Onward Together: Teams Navigation...

Before you were wise, you just acted out from pure thoughtlessness. You tried to fix situations without truly understanding the problem-set.

At some point in your life long experiences you might read a passage or paragraph in a book or online. Perhaps it is in a room where you are listening to someone preach, or a guest speaker for an event you are attending.

Then the feeling starts to come over you. You are thinking about what you have just encountered and now you start to wonder. Your mind is asking more questions.

After this encounter and as you say to yourself I belong here, in this place with these people, you are on your way to new insights.

As you begin your journey towards new problem-sets to create solutions that will benefit others you care about, you will then start to believe in your direction.

You will be listening and questioning. Over and Over. You will then create a test to determine if your hypothesis is clear.

You will be testing and observing. Over and Over. You will then adapt and change your solution to ensure it is even more reliable. You are an "Innovation Navigator"...

"Reliable in different places. Reliable in different situations. Reliable with different people using your prototype solution."

So what?

After you have talked to enough people you belong with and then you believe that you have the correct solution, then you shall discover the real change in behavior.

As you continue to navigate your life solutions journey “Always Be Ready” for the time, place and person we sometime have named the saboteur.

Will you encounter an act or process tending to hamper or hurt the mission? Sabotage can be destructive or obstructive actions by others to change you.

Being prepared today for the unknown in the future. Using knowledge gained by continuous testing and observation.

Learning and adapting in order to survive the continuous change ahead of you will not be easy.

Who is your most trusted team mate or partner to do it together?

Find the person and build the team of true professionals as soon as you are able. Communicate.

Communicate. Face-to-Face. Observe each others behavior.

Navigate, Change, Test, Adapt, Endure. You are on a life long journey of discovery, learning and wonder…

Onward Together!

Acknowledgment: Forever Grateful...

When was the last time your true business accomplishments were being acknowledged and your personal character celebrated?

As we all watched the 20+ people assemble in the banquet suite facing the Pacific Ocean last evening, you could tell they were all so excited to see the surprise on her face, as she walked into the room at 6:00PM.

The point in your work timeline when you are transitioning from one key role to another and have proven your results is a good place to reminisce and to listen to those who admire and trust you.

Hearing others who are your peers and fellow colleagues stand up over dinner and explain why you are someone they have learned from and that they have valued your leadership, will always be a remembered milestone in your life.

Two out of Ten people in a room, are exactly who the “80/20 Rule” science and “Pareto Principle” are all about.

If you want to find and recruit 4 people to your team, then do the math on how many will not make the final cut.

It is just so refreshing to see a group of professionals all celebrating one of their own:

“The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes (the "vital few”).”

The statistics and the “Moneyball” math is what truly sets you apart as a multi-million dollar producer from those with just the fundamental skills.

As your recognition stories continued from your colleagues into the evening there were plenty of laughs and also a few tears that filled the room. Then she just smiled at us.

How might you ever become close to the 2 people out of 10?

Some might say you are just born into it, it’s all in the DNA. Others would say you have to train, repeat and train harder in order to excel at your particular chosen profession.

Coaches and researchers and professional trainers would all have various opinions on what the ratios should be, to find that next Gold Medal Winner or Scientific Scholar or Sales Leader or even a BUD/s school graduate.

Yet that alone does not make the person that others truly admire, beyond their God given skills or training outcomes.

It is something else. “Extreme Ownership” of the organizations problem-sets and the dedication to finding relevant and timely solutions.

When you finally find the right formula and you find yourself in the spotlight someday being acknowledged and celebrated by your peers and close colleagues, say it to yourself in all CAPS:

“IT WASN’T EASY AND “I REALLY EARNED IT”…It has been a good run...

Onward and Godspeed!

Resilient Future: Curious Observation...

On this vibrant and chilly Fall day, facing West towards the mountains, as the sun rises behind us a few bright star-like lights shine for just a few minutes.

These reflections are from the bright morning sun shining off home windows near Evergreen Meadows some 40 miles away, yet just perfectly in our vision, starts our day ahead.

The tree leaves are actively changing colors and signals to us to now begin to prepare for the changing environment ahead.

In other work or government assignments, perhaps you and your project team have been measuring your environment. Have you been checking your “Threat Management App” this moment for the detection of more serious anomalies this minute.

Being actively observant in nature and your own organizational environment could be the real difference between loss or growth. In your life, you must “Always Be Ready”.

Your ability to continuously increase your resilience to changing temperatures in nature and also the change in temperament of your organizations beneficiaries, will make a significant difference.

As you think about your role, your position and the current project you are now assigned to, the question remains: Who are you serving?

There is change in the wind and you must prepare now, you shall be proactive in your thinking over the horizon, so that you also can anticipate the future outcomes.

How might you spend more time in curious dialogue with your respective beneficiaries to better understand their point of view, their particular requirements and their current temperament?

The problem-set before you requires valuable time, brain power and resources to determine the validity of your current hypothesis.

In the path forward, most researchers, analysts and scientists would probably say that if you have not changed your hypothesis, then you have not used enough data or time to ascertain the true reality of the problem at this point in time.

How might you analyze more data from various sources faster with little error so that you arrive at a valid “Trust Decision”?

Being proactive is not being forceful. Being proactive is being curious. It is a mission of discovery and building wisdom.

Your future actions are a factor of your problem-set and the ability to accurately solve it with a solution defined by your curious observation.

There is change in the wind before us and we must “Always Be Ready”…