My Welcome Note To My New Work Team

Here's the note I sent to the team I newly manage following our kick-off meeting at work:

Thanks for making today's meeting fun!

Football teams have three units -- offense, defense and special teams -- that seldom play together, but occasionally have team meetings. You voted for us to have some team meetings of our own. In fact, you voted for the meetings to be quarterly (four quarters? You guys are carrying this football thing too far!) and had the following three favorite topics:

1. Motivational/inspirational
2. News from around Life/Health Actuarial
3. News from around the Services Team

You also helped me start to understand what services we provide, and they're jotted in the attachment. It's not exactly a team fight song, but it tries to convey what we do. Please feel free to chip in additions, corrections or ideas to make this better!

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I hope that you're proud of what you do, and optimistic about where you're heading, individually and as a team. Please know that your work is appreciated by this new guy on the block! I'm looking forward to spending time with you. I love visitors, and am glad to support you professionally and personally, so please let me know whatever you might need. Great teams are compassionate teams, and by first impressions I'm expecting great things.

Joe

McDonald's 1st Goal Of Season Sparks Win

A late goal by Joe McDonald fueled an upset of the soccer league's third place team by Fear The Mullet.

Despite hovering near the basement of the league, FTM gave itself a significant advantage by bringing nearly the entire roster. In all, their 14 players and regular subbing matched plenty of fresh legs against the other team's eight, which was a marked advantage in sweltering 90 degree afternoon heat. Further, with the opponent fielding only one woman player, they were forced to play a person short.

Still, midway through the first half FTM yielded a laser-like goal and entered halftime 1-0.

As the second half wore on, the winning team grew visibly tired, and FTM started beating them to the ball. The confidence sharpened their passing, and the ball spent more time at the offensive end.

At last, McDonald broke behind the defense around 3/4 field and handled a bouncing pass from a teammate. Two steps later, the effort seemed thwarted when the ball skidded off his foot several feet ahead toward the goalie. To everyone's surprise, the goalie fumbled the ball right back to him, and he easily found the open net for the tying score. And then gasped toward the sideline, pleading for a sub.

The 1-1 tally (and McDonald's rear end glued to the sideline) stayed that way through the end of regulation. A five-person shootout ended up 2-2, and in sudden death FTM punched one in for the victory.

For the man whose most noteworthy contributions thus far were stopping a ball with his face and scoring against his own team, the day was a shining success.

A Punch Of Fun

"I love to go to sports events. Love, love, love sports. Anybody running around in an outfit with a stripe on it, I want to watch them do it.

Take boxing, the simplest, stupidest sport of all. It's almost as if these two guys are just desperate to compete with each other, but they couldn't think of a sport. So they said, 'Why don't we just pound each other for forty-five minutes? Maybe someone will come watch that.'" -- Jerry Seinfeld

McDonald Grand Slam Drives Calvary Victory

It had been a long road for the Calvary United Methodist Church softball team. The last two months had yielded six straight losses, five by one run. On Sunday night, the team found a cure - namely, a game against the last team that they'd beaten.

Things started out shakily for the gang in gray, courtesy of six first inning walks. A relief pitcher came in, but the score was 5-0 before Calvary swung a bat.

Fortunately, the green team's pitcher was equally down to the task, walking leadoff man Joe McDonald on four pitches, and eventually three in a row before being replaced himself.

Pulling the score up to 5-4 shifted the momentum for the rest of the ballgame. Relief pitching gave up only a couple of runs in the remaining innings.

Meanwhile, team green seemed to take a defensive gamble by positioning all of their male players on the left side of the field, leaving the right side of the outfield particularly spacious. McDonald came to the plate with one runner on base and stroked the ball to right center for a double.

In his next at bat, with a runner on first, he drove a lofty fly ball toward right field that eluded the uncertain right fielder by a good five feet. With the runner pausing between first and second, McDonald crossed the plate mere steps behind his teammate, and a foot ahead of the throw home for his second home run of the season.

The next inning, the Calvary bats that had suffered from a hung over case of lazyflyballitis for much of the summer suddenly started tearing holes in the defense with solid line drives and ground balls. By the time McDonald came to the plate again, the bases were loaded, and again his eyes turned to right field.

"You've got to make the most of what the good Lord gives you," he said.

As it happened, on the first pitch the good Lord decided to lay one down the middle of the strike zone. The ball rocketed toward the gap between right and right center, and the record Calvary crowd screamed with delight as McDonald circled the bases without a play for the first grand slam of his career.

A few meek at-bats later by team green (and following a too-little-too-late defensive shift), smiles were all around the Calvary team huddle.

Saving Our Environment By Choosing It

A Colorado study involving 245 pregnant women in the 1970s, tracing the path of their children, concluded that "all of the results strongly suggest that our environment plays as big - if not bigger - a role as heredity in shaping personality and intelligence. What it is saying is that whatever that environmental influence is, it doesn't have a lot to do with parents. It's something else, and [the conclusion] is that that something else is the influence of peers." -- Malcolm Gladwell

Better yet, we get to choose our peers. Are they happy? Energetic? Respectful? Sensitive?

Here are the people (outside of work) that I spend the most time with, either in person or online:

Dena
Leadership McLean County alumni
Sports teams (sand volleyball, soccer, softball, flag football)
Troy and Dona

In all, that's some fifty people who always leave me feeling a little bit better as a person and better about the world when I'm with them. The inevitable waves that rock the boat come and go almost harmlessly with such a strong base of support.

We become what we surround ourselves with. We choose our own happiness.

Hungry For Success

From the Onion:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/c_c_sabathia_prince_fielder_keep

Blame It On The Brain?

