Monthly Archives: May 2016

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Because I can

Leave a comment

Sometimes things we do to give us pleasure have no obvious purpose beyond giving a sense of satisfaction.  When asked why, I often respond “Because I can!”

For Example

For multimedia viewing I have set up a playstation, boxi-box, raspberry pi, apple tv, dnla server, qnap media centre and a chromecast.  All of these devices do essentially the same thing, albeit the configuration and specific functional details differ.

I also have four wi-fi subnets, three routers and powerline networking.  I admit it is overkill.  Basically the functional capabilities of my home network far exceed my needs.

In the tablet space, I have both full and small size IOS and android  tablets.

On a recent trip, the security officer at airport security made me take my tablets out for separate inspection (usually this only applies to laptops).  I thinks she was puzzled why someone would travel with three tablets (ultimately they serve the same function).

And my only explanation is because I can.  I have the time, the skills and of course, find it interesting.

Really

This is a bit of a simplistic explanation.  Even I can see  It is a stretch to believe the only motivation is the ability to undertake the task.  There must also be some interest or desire.

The really puzzling piece for me though is fact is the redundancy.  Once you have one media centre what is the value of multiple devices.

I think  the pleasure in surmounting the challenge of getting it to work, (i.e. proving I can) is the real answer here.  Basically what these things do is of less importance to me than getting them to do it.

Like the mountain climber, I do it because it’s there and I can.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Taking Action

Leave a comment

Taking personal accountability is a theme that runs through my posts. I am a strong believer in this behavior.  I believe it helps me act consistently within the context of my values.

As well, it is a great underpinning to an optimistic viewpoint.  All of us see things we think are inappropriate, inefficient or for one reason or another just annoy us.

So fix it

Taking personal action to resolve the issue, rather than complaining or blaming others is a core concept of personal accountability.  It is all about you  ( another of my pet philosophies) so you need to take action.

I am not suggesting we personally execute whatever needs to be done to resolve the problem; your action could just be influential, structured to help create a specific outcome.  One that leads to resolution but is executed by others.

Feels Good!

In my experience taking personal control always feels better than complaining or blaming.  Additionally in working to resolve the issue you become part of the solution.

Behaving this way also helps you maintain an optimistic attitude.  As you act and things improve it becomes clear you can make things better.  You can help find solutions and solve problems.

Give it a try

So the next time you come across something that bothers you, pause and reflect on what you can do about it.  Focus on you, not them.  Others may be associated with the root cause, others may be at fault; forget that.  You can fix it, so do it.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Using Values to guide your behaviour

Leave a comment

I had an interesting discussion today about the value of personal values.

Personal values are your internal conception of what is good, beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, desirable, constructive, etc. In essence the values are used by you to guide your behavior.

Behaving Consistently

In any given moment how you react/ behave depends on a myriad of factors both external and internal to yourself.  A strong personal value system simply provides a support guideline to help ensure the internal factors coincide with your conception of what is good.

It is actually quite easy for the external influences to override your logic and cause you to behave in a way you don’t really want to and under less stressful circumstances, would not.

Although it is certainly not a fool proof method, by adopting a simple set of values, which are easy to remember and understand you will have a fall back to assist in behaving the way you want to.

An Example

“If I say I will, then I will”   This value statement falls within the category of Integrity.  It is simple, easy to understand and follow.

Let’s say you told a friend you would meet them at 2:00 pm on a Saturday at a coffee shop downtown.  Between the time you made the commitment and the time of the appointment your circumstances changed and you no longer want to meet.

Your personal value dictates you will arrive at the appointment (unless alternate arrangements are mutually agreed).  To the person with this value, a promise is a promise.

Keep it simple

With a small and clearly defined set of values (I have four) you can help guide a significant amount of your behavior.

Back to the discussion that prompted this post, my view was the person with the internal guidance support provided by simple, easily followed values will most often be perceived to have the best behavior.   That is on an overall macro basis.

This does not mean they would never have bad behavior, just the chance their behavior will generally meet their conception of good will occur more often.

On the whole this will improve their interaction with others and visa verse

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Accountability without authority

Leave a comment

I stumbled onto one of my pet peeves today.  Accountability for achievement of a goal was assigned to an individual who does not have the authority needed to execute.

