My wife and I visited our son-in-law, daughter and granddaughter on the labor day long weekend.

We drove to their house on the so-called “Highway of Death”, named I think for the higher than average number of fatal accidents.

On the way home I was in a three car pack when a pick-up truck passed all three of us on an up-hill stretch crossing a double yellow line to do so.  This is a two lane highway and we were doing 110 kilometers per hour so he must have been speeding at close to 140 or 150.  I guess some folks think they are invincible. (typically young males – hold the comments I get this is a stereotypical and politically incorrect way of viewing things).  As a defensive driver I was ready to handle the unexpected, but really I don’t mind if you have a death wish as long as you don’t create the risk of collateral damage.

Somehow when you are twenty to thirty you think you will live forever.  Let me say a head on collision can end that thought pretty fast.

Visiting our Granddaughter

Our granddaughter just turned one.  I had forgotten the pleasure of watching the children grow up.  Curious about everything they are like sponges.   The aura of innocence of those so young is like the smell of a beautiful flower.  Oh, youth, what a pleasure and a privilege to watch them explore, mature and ultimately take care of you in old age.  (That’s why we have kid’s right?)   Just trying to be humorous.

I would say I am nostalgic for those times, however, to be honest I am not.  I really did love being a parent, and we are very fortunate that in adulthood our children exhibit a very strong set of personal values all of which do them great credit.    And they let us visit from time to time, a credit to anyone.   I also really enjoy being an empty nester.

What’s the Point

This post does not have any deep meaning, mostly it is just the highlights from the weekend (if almost getting killed on the Highway of Death is a highlight.)

One final note, as some of you may be aware Highway 63, which is the main road to our children’s abode is undergoing a twining from two lanes to four.  This is a massive construction project and as you can imagine.  During the drive you see many construction workers.  My wife did comment how it was funny that as we passed groups of workers by the roadside they would usually be in groups of 4 or 5 with one doing something (for example sweeping) and the others supervising.

With the advent of video games, the mass popularity of board games has bee on the decline.  Franchise games like Monopoly, Clue and Trivial Pursuit still have followers, but even with these classics there are digital versions that currently outsell  the physical games

What about the loss of social Interaction?

We played a game of bridge with our daughter and son in law last night.  The game was fun but the conversation surrounding the play was the real pleasure.

The innovation and creativity apparent in modern board games is diiferent from that of digital games, not to say that both of these kinds of entertainment don’t exhibit these traits, just in different ways.  In general though its the person to person interaction that appeals to me most.

Some of my Favorites

Here are a few of my favorites.  If you get an opportunity to try any of these I strongly recommend it.

Takenoko, –  this is theJapanese word for bamboo.  The main character in the game is the Chinese Panda and the game was developed in Germany, go figure.

King of Tokyo – developed by the creator of theMagic collectable card game the play is simple and involves the usual Japanese monster themes, Godzilla etc.

Power Grid – cheap dirty power or clean expensive energy.  What will you be the mogul of, what works best to win the game.  Economics, ecology and good clean fun this game might make you think too.

Ticket to Ride – this games comes in geographic specific versions (Europre, North America, etc.). Build your track faster than the others and win the game.  Don’t forget the passengers.

Apparently going beyond the posted maximum speed limit is unsafe.  To protect members of society against this terrible danger we attempt to curb it’s occurance by leving a fine against those that transgress.

Is speeding really a danger to all?

Driving an automobile at a speed unsafe relative to the road conditions can lead to an accident.  This could lead to damage, personal injury or death.  If everyone drove at no greater than the posted maxiumum would there be fewer cases of damage injury or death? (Apparently the maximum is  a safe speed although given varible conditions I am not sure this is true.)

