Playing the game of Dodge'em with the potholes in the road

This winter weather has been particularly brutal for much of America. Here in Indianapolis, the weather has been even worse than the blizzard of '78, which I have fond recollections of sledding and playing in as an 11 year old. As an adult, dealing with this weather is not much fun. One has to prepare ahead by stocking up on supplies and deal with being cooped up at home for long periods of time since it was often too cold to go outside. It is especially hard for me because I love being active and in nature, hiking, walking or even sitting.

Another negative effect of this weather has been the tremendous number of bad potholes in the road spread all over the city. It is not easy to drive when we have the added burden of having to pay even greater attention than usual in order to dodge potholes as well. Otherwise, we may end up with damaged tires or even an axle.

This reminds me of a time when I was teaching doctoral students on the island of Jamaica about a decade ago. (Note: some of the best students I have ever taught were in Jamaica and India.) On one of my three trips there, I arrived a few days early to do some sightseeing. After having many experiences renting cars in various cities, I was quite surprised when for the first time ever I was shown where the spare tire and jack were. I felt it was a bad omen. Not long afterward, I understood why when I drove on the two-lane highways to traverse the island and drive around the coast. I was also playing dodge'em there; at times, I needed to cross into the other lane to avoid huge potholes. At one point, I was unable to avoid one, which resulted in a chunk being taken my tire that I ended up having to pay for. I was fortunate to not have to deal with a flat tire.

Later in the trip, I took a wrong turn due to a lack of good signage. Then, I realized how much worse the side roads were. I couldn't drive more than about 10 miles an hour because the roads were so bumpy. As I progressed around the coastal highway, I saw a sign stating that their tax dollars were at work. It made me wonder how they could make such a claim.

I know that the Indianapolis and Jamaican governments are/were probably trying to do their best to provide services. It is difficult to manage in a situation where funds are limited. Nevertheless, it is important to stay within a budget and make sure to use whatever funds are available in the best way possible to meet the needs in the country, city or county.

How can the 2014 Super Bowl become truly 'super'?

Football is a very popular sport in America with tremendous influence on society in both positive and negative ways. After watching many games over the past several years with my fiancé (someone is who is very knowledgeable in the sport, strategy, coaching people and fitness) and following some of the news about the players and sport, I have often wondered what could be done to make the sport truly 'super.' What could be changed to ensure that negative consequences do not continue to be a part of the game? (Note: I wrote my first blog on the Super Bowl about three years ago with the title "The Super Bowl - valuable lessons for life and business.")

In just two days, over 100 million people will be viewing the Super Bowl live in America to see if the Denver Broncos or Seattle Seahawks will become the champion. It is great that two of the top teams who have earned their spots in the Super Bowl are competing. Clearly, these teams have demonstrated great skills and strategies for winning their matches.

I am particularly impressed with the talent, perseverance and character of Peyton Manning, the quarterback of the Denver Broncos. The fact that he fought so hard to come back from devastating injuries caused intentionally by other player(s) is a tribute to his mental, emotional and physical discipline. He is, in my opinion (from what I know of him), someone to be admired. The same can't be said of some of the others in the NFL.

When I considered what led to other teams not ending up in the Super Bowl this year, I was once again dismayed with this sport. One of the cases that disturbed me had to do with the Indianapolis Colts during the playoffs. The comeback of the team, led by quarterback Andrew Luck, against the Kansas City Chiefs was phenomenal. The next game against the New England Patriots led to my dismay. When one of the other players appeared to intentionally trip Andrew Luck, I was upset about not only the unsportsmanlike behavior, but also the fact that the referee did not penalize the player (either due to lack of not seeing the behavior or choosing to ignore it). That behavior could have resulted in a negative impact on Luck mentally, emotionally and/or physically, thus causing the game to be lost in effect, which is what did happen. Anyone who cheats should be severely penalized.

It is my sincere hope that this Super Bowl will only include fair, sportsmanlike behavior and that the team that truly deserves to win due to skills, strategy and proper behavior is the champion. It would be great if the NFL actually had and properly enforced all the rules necessary to ensure proper behavior by effectively using video playback at ALL times to review ANY plays and possible infractions regarding the rules to punish those who misbehave, either intentionally or unintentionally. Why not learn from the World Cup about how video can be used to properly monitor the game for rulings about scores and penalties?