We've all heard about people who seem to get more stubborn with each passing year. As I listened to the audio book "Mistaken Identity," it was interesting to hear the sequence where Whitney, recovering slowly from major head trauma, reached a point where she repeatedly asked for her dog. I mean, this went on repetitiously for nearly a full day. Physically, what had happened in the accident was that the synapses in her brain were shaken, damaged, and snapped in places. The mind is rebuilt slowly, as those neurons are connected and tissue rebuilds. It got me to wondering if in older folks, those pathways are breaking down, making it more difficult to process new ideas. "Stuck in their ways" may not be an issue of attitude, it may be a matter of run-down circuits!

Mistaken Identity

Have you heard this story? In 2006, two college students from a Christian school in Indiana were involved with six others in a van that was struck by a truck that skidded over the median. Five of the eight were killed. One that survived was Whitney Cerak, but there was a mix-up. Another girl's purse had been thrown, like Whitney, over fifty feet from the car. Badly injured with swelling and brain trauma, and looking similar to the other girl, Whitney was misidentified. For five weeks the other girls' parents, sister, boyfriend, and friends watched over her until she started to come out of her coma. Meanwhile, Whitney's parents held her funeral and buried the wrong body.

I bought the audio version of the book, about seven hours long. Here's an interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF9iMlD_HCQ

About Time

"One of my father's favorite refrains: 'Make each day your masterpiece.' This axiom was his way of reminding me to always use time prudently - each day, each hour, each minute.

On average, I had 210 hours of practice time to accomplish my teaching goals (105 practices, each two hours long). I placed great significance on every single one of those minutes -- each an opportunity to teach our team what they needed to know to improve, what they needed to do to achieve competitive greatness and hopefully, outscore opponents." -- John Wooden

That kind of attention to the clock brings some great productivity. I will say, though, that I stopped wearing a watch following a retreat in 2002. Life offers enough distractions from enjoying the scenery and the moment, without attaching another one to my wrist!

Gateway To Freedom

"You can dream all you want, but, bottom line, you've got to work with what you've got. Inevitably, the acceptance of boundaries and limits is the gateway to freedom." -- Phil Jackson

There's only one place where we have no limits, and that's in our own mind. Failure in some degree happens daily. Most will forget the failure itself, and remember how we react to it. No one can stop us from smiling.

It turns out that the gutter guys didn't make it out last Saturday as planned, because 90 minutes of rain fell during their appointed time. More rain later that weekend caused flooding in several basements of units unprotected by gutters. What to do? Curse the darkness (or in this case, the wetness)? Or move on to the solution with quiet determination, calling on the neighbors and comforting them with plans for repair. The repairs may not even be as severe as one might imagine. There's always hope, and so always peace.

Personal Attacks

From Lou Tice:

How do you respond to personal affronts or insults? If you have high self-esteem, they probably don't bother you much, I'll tell you why.

Have you ever noticed that people with low self-esteem have a terrible time with anything they perceive as an insult? You see, beneath their facade of self-confidence, they're really not convinced of their own value or competence. So whenever they believe that someone has insulted or rejected them, they come unglued.

They fret and fume, they get angry, they spend a lot of time brooding about it, and sometimes they even seek retaliation or revenge. But people with high self-esteem just brush it off. For example, at the height of the U. S. Civil War, President Lincoln and his secretary of war paid a visit to General McClellan in the battle area to hear first-hand about how the war was going.

As they were waiting for the general to arrive, McClellan came in, covered in grime. He brushed by them, went upstairs, and eventually sent his maid to tell them he was tired and had gone to bed. The secretary of war was aghast and said to Lincoln, "Surely you're not going to let him get by with that. Surely you will relieve him of his command."

Lincoln thought about it for a minute or two. Then he said, "No, I will not relieve him. That man wins battles and I would hold his horse and clean his shoes if it would hasten the end of this bloodshed by one hour." It's the same for anyone who has high self-esteem. They are so secure that they can easily be humble and nothing threatens their sense of purpose and self-worth. Think about that next time you feel someone insults you.

And You Thought Ben Dover Was A Lousy Name...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.

Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.

Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said.

The new name was not made public to protect the girl's privacy.

"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name," he wrote. "It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily."

The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her "K" instead, the girl's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.

In his ruling, Murfitt cited a list of the unfortunate names.

Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.

New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Clarke said officials usually talked to parents who proposed unusual names to convince them about the potential for embarrassment.

Dwight Versus Jim

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7PHL4HXm1o&feature=related

The Office Top 10 Cold Opens Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERzX8YEG_6k&feature=related

The Office Top 10 Cold Opens Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ACyHOVcFOE

Harry Caray Famous Calls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCNO7P47Rs8

Miss Conduct?

"I've never really understood the importance of the orchestra conductor. I mean between you and me, what the hell is this guy doing? Do you really need somebody waving a stick in your place to play the violin? Does that really help you out? I could see how we need him at the beginning, okay? Tap, tap, tap, 'ready and everyone start.' But once it's all going, what's he doing then? I don't see the cellist looking around and going, 'I'm confused, I don't know what to do. I'm lost.' And the conductor waves the stick at him, 'Do this, like this, like this,' and he's, 'Oh, okay, thank you, thank you very much. Now I've got it.'" -- Jerry Seinfeld

I Gotta Have More Cowbell!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhSkRHXTKlw&feature=related

New Life, Part 2

So on the way home from Grandpa's funeral, I was speeding home trying to make a 1:30 appointment. Evidently, speeding 12 miles over the limit.

We passed a white car coming in the other direction, and Dena remarked "Hm, that car kinda looked like a cop car... it's tough to tell though." Twenty seconds later the flashing lights, now heading in the same direction as us, proved her right. "Hm, the guy in front of us was going faster," I commented, slowing down to let the car pass. Twenty seconds later, the lights now hugging my rear bumper proved me wrong.

With a solemn face, I answered the cop's questions.

