COVID Resolutions

 I have already violated one of my New Years Resolutions - "Stop the obsessive data collection of COVID-19 statistics".  Alas - last night I am back "on the wagon" and reading all kinds of COVID porn.  One of the antivaxer sites was spouting about a CEO of an Indiana Life Insurance company claiming that deaths for 18-64 year old working adults in Indiana have increased 40% and the deaths were not due to COVID.  Hmmmmm  sounds suspicious.  

My blog is not about fact checking that claim or article - but it launched me back into the CDC death statistics for the USA as a whole. Naturally they lag by a year.  Eurika - I found the stats and listened to the podcast and downloaded the pdf report - 2020 FINAL Death Statistics.

Here is my personal summary.  2020 had 3,383,729 deaths in USA an increase of 528,891 over 2019 - 18.53%.  The podcast does a good job of explaining COVID contributing deaths and COVID underlying deaths.   Simply put - 2020 COVID Underlying deaths were 350,831 and the third largest contributor to deaths in 2020. So that leaves the question - why did 2020 Non COVID deaths increase 170,060 (6%)?  The same excess is being investigated in the United Kingdom.

The big swings in prior year death rates may be due to the influenza.  There is always the growth rate in deaths that will naturally occur with the aging baby boomers.  But this number seems outside of statistical norms.    

The lockdown and fear of hospitals may have kept many people from getting necessary treatment.  Homicides in 2020 are at the highest level since 1995 (7.8 per 100,000).   Drug overdose for 12 months ending 4/2021 was 100,306 and increase of 28.5% over the 78,056 drug overdoses from the comparable 12 months in last year.  It CAN NOT be vaccine related (as the antivaxers might jump to), since EUA for Pfizer was only authorized 12/11/2020.  

You pick the poison/reason.  

Maybe the will to live is at play when faced with a mountain of suffering all around us and the infinite chasm of despair that lies under a mysterious knock at the door of hope.  

I have blogged before about the statistical correlation of holidays, key dates (birthdays), etc. that once achieved, death occurs.  Could our energy to live just petered out?

At our last Vistage Veteran's monthly meeting we discussed any New Year's Resolutions that each of us had for 2022.  We are "old white guys" (and of privilege) and unanimously had no comment.  Could that be because of our stage/age in life or might there be a COVID cloud affecting us also?

From the CDC report life expectancy at birth for 2020 (for males) is 76.3 (so that applies to Teddy).   For those age 65 at 2020 the male has 18.2 years and female 20.8 years remaining.  I'm older than 65 and let's confidently (or arrogantly) say, as a COVID survivor, I am healthier than average.  So assuming I have 16 - 28 years left to live, several questions came to my mind last night:

(1) What do I want to accomplish in the next 16-28 years?  What are my hopes and dreams?

(2) What did I accomplish in the last two COVID years (2020 and 2021)? 

(3) What didn't I accomplish in the last two COVID years (due to self-inflicted FEAR)?  Or how did I let COVID impede my hopes and dreams?

(4) What will I do differently in COVID 2021 to not let COVID interfere with my hopes and dreams?

I need some COVID Resolutions :)

Christmas 2021

Wisner Family (et al) December 2021

The circle of life surrounded the Wisner’s with plenty of change – a year of lost and found.  Joy is on the inside of suffering and finding that Joy took plenty of labor.  One Grandpa left us making some Leeway possible for another. This year we all discovered how much assisted living is necessary for each of us to both give and receive at every time in our life.  We are so grateful for the present – and the memories that are permanent.

Garen (“ ____ the Halls”) -  Man he looks good (in the Mirror that is), with his home maid haircuts.   Some call him a COVID Rogue with no verbal escape – can his hearing or speech be overpowered by even twin turbos?  Now a Vistage Veteran (or Hero), his entire focus has been Outback – chainsaw corridor, ____ design, pool potential, fire features, or grill gravitas.  Hands down, he travels in 4.2l uber select style.

