Butterflies

During the course of the past week, my family lost a very dear long time friend. She had been friends with my mother since grade school, and in many ways, she was like a second mother to me and my siblings. We called her "Aunt," and she was far closer to us than most blood relations in all the ways that count.

Our "Aunt" continued to have an exuberant, loving, nurturing and supportive spirit throughout her 91 years, and until about a month ago, she continued to be blessed with enough physical strength to make her visits and spread joy. You always felt special under the bright light of her love. And even when you realized how widely she spread that love, your gratitude only grew.

My "Aunt" loved butterflies. Anyone who knew her knew that. At her funeral this week, her pastor schooled us about "the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions;" in other words, the butterfly effect. In short, it's how the small actions of one being can ripple out exponentially and affect change. That was my "Aunt." She did that.

As we drove into the cemetery, a butterfly flew past our car.

Coming Soon!

For those who actually follow this blog, I apologize for what has become my annual summer recess. It's not intended; events always seem to sweep me along in the summer. And it is my intention to return -- soon.

But for now, I cede this space to one of my favorite coach, Jill Geisler of the Poynter Institute. As part of her must-read series on "What Great Bosses Know," she talks about the challenges and potential satisfactions of changing the culture of an organization in need of transition.

Enjoy! I'll be back soon.

Jill Geisler on "SuperVision:

Fail to Succeed

It's day 83 of the catastrophic oil in the Gulf of Mexico. After a long, sorry list of attempted fixes and failed containment solutions, the British Petroleum Oil Company this weekend decided to move toward a more effective way to cap the billowing flow of oil from the ocean floor.

Unfortunately, this effort required BP to remove the ill-fitted cap that it secured to the well last month. According to the Associated Press, as much as five million gallons of oil could gush out between the removal of the old cap and the installation of a new cap, which engineers hope will funnel the escaping oil to tankers at the surface.

Attention to this tragedy has waxed and waned since the explosion which started with the April 20 explosion and fire on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon. And I fear that in the constant viewing of the underwater camera fixed on the spill, many people have forgotten about the 11 oil rig workers who lost their lives, and the families they left behind.

At the same time, I am fascinated at the metaphor presented by the choices made by BP. In order to get a positive result, these engineers are not risking the flow of more oil into the Gulf. They are guaranteeing that result. In other words, they have to accept failure, (hopefully temporary), in order to get to a better result.

What about you? Would you be willing to knowingly fail in order to move closer to ultimate success?

The Correct Miscalculation

Like millions of American women, I belong to a book club. Along with the monthly opportunity to share good food, good company and good conversation with a group of extraordinary women, I appreciate my club because it forces me to read literature -- fiction and non fiction -- that has nothing to do with the work I do during the rest of the month. Our selections reflect the wide range of interests and experience of our members, and expand my own understanding of our basic humanity.

This month's book is "The Housekeeper and the Professor" by Yoko Ogawa. The book was originally published in Japanese in 2003. We read the 2009 translation by Stephen Snyder.

"The Housekeeper and the Professor" tells the story of a brilliant mathematics professor who suffered a life-altering brain injury in a car accident. His short term memory is reduced to a precise 80 minute cycle. A young housekeeper is hired to care for the professor, her work made more challenging by the fact that to some degree, her relationship with the Professor must begin anew each day, since he has no ability to remember the previous day's encounters. Even the multiple hand-written reminders that the Professor pins to his suit cannot adequately compensate for his loss.

Despite this deficit, there are certain constants in the Professor's life. Chief among them is his complete love and immersion in the beauty of numbers. Not only can he see patterns and relationships in the formulas and theorems of mathematics, but he has a unique ability to share his understanding with his much less educated housekeeper and her ten-year old son, whom he has dubbed "Root" (because the top of the boy's head reminds him of the square root symbol).

A simple, elegant relationship develops between the Housekeeper and the Professor, perhaps because it is stripped away of the expectations placed by memory or past mistakes. In fact, the housekeeper learns a different perspective about "mistakes:"

"He had a very feeling for what he called the 'correct miscalculation,' for he believed that mistakes were often as revealing as the right answers. This gave us confidence even when our best efforts came to nothing."

