Passion and Capability, Chapter 3

Our meeting with him was picture perfect!

It was focused on identifying the issues and identifying those individuals who could best help in the resolution of them.

It was everything that is written about in the annuls of Process Improvement...but seldom, if ever, really experienced!

A plan was established and I walked out of "marathon man's" office absolutely elated...

As soon as we were out of earshot of "prying ears" I was met with a cynicism that I NEVER saw in him before or since...

"What you experienced...will not last!...it is as much facade as is his claim to being a winning marathon runner...and he (by his own admission) has never ran more than 1/2 the distance..."

"He needs...as well as his department...to face reality...and come to grip with (and take responsibility for), the delusion that they created..."

"He and they...think that they are something that they are not!"

"...at least...not yet..."
  
"So your challenge is not as much about finding solutions at this point...but on finding a way to get them to see reality...your time will be best spent in this arena..."

For the next three days there was an energy focused on change that was never before seen within this organization...

Then it waned...

During that time...I thought about what he he told me...

I used the "Genius of the "AND" tactic" throughout these "pivotal" days...which meant I worked twice as hard as I had originally intended...

"The Genius of the "AND" tactic" for those who have not spent much time with me...is a simple and effective way to accomplish what they need and what you need at the same time...

For this...it meant that

1 - I intently listened to their ideas for change...and improvement...documented them on the appropriate forms...

AND...

2 - I never missed a chance to ask..."how do you measure that...or how do you know?"  This set the stage for developing measures...and graphs...and gain acceptance on the data's representation of reality...

In the evening...I wrote out...in a concise manner...a recap of the meetings...

..."bulleting" all of the recommendations and the source...

I also "recapped" all of the data sources and created "draft" graphs...asking for review and verification/confirmation...

At the end of the first week...I called a meeting to review the consolidated findings...

It was well attended and represented...everyone who needed to be there was...and each brought with them a few "body guards!"

The review of the potential opportunities went quickly...everyone simply nodded...related to their suggestions...and most of the others provided support...

The closing question from the entire group was...when can we get started...

That question provided the perfect opening to the review of the performance graphs...

This was when I realized that the consolidated psyche of a group of people can be bi-polar!

At the lead was "marathon man!"  The one who claimed to fully support this effort...

Every chart...was wrong...even after they had confirmed the representative nature of the data...

This was when a unified claim of "witch hunt" arose...

What I thought was going to be a "cake-walk" turned into a cage fight!

Not only did they attack me...but each other!

I was not about to let down and "shred" the evidence!

I stopped the group and reminded them that our purpose was to make things better..and if the graphs were misrepresented...make a suggestion for improvement...

The pendulum then swung into another dimension!  (This is why I felt like I was at a bi-polar convention)...

The meeting then took on the nature of eBay!  People began "trading" metrics and negotiating charts..."I'll use this one...if you use this one..." 

I was dumbfounded...and decided that the best tactic was to simply...let nature take its course...

After three of the longest hours of my life...the meeting adjourned...

And everyone left sad!

I was concerned...the meeting appeared to be an absolute failure...I wanted the masses roused to action...singing praises of the effort...what I got was akin to a funeral dirge!

I clean-up the room...shut off the lights and walked slowly from the conference room...

I needed to reflect on the progress...I felt that I was a failure...

As I rounded to corner...he was standing there...

"You look like you just lost your best friend...rest assured that I am here!"

"I know...That meeting was..."

"AN ABSOLUTE SUCCESS!" he interrupted..."I know you didn't notice me...I hid in the back corner!"

"What do you mean a success...?" I asked

"You my friend got the group 80% of the way to success...when I have time...I'll explain...but rest assured...you did exactly what you needed to do..."

This was one of the very few times in my life that I was totally confused...

My confusion was amplified by the fact that he immediately left to "take care of his fires" leaving me totally alone with my thoughts...

I went back to my office...sat with my back to the door and took a stance like I was intently working at my PC and...I thought...

...I thought about how the week started with the "marathon man" and him being totally oblivious to reality...it was...as if he was in total denial...

Then how he and "the mob" got totally angry with my being there...and attacked my credibility and that of their data...That kind of anger was totally uncalled for and unprofessional!

