Musings at Altitude

One of the great challenges we face today is the dramatic change that is going to occur in our organization, and I worry (probably way too much) about all the different things that can cause us to halt our progress or cause friction in the change process that isn’t needed.  In so many organizations, we tend to create our own barriers to success, and we let things that happen completely derail any forward momentum that we may have achieved. 

One of my favorite blogs is www.christinekane.com, and she had a link on her blog today to this video:

Being Stuck!

Although the title of “Government Workers” is unfortunate and inappropriate, the premise of the video is so typical of both individuals and organizations that are faced with unexpected barriers to success.  In this case, a path forward is so obvious and yet the two indivdiduals are reluctant to recognize and to take those individual steps to overcome the unexpected stop in their journey forward.

This is so true of any change process in any organization today – when the momentum is halted in any fashion at all, that sense of hopelessness sets in as those now in limbo wait for others to pick them up and carry them forward.

Change is not for the weak at heart; change is not for those short on conviction; change is not for those who second guess themselves once that change process beings.  Change is for those visionaries with courage to act in advance of adversity and to charge forward while overcoming all friction applied to their path. 

I’ve been on that escalator.  In some ways, I may still be on that escalator!

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I wrote last night about “corporate heart” and my emotion flowed about how those with extreme logic will sometimes espouse that logic at the expense of trust and empowerment.  As I continued to think through what corporate heart really meant, I kept coming back to the corporate heartbeat and realized this morning that every corporate heart has a pacemaker, and that pacemaker provides the consistency, the pace, and the volume of the flow of corporate blood being pumped all over the corporate body.  In some organizations, that pacemaker is the leader and the leader sets the pace and determines the volume of blood and all parts of the organizational body take their direction and pace from that leader.  As I think back on some of the business leaders I’ve read about in my past, Jack Welch and Lou Gerstner were two business leaders that clearly were the pacemakers for their organizations.  In other organizations, the original owners may still control the board and that board may then be the pacemaker for the heart of the organization.

In our organization, however, the pacemaker for our heartbeat is our owners and it’s their culture and their faith that drive the consistency, the pace, and the volume from our corporate heart.  It’s our owners that everyone in this organization synch up to, and it’s that common pursuit of delivering well beyond their expectations that motivates us all.  As we’ve grown bigger, new people with vastly deep experience have come in to offer their logic to our owner driven heartbeat.  As with most very talented and aggressive people, they’ve stepped in as stimulants to the pacemaking rather than synchronizing partners to the pace already established.  Over time, those individuals will either dramatically change the pace of heartbeat or they will come in align with the heartbeat established by those providing the pacing.

One of our elders once told me, “sometimes we know too much, don’t we.”  It’s so hard to quietly listen to hear that heartbeat and then allow that pacemaker to then pull you in to that organizational flow.  It’s also sometimes so very hard to understand how we can add the great experience and aggressiveness of new team members to an already pumping heart and make it stronger without needing to change out or radically redesign the current pacemaker.  We’re programmed from early on to compete and win, to sense and react, to take charge and succeed, and yet that programming can be completely counter to a trust and empowerment heartbeat of any organization.

I’m a heartbeat listening business leader, and I’m so very thankful and respectful of the pacemaker for our corporate heart today.  As I look forward, I hope our quest for maturity is first framed in listening to that heartbeat and then synching with that pacemaker.  As we add others to this incredible growth journey we’re on, I hope they listen for the rythmn of that culture and faith grounded heartbeat, and then as they hear the purity of that beat, they align themselves with that pacemaker and together that heartbeat just becomes stronger.

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I’ve mentioned several times that we’re going through change now in our company, much of that change as a response to the enormous growth that we’ve experienced over the last 5 years or so.  Unbelievably (but oh so true) we woke up one morning and we were a billion dollar corporation, and that growth from just over $200M to $1B over five years spooked lots of people.

As I think back to five years ago, I would define our culture as one of pure heart – it was based on trust and empowerment and all of us that pursued our passion of growth with a common cause jumped right in and drove hard to deliver far above the expectations of our owners and overseers.  As that trust and empowerment resulted in growth beyond belief, with more growth came more concern, and with more concern came more oversight, and with more oversight came more process, and with more process came more logic, and with more logic came less heart. 

As new team members are added today, they are added to oversee the billion dollar business and they bring with them the expertise and structure of their own past experiences.  Those experiences, though very needed to achieve a new level of maturity in the corporate operations, often times are implemented with experience based biases that seem logical to those that are new but seem heartless to those that have given their all to achieve the growth that now creates such grave concerns for so many in those overseeing roles.

