New Year's Eve Playlist

I'm not a big party guy. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy getting together with good folks and enjoy their company just as much as the next guy, but I'm just more comfortable at home without all the hoopla.

New year's eve is no exception. I much rather stay at home and watch the festivities. It has to do more with reflecting on where I've been and where I need to go.

Traditionaly, most of the family will go to bed by 10 PM, allowing me to be alone with my thoughts. I fire up my iPod for a mix of music that helps me reflect and think about what I want to acomplish in the new year. Here are the songs I listen to to bring in and celebrate the New Year.

10:30 PM to 11:55 PM

"City of Blinding Lights" - U2
Great for watching the activites around Times Square. The song inspires hope in me.

"Dancing in the Dark" - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
Just a fun song to remeber all the good times from the past year.

"Tubthumping" - Chumbawamba
Reminds me that I may get knocked down but I get up again.

"Time (Clock of the Heart) - Culture Club
This song reminds me I need focus on my family, especialy my wife and son, because time with them is precious.

"Let it Whip" - Dazz Band
Just have big fun!

"What was I Thinkin' " - Dierks Bentley
I use this song to reflect on all the stuipd, "I know better than that" decision I made in the previous year and forgive myself.

"Break on Through (To the Other Side) - The Doors
Let go of the past and break on through to the other side (the new year)

"Wonderful Tonight) - Eric Clapton
A simple reminder to remember how beautiful, lovely, and wonderful my wife is.

"Don't Stop" - Fleetwood Mac
Yesterday is gone. Prepare for tommorow and live for today.

"If Tomorow Never Comes" - Garth Brooks
I use this time to reflect on those who left us this past year.

"All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" - Hank Williams Jr.
I've got great friends and I look forward to the upcoming year with them and how I can build stronger relationships with them.

"Midnight Rider" - Gregg Allman
A reminder to me that I cannot be succesful without my friends and family.

"All Night Long (All Night) - Lionel Richie
A reminder to quit taking my self so seriously and have some fun.

"Turn Off the Light" - Nelly Furtado
Everything is not as seems, morning will come, see all your dreams.

"A Change Would Do You Good" - Sherly Crow
Don't be afraid to change!

"The Future So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" - Timbuk 3
Be optimistic! Make your future bright!

11:54 PM
"The Final Countdown" - Europe
Just a great song to wrap up the year before the ball drop on TV.

12:02 AM
"New Year's Day" - U2
I just love this song! U2 at their best. It pumps me up for the year ahead.

"After Midnight" - Eric Clapton
Toast to the New Year with you favorite beverage!

"Hallelujah" - k.d. pang
One last bit of thanks for the previous year.

"Turn the Page" - Bob Sever & The Silver Bullet Band
"Say here I am" time to dedicate myself to my goals for the New Year.

"Beautiful Day" - U2
Everyday is a beautiful day! Make the most of all the opportunites the New Year will give you.

However you celebrate the New Year, be safe and have fun. Here's wishing you a great, productive, safe, and prosperous 2011!

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My name is Earl

So,  my cousin sent me a list of headlines based on hurricane Earl.  I've had a good laugh from them and hope you do too!

Pastors and Social Security take Earl's threat seriously 
http://www.fox11az.com/news/national/102015973.html
 

Island evacuations start as Earl nears East Coast 
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gVWjsPEiqe1tEu2mhBIRaxxGi8owD9HVC65O0 

Outer Banks Residents Prepare for Earl 
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/09/01/outer-banks-residents-prepare-for-earl/
 

State warned to be on watch when Earl makes turn north 
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/09/01/state_warned_to_be_on_watch_when_earl_makes_turn_north/ 
 

Earl's uncertain path could make, break Ocean City's holiday weekend 
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-08-31/business/bs-bz-ocean-city-hurricane-20100831_1_donna-abbott-holiday-weekend-ocean-city-s-department 
 

Raging Earl heads for US 
http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article633535.ece/Raging-Earl-heads-for-US 


Region braces for Earl 
http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Region-braces-for-Earl-641138.php 


NC warnings aim to move vulnerable away from Earl 
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2010/sep/01/bc-nc-tropical-weather-nc11th-ld-writethru/?features&travel


Peterson, wife survive Earl's fury 
http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=13070251

Earl sparks port cancellations
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38973803/ns/travel-cruise_travel/

Earl threatens East Coast with weekend pounding
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g_LMm73yTOd4w17j7qVbHV0jk3mAD9HVSBSO3

Residents along Earl's projected path stocking up ahead of stormhttp://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/02/hurricane.earl.people/

OC wind forecast increases; Earl stays offshore

http://weblogs.marylandweather.com/2010/09/higher_winds_due_in_oc_earl_st.html

Its Name is Earl

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/its-name-is-earl/

Obama declares emergency ahead of Earl

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/21-evacuations-start-as-us-braces-for-hurricane-earl-sk-08

As many flee Earl, one group is very excited

http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/09/02/5032150-as-many-flee-earl-one-group-is-very-excited

For those who know who I work with and what I do for a living, this one is priceless

As Earl looms, tips to batten down IT

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9183260/As_Earl_looms_tips_to_batten_down_IT?taxonomyId=17

A Venn moment

I got just a little aggravated last week.  I saw a posting on Twitter last week that brought on this aggravation.  The post was about Facebook and a company that was using the Facebook pages to capture input from their customers.  The person's post was negative and uninformed.  I really had to fight the urge to post a reply.  I finally concluded that posting a reply would be a waste of bits simply because the party that posted it always thinks their opinion is "the correct opinion".