Susan (“____ it’s Cold Outside) – Nana is now her Chosen name – Frozen in time but infinitely available for ____ tag team troubleshooting.  She makes a point of outside needles only for special stockings.  Restless in many ways, no medical mystery means much (Medicare in the making).  Susan expands her consulting business into real estate, hair styling, Euclid landscaping, J.H. Catering, and Dyson distributor. 

Ellen (“It’s the Most Wonderful ____) – It was a Rocky year for Ellen, but she Wrangled through her COVID infection.  A litter later, she vaxed up to New York City in frannic fashion.  Wasson Way welcomed her with whiskers when work waned.  Fidelity found favor in her free form phone finesse (and Flex-____).  

Jenna, Paul, & Teddy (“___ to the World”) – Now in the family business, Teddy arrived (4-13-2021) for his orientation and requires full time, stay at home, supervision 😊.   This new payroll pressure pushed Jenna to pick up Accounting versus picture projects.  Now the Aura is Teddy until the shining metal smile disappears.  Paul has the juvenile ___ in jabber, jumpy, juggling of jamboree….. and job. 

Yoshi & Cleo (“_______ Around the Christmas Tree”) – After 14 years Rambo and ______, no longer rule the house (inside that is).  Yoshi has exclusive prowl since Cleo prefers Ellen as her roommate.  Ollie roams Euclid when Wally takes vacation visits wearing out Fitch and Bella.   Without pets who could survive COVID isolation?

Travel was limited to sunny spots – Sea Island, Kiawah, and Naples (with a Dallas stop off). Now a full family of antibodies, social activities can resume.  Holiday gatherings test the paradox of friendship and love – apart or together.  Circumstances of this world interferes with the relationship glue that love provides.   Keep the Spirit of Love in your heart and let JOY make it overflow to bind us back together in 2022. 

 

                      Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal; love leaves a memory no one can steal.”     Richard Puz    

 

The Grandfather Club

 What a inexcusable oversight -  the birth of Theodore Lee Robinson in April.  This inducted me into the Grandparents Club and reminded me of A.M.'s wisdom 10+ years ago.   I was in my 50's and developing my "Decade Planning Document" along with a Vistage Presentation on Longevity.   Since my timeline of family life events was about 10 years behind A.M. and others, I asked the question -"What one lesson (words of wisdom) of your last decade would you share for me as I embark into my 60's?    I remember A.M.'s response distinctly:  "I totally underestimated the Grandfather thing!".  

My first unsupervised babysitting of Teddy was Wednesday evening as Paul was subbing for me at tennis.  The memories caring for Jenna and Ellen as infants flooded into my mind as I was revisiting the football hold, the diaper techniques, burping, rocking and keeping calm in the face of crying.  The hour and half reminded me of how exhausting newborn's can be.   The difference as a Grandfather - the handoff to the Mom :)

This weekend I will miss the Wells Family Reunion which yearly honors the generations.  Dad and Aunt Revae (now 105) will be spotlighted.  The memories of prior generations are the foundations for the new generation to utilize in stewarding forward.  Teddy now enters the world with hope and joy.  The Grandfather club starts the process of passing the memory baton.

Cocooning

The effect of globalization is front and center during this perfect storm of Corona Virus Pandemic, Oil fights, and globally fluid capital markets.  The only industry benefiting from this panic is likely the 24 hour news.  

The S&P is down 30% in a matter of days.  Travel and Entertainment is locked down in a matter of days also.  It demonstrates how fragile the feeling of security can be - emotionally, financially, physically, and …. for some spiritually.  As Warren Buffet says - "You never know who is swimming naked until the tide goes out".   

I'm amazed at the distribution of attitudes about the rapid response by our Federal and State leaders.  The challenge of absorbing the various media bias (including social media) and the lack of understanding of statistics and numbers has contributed to both extremes of fear and indifference.  

