Let’s get a perspective;
"You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." ~ James 4:14 ~
Or take it from King Solomon who had it all – the greatest of knowledge, discernment and wisdom and all the riches of the world at his disposal. He authored the book of Ecclesiastes;
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 “ Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;
“ Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
3 What profit has a man from all his labor
In which he toils under the sun?
4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes;
But the earth abides forever.
5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,
And hastens to the place where it arose.
6 The wind goes toward the south,
And turns around to the north;
The wind whirls about continually,
And comes again on its circuit.
7 All the rivers run into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come,
There they return again.
8 All things are full of labor;
Man cannot express it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
Say what you want about Lee Atwater’s politics, but he was an accomplished man very early in his life, rubbing eldbows with and relied upon by some of the most powerful men on the planet. He died swiftly at age forty of a brain tumor and this was his contrite commentary on his life (from a Life magazine article in February 1991), “My illness helped me to see that what was missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart, a lot of brotherhood. The '80s were about acquiring — acquiring wealth, power, prestige. I know. I acquired more wealth, power, and prestige than most. But you can acquire all you want and still feel empty. What power wouldn't I trade for a little more time with my family? What price wouldn't I pay for an evening with friends? It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. I don't know who will lead us through the '90s, but they must be made to speak to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society, this tumor of the soul.”
Thousands of years apart – same bottom line - same conclusion about life. What do Donald Trump or Ted Turner have to say on that? If their pride will allow it we may find out some day from their death beds.
Is life summed up in some “bucket list” of “to dos”, “thrills” and “to gets” that justify the self? Or is it about purpose discovered and devoted. In that there is no vanity. While we’re on it, here’s the Merriam-Webster definition of vanity; something that is vain, empty, or valueless, the quality or fact of being vain: inflated pride in oneself or one's appearance: conceit. A cutting word. Surely I am not vain! But is my life vanity?
Another fellow who died young but “in” his purpose was a young missionary by the name of James (Jim) Elliot. If you ever want to watch a compelling documentary film about divine purpose take a look at Through Gates of Splendor which is based on a book written by Jim’s widow Elizabeth Elliot. There is also a movie on the same topic titled, End of The Spear. Convicting to say the least – and perhaps senselessly fanatical in the opinion of some not so focused.
Two Jim Elliot quotations;
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
“Wherever you are, be all there.”
Finally, I present to you, William Borden (1887-1913). Yes, he died at age 26. Borden, of the wealthy Borden family we all know, was a well educated millionaire of privilege who had a promising life in industry before him. He turned it all down because early in his life he wrestled with the question of eternal “purpose” as expressed by this passage taken from the book, Borden of Yale '09 written by Mrs. Howard Taylor in 1926. “Borden's first disappointment at Yale came when the university president spoke in a convocation about the students' need of "having a fixed purpose." After that speech, Borden wrote: "He neglected to say what our purpose should be, and where we should get the ability to persevere and the strength to resist temptations.”
Borden died of spinal meningitis as he trekked to China and his mission field. Written on the inside cover of Borden’s Bible in his own hand – “No reserve – No retreats – No regrets”.
Our lives are finite yet despite our intellectual knowledge of it our end creeps up so surprisingly on each of us. The wealthiest and most powerful among us, when asked what they would want more of respond without hesitation – “time”. In the time that we have, to be the best in what we do, not in the eyes of others but in our own eyes and those of our Creator is to live in the purpose from which we derive truest joy and truest happiness.
You only have so much time to_____________________________.
I think we are meant to struggle with our pursuit of purpose.
All the best!
Bill
Acknowledgement: This Blog was a partially crafted draft of thoughts and fragments of thoughts in a file folder until the exhorting, challenging and encouraging words of my Pastor (Gerald Martel, Grace Gospel Church, Swansea, MA) goaded me into action for its completion. I also attribute to Pastor Martel's research the examples of Lee Atwater and William Borden into which I further delved for inspiration.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Beauty and the Bureaucracy
“Bureaucracy is the epoxy that greases the wheels of progress.”
~ Dr Jim Boren ~
Everyone says they hate a bureaucracy. Bureaucracies hamper our freedom, force us to conform, throttle progress and are no respecter of our individuality. But the idea of bureaucracies is necessary and beautiful in a complex society. How else can complex programs and initiatives be locked-in and translated into meaningful, broadly and evenly applied execution without some form of consistent, non-discriminating deployment mechanism? This is no small task. Personalized service applied with the efficiency of a broad brush is a tall and often counterintuitive order.
Sidebar: There is a trend in the global economy toward mass customization and with it the urgency of rising expectations for more features, utilities and personalized add-ons. We see the implication of this in the ever complex world of personal electronic devices where the explosion in “APP”s is so evident. Here software applications are the enabler of mass customization and every handheld device must be able to adapt through APPs and other “features” to serve the individual’s perception of customized need. The device is manufactured as a one-size-fits-all platform that may be mass produced within acceptable cost efficiency parameters and becomes vastly more complex and costly AFTER it gets into the hands of the user/consumer through imported APPs. Take careful note of the hand-off. This trend is representative of a market tug of war between the bureaucratic and things custom.
Sociopolitical Commentary: As citizens come to expect greater customization our society becomes more and more like a proverbial salad bowl than a melting pot. The complexity of our government bureaucratic programs are, by necessity, becoming bigger and more complex as they attempt to comprehend every variation and peculiar anomaly demanded by society WHILE maintaining control of service vending. Bureaucracies can be great “levelers” – but they can also become contrarily benign in their attempt to “routine-ize” interaction with an increasingly diverse and demanding constituency.
And so bureaucracies, under their own momentum, can become ineffective – the opposite of their intended purpose. What gives?
Like any complex and monotonous thing, bureaucracies resist change. They are often concocted and launched into existence by higher powers and handed to lower powers to implement and run. By design, the bureaucrats who run the programs do not have the delegated power to change the systems they operate. Process is king. Implementers are protected by plausible deniability and things lumber forward – unchanging and unable to adapt. Odd and fantastic logic and problem solving patterns arise as users attempt to personalize results or deal with unanticipated scenarios and outcomes. All effort is made to preserve the integrity and constraints of the established system. Rigid software programs cement the logic circuitry to ensure conformance.
We talk about embracing mass-customization and personalized service. Do our systems reflect that banter?
Every business, no matter the size, creates bureaucracies of its own - its “ways of doing things”. This is necessary and expedient for operational discipline, consistency and efficiency. But here’s a rub; change is not viewed as efficient in a bureaucracy. Change is, we know, a reality of life and adapting to change is critical to success. So how can a bureaucracy be at its “consistent” best and adapt for change at the same time?
The answer lies in two concepts: delegation of authority and continuous improvement cultures that deliberately seek feedback for constructive change. Find the bureaucracies that are inevitably in your business and give them a “delegation” and “improvement loop” checkup. Better yet, involve the bureaucrats in designing the system they will have to use as they interface with customers. And, like the handheld device, let your customer have a greater hand in customizing what they get from you. Push it out a little. Your bureaucracies can be beautiful living and adapting things.
“Make decisions as quickly as possible, to keep momentum; procrastinating causes a different set of problems.”
~ Jeffrey Katzenberg – CEO, DreamWorks ~
All the Best!
Bill
~ Dr Jim Boren ~
Everyone says they hate a bureaucracy. Bureaucracies hamper our freedom, force us to conform, throttle progress and are no respecter of our individuality. But the idea of bureaucracies is necessary and beautiful in a complex society. How else can complex programs and initiatives be locked-in and translated into meaningful, broadly and evenly applied execution without some form of consistent, non-discriminating deployment mechanism? This is no small task. Personalized service applied with the efficiency of a broad brush is a tall and often counterintuitive order.
