Thoughts

Adapting to current times — becoming our own “change agent”

Habitat for Humanity a well known and highly effective charity has started a pilot program in Charlotte. They are buying foreclosure properties.  Theystarted with 12, but have plans for many more, given the success of their trial program. Volunteers are still used. They spend some time and money to do a  fix-up,  depending upon the condition of the home. The turn around time is much quicker. They adapted to the current times, and saw an opportunity to change its “model,” although not drastically. Habitat for Humanity is getting get real people real help, one-home at a time.

Sometimes we get stuck in our particular life situation — a business that is faltering; a dead-end job; a failing relationship; or a seemingly intractable conflict.

So, the lesson of Habitat for Humanity for all of us is that flexibility and opportunity is sometimes staring us in the face. Small changes in our methods, not necessarily our mission, can result in great success.

A simple  re-tooling can often make great changes in the way we llok at problems and consequently solve them. We are all  prone to “toughing it out”  and fighting are way through the current problem. Sometimes small changes produce great results, if we let them.

We must  look at our existing business plans, jobs, relationships, and conflicts. we must accept responsibility for our own role in their current status. We must recognize  our ability to act as a “change agent” to produce a better business, job, relationship, conflict resolution. Do not fear change. Cause it. 

“Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible.” Claude T. Bissell
 

 

Horizon Realty – Bad news travels fast – why not good news?

The less than 140 character tweet by Amanda Bonnen traveled across the world in nanoseconds and produced a fury of commentary about the propriety of expressing opinions via the new social media vehicles.  Amanda chose Twitter, where there is a 140 character limit, which by definition, minimizes that capacity to tell the story.

Do any of us know what really happened? No. What do we know? A tenant was unhappy. The landlord did not respond in a way that met the tenant’s expectations. The tenant expected that the Landlord should “care” more about the tenant. So the tenant complains publicly via a social media network. ( She could have filed some kind of lawsuit and said the same thing. Likely, although it would have been a public document, not many people  would have seen it. It would have cost her a few bucks in filing fees, could not be limited to 140 characters, and the world would not know about Amanda Bonnen or Horizon Realty.

So the tweet had its 48 hours of fame, and demonstrated the power of social media, the ability of traditional news outlets to capture and explode an issue’s awareness, and the opportunity for all of us to have opinions about Amanda, Horizon, Twitter, social media, news coverage, lawsuits, etc.

Amanda apparently had less thatn 20 “followers” but the power and efficacy of Twitter was that the tweet and the lawsuit were distributed to millions in seconds. If Amanda had tweeted that she had a good experience with Horizon Realty rather than a bad one – would we have ever heard of her or Horizon? Not likely.

For me, in the wake of all of that — it struck me — Why doesn’t good news travel as fast as bad news? I am on Twitter (@valentilaw) and am by no means a real social media expert. I follow all kinds of people, from all kinds of businesses and backgrounds. In my small “tworld,” in response to Twitter’s prompt of “what are you doing?”  — I see people ( 99.9% of whom I have never met)    share all kinds of information about their lives, their likes, their dislikes, frustrations, happiness, unhappiness, their work, their lack of work, and their passions.

 Some tweets make me smile, sometimes I laugh out loud, some inspire me, and yes, some make me  cringe. Some educate me. Some introduce me to the work  of others. Many things I choose to share ( re-tweet) but most I do not. Most tweets do not strike me one way or the other. But I know that they are meaningful to others. (I may not care what you are cooking for dinner, but I am sure others do.) The point is that sharing 140 characters allows others to think and respond to something quickly. So we read the “twit” and make an assessment of what to do — some contain links to news articles; research; photos; videos; even restaurant menus — depending upon what attracts us, we look further.  This is a powerful way to spread the word about anything — Amanda and Horizon Realty proving the point.

So here is my thought —-

Let’s use the power of the new social media outlets to share the good things that are out there — the volunteer work, the fund-raising, the acts of kindness, the thankfulness, and the accolades that are expressed repeatedly. Tweeting good news may travel  more slowly. But who cares? Like the check that comes by snail mail instead of the cash by direct deposit — you can spend it just the same.