Personally this has affected me in the cancellation of my trip to visit Dad in the Nursing home.  Susan and the girls also cancelled their spring break vacation to Arizona.  On the financial side - like others net worth (on paper) drops at least 20%.  Aside from the personal social distancing, this feels eerily like the great recession of 2007 and 2008.  Since my blogging only started in August 2009, only my manual journals (Spiritual and Financial) have any measure of my emotions and actions at that time.

Over the weekend, I decided to create my own forecast using the numbers from the World Health Organization situation reports.  In our data hungry world the numbers are suspect from even this source.  The two most important numbers are the daily rate of growth in new cases and the rate of growth in recoveries (and by default deaths).  Once again the human mind just has difficulty understanding the power of growth (April 16, 2012 Growth and Patience) and patience.  T.A. in our Vistage meeting talked about the dangers of nervous energy - on health, finances and relationships.  This time is no exception -  it is a time for patience and careful reflection. 

If this virus is growing at 30% daily (doubles about every 3 days) in USA (which is about what the W.H.O. shows since 3/1/2020) and the hospitalization rate is 20% of cases then we run out of hospital bed in the USA by about 4/13/2020 (assuming a discharge rate of prior admissions every 7 days).  The CNBC news states the doubling rate is every 6 days (about a 12% growth rate) and using that assumption my cryptic spreadsheet models a run out of beds by 5/21/2020.  That's not much to be encouraged about.  

Now the good news - if we can trust the Chinese Data -  the exponential curve of new cases peaks at about 16 - 24 days (but very dependent of population diligence in distancing).

This data seems to be consistent with the South Korean numbers (about 26 days) as it potentially is peaking.  The next few days will be critical to watch.

In Ohio there are 37 cases identified and 350 in testing.  The real answer about the risk of the virus is a local issue and community response.  For me - I'm cocooning.

Rules of Life

It was my 13th Spotlight for Vistage (10/17/2019) and I decided the theme would be "Rules of Life".  Inspired by my original thought to have a mathematical equation depicting each rule, instead I performed an audible and had each Vistage member provide their own "Rule of Life".  Stay tuned for a blog about each of those rules once I have interviewed them and got the story behind their rule.

Not willing to give up on my original idea, I did present one equation (a rule of life)  that I hope I have passed on to my girls. 

I have already blogged about this magical equation - the power of compounding principle.  The Urban Myths that Einstein said this principle was the eighth wonder of the world, or the most powerful force in the universe is worth spreading.  I've already blogged about this with graphs included:

Mysterious Compounding and Powers - Growth or Patience  (4/15 &16 2012)

J.D. quipped - "Just like you Garen to make a Rule of Life totally financial".  "No"  I replied.   Delivering an act of kindness or one of your character principles to influence someone else can also compound.  Just change the variables:

P= What principles are you delivering to influence people in your life?
r = What ROL (Return on Life) are you using to grow those principles in others (e.g. what % of the people that you touch receive your gift)
n = How often are you being deliberate about your influence - yearly, quarterly, monthly, daily or continuously
t= Over what time period are you doing this and how much time do you have left?

In a providential way, I happened upon the book "Make your Bed" by Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired) and discovered it's origin from his May 17, 2014 University of Texas Commencement Speech.  He said what I've always felt about the power of giving to others and changing one individual at a time - in less than 300 words:

"The University's slogan is 'What starts here changes the world". I have to admit, I kind of like it. "What starts here changes the world!"

Tonight there are almost eight thousand students graduating from the University of Texas.  That great paragon of analytical rigor, Ask.com, says that the average American will meet ten thousand people in their lifetime.  That's a lot of folks.  But, if every one of you changed the lives of just ten people, and each one of those folks changed the lives of another ten people - just ten - then in five generations - 125 years - the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people. 

EIGHT HUNDRED MILLION people. Think of  it: over twice the population  of the United States.  Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world, eight billion people.  If you think it's hard to change the lives of ten people, change their lives forever, you're wrong.

