The Race is On

You probably didn't even feel it when you woke up this morning--but the pace of life has just doubled. And it will stay on "fast forward" until January 3rd or so.


Yes--despite Thanksgiving being a couple days off--the rush of the holidays begins now.

There are dinners and desserts to plan. Wine lists to coordinate.

Activities to plan as well.

At work, today we are having a pig-in! Just to get things rolling along on the festivities. So it should be a week of eating and partying.

And it is a short work week too--Since I'm taking leave on Friday--it is a three-day week. I could get to like working like that.

So like I always say this time of year--Don't be a turkey, eat one!

Monday Musings - November 22, 2010

1. Read in a news item: "More Americans can identify the Three Stooges than the three branches of government--you know, the ones who are jockeying over our welfare." AlterNet

2. Want to check how much you know about religion? Take this survey: U.S. Religious Knowledge Quiz. I missed one question.


3. TSA and pat downs and whole body scanners. We can find a reason to justify almost anything it seems. There is a risk to everything we do. Maybe in their zeal to make flying risk free they have gone a bit too far.

4. Afghan Hero Dog Is Euthanized by Mistake in U.S. From the NY Times: The glory, though, was short-lived. Target, after learning to get along with the Young family’s other dog in Arizona, becoming accustomed to dog food and to using a doggie door to relieve herself, escaped from her yard. She was captured last week and euthanized by mistake.

5. Have kids or grandkids? Here are the 10 worst toys for this holiday season.

6. Well it was clear from watching the games yesterday that, according to Jeremy, the NFL is becoming the other Flag Football League--it seems that the flag happy referees can't let the game play on. It really slows the game and we saw at least three flags thrown for non-penalty items in one game. Even the announcers agreed.

7. From the Drudge Retort this morning: Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said in a radio interview that court rulings can be superseded by the other two branches of government. "A president has certainly got to respect a ruling of the court, but if the ruling of a court is wrong, and it's fundamentally wrong, and you have two branches of the government that determine that it's wrong, then those other two branches supersede the one," he said. The whole article is in Think Progress. BTW--he's wrong.

8. The clowns in circus of life are there to keep us from getting too serious about meaningless stuff.

9. This is a holiday week--which starts the larger holiday season. Which means it is going to be a bit crazy until about January 3rd.

10. BTW--remember--it is OK to say: "Merry Christmas" and not try to be politically correct by saying "Happy Holidays." Why? Christmas is the Federal Holiday.

Thanksgiving is Here!

How do I know?

We have our own Thanksgiving forecasting cactus.

every year around Thanksgiving it breaks into full blossom. And this year is no exception--it is magnificent.

It is fun to take care of this plant all year long and then in November to see it begin to bud and then spring into full flower.

We have had this cactus for many years now--and I think it is blooming a bit earlier now than it used to--but no problem--whenever it blooms, we enjoy its flowers.

And with the blooms--the turkey is not far behind.

And the holiday season.

2010 edition of the Doan Family Snow Village

It is Snow Village Saturday. And the 2010 edition is set up and ready to rock in the Holiday Season.

The annual tradition dates back to about 1983 but it has grown larger every year.

This year the village is at one end for the first time.

Only 6 hours start to finish

The One Thing

Here is the scene:

Curley is riding his horse during one scene in the movie City Slickers, and provides insight into the deep meaning of life. He holds up his finger and pronounces that it is about one thing.


Mitch, riding along side Curley gets excites and asks--"What is the one thing?" And Curley calmly tells him, "That's what you have to find out!"


Curley's one thing is different from Mitch's one thing.


My one thing is different from yours. We are each different and have different purposes that make us tick


That really struck me the other night as I was at a meeting where the discussion turned to talking about the "one thing" that really is our personal mission.


I envisioned a box, which when opened would have the one thing there--for me to see and be reminded of. The one that that is me and my personal mission/vocation in life.


Sadly it is not that easy.


I think I used to know what that one thing was--but a few years ago it got crushed and I haven't reconstructed it yet



So in my mind the other evening I opened my box and looked inside for the one thing--and it was empty. There were a lot of things hanging around outside the box--but no one thing had taken charge.



I was depressed, but I think I knew it all along.

But look at the opportunity. I get to redefine myself and my goals as I rediscover my one thing!

Wherever it is.

Dawn

I love dawn
when the sky transitions from night to day.
The first hints of light silhouette the landscape,
I can just begin to discern shapes along the horizon
but the stars remain in the still night sky.
It begins as a narrow band of light.
No color.
As it expands and dark colors begin to come into view,
I can begin to make out shapes on the landscape.
The world has no depth.
Only dark shapes on the horizon.
Dark trees and buildings.
The light continues to build,
orange gold colors of the morning begin to grace the sky.
I can begin to make out some depth in the land.
I can tell the trees are losing their leaves to the coming winter
And so quickly
The darkness is driven away by the light
The stars are gone
The world stirs from its slumber
How quickly it happens
Darkness and then light bathing the land
And I can see the colors of the trees
and the houses and the depth of the landscape.
Night is gone.
Day arrived
full of promise and plans.
And I witnessed the miracle, again.

