Blame

I don't believe in it.

It's counter-productive to finding solutions to issues, and too often is pursued as an end in itself, as if somehow being able to blame someone or something makes us feel better.

While I'm not suggesting we do away with the system of justice out there, and let our laws be broken willy-nilly with no regard for accountability, I am saying that the assignment of blame in & of itself solely, is pretty useless.

There's an interesting difference between accountability and blame in my view. Accountability is when we determine (hopefully for ourselves) that we are the cause of some issue or a component part in making something happen. It's a positive thing, as it means acknowledgment and hopefully some sort of preventive or proactive response to avoid a repeated instance. Blame is finger-pointing and often done simply by others. It side-steps our need to admit when we've caused part of an issue or problem, and often goes no further than assigning fault.

These days in the news there's a large oil spill of the US southern coast threatening all kinds of sensitive areas, animals and people. There's a lots of noise to assign blame, and while BP is accountable as it's their infrastructure, the blame here is irrelevant, as it's virtually impossible to determine and similarly pointless to try. Determining blame - even if easy to do - won't help clean up, and it won't make BP act differently. They've admitted their own accountability, and are working to fix the situation. Just like grown-ups.

Next time you're tempted to point a finger and assign blame - think twice. Think what you may have done to be a part of an issue, and how you might do things differently next time. The world will be a better place as a result.

Does Sustained Good Luck Constitute a Fresh Start?

Sometimes each of us is fortunate. I've had 10 days of that lately, and I'm very aware of how lucky that is. Good stuff keeps happening.

I'll offer some insights into why I say this - some long term efforts I've been working on have come to successful fruition - and that always feels good. It's a sense of accomplishment, and that (for me anyhow) is a wonderful thing. On top of that, my work's been recognized in a few different ways by others as being very positive. In a work-work sense, I seem to have made a positive difference for a customer, which is gratifying as that's what I'd aimed for; and on a personal level, the physical effort and level of perfectionism has been recognized in the marketplace, as my "creation" is being offered for more than I'd hoped. Both very gratifying results when others think highly of what you've done. The best perhaps though is the sense of pride I have experienced as a father as one of my kids has achieved her own dream, and been accepted at one of the finest institutions out there. I'm immensely happy for her, and pleased that I was able to help guide her in some small way.

With all this good stuff happening - including a potential new role that I know I'll enjoy and find stimulating, does this mean it's a fresh start ? Can we legitimately embrace the good fortune we experience and see it as a validation of the upside of hard work, focus and a desire to be our absolute best ? Or perhaps is it (only) a streak of good luck, and one that shouldn't be over-appreciated for what it might represent, and instead just enjoyed..?

This is a question of how we view the essence of things. I do believe it's a fundamental question and it goes beyond the simplistic glass half full or half empty level of analysis. Really what I'm asking here is whether or not mid-term rewards are enough to help us to keep moving in the correct albeit difficult-at-times direction, or whether we celebrate whatever 'win' we encounter by taking it easy.

Running is a good proxy for this kind of situation I always find - and I ran yesterday for the first time in a long while - I just felt the need to do it. While it felt good overall, there were a few moments that were harder, and some that were easier. The easier moments helped to motivate me that I was going to be able to accomplish my running goal, while the more difficult times required some discipline to keep moving one foot ahead of the other. The reason that running is such a good proxy for life is that when running, you can stop at any time - there's no penalty as such for doing so other than knowing you've let yourself down a little by giving into the pain, the fatigue and the voice inside your head that says "I WANT TO STOP". (sometimes that little voice isn't so little). By keeping going when it's difficult, your will perseveres and that drives out a sense of accomplishment. (See the connection yet ?) So getting a mid-run boost in the form of a second-wind, or a feeling of strength or even a power song on your iPod - it's huge as it tells you that you can do it, you can overcome the little voice that tells you this is painful.

I suppose in this discussion I've shown my cards a little already, insofar as to what I believe. But I think that knowing this about yourself - and deciding if its the way you want to behave is something tremendously valuable. I try not to espouse a judgment call if someone wants to act one way or another. I know how I want to be, and I'm very comfortable with that. If you elect do otherwise, that is your decision. But I do suggest its a conscious decision for yourself that you make.

So to answer my own question posed at the outset... does my recent trend of good fortune mean a fresh start ? The answer is not really for me - you see this is a marathon, and I've been lucky to get a second wind of late, telling me I can complete it and that I'm on the right track. I absolutely welcome that validation as another day soon, it'll be difficult again, and I'll wonder. I'll be able to look back on this period though to give me the strength to continue and do my best.

