Management Craft

Where the sun shines....Redux

I was searching through old posts on the breakthrough blog and found this one from October of 2006. Given that it is gray and cold here today, I thought I would post it to shed some light.

Where the Sun Shines

The sun does not shine everywhere
On everyone
All the time

Even on a clear day
There are shadows
And colder dark spots

The warm rays touch us
When arms open
And we reach

I took this picture on a recent hike in the Cascades. The leaves glowed with happiness.

Thanksgiving Poem

Here's a sonnet of thanks I posted back on this blog two years ago for Thanksgiving. Wow, looking back on this makes me realize I have been writing this blog for a long time (in blog years, that is). Thanks for tuning in!

Rain Haiku

Seattle has had record rain this month and the Seattle Times asked people to submit haiku poems about rain. Here's mine.

Green and yellow blob
Slinks northeast, swallows the sky
And the rain comes down

If Only Employees Purred

Oh how much easier it would be if employees purred
You'd know when they were happy or content
The continuous vibrations would fuel the workplace
Like windmills or a Columbia River dam
The low smooth sound would attract customers too
There's something about a purr that's soothing
Seductive and attractive in a nurturing way

Purring doesn't just happen in the best of conditions
A cat's motor runs on bad days too when she feels
Comforted, warm, loved, cared for
Purring does not happen in isolation; its a response
To another being and what affect that being is having
It would be nice to know that about your employees too
Whether they feel care; what difference you make

If only employees purred

April is National Poetry Month

I can't let April slip away without acknowledging that April is National Poetry Month. I will admit to being a total hack when it comes to writing poetry - but it is fun. To honor National Poetry Month, I have posted a new poem on all three of my blogs.

Here's the Management Craft Poem:

Bored

627 ceiling tiles
84 cublicles
12 muckity muck offices
125 steps to the elevator
47 minutes until lunch
1557 until the weekend
I can hold my breath for 78 seconds
95 days until vacation
3 phones ringing at once
1 hot babe in the copy room
12 pencils in a box
0 opportunities for promotion
4 internet browsers open at once
I have sold out for 60,000 dollars
876 emails
3 meetings before noon
16 months since my last raise
6 coasters
7 coffee cups
41,785 hours until retirement
I have six quarters in my pocket

Click here to read the 2 Weeks to a Breakthrough poem
Click here to read the Chile Pepper High poem
Click here to read previous business poems on Management Craft
Click here to read previous Chile Pepper High poems

Dog Poo as Power Source

My husband sent this article to me and I have to share it with you. The headline reads:

"SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — City officials are hoping to harness the power of dog doo."

As the caretaker for 4 large dogs, I have been waiting for this to happen. There is simple too much poo being generated! We need to put our creative brains together to determine how it can come to some good use.

This is a great idea if it can become operational. I hope Seattle gets a pilot going, too.

What does this have to do with management? Not a thing, but it is interesting, no?

Poo Haiku

Poo here, there, everywhere
Need a poo reinvention
What good can poo do?

Goodies Found

I was cleaning out a few office boxes this weekend and found an old wire bound notebook I used to capture insights and ideas from classes and conversations. Looking through it was like rummaging through a self-development time capsule. Here are some of the more interesting entries (some of this is deep, some is kind of strange, and some is a bit goofy):

Enrollment is generating possibility in another's listening such that they step into that possibility and act.

Who I am is the possibility of powerful transformation in education, worldwide.

Who I am is the possibility of transforming the world of work through generating breakthroughs.

For a project to exist, it needs to be public and in the world.

The illusion is that there is anything outside of language.

Stand for something.

Let your problems nurture your commitments.

The person you are being right now is given by the future you are living into.

The concept of accomplishment:

• Is success as I define it.
• Is a hurdle that I define.
• And perhaps a hurdle as I perceive others to define it.

What if nobody knew what we accomplished? Would we still do it?

You have to let go of your need to accomplish to survive.

You can't think the unthinkable alone. When you allow yourself to be in the inquiry of the unthinkable, you can transform yourself.

How do we speak possibility into a world that does not know possibility?

If you have an expectation that is fulfilled, you meet expectations. If you have an unfulfilled expectation, you may feel upset. If you explore a possibility and it is not fulfilled, you are still left with another possibility. If you explore a possibility and it is fulfilled, you feel accomplishment. Don't confuse expectation with possibility. Live in the world of possibility.

You know you are thinking for yourself when you don't know the answer.

And here's a funny little poem I found in the book.