Most confusing was the mob's negotiating.  Trading and bargaining their performance measures?  I had NEVER seen behavior like that!

And to wrap up a meeting in sorrow...the last time I experienced something like that was when I had to carry the message that I was "shutting the place down!"

They were a "bi-polar" group!  More mood swings than is at in a drug-free asylum!

They went from...

Denial...to...
Anger...to...
Bargaining...to...

Sorrow...

Why can't they just accept it?

Then it hit me...like being hit with a foam stress ball!  In fact...it was a foam stress ball that hit me...and I turned to find him standing in the doorway...with a huge smile...

"Death and Dying?"

"You got it!" he smiled..."Next week you'll see real acceptance!"

"I can not wait for the weekend to be over..."

"You need the weekend...they need the weekend...it is part of the equation!"

The Curse of a Visionary

"...Most great thoughts are ahead of their time...The world is not prepared to grasp the thoughts of a visionary...yet the immutable laws of the universe will prevail and in time...these thoughts will be lauded as genius...yet only by that generation's cutting edge thinkers..."

"Where did that come from?" I asked as we peddled our bikes, two-abreast, along the side of a quiet road.

"I was just thinking about all of the great thinkers...the visionaries...they seemed cursed..."

"Is it really a curse or a blessing?...I would think it delightful to be able to see the truth...clearly...and have the inside information on the world..."

"Don't you?  Think about how frustrated you get, with some of the people, within an organization, for their inability to see reality!  If I have heard you confess that once...I have heard a hundred times..."

"I am just airing my frustrations...with someone that I trust...it never shows in my work..."

"That is my point...you know and they don't...you see (we see) and they can't...and that kills you...even though you never let on!"

"Visionaries are a different class of people...many people desire to be called that and they strive to that end...without knowing the true consequences of that choice.  The best visionaries know how to operate in the normal world...the worst ones live on the extreme...and are never accepted..."

Our peddling pace began to slow as the intensity of the discussion increased.  I noticed that this always happened.  It was as if we subconsciously diverted energy from peddling to thinking...or walking to thinking...whatever we were doing, the pace of it slowed...

On second thought...it may be that we simply slowed, whatever we were doing, to extend the time together...it was an interesting effect...the cause was known (our discussions) and the impact was always positive...INSIGHT!

These times seemed like metaphysical dramas...I enjoyed participating in them...having numerous roles...audience, actor, stage hand...but seldom the director...that was his job and his alone...unless of course he abdicated it to me...

"There is a convenience store up ahead...I think it has a bench or two...perhaps a picnic table...let's stop and talk there...I do not want to miss any detail of this discussion," I suggested.

He agreed and stopped talking...for the moment and our pace quickened...both of us wanting to get back to the thought at hand...and to also give our legs a rest...

After grabbing a cup of coffee from the store...we found, as I had thought, a VERY tidy, small group of round cement tables and park-like benches, each with its own trash container.

I could see that this was popular with the locals.  There were intimate groups playing cards, others talking what seemed to be whispered gossip, some just sitting quietly enjoying the sun and breeze mix.  When the owners of the store (an elderly couple) were not serving someone inside, they were out, mixing with the patrons...sometimes taking orders and running back and forth, as best they could, between the merchandise, the customer and the cash register.

The flow of people, in and out, was constant.  As they each left...they not only cleaned up after themselves, but gathered something from others who were not yet done..."as long as I am heading that way...can I take that for you?" I heard many times...

These people, bar none, left the place a bit better for their having been there.  You may think this silly or an exaggeration, but while we were there, a lady brought some fresh cut flowers and placed them on each table...YES IT IS TRUE!  and she left a huge bucket of the left-over irises next to a bench...with a "take a couple home and enjoy them" sign...

It was quaint and an excellent example of "community."  What touched me for a moment was when one elderly patron walked out of the store and sat among "old" friends.  After a long discussion about "yesterday's high school football game," he stood to leave and his friends said, "have one more cup of coffee and stick around..."  He politely declined, with the excuse that he only brought enough money for one cup...suddenly there was enough money on the table to buy the store's brewer!