"Do you know why I pulled you over?"

"No," I said, in case there was something else the matter.

He explained that 10 miles over the limit is usually his cushion. Did I agree that I was going 67?

"Yeah, that sounds about right," I said resignedly.

"Do you have a reason for going so fast?"

"No," I said sadly. "In fact, I'm going from a funeral instead of to a funeral, so I don't even have a good excuse."

A couple of minutes later, he came back with my license, registration, and a bit of good news.

"I'm going to give you a verbal warning," he said. "I'm not even sure why, maybe because you're already having a bad day. If you'd a-said that you weren't going that fast, I'd have given you a citation."

Moral #1: Cop cars come in all colors
Moral #2: If you're wrong, admit it
Moral #3: If you're going to speed, stop off at a funeral first

New Life, Part 1

Dena's grandfather died on Sunday, July 19 of natural causes. He simply slumped over while eating breakfast (as Dena's mom said, "he died doing what he loved").

The minister gave a brief yet moving sermon about the trials that Grandpa faced, not the least of which involved giving up a job at a large company. He moved to the different job so as to be a better caregiver for his wife, whose battle with multiple sclerosis put her in his care for 39 years. As she lost her mobility and eyesight, he cooked, cleaned, and cared for her without complaint.

It left me thinking how a legacy is built in more ways than just through child-rearing. Those we leave behind, taught by the way we live in the face of adversity, go on to inspire the next generation. Each day we have the choice to build anew.

To Mom, With Glove

Although the odds of being hit by a baseball are enormous, Bob Feller's mother was hit by a ball fouled off by a White Sox batter from a Feller pitch. The incident happened on Mother's Day.

What Smoking And Basketball Have In Common

The study continues regarding teen smoking:

"The significance of the smoking personality, I think, cannot be overstated. If you bundle all of these extroverts' traits together - defiance, sexual precocity, honesty, impulsiveness, indifference to the opinion of others, sensation seeking - you come up with an almost perfect definition of the kind of person many adolescents are drawn to.

Smoking was never cool. Smokers are cool." -- Malcolm Gladwell

This gets me thinking... how would this apply to being a YMCA middle school basketball coach?

Honesty... indifference to the opinion of others... those are traits of a person who's confident in who they are, and doesn't waste time trying to get others to like them, or trying to convince others why their way is the best. The deal is to minimize the talk, get to the action, and get results.

Mom & Grandma

Mom's birthday was last Wednesday, and we showed up at her house to find her scooting around the place as well as I've seen in the last two years. Still with a cane, but well past the point of being unable to hoist her leg into bed. Some arthritic feet are giving her an achy slowdown, but the future is bright.

We headed out to see Grandma, and her 91-year old smile was in full force! Using an oxygen tube full-time, and moving about in a wheelchair, but still able to carry a conversation easily. Chatting up the Cubs, mom's new car, the weather, and the British Open. She looked much better than I'd expected after her bout with pneumonia. Oh, and evidently she managed to take down her 80something roommate during a curtain-yanking battle. I am not kidding. That gives her one more takedown than I have in my lifetime!

LMC '04 Picnic

Yesterday was the 2nd summer reunion picnic for my buds from the Leadership McLean County class of 2004. Angela Frazier just built a new house with her husband, John, who does that sort of thing for a living. Those who came:

Kirt McReynolds, wife Shay, and children Kade, Rowan and Sayre
Brandi Peterson, husband Brad, and her two children
Cathy Waltz

It was a cozy group but a great time, despite around ten others who responded with conflicts. It started at 3:00, Avanti's arrived at 5:00, and before we knew it 6:30 had arrived, and it was time for me to head north to visit Mom.

Oh, but it didn't technically start at 3:00, since I arrived at 3:30 and was the first one! Ironically that helped because Angela had her sister drop in, and was just leaving as I got there. Still, 1.5 hours ended up being about right.

"Stuff" It

The famous John Wooden addressed his players.

"He looked at us for a moment and began his remarks. And that's what was shocking. 'Gentlemen,' he said, 'Welcome. Let's get down to business. I want to remind each one of you of a few important rules we have here at UCLA. 1. Keep your fingernails trimmed. 2. Keep your hair short. 3. Keep your jersey tucked in.' He looked around the room for a moment and then added solemnly, 'Am I clear?' I wondered, 'Is he making a joke?' But there was no laughter, not even smiles, from any of the varsity players. They knew better. Nevertheless, I couldn't understand why he was wasting his time on stuff like that.

As the months - eventually years (and three more national championships) - went by, I came to recognize that 'stuff like that' was part of the genius of his leadership. There was logic to every move. Details of fingernails, hair and jerseys led to details for running plays, handling the ball, and everything else - hundreds of small things done right." -- Lynn Shackleford, former player

The Power of Balance

"He always talked about balance: body balance, scoring balance, team balance, and most of all, mental and emotional balance. Your feet have to be in balance. Your body has to be in balance over your feet. Your head needs to be in balance with your body and your arms. He said that if you're not in balance, you'll eventually fall over, and he meant it in more ways that one.

I came to see balance as one of the keys to success not only in basketball, but in life. When things get out of balance, it's generally not good. Everything needs balance. That one word he kept drilling at us - balance - has stuck with me, became important in how I try to do things." -- Gail Goodrich, former player of coach John Wooden

The term "overextended" is one I've used when I have too much going on with family, school, work or social responsibilities. Literally, a body that's overextended can be out of balance with the rest of it. Right now I'm active in Leadership McLean County, playing three intramural sports, blogging and playing guitar most nights. Work is satisfying, and stays at the office. Dena and I have time to date, and visit our families. Things feel in balance!

Do Over... And Over...