I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan.  A young Army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right down a road in Baghdad and the ten soldiers in his squad are saved from a close-in-ambush.

In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, a non-commissioned officer from the Female Engagement Tam senses something isn't right and directs the infantry  platoon away from a five-hundred-pound IED, saving the lives of a dozen soldiers.

But, if you think about it, not only were these soldiers saved by the decisions of one person, but their children yet unborn were also saved. And their children's children were saved.  Generations were saved by one decision, by one person.

But changing the world can happen anywhere, and anyone can do it.  So, what starts here can indeed change the world, but the question is: What will the world look like after you change it?

There's a spiritual message embedded deep inside this mysterious principle of compounding.  Maybe Einstein really did think this was the most powerful force in the universe. What is behind this mysterious powerful principle - who created it and for what purpose?   It is worth spreading - Belief in our Creator, his infinite love, and his gift of salvation.

Numbers Matter

Thomas Piketty's book "Capital in the Twenty-First Century is only 685 pages (200 pages less than Wolff's).  It is exactly why Introductions and Conclusions are the best starting points for determining whether to even fan through the pages or even look at the table of contents.

What fun for an latent Economist/Mathematician/Statistician to see after chart of empirical data captured from best available historical sources.  However a sample size of less than 300 years is a difficult foundation to theorize mathematical/economic premises.  Piketty uses the intuitive r>g (return on capital greater than rate of growth of income/output) to conclude that divergence in inequality of wealth will likely outpace convergence.

I did enjoy Piketty's justification for a bias to the French data (vs USA) based on lower population growth and other factors.  Also entertaining was his comment about the discipline of economics in "childish passion for mathematics and for purely theoretical and often highly ideological speculation, at the expense of historical research and collaboration with the other social sciences."   I admit in my studies, I hated the expression "with all other things being equal".

It's always interesting to read the last words.  Usually it ends up being what the author really wants you to understand.

"Yet is seem to me that all social scientists, all journalists and commentators, all activists in the unions and in politics of whatever stripe, an especially all citizens should take a serious interest in money, its measurement, the facts surrounding it, and its history.  Those who have a lot of it never fail to defend their interests.  Refusing to deal with numbers rarely serves the interests of the least well-off,"

In my Vistage 2011 presentation on Risk/Luck I said "Manage your investments or they will Damage you".  It was my way of saying if you don't pay attention to your money your interests will not be served. 

"Manage your money,  or it will manage you"

Friendly Sons of St. Patrick

I was the guest of R.F. at the 149th Annual Banquet of The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick at the Netherland Plaza Hotel on -  of course St. Patrick's Day. 

A black tie event of over 500 men, it was an evening of networking, dining, speeches (Dave Lapham former Bengals offensive lineman was the keynote), and music by the Glee Club of the Society.  What a wonderful tradition to be included in.  The Cincinnati chapter was founded in 1868 and the third oldest in the United States (behind Philadelphia and New York).  Dedicated to the principles of brotherhood, charity and community service, the society is open to Irish as well as non-Irish men of goodwill.  

I guess my 17% Irish www.ancestry.com DNA results was sufficient to allow me to feel connected to the long traditional Irish names in the program (see Mutt or Mutation - July 25, 2014).  Needless to say I didn't mention that it also estimated 44% Great Britain.


It was a table of fun with R.F, M.L., G.N., and two other guys I just met T.M. and M.S.  And of course there were other connections with Vistage B.E. and SVP Cincinnati A.S.  I ended up being the designated driver and good think because the Irish really do know how to drink and be merry!

Resting Space

"Music is best where there is space between the notes" remarked A.S. at a Vistage meeting some time ago.   How true also for our life -  "Life is best where there is space between the busy schedule".

In this Holiday hustle and bustle, everyone seems to stress out on running out of time - for the Christmas Cards, decorating the house, shopping for presents, people we want to connect with, year end deadlines and the list goes on and on.  Yet everyday (and even the most scheduled person) has white space - time in car, time between meetings, time between tasks, even time during meals.