The atmosphere nearly distracted us from the reason for stopping...

...ALMOST...

We found a 2-place table that was situated at one end of the area and sat.

As we walked towards the table, I could see subtle head nods, elbow jabs and whispered (or mouthed) "Who are they?" questions. 

"We may have trespassed on sacred ground," I snickered as we sat...

"You noticed?" he replied with a not so subtle grin...

 "It is for the same reason that our being here is being questioned...that visionaries are cursed!"

"Do you think that our bikes are safe being parked out of sight...over there?" I asked...

"I have a feeling that you could leave a hundred dollar bill over there and it would be safe...these are a different people!"

With that...he stood up and asked the question publicly..."Does anyone here intend to steal our bikes?  This young man is a bit nervous about you guys..."

The crowd roared in laughter...

I wanted to crawl into a hole...better yet...I wanted to dig a hole and shove him in it...

That was how he was...I actually had grown accustomed to it...

For the next 15 minutes...people walked up to us and introduced themselves and asked what we were doing here...and on and on...

He politely answered their questions...and they walked off...to resume their activities...

"You are absolutely crazy!" I laughed...

"Our presence would have ruined this group's entire day...if I hadn't done what I had done," he replied...

"We were interlopers...perhaps even a threat to their perceived status quo...now we are part of the community..."

"..once they saw that we shared the same ungrounded fears, that they did...the tension eased...and in their introductions...which were done subconsciously to show you that you had nothing to fear...they themselves quelled their fears..."

"That's interesting!" I quietly noted, "Can we go back on our discussion about the curse of visionaries?"

"We are on that discussion and never left it...not even when we stopped talking a half-hour ago..."

"How so?" I asked...

"The entire visionary drama has been playing out since our original thought..."

"We came upon that interesting thought...and to us it made perfect sense...reality became VERY clear..."

"We pondered the truth and decided that we needed to do something about it...which in our case was stop and discuss it further..."

"We happened upon a small community...and jumped right into the middle of it..."

"The community was a bit apprehensive about our presence..."

"If you noticed...when we appeared on the scene...all of their regular activity ceased..."

"Not until their fears where shown to be ungrounded...did they return to their routine...and they accepted us into their midst..."

"That is the curse of the visionary...and embedded within our drama was the answer to overcoming that curse!"

"Seek acceptance and quell the fears of the community...show them that you share the same ungrounded fears as they do...and wait for the invitation to be among them...and make the place better for your having been there...and guess what...NO CURSE!"

"You set this up?" I laughed...

"I simply took advantage of a situation that is ever present..."

That's when I noticed that the entire area was dead quiet and everyone was turned towards us...it was a "creepy" feeling...they were intently listening to us...

Not letting on to the fact that I had noticed...I said, "Man this is a beautiful place...I wish I had enough money to buy you another cup of coffee...and we could stay a bit longer...

Within minutes there was enough change on our table to buy the coffee brewer in the store...






        

Passion and Capability - Chapter 2

After he bid us adieu...we sat for a few minutes in dead silence...in fact his eyes never met mine...

The man sitting in front of me was totally different from the one that I had met a few hours previously...

Someone had to break the silence...and I realized that it had to be me...

"Perhaps I was a bit too harsh..."

"You absolutely were not...you are here to make things better...and to be totally truthful with you...I think that you were right..."

Before he went into a long "confession" I stopped him...and he looked relieved...

"Let's figure out what we need to do to make the organization REALLY shout your praises...and do it..."

"I like that" he replied with a sigh of relief, "I figured that you were here on a witch hunt..."

"Not at all...I am here to make meaningful and significances...witch hunts are a last resort..."

Although the conversation was much longer and still had a tendency towards discussing marathons and half-marathons...we mostly stayed on subject and developed a clear understanding and mutual agreement of the goals and expectations of my engagement.

We finished lunch and drove back to the facility...set times to meet...and parted...

I walked back to the front door and he to the back...

I pondered my journey as I walked...

The next step was significantly more difficult...that is ascertaining the REAL condition and performance of the department...

The group had become conditioned to promoting success by upper management...and knew exactly what to say and how to say it...