I truly believe that everyone has the right to express whatever they feel, however, I don't believe that anyone has the right to try to squash the creativity or innovation of another, especially in a unproductive negative manner.  I feel the post on Twitter was done for just that purpose.


I have become a fan of a blog by Jessica Hagy (@jessicahagy) titled Indexed.  Ms. Hagy uses various graphs and diagrams to allow her to  "...make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math..."  The items Ms. Hagy posted are thought provoking and often hilarious.  Ms. Hagy has provided the inspiration for the diagram below.  So, this is my response to the person who posted the message on Twitter.  Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Leadership Lessons from "Pawn Stars"

If you have not had the chance, take a few moment to watch "Pawn Stars" on the History Channel.  Now, I have to admit when I first saw the ads for the show, my reaction was "...oh great, American Chopper in a pawn shop...I'll pass, thank you...."  My Dad turned me onto the show.  He likes the show for two reasons: a) he is fascinated with the stuff people bring in the shop and; b) the Pawn Stars Rick, the Old Man, Big Hoss & Chumlee are interesting characters (his favorite is Chumlee).  While I have to agree that I'm also fascinated with the stuff people bring in to sell and pawn, I really like some of the leadership characteristic they display.

Lesson 1: Make sure everyone understands the business "mission" - Don't buy anything you cannot make a profit on.
Big Hoss was reminded of the mission on two different occasions. The first occurrence he bought a hot air balloon for $38,000 although he was only authorized to make a purchase of no more than $10,000.  His Dad, Rick, was very clear on this mistake and had Big Hoss ask for the money back on the sale, then deal with how to make the purchase profitable until it could be sold.  The second time, Big Hoss purchased a set of tattoo guns then trades them for a tattoo.  Upon finding out, the Old Man required Big Hoss to pay for the equipment (plus a profit for the store) and to make up the time (after-hours) for taking off in the middle of his shift to get the tattoo.

Lesson 2: You don't have to be an "expert", but know where you can find one.
The Pawn Star team often have customer who bring in significant historical artifacts.  They always ask the customer what they know about the item in question and the customers will tell what they know.  The Pawn Star team also know they do not agree to a deal until they know what they are looking at (is it real vs a reproduction) and its value.  Sometimes they have the knowledge and can quickly appraise the item.  Many other times, they quickly know when they do not have the knowledge necessary and call in an "expert" to verify the authenticity of the item.  The customer often find they have a very valuable item and the Pawn Stars know how to build a negotiation strategy.

Lesson 3: Have a principled negotiation
The Pawn Star team make sure that two things happen; the make an offer based on their desired profit margin (see Lesson 1) and the negotiate within their core principals.  I have a bit of perception that pawn shops are seedy places where seedy characters make seedy things happen.  Pawn Stars has somewhat changed this perception. They work to make a fair offer to the customer, but they also stay to true to their mission of making a profit.  They rarely leave their principals of buying an item they cannot make a profit on.  This commitment leads to a "win-win" for the customer and the shop.

Lesson 4: Maintain Accountability
The Pawn Stars run a 24/7 shop thus staffing is always a critical issue.  One employee, Peaches, was beginning to embrace a habit of being late to work.  The Old Man and Rick both coached Peaches on the behavior they expected and arranged for a time for improvement with daily feedback.  They also made it very clear the consequences of not changing the behavior, go back to working the graveyard shift.  While Peaches did make an effort to change, she did not do enough to change and was moved back to the graveyard shift.  The Pawn Stars did a good job in identifying a bad behavior, coaching to help correct and holding the team member accountable for their actions.


Lesson 5: Have passion for what you do
It is clear the owner of the shop, Rick, loves what he does.  You can see that he is genuinely excited by the odds and ends that come in everyday.  This passion is probably why he and his team are now on TV.  It shows through in everything they do!  Rick also demonstrated that he doesn't allow his passion to get in the way of his mission.  On several occasions he has turned down an offer because of not having a market for the item or the purchase would not meet the profit margin for the store.  It is important to love and enjoy what you do, just don't allow your zeal to interfere with your goals.

I close this ramble out with one other thought, you gain insight when you look for insight.  I didn't sit down to watch Pawn Stars with the intent of finding leadership lessons.  I simply was looking for entertainment.  It proves again (at least it does to me) that if you have your mind open, you look for insight, and you make a few notes along the way, things that will help make you a better leader will appear. 

