The second half of August was an exciting time for those of us in the Nashville area because we were represented in the Little League World Series (LLWS) by a team from Goodlettsville (north side of Nashville). By the way, the LLWS is a true “world” series—half of the teams are international.
Led by Jayson Brown, Brock Myers, Lorenzo Butler and manager Joey Hale, Goodlettsville had a great run, won the U.S.championship, and lost only to the “megatron” team from Tokyo, Japan, in the finals.
Between games, the Goodlettsville players spent their time hanging out with the other teams, most notably the team from Lugazi, Uganda; the first ever appearance of a Ugandan team in the LLWS.
Earlier this week, I was listening to a sports talk radio show that did a 3-months-later interview with manager Hale. What was the primary topic of discussion? Uganda.
Manager Hale shared a conversation one of his players had with a player from Uganda. Actually, it wasn’t so much a conversation as a question: “Why do Americans complain so much? You have everything.”
In Uganda, the per capita GDP is $477 per year—about $1.30 per day; in the U.S., it is 100X as much ($48,000 per year).
In Uganda, the life expectancy is 53 years; in the U.S., it is 78 years.
In Uganda, 61 out of every 1000 babies born die; in the U.S. it is 6 out of 1000.
In Uganda, people die of starvation; in the U.S., we die from overeating.
In the U.S., we complain if our cable TV or internet connection is lost for a few minutes; in Uganda, millions live with no electricity at all.
In the U.S., we complain because the water “tastes funny” in Florida (I’m guilty); in Uganda, well…you know what the water story is in Africa.
In the U.S., most of us have 10-20 pairs of shoes; the team from Uganda practiced in their bare feet because they couldn’t get used to wearing shoes (which they had to do in the games).
In the U.S., we complain about…enough already.
My purpose in writing this is not to make you feel guilty. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Instead of complaining so much, wouldn’t it be a really good idea for us to all be truly thankful for what we have and how we are blessed?
Why don’t you sneak off to a back room tomorrow and spend 15 minutes alone, making a list of 50 things you are really thankful for. Simple things like clean water, central heat and air, indoor toilets, etc.
Also, take a few minutes to thank God, the giver of “life and breath and all things.”
Let tomorrow be a “no complaining” day. I’m going to try. (I might even like it.)
By the way, the Goodlettsville LL Association has adopted the Uganda LL team and is providing them with equipment, etc. They want to go to Uganda next year to encourage the fledgling Uganda program. Want to help? Check it out at www.goodlettsvillebaseball.com.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
I have seen the movie 127 times, never missing it for about ten years as my two daughters begged, “Daddy, please watch The Wizard of Oz with us. Please. Please.”
Because they did not often hear “no” from me as they grew up (they still don’t), I would plop down on the floor with them and pretend to be enthralled by it one more time. Not infrequently I would hear, “Daddy, Daddy, wake up, you’re missing the best part.”
If you have children, you know the Oz plot as well as I do. The four main characters—Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion—all need something which they can get only from the wizard who resides in the Emerald City at the end of the yellow brick road. Dorothy wants to go home to Kansas; the Scarecrow needs a brain; the Tin Woodman yearns for a heart; the Cowardly Lion hopes for courage.
After days of perilous travel down the yellow thoroughfare, the four arrive at the Emerald City, excited to see the wizard who they believe will give them everything they ask for. At least, they are all excited except for the Cowardly Lion who has a panic attack as they walk into the wizard’s foyer. The dialog goes like this:
Cowardly Lion—“Wait a minute, Fellows. I was just thinking. I really don’t want to see the Wizard this much. I’d better wait for you outside.”
Scarecrow—“What’s the matter?”
Tin Woodman—“Oh, he’s just scared again.”
Dorothy—“Don’t you know the Wizard’s going to give you some courage?”
Cowardly Lion—“I’d be too scared to ask him for it.”
Dorothy—“Well then, we’ll ask him for you.”
Cowardly Lion—“I’d sooner wait outside.”
Dorothy—“Why? Why?”
Cowardly Lion—“Because I’m still scared.”
Butterflies in the stomach are common. Junior high boys get them when Brittney walks by and smiles. High school seniors get them when The Letter from The College arrives. Few things cause more butterflies than meeting The Parents for the first time. (My future mother-in-law’s reaction was, “At least he doesn’t have long hair.”) “Apple-ites” get them while standing in line waiting for the new iWhatever. My older daughter, Elizabeth, in spite of taking the stage hundreds of times, still gets butterflies, especially on opening night. Athletes get them on game day (even if their name is Michael or Peyton or Tiger). And many leaders have a pack of TUMS in their top drawer to quiet the butterflies they experience before an important meeting with The Board, or a potential big customer, or every pastor’s nightmare—The Deacon Body.