Sidebar: There is a trend in the global economy toward mass customization and with it the urgency of rising expectations for more features, utilities and personalized add-ons. We see the implication of this in the ever complex world of personal electronic devices where the explosion in “APP”s is so evident. Here software applications are the enabler of mass customization and every handheld device must be able to adapt through APPs and other “features” to serve the individual’s perception of customized need. The device is manufactured as a one-size-fits-all platform that may be mass produced within acceptable cost efficiency parameters and becomes vastly more complex and costly AFTER it gets into the hands of the user/consumer through imported APPs. Take careful note of the hand-off. This trend is representative of a market tug of war between the bureaucratic and things custom.
Sociopolitical Commentary: As citizens come to expect greater customization our society becomes more and more like a proverbial salad bowl than a melting pot. The complexity of our government bureaucratic programs are, by necessity, becoming bigger and more complex as they attempt to comprehend every variation and peculiar anomaly demanded by society WHILE maintaining control of service vending. Bureaucracies can be great “levelers” – but they can also become contrarily benign in their attempt to “routine-ize” interaction with an increasingly diverse and demanding constituency.
And so bureaucracies, under their own momentum, can become ineffective – the opposite of their intended purpose. What gives?
Like any complex and monotonous thing, bureaucracies resist change. They are often concocted and launched into existence by higher powers and handed to lower powers to implement and run. By design, the bureaucrats who run the programs do not have the delegated power to change the systems they operate. Process is king. Implementers are protected by plausible deniability and things lumber forward – unchanging and unable to adapt. Odd and fantastic logic and problem solving patterns arise as users attempt to personalize results or deal with unanticipated scenarios and outcomes. All effort is made to preserve the integrity and constraints of the established system. Rigid software programs cement the logic circuitry to ensure conformance.
We talk about embracing mass-customization and personalized service. Do our systems reflect that banter?
Every business, no matter the size, creates bureaucracies of its own - its “ways of doing things”. This is necessary and expedient for operational discipline, consistency and efficiency. But here’s a rub; change is not viewed as efficient in a bureaucracy. Change is, we know, a reality of life and adapting to change is critical to success. So how can a bureaucracy be at its “consistent” best and adapt for change at the same time?
The answer lies in two concepts: delegation of authority and continuous improvement cultures that deliberately seek feedback for constructive change. Find the bureaucracies that are inevitably in your business and give them a “delegation” and “improvement loop” checkup. Better yet, involve the bureaucrats in designing the system they will have to use as they interface with customers. And, like the handheld device, let your customer have a greater hand in customizing what they get from you. Push it out a little. Your bureaucracies can be beautiful living and adapting things.
“Make decisions as quickly as possible, to keep momentum; procrastinating causes a different set of problems.”
~ Jeffrey Katzenberg – CEO, DreamWorks ~
All the Best!
Bill
Monday, June 28, 2010
RELEARNING HOW TO FLY
I had an encounter with a dragon fly the other day. He had flown too close to our pool and had inadvertently “splashed”. There I found him upside down and motionless on the pool surface. He was a big guy with a five inch wing span, colorful and with very peculiar markings. I found out later that he was a “Black Saddlebagged” Dragon Fly.
I thought he was dead and proceeded to scoop him out with my leaf net. But as soon as my net touched him he clawed at it and scrambled onboard like a ditched pilot to a rescue raft. I paused at the spectacle and the size of the beast as he gathered his bearings, tested his wings, took off and cart-wheeled back into the pool like a helicopter with a tail rotor malfunction. He lay there motionless again. I scooped him up again. He re-tested his wings but didn’t attempt a take-off this time. The markings on his beating wings created the illusion of three dimensional “bags” saddling his body. I rested the net on the edge of the pool and looked for a stick which I used to transfer him to an Iris shoot in my garden. He seemed to like that.
For about three hours he stayed there perched on the Iris shoot, motionless. He would not fly off. I figured he was recovering, drying-out. I checked on him once in awhile and he even let me pet him - but he stayed glued to that Iris shoot. I thought maybe he was too far gone to fly and was slowly dying.
The sun was setting and I was beginning to get concerned that he might become food for some nocturnal hunter – we have bats. I started to nudge him to fly off and return to whatever safe haven dragon flies go to at night. He wouldn’t even beat his wings. Then it occurred to me – maybe he had just given up the idea of flying and was “playing it safe”. But he was created to fly and he needed to fly. So I had an idea.
I offered him another stick and gently urged him onto it. Waving the stick slowly, I began to walk him around my yard like a child might with a toy glider, letting the air flow across his wings. Then in one smooth arcing motion I swung the stick up and flicked him off into the air. He catapulted upward, began to fall and then, as though snapping out of a daze, his wings sputtered to life - he hovered for a just a moment as if doing a “systems check”, did a little circle and took off in a straight line – a “bee line” – a determined line – into the dusk.
He was himself again. And NO, a bat didn’t swoop down and eat him!
“Saddlebags”
"If black boxes survive air crashes, why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?" ~George Carlin~
I help business and organization leaders define and achieve their ambitions by helping them address the issues problems and opportunities - not acted upon – that dominate their thoughts.
For most of us it’s been a tough go. Maybe you haven’t “flown” for a while. It’s time fly.
All the Best!
Bill
I thought he was dead and proceeded to scoop him out with my leaf net. But as soon as my net touched him he clawed at it and scrambled onboard like a ditched pilot to a rescue raft. I paused at the spectacle and the size of the beast as he gathered his bearings, tested his wings, took off and cart-wheeled back into the pool like a helicopter with a tail rotor malfunction. He lay there motionless again. I scooped him up again. He re-tested his wings but didn’t attempt a take-off this time. The markings on his beating wings created the illusion of three dimensional “bags” saddling his body. I rested the net on the edge of the pool and looked for a stick which I used to transfer him to an Iris shoot in my garden. He seemed to like that.
For about three hours he stayed there perched on the Iris shoot, motionless. He would not fly off. I figured he was recovering, drying-out. I checked on him once in awhile and he even let me pet him - but he stayed glued to that Iris shoot. I thought maybe he was too far gone to fly and was slowly dying.
The sun was setting and I was beginning to get concerned that he might become food for some nocturnal hunter – we have bats. I started to nudge him to fly off and return to whatever safe haven dragon flies go to at night. He wouldn’t even beat his wings. Then it occurred to me – maybe he had just given up the idea of flying and was “playing it safe”. But he was created to fly and he needed to fly. So I had an idea.
I offered him another stick and gently urged him onto it. Waving the stick slowly, I began to walk him around my yard like a child might with a toy glider, letting the air flow across his wings. Then in one smooth arcing motion I swung the stick up and flicked him off into the air. He catapulted upward, began to fall and then, as though snapping out of a daze, his wings sputtered to life - he hovered for a just a moment as if doing a “systems check”, did a little circle and took off in a straight line – a “bee line” – a determined line – into the dusk.
He was himself again. And NO, a bat didn’t swoop down and eat him!
“Saddlebags” I help business and organization leaders define and achieve their ambitions by helping them address the issues problems and opportunities - not acted upon – that dominate their thoughts.
For most of us it’s been a tough go. Maybe you haven’t “flown” for a while. It’s time fly.
All the Best!
Bill
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Power To The People!
“In times of change – learners inherit the earth.” ~ Eric Hoffer ~
The “people factor” peculiar to small businesses. As businesses downsize – less may become more but less certainly becomes critical. In small businesses, flat org-charts are the norm – and both a strength and weakness. It takes a certain type of person to thrive in a small business environment – especially nowadays. Wearing many hats and enduring shifting priorities and tempos can wear on the non-generalist. This goes for both the entrepreneur/owner AND those on his/her staff. The stress is especially acute for those who may have been on the job for some time (having acclimated to the organization during simpler and more relaxed times) or who have formerly luxuriated in a single-discipline focus. CEOs take note: though your staff certainly appreciates their jobs – they have endured downsizings and taken on more responsibilities along the way. This HAS added mental and emotional stress. Be proactive before vital links begin to fracture. Sometimes an outsider’s perspective can detect fractures that you cannot.
