The Happy Burro

There are countless people that work hard, getting things done on time, on budget.  Turning in or turning out ‘quality’ work.  Work that is expected, asked for, paid.  But is it really amazing?  How much of your daily work is good, expected, safe?  How much is so good no one is doing it quite like you?  For me, it takes a constant inspiring reminder to figure out how and when to elevate my work, my ‘game’, to be more than just good enough.

Totally Frickin’ Amazing

I did it.  After years of following his work, reading his missives, printing out his ‘cube grenade’ cartoons and taping them to my wall, I finally bought one of Hugh’s prints. (If you are unfamiliar with Hugh MacLeod, you can get a glimpse of the artist here.)

The Order

In true Midwest fashion, I waited until a coupon was available.  It might have been as simple as free shipping, I don’t recall.  Even though I had wanted the piece for months, it took a small savings to spur me to my first purchase. I was completely thrilled as I hit ‘send’ on the order.  If only it didn’t take so long to get here!  (the second one, here, purchased at full price with no hesitation.  In fact, did it from the airport, on my Droid!).

The Arrival

Due to the excellent tracking available through Hugh’s shipping method, I was able to know which day the art would arrive.  I may have even left work a few minutes early so I could open the box…

The Installation

I have the art on my wall at work.  I remember the giddy feeling as I pulled the framed piece from my car’s back seat, rode up the elevator in the parking ramp and walked through the skyways to work.  I wonder how many people noticed what I was carrying?  Or the stupid grin on my face.

Recommendation

Find what inspires you.  Keep it ever-present in your life, visually, audibly, always.

And…be totally frickin’ amazing!!

Joe Raasch :: Jun.13.2010 :: Employee Engagement, Life :: 2 Comments »

(originally posted April 4, 2007, revised June 6, 2010)

Meetings. That’s it.  Just sitting in meetings. Ones with no agenda.  And more than 10 people.  With no free food.  And really bad Powerpoint.  That’s one of my pet peeves.  That said, if there is a focused agenda, the right people in the room, and action outcomes – count me in for those meetings 12 hours a day, six days a week!  If your experience is anything like mine, we little worry of impending 12 hour days…

Extrovert

The strange part is that I am an extrovert – meaning I get my energy from being with other people.  I should love, love, LOVE every opportunity to get out of my office and commingle with others. But I don’t.  I avoid meetings with the power of Samson. I am not anti-social, just anti-rework, anti-unfocused, anti-boring.

Try This

Next time you receive a meeting request with no agenda, respond ‘decline’ or ‘tentative’ and ask for an agenda.  I tried this late last year for three months.

You will have to start posting agendas for your meetings too.  Fair is fair.  I’ve found that I get better attendance and the right people in the room.  A sample comment: “I see you’re meeting specifically on the performance management system.  I won’t be there, but I’ll make sure Sally attends.  She is our team expert.”  I love it.  The other person would have shown since she is the ‘lead’.  She’d take notes and give them to Sally…who would have to follow up with me and others, possibly in another meeting.  You get the idea.

What Will Happen

Most likely you’ll be invited to fewer meetings. I attended 35% fewer meetings compared to the previous three 3-month periods. The ones I did attend were focused, fast, and resulted in actions.

Check your calendar for the past three months.  If you could remove even one 30-minute meeting a week and replace it with a client phone call, some personal reflection time, networking…the possibilities are endless.

Caveat: Make sure you’re not declining CLM (career limiting move) meetings (read: the VP or senior leadership ones)!

Joe Raasch :: Jun.06.2010 :: Change Management, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Performance Management :: 2 Comments »

(first published May 12, 2008)

Innovation as a business initiative seems to rear its head every six years or so. We’re on the tail end of another “let’s innovate!” run. What came of all those resources spent trying to come up with the next big idea? Did your company find a revolutionary change, new product, or client base that was worth all the effort? Or did the innovation teams post a slew of new ideas, declare victory and melt back to their old jobs?

True innovation is about creating a sustainable (product/idea/change/client). The last thing it is about is creating teams of people to brainstorm ideas. Ever hear a senior leader say, “I want five new ideas from each division by next month!”? VPs scramble, teams are formed, consultants are consulted. This in itself isn’t bad. The CEO usually gets ideas. How many get implemented?

The Shift – Light, not Heat

“Light, At Thirty-Two” by Michael Blumenthal from Days We Would Rather Know.

It is the first thing God speaks of
when we meet Him, in the good book
of Genesis. And now, I think
I see it all in terms of light:

How, the other day at dusk
on Ossabaw Island, the marsh grass
was the color of the most beautiful hair
I had ever seen, or how—years ago
in the early-dawn light of Montrose Park—
I saw the most ravishing woman
in the world, only to find, hours later
over drinks in a dark bar, that it
wasn’t she who was ravishing,
but the light: how it filtered
through the leaves of the magnolia
onto her cheeks, how it turned
her cotton dress to silk, her walk
to a tour-jeté.

And I understood, finally,
what my friend John meant,
twenty years ago, when he said:
Love is keeping the lights on. And I understood
why Matisse and Bonnard and Gauguin
and Cézanne all followed the light:
Because they knew all lovers are equal
in the dark, that light defines beauty
the way longing defines desire,
that everything depends on how light falls
on a seashell, a mouth … a broken bottle.

And now, I’d like to learn
to follow light wherever it leads me,
never again to say to a woman, YOU
are beautiful, but rather to whisper:
Darling, the way light fell on your hair
this morning when we woke—God,
it was beautiful. Because, if the light is right,
then the day and the body and the faint pleasures
waiting at the window … they too are right.
All things lovely there. As that first poet wrote,
in his first book of poems: Let there be light.

###

When asked for ideas, focus on the vital few that would create a sustainable future in your organization. Pulling people from their jobs to create a list of going nowhere ideas isn’t insightful and won’t light the way to the future. You’re just creating heat (i.e. friction).

Follow the light.

Joe Raasch :: May.23.2010 :: Change Management, Innovation, Leadership :: Add a Comment Here