"Tex's system helps... players to play basketball with a capital B instead of indulging their self-interest. The principles of the system are the code of honor that everybody on the team has to live by. We put them on the chalkboard and talk about them almost every day. The principles serves as a mirror that shows each player how well they're doing with respect to the team mission." -- Phil Jackson

Besides the moral that successful teams put the group's goals ahead of the individual, it seems important to have a repeated and clear purpose. Simple things like taking pride in passing the ball to an open teammate is easily forgotten against the thrill of being the scoring leader. Our natural focus is ourselves, which is rightly so for hunger and thirst but can also slip into other aspects. The human mind wanders so easily, that it's perfectly all right to use devices to remind ourselves of our highest goals and keep us on track. Repetition can be dull, or even seem silly, but used properly it strengthens the very neural pathways in our brains, and sharpens focus.

Teamwork Rocks

"One finger can't lift a pebble." -- Hopi Indian saying

We're in the midst of interviewing candidates for Leadership McLean County. Sometimes members of the team rank what they heard very differently. I once gave someone an interview score of 24 out of 25, and the rest of the group ranked her so low that she was borderline not qualifying. When we huddled up at the end to review, I requested - and got - her approval into the program. And truthfully, she did struggle to fit the mold of the typical class qualifier, showing up late and a bit too sleepy for class on multiple occasions. Had I picked the entire class based on my own opinion, it would have been a major disappointment, and it still was a little. The team's wisdom was better than my own. The real disappointment would have been not to learn that lesson. Sometimes we just have to let go.

What's The Word For "Precious Little Way To Die"?

"Electrocute. There's another word that's kind of strange when you break it down. Electro-cute. What's cute about it? 'Would you mind putting on this cute little metal hat for me? This is going to be just the sweetest 50,000 volts you ever felt.' Electro-cute. It's like, 'Oh no, we're not going to hang you. We're just going to do this little thing we call rope-dee-doo.'" -- Jerry Seinfeld

Smoking Study

"Smoking, overwhelmingly, was associated with the same thing to nearly everyone: sophistication." -- Malcolm Gladwell

The study found that people chose to smoke, despite the negative health factors, because of the personality of the people they saw smoking. To smoke was to be rebellious, worry-free, thin, etc. It goes to show how impactful a role model can be.

Get Me A Peer

"Peer pressure is much more powerful than the concept of a boss. Many, many times more powerful. People want to live up to what is expected of them." -- Jim Buckley

Buckley's comment supported the idea that work units should generally be less than 150 people in size. A small group with clear goals increases the sense of accountability, rather than a large corporation.

One Arm Wonders

Pete Gray was born right-handed but became a lefty baseball player after losing his right arm in a truck accident. He won an MVP award in the minor leagues, then made it to the big leagues for 45 games.

Jim Abbott was born with only a left arm. After mastering the ability to pull his glove on and off, field and throw without dropping the ball, he threw a no-hitter against the New York Yankees in 1993. He also pitched and won the gold medal game for the USA in the 1988 Olympics.

What's our excuse for not achieving?

Let There "B" Praise

"My policy of making sure that players who didn't receive much attention were consistently recognized - made to feel valued - was actually tabulated during an independent study done many years ago that measured the amount of praise I gave out during practice. It showed that individuals in lesser roles received compliments, support, and acknowledgement - praise - at a much higher rate than so-called superstars. That was exactly my intention." -- John Wooden

A study from this century backed that up. Among so-called "type B" performers... those who are most comfortable doing more repetitive, predictable work and less inclined to blaze a new trail, the top motivators were ranked. #1 for "type A"'s was increased responsibility. For "type B", it was appreciation.

Two, Four, Six, Eight...

"I was conscientious about making those with less significant roles feel valued and appreciated. I singled out individuals who seldom saw the limelight - the player who made an assist on an important basket, a pivotal defensive play, or a free throw at a crucial moment in the game." -- John Wooden

On Wednesday I had my kick-off meeting with my new team at work. I am generally not a fan of 'expense management,' for the cheapness it implies. Instead, I ask for the constant search for improvement -- ways to do things better, or newly, from last year. When we find a way to automate something, to cut out a redundant step, or to simplify a complex process, it's a great reason to treat the innovators to lunch or a celebratory e-mail. And when 'expense management' rears its head as a fashionable statement every few years, it's comforting to point to the cost containment that's emerged naturally every year, thanks to the daily attention to the way we work.

How Far To Heaven?

"In Zen it is said that the gap between accepting things the way they are and wishing them to be otherwise is 'the tenth of an inch of difference between heaven and hell.' If we can accept whatever hand we've been dealt - no matter how unwelcome - the way to proceed eventually becomes clear. This is what is meant by right action: the capacity to observe what's happening and act appropriately, without being distracted by self-centered thoughts. If we rage and resist, our angry, fearful minds have trouble quieting down sufficiently to allow us to act in the most beneficial way for others and ourselves." -- Phil Jackson

A snafu in my leadership of our condo gutter project led to a nearby unit getting rainwater in its basement. The call from the frustrated owner was the kind that knots one's stomach with empathy. The soonest that the gutter guys could come out was three days later, on Wednesday. It was expected to take one day, but a shortage of workers meant that it would take three. Plenty of time yet, I thought, noting that rains weren't predicted until Saturday. On Friday, I got a voice mail explaining that an error by the manufacturer meant that two units were still unfinished out of 32 - guess which ones? Oh, and the need to wait for replacement materials meant that they expected to come back next Wednesday. Yikes! The Zen dudes are right - my mood jumped that tenth of an inch.

Fortunately, time's taught me that the emotional black clouds that storm in during those moments blow over within an hour or so, as long as I occupy my mind with something else. Accepting the possibility of another disappointing weekend, trusting that there was some greater good behind it all, or that everything might turn out okay, brought peace. And wouldn't you know it, gutter guy called and said that he'd be able to make it out first thing Saturday morning after all.