Our incredible success came straight from the heart and it oftentimes defied any possible logic.  As we threw structure at opportunity, the heartbeat of the organization synched up across multiple companies and the success of one drove the success of another.  Our logic was simple – follow your heart; and as we followed our heart, our companies grew, and as our companies grew, the passion to provide even more to our owners grew even faster.

As I look at us today, I remember back fondly at the smiles that were created when all we did came from the heart.  Intellectually, I too understand that structure and process are needed to mitigate risks, but I wonder if too much logic and too much maturity will eventually destroy the very heart that got us to where we are today.  If smiles comes from the heart, then what comes from the logic?

As you can tell, I follow my heart.  I certainly hope that the logic that is rapidly permeating our organization today can in some way recognize and accomodate the critical importance of heart in who we are and what we do.

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In the Bible, Jesus said, “Let the children come unto me and do not hinder them.”  He was teaching his disciples that the trusting approach of a child was what was needed when we through our faith approached God.  As I watch my little granddaughter grow up, even after 4 weeks I see that trusting nature spring forth:

On this beautiful day in Colorado, through this picture I’m reminded of the innocence of life, the trust of a child, and the beauty of God’s creation.  Each of us has so many burdens that we bear right now, some so many more than others.  Under the weight of those burdens though, we’ve been promised the presence, the comfort, and the love of our Creator, and I’m reminded of that each time I see a picture like this.

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I’ve been home for over two weeks now, the first time this has happened in almost 3 years!  I’ve taken advantage of being home to catch up on some of those parenting opportunities I’ve missed over the years…one of which is taking my 14 year old to the bus stop.  Now, I consider myself a monitor of human behavior – not nearly as good as my wife, but fairly good when compared to the general population.  And I’d like to make some observations about this bus stop:

(1) there are typically six teenagers that board the bus at this particular stop

(2) of those six, three are girls and three are boys

(3) of the three girls, none of them talk to each other

(4) of the three boys, two of them seem to be close friends

As the time approaches for the bus to show up, all six appear at the bus stop at about the same time every morning.  When they walk up to the bus stop, they always wait as follows:

I hope you can see this!  On one side of the street, three teenagers line up, always perfectly spaced at about 12-15 feet apart.  On the other side of the street, two of the teenage boys always hang out at the corner together, and then my 14 year old walks up about 3-4 feet from them, and every now and then says “hi”.

The thing that amazes me most is how consistent this is over this entire two week period.  Using some form of extrapolation, I can only conclude that at this particular bus stop this behavior of separating in geometrically similar spacing will continue this entire school year.  But I can also conclude that my 14 year old will be the irritant in the comfort zones of those other teenagers.  She’s already been known to walk up to the two boys and intrude on their conversations.  It won’t be long before those two boys realize that my 14 year old is probably just a bit more interesting at that age than the Ipods or other distractions that they currently possess.  It also won’t be long before my overly social yet introverted daughter will befriend one of those three on the other side of that road, and it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if it was the guy which always stands on the far right in the picture.

As I sit here pondering the bus stop, I think back to my high school years and I realize that I would have been one of those standing by myself, actively focused on my own special world.  My 14 year old though is so very different than I was when I was her age.  She’s incredibly comfortable in just about any social environment, and she’s befriended and makes friends quickly once eye contact is made.  For now, I cherish the fact that she sits in the car talking to me till the bus arrives.  When she does get out, she walks up and listens in on the conversation of the two guys on her side of the street, and each and every time they acknowledge her presence and say something typically stupid of teenage boys.   My prediction is that within weeks, we’ll have three teenagers on this side of the street actively chatting each other up waiting on the bus, and we’ll have three others with perfect separation on the opposite side of the street.  If by chance my 14 year old ends up sitting on the bus next to one of those teenagers on the other side of the street, I bet that very next day, the three over there will become four, and two will be perfectly separated while the other two will be actively chatting. 

The law of the bus stop states that unless you are good friends, you will wait quietly with perfect separation every day.  The second law of the bus stop states that for every six teenagers waiting at the bus stop, one will always be a law breaker.  At this particular bus stop, my 14 year old is and always will be the law breaker!

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I met with several peers from our operating companies this past week, and we used this time to think forward to an optimum structure and an optimum strategy for restructuring our organization.  We weren’t meeting because of big problems inside our companies or because of any particular survival instinct, but instead, we met in a proactive fashion to better structure our companies for accelerated growth and greater focus, both of which are expectations of our owners.

As we worked through our current structure and a proprosed new structure, the easy part was thinking about how to best move the puzzle pieces around to create a new picture with a potential to accelerate success from our operating company portfolio.  As with any change, the harder challenge was to think through the hurdles to overcome in the change process and to start the process of communications planning.