The Cowardly Lion was trapped in a classic catch-22: he needed to see the wizard to gain courage, but he didn’t have enough courage to see the wizard. Until he overcame his fear, he couldn’t get what he wanted and needed. The Cowardly Lion was confused. He thought that if he was afraid, it meant he didn’t have courage. He had to learn that courage means acting in spite of fear, and so do we all—especially when we are in a leadership role. We can pray and plan for months, but when game day comes, so will the flutters. It’s a good time to remember that:
“…God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.”
(2 Timothy 1:7 HCSB)
If you are in the foyer with butterflies in your stomach, breathe a prayer and walk through the door. Not much significant ever happens in the foyer.
[This post is an excerpt from my first book, 16 Stones, to be released in December, 2012.]
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Tomorrow is November 1. There are only two months left in 2012 and they are crammed full of diversions: a presidential election; football season; Thanksgiving; Christmas; New Year’s Eve. But looming only 61 days away are the challenges and opportunities of 2013. The question is: Are you going to “wind it down” or “wind it up” between now and year end? Will it make any difference? Oh, yes.
How you finish 2012 will have a big influence on what kind of year 2013 will be. You can wind down and enter 2013 with little momentum, or you can wind it up and enter 2013 with momentum. It’s your choice.
Here are a few suggestions:
At work:
◊ Stay focused and wound up on Monday through Friday, but shut it down on weekends.
◊ Make a list of 8 things that if done, would really jump start 2013. Get them all done (that’s one per week).
◊ Repair or refresh some working relationships. Spend 15 minutes per week with people you have been avoiding because of tension.
At home:
◊ On those shut-down weekends, spend time with your spouse and kids doing what they want to do. It’s okay to miss a football game.
◊ Free up weekend time by doing one errand every day on the way home from work.
◊ Do less. You do not have to win the neighborhood award for the best decorated house and you do not have to have 15 courses at holiday meals.
◊ Spend less. Don’t torture yourself the first three months of 2013 paying off 2012 bills.
Personally:
◊ To free up time, cut back the length of your workouts, but not the frequency. That way you will “maintain” but not slip back.
◊ Eat all you want on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but cut back on the days leading up to the turkey.
◊ Worship more. Thanksgiving is about gratitude and Christmas is about Jesus.
◊ Give more. You already have enough stuff.
If none of these suggestions are right for you, make your own list. It’s simple. Ask yourself: What will really make a difference in 2013 if I do it in November-December of 2012—or don’t do it? So wind it up, but not so tight it breaks. Then when January comes, you won’t dread it.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
“…in terms of wrongness—it’s 11 on a scale of 10.” That is how Judge Legrome Davis described the illegal activities of a Pennsylvania medical device maker that resulted in at least five deaths and four executives going to jail.
How did this happen? The company had “a corporate culture where people could not ‘stand up and stop things that were wrong, especially when they were coming from the top.’ ”
Who was at the top? An “800 pound gorilla” who ran the place in a way “where employees did what they’re told”—apparently even if it was illegal and dangerous. The gorilla was “intimidating” and “didn’t tolerate dissent.”
The quotes above are from Bad To The Bone, an article by Mina Kimes in the October 8, 2012, issue of Fortune. It is a shocking exposé of how greed for profit led to a “callous disregard of patient safety….” (Read the entire article at http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/09/18/synthes-norian-criminal/ or better yet, buy the magazine.)
So how does the story end? Five people unnecessarily dead; four necessarily in jail; the 800 pound gorilla is living happily ever after on the $10B he reaped from selling the company. That’s right. The one responsible for the anything goes culture was not prosecuted. Hopefully—at least I hope—he will be held responsible in the civil courts as lawsuits from the victims’ families proceed to conclusion.
How does this apply to you?
If you work in an organization led by an 800 pound gorilla, get out or get ready to take a stand. Sooner or later, you’ll have to do one or the other.
If you are an 800 pound gorilla, lose some weight. You may escape justice from the courts on earth; you won’t from the courts in heaven.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
In Hollywood, Optimus Prime is a super hero from the planet Cybertron who transforms from a modified 379 Peterbilt Cab into a 30-foot tall, 10,000-part robot. He is the leader of the Autobots who roam the earth protecting humans from the evil Decepticons. However, in real life, Optimus Prime is the “baddest bull” in the Yunnan province of China (WSJ article by Bob Davis, 8/28/12).