Authority can be granted or earned or a combination of these.  In most cases achieving success requires some exercise of authority.

Consider a grocery store cashier.  These days mostly they are authorized to accept cash,credit or debit in payment for the goods being purchased.

If a check is offered they cannot accept it, although they are accountable for completing the purchase transaction, this would be a case where they do not have enough authority to personally complete the task for which they are accountable.

In this example, the cashier would escalate to a manager for a decision thereby facilitating transaction completion.   The authority level is clearly defined as is the the operational procedure for exceptions.

My Pet Peeve

My issue is around those cases where accountabilty is assigned without any authority.  The expectation is the accountable individual will somehow be able to earn and exercise the authority needed.

This does pose the real danger though of contravening organizational expectations around the level of an individuals empowerment.  This could be a problem for the individual, the organization or both.

Avoiding the issue

Organizational leaders have the capability to resolve this issue by defining empowerment and authority boundaries (clearly documented) as well as ensuring checks and balances are in place to ensure they are not abused.

No one should be given accountability for a task for which the authority parameters (whether earned or granted) are not sufficient to get the task completed.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Family Ties

1 Comment

One of my younger brothers got married last week.  My own immediate family, my brothers and sister with their families and a number of my cousins attended.

It was a fabulous celebration, as well (for me any way), a family reunion of sorts.

The event got me thinking about family ties.  In essence “family ties” are a way of describing a type of interpersonal relationships.  That is a group of people you know; like friends, colleagues and so on.

Whats Different?

The key attribute to family relationships is some kind of bloodline association.  The more direct the “blood” tie, the closer the relationship.

The exception to this would be family relationships created through marriage (so no direct bloodline).  This can expand your family grouping to people without a direct connection to your genes.

As your family grows, through birth and marriage many become separated by physical distances but the defined ties, (marriage or bloodline) usually remain strong.

As a result, an occasional gathering of the clan (so to speak) from near and far can be a lot of fun.

Given the family relationships are defined by blood or marriage you don’t get to choose your immediate family (except your spouse) so sometimes these gatherings can have some friction.

Fortunately, for both for my immediate and extended family there are no obvious rifts.  Everbody gets along (largely) and overall it seems we genuinely like each other.

As a result our accidental reunion was a lot of fun.  Thanks bro.

 

 

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Acronyms and Jargon

Leave a comment

I am currently reading “The Prisoner of Guantanamo” .  while it is a fictional account, the author was a reporter turned novelist and I have found his previous books to be quite accurate.

At the beginning of the tale there is a three page section dedicated to the jargon and acronyms of the Guantanamo Bay naval base and prison.

One Language is not enough

I started to wonder about the adequacy of the English language.  Clearly it either not descriptive enough , too complex or hard to pronounce.

The solution appears to be just to create language addendums (jargon) and shorten phrases and things to the first letter only (nouns).

All of this creates an advantage for those who know the terminology.    They understand the conversation while another might not until familiarity sets in.  Until all are fluent those in the know have some power over the others.

Is there a value to “org” speak.

Having organizational or even family specific jargon can speed information exchanges but often at the risk of decreased clarity.  Jargon is often vague (intentionally so).  It sounds cool but often actually means little.

For example, I love the phrase “I’m on it”.  Often used to convey the message that the task is underway.   What task, what objective and when will it be done are not part of this message, but it sounds good.

Crisp, clean seems to have meaning.

Plain English

While jargon and acronyms are used extensively, I alway question the purpose.  Is this for communication or power? (I understand stuff you don’t).

For me, sticking to plain English is the method of choice.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Getting in the groove

Leave a comment

For musicians the expression “getting into the groove” signifies a comfortable pace just they hit their stride in a song.  It is a good feeling and the kind the player would love to sustain.

A examplar story of this comes from the recording of the song “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”

This was the 11th American studio album recorded by the Rolling Stones, released in 1971.  This is in my personal top five albums of all time and “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” is the standout song for me.

You can feel the groove

The song clocks in at a little over seven minutes long.  It was written as a three minute tune but at four minutes in, Mick Taylor, the Stones lead guitarist at the time, just picks of the groove and solo’s to the end.

Glyn Johns, the engineer, just let the tape keep running.  You can hear Mick is inspired, in the groove and just can’t stop.  It is both absorbing and infectuous for the listener.