How do you celebrate that "space"?   Do you fill it with noise, randomness, or purpose?  Here's a radical idea - schedule some space!  Schedule some ..... Rest.

Regifting

Let's say you discovered the gift you gave someone was "re-gifted" to someone else.  How would you react?  There in lies the danger of re-gifting anything.  You have no control over where it might end up or if the trail of discovery could be traced back to you as the original giftee. 

A version of this happened to me when I took a bottle of wine over to M.L.'s house who was hosting Susan and I for dinner.  In this case it was totally innocent as I had just pick any bottle of wine from our wine cabinet.  However this bottle just happened to be the exact bottle the M.L. had brought over to my house two weeks prior for a Vistage social that Susan and I were hosting.

I immediately put two and two together when M.L. commented on how much he enjoyed that brand of wine.  It was the joke of the evening that I had "re-gifted" the exact bottle of wine back to it's original owner. Quite a potentially  embarrassing situation, but luckily with friends like the M.L.s not an issue.


The moral of the story: "He who gifts should be flattered to get it back."

Vistage Inklings

Tomorrow I will meet with my Vistage 1107 group. I look forward to these meetings each and every month.  I can even "blame" a Vistage session by B.E. for this blog.

There are only four of us that remain as the founding group that started meeting back in July 2004.  G. B. will be in the "spotlight" and I'm sure it will be interesting.  Reading about C.S. Lewis's group called the Inklings, Vistage serves this purpose for me.  A  group of very talented business professionals meeting monthly for friendship, "carefrontation", business idea stimulation, and personal development. In fact, every meeting I get some sort of inkling - a whisper, a nudge from one of the members.

I reviewed my inklings and scribbles from all the 2016 meetings and found the pages littered with quotes, ideas, goals, to dos, and a tapestry my own and others comments.  With twelve years of nudges and notes, I can see a pattern improvement and growth.

My next Spotlight #11 is March 2017 and that responsibility launches me into what has become a very enjoyable activity of self reflection, philosophical musing, and deep emersion of research and learning.  Covering all topics from personal mission, time/money, risk/reward, luck, happiness, longevity, Heaven, friendship and even "Golden Oldies",  I wait to get inspired by a subject that will be fun to research and valuable information for the other members.

So what will be the subject?  Business topics I'm considering - Leadership; Customer Experience; Technology Shifts; Margin or Revenue; Ethics Interpersonal topics I'm considering - Memories, Hobbies and Habits; Creativity; Giving;

I need an inkling :)

What God Thinks

Today I will finish C.S. Lewis - "A Life" a biography written by Alister McGrath that is the start of the small group Susan and I are participating at Crossroads.  Since I rarely read fiction books, I have not read any of his Narnia books but will likely be required at some future date as we continue with this small group. 

"Lewis did not really see himself as "creating" Narnia.  Creation is a misleading term. He preferred to think of human thought as "God-kindled" and the writing process as the rearrangement of elements that God has provided.  The writer takes "things that lie to hand" and puts them to new use".

And so it is in the random bloggers posts of their thoughts and philosophy. The ebb and flow of my own personal blog is a rearrangement of memories, current events, relationship connections, and soul searching answers to purpose. 

It brings to mind the quote I have already used in a Vistage presentations to answer why I blog?

"I write to discover what I think"  Daniel Boorstin  (Former librarian of Congress)

Maybe I should modify that with a C.S. Lewis spin"

"I write to discover what God thinks"

Boston Legal #8

It was my turn to host what has become a fun summer tradition that came about rather spontaneously. It was a GOLDEN SESSION.

There are just times the guys need to convene independently and without female supervision or oversight.  I justified this principal in two ways - first citing Brian Tome's recent book "Five Marks of a Man" and C.S. Lewis's excerpt from "Four Loves".