Bull fighting in China is not a match of matador vs bull; it is bull vs bull. Like big horn sheep, they charge at full speed, smashing heads until one gets a migraine or is sent sprawling. Optimus Prime enters the ring draped in scarlet and gold like the champion he is. He doesn’t wait for the bell, but charges his unlucky opponent on sight, bashes him with his horns, sending him running away in panic—like a first round knockout in boxing. He celebrates his victory with four dozen eggs; his owner gets bragging rights and prize money of up to $8000—big money in that part of China.
By now, you are asking: what does this have to do with leadership? Be patient; I’m getting there.
Optimus Prime hasn’t always been Optimus Prime. He started his career as…Little Bull. (I didn’t make that up.)
A typical match went this way:
Announcer: “Little Bull is fighting Megatron in the next match.”
(Who would you bet on?)
One minute goes by.
Announcer: “Megatron is on the run. He wants no part of Little Bull. The Little Bull has taken out the big bull again.”
The point of this is that it is not his name that makes Optimus Prime a champion. He is a champion—the best—whether he is called Little Bull or Optimus Prime.
Now the truth is, from a marketing and branding standpoint, Optimus Prime is a better name than Little Bull. But if he were not the best bull, it wouldn’t matter what he is called.
The same is true for your organization. Having a great name may attract attention, but only being the best bull will win the prize. Is Apple a better name than Hewlett Packard? Toyota better than GM? Coke than Pepsi? Coke is the champion because it is better than Pepsi, not because of the name. (I admit to a bit of southern bias here.)
You can change your name from Little Bull to whatever, but it won’t matter unless you focus on being better than the other bulls. And that’s no bull.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Does your organization make heroes out of arsonists? Probably; most do. In my experience, it usually happens something like this:
TUESDAY AFTERNOON—TELEPHONE IN THE OPERATIONS VP OFFICE: RING….RING…RING!
Operations VP: “I’m busy. What do you want?”
Assembly Manager: “If we don’t get Part # 427bgf109942A by next Monday morning, we are going to have to shut down the assembly line.”
Operations VP: “What the #@**><*!@^%!! do you mean! We can’t shut down an assembly line. That will cost us thousands.”
Assembly Manager: “We will run out of work-arounds on Friday, so I have to have it by first thing Monday morning.”
Operations VP: “What happened?”
Assembly Manager: “Fabrication was expediting the part for us, but it got scrapped out in machining and they don’t have any more material to make another one.”
Operations VP call to the Fabrication Manager: “What the #@**><*!@^%!! is going on down there? You guys are about to shut down assembly because they don’t have Part # 427bgf109942A because you guys scrapped it.”
Fabrication Manager: “We got the material late and had to rush it. My best machinist, Williams, was at the dentist, so I put Jones on it. He set it up wrong and the finished part was out of tolerance. If we had got the material on time, Williams could have made the part and we would have had it to assembly yesterday.”
Operations VP: “When will you get more material?”
Fabrication Manager: “Not until Friday. We’ll work overtime all weekend to have the part by Monday morning. I’ll be in here personally to make sure it happens. And Williams has agreed to come in to make the part.”
Operations VP call to the Purchasing Manager: “Why was the #@**><*!@^%!! material for Part # 427bgf109942A late and why can’t you get more here before Friday?”
Purchasing Manager: “We got the purchase request from Production Control late. We have a special order at the vendors, but the material—it’s a casting—won’t be ready until late Thursday.”
Operations VP: “Late #@**><*!@^%!! Thursday! There is no way you’ll have it here by Friday, even with an express truck run.”
Purchasing Manager: “Yeah, I know a truck isn’t fast enough, so we have chartered a plane to fly it in. It should land at the airport by 6:00am Friday.”
Operations VP: “A #@**><*!@^%!! charter! How much did that cost?”
Purchasing Manager: “$12,000.”
Operations VP: “It’s coming out of your budget.”
Purchasing Manager: “It’s Production Control’s fault. They should pay for it.”
Operations VP call to the Production Control Manager: “Why can’t you guys get the #@**><*!@^%!! purchase requests down to Purchasing on time? We may have to shut down an assembly line on Monday because we don’t have Part # 427bgf109942A. And we don’t have it because we had to use Jones instead of Williams to do the machining because the casting was late, and the casting was late because the stupid purchase request was late getting to purchasing.”
Production Control Manager: “Sorry, boss. But the Program Manager didn’t release the production schedule on time so we were behind the eight ball from the get-go.”
Operations VP call to the Program Manager: “For crying out loud. Are you guys too busy going out for drinks with customers to release the production schedules on time?”
Program Manager: “Not our fault, boss. The computer was down 4 days for reprogramming. We have really been scrambling trying to catch up.”