Is your front office (you know - your SG&A cost center) disconnected from it’s business enterprise roots? In his book, Shop Class As Soul Craft (©2009 by The Penguin Press), Matthew Crawford looks at the office dynamics of small and large corporations that have lost focus on individual contribution and how new “office centric” and often non-productive and erroneous criteria for performance are diluting SG&A value and derailing companies. You know, like focusing on political correctness versus getting the job done and office cultures that use limp phrases like “I don’t disagree with you” that lead to phony consensus building.
In growing enterprises, valuable and contributing individuals are promoted and given increasing responsibility and authority – sometimes beyond their capability – “The Peter Principal”. These very key players can become roadblocks to further progress when their ambitions digress from those of their leader.
Having ambitions and being ambitious are two very different things. A wise business leader is conscious of this. I cannot count the times I’ve seen key middle managers holding back a company while paying lip service to the ambitions of an earnest CEO. The toughest group are the seasoned veterans who have given their all to ambitious projects and implementations in the past. They may no longer “see the light”, they may be tired or just plain coasting toward retirement. These reluctant participants may often be individuals who are viewed as vital. The questions is this; is your ambitious plan equally as vital as you perceive these individuals to be? If so - a line must be drawn. Who may quit and who may need to move on is a function of the CEO’s commitment to and ambitions for the enterprise – for the good of the enterprise. CEOs should realize that their ambitions may exceed the ambitions of their staff and then have the courage to break through resistance – no matter what the perceived or feared consequences in employee turnover may be. Such fears generally exceed reality. This is why enterprises that embrace a culture of change and continuous improvement have a vitality borne from their culture and not supposed “vital” individuals.
Are your production workers BAD ROBOTS? Matthew Crawford (Shop Class As Soul Craft), makes another good observation about worker mentality in the modern age – “If occasions for the exercise of judgment are diminished, the moral-cognitive virtue of attentiveness will atrophy.”(pg. 101) In other words, too much monotony and systemization in human operations can become counter-productive. All the written procedures and auditing you care to apply will not stem this human result. In certain environments where human involvement in productivity approaches that of machines - you might as well invest in the robots - because your workers will evolve into mindless and, worse, error prone automatons.
Along the same line, organizations that lack ambition will trend toward mediocrity in human capital. Jason Jennings in Hit The Ground Running,©2009 puts it like this, ”Without growth a company will eventually be unable to hire and keep talented people. People work for businesses in the hope of achieving their own full economic potential. When highly talented and ambitious people discover that a brighter tomorrow doesn’t exist, they’ll leave at the first opportunity. Eventually the only people left will be those incapable of finding work elsewhere.”(pg.28)
I help organizations define and achieve their ambitions and I’m available to listen and hear about the problems, issues and opportunities - not acted upon - that dominate your thoughts. That’s where it starts.
All the Best!
Bill
The “people factor” peculiar to small businesses. As businesses downsize – less may become more but less certainly becomes critical. In small businesses, flat org-charts are the norm – and both a strength and weakness. It takes a certain type of person to thrive in a small business environment – especially nowadays. Wearing many hats and enduring shifting priorities and tempos can wear on the non-generalist. This goes for both the entrepreneur/owner AND those on his/her staff. The stress is especially acute for those who may have been on the job for some time (having acclimated to the organization during simpler and more relaxed times) or who have formerly luxuriated in a single-discipline focus. CEOs take note: though your staff certainly appreciates their jobs – they have endured downsizings and taken on more responsibilities along the way. This HAS added mental and emotional stress. Be proactive before vital links begin to fracture. Sometimes an outsider’s perspective can detect fractures that you cannot.
Is your front office (you know - your SG&A cost center) disconnected from it’s business enterprise roots? In his book, Shop Class As Soul Craft (©2009 by The Penguin Press), Matthew Crawford looks at the office dynamics of small and large corporations that have lost focus on individual contribution and how new “office centric” and often non-productive and erroneous criteria for performance are diluting SG&A value and derailing companies. You know, like focusing on political correctness versus getting the job done and office cultures that use limp phrases like “I don’t disagree with you” that lead to phony consensus building.
In growing enterprises, valuable and contributing individuals are promoted and given increasing responsibility and authority – sometimes beyond their capability – “The Peter Principal”. These very key players can become roadblocks to further progress when their ambitions digress from those of their leader.
Having ambitions and being ambitious are two very different things. A wise business leader is conscious of this. I cannot count the times I’ve seen key middle managers holding back a company while paying lip service to the ambitions of an earnest CEO. The toughest group are the seasoned veterans who have given their all to ambitious projects and implementations in the past. They may no longer “see the light”, they may be tired or just plain coasting toward retirement. These reluctant participants may often be individuals who are viewed as vital. The questions is this; is your ambitious plan equally as vital as you perceive these individuals to be? If so - a line must be drawn. Who may quit and who may need to move on is a function of the CEO’s commitment to and ambitions for the enterprise – for the good of the enterprise. CEOs should realize that their ambitions may exceed the ambitions of their staff and then have the courage to break through resistance – no matter what the perceived or feared consequences in employee turnover may be. Such fears generally exceed reality. This is why enterprises that embrace a culture of change and continuous improvement have a vitality borne from their culture and not supposed “vital” individuals.
Are your production workers BAD ROBOTS? Matthew Crawford (Shop Class As Soul Craft), makes another good observation about worker mentality in the modern age – “If occasions for the exercise of judgment are diminished, the moral-cognitive virtue of attentiveness will atrophy.”(pg. 101) In other words, too much monotony and systemization in human operations can become counter-productive. All the written procedures and auditing you care to apply will not stem this human result. In certain environments where human involvement in productivity approaches that of machines - you might as well invest in the robots - because your workers will evolve into mindless and, worse, error prone automatons.
Along the same line, organizations that lack ambition will trend toward mediocrity in human capital. Jason Jennings in Hit The Ground Running,©2009 puts it like this, ”Without growth a company will eventually be unable to hire and keep talented people. People work for businesses in the hope of achieving their own full economic potential. When highly talented and ambitious people discover that a brighter tomorrow doesn’t exist, they’ll leave at the first opportunity. Eventually the only people left will be those incapable of finding work elsewhere.”(pg.28)
I help organizations define and achieve their ambitions and I’m available to listen and hear about the problems, issues and opportunities - not acted upon - that dominate your thoughts. That’s where it starts.
All the Best!
Bill
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Where are we headed?
“As the leader, when you enter a brainstorming session – take the cotton out of your ears and place it in your mouth.” ~ Seen on a online Business Leadership Chat Site ~
Where are businesses focusing in this recovery? What is working for others? A 2010 Executive Market Intelligence Report surveyed executive recruiters to identify the top high-growth functions for executive placements in 2010. They were, in ranked order:
1) Business Development
2) Sales
3) Operations Management
4) Engineering
5) Marketing
6) General Management
7) Finance
8) R&D
9) MIS/Information Technology
10) All other disciplines
What does this tell you? If you consider the top five categories, there is a theme: Top line growth, bottom line control and adaptation/optimization of “what you have”.
If you haven’t gotten the message yet, the present and future are going to be all about change. As soon as businesses relax their hold on what used to work and begin to embrace the concept of change, new methods, new perspectives and new market adaptive directions - business should begin to accelerate into a drive-able recovery.
“Sometimes if you hold on too tight to what you have, you end up choking it.”~ Anonymous ~
REALITY: Most will agree that inflation is coming (no one knows when but it's coming) and that the economy is going to take a long time de-leveraging - so cash will continue to be tight for some time. Government stimulus programs will phase out later this year and the hand-off to the private sector for the recovery will take place. That hand-off will be felt in the form of a dip in the recovery. Businesses already have cut costs - so liquidity will have to come from revenue growth. The market WILL NOT ALLOW revenue growth from price increases. Revenue growth will have to come from sales diversification and market share growth. In other words - successful competition. Most businesses recognize that they need a plan for that. Such a plan involves much more than new advertisements and adding to the sales force.