Use your Growth Mind-Embrace Failure

Took a few minutes today to listen to The Cranky Middle Manager podcast featuring Erik Van Slyke on Embracing Failure.  I think you ought to take a few minutes an listen to the podcast as it points to IT and how we think we have to be "perfect".  Mr. Van Slyke points to research done by Carol Dweck on the two mindsets that people get into, the Fixed mindset and the Growth mindset.

Fixed mindset people often point fingers and feel that what ever happened is "beyond" the control they have.  When we point fingers, we give up the opportunity to learn, to respond and react.  We allow others to control our fate.

We all know that it is an adaptive world.  Unexpected things are going to happen.  The Growth mindset does not believe that talent is genetic and that effort and learning make everything possible.  This allows you to set aside your ego and gives you the chance to work hard and learn as you go.

Failure will happen.  The world is an imperfect place.  Finger pointing is a political process.  Being perfect rarely counts.  What counts is the process of perfecting.  The process of perfecting show that we are able to respond quickly.  It shows we use collaboration and leverage what we got to make stuff work.

Be collaborative. Learn to love the process of perfecting. Embrace Failure!

A Walk in the Woods

If you have not had the chance, I highly recommend reading "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson.  It is a delightful tale of one man's journey in rediscovering America by hiking the Appalachian Trail.  Bryson describes in sometime hilarious, sometimes painful detail the issues he faced while attempting to hike the approximately 2200 mile trail.  Of course this books speaks to me in ways that it may not to most.  You see, I have hiked/backpacked in the neighborhood of 3500 miles.  I relate to Bryson's trials on the trail, the single focus of get to the next place, and the unsurpassed joy of simple pleasures like a campground to yourself, the thought that only a few hundred people may have seen a view you are looking at in person, the endless creativity needed to make Ramen Noodles a main entree almost every night, and the mental fortitude just to put your foot again in front of the other.

The only problem is that I haven't been hiking much lately (what I mean by lately is in the last 5 years).  I got a chance today to take a little walk in the woods today.  Nothing big, maybe 2 miles in total.  It had a lot of ups and downs in vertical movement (if you have hiked in eastern Kentucky, you know what I mean).  What was neat is that I found something that I didn't know existed.  A natural arch, a waterfall appearing out of the rock, contrasting greens of algae and rock in stream beds, 30 foot icicle hanging of a cliff, and just the beauty of the day (check out my 365 days of photos blog this week for some photos).

Some things I learned today:
1) I am desperately out of shape.  The uphill pulls just about did me in.
2) I can fall as fast as I ever did.  There was a little bit of frost out this morning and a foot placement on a rock on a downhill slope meant the quick introduction of the ground and my backside.
3) It still is just a totally cool feeling to discover something new.
4) Mother Nature is the best show going!
5) Sometimes, you just need to be alone for a few moments.
6) Pictures are cool, memories are better!
7) Being out in the woods feeds my soul.

To point 7) - this is what works for me. It's a passion.  I can't put into words what simply walking in the woods does to/for me.  The point is, I have been denying it for way too long.  I had not nurtured part of me and it had a impact in being neglected.  Don't loose sight of your passion.  Get out there and enjoy it !

A Change Would Do You Good

So, it's been almost a full year since I posted anything on this blog.  As I said in my last post, I needed a little time to learn and re-evaluate why I was doing this blog.  Okay, so I took more than a little time...

During my hiatus, I took some time to reach out to other bloggers, thought about this blog, and really tried to learn more about all the cool social media tools that are available.  It's been a really fun and cool journey!

What I figured out:

1) I gotta be me.  I have to express my thoughts, ideas, and opinions.

2) There are no time lines.  I'm going to post when I feel I have something to say.  That may mean 1 post a month or 40 posts in a day.

3) A change did me good as Sheryl Crow said in her 1997 hit "A Change Would Do You Good".  Change is not always an easy thing.  That's because we become creatures of habit.  We get comfortable with how our world works and we don't want to have anything upset that balance.

Change is hard.  My Dad often cites an easy example.  If you think change is easy, start wearing your wristwatch on the the opposite wrist.  If you don't wear a watch, start wearing one.  Let's face it, that is not an earth shattering change, but it would drive most of us nuts for a day or two.  At the same time, we deal with change daily.  I mean, you woke up this morning (or you probably would not being reading this right now) and dealt quickly with the fact that its a new day (which has never happened before) and were willing to carry on without knowing what is going to happen.  It amuses me when people tell me that don't deal well with change when you consider this circumstance.

The best way to deal with change is to accept that everything will change.  We must learn to look at every situation and find the good in it. Fill your life with positive influences and you'll find that when you are asked to change or have to change, the experience, while it may be tough, isn't all that bad.  Life is full of opportunities for change.  Will you allow a change to do you good?