When the next football season starts, I would like to see that those who intentionally break the rules are properly penalized - that the punishment fit the crime. It is ridiculous that coaches and players who intentionally injured players on other teams be allowed to continue to be part of the NFL. In the world outside of the sport, those people would have (most likely) been found guilty of a crime, such as assault, for what they did. Just look at the cases of Tonya Harding and Lance Armstrong. They were both banned for life from their sports for their improper behavior. Why shouldn't the same penalty apply to those who break the most important rules in the NFL?

We need to teach children and adults what is important in life. Being someone of good character is what we should all aspire to. Having good health is also important. Making money is necessary for having a good life, but should not be achieved through sacrificing one's health or good character.

When words are BOTH true and kind, they can IMPROVE the world!

Recent events caused me to start thinking about the following quote by Buddha:

"When words are both true and kind, they can change the world."

The quote is written on a beautiful hanging on the wall across from my desk. (It was a gift from an amazing friend and colleague of mine, Michelle Lebowitz-Goebel.)

I decided to change the quote in the subject line of my blog to provide more clarity on the brilliant insight of Buddha. I first emphasized in capital letters the word 'both' because it is important to realize that if you want to have a positive impact on the world, then you need to understand that there are two requirements for doing so.

First, you must speak KIND words to others. I am reminded of the saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." We can choose not to be hurt by others speaking meanly to us. However, when it comes to people we love, it may be very difficult to do so. It may even be nearly impossible.

Second, you must also choose to tell the TRUTH. But that doesn't mean you have to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We should choose instead to speak the truth in such a manner that reduces the chances of another person feeling hurt or upset or at least minimizes the level of pain they will feel.

For example, if someone asks you what you think of their work which you don't think is good, then you can respond by saying, "It is not bad." Imagine how their response would differ if you stated instead that it was "crap." Using that word would be mean, instead of being kind to the other person. You can also think about how you would feel if you had 'walked a mile in their moccasins.' In other words, you could try to imagine how you would feel if you had truly experienced their life. Would you rather hear that your work was not bad or crap?

It is especially important to follow this advice with the people you love. Why?

Because they are more sensitive to your words, especially if they deeply love you as well.

It is also important to realize that our thoughts are what lead us to choose our words or lack thereof. In other words, our thoughts create our reality. What you may not realize is that our thoughts actually hurt others even if we don't speak them. The thoughts actually become projections that negatively affect others. For example, those thoughts are presented through our body language. People can pick up on your thoughts and feelings in various ways. Basically, the cause-and-effect logic is that thoughts lead to feelings, thus resulting in our words and actions. Our feelings are what trigger our choices about words to say or not say and actions to take or not take.

How NOT to dramatically improve a business: the case of a home goods retail chain

Some years ago, Dr. Eli Goldratt decided to give me a test based on a real case of what had happened in a large home goods retail chain.

Eli: "Executives at ABC retail chain decided to hire consultants to improve their company's performance in terms of inventory turns, and other related measures of performance. They evaluated a number of proposals for the project. In the end, they decided to hire several different companies and divide the work among those companies. Each company was responsible for improving one part of the supply chain. Prior to implementation, the inventory turnover was 2.2."

"Lisa, what do you think the inventory turns were after the implementation?" ...



Lisa: After briefly considering the scenario, I responded, "I don't think the inventory turnover improved much, if at all. As a matter of fact, I would predict that inventory turnover most likely worsened."

Eli: "After months of implementing the changes, the inventory turns had decreased to 1.9! Not surprising, eh?"

Well, if you are wondering why this was the end result of the implementation, feel free to comment in this blog. At some point in the future, I will write another blog to explain what happened and why.

Improving our processes for handling the aging of people in a heartfelt and logical manner

I had an interesting conversation with a social worker from St. Vincent Hospice in Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) about her work and thoughts on how to handle people who are elderly and dying. (I was very impressed with her - Anne Alderfer). She spoke about how it took years for us (in America) to more effectively handle the birthing process. It did finally improve. For example, in the past, the father was not even allowed in the room during the birth at a hospital. Now, the father can be in the room if he chooses to be part of the birthing of his child or children.