BUSINESS PLANS AND THE RECOVERY. Small and Mid-size businesses (SMBs) intuitively know that there is no standard blueprint for their specific business – they have to draw it themselves. Yet, most SMBs don’t take the time to initiate and maintain even the most modest of business planning processes.
Successful businesses have plans. So why don’t more SMBs have one?
Here are FIVE reasons why:
Reason #1: Belief that a business plan is only required when borrowing or when soliciting investors.
Reason #2: Belief that a business plan will constrain the owner’s creativity, be too rigid and diminish the ability to flexibly operate the business.
Reason #3: Belief that those who will have to draft the plan are too busy to focus on a plan and that they don’t possess the knowledge or time to do it right – so why bother unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Reason #4: No excuse.
Reason #5: Your reason.
Reasons 2 and 3 are perhaps the most reasonable. It has been said that every business is either in a storm, coming out of a storm or going into a storm. There is never a convenient time to carve out the time to do a deliberate plan. But the reality of changing markets and circumstances really prescribes planning – even if the plan must change and adapt along the way. Business plans are not meant to be stagnant documents.
“I was wondering why the baseball was getting larger and larger – then it hit me!” ~ gotta be Yogi Berra ~
Larger companies employ Boards of Directors and Advisors who use a business plan as the subject of their fiduciary attentiveness. These Boards bring external perspective, experience and provocative ideas that stimulate thought and action for the good of the enterprise. Small business owners with their day-to-day perspective rarely have access to such talent and the accountability to success that comes with it.
Business planning is a project that becomes a process. I'm working with companies that undertook an internal business planning project that quickly identified other profitable projects of opportunity that presented themselves along the way. We took those new paths – and we’re still doing the business plan. That’s okay!
Through relationship oriented business advisor/management consultants like WayPoints Partners, you can bring an external perspective, objectivity and a sympathetic resonance with the issues of small businesses into YOUR small business. With it you will get fresh energy and sense of urgency for success at a fraction of the cost and without all the formality of a Board of Directors. You also get an advocate for your business through the many network contacts of your advisor - and, perhaps, some marketing and sales experience and intuition that will kick-in for REVENUE GROWTH.
The WayPoints Partners motto, “with you along the way … all the way” is a good example of the relationship orientation you will want from a business advisor/consultant such that any business planning process that you might jointly initiate doesn’t become a dusty document left on the shelf but part of an ongoing and evolving business success story.
All the best!
Bill
Where are businesses focusing in this recovery? What is working for others? A 2010 Executive Market Intelligence Report surveyed executive recruiters to identify the top high-growth functions for executive placements in 2010. They were, in ranked order:
1) Business Development
2) Sales
3) Operations Management
4) Engineering
5) Marketing
6) General Management
7) Finance
8) R&D
9) MIS/Information Technology
10) All other disciplines
What does this tell you? If you consider the top five categories, there is a theme: Top line growth, bottom line control and adaptation/optimization of “what you have”.
If you haven’t gotten the message yet, the present and future are going to be all about change. As soon as businesses relax their hold on what used to work and begin to embrace the concept of change, new methods, new perspectives and new market adaptive directions - business should begin to accelerate into a drive-able recovery.
“Sometimes if you hold on too tight to what you have, you end up choking it.”~ Anonymous ~
REALITY: Most will agree that inflation is coming (no one knows when but it's coming) and that the economy is going to take a long time de-leveraging - so cash will continue to be tight for some time. Government stimulus programs will phase out later this year and the hand-off to the private sector for the recovery will take place. That hand-off will be felt in the form of a dip in the recovery. Businesses already have cut costs - so liquidity will have to come from revenue growth. The market WILL NOT ALLOW revenue growth from price increases. Revenue growth will have to come from sales diversification and market share growth. In other words - successful competition. Most businesses recognize that they need a plan for that. Such a plan involves much more than new advertisements and adding to the sales force.
BUSINESS PLANS AND THE RECOVERY. Small and Mid-size businesses (SMBs) intuitively know that there is no standard blueprint for their specific business – they have to draw it themselves. Yet, most SMBs don’t take the time to initiate and maintain even the most modest of business planning processes.
Successful businesses have plans. So why don’t more SMBs have one?
Here are FIVE reasons why:
Reason #1: Belief that a business plan is only required when borrowing or when soliciting investors.
Reason #2: Belief that a business plan will constrain the owner’s creativity, be too rigid and diminish the ability to flexibly operate the business.
Reason #3: Belief that those who will have to draft the plan are too busy to focus on a plan and that they don’t possess the knowledge or time to do it right – so why bother unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Reason #4: No excuse.
Reason #5: Your reason.
Reasons 2 and 3 are perhaps the most reasonable. It has been said that every business is either in a storm, coming out of a storm or going into a storm. There is never a convenient time to carve out the time to do a deliberate plan. But the reality of changing markets and circumstances really prescribes planning – even if the plan must change and adapt along the way. Business plans are not meant to be stagnant documents.
“I was wondering why the baseball was getting larger and larger – then it hit me!” ~ gotta be Yogi Berra ~
Larger companies employ Boards of Directors and Advisors who use a business plan as the subject of their fiduciary attentiveness. These Boards bring external perspective, experience and provocative ideas that stimulate thought and action for the good of the enterprise. Small business owners with their day-to-day perspective rarely have access to such talent and the accountability to success that comes with it.
Business planning is a project that becomes a process. I'm working with companies that undertook an internal business planning project that quickly identified other profitable projects of opportunity that presented themselves along the way. We took those new paths – and we’re still doing the business plan. That’s okay!
Through relationship oriented business advisor/management consultants like WayPoints Partners, you can bring an external perspective, objectivity and a sympathetic resonance with the issues of small businesses into YOUR small business. With it you will get fresh energy and sense of urgency for success at a fraction of the cost and without all the formality of a Board of Directors. You also get an advocate for your business through the many network contacts of your advisor - and, perhaps, some marketing and sales experience and intuition that will kick-in for REVENUE GROWTH.
The WayPoints Partners motto, “with you along the way … all the way” is a good example of the relationship orientation you will want from a business advisor/consultant such that any business planning process that you might jointly initiate doesn’t become a dusty document left on the shelf but part of an ongoing and evolving business success story.
All the best!
Bill
Thursday, April 29, 2010
"LEADERS - Bring it on!"
“Do or do not. There is no try.” ~ Yoda ~
What Successful Leaders Bring. I like to read the websites of venture capital and equity investment firms – where they expound on their successes. A recurring theme; Their team or the CEO they placed into an investment entity was able to bring leadership, execution and sales growth. Indeed, any chief executive can’t be seen as just the boss but as one who stimulates activity and brings fresh energy into a company. Decisiveness is often a keynote trait of leadership and such behavior from a newcomer is often mistaken as change for change sake. Not so.
Execution is staying with the strategy (making decisions along the way) and not being distracted by the day to day. Fresh energy is found in the readiness to make decisions. Further, successful companies are started by entrepreneurs who had a vision and passion for a product – that met a market need - and who had a burning passion to sell. Somewhere along the line that passion may get diffused with time and the hand-off to a sales force that may or may not possess that same initiating passion in product meeting market need. Successful leaders bring that passion and a talent for sustaining aggressive and market adaptive efforts. Markets change – you must change. This market HAS changed.
“The only time a man has the right to look down on another is when he is helping him to get up.” ~ Author Unknown ~
BOWLING FOR SUCCESS: To gauge the success or failure of a system implementation, culture shift or new practice; apply the Bowling Ball Test. If you have laid the proper groundwork, explained the reasons and goals, provided the resources for success, trained the people, delegated authority and established buy-in, your new initiative will roll on its own after the initial push. If not, it will behave like a bowling ball in the sand – push, push all you want but it won’t roll after you stop pushing.