Top Banana

I'm big but I fly
Swinging ever so high
Through the tree tops

Bananas are the best
Happy, I beat my chest
Be careful where the peel drops

National Book Week

This is National Book Week. Read a book! Spend one hour per day in front of a book instead of the TV or computer. Buy a book from a genre you have not previously explored. For example, for me this might mean picking up a thick historical novel.

Hmmm...

On second thought, life is too short. Read what you love! :-)

Oh, I have the best intentions to become a more high brow reader, but alas, my tastes are much more shallow. Give me comedy, excitement, and strangeness. There ought to be a Pulitzer for the most entertaining book - the equivalent of a People's Choice Award. My nomination goes to Carl Hiaasen!

Books really are great. I am honored to have them so intimately woven into my life.

Happy National Book Week! Take your book to lunch this week.

Books
Fast turning pages
Rich mind blowing vacations
Safely from our chair

Poem - Human Tree Rings

Here is a slightly sarcastic poem about time. Perhaps it is just a whine about time. Either way, I find periodic poetics/whining fun and therapeutic, so this is offered in fun and jest.

 

Human Tree Rings

Day 354, where have they all gone
I think I skipped a few dozen, or perhaps
This is a quadruple reverse leap year
I feel robbed of time

Ah, the pleasures I did not get to - where are they now?

Can I request a credit to be applied to next year’s life?
I promise to live them all fully and wise
Exercise, eat right, be polite to the neighbors
Give time, money, and attention to worthy causes

It doesn’t hurt to ask, right?

100 days will do just fine
I’m sure you agree that it is only fair
The days be rolled over with no additional charge
A few extra thrown in would be a nice holiday gesture

Darn it, my charade is has been revealed!

Woe is my heart for the blasted mirror gives me away
365 days worth of wrinkles and gravity lay in defiance
Revealing the truth about time served up, taken in, and pooped out
Fleshy notches, grooves, and downward curves speak like sequoia rings

I feel like a victim of scientific laws

Time’s arrow points only forward and slows not for mere mortals
Never asking consent before ticking off beyond the sunset
Each moment is an opportunity taken or lost in 60 seconds
Day 354 is moving away from me and out of my reach

I cannot be ruled by time I express fully

Days, hours, and minutes are of our making, our life rings
Reveal time wasted counting and moments fully enlivened
Being in the moment the only human action that beats time
Losses? Zero. Gains? Infinity.

All we are and have is this moment
This moment
This moment
This moment

Boss's Day Poem

Update: See my special 2007 Boss's Day package here!

Boss's Day is Sunday, but many of you will celebrate today. I thought I would offer these poems in honor of all the bosses out there. Being a manager is not always easy. There are a few bad bosses out there, but most are hard working and caring people. Take some time to show appreciation for the work your manager does on your behalf. And if you are a boss - take half the day off and PLAY! You deserve it!

Being Boss

It is not always easy to be the one in charge
In charge of fixing the daily conundrums
That inevitably a come up at 4:30 on Friday
The Friday you have ball game tickets with a pal

Having to make the calls can cause nerves to flair
Flair with fear and raw vulnerability for what’s unknown
And the issues get more gnarly as the day wears on
Wearing patience thin and testing tired brain cells

Why would anyone want to be the boss?
The boss gets all the complaints and aggravation
Constant interruptions render plans obsolete
Obsolete and out of touch before clearing the gate

Being boss comes with these and many more challenges
Challenges roller coaster emotions and energy
These diversions don’t overshadow the reason to lead
Leading is about people, connection, and excellence

Leaders can see and develop our potential
The potential to fully express and utilize our talents
The boss cares about whether people are engaged
Engaged and unencumbered by rolling crud

Hats off to all leaders who get through the muck
The mucky muck of business to help people be great
Jobs would be unbearable without great bosses
Bosses who get what leading is really about

Boss’s Day Haiku

Context and comfort
Filtering through politics
The boss saves the day

And as a final reminder, if you are looking for a nice and thoughtful gift for your boss (or for yourself), check out the e-book I created in partnership with 1800CEOREAD called Nine Lives of Leadership. One of the authors I talked to for the e-book is Sally Hogshead. Sally wrote Radical Careering and has a blog called the Hog Blog (clever). Here is a cool post called, Passion is not a luxury in your career. It’s an imperative. I think it ties in nicely with Boss's Day. Here is a juicy quote:

"A career isn’t to be tolerated. It’s to be savored, devoured, marrow sucked and fingers smacked."