Tax Grab

While  it is probably true that controling the speed drivers choose as safe and appropriate has some value toward ensuring the safety of the innocent, I tend to view the fines associated with speeding as somewhat of a tax grab.  That is a way for municipalities to supplement their revenues.  Consider the traffic camera, its weeks before you even find out you were speeding and are being fined for it.  This does not alter your driving behaviour the way being stopped and presented a ticket right at the time of the offence would. It is also interesting that the speed traps are almost always in places where people are likely to speed, construction zones and the like, not in places where excessive speed is most likely to cause an accident.  This is likely because the revenue from fines is higher and easier to gather in the trickey places.

What happens when ther are no limits?

In Germany there are no speed limits on the autobahn (major highways) and although there can be many factors, like skill of drivers, there is not a significant difference in the accident rate.

Full Disclosure

I recieved a speeding ticket today in a construction zone where other than the officer of the law there was not another person in sight.

I am sure the title of this post is butchering some common saying about the tough instead of hard, but the sentiment is similar.

I had a fascinating conversation today about managing tough situations.  The discussion focused on an analogy about being given the impossible task.

Consider you have been given a task and it feels like you are riding a Tsunami on a small wooden board.  You have been given the objective of saving the village that is right in the path of the Tsunami.   You are at the crest of the wave on your small little board being swept along with the torrent wondering how it will ever be possible to meet the objective assigned to you (your job)

Don’t Give UP!!!!

In this analogy, as you are riding the crest and all looks bleak you whip out your cell phone, your US Air Force buddy, Colonel Fix-It is on speed dial.  He quickly agrees to dispatch a bomber to create a strategic blast just in the path of the wave causing it to dissipate and ultimately the village is spared.

It can be done

True, this is an exaggeration, that being said I will argue the point is valid.  Almost always there is a way around obstacles and success can be achieved.

The trick is to focus on the objective not on how to achieve it.  Of course the “how” has to be determined and executed before it is too late.

However, the first order of business   is to make sure you understand what success looks like and keep it simple.  Save the village.  Blowing up a nuclear device to do so might not be the first thought that comes to mind, but it got the job done.

In Closing

Thanks to my colleague today for a very interesting discussion, and oh yeah – Good Luck, you’ll need it.

Remember;

Nothing new in today’s post for most people.  On the weekend I had my own personal first experience with the difference in price in Canada and the US for an identical product.

My wife and I our buying a new dishwasher and started the search on-line.  We decided to buy a Bosch dishwasher.  They are well known as one of the premier manufacturers of the quietest dishwashers, also high quality and long lasting.  After identifying the model we wanted on the Best Buy web site, it was off to the Best Buy store to complete the purchase, and arrange for delivery, disposal of the old machine and installation.

At the store we learned our search of the web had been the US site of Best Buy in error and the exact same model was $900 in the US and $1800 in Canada.   Even with the exchange rate at $0.72 CDN per US $1.00 the overall cost would have been $1250.00.  So basically the same product would cost $550 (60%) more in Canada.

Who gets the price difference?

This is an interesting question for me.  Does Bosch make an extra $550 ($400 US) or is it absorbed by duty (so much for the North American Free Trade Agreement) or possibly a combination of both.

At first I wondered if this had something to do with the fact the Bosch is manufactured in the US.  On exploring this a little more it appears not necessarily to be the case as we discovered when exploring the price of a Meile.

In the end we decided on a Meile dishwasher, these are made in Germany and so whether sold in the US or Canada the shipping distance is similar.   The US price for the model we chose was $900 ($1250 Cdn) while the Canadian price is $1550.  Not as big a difference as the Bosch but still a discrepancy.

Volume lowers costs?

I am wondering how much of this is related to volume sales.  Intuitively bulk purchases are cheaper, you save at Costco for just reason and so, I guess, if you are supplying dishwashers to a country ten times the population (US vs. Canada) you experience a much higher sales volume, offsetting your cost and thus letting you lower the price and still make the same margin.

Ultimately though if Canadians will pay the higher prices, than the manufacturers are going to charge them.  Cest la vie!

A colleague once shared with me a personal philosophy, ” Don’t worry when people you work with kid around with you and give you a hard time, when they stop is the time to worry.