- OBSERVANCES -
May is a month of special remembrance of sacrifice. We observe Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day and Mothers Day in May. My words are insufficient - so I offer these;
Motherhood ~ Joaquin Miller (1839-1913)
The bravest battle that ever was fought!
Shall I tell you where and when?
On the maps of the world you will find it not;
'twas fought by the mothers of men.
Nay not with the cannon of battle-shot,
with a sword or noble pen;
Nay, not with eloquent words or thought
from the mouths of wonderful men!
But deep in a walled-up woman's heart -
of a woman that would not yield,
but bravely, silently bore her part -
lo, there is the battlefield!
No marshalling troops, no bivouac song,
no banner to gleam and wave;
But oh! those battles, they last so long -
from babyhood to the grave.
Yet, faithful still as a bridge of stars,
she fights in her walled-up town -
Fights on and on in her endless wars,
then silent, unseen, goes down.
Oh, ye with banners and battle-shot,
and soldiers to shout and praise!
I tell you the kingliest victories fought
were fought in those silent ways.
O spotless woman in a world of shame,
with splendid and silent scorn,
Go back to God as white as you came -
the Kingliest warrior born!
Thanks Mom …
All the best!
Bill
What Successful Leaders Bring. I like to read the websites of venture capital and equity investment firms – where they expound on their successes. A recurring theme; Their team or the CEO they placed into an investment entity was able to bring leadership, execution and sales growth. Indeed, any chief executive can’t be seen as just the boss but as one who stimulates activity and brings fresh energy into a company. Decisiveness is often a keynote trait of leadership and such behavior from a newcomer is often mistaken as change for change sake. Not so.
Execution is staying with the strategy (making decisions along the way) and not being distracted by the day to day. Fresh energy is found in the readiness to make decisions. Further, successful companies are started by entrepreneurs who had a vision and passion for a product – that met a market need - and who had a burning passion to sell. Somewhere along the line that passion may get diffused with time and the hand-off to a sales force that may or may not possess that same initiating passion in product meeting market need. Successful leaders bring that passion and a talent for sustaining aggressive and market adaptive efforts. Markets change – you must change. This market HAS changed.
“The only time a man has the right to look down on another is when he is helping him to get up.” ~ Author Unknown ~
BOWLING FOR SUCCESS: To gauge the success or failure of a system implementation, culture shift or new practice; apply the Bowling Ball Test. If you have laid the proper groundwork, explained the reasons and goals, provided the resources for success, trained the people, delegated authority and established buy-in, your new initiative will roll on its own after the initial push. If not, it will behave like a bowling ball in the sand – push, push all you want but it won’t roll after you stop pushing.
- OBSERVANCES -
May is a month of special remembrance of sacrifice. We observe Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day and Mothers Day in May. My words are insufficient - so I offer these;
Motherhood ~ Joaquin Miller (1839-1913)
The bravest battle that ever was fought!
Shall I tell you where and when?
On the maps of the world you will find it not;
'twas fought by the mothers of men.
Nay not with the cannon of battle-shot,
with a sword or noble pen;
Nay, not with eloquent words or thought
from the mouths of wonderful men!
But deep in a walled-up woman's heart -
of a woman that would not yield,
but bravely, silently bore her part -
lo, there is the battlefield!
No marshalling troops, no bivouac song,
no banner to gleam and wave;
But oh! those battles, they last so long -
from babyhood to the grave.
Yet, faithful still as a bridge of stars,
she fights in her walled-up town -
Fights on and on in her endless wars,
then silent, unseen, goes down.
Oh, ye with banners and battle-shot,
and soldiers to shout and praise!
I tell you the kingliest victories fought
were fought in those silent ways.
O spotless woman in a world of shame,
with splendid and silent scorn,
Go back to God as white as you came -
the Kingliest warrior born!
Thanks Mom …
All the best!
Bill
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
What's in YOUR Logic?
“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers.” ~ Colin Powell ~
Deductive? Inductive? Abductive? Last month we looked at introverted or directional thinking and compared it with extroverted or intersectional thinking - which can vault companies and whole markets forward with great leaps of breakthrough innovation.
I recently came across a related article in Bloomberg Businessweek (January 25, 2010) titled "Innovation’s Accidental Enemies" by Roger Martin & Jennifer Riel. I have to share it.
Martin & Riel argue that most ideas provoke an impulse to demand proof of viability through deductive or inductive reasoning. In deductive reasoning, an idea is stacked up against a widely held rule. In inductive reasoning a new rule is developed from a base of accepted data. Great breakthrough innovations, however, often correlate to no established set of rules - nor can they draw on any font of data to derive a “certainty of success”. What to do? Toss it all to luck? Move forward on NO logical basis? The authors propose a third form of reasoning: ABDUCTIVE logic - the logic of what could be. Abductive logic can be used to make an inference – a leap in logic. I love this because it resonates so well with intersectional thinking.
To illustrate, here’s a paraphrased excerpt; “At Research In Motion (RIM), maker of the Blackberry, abductive logic is embedded in the culture. RIM’s founder encourages his people to explore big ideas and apparent paradoxes to push beyond what they can prove to be true in order to see what might be true. In the mid 1990s RIM was a modestly successful pager company but its founder wanted to get into portable email devices. He imagined something much smaller than a laptop but easier to type on than a cell phone. A super miniaturized QWERTY format keyboard had feasibility limitations (remember the Palm Stylus?) - UNTIL - he achieved a leap of logic: What if we typed using only our thumbs? A prototype quickly proved the logic and the Blackberry was born! Asking what could be true and jumping into the unknown is critical to innovation. Nurturing such ideas versus killing them is the tricky part. Once this hurdle is cleared the “proofs” can be developed and a vision of the future can be turned into fact.”
“When something is unsustainable – it stops.” ~ Anonymous ~
The “MOD QUAD”
Modified “Quad-Charts” can be used to reduce projects to their significant talking points and help succinctly visualize new opportunities (new product vectors). Quad Charts are great for provocative brainstorming because they force simplicity and keep cross functional management teams focused. They can be made a part of a strategic business plan for sustainable market relevance. Quad Charts are ONE page by design and deliberately succinct. Could you do one for your new development? Here’s a template:
How do you know when a change initiative has been successful? Just because you have concocted a plan and launched it does not mean that your execution has been successful. Initial employee enthusiasm from the CEO’s announcement, the big pizza party, the new incentive program, mugs and ball caps will fade and with it will evaporate your hopes of residual impact. Sustainable change is usually marked by four key indicators. These indicators will be observed from your employees.
• Declarations and testimonials are heard.
• There is appetite for more.
• Value adjustments are observed – culture shift is evident - change and productivity related peer pressure is evident at the shop floor level.
• Members become evangelists and the initiative has legs of its own without management prodding.
“Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.” ~Warren Buffet ~
Zen and the Art of Raking (If you don’t have trees – you can skip this piece.)
It amazes me how much garbage falls out of the sky (or trees actually). Every year, as the seasons cycle, I’m constantly raking. My lawn is perpetually littered. I’m raking in the Fall of course, but I’m raking well into Winter. I rake in the Spring and all through the Summer too. It is truly incredible how much “stuff” trees shed in the course of the year. Leaves – sure, but bark, old branches, major limbs, the husks and fluff from spring buds. Pulled from the ground, converted into biomass and deposited on my lawn. Nature, self-pruning, making way for new growth. I partially heat my home with a wood stove and I never have a lack of kindling. I just walk outside and scavenge twigs and branches right off the ground. Fabulous!
Many large branches also fall in the dead of winter that were probably wounded by some big wind long ago. Unattended, those limbs eventually dried up, lost their leaves and stood naked until their brittleness succumbed to gravity. I often look up expectantly at the “not yet fallen”, out of reach – destined to fall and stoke my stove.