Timely Reminders

I’m doing some work in the next few days, and have had the benefit of working with some great people to help me get prepared. While the work itself is a defined set of known deliverables, I’m experiencing a degree of wonderment at a couple things.

The first thing that’s pretty incredible is the sense & willingness to help me out. You know the people that you can truly count as friends that not only wish you well in the completion of a task, but those that take an active role in giving you “their best stuff” to make sure you can over-deliver. It’s an old adage that the test of the strength of friendship isn’t when things are going well, but rather who is still beside you when things get challenging (I’m paraphrasing liberally here). In a few cases, I’ve friends standing beside me, helping actively, coaching and advising. Not only does this actually help (It really does as I do listen), it contributes mightily to the feeling of not doing something alone. When there’s clearly nothing in it for oneself, to continue to put yourself out there and continue to help others is selfless, and in this case specifically, admired.

The second perspective of wonder I’ve experienced is the way that different people can approach the same task, bringing new light to it. Another friend is fond of highlighting that adopting another perspective is the fast-track to increased intelligence. That’s tangibly true in this case as I’m seeing and hearing ways to understand context and being shown all new ways of looking at the same (old) information. Not only is that bringing it to life again for me, but it makes me want to add to the reservoir of knowledge – to pay it forward if you will. If we all did this, then our understanding and appreciation for various topics would be more rounded, and deeper.

My conclusion for this whole event is that I’m lucky in a number of ways that I hadn’t been appreciating much lately. I’ve been reminded that I have got some dear friends to whom I owe a debt of gratitude and more; I’ve a new appreciation for a subject I thought I knew cold, and importantly, I’m reminded that a fresh set of eyes is worth a tremendous amount. These little life lessons are something I’m going to try to pass along to other friends and colleagues. If we all pay it forward, then the end result should be pretty good.

Decay

It's funny.

Sometimes we take for granted that we know something, know it cold- we're the experts. And then, something happens and we're asked to talk about it in a new way, in a manner we haven't done before, and all of a sudden it's not so clear, not so easy, and a little challenging.

We can all learn from little episodes like this. It helps us keep our ego in check (which is always a good thing) and it forces us to look anew at a topic or skill, which is always beneficial. You see things get dusty at a minimum and broken to the point of unusable at worst when they are left unattended. It's like that with most aspects around us - it's called decay, and don't for a second think that you, or I or the guy three seats over is immune to it. We're all part of the same world, and our skills, intelligences and expertise needs a good tweaking once in a while. For the proactive amongst us...what needs re-visiting for you ? There's a thought.

I know what I needed, and a few solid days have brought me back towards a degree of comfort. I'm not all the way there yet - I have to keep working at it - but that's the point then, isn't it ?

Commitment

When we talk about this in a work sense, does the conversation tend to go kind of grey and fuzzy ?

"What do you mean, I show up, don't I ? " or the more likely - "I'd be committed if the pay was better".

In case it isn't obvious what your author's perspective on this is - commitment means not just doing the job you were hired to do, but doing it to the best of your abilities. Try as hard as you can to do it right, with the dual aims of saving others time and energy, and achieving the results desired. That may mean getting more leads in Marketing, or advancing a sale if wearing a Sales hat.

Think about it this way, if the kind of attitude you took to your job was to be written on your tombstone next week, would you want it to read that you were average, and should little enthusiasm, or that you worked at 100% and had some great ideas, or insights or judgment..?

I think there's a degree of truth that we all do what we want to do. Could we get jobs driving a bus, or shoveling coal tomorrow if we wanted ? Probably. (sadly) But we're not, we're doing something else, and that means we should pour ourselves into it. Do it the best we can. Especially if it's not your "ideal" job...then you want to get promoted out of this role.

Don't go at something with 50% effort, too many people do that already, and it's why your name might appear on the layoff list. Instead be the best mail-room clerk, or Art department resource, or CTO that you can be. See what happens. I dare you.

How We Learn

There has been significant thought into the ways that we are intelligent, and as a by-product how we learn, and despite this there is little if any practical application of this in the business world. While much could be written about intelligence and learning and the variety of ways people embrace it, the fine point I'd like to make is that educational research is in no way embraced or taken into consideration in the business world by and large.