Operations VP call to the IT Manager: “What the #@**><*!@^%!! is going on down there? We have a crisis in the shop because you guys shut the computer down for four stupid days!
IT Manager: “You must have forgotten. That new software you ordered us to install turned out to be a disaster. It took us four days to get it debugged. Even now I’m not sure it’s working right.”
Operations VP: “#@**><*!@^%!! #@**><*!@^%!! #@**><*!@^%!! #@**><*!@^%!!”
FAST FORWARD TO THE NEXT MONDAY MORNING OPERATIONS MEETING
Assembly Manager: “We got Part # 427bgf109942A at 4:30am this morning. We’ll have it installed by noon and be back on schedule by tomorrow morning.”
Fabrication Manager: “My guys did a great job this weekend. I was here all Saturday night with Williams to make sure we set up the machining correctly and carried the part to heat treat myself.”
Purchasing Manager: “The vendor really came through for us. The buyer was there Thursday to carry the part to the chartered plane and flew back with it. It was a Citation V. Did you guys know they serve free drinks on those things?”
Operations VP: “I am really proud of you guys. You saved the day for us. I’ll make sure the corner office hears about this. He’ll want to personally thank you, maybe even take you to lunch.”
END OF STORY
This is a classic case of making heroes out of fire fighters for putting out a fire they started themselves—heroes out of arsonists.
Don’t fall into this trap. There are people in your organization who prevent fires, or put out fires other people start. They seldom get attention in meetings because they aren’t often in crisis mode. Take a few minutes today to seek them out and thank them. Maybe even take them to lunch. They are the real heroes.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
If you love those golden, cream-filled, 150 calorie, spongy cakes called Twinkies, you better stock up. Hostess Brands—the maker of Twinkies—is in their second round of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The first round was in 2004-2009; this round was filed in January 2012. Are they going to make it? Maybe. They have asked their workforce for $200M in cost savings in wages, healthcare and pensions. We’ll know by the end of September if the workers accept the company’s ultimatum. (They have little choice if they want to keep their jobs.) But even these cost reductions may not be enough to save Twinkies in the long run.
How did they get in this mess? By years of lousy leadership—company and union. There is no other way a $2.5B company could end up with:
● twelve different unions
● 40 separate pension plans
● 36 plants● six different CEOs in the last ten years
● more debt when they exited bankruptcy in 2009 than when they entered in 2004 (I thought the purpose of bankruptcy is to reduce debt.)
● work rules that require different drivers to deliver different Hostess products to the same retail location
● sales sinking at a 10% rate
● losses exceeding $300M per year and escalating
● debt of almost $1T though hundreds of millions have been written off
(All the sordid details are in an article by David Kaplan in the 8/13/2012 edition of Fortune magazine.)
The company blames the “Atkins” diet (low carb means no Twinkies), the economy and the unions. The union blames management and those overpaid executives. The truth is, Hostess got where it is by what I call “cumulative effect consequences.” Hostess is suffering from hundreds of decisions made over decades that have the cumulative effect of destroying—or nearly so—the company. That is why no decision is inconsequential. In the long run, they add up. A questionable acquisition here, a labor agreement concession there, a self-centered CEO for a few years, slow response to changes in the economy or customer preferences, and before you know it, Chapter 11 bankruptcy is staring you in the face.
“Cumulative effect consequences” are a real part of life. One cheeseburger per week is probably okay. But add in a milkshake per week, a sugar-filled energy drink…or two…or three, a “loaded” baked potato, a couple of beers on Saturday afternoon, your “one vice”—a Twinkie every day, and before you know it, your health is threatened by obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, or worse.
“Cumulative effect consequences” are how we get in financial trouble. A car payment we can afford, a house we can’t, the vacation of a lifetime, the iPad we put on MasterCard, and before you know it….
In life and in leadership, every decision is important, even the “little ones,” because at some point, they all add up. So take care. In the long run, a number of “no big deal” decisions can become a very big deal.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
When Cornelius Vanderbilt died in 1877, he was worth 20% of all the cash and demand deposits in all the banks in the US—about 143 billion in today’s dollars (per Wikipedia.com). Today’s richest Americans must have trouble making ends meet when compared to Vanderbilt (Bill Gates is worth only $59B and Warren Buffet a paltry $44B per Forbes).
As documented by T. J. Stiles in The First Tycoon, Vanderbilt made his money in transportation: first steamboats, then railroads. He was successful because even as a teenager, “His life was regulated by self-imposed rules and with a fixedness of purpose as invariable as the sun in its circuit.” In other words, he had a high degree of self-discipline and a clear goal for his life.