I think about people who, in their youth and strength, flail at life and receive for all their efforts wounds they often don’t even feel until much later in life. I know I’ve been wounded and I’ve wounded myself. I’ve wounded others. Someone once told me “we’re all victims of victims”. But I can tend to my wounds and those I’ve inflicted if I recognize them. It’s never too late. I don’t have to lose any limbs.
And then there’s the ground itself – the substrate of my raking. Freezing and thawing the ground seems to push things out onto the surface or gobble them up. I think it’s a function of mass. The winter loosens up the dirt like no cultivator ever could. When I recall how concrete hard the ground can get in the dry heat of August it’s amazing the see how frost-heave, soaking rain and time can so effectively loosen it up again. So patient, so efficient. I think about hardened people and how time works on them and softens them physically and emotionally. Most become fertile and more open with time. Some resist and stay hardened – and barren of new growth.
As I rake through the seasons I find meaning in Proverbs 20:29; “The glory of young men is their strength and the splendor of old men is their gray head.” I’d personally like to think that the author also meant “bald” head. Spring is upon us! Maybe the Winter has loosened us up a little (I think the recession surely has). Maybe we’ve reconciled some old wounds, healed them, done some spiritual pruning and readied ourselves for new growth. I’ll probably be raking this weekend … weather and soggy ground permitting.
All the Best!
Bill
Deductive? Inductive? Abductive? Last month we looked at introverted or directional thinking and compared it with extroverted or intersectional thinking - which can vault companies and whole markets forward with great leaps of breakthrough innovation.
I recently came across a related article in Bloomberg Businessweek (January 25, 2010) titled "Innovation’s Accidental Enemies" by Roger Martin & Jennifer Riel. I have to share it.
Martin & Riel argue that most ideas provoke an impulse to demand proof of viability through deductive or inductive reasoning. In deductive reasoning, an idea is stacked up against a widely held rule. In inductive reasoning a new rule is developed from a base of accepted data. Great breakthrough innovations, however, often correlate to no established set of rules - nor can they draw on any font of data to derive a “certainty of success”. What to do? Toss it all to luck? Move forward on NO logical basis? The authors propose a third form of reasoning: ABDUCTIVE logic - the logic of what could be. Abductive logic can be used to make an inference – a leap in logic. I love this because it resonates so well with intersectional thinking.
To illustrate, here’s a paraphrased excerpt; “At Research In Motion (RIM), maker of the Blackberry, abductive logic is embedded in the culture. RIM’s founder encourages his people to explore big ideas and apparent paradoxes to push beyond what they can prove to be true in order to see what might be true. In the mid 1990s RIM was a modestly successful pager company but its founder wanted to get into portable email devices. He imagined something much smaller than a laptop but easier to type on than a cell phone. A super miniaturized QWERTY format keyboard had feasibility limitations (remember the Palm Stylus?) - UNTIL - he achieved a leap of logic: What if we typed using only our thumbs? A prototype quickly proved the logic and the Blackberry was born! Asking what could be true and jumping into the unknown is critical to innovation. Nurturing such ideas versus killing them is the tricky part. Once this hurdle is cleared the “proofs” can be developed and a vision of the future can be turned into fact.”
“When something is unsustainable – it stops.” ~ Anonymous ~
The “MOD QUAD”
Modified “Quad-Charts” can be used to reduce projects to their significant talking points and help succinctly visualize new opportunities (new product vectors). Quad Charts are great for provocative brainstorming because they force simplicity and keep cross functional management teams focused. They can be made a part of a strategic business plan for sustainable market relevance. Quad Charts are ONE page by design and deliberately succinct. Could you do one for your new development? Here’s a template:
How do you know when a change initiative has been successful? Just because you have concocted a plan and launched it does not mean that your execution has been successful. Initial employee enthusiasm from the CEO’s announcement, the big pizza party, the new incentive program, mugs and ball caps will fade and with it will evaporate your hopes of residual impact. Sustainable change is usually marked by four key indicators. These indicators will be observed from your employees.
• Declarations and testimonials are heard.
• There is appetite for more.
• Value adjustments are observed – culture shift is evident - change and productivity related peer pressure is evident at the shop floor level.
• Members become evangelists and the initiative has legs of its own without management prodding.
“Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.” ~Warren Buffet ~
Zen and the Art of Raking (If you don’t have trees – you can skip this piece.)
It amazes me how much garbage falls out of the sky (or trees actually). Every year, as the seasons cycle, I’m constantly raking. My lawn is perpetually littered. I’m raking in the Fall of course, but I’m raking well into Winter. I rake in the Spring and all through the Summer too. It is truly incredible how much “stuff” trees shed in the course of the year. Leaves – sure, but bark, old branches, major limbs, the husks and fluff from spring buds. Pulled from the ground, converted into biomass and deposited on my lawn. Nature, self-pruning, making way for new growth. I partially heat my home with a wood stove and I never have a lack of kindling. I just walk outside and scavenge twigs and branches right off the ground. Fabulous!
Many large branches also fall in the dead of winter that were probably wounded by some big wind long ago. Unattended, those limbs eventually dried up, lost their leaves and stood naked until their brittleness succumbed to gravity. I often look up expectantly at the “not yet fallen”, out of reach – destined to fall and stoke my stove.
I think about people who, in their youth and strength, flail at life and receive for all their efforts wounds they often don’t even feel until much later in life. I know I’ve been wounded and I’ve wounded myself. I’ve wounded others. Someone once told me “we’re all victims of victims”. But I can tend to my wounds and those I’ve inflicted if I recognize them. It’s never too late. I don’t have to lose any limbs.
And then there’s the ground itself – the substrate of my raking. Freezing and thawing the ground seems to push things out onto the surface or gobble them up. I think it’s a function of mass. The winter loosens up the dirt like no cultivator ever could. When I recall how concrete hard the ground can get in the dry heat of August it’s amazing the see how frost-heave, soaking rain and time can so effectively loosen it up again. So patient, so efficient. I think about hardened people and how time works on them and softens them physically and emotionally. Most become fertile and more open with time. Some resist and stay hardened – and barren of new growth.
As I rake through the seasons I find meaning in Proverbs 20:29; “The glory of young men is their strength and the splendor of old men is their gray head.” I’d personally like to think that the author also meant “bald” head. Spring is upon us! Maybe the Winter has loosened us up a little (I think the recession surely has). Maybe we’ve reconciled some old wounds, healed them, done some spiritual pruning and readied ourselves for new growth. I’ll probably be raking this weekend … weather and soggy ground permitting.
All the Best!
Bill
Saturday, February 27, 2010
"Jack be Nimble - Jack be Quick!"
"The Pessimist complains about the wind. The Optimist expects it to change. The Leader adjusts the sails." ~ John Maxwell ~
The Medici Effect
In December I suggested that readers consider viewing their “Vision” and “Mission” through the “Goodwill Industries” lens. On reflection some may have been inspired to refine their vision, mission and slogan statements. Perhaps the exercise prompted the thought and possibly the pursuit of new breakthrough market vectors.
The viability and relevance of your chosen markets and new market vectors calls for a discussion of what Frans Johansson calls the “Medici Effect”. In his book ("The Medici Effect", Harvard Business School Press © 2006) Johansson elaborates on market adaptive endeavors and Directional versus Intersectional business development. The book presents, as a backdrop, the Medici family of Florence, Italy who inspired and nurtured the remarkable Italian and European renaissance period in which cross-cultural interaction and collaborations flourished - leveraging Italy’s unique position as a crossroad for merchant trade.
The Directional approach might be considered the more traditional path of product management that can be described as linear, sequential, even narrow, myopic or in-bred in nature - INTROVERTED. (I apologize for the negative flavor of those descriptives – market loyalty is important – but not in the context of this piece.)
An Intersectional approach will be more interactive, innovative, non-traditional, exploratory, risk-taking, cross-pollinating, farsighted in nature – EXTROVERTED.