Bare Attention

"One of the most important qualities of a leader is listening without judgment, or with what some call bare attention... I find that when I can be truly present with impartial, open awareness, I get a much better feel for the players' concerns than when I try to impose my own agenda. And, paradoxically, when I back off and just listen, I get much better results on the court." -- Phil Jackson

This week during a management case study at work, we did a little exercise of giving feedback to an under performing employee. The previously well-performing employee has slumped recently, resorting to gossiping and lagging productivity. The old "sandwich" approach applied:

1. Say something good
2. State the problem
3. Say something good

In my younger days, I'd have stuck with the formula. But that didn't seem to cut the mustard by itself. The next words out of my mouth were "is there something about the job or our relationship that's changed and is causing this"? Turns out a recent change in responsibilities left him feeling under appreciated due to his newness. Backing off and listening impartially can make a difference.

Why 1920's Kids Wanted To Grow Up Fat

Babe Ruth not only set the one-season home run record four times, but in 1920, his first year with the Yankees, he out-homered all seven opposing teams.

Riddles Part 2

1) There is a clothing store in Bloomington. The owner has devised his own method of pricing items. A vest costs $20, socks cost $25, a tie costs $15 and a blouse costs $30. Using the method, how much would a pair of underwear cost?

2) What is it: the more you take, the more you leave behind?

3) A man bumps into his mathematician friend on the street that he hasn't seen in 5 years. The man asks the mathematician how old his children are. The mathematician, who always replies in riddles said, "I now have three children. The sum of their ages is equal to the number of windows on the building in front of you and the product of their ages equals 36." The friend then says "I need one more piece of information." The mathematician then replies "My youngest child has blue eyes." What are the ages of the mathematician’s three children? (whole numbers only)

The Average Samaritan

A psychological study took a collection of seminary students and asked them to prepare a spontaneous talk in a nearby building. Half of the students were asked to give their presentation on the importance of clergy to churches, and half were asked to talk about the parable of the Good Samaritan. Within each of these two groups, half were told that they were a few minutes late and had better get moving to the other building, and the other half were told that they had some extra time but they might as well head over early. Then a man was stationed in an alley that they would pass through, groaning and coughing on the ground.

Who helped the man?

It turns out that the topic of the presentation made little difference. The key factor was lateness. 63% of those "ahead of time" stopped to help, but only 10% who were "late" -- even among those seminary students who were about to present the parable of the Good Samaritan!

I can't condemn -- I did the same thing. This weekend, Dena and I were out for a walk on the trail when we walked past a young lady in a running outfit who looked physically weary, almost woozy, on the hot day. Did we stop? On we walked. It's amazing how quickly the mind searches for reasons not to help, instead of taking joy in the chance to simply ask if help is needed. We'll have to work a little harder to graduate from Samaria.

Three Cheers For Nothing!

"I never gave rah-rah speeches or contrived pep talks. There was no ranting or raving, histrionics or theatrics before, during or after practice and games. For every artificial emotional peak they might create, a subsequent valley, a letdown, is produced." -- John Wooden

Could there be a finer name than "wooden" for a man like that? In fact, I'm sure that the coach radiated plenty of energy and intensity -- heck, the guy planned out his practices to the minute and taught his players how to put their socks on the right way. His dedication to perfection in most every detail separated himself from his peers, and no doubt inspired his players that they were playing for one of the most passionate, prepared men in the business.

Competing Through Compassion

"More than anything else, what allowed the Bulls to sustain a high level of excellence was the players' compassion for each other." -- Phil Jackson

Tomorrow's my kick-off meeting with the new team. Those get-to-know-you moments set the tone, and it's tempting to establish an overwhelmingly or misleadingly strong first impression. When the first-date nerves are fluttering, that unseen gentle hand of compassion for the people who are counting on me can steady the peace within.

Con Cast? Part 2

The good news: A curteous repairman came today and installed all new cabling and equipment. Continuous access for five hours and counting!

The curious news: Someone with the word "comcast" in his e-mail address read Hidden Blog and sent me a note offering to help. I replied that it would be helpful to be spared of charges for the additional service. He replied offering more help, and asking for my phone number. Hmmm.... personal information over the Internet. Scam? I sent a note back to him indicating my hesitancy to provide it; instead, I provided some details of the service call (when the repairman showed up, what exactly he did). I figure that if he is truly a ComCast employee, those details would be enough to confirm who I am without having to pass phone or account numbers over the electrowaves.

Riddles Part 1

1) What is the value of 1/2 of 2/3 of 3/4 of 4/5 of 5/6 of 6/7 of 7/8 of 8/9 of 9/10 of 1,000? (mental math only!)

2) What common English verb becomes its own past tense by rearranging its letters?

3) Where will you find roads without cars, forests without trees and cities without houses?

What Are Your Pet Peeves?

That's the question that was posed to me by my new team at work. The "Manager Quick Start" program matches up a Human Resources representative with the team behind the safety of closed doors to go over some introductory questions. The resulting anonymous report showed interest from the group as to what my goals and my pet peeves were.

To be honest, the phrase "pet peeves" suggests to me some kind of righteous anger, which makes me a little uncomfortable, but I see the point they're getting at. What stresses me out? In other words, what kind of environments are a mismatch for me?

1. I'm an analytical guy who needs time to make decisions. So hasty decisions are in that category.

2. Closed-mindedness. It seems as if most every rule has an exception, every point a counterpoint, and two heads are almost always better than one whether talking business, politics, or spirituality. In the spirit of "maybe," ideas should be sought out, respected, and occasionally tried against one's better judgment.

3. Anger or pessimism. Americans are too blessed.

Any list like this could run much longer. Let's keep it short!