And although the Professor's life revolved around the precision of mathematics and numbers, he is completely comfortable with the unknown; perhaps a metaphor for the limitations of his own capacity for learning:

"Among the many things that made the Professor an excellent teacher was the fact that he wasn't afraid to say 'we don't know.' For the Professor, there was no shame in admitting you didn't have the answer, it was a necessary step toward the truth. It was as important to teach us about the unknown or the unknowable as it was to teach us what had already been safely proven."

"The Housekeeper and the Professor" is less than 200 pages. The beauty and efficiency of its prose make it a worthwhile investment.

Purpose Motive trumps Profit Motive

Daniel Pink thinks, writes and lectures about the way we do business, in this country and abroad. He thinks about capitalism and the assumptions made about how people work and what makes them work better -- more effectively, more creatively and more productively.

A few days ago, I had the privilege of hearing Pink speak to a conference of more than 200 coaches in Washington, D.C. He was fascinating, captivating and engaging. Fingers were flying as people took notes and sent Twitter messages about key phrases in his presentation.

Pink deconstructed the whole idea of capitalism and the profit motive. He used recent studies and recent history to show that work based solely on the need to make money and more money does not serve society particularly well. But work based on something larger -- a purpose -- could be more valuable than gold.

I cannot do justice to Pink's presentation in this blog. Fortunately, someone has recorded his words. And better still, the clever people at the 250+ year old RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) in London created this amazing piece of animation to illustrate his thoughts. Literally, Words Into Action.

It's not the same as seeing Pink in person. It's something completely different:

The Bigger Picture

I am lifting a post in its entirety from new media/social media marketing maven Seth Godin. When something is perfect, why mess around?

Sentences, paragraphs and chapters

It's laughably easy to find someone to critique a sentence, to find a missing apostrophe or worry about your noun-verb agreement.

Sometimes, you're lucky enough to find someone who can tell you that a paragraph is dull, or out of place.

But finding people to rearrange the chapters, to criticize the very arc of what you're building, to give you substantive feedback on your strategy--that's insanely valuable and rare.

Perhaps one criticism in a hundred is actually a useful and generous contribution in your quest to reorganize things for the better.

[And for those in need of subtitles, this isn't a post about your next novel. It's about your business, your career and your life.]

Four people tell you that there was a typo on the third slide in your presentation. A generous and useful editor (hard to call them a consultant), though, points out that you shouldn't be doing presentations at all, and your time would be better spent meeting in small groups with your best clients.

Here's the link to Seth's blog:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/05/sentences-paragraphs-and-chapters.html

A New World Coming

Environmentally conscious Americans can still feel the afterglow of this month's Earth Day celebration in Washington. April 22nd marked the 40th anniversary of the Earth Day observance in the United States.

Although the volume of the debate over global warming rises and falls regularly, most people are in agreement about the risks of over-population and how the strain of those growing numbers threaten the earth's ability to support us all.

According to the Census Bureau, the world population increased from 3 billion in 1959 to 6 billion by 1999, a doubling that occurred over 40 years. The Bureau's latest projections imply that population growth will continue into the 21st century, although more slowly. The world population is projected to grow from 6 billion in 1999 to 9 billion by 2045, an increase of 50 percent that is expected to require 46 years.

Wait a second; did I read that right? "[P]opulation growth will continue into the 21st century, although more slowly.

Populations growth is going to slow down? What could that mean?

According to author Fred Pearce, global population is headed for a slow, steady decline. In his new book, The Coming Population Crash: And Our Planet's Surprising Future, Pearce predicts tectonic changes in world societies and the environment.

Pearce, environmental consultant at New Scientist and a weekly columnist and investigative journalist for the Guardian in London, claims that a middle-aged culture will replace our predominate youth culture, and that the eventual decline in the earth's population will help our environment.

In an interview with Salon.com 's Margaret Eby, Pearce challenges the theory that over breeding in poor countries is worse for the planet than the over consumption of resources by developed countries. He notes that fertility rates around the world have halved; not just in Europe and North America, but also East Asia. Fertility rates are stabilizing.

