Recently, an auditor evaluated the company I work for to approve us to perform work to their workmanship processes. During the close out session, the auditor made a comment the struck a chord. “I let go of the quality in my life 15 years ago.” He went on to talk about working overtime and dedicating… Read More
Guiding Ourselves Through Time
There is one more time horizon that many people do not take into account, that is time scales beyond our life time. There is a treasure trove of things we can learn from the past. The actions we take in our life can have an impact on the future beyond our time on this planet… Read More
Managing Expectations Yields Opportunity
There are many organizations, especially in the aerospace industry, that struggle with perpetual reaction mode. Unfortunately it starts with the contract award. When we plan for being proactive including adequate margin, we are told by our customers our schedule or cost does not meet their expectations. What do we do? We capitulate. We cut out… Read More
Needs and Consequences
Each moment we are given another opportunity to observe, orient, and decide how to act. This is our immediate experience and the most intimate of time horizons. Our immediate apprehension of the reality of our situation is our tactical interaction with our environment. In this time horizon, situational awareness is all about the immediacy of… Read More
Our Primary Resource, Time
The first resource we all have some measure of control over is time. As Dr. Tolian Soran said in the movie Star Trek Generations, “Time is the fire in which we burn.” This is a common sentiment especially when we do not use that fire to accomplish what we choose. When others choose the objectives… Read More
Embracing Confrontation
My wife and I were discussing having leadership roles at work. Confrontation is unavoidable. Trust issues come up. People want to be seen as powerful or experienced and thus show themselves like a bird of paradise or peacock. When issues and confrontations do arise, the leader has a choice to make. As in the wild,… Read More
Embracing Our Wiggle Worm
Watching my four and eight year old attend a martial arts class, I remembered what I’ve seen at work from technicians to executive management. There are times we all lack focus and become less effective. We get distracted by personal things. We get lost in our vision to the point of forgetting to interact with our… Read More
Impact of Our Decisions
The primary driving energy of our mental weather pattern is our conscious decisions. Decisions differ from choices which well up from within without conscious deliberation (which will be covered later). Conscious decisions are where we “cut down” alternatives to come to an understanding of which path to take. Decisions are reached through conclusion and rational… Read More
Finding Patience in our Mental Weather
The boundary between the unconscious and consciousness is elusive. It’s more of a moving threshold rather than a specific classification of elements. This threshold varies with our focus, attention to detail, energy level, and integration with our environment. The elements constantly change from conscious to unconscious and back again. It is much like the water… Read More
Setting Expectations for Ourselves
My daughter is finding her ability to solve third grade math problems. A few weeks ago she was comparing herself to other people in her class. We told her it doesn’t matter what others are doing and if it is something important to her she will have to practice everyday. In the last two weeks… Read More
Business of You 