Chewbacca -- A Puppy Arrives

Chewbacca

 

Chewie for short.

Patrick and Tina's new lab mix puppy. A bundle of fun and energy.

He is the only animal right now that can keep up with Florence--Nicole's Italian Greyhound.

Look at those eyes--they are just full of mischief.

He is a lot of fun to be around and he follows really well.

Patrick and Tina are doing a great job being pack leaders.

It is kinda cool when Ben, Makayla, Chewie, and Florence are all together. Dogs everywhere.

Then add in Ethan, Jax, and Lucas and we have our own circus.

It is what makes it all fun!

Encouragement--The Power of Building Up

Encouragement seems to be a recurring theme in my life.

In an effort to remain a positive person full of optimism and continuing to grow, I have witnessed the aftermath of a less than encouraging experience.

It is simply, destructive.

I fear we are all guilty--and not just me. I mean, I know of times when I see something which is the result of hard work on the part of another--and I find the flaw. All to often the resulting conversation goes something like: "Wow, that is a really great job, but . . . "

That, friends, is not encouragement. Encouragement would stop before the ",but . . ."

We had a message in church a week or so ago about encouragement, and I had forgotten that the command to encourage one another was so prominent in the New Testament. Paul wrote:

"Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing."
- 1 Thess 5:11 - NIV

Pretty strong words.

I have written a few blog entries on encouragement. Tear 'em Down or Build 'em Up? Leading in a mixed up world and Leadership: The Power of "Good Job" and "Thank-you" and of course Empowerment and Encouragement.

It is a recurring theme with me because I see so many people in need of an encouraging word. I know it is tough to be encouraging when I am reviewing a document for publication and need to make changes. The goal is to make it an encouraging teaching moment rather than a demoralizing experience for the author. It is tough to do. But it needs to be done.

If I want to encourage risk takers--in thought and action; I need to encourage them and not assassinate them when the results fall short of the vision we had.

I remember the saying--every cloud has a silver lining. Now that is truly encouragement.

We learn more from adversity than from success.

So from an encouragement point of view--we'll do better next time.

Let's go out for a drink and talk this one over--get out of the office, out of the threatening professional trappings of power and leadership and talk person to person. And at the end of it all--be happy that action was taken. Be encouraged. Tomorrow can be better than today.

Leadership--the Intangible

Leadership is intangible, and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it. Omar N. Bradley

I get a lot out of this quote from General Omar Bradley because it underscores the fundamental nature of leadership. Leadership is not a physical thing and it must be done by people--leaders. I do not believe leadership can ever be relegated to a computer to recreate. It is a skill about handling and motivating people.

So there you are---a great technician, fully knowledgeable in your area of expertise. Loving being a technician. You could be a great teacher, or a research engineer, or a software designer.

A recognized expert in your field.

Respected by peers and superiors.


And now suddenly you find yourself "promoted" into a leadership position. They (notice how we often refer to leadership above us as , "they?") want you to lead a team.


Scared? Yeah, if that is what happened to you, you should be scared because good technicians make good leaders only with assistance and if they have not offered you assistance--you are being set up for a lot of frustration and potentially failure.

That means that you must actively search out and get leadership advice. Notice I said leadership and not management. You are a manager--we all are managers. We all manage things in order to survive: the fuel in the gas tank, the money in the checking account, the groceries on our shelves. So being a manager at work is fundamentally no different than what we do every day.

But . . .

Leadership is different--it involves people.

It is intangible.

It is not easy and there is no cookbook formula for success. Why? Because every team and every person and every task in different. A good leader is able to find the style, the motivation, the approach for the specific situation or mission.

It took me a long time to understand the subtleties--but that is why leadership in the US Navy was always seemed so different from the leadership I did as an officer in the US Air Force. But now I understand, there is a different mission and set of standards that must be followed on a naval vessel as compared to an Air Force Base.

That is why leadership of a small church group is so different from leadership of a work group charged with a specific task.

The skills are similar--but are not identically transferable.

So what is needed? A discussion of the basic principles of leadership and tools for the tool box.

Most important though? Leaders need to see the person in each team member.

It is through motivating people to achieve that leaders succeed.

Monday Musings - November 15, 2010

1. I went to the doctor for a physical the other day and he gave me both good news and bad news. The good news was that I don't have any new problems to worry about. The bad news? I still have all of the old ones to deal with.

2. Why are days off from work are shorter than work days?

3. Is it really 5 o'clock somewhere? And if it is, why am I not there?

4.Watching someone's dog can be trying.

5. What do you get when you add three boys under the age of six with four dogs and try to watch a football game?

6. Weekend? What is a weekend?

7. Football is a fickle sport. Every team in the AFC North lost this week and the Cowboys won!

8. A high school in Virginia has eliminated the "F" grade. No one fails anymore. Wow, if only life were really like that. How are kids going to learn to live if they don't learn the truth about consequences and life? People fail--and that is not all bad, ask Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried chicken fame. He failed 1,000 times before he succeeded. One "A" can erase a lot of "F's."