Proactive change very well may be a much tougher challenge than reactive change.  Reactive change is typically driven by a fear of survival that seems to be well understood and even accepted by the members of an organization.  Proactive change though is driven by a desire to take the success that has been made to date and adding to the team or restructuring the team to have even great success in the future.  Proactive change can be questioned big time by folks all across the organization.

In sports, we greatly admire dynasties – those teams that continue to excel even as they make both needed and not necessarily needed changes every year to stay on top.  Dynasties typically make changes to their team every year, and some of those changes can be quite dramatic as they shuffle their puzzle pieces and even add new pieces to the puzzle to continue to field a champion. 

In our business, we’re doing something very similar to the sports dynasties because we’re taking a good organization today and simplifying the structure and optimizing the focus to make an even better organization tomorrow.

One of the big challenges we have in this change process is effectively communicating our reasons for change to the 4,000 individuals who will be impacted in some way by the change process.  In any change process, team members will ask “why are we changing” and “how will it affect me?”  If the change is a reaction to adverse issues in the business or market, the “why” answer is very easy – to survive.  If the change is a proaction to accelerate growth or to better focus the organization, the “why” isn’t nearly as acceptable to the team of people that got us from where we were to where we are today.  In both cases, the “how it will affect me” is a critical early step in the dialogue so that the fear of change can be replaced with participation and acceptance of the change process.

I consider myself a change fanatic, but my acceptance of and desire to change is tempered in most cases by my overwhelming empathy for the affect of change on those who need stability and consistency in their lives.  Some of those folks are the most important team members that we have, and it’s critical to think through the affect change will have on those that are most important to our success coming out of the change process.

As we prepare our organization, our team members, and ourselves for the change process that will soon occur, I can only hope that we are decisive and expeditious in our change process.  Nothing good comes out of rethinking or delaying the change process.

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My Mom and Dad celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary today with the not so usual trip to Red Lobster (an hour drive away) for my Mom to get her very usual 3.5 pound lobster.  These trips don’t come often anymore, since the Red Lobster near their home was completely obliterated by hurricane Katrina.  The long road trip isn’t as easy anymore, making the lobster all that much more special.

For their 50th Anniversary present, my wife and I went to the Vermont Teddy Bear company and ordered a special gift commemorating their wedding 50 years ago today:

I’m not sure any gift can provide that perfect appreciation that this many years of mentoring and leading by example have given.  My Mom and Dad have shared enormous joy and enormous pain together, and through it all, every time we call, we get that same excitement and the same sense of pride for who we are that they began sharing with us very early in our lives.  In their 50 years of marriage, they survived hurricane Camille in a beachfront hotel in Biloxi, and then hurricane Katrina in their home less than a half mile off the beach in Gulfport.  Through challenges beyond their control, they were faced with financial difficulties early on, and yet we were never wanting for anything.  From my Dad, I learned a work ethic that throws heart and soul into any business endeavor.  From my Mom, I learned compassion beyond belief and a desire to help anyone, anytime in need. 

My wife says I look like my Dad when I take my glasses off.  I certainly hope so.  Through his life and from his example I’ve seen how to love and I’ve seen how to totally commit yourself to your partner, through good times and bad, through the smiles and the tears.  I hope in looking like him I can also emulate him in the perspective he has, in the calm personality he exhibits, and in the mature response to any crisis or any victory that he shows.

I’ve been blessed with parents that have provided a foundation in faith for me which is the cornerstone of my life today.  Through their beautiful example of faithfully following Christ, I’ve learned a lesson in obedience that comes directly from their examples.  I’ve also been blessed with parents who have provided much needed ears when I needed to talk, and much needed wisdom when I needed to listen.  Over my 47 years, we’ve laughed together, cried together, celebrated together, and mourned together.  Much of my life, they have helped me immensely, and every now and then, I’ve been able to provide some measure of help in return. 

On this special day, I’d like to say once again how much I love you Mom and Dad.  I can never thank you enough for showing me how to live my life by living an example where I can’t help but see so clearly how God expects us to live, to love, to share, and to give.  You have richly blessed our lives with your love and your example.

I love you. 

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I seemingly talk a lot about two things – probably too much – nirvana and serenity.  Nirvana is “an ideal condition of rest, harmony, stability, or joy”.  Serenity is “the absence of mental stress or anxiety”.  Both of these definitions come from what my daughter says is my favorite web site, dictionary.com.  After thinking about both, I’m convinced we can achieve serenity without finding nirvana but we can’t find nirvana without achieving serenity.