Long before history began we men have got together apart from the women and done things. We had to.  And to like doing what must be done is a characteristic that has survival value.  We not only had to do the things, we had to talk about them.  We had to  plan the hunt and the battle.  When they were over we had to hold a post mortem and draw conclusions for future use.  We liked this even better.  We ridiculed or punished the cowards and bunglers, we praised the star-performers.  We reveled in technicalities.  In fact, we talked shop.  We enjoyed one another's society greatly: we Braves, we hunters, all bound together by shared skill, shared dangers and hardships, esoteric jokes ---away from the women and children.

What were the women doing meanwhile?  How should I know?  I am a man and never spied on the mysteries of the Bona Dea.  They certainly often had rituals from which men were excluded. ......

This pleasure in co-operation, in talking shop, in mutual respect and understanding of men who daily see one another tested, is biologically valuable.  You may, if you like, regard it as a product of the gregarious instinct... something which is going on at this moment in dozens of ward-rooms, bar-rooms, common-rooms, messes and golf clubs.  I prefer to call it Companionship --- or Clubbableness.

In a perfect Friendship.... each member of the circle feels, in his secret heart, humbled before the rest.  Sometimes he wonders what he is doing there among his betters.  He is lucky beyond desert to be in such company.  Especially when the whole group is together, each bringing out all that is best, wisest, or funniest in all the others.  THOSE ARE THE GOLDEN SESSIONS; when four or five of us after a hard day's walking have come to our inn; when our slippers are on, our feet spread out towards the blaze and our drinks at our elbows; when the whole world, and something beyond the world, opens itself to our minds as we talk; and no one has any claim on or any responsibility for another, but all are Freemen and Equals as if we had first met an hour ago,  while at the same time an Affection mellowed by the years enfolds us.  Life ---- natural life --- has no better gift to give.  Who could have deserved it?

 

Whether it's Wednesday Guys Tennis, SVP Cincinnati Guys Appendix club, AC Alumni Partner, Friday Morning Men's Bible Study, or Men's Movie night (e.g. War Movies), Vistage (mainly the guys), we Braves can mark ourselves as MEN not BOYS!

 

Bucket List

Last week was full of college memories.  This week 40 years ago R. M.  and I were at Miami U. taking our finals and planning the future.  Embarking on our own Defining Decade (I suggest you read the book by Meg Jay) R.M. was headed to UVA and I would stay at Miami for my Masters.

So it was fun to fly out to see R.M. and travel back to Cincinnati as he headed to Michigan.  Neither of us could accurately remember our graduation ceremonies nor did either of us have any pictures. 

At the last Vistage meeting, A.S. had us perform an exercise.  Using a visual timeline, we placed three years on a sheet of paper - birth, death and 2016.  Statistically, I chose 2040 (24 more years) as my year of death. A.S. then asked us to write above the line (and between 2016 and 2040) what we wanted to accomplish in those years (dreams, wishes, aspirations, goals --- your bucket list).  Then from 1954 to 2016 write the highlights of accomplishments to date (and lessons learned).

What struck me immediately was the impact a visual timeline has in reflecting on life.  Because the end date is unknown, we don't visually see our unique timeline and we therefore have the excuse to procrastinate.  How many things get "left behind" as time passes on?

I  have my list now -  time to get on with it.  What's on your list?



  

Netweaving vs Networking

At the January Vistage meeting R.R. said this year he is working on better Netweaving vs Networking.  What a better term for Introverts - as Networking is definitely WORK  for their personality type and to WEAVE sounds just like an introvert activity. 

I found a site with the title (and maybe the author of the term) www.netweaving.com - Netweaving International.  Based on the belief in the law of reciprocity, a Netweaver gives first in order to receive.  Rather than looking for ways or people (prospects) to help themselves, Netweavers are living the Golden Rule by helping others first. 

Digitized and Organized

It was a pleasant surprise to open my gadget Xmas gift - The Echo Pen from www.livescribe.com.