I saw that my car was parked in its original place...and he was standing near it...having too just seen me...

"Here's the keys..."

"Don't you ever work?" I laughed. "YOU are such an instigator!"

"I didn't mean to set you up...but...the situation called for it...as I always say...success in any endeavor or process...is always about perfectly timed collisions..."

"You choreographed that collision quite well!" I laughed..."It was perfectly timed!"

"...and I suspect that your last conversation went well and actually set the stage for improvement..."

"It was much better...and this fellow is totally different..."

"He may be different in words...he is running scared...total change takes more time..."

"The wheels are turning on my challenge...so do you mind if tag along with you?" he asked, " I would just go and sit at the room..."

As we walked back to my temporary office, he continued his thoughts

"This may seem totally off-base, but let me ramble for a while...I do not believe in karma as a religious concept...but I do believe that when that concept developed, they were on to something..."

"People get back in exact or greater measure what they put into any effort...and that doesn't mean at a superficial level...but at the foundational level..."

"This is all about the tie that we have to Cause/Effect...and its subsequent Impact"

"No matter what we do...every effect is tied to specific causes...and that relationship can not be broken..."

"If you do something specific...the cause, have you...you can with absolute certainty predict the effect..."

"It is the subsequent impact that you can not predict...the reason is that the impacts are in the realm of human control..."

"AND the impacts are tied to the foundational reason...the motivational nature behind the initial actions that initiated the behaviors that generated the causes..."

"That sounds VERY circular...but humor me for a moment..."

"If a person blows smoke all of his or her life...they will ultimately end up breathing smoke!"

"If a person acts selfishly...they will end up losing to selfishness..."

"If a person lives by the sword...they will die by the sword..."

"A person always reaps what they sow..."

"That is however...unless that reason for their actions (causes) were selfless or for truly good reasons...then others will intervene between the Effect and Impact..."

"This does not happen as often as it should..."

"Nature has a way of showing frauds and selfishness for what it is..."

"There is always some bad cook in the equation that rises to the occasion and spoils the banquet..."

"The person that claims to be a fighter...ends up the loser..."

"The person who claims to be the smartest...ends up the fool..."

"The world promises that...and it ALWAYS fulfills its promises...you can bank on that!"

"The only thing that people like that can do...is delay the time between effect and impact...but it will happen..."

"That is where I believe the concept of karma came from...I believe...the astute people saw this consistently happening and because of their religious bias...explained it as some spiritual concept...rather than for what it is...just a blend of the natural world and humans..."

"It is an immutable law...ultimately on every level of the human experience..."  

"Knowing this...makes me ever cognizant of my motivations behind my decisions and behaviors and my actions...are they well meaning?...or selfish?...are they selfless?...or...I guess I could go on forever..."

"Are you trying to tell me something about me?"

"Why are we talking about this?"

"I am trying to understand your intent behind this discussion..." I laughed... 

"Let's go see that marathon man..." he replied..."I want to watch where this goes...I think you'll see that the root of this problem is karma!"

"I thought you didn't believe in that...!" I chided, "His office is just down the hall..."

Enough Said...for today...(to be continued)

Passion and Capability...

I had just taken on a new challenge...and it was a bit scary!

From the initial data and insights that I could gather...the current situation is so much better than it used to be that everyone is VERY happy...

Everyone...that is...but the customers!

The "hype" around the internal success of the department's efforts was so intense...that the leadership forgot to ask the customers if they were any happier!

I was on a relentless pursuit of answers to looming issues...and pushed my data gathering efforts into the sphere of socialization...it was time to "socialize" with the group leader...

As I stood at the door of his office he was reaching into a desk drawer...he pulled out a HUGE bottle of "over the counter" pain medicine...effortlessly twisted his way past the child-proof lid...removed 4 tablets and swallowed them in a practiced way!

"Come on in and sit down." he invited...

"I run marathons...ran one this weekend...it always takes me a few days to recover...I really push the limits...I have been doing this for 20 years!" came his explanation for the pills...

"How did you do?" I asked...

"I was smack dab in the middle of the runners...Half of the runners were better and half worse...best race that I have ever ran...in your terms...I was at the top of the bell curve!"