Today, I saw two great examples of serenity.  The first was a picture that my wife took outside of the front door of our house as a mid-afternoon storm (typical in Colorado) brought some rain to the surrounding hills:

Colorado is known for its majestic mountains (“purple mountains’ majesty”), but we love the afternoon lightning storms and showers just as much.  Every so often we see a beautiful rainbow that reflects so perfectly the serenity of this place.  It brings an incredible peace and a reminder of our awesome Creator.

I received a second example of serenity in a picture from my daughter.  Only 3 weeks ago today, we were visiting the neo-natal intensive care unit visiting our newly born granddaughter.  And now, 3 weeks later, my daughter sent us this:

For parents of a newborn, this is serenity.  For 3 straight weeks now, Audrey has been off-cycle with her parents in regards to being awake when they need to sleep and being sound asleep when they need her wide awake.  But this picture, regardless of timing, is an awesome example of serenity for parents of newborns – the time when the baby is totally crashed and that absence of anxiety arises!

I find moments of serenity from simple things today – the unique chime of the phone that only means a new picture of the grandbaby has arrived; that rainbow off on the horizon that means a storm is occurring somewhere else while peace and calm surround our home; that first snow on the mountains (occurred in August this year) that means winter is on the way and sweaters will be needed in the day and comforters on the beds at night; those brief moments of prayer and reflection in the morning before the busy-ness of the day sets in; and believe it or not, that first sip of the quad grande soy with whip caramel machiato taken right after leaving the drive through window at Starbucks!

All of these provide moments of serenity in an otherwise anything but serene day!  Although I’m desperately seeking nirvana, I cherish every single minute of serenity, regardless of when it occurs!

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Over the last 2 years while I’ve been serving in a senior staff role I’ve been dreaming of being back in an operational role, meaning back in revenue operations of some fashion.  My dreaming turned into a desperate desire about a year ago, to the point that I talked with my boss and compared being on staff of a billion dollar company after being a subsidiary President to being at the Pentagon when you were a wing commander – the minute you got on the staff you were desperately seeking a return to the mission operations where the real business excitement is.

As my yearning grew, I began consciously wearing clothing attire of operating companies all the time, and I wore one particular jacket much more than any other.  In addition to wearing the jacket, I began visiting that particular business more often and even went as far as to take a picture from the front of the building earlier this year, because I was so impressed with the image that appeared in the picture:

This picture is taken from the front of the building, and my office is behind one of those windows just above the mountains.

Back when I took this picture, I had no clue that I would possibly be back in an operating company and even more specifically I had no dream that I’d be in the very company that I had been wearing their golf sweater and staring at this picture whenever I could.

I’m smiling now in thinking about how this possibility became first a probability and now a reality.  I’m excited to be doing something that I feel is meaningful again, and I’m also incredibly thankful that my prayers have been answered to be back in the revenue operations war again.  When I was in the Air Force, I truly enjoyed my time in leadership positions, and I had the most fun in the toughest mission environments.  In business, I’m finding the exact same thing – I truly enjoy my time in operating company leadership positions, and I have the most fun in the toughest revenue operations environments.  In both cases I really struggled being in staff roles.

As I look back on my military and business carreers, I fully understand the critical importance of having mission leaders rotate onto staff to raise the mission IQ of the team at the staff level.  But I have yet to meet any mission leader that enjoyed any staff position…nor do I!

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Hey everyone! its me the 14 year old again! my dad has been bugging me for 2 weeks or so to get another blog up so before me and my BFF(!!!) goes shopping i decided to write one since my friend just called me and said she was eating breakfast.

Last time i wrote about things me and my dad have in common so this time i figured i would write stuff that is completely different, so here we go:

1. My dad doesn’t understand that i am a girl and i need to go shopping and plus, it will take forever to find a homecoming dress and i don’t even know if i am going to homecoming because my dad still wants me to be his “date” to the dinner which is on the same night as my homecoming (how ironic.)

2. I am in love with hockey as you guys probably know already but he doesn’t seem as into it as i do, such as he doesn’t care if we leave early from a game even though a true fan NEVER leaves early (my parents don’t understand that!!!!).

3. He is good at math and i am the complete opposite. my math is worse than my rythem. (lol)

The list goes on from there but i will stop there.

My dad thinks i am weird which i am but everyone thinks i am weird when it comes to how much i know about hockey. I have 4 countdowns going on right now and they are all hockey related

1. 12 days to my favorite hockey players birthday!!!!!(i am going to get a cake that day, just because i can!!)

2. 16 days until i get to see my favorite player!!!!!!

3. 18 days until the first pre-season game

4. and 33 days until the first regular season game!

it’s amazing how i can remember all of this! But we are all happy because the captain of my favorite team decided to stay one more year and not retire yet, cause he is forever our captain!!!!!

I will write another blog eventually but i am going to be busy with school and with the season starting for hockey!!!!!!! 

 

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