One of his “self-imposed rules” was “to spend less every week than he earned.” It was a great rule in the 1800’s…the 1900’s…and still today. Dave Ramsey would have been very proud of him.
His “fixedness of purpose” was driven by a “…unending hunger for wealth….” He accomplished his goal and died as the richest man in the cemetery, sparking a court battle among his heirs over how to distribute the bounty.
Vanderbilt should have paid attention to an earlier richest man, Solomon, who experienced the same thing:
“I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun,
for I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?
Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored…This too is vanity.”
Ecclesiastes 2:18-19 NASB95
A thousand or so years after Solomon, Jesus said this about purpose fixed on riches:
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”
Matthew 16:26 NASB95
All of us would do well to follow Vanderbilt’s example of living with self-discipline and a fixed purpose. But in your personal life and in your role as a leader, set your purpose on something greater than self. Do you really want to die believing, like Solomon, that “all is vanity”? I hope not. Whatever your age, whatever your status, it’s not too late to fix your purpose on something valuable and enduring—something worth really living for.
By the way, if you enjoy biographies, The First Tycoon is an interesting and worthwhile read.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
the USA…or Great Britain…or Jamaica…or Grenada?
The USA won the most medals (104), including the most gold (46) and the most silver (29). The host nation, Great Britain, won a total of 65 medals; Jamaica won 12, all in track and field; Grenada had only one medal, gold in the men’s 400m sprint.
If the winner is decided by the total weight of the medals, then the award goes to the USA by a large margin. But based on population, Grenada, with only 105,000 people, is the clear winner:
Grenada 9.5 medals per million people
Jamaica 4.4 medals per million people
GreatBritain 1.03 medals per million people
USA 0.33 medals per million people
(By the way,China, with the world’s largest population, won only 0.06 medals per million people.)
The USA is the richest nation in the world and has the most money to spend on athletics. We should win the most medals. We did. That was success.
Great Britain, as the host nation, wanted to make a great showing. They did—65 medals was their most ever! That was success.
Jamaica wanted to maintain their position as the sprinter capital of the world. They did. Will you ever forget watching Usain Bolt win the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay with ease? That was success.
Grenada won its first medal ever, and it was gold! They went home happy and feeling like winners. That was success.
If winning the most medals was the only measure of success, then there was one winner (the USA) and 203 losers at the 2012 games. I guarantee you that 203 teams did not go home feeling like losers.
Now…here is the point: do not let others define success for your organization or for you personally. Don’t let others try to squeeze you into their mold. You decide for yourself what success is, and then go for it. On your mark…get set…go!
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Have you watched the Olympics? If so, you have seen America’s newest sweetheart, Missy Franklin, a hundred times. She won five medals (four were gold). You also know who Rebecca Soni is; she won three medals (two were gold). Dana Vollmer won three medals (all gold) and Allison Schmitt won five medals (three were gold). Missy, Rebecca, Dana and Allison are called the “smiley girls” and why not? Their baggage will be loaded down with sixteen medals when they fly home. Hmmm…checked or carry-on?
If you were watching on Saturday night (8/4), you saw the “smiley girls” set a world record in the 4X100 Medley Relay. The medal ceremony was great. After receiving their gold medals, they all stood with hand over heart, singing our national anthem as the stars and stripes were raised. Yeah, I got misty eyed. I always do.
Everyone knows who the “smiley girls” are, but who is Rachel Bootsma? Rachel is a backstroke specialist from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. She failed to qualify for the finals of her one individual event, the 100m backstroke. It was her only chance for the medal stand. Breeja Larson, a breaststroke specialist, also missed the medal stand, as did Claire Donahue (butterfly). Jessica Hardy, a freestyle specialist, got a 4x100m relay bronze medal, but missed out in her two individual events and did not get to sing the anthem with hand over heart.
Still, however, Rachel, Breeja, Claire and Jessica are all bringing a gold medal home. They didn’t get to stand and sing while the flag was raised, but they are bringing home gold anyway. Why? Because unseen and unlauded, Rachel, Breeja, Claire and Jessica swam the qualifying heat of the 4×100 Medley Relay on Friday night that set up the “smiley girls” to win the gold in the finals on Saturday night. Missy, Rebecca, Dana and Allison got their glory and gold on the medal stand. Rachel, Breeja, Claire and Jessica got their gold in a no-tv coverage backroom ceremony that only their teammates and parents knew about.
If your organization, large or small, is winning and setting records, you have both medal stand performers and backroom performers. A wise leader makes sure they are all recognized, appreciated and rewarded. Why don’t you take a few minutes today to go find a Rachel, Breeja, Claire or Jessica and thank them for putting you on the medal stand? You wouldn’t have got there without them.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company.
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