The accepted or conventional wisdom in this expanding field of research is that individuals (students) are intelligent and soak up new information, skills or capabilities in one or more of seven* primary ways. If this idea is new to you, here's a very high level overview:

• Visual Spatial Learners - those who use visual representations to understand an idea or concept
• Verbal Linguistic Learners - those who benefit from listening or hearing to understand
• Bodily - Kinesthetic Learners - those who learn best through physical experience or doing
• Logical-Mathematic Learners – those who grasp in a formula or abstract (usually formulaic) way
• Interpersonal Learners – those who learn best when alone, and left to their own devices Intrapersonal Learners – those who learn best when in groups, and from watching others
• Musical-Rhythmic Learners – those whose skills in learning tend towards the musical

(* there are 2 new intelligences identified in the last 5 years- “Naturalistic” and “Existential”, the school’s out on these, so for the purposes here I’ve not included them. The above ideas are attributed to Howard Gardner who published it in the early 1980’s and I should offer here isn’t without its opposing views. )

Without a doubt you've all run into others who seems to have an extra capability (or an extra hindrance) in one particular area. There are the 'naturals' - those around us that can just do things, play an instrument or a sport or relate information magically as if they're on some special wavelength. Then there are those who can't read a map, retain information that's read aloud to them, or pick up a dance-step. We've commented on it probably in others or ourselves. One other point I should make here clearly is that people aren’t uniquely aligned to one approach or another; we simply have natural strengths in one area that make us this orientation. A natural musician is often good mathematically, while the ‘inter’ and ‘intra’ specific strengths often correspond to another strength – we just prefer to do it alone or with others accordingly.

Now, with these seven types identified, let's think now about the last corporate training you had. Was it a video presentation, or just someone speaking. Were there exercises to do that complemented the topic ? Was there a chance to role play, or creatively set the concept in a way that appealed to you ? In other words how deep did it go, to ensure everybody gets the desired information - in the way that they naturally will get it. Chances are that everyone got something out of it, but you would have needed to break down the audience by learning types to understand how much actually sunk in. You see the type of learning I favour doesn't mean I can't benefit from the others, it just means I'm much more adept one way than the others. The failure of addressing the multiple dimensions of intelligence and learning within a given organization means a fair portion of the training or up-skilling of the workforce is wasted time and money. More so than that, it's a wasted opportunity to do it right. I’m not suggesting that every training ought to have a component set to a song – but really…has that ever been done before .. ever ?

The next time you are faced with training in any form, ask what proportion of the content will be delivered in a variety of ways to address the various learning types in your audience. It'll be time and effort well saved if the answer isn't the one you seek.

Passion

What fuels you ?

What is it within you that helps you get up everyday and make it to work, knowing you will do the best that you possibly can. Perhaps you're not in one of those situations where the sun rises and sets according to how your group of people (company, organization, church, charity, whatever) does with whatever task sits before them. If that's the case, I'm sorry, as it's a great feeling.

It's passion of course for what it is that we do, and it allows us to run on empty for long periods, it motivates us, and helps us push ourselves to achieve greatness when everyone else gives up. It's hugely potent, and almost impossible to artificially replicate. It's also difficult to sustain for long periods alone - unless you are in an environment that stimulates it. Passion is a renewable resource I'd argue, but one that depends upon others passion, as it is contagious.

If your organization has passion, you'll be able to move mountains. If you're company has it, you're truly fortunate, as there's little you won't be able to achieve. If its not there, well then, that's an issue that deserves the highest attention possible, as it's more important to the team than money, and it's more critical to the company's overall belief in it's own divine right for success than new products, services or the nicest offices.

My own experiences with passion have been fleeting in recent years, but the one that I vividly recall actually began from a speech that took place at a conference I didn't attend in 2002. I read this talk given at this conference by a guy named Rich Barton who ran Expedia at the time. It excited me, and I knew I wanted to be part of that organization. In that speech, He said "Passion is primal. Passion is discovery and the opportunity to change the world... Bureaucracy tends to fade away and great ideas and leaders from all levels tend to surface." I made a tremendous effort, and ended up spending a few years at Expedia. It was indeed a very special place, and an experience I treasure as the shared sense of purpose and invincibility was tangible. Mr Barton who now runs Zillow.com was asked to speak about what made Expedia a success, and had been expected to deliver yet another dry overview of how the internet was changing the world lecture. Instead he spoke about the intangible, the magic or secret sauce and it hit the nail on the head exactly.

I've tried to bring passion to where I working ever since - with admittedly varying degrees of success. Passion to those not experiencing it is perceived as over-bearing, controlling and drive towards an uncertain end point. There's a wonderful little story about an older guy who spends years moving large rocks around an open field, and into piles. It's arduous and back-breaking work, and when asked why he did this, he offered simply that he was building a cathedral, and others just couldn't see it yet. You see passion fuels us to envision a future state, or end result, and when it's shared it is truly remarkable.

I'd challenge you to find the passion in your life and embrace it. The personal fulfillment is quite profound, and those around you will be touched by your energy and enthusiasm. After just a little while, it starts to spread...and pretty soon you're at the ground level of the next big thing.