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.

A chance meeting on a plane with an exceptional young man

About a week ago, I met an exceptional man on my flight from Indianapolis (on my way back to Arizona after visiting family there). His name is Josh Bleill. Josh lost both his legs as a Marine in Iraq during the war. Josh was traveling with his wife, Nikki, and their two month-old daughter, Allie. We had a good conversation on the hour-long flight. I was impressed with his attitude and approach to life.

Josh is the Colts Community Spokesman. It was interesting to talk with him given my family's passion for the Colts NFL football team. I started following the sport closely last year after I developed a real interest in American football once I understood more about strategy in the sport. It must have been difficult for the team and Peyton Manning (the quarterback) to lose in the playoffs in the last few minutes of the game.

Before the end of our flight, I decided to give Josh a gift: President Barack Obama's book Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to my Daughters. I thanked him for his service to our country. I didn't sign the book because it not up to me to do so. I think it would be great if our President, at the very least, signed his book.

Today, I went online to find out more about Josh. I learned that he wrote a book titled, One Step at a Time: A Young Marine's Story of Courage. He also can be booked to speak at events. For more information, go to www.colts.com/onestep.

Why don't we follow good advice?

Today, I was pondering the question of why people don’t follow the advice given to them. I believe there are several potential explanations regarding why we don’t do what is suggested, assuming the advice is good.

One reason is that the person really does not understand the advice. We need to be sure to listen carefully, ask questions, take notes or ask for visual aids to ensure we fully understand the advice being provided. The key to understanding is to know what to do, how to do it and the logic underlying the recommended actions.

Another potential reason is that we don’t fully trust the person giving us the advice. In other words, we question whether or not their expertise is valid regarding the subject the advice is being offered on. One way in which we can validate their expertise is through questioning. Before taking advice, I first make sure I fully understand what is being recommended and why. Unless the full logic makes sense to me, I won’t act on the advice. I check it using cause-and-effect logic in general and based on knowledge I have acquired in life thus far.

Another reason for not following someone’s advice relates to the difference between what was explained and what actions you took to implement it. When I learned how to write Strategy and Tactic trees, I realized how important it is to clearly explain actions in terms of what the action is for and why the action is the best choice for achieving the objective. The only way a person can follow advice well is by fully understanding the advice. For example, it is not just about knowing the rules. When you know the rules and the logic of the rules, you can understand what to do in different situations. Then, you will know how and when to break a rule effectively to still achieve the desired objective.