"Interesting...congratulations" I replied..."I know that your time is precious...and you didn't invite me here to talk about marathons...but our problem..."

"He broke into my gracious "let's shift gears to the problem at hand" tactic...

"I don't understand what all of the fuss is about...there really isn't a problem...it is all hype meant to divert attention from the great improvements that I have made...it's all political...but I'll help you in any way that I can..."


"You know that my work has flipped the proverbial "80/20" on end!  It used to be 80% defective and 20% effective...now it is 80% effective and 20% defective!  That is something that should be lauded...not criticized...heck it took me 2 years to get it this way...they do not appreciate what I did!"

"We are doing as well as the company that they hired me away from...sure there are other companies that do ...what we do better...but they charge 5% more for that guarantee of perfection..."


"This company expects too much...all they worry about are the customers that they are losing...AND"


"Our customers demand too much...they whine too much...they need to be a bit more understanding..."

"There are a ton of customers to replace the one or two that we lose..."
"I wish they would ask me what I think rather than tell me what to do..."

Then without taking a breath...he shifted gears so fast...it nearly knocked me out of my chair...

"Marathons are interesting races...they are getting faster and faster...the time I got this weekend was exactly the same as the winning time was...20 years ago!"


"When I first started running marathons, I used exactly the same conditioning regime as the top race runners...and have been doing that ever since...look where it has got me!"

"How many people ran this weekend?"

"...over 500"

"That is absolutely amazing...over 250 people ran faster than the winning time from 20 years ago!"

"I guess you could say that!"

"I wonder if they used the same conditioning regime as you did?"

He didn't answer...and just looked at me with a nearly blank look...

"How many people won?"

"Just one...the race...but we marathon'ers are rare and unique...we have our own way of looking at things...we say that everyone won in their own right..."

"...or their in own mind," I added, "...but how many won by the rules of the race and the criteria of the judges?"

"Just one...everyone else lost..." he defensively responded...

"I bet you can see that I am really passionate about marathon running...it sets me apart from the rest of the world...there are many more people who can't run a marathon..."

"That's really interesting...Are you passionate about marathon running and the race itself or are you passionate about some false sense of superiority that running in one gives you so that you can laud it in front of others who do not run""

"...Do you know that those same people that you are trying to impress may be snickering behind your back for killing yourself just to lose?"

"If you are passionate about the race...then you must set your sights at winning...if you have ever said...only X% of the world runs in marathons...look at me...you are running for the wrong reason...you are doing it to put others down...and that is the sign of a MAJOR character flaw..."

"In terms of the race...you should be saying look at me...This time, I was among the group of losers!  Next race I am going to stand alone on the podium...and then you work to achieve that!"

If the reason that you run was based upon the "look at me" sense...you should be saying...look at me...I ran another marathon so that I can feel superior to you and make you feel less of yourself because you do not do that!  Aren't I great?" and then question whether that builds a person up or takes them down...

"Well...have you ever run in a marathon?" he taunted...

"Yes I have...and I won...the Athens to Marathon race in Wisconsin a few years back"

"A full marathon?"

"Yes...like yours...right?"

"Mine was a half marathon..."

"That's not a marathon!"  "Why would you say you are running a marathon?"

"OH!" he responded..."I just remembered that I have a lunch meeting...can we continue our discussion in 2 hours?"

With that he stood up and walked out of his office...

I sat for a minute, to write some notes...and he came back and said, "Silly me...this is my office...I have to grab my jacket!"

With that I walked out of his office and then thought that I should grab a bite to eat and reflect on this conversation...It was so strange!

As I left the building a familiar person was leaning on my car...and smiling like the "Cheshire Cat!"

"What are you doing here?" I asked

"Want to catch a bite to eat?  I was just in the area and thought that I could maybe find you and see how you are doing!"

As we climbed into my car he snickered, "I see that you talked with the marathon runner!"

"Are you psychic?" I asked, "How did you know that?"

"He walked across the parking lot about 10 minutes before you came out, he was on the phone and was confirming that you won some race...and then he went on ranting how you demeaned him!"

"That's a bunch of BS!" I replied, "Demeaning...how could that be?  It is his attitude that is killing this company...and..."