Our conversation led me to think more about how we handle our elderly in general, not just ones who are dying. I agree with her that we should have respect for the knowledge and experience that they can share with us. Some cultures, such as those of the Indians (from whom the land of America was taken) do revere their elderly and treat them with respect. We should do the same. We should spend time with them to learn from them and enjoy whatever valuable time we have left to share with them, especially our loved ones. We should also be sure to document any stories or information from their past for us to keep and share with future generations. I liked Anne’s idea of using a life review book to guide us to ask questions about their life to share. We can then be sure to write, audio and/or video record the information for the future.

How should we handle the case in which our loved ones are dying? We should be sure they are as comfortable as possible. We should try to reduce their physical pain. We should find out how they want to spend their remaining time and do our best to honor their wishes. Each person should be free to choose how to live their life, as long as their choice does not harm others.

Lessons from Borders and Xerox - adapt or perish

Borders and Xerox are two business organizations that can teach us a valuable lesson. Borders sells books through retail stores to customers. Xerox sells machines for making copies of papers. What could these two different companies have to teach us?

It is a lesson that we can learn from nature. Charles Darwin was a scientist who realized that species (i.e. animals) were evolving over time. Species learned to adapt or risk becoming extinct. I learned much about Darwin from an exceptional movie titled Creation. This movie presents the story of how he ended up writing a book on his theory of evolution. (I am aware that there has been controversy on this book because some people believe his theory in contradiction with what was written in the Bible. That is a subject for another blog.)

Xerox successfully adapted when the business world started to reduce paper consumption and copying. Borders, on the other hand, did not successfully adapt when the world started moving more toward electronic, rather than paper books. That is why Borders recently filed for bankruptcy protection. Barnes & Noble, another bookstore retail chain, has successfully adapted thus far. For example, this organization has moved into the electronic age with its book reader and online bookstore.

Adapting is not the only condition for continued life and prosperity. To prosper, an organization must successfully implement an effective plan of strategies and tactics to become ever-flourishing. A number of organizations have utilized the Transformational Strategy and Tactic tree (from TOC) to become ever-flourishing. The key to continued life and prosperity of any organization is to not only be successfully led and managed, but also to continue to adapt to the changing environment.

Planet Earth - ensuring our home is in great shape

This morning, I was enjoying my walk on the Greenbelt trail in Scottsdale, Arizona. This trail is a long one that winds through the city and forks in different directions at times. It consists of a concrete path, with large areas of grass on either side. Scottsdale (which is near Phoenix) is part of the desert. That means all this grass has been artificially implanted here, along with an underground sprinkling system to sustain it.

As I was walking, I noticed there were a number of large puddles on the concrete. I realized these puddles were not due to rain, but rather the sprinklers. I became dismayed by the fact that so much water is being wasted, not just on the path, but on the implanted grass. I admit that the grass looks appealing and feels good to walk on with bare feet. However, we need to also consider the negative ramifications of our actions. Water is a valuable resource that should not be wasted.

The other night I watched an amazing YouTube video titled Home. The scenery and narrative were compelling. The objective of the video was to protect our planet, to understand how much damage we humans have caused. Watching the movie reminded me of Al Gore's work on global warming. His movie, The Inconvenient Truth, was also compelling. Even great movies, such as Avatar, The Bee Movie and The Last Unicorn convey similar ideas. Will we finally start listening to these messages and take appropriate action?

After I contemplated the movies further, I remembered some thoughts that Eli Goldratt shared in his great book, The Choice, explaining his philosophy of life. He pointed out that Newton stated that nature is exceedingly simple and harmonious with itself. Eli used lessons and methods from the hard sciences to apply to developing his approach to teach the world to think (his goal in life).

My conclusion is that we need to take actions to not only protect all life on Earth (plants, animals, ...), but more importantly to ensure that the harmony is restored and sustained in the future. Nature has much to teach us about life.