Trust The Moment

"Basketball happens at such a fast pace that your mind has a tendency to race at the same speed as your pounding heart... it's easy to start thinking too much. If you're always trying to figure the game out, you won't be able to respond creatively to what's going on. I discovered that I was far more effective when I became completely immersed in the action, rather than trying to control it and fill my mind with unrealistic expectations." -- Phil Jackson

It seems like that could apply to more of life than just the games we play. We spend gross amounts of time planning things to perfection, and throw up our hands when imperfections arrive. Or we worry all day long and into the night about what tomorrow might bring. If we can trust the moment, whatever it contains, we may not live longer -- but we'll live better.

Batter Worse

From Jack:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/orlando_hudson_just

When You Care Enough To Send... Nothing

"The clearest indication of the complexity of modern relationships is that greeting card companies are forced to put out cards that are blank on the inside. Nothing... no message. It's like the card companies say, 'We give up, you think of something. For seventy-five cents it's not worth us getting involved.'" -- Jerry Seinfeld

Con Cast?

Our ComCast internet service has been sputtering for the past two weeks. We made a service call a week ago, which made everything steady for about five days. Today I'm speedblogging, taking advantage of a rare window of connectivity this weekend. When I called on Friday afternoon to request a second service visit, they said that someone could come on Monday morning between 8 and 12. Hidden Blog readers, please let me know if there is better service available than ComCast broadband!

Because It's More Fun To Steal Bases

Ross Barnes, who hit the first home run in the history of the National League in 1876, hit only one more home run in his career.

Staying Out Of Prison

A group of social scientists set up a mock prison in the basement of the university's psychology building. Twenty-one volunteers from seventy-five applicants who appeared the most normal and healthy on psychological tests were chosen. Half were randomly designated as prisoners, the others as guards. Almost immediately, each side was drawn into their respective roles -- the guards inflicting sadistic intimidation measures, the prisoners losing their identity and striking back. The experiment, designed to last two weeks, was halted after six days.

The moral: Put yourself into the environment that's healthiest for you! Few of us are actually prisoners to our current situation. Our environment can bring the best or worst out of us. Our choices make us into what we become.

Nature Crawls

"I was asked, 'Coach Wooden, how can I learn about human nature?' I replied, 'Get old.'" -- John Wooden

Ten years ago I anxiously drove myself toward the fastest upward career slope I could manage. Could I get promoted more quickly than any of my predecessors? Looking back at all the lessons I've learned through sheer experience, I've come to the personal conclusion that when joy is found in the present, rather than in the future, then anxiety melts.

Prescription Meditation

"Concentration means freedom," wrote a monk who specialized in meditation. Concentrating not on something in particular, but rather keeping an empty mind, dwelling only on one's own breathing. Often those who practice the type of meditation called zazen will sit completely still on a cushion, with eyes open but directed downward, focusing entirely on one's breath. Those still, quiet moments can bring quick, occasionally instantaneous relief and peace.

That Blows!

The Houston Astros were accused of unfair groundskeeping at the Astrodome in 1966. Ed Kranepool of the Mets noticed that the air-conditioning was blowing out when Houston hitters took their swings but that the breeze stopped when the visitors came to bat. He made the deduction by watching the flag in the outfield.

Broken Windows

I've seen this before but love it enough to share it again. The theory of New York City's drastic reduction in crime is attributed in part to the Broken Windows theory. It says that crime is contagious -- that it can start with a broken window and spread to an entire city. Be vigorous about the little things... broken windows, turnstile jumpers, and it will stave off a wave of hopelessness that "everything is going to hell."

In business, I think that the appearance of an office is underappreciated. File rooms and desks littered with unkempt piles of paper create a feeling of either incompetence or being overwhelmed. Spread success; keep things clean!

Digest, Not Indigestion

"The greatest holiday feast is eaten one bite at a time. Gulp it down all at once and you get indigestion. I discovered the same is true in teaching. To be effective, a leader must dispense information in bite-size, digestible amounts." -- John Wooden

In my line of work, I think that means teaching vocabulary before anything else. Acronyms abound in most professions, with each creating their own efficient language that hits a new employee like a fog. Those building blocks give simple confidence, a momentum that carries into later success.

Clinging to Sadness?

"What pollutes the mind is our desire to get life to conform to our peculiar notion of how things should be, as opposed to how they really are. In the course of everyday life, we spend the majority of our time immersed in self-centered thoughts. Why did this happen to me? What would make me feel better? If only I could make more money, win her heart, make my boss appreciate me. The thoughts themselves are not the problem; it's our desperate clinging to them and our resistance to what's actually happening that causes us so much anguish." -- Phil Jackson

I admit, I spent time today thinking about how to get someone to change their approach to things, and maybe I should be studying how they do behave and make the most of that.

Lovin' an Elevator

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/710170/

A Popular Sport, Eh?

Between 1996 and 2007, the New York Yankees sold 38 million tickets -- more than the entire population of Canada.

Storytell 'em

The original Sesame Street show was, by design, an unconnected collection of sketches. Prevailing psychology of the 1960's said that a preschooler couldn't follow an extended narrative. But that idea's since been turned on its head. Three year olds may not be able to follow complicated subplots, but the narrative form is absolutely central to them. -- Malcolm Gladwell

Sometimes I read these and wonder if there's much difference between kids and adults. Storytelling books like the "Chicken Soup" series or Harry Potter series fly off the shelves. Popular sermons are filled with parables.

I once sat through a sixty minute presentation before a room full of top community leaders. These people live in the moment, are high achievers with focus. But this yawner of a Power Point presentation was over sixty slides long (in fact, only forty had been covered by the time it was mercifully shut down) and filled with scientific jargon. The saddest part was that the topic was special education, rich with opportunity to paint verbal success stories. That same group had earlier been riveted by a two-hour presentation -- from the county coroner. The difference was that the coroner brought several case studies, led the class through a detective-like activity, basically made dealing with dead bodies seem terribly interesting.