“The Cambridge police acted stupidly…” – an unfortunate remark

As much as I believe that our President does an excellent job of saying the right thing at the right time, almost all the time — I think he failed when he made the remarks  the Cambridge police.

What is painfully apparent is that he spoke without full knowledge of the facts of the occurrence. Also these remarks fueled a national debate on the prevalence of “racial profiling.” While I am no expert on profiling, it seems to me that the police responded to  a request to investigate a crime in process. In my view profiling has no applicability. If the police did not respond to the call because it was a black allegedly breaking into a black occupied residence, then that would, arguably, be fodder for a discussion of whether profiling was present, and a basis for the police inaction.

If the “profiling” occurred after the police interrogated the professor in his home, then any examination of the issue shouldd be done after full disclosure of the facts from all those present. What the press has forgotten is that the professor did not get arrested for breaking and entering. Rather, it was for disorderly conduct, which apparently relates to his alleged behavior after the police arrived and interrogated him.

A question we may all ask, is suggested by a hypothetical. If there was an actual break-in by someone other than the professor, and the police behaved in exactly the same way with the actual criminal, and the professor was an observer of the behavior rather than a participant — how would the professor judge the police officer’s behavior. How would we?

The point is that we all are perturbed by interrogation, searches, etc., when we are innocent. Airport travellers are well aware of this.  The professor, likely, felt invaded. However, let’s face it — he forgot his key and had to break in to his house. Embarrassing, yes.  I suspect that at some time while he was trying to break into the house, that the thought crossed his mind — the police could show up, and this doesn’t look so good. Hopefully, he thought through a response. One response might have been to thank the neighbors for calling it in, thank the police for promptly investigating, answer all questions politely, and to apologize for the mistake he made that caused others to be alarmed and the police to be occupied investigating something that was the result of his forgetfulness.

At times we need to accept responsibility for our own behavior.

The President could have used this as a teaching opportunity to benefit  all of us. Unfortunately, he did. But the lesson was the wrong one. He did not have all the facts. He pre-judged. He fueled a debate on profiling, rather than encouraging people to accept responsibility for their own behavior.

This was a missed opportunity to continue his great efforts and success teach and to bring people together.

Permanent White Water – find a new anchor – a reflection on today –

In Dr. Peter Vaill’s book “Management as a Performing Art” he introduced us to the term permanent white water. He said, “We live in a time of permanent white water… Permanent white water consists of events that are surprising, novel, messy, costly, and unpreventable… With this there seems to be widespread agreement: permanent white water conditions are regularly taking us all out of our comfort zones and asking things of us that we never imagined would be required. Permanent white water means permanent life outside one’s comfort zone.”
It seems to me that “permanent white water” is even more apparent, prevalent and overwhelming now than it was then-and is impacting all of us in our work and daily lives.

As I have read the posts, blogs, tweets, etc., of many people of all ages, stages and stripes, it struck me that there are many people in white water today. This provokes, in all of us, a tension or anxiety — what should I do? paddle? backpaddle? take the paddle out of the water? For each of us the question seems to boil down to — do I ride the rapids or do I bail and try to get to the river’s edge until the water isn’t so white?

Once, when my feet were bare, and I had not the means of obtaining shoes I came to the chief of Kufah in a state of much dejection, and saw there a man who had no feet. I returned thanks to God and acknowledged his mercies, and endured my want of shoes with patience.
– Sadi, The Gulistan

We all feel very vulnerable when negotiating our work and personal lives through turbulent times. We look to family, friends, or “spirituality” as anchors, to calm the waters. And these all work well, albeit in a temporary sense. But those periods of calm water, help us immensely. Calm water helps us re-group, re-focus and re-assess. Those respites in calm waters help us take the time to plan how to deal with the white water.

       So, where are we today? Our personal “white water” may include loss of a jobs. personally, and amongst family and  friends ; increasing debt; loss of asset value; changes in living arrangements due to affordability issues; illness – both physical and mental;  credit card companies changing rules; banks denying loans; loss of health insurance; questions about how health care reform will affect me; and a myriad of others.

