In memory of...

It was two years ago today that I said my final farewell to my oldest friend; we laid him to rest on a Monday and I vividly remember the white gloves we were asked to wear as pallbearers - Symbolic I suppose... no longer to be touched by the flesh of the living.

Not surprising, hundreds paid their respects and he was eulogized by the chief of police; we laughed more than we cried, and celebrated his life... how could you not but laugh when told the story of being bitten on the ass by your own police dog. His life was a treasure chest of stories and people; rich by any measure.

Cancer, all too familiar and sadly predictable, took him from his wife, his family and his friends - All that is left are memories and these stories of a lifetime. Stories of friendship, character, compassion and courage; stories that have, in a humble way, shaped my own. 

"You got a lifetime. No more. No less"* - Knowing this, you write the best story you can and live your life. 

And life goes on. 

You find yourself putting these memories on the top shelf, and continue writing your own story...never forgetting, but eventually not quite remembering. Until a moment occurs; once more to be flooded with the memories of friendship, brotherhood and laughter. A reminder of why we are here, and what is important.

July 1st is Canada Day and the skies will be filled with fireworks to celebrate the nation; I will also quietly celebrate the life of Garth Jung, as this is one of those moments that I remember my friend and his story.

In Memory of Garth Jung (1960-2013), and all those who have touched our lives.

gpe

* Neil Gaiman said this

"In your heart of hearts... will it work?"

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Some time ago I was in a meeting that was rife with opinions regarding the issues of a project, technical discussion, and ultimately would it get off the ground. As the meeting was breaking up a leader looked at the project owner and simply asked, "In your heart of hearts, will it work?". I thought it was a brilliant question!

For those of you not familiar with the term "In your heart of hearts", it is an idiom that refers to knowing something for certain very deep inside yourself, although you might not want to admit it - Not even yourself sometimes.

The question had nothing to do with technical specifications, resource management or operating mechanisms, but something far more fundamental and core to building something sustainable - TRUST, HONESTY, RELIABILITY, the ability to get at the answer and make a better decision. 

Most of us are trustworthy, honest and reliable; it is the way we try to run our lives. Every so often though, we find ourselves with a situation that we believe in so much, have worked on so hard, and have committed so much to, that if signs arise contrary to what we believe, we suppress it - In effect, we start fooling ourselves. More often than not, it is not malicious, but simply "being human"; this is why I love this question so much... it gets to the heart of the matter. (Yes, the puns are intended)

In a practical sense, the answers to "In your heart of hearts... will it work?" are simply YES, NO or I don't know"... often there is preamble before you get one of these answers, but you will, just be patient. For the less patient in the crowd, you can set the question up like this... "In your heart of hearts... will it work - Yes, No or I don't know?" There is much less preamble in my experience. 

To be effective, this question should not asked by text, twitter, email, phone or anything other other than face to face. Remember that business is a social enterprise, so when you ask a "heart of hearts" question, you need to be face to face;  not only to uncover the answers you need to make a business decision, but also to confirm the fundamentals of trust, honesty and reliability. 

 It is such a great leadership question to ask, or to be asked... as like I've said, "it gets to the heart of the matter", helps make better decisions, and confirm you are working with the right people. You just have to love it!

There just seems to be an endless amount of puns with this... sorry!

gpe

Ok... what the #!@* went wrong?!

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

"OK... what the #!@* went wrong?!"

 I will go out on a limb and say that many of us, to one degree or another, have said something to this effect; for those of us who are a little "over the top dramatic", I would suggest something even more "colourful" is used. What do you say when it was supposed to work, and for some reason... it just didn't?

You planned, you scheduled, you worked (very hard), you validated, you tested and you launched... it should have worked... but instead, you find yourself shaking your head and just asking such a profound question. Recent events have reminded me of a number of things and I thought I would share...

Plans, more often than not, will fall apart or become irrelevant the moment they are implemented. This is not to say that the plans and the work was wrong, substandard or misdirected, but as the "real world" comes into play it responds not quite the way you anticipated - Things go wrong. Inevitably your plan, and by extension what you are doing will be misaligned with the real world, and things "will not go entirely according to plan."

A leader I very much respect once said, " If you get it 70 % right, you are having it a good day". One can debate the percentage, but what is import to note is you will never get it 100 % right! You will manage "degrees" of success.

You are allowed to get emotional; you worked very hard so you have earned the right. Here is something to consider though... 1) You don't want to spend too much time as it really can be a time waster; as you know solving problems is an intellectual exercise, not an emotional one. 2) More often than not, these situations conjure up negative emotions which simply are not the fuel to get you out of the situation.

You will never get it 100 % wrong. It may not go as planned, but it is all about "degrees of success" and what you have learned. How does that saying go again? "I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways it will not work"**. It is all about what you have learned and the success you can build from it.

What do you do next? I recommend moving forward, although you could do nothing and just quit. Again, I recommend moving forward. 

• Assess what went wrong and more importantly what went right. And why?
• Bring in new perspectives to offer insight into what may be going on.
• Develop an improvement plan and build upon what went right.
• Communicate the situation early... be transparent, open and honest. This should also include the "improvement plan"
• Emotionally pick yourself up, "dust yourself off" and get back into the game.

As they say, for every action there is a "reaction"... you may not get the reaction you expected, but your actions are moving you forward and making things happen. 

And as much as I really like saying, "OK, what the #!@* went wrong", I thing maybe I will get into the habit of saying, "OK... now we are getting somewhere!!".

I've dusted myself off and am moving forward... wish me luck.

gpe 

* Feel free to insert any word you are comfortable with.

** They say Thomas Edison said this... and he did some amazing things.