Most of us have a hot button that set’s off an emotional response (usually founded on frustration or anger).  The real trick is being aware your button is being pushed and using filters (shields up) to deflect and avoid just reacting.

How does it make you feel?

I have rarely encountered anyone;  whom on reacting to a push of their hot button later did not regret how they responded.   This is a good cautionary note and can be a bit of motivation to hold off responding in the moment.   That is, thinking about the consequences and how you will feel afterwards.

SELF AWARENESS

One of the behaviors often listed as a foundation of emotional intelligence is self awareness.  This refers to the practice of understanding how you feel, how others behaviors are impacting you and how yours are impacting them.  Using a real time application of this knowledge guides your responses.  Those with a high level of self awareness can as a rule make every personal encounter fruitful and achieve the objective of realizing their goals (what they want to get out of the conversation)  while enabling the other party to achieve their goal.  Win – win.

Collecting Stamps

As you progress through your day, events place a conceptual stamp on your back.  In simple terms it is a happy face or a frown.  You spilled your morning cup of coffee – frown.  It was a spill onto a shirt you hated and wanted to dispose of anyway – happy face.  These events occur throughout your day and generally one kind of stamp overcomes the other.  That is, at any given point in your day you may have collected more happy faces or more frowns.

As you might guess the predominant number of stamps can impact how you feel – happy or depressed.  This can impact how well you are able to deflect having your hot button pushed – regardless of how self aware you are.    One suggestion to mitigate the negative impacts of too many frowns is to pause when you realize the accumulation has occurred and just pull the frown stamps off.  It really is no value to carry them around.    Actually when relaxing at home after a day at work, often unconsciously we simply spend time dumping our negative stamps.   This could be by having a drink, listening to a fine piece of music, joking with your partner (if you have one) or any of numerous other techniques.

Summing Up!

Attempt to be aware when your hot button is being pushed and act positively for all concerned.  As your day progresses pull off negative (frown) stamps and discard them.  Try not to pass them to someone else – that’s the worst.

The concept of using control processes to manage risk is really common, sort of intuitive.   You will remember from childhood how you were schooled in checking in both directions before crossing the street (well most of us do).

This is a control process.  For the expenditure of a little effort, that is moving your neck to the left and then to the right (or vice-versa) you reduce the risk of being hit by a car.

Over the years, I have found there is a tendency to put more rigid  controls in place (more costly, more effort) than needed for the same resulting reduction in risk.

For example consider three houses in a row.  The first house has no specific burglar protection (relying on neighborhood watch), the second home has a dog and the third a fully monitored alarm.   The control practice (alarm, dog, rely on neighborhood watch) is designed to increase the likelihood of detection/reaction to a robbery and thus will decrease the likelihood of being robbed or the losses if a robbery occurs.  The cost rises with each control improvement.

Consider the burglar, it is kind of intuitive (all other things being equal) he/she is probably going to go after the house with no dog or alarm.  In this example (assuming a dog is cheaper than a fully monitored alarm) the middle house is getting the best risk reduction for the lowest cost – the best value.

What Level of Control is Appropriate?

Control assessment starts with risk assessment.  What is the likelihood and the impact if the risk occurs?  Intuitively it’s fairly obvious it’s probably a reasonable business decision for less likely low impact risks to be mitigated with less rigorous controls  (i.e, lower cost/effort )

How about an example?

Say your organization has a public web site and 10 people can access and change the content and publish the changes immediately.  The content is informational and while it impacts the organizations reputation there is no pricing, products for sale or legal agreements.  A person working for the organization is unlikely to post negative content and when they leave a good control is to make sure their access is removed immediately.

Now consider the content has financial implications or products/services are sold on-line, in this case the impact of a mistake or malicious manipulation of the content is greater and it might make sense to have a control such that no content changes are published unless approved by a second person.  Automating or manually implementing this control is more expensive but given the greater risk probably makes sense.

IN SUMMARY

It’s recommended careful analysis be undertaken when considering control implementation to ensure the level of control is balanced against the level of risk for both cost effectiveness and efficiency.