These are provocative theories, but what does it mean for us now, and for the workplace of the near future? Well, in the United States, the Social Security Administration already knows that there are fewer new workers coming into the work force that the baby boomers who are preparing to retire. And as the nation awakens from the recent recession, employers may find themselves facing a sellers' market for reliable, experienced employees. Smart employers will explore new strategies to attract and retain talent if they want to remain competitive.

There's a new world coming. What form will it take? And will you be ready?

Check out Fred Pearce during his recent appearance on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Fred Pearce
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Try A Different View

As we enjoy the colors of spring (despite the wild temperature swings), a friend was lamenting the return of a persistent cold that she thought she had beat.

Her throat was scratchy, her nose dripped and she maintained a dull ached above her eyes. All of her favor cold remedies were failing her.

I sympathized with her discomfort, since I was suffering with my reaction to the record levels of pollen floating through the air. I have had spring time allergies all of my life, and living in the Washington area only has made them worse.

"My eye are so irritated," I told her, "that I wish I could take them out of my head and rinse them off."

"Really?" she said. "That's exactly how my eyes feel! I never even considered allergies!"

Long story short -- my friend went over the her pharmacy, loaded up on antihistamines and eye drops, and found relief.

Sometimes it's just a word, a quick view from another perspective, that offers a solution.

Enjoy the spring, and don't be allergic to change.

Anti-Creativity Checklist

I can't even take credit for discovering this clever little video. However, I know enough to pass it on.

Just check on the start arrow. Works for both professional and personal lives:

My Anti-Creativity Checklist from Youngme Moon on Vimeo.

Quote of the Day

"You cannot find peace until you find all the pieces."

Well, maybe not the quote of this specific day, but a good quote nonetheless.

To provide some context: Oprah Winfrey recently did a show which featured super private investigator Troy Dunn. Dunn hosts his own show, The Locator, on WeTV cable network. Through his investigation and research, he helps people find and sometimes reconnect with long lost friends and family members. That includes reuniting adopted children with their birth parents.

As you might expect, the discoveries can bring a flood of tears -- some happy, some sad. Some birth parents don't want to be found. Sometimes there is no happy ending.

But whether the information brings joy or pain, it can offer Resolution. Closure. Completion.

As Dunn told Oprah:

"You cannot find peace until you find all of the pieces."

Oscar Woman / Oscar Wisdom

The Academy Awards continue to dominate water cooler conversation, whether at the work place or in cyberspace. Movie history was made Sunday night with Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker pulling off a David vs. Goliath win over ex-husband James Cameron's box office-breaking Avatar. Bigelow is the first woman in the history of the awards to win in the Best Director category.

Comedienne Mo'Nique's win for Best Supporting Actress was much less of a surprise, which is kind of a surprise in and of itself. From the time the film Precious debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009, Mo'Nique has received almost universal critical acclaim for her performance as Mary Jones, the repulsively abusive mother of an illiterate pregnant teen mother.

Precious is a tough movie to watch. It takes the audience into some of the darkest places in the human soul, and the character of Mary Jones is the main tour guide. The reason that Mo'Nique's Oscar win was considered to be a lead pipe cinch is that somehow, she manages to cast a sliver of light on the humanity of her character; a woman who easily could have been rendered as beyond the reach of any positive human emotion.

On NPR's Morning Edition, correspondent Mandalit del Braco shares part of a backstage interview with Mo'Nique after her Oscar win. A reporter asks the actress how she could identify in any way with such a dark, toxic character. Mo'Nique turns the question around to reveal a larger, more universal truth, which forms the basis of her performance. The NPR transcript follows:

Ms. MONIQUE: Have you ever had a dark moment when you were unlovable? I'm asking you the question.

Unidentified Woman: Yes.

Ms. MONIQUE: And didn't you want somebody to love you through it?

Unidentified Woman: Yes.

Ms. MONIQUE: That was that thing for me. For as cruel as Mary Jones was, for the monster that she was, everybody - and I don't care who you are and what crime you've committed - everybody deserves to be loved, even when they're unlovable.

You can hear all of del Barco's report here.

