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by Rick Baker
On Jul 25, 2016
When I was a child, we had 6 service stations within a short distance of our house: Gulf, Esso, Sunoco, Texaco, Supertest, and Shell. I lived right across the street from the Gulf service station. From about the age of 7, I worked at this ‘gas station’, helping the attendant. I swept the parking lot, washed windshields, pumped gas, checked and filled tires and checked and topped up engine oil. When I first started I was so tiny I had a heck of a time opening hoods and I had to stand on a wooden crate to check things under the hoods. My goal was to earn enough money to buy the good things in life: Cokes, ice cream and candy. While I don’t recall exactly, I think I earned 10 cents for a few hours of work. Not much, but the job made me feel grown up. And I liked having the spending money.
My childhood gas station experiences introduced me to many life lessons, including an alternative perspective on lying, cheating and stealing. I was raised to be an honest person, to tell the truth because lying was bad…even sinful. A number of the gas station attendants across the street from our house presented an entirely different set of rules. About half of them lied and cheated people. And kids from school – well, some of them broke the rules too…stealing from the gas stations.
Here’s a list of some of the lying/cheating/stealing I was exposed to at a very young age during my time at our local gas stations:
- Attendants charging for empty oil cans: attendants would tell the customer they needed oil then pretend to open an already-empty can and pretend to pour oil into the engine. The, the attendant
- Children jockeying pop dispensers to steal a pop: in those days soft drink coolers were crude and hard to use. Often, they jammed a bit and failed to deliver the bottle of pop. Children in our neighbourhood learned how to wriggle the bottle to solve the problem. Then, one of the most-creative kids learned how to get a pop without putting money into the pop machine.
- Attendants stealing money from the cash register…not all attendants, but some…taking a few dollars a day.
- Children stealing candy from the shelves when the attendants were serving customers at the pumps. Sometimes they worked in teams, one using a diversionary tactic to distract the attendant while the other went for the candy.
- Attendants refusing to pay the children for time worked.
- Children stealing hand tools from the tool cupboards. This was one way some of the children, especially the older ones, reacted when they were not paid for their work.
- Attendants refusing to give U.S. customers fair value for their U.S. dollars…and pocketing the difference.
- Children pooling their money to buy cigarettes [pretending they were for their parents].
I also recall the mechanics laughing about overcharging service clients for exaggerated auto repairs.
Looking back – when I read what I have written above, it might appear that I grew up in a very tough/poor environment. No – it was middle class Southwestern Ontario.
Regardless, at what might be considered a young and tender age, I was exposed to lying, cheating and stealing…not by wicked people – just by regular folks working in the auto sector in the 1960’s.
On the other hand…
I met some wonderful service station attendants who were put off by all the lying and trickery. These folks talked about fair play, their families, their aspirations and their goals.
by Rick Baker
On Jul 21, 2016
There's value in silence and stillness. I suppose I never really grasped that until I read the words of North American Indians, gained an understanding of what they learned early in life and gained some understanding of how they governed themselves [pre-19th Century]. I suppose I am naturally un-silent and un-still...I suppose, my behaviour is in the zone of ADHD...[if categorizing people that way contains any value]. And, as a final point of introduction, I know the meditative arts bank heavily on silence and stillness. For me, it would take extreme effort to progress up the hierarchical steps of meditation [for example, as presented by Alan Wallace in his classic 'The Attention Revolution', (2006)].
My nature is not one of stillness and silence.
Regardless, I force myself from time to time to practice these two behaviours because I believe they bring value. I am fascinated by Eckhart Tolle and his work around 'The Power of Now': his work is laced with calmness, silence, stillness, peace of mind...and a wonderful, relaxed sense of humour.
As an 'observer of others'...
I see people working in silence and stillness. I don't see this very often: overall, it is rather rare. It is common for most people to work in silence and stillness for short periods, from time to time. As examples - most people hunker down when an important deadline is looming or when a particularly sticky problem needs to be solved quickly. On the other hand, few people spend the majority of their workday in silence and stillness, exerting highly-focused/concentrated thought and effort. Few people approach their work the silent-and-still way they would behave during a series of school exams.
We should think about this...probably best to set aside some silent-and-still time to think about the value of silence and stillness...perhaps, we should perform this in a light stage of meditation.
We - I mean, each of us - should aim to figure out his/her personal balance between silent-and-still work and work that is not silent or still. [I mean both thought-work and action-work.]
We should talk about silent-and-still work. Well, yes - we won't be able to do that silently. But we can do it calmly and quietly...or can we?
by Rick Baker
On Jul 19, 2016
I think most people object to, argue against, or otherwise resist New Things (...as in - People Do Only 3 Things: Good Habits, Bad Habits & New Things).