“Permanent white water forces me to rethink the meaning of what I am doing, including the basic foundations that give my life and work meaning.” -Peter Vaill

      Where do we go? Where do we find calm water? Where do we find new anchors? Now, many of us have relied upon, in the past, materialistic things to be our anchors in times of stress, to give us some sense of meaning in our lives. Now, those may be gone.

     Rather than go anchorless, look for new anchors. Do not let white water mess you up. Do not “push the river.” Go with the flow. Have fun with it. Use humor, friendship, service to others, personal development opportunities as new anchors. Reach out to others. And remember, the best things in life are not things.

 

 

Fill your moments with action, and there will be little time left for worry. Fill your moments with meaning, and there will be little time left for despair.

Fill your days with discovery, and you will fill your life with valuable knowledge. Fill your hours with caring, compassion and respect, and you will fill your world with love and friendship.

Fill your thoughts with positive possibilities, and the best things in life will surely be within your reach. Fill your words with encouragement and enthusiasm, and you’ll often find people and circumstances lining up in your favor.

Fill your efforts with purpose, persistence, diligence and integrity. And your life will be filled with valuable achievements.

Fill your heart with a love of truth and goodness. And your soul will be filled with the treasure of wisdom.

Your life is a most precious gift. Fill every corner of it with the best that you can.

~author unknown

 

 

Do you bring value?

“You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.” Jim Rohn

I came across this quote again while reading over the weekend, and it struck me that this statement has application to all of us, not only in our business world, but also our personal, everyday, lives.

First, business. I have written about this issue as it relates to lawyers and personal responsibility. (See: http://valentilaw.com/2009/05/07/lawyers-billing-and-personal-responsibility).  The principles espoused in that post apply to all hourly professionals — accountants, consultants, healthcare professionals — really anyone. However, whether or not one gets paid ” by the hour” for a service, should not be the determining factor in assessing whether we bring value during the hours of our life. Professionals are hung up on time tracking and billing and rarely lloko at whether the work for which they charge has produced “value” to the  person they are charging. They view their role as a time/money maachine, not a value generating person. They are best left, in  my view, to prey upion others. When you find them or they find you, run the other way.

Lets take a look at opportunities to bring value during  our jobs or work time — even a clerk in a dry cleaning establishment can bring value to the customers he  or she encounters. I can remember back to a couple of different shops that I used in the past, and no longer use. One  shop had hired a young student to take care of early Saturday mornings, my usual time. I was gernerally the first cusomer. This young girl always had a smile; made a point of remmebering who I was; asked about family, work, etc; and shared a bit of herself on each visit. She brought value to her job, and ultimately to those she encountered. She made a rather mundane experience, pleasant. Let’s face it — usually all you want to do at the dry cleaners is get in and out before the fumes overwhelm you.

A relative recounts regularly about her visits to the manicurist, candy shop, etc., and folks that she encounters. These people get invited to her annual family Holiday Party because of the value they bring during these visits. We have all met them and understand why they get invited. Service providers being brought into a family event — interesting. “Tom, I would like you to meet my manicurist ….   my trainer …. the lady who sold me the candy you are eating.”  These people come and stay until the end and come year after year.

Most days we visit  our favorite coffee shop. Even the encounter with the barrrista can be pleasant or not so memorable at all. These people can make you feel better or can have no effect on you at all. The ones that make you feel better, you remember, you call by name, and they make you want to come back.

What about the thought of bringing value during random encounters?  I happened to attend an ethnic festival this weekend with some family. We shared our table with a group of familes who asked if there was room. There was. But by the time their whole entourage appeared, we were squeezed into a small corner of the table, and our former space was entirely theirs. What resulted was a sharing of food and drink and conversation. We no longer minded being elbow to elbow. The lesson — value can be brought or given in many forms. These folks made our evening much better  — in a very simple way. And, they most likely felt that they were intruding.

Where do we go from here?

If we, each, look at each task or encounter as an opportunity to bring value to those we meet, we serve, we encounter — we have the opportunity to bring value to them and have value brought to us.

Bring value to the moment. Try it.