Passion and Capability - Chapter 4

During the weekend it was not a time for rest...

I had many things to prepare...before the epiphany (that he predicted) occurred...

THEN...

He appeared at my door and before I could customarily greet him...he began...what I predicted would be a LONG dissertation...

"I have been thinking...There are two operators that come into play with rational thought...intellectual rationalization and experiential rationalization..."

"...if properly used each will come to the same conclusion...that is...when given the same challenge..."

"...HOWEVER..."

"Intellectual rationalization can contain flaws within its assumptions...and experiential rationalization can contain flaws within its interpretations..."

"Individuals can and will intellectually rationalize their situation with flawed assumptions...and then this operator becomes the enemy...of truth"

"...Others will interpret their experience to suit their desired outcomes...and use it as a shield behind which they rationalize their current state...and again...defend themselves and guess what?  This becomes an enemy of truth..."

"Your greatest allies are also your greatest enemies!"

"We are going to have to look at your plight...using the analogy of medieval warfare..."

"I have never looked at my career as me being a knight in shining armor...but it has a nice feel...this could be fun!" I laughed.  He didn't see the humor in it...he was dead serious...so I decided that I would listen!

"YOU my friend are living in a siege situation..."

"Your challenge sits behind MASSIVE castle walls...and you have surrounded them..."

"...all you can do is continually lob reality over their walls..."

"They will finally see it for what it is...and surrender...not to you...but to reality..."

"But it is the weekend...I have no contact with them...how can I continue to keep reality in their faces?" I asked, "This sounds like it is going to be a long siege..."

"It will not...stay on your path...that department is working diligently, as we speak, to prove you wrong...if you did your work correctly...they will not be able to rationalize any other conclusion...than the ones you drew for them..."

"...every counter attack...will turn on them...that is the beauty of solid data..."

"I hope my case was air-tight" I said as I began to second-guess my work...

"Don't worry...I know you have done OK!"

"If not...remember that this is a siege...just because they didn't surrender today...you have the entire world behind you...their castle is small, their supplies limited and it will soon fill up with their own excrement..."

"You have a unique way with words!  I so enjoy the visual imagery that it elicits!" I chided, "When does the knight ride in?"

"Stop with the knight...there is no knight in this version of the vision!"  He laughed...
Truth is not often found in words, but in the repeatability of the messages that are found in the patterns.  Pattern recognition is an advanced form of intelligence...and the more intelligent people find the similarities in obscure events..."

"Think about this..."


"The elementary thinkers only see similarities in exact events..."


"As one grows wiser...drawing the parallels between unrelated events grows more astute..."


"Although I can not yet fathom it (and this is purely philosophical)...I believe that the ultimate intelligence would recognize everything as one thing...and totally related..."


"What an admirable goal to strive for...!"


My advice is that you double-check your "boulders" and ensure that they are granite and not sandstone..."


"Your catapults are sound..."


"Make sure you have sufficient ammunition...and the confidence to stand your ground..."


"They are surrounded...any attempt to escape means that they run into you!  You have them surrounded...you have an infinite number of escape routes to use...since there is an entire world behind you!"


"For you...this weekend is nothing more than ensuring that your confidence is strong..."

I took his advice and checked and double-checked and triple-checked every measure and conclusion...and the weekend passed quickly...

Monday morning, (as he predicted) was full of subtle counter-attacks...fully comprised of misinterpretations and misrepresentations.   My response was to quietly stand my ground...and continually (and VERY publicly) recognized that my conclusions may be wrong...and I needed help to see the errors of my way!  I asked them to show me what was wrong with them...

Each time they attacked "my numbers" a piece of their wall crumbled!

By the end of the day...their fortress was in shambles...and they stood behind proverbial piles of debris...

Most crawled out and came to "the acceptance phase," other refused to admit it and continued to hide behind the piles...and continued to make claims of conspiracies and "witch-hunts"

That was when I remembered something I heard him (my mentor) once say publically..."If I am on a witch-hunt...the only ones that need to be afraid...are witches!"

I had an idea...There was a person at this organization that I had labeled "the myna bird."  It was easier to get information out and across the entire organization...all I had to do was tell him something in confidence...it was faster than through memos and newsletters and meetings...

I took a walk and found him...I displayed frustration I was having with the accusations of the department and then I told him that "in truth" I was on a "witch hunt"...I was looking for the reason(s) behind the organization's poor performance...and that I have been charged with and will eliminate it (them)...pure and simple...

It was the truth...and I knew that by day's end, the entire organization would know it!

and as predicted...that message spread like a brush fire in a gale!

One by one...the "hold outs," not wanting to be tagged as the "witch" came out of hiding...that is...except for "marathon man."

"Marathon Man" (actually half-marathon man) still stood behind his facade and touted his running ability, rather than his performance as a leader...in fact, the frequency of his talking about races increased to a point that he seldom talked about work or when he did...it was always about past accomplishments...

I gave up...and simply left him in his world of denial...

The week passed and great headway was made...with everyone but him...

I was perplexed and wrapping up the week...sitting in my office...when I heard "half man's" (Which is what he was now tagged) voice just outside my doorway...

He was talking with a sub-ordinate's sub-ordinate's subordinate...an outspoken lady...who always had something to say...but what was delightful...it was almost always right!

She had come to him with some ideas for improving department performance...and from what I could hear...they were well thought through and sound!

He almost immediately went into his "marathon thing"...and she didn't take have the time or patience for the platitudes!

"Tell me what your running has to do with me?" she asked..."It doesn't guarantee that I'll have a job tomorrow...or a promotion because I learned something new...it doesn't feed and cloth my kids..."

And with that she stomped off...walked past my office and winked...

He followed shortly thereafter and hesitated at my doorway...I looked up and greeted him...he started to talk...then sighed...shrugged his shoulders and walked back to his office...without saying anything meaningful...

No sooner had he left and my phone rang...

He was laughing..."Sometimes the most devastating boulders are not the ones you throw...huh?"

To be continued...