 I had some "elf" help from Vistage buddy T.H. who owns a Livescribe3 and demoed it at our meeting. .I emailed T.H. to suggest he send an email to Susan with an ambassador link so that both he and Susan could get $20 off the pan.

Yet as I began to explore and educate myself on the pen it was extremely confusing on which is the right pen to own - Echo, Livescribe 3 or the Wifi version of the pen.  The web site does a lousy job of explaining the differences even with a pdf comparison chart. What to do?   Return the Echo and pick a different version - or just be satisfied with what you have?

I decided to just keep the Echo pen which is more designed for the student taking notes at lectures as a stand alone pen and paper set (vs the Livescribe 3 or the Wifi which requires an additional layer of technology complexity - Bluetooth to a Smartphone or a Wifi connection.

The product demo's well and my early excitement is not yet the proper testimonial.  But as a gadget to play with - it fits the post Xmas/New Years fun.  I even sent emails to my gadget-aholic  tech friends without the proper technology system test complete.  In fact for those reading and willing to take gadget risk here is the discount information:

You'll get $20 off your new smartpen. Simply use my link below to make your purchase and enter discount code UBX15RAF93H2E in your shopping cart (expires in 30 days). http://mbsy.co/d9BLM

What a great way to keep all your notes digitized for future reference.  Maybe this will be a way to keep my office clean.

Vistage Moai

Today was the monthly Vistage meeting.  We ended the meeting introducing ourselves to a potential new member.  It was interesting to hear the various testimonials ( e.g. the value Vistage has for them personally)  of twelve of the Vistage 1107 group.

There are five of the twelve that were "charter" members (now 11 years).  That qualifies as near loyalty (see previous day's post) - maybe a moai. 

Every meeting I leave with self improvement jewels:

(1) "Blue Zones" Dan Buettner's 9 secrets to live a long live and his Ted's Talk
(2)  B.D. 's comment about great sculptor who responded to how he created such a beautiful sculpture of a Horse.  "I just start with the stone and take away anything that is not a horse."
(3) A.S.  "Instead of dialing 911,  I decided to do a 119 call to you"
(4) J.B  "Career Happiness is finding out what you want to do .....  and who you want to work with"
(5) J.B. "Create your -  'I wish, I wonder' list"
(6) Reflections from the All City meeting -  "What is your Customer Experience Map"  and tell me about a Customer Experience that is unique for a customer (sustainable but not scalable ).

Always a high point of my month.

PS  -  The Ted Talk mentions the Okinawan tradition of forming a moai that provides a secure social network. Our Vistage group doesn't come close to the 97 year moai of the Okinawan ladies - but it's a good start :)

Self Employed Tips

It was a day filled with Vision and business strategy for the All City Vistage meeting "Leading with 2020 Vision".  Three excellent speakers  talking about the Customer experience, Competing for the Future and Visionary execution. 

Customer Experience:   I asked our table what single customer experience had they encountered that would demonstrate excellence in Customer service?  Nothing really came up -  4 guys with over 240 years of consuming - and no real specific example or story was told.  However..... many of us had stories of the opposite experiences.  Customer Service nightmares - hate of providers -  never again buyer stories.  Mine were permanently etched in my memory - American Express and Time Warner.

I asked our table to describe what brands they are most loyal (consistent buying over 10 -15 years)  in buying.  This was an easier question and had many answers.  Mine were - Sony, GM, Cincinnati Bell, Allen Edmonds, Microsoft, PNC Bank, Yahoo, Schwab, Sams Club, Verizon and some food brands. While Customer Service/Experience was a large part of this loyalty - the reality is my loyalty to these brands was more about delivering consistent value and addressing any mistakes along the way.

Competing for the Future:  What do Kodak, Blockbuster, Radio Shack have in common? Casualties of the DCX - Digital Customer Experience.  The Baby Boomers grew up in an analog word and the Millennials (Gen Y) have grown up in a digital world.  To compete in the future, companies must start over in the digital world.  Don't attempt to incrementally change business analog processes to into digital copies. 