"Hold on there!  Save the adrenaline for your next race!"

"I quit running those things...you know that..."
"I have a feeling that you are absolutely right...but that attitude that you have right now will only make this problem bigger!"

"I can see that he runs that race because he thinks it makes him more important...he covers that basic need with a bunch of pretty words about "self discipline" and goal setting" and "health" and "personal challenges" and he really desires to have something that he is good at...something that makes him feel better than everyone else...he lacks a mature sense of self-worth..."

"OK...so what?"

"This is an interesting part of the human psyche..."


"Many people qualify their performance by saying that they are "NORMAL.""

"Personally...I would not strive for normal or average...that goal is for people who are handicapped..."


"Normal people should set their goals and strive for the EXTRAORDINARY!"


T"he real challenge in one's life is achieving what you are capable of..."


"This isn't a question of striving to be normal...it is a question of capability..."

"What are you truly capable of?"
"People confuse those two concepts..."

"Capability has much to do with a person's passion...the two are tied inseparably together!


"If a person is capable...they become passionate...


"...and vice versa...if a person is passionate...they find a way to be capable..."

"That is...if it is for the right reasons!  The world rewards the right passion and the right capability and ultimately punishes those who do the wrong things for the wrong reasons...those who are punished are seen as frauds!"


"I would bet that he is passionate about running HALF marathons because he can use that to put others below him...today he was called out and seen by you as a fraud!  He has to defend himself now..."


"AND he is fearing that you'll also see him for a fraud in his department..."


"Is he?"

"I think so...but you have to give him...what do you call it?  OH YEAH!  A Way Out With Dignity...a WoWD..."


"He talked his way into the role he has...and he'll continue to talk and try to make what he has done into some great epic legend...my guess is that anything he claims is either a lie or stolen..."


"The bottom line is that he is trying to make normal performance an extraordinary feat...something it is not...it may mean that his extraordinary performance is normal at the stretch...that he struggles not to be a loser...or he is simply lazy..."

"In either case...shouldn't he be fired?"

"A good company would do that...but I do not think this one is capable of the right decision..."

"What did I do wrong then?"

"Absolutely nothing...you made him see himself...I know that you were not mean...you didn't do it to put him down...it is probably the first time in his life that he had to look at himself for who he really is..."

"Many people fear seeing themselves for what they really are...and they internalize a false image...and work hard to deceive themselves..."

"What is important...It is what you do with this...actually it is what he does with this situation that is going to matter..."

We stopped at a small restaurant and walked in...the place was crowded...

Sitting alone at a table for four was "the marathon man!"

As we waited for a table to clear...he walked over to the "runner" and introduced himself...and then motioned for me to come over to them...

"He said that we could join him...isn't that nice?"

We sat and I could feel the visual bullets ricocheting off of the table...

"So he tells me that you run marathons...wow that is quite a feat!"


"I wish I could run marathons....but these old bones are not up to it!"

"But....you have..." I tried to add...but he wouldn't let me...

"It's really half-marathons that I run..." the marathon runner corrected...
Then "Mr. Runner" reached into his pocket and pulled out 4 more tablets and downed them...

"When you are recovering from your races...how many of those pills do you take each day?"

"My doctor says I can take up to 12," he answered...

"You must really push yourself in those races..."

"Just like you do with that department..."

"You got that right..."

"How's production going?"

"We are still about 20% defective...but that's s OK..."

"Let's put what your department does in terms of the drug company that produces your anti-inflammatories..."

"With what your department is doing right now...if the drug company did the same...three of the pills you take today could be ineffective...or downright poison...for me that is a sobering thought..."

"That is a sobering thought...but what we do doesn't have the potential of physically hurting people..."

"Not in a physical sense...but it does hurt people..."

"I guess that you are right"

His normal pace of eating was slow and deliberate...this time it seemed that he inhaled...then he looked at his watch and announced that he had to leave...and asked if he could use my car...that is...if marathon runner would take me back to work...
Marathon runner somewhat apprehensively agreed and I gave him my keys...and bid him adieu...

At that moment, I understood the meaning of DEAD SILENCE...

(To be continued next week)