No matter what the message, those who can tell stories can captivate a room. Those who can't, can put one to sleep.

Oh Say, Can You Do?

"What you do counts for more than what you say. The things you hope to teach those under you are best taught by your own behavior - demonstration - whether it's the act of showing respect for others, being on time, shooting a free throw, or exercising self-control. Action speaks louder than words." -- John Wooden

This afternoon I pondered what to say to the "Services" team at work during our first meeting once I schedule it. As a person with some gift for words, it's easy to say just the right thing... and then promptly fail to deliver. So what are the truthful actions that they can expect from me, because I most always do them?

1. Smile. Whether through a joke, a reassurance, or -- just because I'm one of the luckiest guys alive.
2. Set goals. Ones with dates. Ones that are reasonable.
3. Seek to improve. The quality, the speed, or the cost.

Faith: Just Do It

"One summer in Montana around this time, my parents, Joe, and I got into a heated theological debate after dinner - a common occurrence whenever you got two or more Jacksons in a room. Early in the evening, my father checked out and went to bed. When I asked him the next day why he had left the conversation, he replied, 'Arguing isn't where faith is. That just feeds the ego. It's all in the doing.'" -- Phil Jackson

Judaism, Islam and Christianity all share common themes (in fact, all share the same God). Buddhism, Hinduism -- all these faiths take varying approaches toward sculpting a good world. In many respects, the common sense that we were born with brings us closer to God for as long as we choose to follow it. And since people do what people see, preaching through action may draw us ever closer to peace on earth.

Jack Crack

Broadcaster Jack Brickhouse once said of the Cubs, "Anybody can have a bad century."

The man had foresight. Keep in mind that he said this only 75 years after the Cubs' last championship!

Who Says Kids Can't Multi-Task?

"As you would expect, the kids in the room without the toys watched the show playing on the T.V. about 87 percent of the time, while the kids with the toys watched only about 47 percent of the show. Kids are distracted by toys. But when they tested the two groups to see how much of the show the children remembered and understood, the scores were exactly the same. This result stunned the researchers. Kids, they realized, were a great deal more sophisticated in the way they watched than had been imagined. 'We were led to the conclusion,' they wrote, 'that five-year-olds in the toys group were attending quite strategically, distributing their attention between toy play and viewing so that they looked at what for them were the most informative parts of the program. This strategy was so effective that the children could gain no more from increased attention.'" -- Malcolm Gladwell

I've got a staff meeting on Monday morning. I'm bringing my toys!

Laws of Learning

"I'm a believer of the laws of learning: explanation, demonstration, imitation, correction, and repetition." -- John Wooden

Put another way: Tell me, show me, then let me try. Oh, and point out when I screw up.

Directions For Success: See, Believe, Repeat

"I would sit quietly for 15 or 20 minutes before the game in a secluded part of the stadium and create a moving picture in my mind of what was about to happen. I'd call up images of the man I was going to cover and visualized myself stopping his moves. That was the first part. The next step, which was much harder, was to lay back and not try to force the action once the game stated, but to allow it to unfold naturally. Playing basketball isn't a linear thought process: 'Okay, when Joe Blow takes that funny drop step over there I'm going to jump in and do my Bill Russell imitation.' The idea was to code the image of a successful move into my visual memory so that when a similar situation emerged in a game it would seem, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, like deja vu all over again." -- Phil Jackson

Non-Terrorist Nearly Kills Movie Outing

A maintenance man mistaken by an observer for a terrorist caused a wave of panic in the McDonald family as a crucial movie outing was tragically delayed.

At 4:30, State Farm loudspeakers announced that weather conditions required emergency evacuation procedures to be followed. Noting puzzlingly clear skies above, Joe headed through the Corporate atrium in anticipation of a 6:00 dinner & movie date with Dena, Troy, Dona, Kelsey and Lane. The scene his eyes found was unlike any he'd ever seen.

Instead of employees drifting out the door to kick off the holiday weekend, there was a crowd near the doors being directed for calm by an official-looking man. When Joe saw two officers with guns at the ready, instinct kicked in.

"I might be late for dinner," he thought gravely.

Some 2,000 employees were herded hastily into the basement, as the rumor mill churned out a report that a camoflauged man with an assault rifle had been spotted in the executive tower. Minions and executives alike huddled in the underground tunnels, gripped by the thought that it was all a mistake.

Resourcefully, Joe got word that a nearby office had a land line, and phoned Dena's voice mail urgently. His voice held the tone of a man who might be speaking to his wife for the last time this hour.

"If I'm not there," he said, "go on to dinner without me, and I'll meet up with you there."

As the minutes stretched into an hour, emotions intensified. Infested with sugar fueled by a complimentary pop cart, cries of laughter and banter about weekend plans reached fever pitch.

Then, in a flash, it was over. The public address system blared that video surveillance had revealed a maintenance man carrying a length of pipe. Convinced that this was less than a red level threat, all were dismissed.

Here's The Hang-Up

"I love my phone machine. I wish I was a phone machine. I wish if I saw somebody on the street I didn't want to talk to I could just go, 'Excuse me, I'm not here right now. If you could just leave a message, I could walk away.' I also have a cordless phone. You get mad at somebody on a real phone, 'You can't talk to me like that!' BANG, it's over. But a cordless phone - 'You can't talk to me like that! All right now, let me just find that little thing to turn this off... Just hang on, I'm hanging up on you.'" -- Seinfeld

Gold Box

Columbia Records advertising had been an abject failure. Then in 1977 they launched what they called the "gold box" campaign. A series of T.V. commercials told the "secret of the Gold Box." Viewers were told that if they could find the gold box in their issues of Parade and TV Guide magazines, they could write in the name of any record on the Columbia list and get that record free.

