Play it cool!

I always come away a complete mess after cleaning my kitchen, bathroom or washing the car or my dog. My shirt  sleeves will be soaked, I'll have a smudge of grim on my cheek, sweat dripping down my temples, and I'll be completely worn out. I throw myself into my work - any work. While this is okay in housework since it goes relatively unnoticed, this kind of behavior is not rewarded in the business world. In fact, I would say it's generally discouraged: "Don't work so hard, you're making the rest of us look bad!" Ironic isn't it? Or is it. Doing more with little effort seems to be a logical professional strategy. To look like "Cool Hand Luke" in a stressful environment is important in a competitive situation when the competitors are other co-workers. Those cool customers who are able to pull this off are often rewarded with advancement and accolades. Whether they actually did the work that they get credit for doesn't really matter - as long as it got done under their watch.  

Be COOL!

I've encountered this more times than I care to recall and for me, personally, it has prevented further advancement and much internal angst. And I know it's because I'm seen running around, with my sleeves rolled up and sweat dripping down my face (literally and figuratively). I don't know why I feel like I have to do this but it probably has something to do with how I was brought up... if you aren't seen running your butt off, then you aren't working hard enough. Somehow I got this subliminal message through the years. This is really funny because I am always touting the importance of doing more with less (an important management strategy) but I still remain in the position of feeling like I have to run my butt off to impress and get noticed by others. It never works and the older I get, the harder it is to do. My knees can't take it. 

So check your brow at the end of the day, if you've been sweating - and not because of an hour on the treadmill - you probably need to rethink your work approach. I know I did. 

Everything seems impossible until it's done - Nelson Mandela

WM #21:
This last week I heard a great quote from a project manager who I work with who used it to kick off an important meeting:  "Everything seems impossible until it's done." This Nelson Mandela quote provides a real perspective for anyone who has or plans to finish something that may have seemed insurmountable. For example, I thought I would NEVER finish my doctorate but I've done it. Today, I helped a good friend walk through her final dissertation defense. I defended my dissertation last September while preparing to move to a new job in Illinois leaving my two adult children behind to fend for themselves, a house, a dog & cat, and a husband in Afghanistan. My friend Wanda - an amazing woman who has provided me more support that I can even come close to thanking her for or chronicling in any way - reflected back with me on this path of cerebral and academic agony. It's a long road and anyone who thinks, or is exploring, the PhD path - please talk to people who has just finished to understand the pain level and whether you REALLY are prepared for the journey. For us it seems worth it. Some perspectives though: What does "done" mean to you? Not always does done actually mean what you think. Like a marathon or finishing a degree which both have an end point:  the race ends at 26.2 or a diploma is collected. But sometimes this isn't necessarily done. I ran a marathon ONCE then never ran again. The training and the race completely burned me out of enjoying running. It takes great dedication and time to keep it up. With my dissertation I now have a mountain of debt and  am not working at the level I should be. A PhD is not respected in the non-academic world as it should be. I will still have to cultivate this degree with writing, researching, and networking. So I am not done. When will I be done? Probably the day I push up daisies.

WM #20 Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

Do you ever wonder what happens to those great ideas that you think of but never do anything about?  They get acted on by those who have the incentive and initiative to do something about it (and likely the revenue). I had come up with this great idea of a sock of the month club a few months ago (I wrote about it on this blog under Brilliant Ideas) and someone has already done it. Two guys from Austin Texas did it but their model needs some serious improvements! See their site Sock of the Month club. For $11 you can get a single pair of stripped, Italian, polka dotted, and mustachioed pair of socks. It's brilliant that they came up with this idea for those guys who bravely wear socks with their sandals or to compliment a cool seersucker suit and loafers. Yet, what is really needed is a good pair of socks for us gals to accommodate our obsession with shoes (and our inability to keep a paired set of socks longer than six months). I don't know about you but I need socks tailored (long, short, thin, thick, vibrant, seasonal, etc.) to my shoe variety (ridding boots, ballet shoes, clogs, tennis shoes). Now that would be a sock of the month club I could get in to. 

Now what does this have to do with management? Sometimes we have to make things better in management. While others blaze a path of industry and innovation, sometimes it is up to others to bravely jump onto those tracks then veer off breaking new ground into new territory unknown by their predecessors. Technology companies are constantly adapting and mimicing each other in hopes to improve upon a good idea (e.g., Google maps, Wikipedia, Netflix). Customers always want choices and improvements upon the products and services that they love. So watch out Sock of the Month guys, while your idea is good it misses a whole demographic!

A BIG MOVE!

A BIG MOVE!
I'm moving to Illinois.

"Who moves TO the Mid West instead of away from it!" I contemplated while traversing through corn fields and really straight freeways. I'm moving from Connecticut to Illinois this month.

This will be the first time that I have ever moved without my family and specifically for a career that is directly related to just me and not my husband whose career I have supporting and following  for over 25 years; it's a very strange feeling. I'm leaving behind my two grown daughters, a 15 month grandson, a 10 year old mutt, a whiny grey cat, a vast collection of CDs and DVDs, and a house. The move and the feeling of abandoning my family (my husband is in Afghanistan and will return home to Illinois in February) is overwhelming and leaves me with a huge lump in my throat. Yet paradoxically I am excited for this change that gives me an opportunity to do something for my career that could be both pivotal and significant.

Many people are fearful of change and often avoid anything this drastic. For me this is a chance to do something that is both a challenge and an opportunity to skills and expertise in a different and new setting. Also, to brush myself off of a tough couple of years that have seriously drained my self-esteem and confidence. While I'm well educated, smart, and well-versed in management as well as communication, change, strategy the opportunities in Connecticut were limited; it's a tough place to get accepted professionally. I wasn't able to get a full-time permanent job. I'm hoping Illinois will be different and, already, I get the sense it is.