Getting your groove on

When you can, whether it is playing music, a game or whatever activity has you absorbed when the opportunity arises to get your groove on, go with the flow – it feels good.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Accountability Impacts

Leave a comment

Whether at home, work place or within a social organization the effective exercise of accountability is critical.  Lack of defined accountability results in frustration and it’s associated social baggage (anger, despair,  angst, withdrawal, etc)

Defining Accountability

Personal accountability is the willingness to be answerable for outcomes resulting from your choices behavior and actions (I paraphrased this from material I found on the internet.  It is not a direct quote but shortened and summarized a bit).

Collaberative Accountability – shared responsibilities across team members, teams or groups.  High performing teams exhibit the ability to practice joint accountability.  The three musketeers motto is a great example of this.  “One for all and all for one”.

Organizational Accountability – whether the organization is your home, association or workplace the defined leadership structure must include clearly defined accountabilities together with the associated levels of empowerment to exercise them. That is, who does what, when and how vigorously.

Anarchy Reigns

Without some type of accountability (one, two or all of the types noted) the right things don’t get done, except by accident.  The risk of failure is high and paricipants in such situations tend to bail.

I have heard arguments around the value of anarchy, as both a philisophical and political practice but, like communisum, I am not aware of any practicle applications.

Conceptually, maybe although I even question if some of the stated benefits I have heard bandied about anarchic societies are at all real.

So if you have any opportunity to influence or impact (for the better) the level of practice and or effectiveness of personal, collaberative or organizational accountability behaviors within your sphere of operations – do it.  You will be thankful you did.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Always admit your weaknesses, it makes you stronger

Leave a comment

In a meeting today, a case discussion included a story of how a team leader had highlighted his groups strengths and weaknesses.  Someone commented “Always admit your weaknesses, it makes you stronger.”

I am always in search of a topic for my regular posts and this phrase leaped out at me.  “Post me, post me, I am the one”

Simple but powerful logic

Through experience I have found open communication of everything you are aware of, both good and bad, will more often then not lead to better results.

Consider a request for your teams services.  You are aware of both pro’s and con’s to the undertaking of this work.  To help ensure the contract is granted you share only the pro’s.

Unfortunately while executing the service the con’s (of which the purchaser was not aware) outway the pro’s and ultimately the buyer is sorely disappointed .

This is unlikely to result in further service purchases (lose for you) and the client did not get what they wanted (lose for them). The client is particularly disappointed if they discover you were aware of these weaknesses but did not share.

An open disclosure of your teams weaknesses would probably have avoided the disappointment and relationship damage, of course,   in the event you were still awarded the contract. ( albeit you might not have been).

The key is the open disclosure is much more likely to result in a win/win for all parties, than the practice of withholding information about your faults.

 A final word

Unless you are perfect like me (no weaknesses) this concept of openly sharing yours has merit –  take heed.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Keeping the beat going

Leave a comment

In 1967 a group of musicians got together in San Francisco and formed a band.  Musician union rules required they designate a band leader.  For no other reason than that they had to pick someone, Carlos Santana was chosen.

The band was named Santana and issued their first album, eponymously  named, in 1969.    The band went on to phenomonal success issuing a total of 24 albums to date, many with gold or platinum level sales.

Four of the founding members plus two additions formed the “classic” line up of the band – 1969 to 1971.  This period covered the issuance of the first three albums.  Since that time Carlos was the focus of the band with a largely revolving door of other musicians.

Classic era members went on to found hugely sucessful bands like Journey and fusion band Go.

 Nostalgia Reigns

The bands first three albums were titled Santana, Abraxas, and III.  On April 14th, 2016, the classic lineup issued a new album – IV.  This lineup had not played together since 1972 and included all but the bass player (he died)

As is often the case with exceptional rock bands (e.g. the beatles, stones) you can hear them mature and grow musically through their first 3 or 4 albums .

Amazingly the new Santana album sounds just like what the fourth album would have been in 1972 if they had not separated.  It is complex and powerful but true to the chemistry of the original players.

Often classic lineups reunite but the fire is gone and music stale.  This is not the case for Santana IV.  I strongly recommend giving it a listen if you enjoy the latin rock fusion genre at all.  This album is five star.