"It isn't the past which holds us back, it's the future and how we undermine it today" Victor Frankl

Visionary Execution:  Innovation is the magical intersection (and synchrony) of Insight, Idea and Experience.  Advertising and marketing is the tax you pay for a bad idea with little insight and poor execution.  Go to the source - your customer's customer.  Go from B2B to B2C to B2me!    Intelligence is learning from your own mistakes but Wisdom is learning from the mistakes of others.  Wisdom is a gift given from the humility of others. 

Visionary Execution is knowing your "Why".  Start with Insight discussions (before the ideas)  and balancing the 'idea monkeys" with the "ring leaders" during both vision and execution.

  
So how can you apply these three topics in your personal business - your life?

(1) Focus your relationships on consistent delivery (matching expectations with communication) and upon mistakes - recover with asking for forgiveness.
(2)  Be Brave - let the future reinvent your past.
(3) Surround yourself with the wisdom of others. Be vulnerable and let wisdom flow between you and others.

A good day - we are all self employed to do better..

Sock Drawer Psychology

So what does your sock drawer look like?    Mixed, sorted, sparse or overflowing?  Is it the top drawer, or bottom?  Is there an organizer or not?  Are the socks bundled or laying flat? Where do you keep stranded single socks (if at all) awaiting a possible pairing? 

My drawer (actually a basket) is a bundled mix of non-sorted socks overflowing with singles intermixed and hidden from view.  Not exactly the epitome of someone who tends to be very organized. 

At my Vistage meeting, I made the observation that there is a growing trend in males wearing fashionable socks (even I received some "Happy Socks" as a Christmas present last year).  The history of socks (including missing socks) is rich and interesting -  see Lonely Sock narrative.  Ever since I can remember, Ellen wears non matching colorful pattern socks (something a obsessed symmetric  mathematician like me could never do). 

Hidden socks allows the introvert the mysterious ability to make his/her own fashion statement (that is until they cross their legs for all to see).  But what of those individuals that purposely wear no socks - what's the psychology of the "naked penny loafer"?

The "no sock" fetish would make sock drawer organization easy - and free some space for other unmentionables even more hidden from view.

Stairway to Heaven

Today, at the Vistage check-in,  Al. S. asked us to be creative and choose any number to quantify our overall score for our personal and professional lives (vs our normal rating system from 0 - 10). 

On the flip chart Al inked what I thought was the infinity symbol (a flattened horizontal 8) for his number.  I quipped -  "It must be Al thinking about Heaven".  For me pondering infinity is like thinking about Heaven.

No - it wasn't infinity - it was his two dimensional picture of the Mobius Band.   I was embarrassed, as a Math major, to be unaware of the Mobius properties and equation (although Geometry was never my love in Math).  Al educated us about the unique properties of this band traveling the inside brings you to the outside without crossing an edge.  Wow - there are some deep philosophical things to relate to this point. 

Initially I thought maybe this was a great way to depict infinity in 3D - see the following pictures:

But - I'm not sure it works.  Needs further study ( a good 2015 project).

These looping visuals  put me in mind of M.C. Escher's artwork of the continuous stairway.

1953 Relativity

What about a Stairway to Heaven :)

Thy Kingdom Come

The Sunday evening small fellowship group that meets at our house is studying "A Good and Beautiful Life" by James Bryan Smith.  It is the second in a series of three books he has written.  Last night's discussion was about the Kingdom of God - or in my view Heaven. 

Coincidentally that was the focus of the 2014 Wisner Christmas closing quote:  "A glimpse of Heaven is available to view - reflecting God, look around you".  My belief that there is Heaven on Earth that is available to each one of us.  My Vistage spotlight presentation (12/11/14) was focused on this point also.

Then as I was researching "Thy Kingdom Come", I stumbled upon this delightful video that does a great job of summarizing what I believe.  It's worth the 5 minute investment of your attention: