Stormy weather: The tragedy and disruption created by Hurricane Fay, as well as by tornadoes, flooding, blizzards and all the other weather that hits our globe, reminds us that there are natural forces over which we have very little control. (Although we are finding out more every day about ways we can have some control as we protect our Earth!)
Usually our best options are to prevent the problems that we can prevent, be as prepared as possible for anything that might happen, then work quickly to repair damage and regain stability.
Work is like that. You can control many aspects of it, but not all of it–and some of it is completely out of your control. The only things you can control are your preparedness for the things that are likely to happen and your responses to them, so they do not have the power to ruin your happiness and inner peace.
Your workplace mental and emotional preparedness kit:
1. A strong foundation of competence. If you are highly competent at your work, you will have evidence of your value and so will others. That alone can be a tremendous source of protection when things are going bad at work. It also helps you feel better about yourself–with something to base those feelings on.
2. A strong awareness of continuity. One of the things that can help us move past problems is being aware that “this too, shall pass.” The situation you are confronting right now may be making you miserable, but there is more to your job than that. There is more to your life than that. Consider the stable parts of your life right now, and keep those strong. They provide the continuity that will help you overcome obstacles and allow you to feel inward calm.
3. A strong feeling of confidence. Confidence is not just about positive self-image, it is about self-reliance, self-management and self-motivation. Confidence comes from within you and transcends temporary set-backs. Remember though, there has to be a foundation for confidence, otherwise you just have ego!
4. A strong sense of courage. There are times when courage can lead us to step forward and assert ourselves when it is needed, or to stand up for others. Perhaps your best display of courage will come when you can get showered and dressed, drive to work with a feeling of energy, walk into the office or workplace with a pleasant smile and greeting for everyone you see, and begin your work as though everything is perfect in your world. If you encounter arrows, knives or barricades, you just keep moving and focus on the future–there is one!
One of the best feelings you will ever have at work is when you are talking, walking, and working with competence, confidence and courage, building a continuum of effectiveness. While you are at it, give your support to someone else who may not be as prepared for the storms of worklife as you are!
Staying prepared and developing strength: I used the photo and story about snow for a specific reason–the same reason I used the word strong to describe the elements of a mental and emotional workplace preparedness kit: 1.) It is still officially summer, but I know winter will be here, and now is the time to prepare for it. 2.) We cannot have strength in any capacity without consistent efforts to gain and maintain it.
The Big Blizzard: In March of 2008, parts of Ohio were shut down with recurring blizzards–20 inches in a 24 hour period on top of other snow. (Denver had 23.8 inches on Christmas Eve, 1982, Buffalo, New York had 38 inches of snowfall in one day in 1995–so there is always some other record holder!)
The snow and high winds created damage and disruption that had a severe impact on millions of residents, and the economic toll on businesses and governments was also terrible. Governor Ted Strickland surveyed the damage and made a statement that not only was a hit with reporters, but stuck in my consciousness to the point that I wrote it on a card and put it near my desk. He said:
We will get through this. The snow will stop, the wind will cease, and the sun will shine.
But until that happens we need to be smart, take care of ourselves and attempt to be helpful to others.
That seems to me to be a great bit of advice for all the storms of our lives!
August 23rd, 2008
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development |
7 comments
I have been a bit perplexed over the last few months, about how some people have found my website. (I can check to see whether they were directed by a search engine, typed my URL, or were linked here from someplace else. Big Sister is watching you!)
Some of the search requests have used phrases such as, “Rowe helps employees” and “Questions about Rowe.” That made sense–sort of. However, last month I was shocked to have three people come to my site after searching for, “Rowe doesn’t work”, “Dislike Rowe”, and “Rowe bad for employers.” What the heck was that all about? So, I researched it.
Here is what ROWE is all about–Results Oriented Work Environment. It was a concept started by Best Buy in their headquarters offices, and is now being considered for retail stores. It is essentially flextime, in that the focus is on results not on time in the office. If your workplace has implemented ROWE or something similar, I’d like to know your thoughts.
Some employees complain that this is very unfair for those who must be there to open and close the office, if others come and go as they wish. A few say their productivity standards were increased, making it necessary for them to work more hours anyway. Many jobs simply could not use the concept because of customer or client expecations. However, for many, it is a good way to let employees live their lives without such stark boundaries between work time and home time. All I know is that I have it on good authority that ROWE makes many people happy!
I think I will contact Best Buy and see if they can do a better job of selling this concept around the world. I want 100% acceptance! I’m tired of having my website found by people who are looking for information about “ROWE is failure” “Reasons Rowe won’t work” or the ultimate, “Rowe bad.”
One of my favorite ways of having my website found and read by a total stranger, was when someone from the UK searched, found me, and contacted me by email to ask about one of the posts, unrelated to his original topic. How did he find me? Rather obvious: He looked for “Best Buy ROWE is successful.” (My friends just call me, “The Best.”)
August 19th, 2008
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TLR |
Life and Work |
7 comments
I took this picture at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and only later found it fascinating! As the tram went past it (and do not get me started on how awful that tram ride was. I will never, ever do it again if there are obnoxious children and parents waiting to get on it, which means I will probably never, ever do it again.) the guide said, “This is our habitat for mountain goats. They’re hard to see, but they are up there!”
I saw six immediately, and pointed them out to the people next to me who couldn’t see any of them. I snapped a photo to remind myself of the neat camouflage job. Later, when I looked at the photo on zoom, I realized there were a few more than four.
If you want to give it a try, right click on the photo and save it to your computer, then look at it in your photo manager and enlarge it to about 200%. Enlarging it too much pixelates the image and makes it more difficult to see. Then, use a magnifying glass if you need to, to really see the detail. Go over each zone of the photo and you’ll see them. It’s sort of like an Easter Egg Hunt!
I wonder what would happen if a few of those mountain goats, surveying their bland and rather bleak surroundings, would decide to jazz things up a bit. How would they redecorate? How would they change their own appearances? What would they do to stand out in the crowd? I suppose the answer is that they would do none of those things, because they know hungry mountain lions would spot them easier. Individualism can be a good thing but attracting unwanted attention is not! Many of us would have benefited from attending Mountain Goat Survival School early in our lives.
Let me know how many you find!
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OK gang, time to get the answer. I only am counting those that I can see for sure, either on my own or with a magnifying glass. (Although, even without a magnifying glass I can see most of them fairly well when enlarged slightly.) I have three question marks, and 41 sightings! Yes, 41! I had entered it here as 39, when I found two more, right out in the open!
Pastor Jeff Adams found several that I had not found, but I don’t think that should count, because he is supposed to sort of be like a shepherd, finding the sheep. Right? And, doesn’t the Bible say something about separating the sheep from the goats, or vice versa? Anyway, when it comes to seek and ye shall find, he found them!
Evans, Colorado Police Department Chief of Police Rick Brandt did a good job too. But again, how impressive is that, when he has had a whole career involved with finding people who don’t want to be found?
A friend who wants to remain anonymous was very close to the correct answer. But since she did most of her looking while at work, she felt it would be better to not have her name announced. I tried to convince her that my readership on this site could hardly be considered equivalent to putting it in the Rocky Mountain News, but she demurred.
How many did you find? Thanks for playing!
August 15th, 2008
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TLR |
Life and Work |
17 comments
I was reading about the lack of education in both the home and school on the “domestic arts and sciences” the other day. Read this quote, because it certainly makes a point. (Then, check out the source for these thoughts, immediately following the quote.)
“Many household duties are becoming lost arts. Young women are not trained in the home or at school and have no time or inclination for such things, and in many cases their mothers have no more interest than they do. Besides, conditions have changed so that such home education is considered unimportant.
Everything can be bought and nothing needs to be sewn, cooked, baked or prepared at home. Even the good taste to furnish a home can be purchased from someone else. When she marries, most young women will marry men who know little more than she does about housekeeping and cooking, because his mother did not do it either. This can continue for awhile, until one day when guests arrive, both husband and wife will wish their home was tidier and the food had not been purchased ready-cooked, at twice the cost and half the taste, of food cooked at home. Or, both husband and wife will one day realize they do not have the clean, orderly home that is best for a family or for their own peace of mind and enjoyment.
If a teacher had before him a class of fifty students and knew that almost all of them were to be carpenters, he would certainly find his teaching to be modified by that fact. In every classroom it is known for certainty that almost every student will need to engage in some kind of housecleaning, cooking and homemaking. Should not some recognition of this fact be made in teaching?
Few of us would disagree with those thoughts. With only a bit of editing, they were taken directly from The New Practical Reference Library, VOL. VI, published in 1904. (You can see why I love old books!)
Over the next few weeks I am going to write some articles on this general concept of changes and sameness in our views about education and training. I also will devote a bit of time to discussing the domestic sciences, as they used to be taught. No, not to produce Household Tips From Tina, but just because I think it is interesting. If you have any information to pass along, I would love to have it. In the meantime, I will leave you with this further quote from the 1904 book:
“We need look no further than our newspapers and periodicals to realize that the subject of food, cooking and household care is a vital and generally interesting one. Nearly every newspaper has an article on some phase of the subject–perhaps to the safety and healthfulness of certain foods or how the food is grown, perhaps to the economy of preparing food compared to purchasing it, perhaps merely to recipes or to methods for removing stains or making a room more attractive.
There are whole magazines devoted to such questions as diet and vegetarianism. You may pick up a magazine that says foods should be eaten raw or only juiced or mashed, to be most healthy. The next day you may read equally convincing articles to the effect that a food considered healthy yesterday is now considered to be poisonous to the human body. One article will tell us how to eat to gain muscles and fat for health. Another will tell us to eat more fruits and vegetables and less meat. References to these articles are not intended to be argumentative of any particular view, but to show that the question of food, cooking and domestic sciences is a live one that interests all of us.”
Every expert cook seems to have a catch phrase, “Kick it up a notch!”, “Bam!”, “Yum-O!”, “Bon Apetit!”. A friend of mine from a lot of years ago used to say something much less classy to her family, right before she served dinner on paper plates in front of the TV: “OK guys! Chow down, then clean up!”
August 12th, 2008
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TLR |
Life and Work |
6 comments
I was reading about the Olympic Games and was fascinated by information about the hurdle competitions. I couldn’t help but think that life is like that. (I am, after all, the daughter of Creola Kincaid Lewis.)
The article said a requirement for success is for the runner to be aware of the hurdle before he or she reaches it, then at the moment of jumping, forget the hurdle, look forward and keep running. What a wonderful analogy!
I did some research on hurdles as a result of that article and probably found out more than I wanted or needed to know about the activity! However, like all research, it was fascinating for many reasons–and all of them reminded me of life and career challenges.
When you can do a lot, don’t settle for doing less. As you would expect, runners prepare for the highest hurdles by starting with lower ones. But what I found most interesting was that once a runner is prepared for the highest hurdles they almost never go back to the lower ones just to keep in shape. To do that would hurt their muscle memory and give them a false sense of security. That is like our lives: Once we accept the challenges of responsibility we need to look for even greater responsibility to keep our knowledge and skills well trained.
The time to get ready is before you get going. As I looked at photos of hurdle competitors I was impressed with their physical conditions. Their leg and thigh muscles are incredible, but they also need total body strength. They do not get in that kind of condition after the race has started! That also applies to our non-running world, If we wait until we face challenges, tragedies or even triumphs before we prepare ourselves mentally and emotionally, we inevitably will handle the situations less effectively. Every day is a training day.
You don’t have to clear the hurdles to win. Hurdles are weighted so they fall over if touched by the runner. But get this: There are no penalities for knocking over a hurdle. The problem is that the pull-over weight considerably slows down the run. Nevertheless, knocking over a hurdle doesn’t mean the race is lost. The runner just has to run faster afterwards.
One thing you will notice: Runners do not stop and kick the hurdle after it falls over. Nor do they stop to trip other runners out of anger or frustration. They keep looking forward and running. When we don’t clear a hurdle in our work we want to know why, and how we can avoid doing it again. But, we can do that better if we wait until there is a break in the action. Until then, we should keep going and make the next hurdle a brand new challenge.
Characterisitics of a runner with potential to be great in hurdle competetions: An article that discussed the characteristics coaches look for, listed these (See if they sound familiar for success in work): “Above average speed, light on your feet, have good stride length and excellent flexibility.” Wouldn’t that help us in almost every situation?
The Apostle Paul, in the New Testament of the Bible, said of his faith, “I forget what is behind me. I push hard toward what is ahead of me. I move on toward the goal to win the prize.” That applies to every race and to our lives and careers as well. You may be facing more than one hurdle today or in the weeks to come. Look at your hurdle, understand it and accept that it will be difficult, but keep your eyes on your final goal. If you have prepared and are as fit as possible for the race, you will clear the hurdles. And if you don’t, you can still keep running and you can end the race with a smile.
Incidentally, every Olympic game points out something else worth remembering: There is more than one medal. And, finishing honorably is reason enough to feel proud.
August 7th, 2008
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TLR |
Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development |
5 comments
Should I or shouldn’t I?
That question comprises about half of our thoughts every day, and the answers we give create the lives we have.
If the answer to that question is so crucial, it would seem that we should do a bit more than mentally–or actually–toss a coin. Maybe you will find some common decision-making and risk analysis techniques to be useful.
Pros and Cons: Almost all of us have done a list of pros and cons or for and against, something we were considering. When I started in high school I had the option of taking choir during the first hour of the day–which would have meant I could have been the pianist for the choir and would have enjoyed that tremendously. Plus, Mr. Kenneth Judd, the choir director, had repeatedly asked me to do it and I didn’t want to let him down. Or, I could join the debate team, which seemed like a fun activity as well, but a lot of work. My mother told me to do a pros and cons list. But, I found as you may have found, that I had plenty of things on both sides.
Describe the Results: Since I still couldn’t decide between choir and debate, my mother told me to write a paragraph describing what I might say about the results of my decision in a year: My feelings, the possible good and bad things, the results, what I would have gained from it and so forth. Then, she said, I could decide what result appealed the most to me.
I wrote several pages about the results of being the accompanist for the choir for a year and the results for being in debate for a year. That made up my mind even before I was half way through the debate pages. I would never be able to use my choir activities in my future life, but I could easily use the knowledge and skills I obtained from debate. Yes, it would be more fun and less work to be in choir, and all of my friends were in choir, but debate ulimately would offer more.
I was only 14 at the time, but I learned a decision making method that has helped me since then: Write down possible results and decide which fits with what you want out of life. (Just think how my life would have been different, if I had not gained so much public speaking experience then!)
Incidentally, if I had called that concept, One Habit of Moderately Successful People, I could have made money, huh?
BT/WT: Last week I was given a wonderful book by Ben Carson, M.D. (and Gregg Lewis), called, Take the Risk. Dr. Carson is the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and is tremendously gifted in his work. The risk analysis concept he discusses in his book is not unheard of, but he applies it particularly well. It is essentially, BT/WT. Or, “What is the best thing that could happen if I do this? What is the worst thing? What is the best thing that could happen if I don’t do this? What is the worst thing?”
Throughout the book he gives examples of how that has helped him think through issues. He also does that analysis from the perspective of others, as a way to include their viewpoints in his decisions. I found that to be especially useful.
SWOT: This is a way to look at situations to consider risk as well as to make decisions. You consider the Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat related to a situation, and you can apply it in a number of ways. For the strength aspect you could consider what are your strengths or the strengths of your team. Or, you might think what are the strengths of the person you are negotiating, collaborating or competing with. The same multi-approach applies to the other aspects of this concept. You can find more about that concept on the internet or in various management books.
Decision Trees: These are highly complex and often involve computer assistance, but I use the concept in a much more simple way. The idea is to look at the branches of results and actions from your potential decisions. If you do this, what else must you do, and what will that cause, and what will be the result of that, and so on? If you don’t do this, what will you do instead, and what will that create and where will that take you, and so on? I have found that to be really interesting for considering cause and effect, and how we create the paths of our lives on a daily basis.
The Assessment Center Method: In my Assessment Center training I say that “Every day is an Assessment Center.” I often advise people to pretend they are filling out an assessment form for various aspects of their lives. On one side are the key positive results they want to attain. On the other side they can list their options and give each of them a rating according to how well it fits the positive result–one to five, for example. Or, even just yes or no. When you total the numbers you are more likely to have a clear answer to the question: ”Will this get me where I want to go?” If you weight the most important issues (x2, for example) you will have an even better result. I’ll discuss this in more detail in another article, but this is a quick version of it.
Perhaps you have a method of your own, or you have read about methods for helping you make decisions. Let me know about those. In the meantime, put the coin away and use a more thoughtful method to decide!
August 4th, 2008
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work |
4 comments