Other people bombard us with advice and suggestions about 'better ways' to do things. When we understand "People Do Only 3 Things", it is easy to see how our Bad Habit ruts make it very difficult for us to see value when other people talk about accomplishing New Things.
This is especially true when other people's New Things are grandiose goals. And, of course, regardless of their size New Things face criticism. One person's BHAG is another person's grandiosity...and worse - many small-but-fresh ideas and little innovations face stiff arguments and criticism from those who 'know better'. That's to be expected. There's a lot of entrenched thinking out there.
But...
We can buck that trend.
We can take time to understand other people's thinking.
We can choose to keep our minds open to possibilities.
by Rick Baker
On Jul 12, 2016
Some people know exactly what they need. They know the details. They know their 'must haves', their 'nice to haves', and their 'fantasy wish lists'. And - they know exactly how to communicate those 'levels of needs' to other people.
In relative terms, very few people actually live in that zone.
Why?
There are a number of reasons:
- most people do not take the time to thoroughly think through the things they need, want, and wish to have
- most people avoid details to the extent that is possible, particularly when under stress [which visits them regularly]
- many people live more in the moment than under a plan [i.e., they do not have plans to serve as guides for their lives, their needs, their wants, or their wishes/dreams/'visions']
- many people struggle to communicate their needs, wants, and wishes [as a result of their lack of skill to expressing these things or others lack of skill at listening...or both]
So - many people really do not know exactly what they need. They may have a good idea of where they want to go but they lack clarity on how to get there. As they work hard to get to where they want to go, they lack clarity on how to obtain help from other people. They fail to present their needs properly: so, they do not achieve their objectives.
Over the last few years, I have seen this have very negative impact in 3 business processes:
- Delegation
- Project Management
- Software Solutions
Now, I am going to take a tangential leap and introduce some thoughts. These thoughts are tied to today's topic [you know what you need - or your don't] and the 3 processes mentioned above.
Auftragstaktik [Commander's Intent] – check out this Thought Post from November 2011. When you think about it, how does this Napoleon-inspired approach [to ‘needs’] mesh with processes for delegation, project management and software solutions? As you think about this, bear in mind – some people believe ‘the devil is in the details’ while others believe ‘rules are made to be broken’.
More details on Delegation, Project Management & Software Solutions to follow [in a Thought Post, next week]…
by Rick Baker
On Jul 11, 2016
Some situations seem to be beyond our control.
In fact, some situations are beyond our control. Other situations just appear to be beyond our control. Regardless, 'really beyond our control' or 'apparently beyond our control' - these are the situations that inject high-stress into our lives and put our self-control to the toughest tests.
When our locus of control is tested, so is our self-control. When stress levels are high our self-control faces its toughest challenges.
We do better when we anticipate these high-stress situations and prepare, our minds, for them. We do worse when we blindly wander into these high-stress situations and allow emotions to cloud our minds.
Today, we know, in the future we will face many stressful situations. Today, we know future stressful situations will press our fear buttons and our anger buttons...and a number of our other negative buttons. Today, we can plan actions that we believe will make the most out of bad situations.
Tomorrow, we can take those actions. Tomorrow, we can show improvements. Tomorrow, we can possess amazing self-control.
by Rick Baker
On Jul 7, 2016
Today, I am thinking about the numerous pieces of advice we receive from 'the experts' on how people should do business and how to improve company practices. For example, years ago corporate branding was a popular topic. Now, both corporate branding and personal branding are popular topics.
It strikes me that some of 'the experts' are confusing or distracting more of us than they are helping us.
I had to slow down and think about the starting point...I mean, how to explain that last thought.
After considering options for starting points, I've concluded - "When we build companies, they reflect our thinking." I am hoping the majority of people can accept and agree with that statement. Whether or not we embrace concepts around 'personal branding', we buy our favourite products. We buy 'branded products', products produced by the companies. When we buy products we prefer our actions confirm we prefer the companies that make those products. For example, many of us buy Heinz ketchup.
Even after the company closed its Leamington, Ontario production plant, many of us continue to buy this branded product - Heinz ketchup.
Does the company that makes Heinz ketchup, now called The Kraft Heinz Company, reflect the thinking of the people who built it and created the famous product?
Do the people who work at The Kraft Heinz Company reflect the the legacy of the thinking embedded in the company/organization and/or its famous product?
There's a company with a legacy, a product with a legacy, people now long gone, and people now working.
There's all these recommendations about branding.
And, there's this question...
Who sells Heinz ketchup?
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