How wonderful that amid the glitz and glamor of Oscar night there was a truth more grand and more beautiful than any red carpet star.

Do I See You? Or Me?

Executive Coach and author Russell Bishop explores a concept that readers of this blog have seen before, the belief that there is the possibility of perfection within each moment. Even within times of challenge, Bishop writes that there is positive learning in negative experiences.

It's an examination of the laws of attraction, yet from a different perspective than the current pop culture variety. Bishop employs an older concept, "the mirror:"


"The mirror concept suggests that when we perceive something in another, or react to something in another, what we are really doing is seeing a reflection of our own selves in the other person's behavior.

In fact, we may not perceive their behavior accurately, especially when it comes to intent. We may be seeing something, interpreting it through our own filters or self-judgments, and then reacting toward or against the other person. What we may truly be trying to do, however, is bring to our own awareness some aspect or quality of our own behavior that detracts from who we truly are, or how we would prefer to represent ourselves in the world."

You can read more of Bishop's analysis in this article on the Huffington Post.

And spend some time with the provocative question he raises:

"Just ask yourself if you are willing for things to be different, and, by extension, for you to be different."

Digging Out

It's day three after the historic snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic region. The sun is shining and the snowplows finally found my street today. Around the neighborhood, there is a feeling of optimism, at least for now.

I grew up in the Midwest, so I know from snow. And I know how to deal with it, both driving and maintenance around the house. I've lived in the Washington area long enough to know the snow rituals that come with any forecast that predicts more than three inches of snow: a run on hardware stores for shovels and ice melt, and a separate run on the groceries for milk and toilet paper.

(I never understood the repeated sellouts of shovels and toilet paper. Seems like people would have enough on a regular basis, you know?)

However, the storm we just had met all the predictions and then some. There were points when we got two to three inches of snow per hour. I had never seen anything like it, including during the times I lived in Cleveland, Boston and Chicago.

By midday Saturday we had about 20 inches of snow. The flakes were still falling, but my son and I joined our neighbors in beginning to do a preliminary clearing of sidewalk and the stairway and the walk up to the house. My son questioned the utility of such an exercise since there was more snow to come.




His Midwestern-raised mother knew we needed to act in order to expand our options later. The snow was wet and heavy. If we waited, the top layers would help to freeze the bottom layers, making removal more difficult later. And frankly, the more snow we cleared on Saturday meant less work when the flurries finally stopped.

I'm kinda anal about shoveling. I don't believe in creating a shovel-width path. If possible, I want to clear the whole damn walkway, from edge to edge and right down to the pavement. I sprinkle ice melt on every uncovered surface. I want to have room to move and change direction, and make my footing as sure as I can. I want to be prepared for what's coming next, instead of relying on for circumstances like rising temperatures and melting to clear my path.



Of course, a lot of things are beyond my control. A person only has so much energy, and a narrow path may be all one can reasonably clear. Sometimes there's someone to help you; sometimes you have to plow through on your own. You do what you can.

Also beyond my control: the weather. Forecasters are calling for another four to eight inches of snow to hit us tomorrow night.

I think we'll be ok. I know we have more options for how to handle the next storm because of the decisions we made on Saturday.

Don't Believe the Multitasking Hype

Today's edition of Oprah features stark testimony about the dangers of texting and/or talking on the cellphone while driving. Her guests range from those who have lost loved one from the overconfidence of others, and even a mother whose son was killed while texting his girlfriend as he drove.

You can see more details of the heartbreaking stories here.

The Oprah Show leads me to report an old reminder about multitasking.

We Americans place a high premium on our ability to multitask.

On NPR's "Morning Edition" a while ago, Jon Hamilton had a series of reports on the myth of "multitasking," a myth that we type-A personalities embrace as gospel.

From a transcript of the opening piece:

"Don't believe the multitasking hype, scientists say. New research shows that we humans aren't as good as we think we are at doing several things at once. But it also highlights a human skill that gave us an evolutionary edge.

As technology allows people to do more tasks at the same time, the myth that we can multitask has never been stronger. But researchers say it's still a myth — and they have the data to prove it."