Introverted vs. Extroverted market thinking can be the difference between dying businesses and those that experience Great Leaps Forward. Supply chain collaborations and the creation of “virtual” organizations help constituent members get outside of “Directional” orientations that lead to uninspired drift and the death of product lifecycles and helps them swing - as nimble primates - to new vines of opportunity and new fruit bearing trees.
In a previous life at a global performance fiber manufacturer we “crossed a line” that was then viewed as unheard of and risky. We began to talk with product development people at prospective customers in industries in which we had never before conducted business. Some questioned our vague idea of ROI in the initiative, but leadership allowed the foray. We represented ourselves as a “solution” provider with certain “adaptive” technology capabilities. They described market opportunities and we created engineered products that met their criteria. We diversified, launched some new products and enjoyed periods of uncontested market dominance. We had gone ape - swinging to new trees and fruit!
If the goal of intersectional thinking and networking is to lead to innovation, a new concept alone does not constitute an innovation. Innovation in the commercial sense follows the following formula; I (Innovation) = I + I + I - where the right-hand variables are: Idea converted into an Invention that is Implemented
Most established companies and consumers are averse to choices for the new over existing and proven approaches and product lines. I am not an early adopter and neither is over 85% of the population. This involves risk. Aversion to innovation comes from a fear of a business momentum killing “stop to start” scenario. Remember that swinging primate image I gave you a moment ago --- what if he let’s go of the vine he has and the vine he grabs is a wet noodle? Answer: Don’t let go of the old vine. When to let go – if at all – involves decisions to commit capital to nurture or preserve existing CORE investments or to create new parallel CONTINGENCY options (see graphic below). Best of all would be the decision to invest in preserving existing technology that is adaptive to creating new options.
“Not all those who wander are lost.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien ~
Last month I gave you half of a story on answered prayers. I admit it was a very literal example – I asked God for a sign about focus in my life and I immediately come across an orange construction sign washed up on the beach that read “ROAD NARROWS”. The picture I took of that sign was taken on a subsequent trip to pick up the sign (my Pastor asked for it when he heard the story). So here’s the other half of the story;
On that return trip several days later I decided to take my 8 mega-pixel 10X optical/digital zoom camera to document the scene. The camera was safely sealed in one zip lock bag inside another inside a “dry” bag in my cockpit under a neoprene spray “skirt”. (Writing that last sentence I realize I’m definitely a type “A”.) As I headed out onto the water I said a brief prayer and remember thinking to myself, wouldn’t it be neat to receive another “sign”, another special message? Bring it on God!
It’s a clear, calm morning - around 8AM. With the sun rising to my left I head toward the point beyond which is the sign. The panorama before me is a sight to behold. The point of land, all woods and trees to the shore. The backdrop beyond is the craggy white quartz cliff dotted with mature cedars called Crystal Cave point (the eastern slope of Mount Hope) rising out of the Bay. The sun is hitting it all just right, the colors are vivid. The perfect subject for a painting. But there’s more - the picture comes to life!
As I approach my turn point two deer step out of the woods onto the narrow strip of beach – twenty yards in front of me. I’m not kidding. A buck with a rack of antlers standing tall and alert like the elk in the “Hartford” logo and beside him a doe. Incredible! I stop paddling and freeze, they freeze, I drift toward them.
Now fumbling as I try to make as little motion as possible while I get out my camera, I know that I have about 10 seconds - tops - to get a shot before they figure out that I’m not a piece of benign driftwood, spook and bolt. Spray skirt opened, dry bag open, zip lock bag #1 open, zip lock bag #2 open, camera out, lens cap off, camera on – and the deer nonchalantly step into the woods and – vanish, evaporate – poof! - gone! COME OOOOON!
Last month I gave you half of a story on answered prayers. I admit it was a very literal example – I asked God for a sign about focus in my life and I immediately come across an orange construction sign washed up on the beach that read “ROAD NARROWS”. The picture I took of that sign was taken on a subsequent trip to pick up the sign (my Pastor asked for it when he heard the story). So here’s the other half of the story;
On that return trip several days later I decided to take my 8 mega-pixel 10X optical/digital zoom camera to document the scene. The camera was safely sealed in one zip lock bag inside another inside a “dry” bag in my cockpit under a neoprene spray “skirt”. (Writing that last sentence I realize I’m definitely a type “A”.) As I headed out onto the water I said a brief prayer and remember thinking to myself, wouldn’t it be neat to receive another “sign”, another special message? Bring it on God!
It’s a clear, calm morning - around 8AM. With the sun rising to my left I head toward the point beyond which is the sign. The panorama before me is a sight to behold. The point of land, all woods and trees to the shore. The backdrop beyond is the craggy white quartz cliff dotted with mature cedars called Crystal Cave point (the eastern slope of Mount Hope) rising out of the Bay. The sun is hitting it all just right, the colors are vivid. The perfect subject for a painting. But there’s more - the picture comes to life!
As I approach my turn point two deer step out of the woods onto the narrow strip of beach – twenty yards in front of me. I’m not kidding. A buck with a rack of antlers standing tall and alert like the elk in the “Hartford” logo and beside him a doe. Incredible! I stop paddling and freeze, they freeze, I drift toward them.
Now fumbling as I try to make as little motion as possible while I get out my camera, I know that I have about 10 seconds - tops - to get a shot before they figure out that I’m not a piece of benign driftwood, spook and bolt. Spray skirt opened, dry bag open, zip lock bag #1 open, zip lock bag #2 open, camera out, lens cap off, camera on – and the deer nonchalantly step into the woods and – vanish, evaporate – poof! - gone! COME OOOOON!
I can’t believe it! God! Why? - - - small, still voice: “No risk no reward ...”
But I was prepared – I had my camera with me – I deserved the shot! - - - firmer voice: “You deserved what? The camera was tucked away – capable yes, safe yes - and useless. No risk no reward. Protect your camera, wrap yourself in your preparation, you have the memory of the image. Be satisfied with that. The photo, however, is for the risk taker ...”
“Blessed is he who expects nothing (for himself), for he shall enjoy everything.”~ Saint Francis of Assisi ~
All the Best!
Bill
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Happy, Committed & Focusing
With the New Year still fresh, I am prompted to share something that I picked up in my reading. It’s attributed to Washington Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis who recently spoke on five traits of happy people. It is noted that happy people live longer, are healthier, have good relationships and enjoy a generally better life. No surprise there. But this is not just an attitude thing. Leonsis notes that (truly) happy people share certain traits;
• They are involved in more than one community. What this means is that they have multiple interests and multiple groups where they are involved and where they contribute.
• They have high levels of personal expression. In other words, they are able to articulate and express their feelings and their ideas – and they express them.
• They have high levels of personal, sincere and exercised empathy (a trait of great leaders).
• They talk less about “I” and talk more about the collective “we”.
• They have a higher calling in everything they do. They don’t just work for a dollar, they work for a mission, toward a vision. They try to make an impact.
“As a Man thinketh in his heart – so is he.” ~ Proverbs 23:7 ~
The Power of Commitment
With January behind us and the momentum of 2010 building it’s a good time to reflect on our ambitions and the likelihood of success as a result of commitment.
What issues, problems or opportunities, not acted upon, are dominating your thoughts?
The following is quoted from the book, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, 1951 by William H. Murray;
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
Picking up where we left off in December on Relevance & Planning - a few more variables in the mix:
Business Unit Dissection
Better visualize your total business by mentally dissecting it into its true component sectors or units and analyze each unit independent of the others. Each component should stand on its own compelling merits. Plan for each. Some call this Product Management. Good business leaders consider and view their enterprise, initiatives, programs and projects in terms of their manageable elements. Organize to encourage competition for shared corporate (SG&A) resources. If you must carry losers – identify them and for how long you will carry them – as part of the overall “Plan”. The whole is the sum of its parts.