So here's to a new path and some interesting challenges living in the heart of America!

WM #18 : Accountability

The Hartford Courant is reporting on a student from Trinity College who went to Costa Rica to compete in a Triathlon a few months ago over spring break. While his experience was no less then spectacular and rewarding to run, swim, and ride in a lush tropical clime, it ended on a low note when he struck a bunch of pedestrians outside a bus station on his way to the airport. This 22 year old college senior proceeded to experience what it is like for many Americans to have their inalienable rights ignored and essential be nonexistent; essentially the assumption that we are innocent until proven guilty.

While I understand the pain and anguish of his parents waiting state side for their son to deal with this situation, it was an incredible "teachable moment" for this young man. An opportunity to build character and recognize that humility is a tool as well as a trait in these types of situations. He was a guest in that country as we all are when we visit as tourists or for employment on foreign soil. Once we learn this within our very transient society, the better equipped we will be for these types of tragedies. The young man should have bucked up and taken his punishment, paid whatever bribes, fines were required with great relish and joy, sat in a jail cell, or waited for his time in court in some cheap hotel until justice was served in THAT country. While painful and probably wrought with inexplicable inconsistencies, he needed to do it! Instead, he snuck out of the country (allegedly under the recommendation of the US State Department) and proceeded back to Massachusetts to a hero's welcome.

What kind of messages are we sending about accountability?


 TV News Report - Trinity College Student Kept in Costa Rica

WM #17 - Brilliant Ideas

Where does all the time go? I realized today I have failed to post anything since November. I get all of these great (and weird) ideas/thoughts and  forget to spend any time actually sharing them. Do you ever wonder how many brilliant (and not so brilliant) ideas are  lost because they are failed to acted on? Our planet is occupied by 7 BILLION people and likely the collection of brilliant ideas that could have been may have solved all of our worldly woes. People are afraid to come up with new ideas because of the fear of failure. And it's hard work trying to come up with ways to implement a new idea. For example, I wish there was a "sock-of-the-month club." I came up with this idea and think it would solve this huge issue for me - a big bag of mismatched socks. It drives me crazy. And I have to wear socks that match my shoes (thin vs. thick), my pants (black, blue, gray, beige, tan), season (wool, polyester blend, cotton blend, festive) and activity (hiking, walking, running, bicycling, yoga). I buy socks regularly because of this dilemma and I hate it. So a sock-of- the month club - using the Netflix model -enables customers to send back socks that are mismatched, check your queue for the socks that you'd like to wear for that month and what you need and continually have regular pairs of socks coming in for you and your family. BRILLIANT, right? My husband says I'm weird but that's only because he wears the same damn socks every day and all of his match.

Okay, so now you are asking, "Well Miss Smartypants, why don't you go out and do it." Here is a short list of why not (in no particular order):
1) Who manufactures the socks?
2) Would I go to existing sock manufacturers or partner with a single sock maker?
3) Web site design that is user friendly and customer friendly.
4) How much money would I need to start?
5) Write a business plan (duh, I'm a business teacher)
6) Could I do this out of my home?
7) Who would I need to hire to ensure fast and efficient delivery?
8) Am I cut out to be an entrepreneur?
9) Can I get my daughters to help me?
10) How do I make sure it is successful?

See what I mean - too much to think about. I think I'll just go buy some new socks.

#16 - Harvest for College Tuition

There is a great article by Elizabeth Dwoskin in the November 20th issue of Bloomberg Businessweek titled "Why American's won't do dirty jobs." One of best American assets in this country is our agricultural industry. In many states, if it were not for beef (Montana), oranges (Florida), grapes (California), and corn (Midwest) our economy and our way of life would surely not exist as we know it. We are a well-fed nation because of our adoration of food and agriculture provides a very necessary economic and commercial engine for that love. Yet the problem: there is no one willing to harvest the crops.

Ironic isn't it?! Millions of people are out of work but are too snobby to take on the work of immigrants who come to this country to work tirelessly for near minimum wage jobs (or per piece or bucket or bushel)! But that is where the problem lies is the pay is not enough and the hours are horrendous requiring back breaking work that many of us went to college to avoid. After working for 12 years in worker's compensation and counseling legions of injured workers suffering from debilitating injuries due to physical labor (lineman, loggers, certified nursing assistant, truck drivers), I always touted the benefits of a good education - a desk job! Now I'm not so sure that we have been sending the right message. Instead, perhaps the message should be changed: work hard while you can while going to college to avoid having to do it forever!

BRAINSTORM: (Likely many won't approve because so few care to get their hands dirty but I think this could solve many problems and create a sustainable education system and agricultural industry - so bear with me as I elucidate). Harvest for Tuition! Yup - every student going to a public post-secondary institution can have their tuition waived if they put in 360 hours (6 days a week, 10 hours a day, for six weeks) of labor (per academic year) at a farm planting, maintaining, harvesting, and preparing fields. Okay, granted not everyone is physically capable of performing some of these duties but a majority are. Those who are not (and it's not because mommy said so) they can participate in other duties related to raising crops; forecasting crop futures (economics), assess value of crops and equipment (marketing/accounting), impact of weather (meteorology), pest (entomology), and other environmental factors (geology), tracking hours of the workers (human resources) and other aspects of the business of running a farm.

This would all be subsidized by the US government, students would then not need financial aid and those  who participate will be able to utilize this experience in the class room as well as gain a better understanding and appreciation of a billion dollar industry and it's variety of crops, locations, politics, and power across America. It will be entirely voluntary thus eliminating the illegal immigrant issue. Those students who pass on this labor agreement will have to pay full tuition. In addition they will miss a sense of pride over calluses that ring their palms, a wicked farmer tan, and respect for hard work.