Multitasker that you are, you may not have time to listen to the whole 7 minute, 45 second piece. If you do, click the audio link at the top of the page.

However, see if you can make some time to read the written version of the story. I think it will give you pause...or lead you to pause on your own.

By the way: check out video of the short order cook, also found on the NPR page. You thought you knew about multi-tasking?

Really.

Break Down to Break Through

image from dailymail.co.uk




I boarded an airplane for the first time when I was 15 years old. I flew from Akron, Ohio to Miami, where I transferred to an Air France jetliner which would take me to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I would spend two weeks there as part of a group of high school missionaries, working with students at a Catholic school for handicapped children and making overnight trips to Cap-Haitien and the Albert Schweitzer hospital in the central part of the country.

This was during the rule of Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, the military dictator who ruled the country with an iron fist. The school which hosted our group was around the corner from the blazing white Presidential Palace, but as Americans, we were not permitted to walk on the same side of the street as the official resident. We stared at it from a distance, a symbol of the exotic, intoxicating and dangerous place we were in.

I've spent the last few days riveted by images of devastation of Haiti. The landscape is surreal. The aerial views look like a patchwork array of chalk-like debris. The view at ground level is a thousand times worse. Fearful, injured people in the streets, covered in concrete dust and blood. And those are only the ones who are mobile, freed from the rubble of the collapsed buildings.

Once again, the presidential palace serves as a symbol. A building that once stood like a big tiered wedding cake in the Caribbean sun now is flattened, as though the hand of God Himself had smashed it.

That could be a metaphor for the nation of Haiti. From the time the first European settlers arrived, it has been a land of struggle. The indigenous people struggled with the settlers. The plantation owners struggled with the black slaves they imported from Africa. The slaves mounted a revolution and liberated themselves from French rule, then struggled to gain recognition and economic parity with its neighbors. The nation has struggled against nature and hurricanes and malevolent leaders who served their own interests instead of the people. It struggled with the oft-repeated label of being "the poorest nation in the western hemisphere."

Now, Haiti faces its biggest challenge. It literally is broken -- structurally, economically, environmentally.

Yet it still has its people. Resilient. The Haitian motto: L'union fait la force -- Unity is strength.

With support -- and a lot of it -- they can rebuild. Maybe even moving beyond past shackles to build the country they deserve.

There's a phrase: "Sometimes you have to break down to break through."

Haiti has been broken. I pray this is the beginning of its breakthrough.

Here are some links to donate to Haitian relief:

https://co.clickandpledge.com/advanced/default.aspx?wid=23093

http://photos.pih.org/home2.html

http://www.state.gov/

Taking Inventory

Happy New Year New Decade!

History/Civics/Politics buffs know that the year 2010 means the taking of the U.S. Decennial Census.

As mandated by the Constitution, the U.S. government makes its best effort to count every resident in the country as of April 1. As written in the Constitution (amended in the 14th Amendment, section two):

"The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of 10 years, in such manner as they shall by Law direct."

-- Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States

The Census count determines everything from the number of Congressional seats allocated to each state to tax dollars spent for roads, schools and other infrastructure.

A lot of people forget that on January 1 each year, in between each decennial census, the federal government makes an estimate of how many people are living in the USA. On Friday, the Census Bureau projected the U.S. population to be 308,400,400. That's an increase of 2,606,181 from New Year's Day 2009.

According to the Census Bureau, "In January 2010, one birth is expected to occur every eight seconds in the United States and one death every 12 seconds.

"Meanwhile, net international migration is expected to add one person every 37 seconds to the U.S. population, resulting in an increase in the total U.S. population of one person every 14 seconds."

Now, as interesting as it is (to me at least!) to look at the Census numbers, I think the process also provides an important comparison and companion practice to the usual New Year's tradition of making resolutions.

I'm all for resolutions and dreams. As a coach, I strongly support the act of committing to a plan of action; the intention of setting a goal and going for it.

However, I believe each act of intention requires a realistic assessment of the starting point. Taking inventory of where you are so that you can measure your progress.

A new year and a new decade is a great time to take personal census or inventory.

Who knows how far you'll go?