Small Business Working Capital, Business Loans & Investor Wisdom
A second wave of TARP money (tens of billions of dollars we’re told) will soon start cascading down the parched spillways of the banking system toward small businesses. Sounds great, but the irony of it is that anything coming down that chute will certainly not be offered in any fashion similar to the willy-nilly lending sprees of the past. Indeed, conservative lending is the rule (as it has been for most regional banks all along) and lenders are as risk averse as ever. Barring very compelling federal incentives for lenders to take risks – expect a tough “row to hoe” for that working line of credit.
Remember the 5 - “C”s of lending (Character ● Credit ● Capacity ● Collateral ● Cash Flow) - I elaborated last August. Think of it this way; if you are or have been accountable to Venture Capital or Angel investors you know that they invested because:
• your product or service met a real and compelling market need,
• your product performs,
• your product has a big market,
• they had confidence in your management team,
• they knew that you knew your market and your competition,
• you had a good business model and path to market and
• they believed your forecast for profits.
Your lenders require no less assurance except that a lender may factor “valuable” collateral ASSETS into the risk assessment. Key word: VALUABLE - in their eyes.
So what to do? Leases for capital equipment installed for immediate production and sales will be easier to leverage because the asset is new, contributing to current profits and revenues and the intrinsic asset value is known. Real Estate as collateral? –> expect a deep discount on assessed value. Accounts Receivable as collateral? -> your track record on collections and the quality of your AR portfolio will be key. Also, unless your lender has experience in your market and in factoring, they may not be interested in taking a risk on your AR – so seek another lender who has comfort and expect a very cozy lender relationship.
In this recovery, small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) should ANTICIPATE and take on the demeanor of an eager, lean new venture startup toward their lender/investors.
A Closing Note
Those who know me well, know that I’m a winter kayaker. I love to don my drysuit and head out onto the Bay this time of year. There are no other boats (except quahoggers, lobstermen and local commercial draggers), no jet skis or power boats, only nature. (No, I don’t hate powerboats – I like to go fast and in a straight line too sometimes.) The cold deadens whatever noise carries over the water from distant traffic or the occasional barking dog. The wind, waves, the cry of a canvasback gull, the flute-like sound of the beating wings of Buffleheads, the honks of Canada Geese and the nervous peeps of occasional Oystercatchers are all you hear. There is also the bonus of curious harbor seals that appear out of nowhere and shadow you as you paddle. On a few rare occasions I’ve had a pair of Swans fly directly toward me and pass inches over my head (not an intentional fly-by for certain – probably fooled by my low aspect ratio and relative motionlessness). And there’s all sorts of other foreign northern water fowl that winter here. All of these “visitors” appear sometime after Thanksgiving and disappear soon after Saint Patrick’s Day.
Well, a few weeks ago (January 16th to be precise) I embarked on one of my morning outings and as a common practice I said a prayer before setting out. This time I asked God to speak to me with a sign, something, some message about focus in my life. It was a request that led to some marvelous and literal responses. The picture below is one and I’ll share another in the next edition of “…View From The Crow’s Nest.”
“Every excuse I ever heard made perfect sense to the person who made it.”
~ Dr. Daniel Drubin ~
Contemplative Note: 2009 taught me to hold things more loosely - and the best of them came toward me on their own!
All the Best!
Bill
• They are involved in more than one community. What this means is that they have multiple interests and multiple groups where they are involved and where they contribute.
• They have high levels of personal expression. In other words, they are able to articulate and express their feelings and their ideas – and they express them.
• They have high levels of personal, sincere and exercised empathy (a trait of great leaders).
• They talk less about “I” and talk more about the collective “we”.
• They have a higher calling in everything they do. They don’t just work for a dollar, they work for a mission, toward a vision. They try to make an impact.
“As a Man thinketh in his heart – so is he.” ~ Proverbs 23:7 ~
The Power of Commitment
With January behind us and the momentum of 2010 building it’s a good time to reflect on our ambitions and the likelihood of success as a result of commitment.
What issues, problems or opportunities, not acted upon, are dominating your thoughts?
The following is quoted from the book, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, 1951 by William H. Murray;
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
Picking up where we left off in December on Relevance & Planning - a few more variables in the mix:
Business Unit Dissection
Better visualize your total business by mentally dissecting it into its true component sectors or units and analyze each unit independent of the others. Each component should stand on its own compelling merits. Plan for each. Some call this Product Management. Good business leaders consider and view their enterprise, initiatives, programs and projects in terms of their manageable elements. Organize to encourage competition for shared corporate (SG&A) resources. If you must carry losers – identify them and for how long you will carry them – as part of the overall “Plan”. The whole is the sum of its parts.
Small Business Working Capital, Business Loans & Investor Wisdom
A second wave of TARP money (tens of billions of dollars we’re told) will soon start cascading down the parched spillways of the banking system toward small businesses. Sounds great, but the irony of it is that anything coming down that chute will certainly not be offered in any fashion similar to the willy-nilly lending sprees of the past. Indeed, conservative lending is the rule (as it has been for most regional banks all along) and lenders are as risk averse as ever. Barring very compelling federal incentives for lenders to take risks – expect a tough “row to hoe” for that working line of credit.
Remember the 5 - “C”s of lending (Character ● Credit ● Capacity ● Collateral ● Cash Flow) - I elaborated last August. Think of it this way; if you are or have been accountable to Venture Capital or Angel investors you know that they invested because:
• your product or service met a real and compelling market need,
• your product performs,
• your product has a big market,
• they had confidence in your management team,
• they knew that you knew your market and your competition,
• you had a good business model and path to market and
• they believed your forecast for profits.
Your lenders require no less assurance except that a lender may factor “valuable” collateral ASSETS into the risk assessment. Key word: VALUABLE - in their eyes.
So what to do? Leases for capital equipment installed for immediate production and sales will be easier to leverage because the asset is new, contributing to current profits and revenues and the intrinsic asset value is known. Real Estate as collateral? –> expect a deep discount on assessed value. Accounts Receivable as collateral? -> your track record on collections and the quality of your AR portfolio will be key. Also, unless your lender has experience in your market and in factoring, they may not be interested in taking a risk on your AR – so seek another lender who has comfort and expect a very cozy lender relationship.
In this recovery, small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) should ANTICIPATE and take on the demeanor of an eager, lean new venture startup toward their lender/investors.
A Closing Note
Those who know me well, know that I’m a winter kayaker. I love to don my drysuit and head out onto the Bay this time of year. There are no other boats (except quahoggers, lobstermen and local commercial draggers), no jet skis or power boats, only nature. (No, I don’t hate powerboats – I like to go fast and in a straight line too sometimes.) The cold deadens whatever noise carries over the water from distant traffic or the occasional barking dog. The wind, waves, the cry of a canvasback gull, the flute-like sound of the beating wings of Buffleheads, the honks of Canada Geese and the nervous peeps of occasional Oystercatchers are all you hear. There is also the bonus of curious harbor seals that appear out of nowhere and shadow you as you paddle. On a few rare occasions I’ve had a pair of Swans fly directly toward me and pass inches over my head (not an intentional fly-by for certain – probably fooled by my low aspect ratio and relative motionlessness). And there’s all sorts of other foreign northern water fowl that winter here. All of these “visitors” appear sometime after Thanksgiving and disappear soon after Saint Patrick’s Day.
Well, a few weeks ago (January 16th to be precise) I embarked on one of my morning outings and as a common practice I said a prayer before setting out. This time I asked God to speak to me with a sign, something, some message about focus in my life. It was a request that led to some marvelous and literal responses. The picture below is one and I’ll share another in the next edition of “…View From The Crow’s Nest.”
“Every excuse I ever heard made perfect sense to the person who made it.”
~ Dr. Daniel Drubin ~
Contemplative Note: 2009 taught me to hold things more loosely - and the best of them came toward me on their own!
All the Best!
Bill
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