The ploy was wildly successful! It drew viewers into the game. People love to play. Give them an excuse to, and find success.

The Bottom Line: Education

"I believe effective leaders are, first and foremost, good teachers." -- John Wooden

What hope for the future! Teaching's my number one strength.

Wooden also said "We are in the education business."

I suppose everyone's business is education. It's also been said that everyone is in the people business. Education's a top item for me in the next presidential election. We have abundant natural resources. How can we train them to be their best? As McCain and Obama talk, I'll be listening through that framework. Defend us from invasion, and budget a certain amount in support of our global neighbors, then get busy training our citizens to succeed.

Love Triangle

Phil Jackson won six championships with the NBA's Chicago Bulls using the famed "triangle offense." This offense, Jackson noted, "emphasizes cooperation and freedom, the very values I'd spent my life pursuing off the court and dreamed of applying to the game."

When asked to choose my favorite values, those two would probably rise near the top for me too -- freedom to do what makes life most enjoyable at any given moment, and cooperation (or maybe better, "harmony") with those around me. When values come into conflict, one is compromised. I could probably find a more exciting job somewhere, one with less pay and security, and therefore less freedom. So why? Excitement can be manufactured where it doesn't flow most naturally. Act excited -- become excited.

Close Relationships

From Lou Tice:

Everywhere you look, it seems that someone is offering you advice on how to make your marriage happier, your friendships closer, and your love connections stronger. Television and radio talk shows are loaded with advice. Even your sister-in-law has advice.

Today I want to give you what may be the single most valuable piece of advice you will ever receive about how to build and sustain good, close, lasting relationships. Here it is: Learn to stop blaming and finding fault with others. It doesn't matter how much you may believe you are in the right. The fact is, blaming and fault-finding create resentment, hostility, and withdrawal.

When you stop blaming and finding fault, you create warmth and openness, and the focus shifts from what is wrong to what it will look like when it is fixed. Practice making clear statements of your needs and the changes you'd like.

Show why the thing you want is mutually desirable. Paint a vivid picture of the benefits of change and keep that picture alive in words and thoughts. Reward positive efforts toward change with lots of praise and approval. Remember, people move in the direction of praise, while criticism usually doesn't produce much movement at all, except away from the critic.

Give up blaming others, take accountability for your own feelings, and see how your relationships will improve.

Alternatives

From Lou Tice:

Today, let's talk about how important it is to have alternatives, and how our thoughts can keep important alternatives out of our reach.

How would you feel if only one candidate was running for president? (OK, that might be a loaded question for parts of the world right now!)

What if, when you got sick, there was only one doctor you could see? You'd feel very uncomfortable, right? Because these are areas in which most of us are used to having alternatives.

When you have options and the opportunity to choose, you have power in your life. But sometimes we develop blind spots, or scotomas, and we lock-on to one idea, one way of looking at a problem or solution. This may be because we were raised to think a certain way, or because we prefer the security of the known to the uncertainty of the unknown. Now when we lock-on to one idea, or a singular way of doing things, we automatically lock-out other alternatives, and in the process, we rob ourselves of power.

The more alternatives you can see, the more power you have. It helps to expose yourself to different ideas and other points of view. There is no need to feel threatened by differences, because you are the final authority about what is best for you, whether it is treating an illness, dealing with a difficult relationship, or deciding on a career move.

Give yourself lots of options, and you increase your personal power.

From Abe Lincoln's Lips

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

Peaceful Thought

Is anyone more at peace than the one with an eternally grateful heart and trusting soul?

Why July 4?

From Livescience.com:

John Adams predicted in a letter to his wife Abigail that Americans would celebrate their Independence Day on July 2. Off by two days - not too bad for government work.

On July 2, 1776, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, signed only by Charles Thompson (the secretary of Congress) and John Hancock (the presiding officer). Two days later Congress approved the revised version and ordered it to be printed and distributed to the states and military officers. The other signatures would have to wait.

Many actually viewed the Declaration of Independence as a yawner - a rehashing of arguments already made against the British government. John Adams would later describe the Declaration as "dress and ornament rather than Body, Soul, or Substance." The exception was the last paragraph that said the united colonies "are and of Right ought to be Free and Independent states" and were "Absolved of all Allegiance to the British Crown."

For Adams, it was the momentum towards achieving American independence initiated on July 2 that future generations would consider worth celebrating, not the approval of this document on July 4.

Interestingly, the pomp and circumstance that many Americans presume took place on July 4, 1776, actually occurred days to weeks afterwards.

The Philadelphia Evening Post published the Declaration's full text in its July 6 newspaper. And the Declaration of Independence was publicly read from the State House in Philadelphia on July 8. Later that day, it was read in Easton, PA, Trenton, NJ, and to the local embryonic militia to provide much-needed inspiration against the formidable British.

The shouting and firing of muskets that followed these first public readings represent America's first celebrations of independence.

As copies spread, the Declaration of Independence would be read at town meetings and religious services. In response, Americans lit bonfires, fired guns, rang bells, and removed symbols of the British monarchy.

The following year, no member of Congress thought about commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence until July 3 - one day too late. So the first organized elaborate celebration of independence occurred the following day: July 4, 1777, in Philadelphia. Ships in the harbor were decked in the nation's colors. Cannons rained 13-gun salutes in honor of each state. And parades and fireworks spiced up the festivities.

Fireworks did not become staples of July 4 celebrations until after 1816, when Americans began producing their own pyrotechnics and no longer relied on expensive fireworks from across the pond.

Since 1777, the tradition of celebrating America's independence on July 4 has continued.