Titles…

I know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its title, but…  titles do catch our attention, yes?  I wonder: If we added clever titles to our Progress Reports, would it make for better reading by our managers?  Could a title improve our content?

One of my favorite book titles is Hope is Not a Strategy© by Rick Page.  Applicable to so many of life’s challenges, true?  I liked the book, too.  Rick suggested to be successful in the sales profession we need to go out and “hunt” for business vs. hoping business will somehow find us.

I bought a book once titled,  How to Work for an Idiot © by Dr. John Hoover.  Question: If I’m a Manager, do I buy that book for my people?  What if they but it for themselves and I see it on their desk, then what do I do?  What if they have dog-eared several pages!!  It brings to mind words from our favorite, Unknown Sage:

Owen’s Theory of Organizational Deviance: 

Every organization has an allotted number of positions to be filled by misfits.

So, should we put titles on our Progress Reports?  In my career I noticed when I wrote a report it always stimulated a call from my manager to discuss what was in the report.  It made me wonder; if we’re going to talk about it anyway, why did I have to write the report in the first place?  Back to our Unknown Sage:

Sweeny’s Law: 

The length of a Progress Report is inversely proportional to the amount of progress.

I don’t write Progress Reports anymore.  If you do and you’d like a little help you with your report title might I recommend, Only the Paranoid Survive © by Andy Grove?

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Sorry – I wasn’t listening…

I can get so busy multi-tasking at times that I simply don’t listen.  (Drives my wife crazy when I’m present - but not present!)  Does that ever happen to you?  When it does, sometimes I become defensive or try to hide my mistake.  Not very wise I suppose.  It would be better to follow Adam’s advice: 

I only have to be told twice; once. 

Adam Katzenmeyer   

A very wise and thoughtful statement, true?  In one, respectful sentence, Adam: (A) admitted he was not listening, (B) avoided faking it, or worse, arguing that he was listening when he actually wasn’t, and (C) acknowledged his commitment to listen, going forward. 

Adam is a former colleague of mine.  His is an example of lessons I learned in my job that apply to my daily life.  One of the extra benefits of being a sales professional – I met many wise and thoughtful people. Most of the time the lessons were obvious; other times I absorbed them slowly and subconsciously; occasionally, I needed a 2x4 to hit me over the head before it sunk in. 

Some advice stayed top of mind: 

Don’t be stupid. 

Nick Ryder 

Wisdom I picked from my friend and former colleague in the late 1980s.   Nick and a sales support person from our company had just returned from a prospect meeting that went poorly.  His sales support person had argued with the prospect, which cost Nick the deal.  Afterwards, when she asked what she should have done different and how she could improve in the future, he offered those three, profound words.  I try to live by them, too (although some days it takes the 2x4). 

Back to listening - have you ever found yourself in a disagreement with someone, perhaps even an argument, only to realize that you had actually mis-listened and the other person was right all along?  Did you quickly admit your mistake?  Did you ignore it and continue to argue?  John P. Kotter in his book Leading Change © offers us this observation: 

Listening with an open mind, trying new things, reflecting honestly on successes and failures - none of this requires a high IQ, and MBA degree, or a privileged background.  Yet remarkably few people behave in these ways today, especially after age thirty-five and especially when they are already doing well in their careers. 

I don’t think I’m alone with this affliction.  I have seen others argue, defend, and attempt to deflect the blame of being wrong almost to the point of absurdity.  Our Unknown Sage offers this: 

Courtor’s Rule: 

If people listened to themselves more often, they would talk less.                            

It’s OK; no one is perfect.  If wisdom needs further, more scientifically oriented reinforcement, Russell Kay offers us this: 

Grabel's Law 

Two is not equal to three - not even for very large values of two. 

When we find ourselves in an argument, it may be wise to follow this thoughtful advice from Managing Conflict in the Workplace ©: 

Listening makes a lot of sense.  Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing. 

    Robert Benchley 

Sadly, even after all of the years in my profession; after reading thought leadership from so many wise people; after being “burned” by my mistakes… perhaps because I’m older than thirty-five and have this uncontrollable need to be right, when I get into an argument I guess I need that 2x4 to do as Robert suggests and say nothing. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Hoping in Duple Time…

What stimulates your hope? 

The Polka is a happy, little tune - don’t you think?  (Really, Gary?  The Polka?  Slow day?)

No, really.  I was station-surfing the other day; looking for a little hard-rock music; it was my “Mandatory Metallica Monday”.  I came across Polka music on the radio and it immediately triggered memories of my childhood - and the movie “Home Alone”.  Did you see that movie?  John Candy played Gus Polinski, the leader of a Polka Band from Milwaukee. Remember his pride over one of their hits, “Polka-Polka-Polka”?  Classic!

From Centralhome.com (of all places):

Polka is defined as a vivacious couple dance of Bohemian origin in duple time; it is a basic pattern of hop-step-close-step; a lively dance tune in 2/4 time.

Vivacious; lively; duple time; doesn’t that just perk you right up?  OK, who brought the accordian?

Answer.com adds:

Polka music is a form of European dance music which originated in Bohemia (what is now an area within the Czech Republic).

And from Wikipedia:

Apparently, it was so well-received that it became a sort of dance craze, spreading across all of Europe, and to the US.

“OK Gary, but the Polka?  Today?  How does that stimulate hope?” 

Well, you see the Polka is part of my family roots.  When I was grade school aged and visited my Aunt and Grandmother in Chicago, I watched my Cousin John practice and play the accordion.  At family gatherings everyone would dance (lively; in duple time!).  I remember the cold beer would flow, as would the rich happiness of blue collar, working families, who made the most of celebrations that they could rarely afford.  Although they struggled to make ends meet, when they partied – they really partied – and they polkaed!

There have been other dance crazes, for sure.  In the ‘60’s it was the Twist.  Anyone remember the Hustle from the ‘70’s?  Who hasn’t heard of the Electric Slide?   How many of these dances will outlast the Polka?

 

Back to Wikipedia:

The actual dance and accompanying music called "polka" are generally attributed to a girl, Anna Slezakova of Labska Tynice, Bohemia, in 1834.

Alright Anna! 186 years and still going strong!

When my relatives danced the Polka years ago, it was all about celebration.  Celebrating some occasion, for sure; but also celebrating family; celebrating life; celebrating hope!  The hardest working people are often the ones that enjoy family gatherings and modest accouterments the most, yes? 

These celebrations are enthusiastic expressions of hope.  Blue collar families stay pretty focused day-to-day; living paycheck to paycheck.  They have to.  But when it’s time for a family celebration, hope springs eternal! 

Throughout the ages, dances of hope were common among many people. Texas Bix Bender, who brought us such sage advice as:

Don’t squat with your boots on.

and, 

Never drink down stream from the herd.

Also offers us insight about dance, the future, timing, and hope.  In the Great Plains and throughout the West, for instance, we’ve all read lore about the rain dance.  And Texas Bix said:
 

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

So I’m smiling today about the timing of my life and the opportunity to envision memories of my Cousin John playing the accordion while my Uncle Frank and Aunt Bernice danced the Polka into the wee hours of the morning. Yes - the Polka – a happy (and hopeful) little tune indeed. 

What stimulates your hope?

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.