Long term goals and short term successes

I have a lot of long-term goals that seem to keep being long-term goals. My short-term goals, like cleaning up my desktop and sending off important emails get done on a daily basis, kind of like homework. My long-term goals seem to stick around, so here's what I am wondering...maybe I don't want to do what I say I want. Huh?

So I'm opting for short-term gratification these days. I have been helping my mother and father clean out their old house. I recycled 500 lbs. of Christmas cards that had been saved. For me it was a short-term goal, to find the floor. For my mother I think she was trying to preserve memories, knowing that she had the beginnings of dementia. So we both had goals, hers to remember the kind people that had sent her the cards, and me to make sure that my parents home so not the next destination for a reality show about hording.

Maybe long-term goals are like dreams. WE can plan and scheme, but sometimes you just wake up and its not happening. Luckily I have a lot of dreams...like taking a business from the ground up and creating crazy success, or like going to Sweden where my grandmother was from and seeing the village where I have a genetic connection. What are your dreams? Share with me.

Teflon brain

Did you have a made up language when you were young? I did, it was with a childhood best friend, and we called it the "ib" language. It sounded crazy and we felt cool when we spoke it. Now I'm learning Latin and my brain does not seem to want to hold onto the whole language. I will spend time learning a declension, and then another and declension number one is gone! How does this happen?

Learning can happen all of the time. As I learn this new/old language I realize how much I edit out of my mind so I don't have to deal with being present. By allowing myself to unplug and use "Teflon brain" I am opting out of my life and work. When you are at work or conversing with colleagues do you listen to them? Or does Teflon brain come in to the picture and allow it all to slide off?

Teflon brain for me is a lazy way to live. Using the muscle of my brain that learns languages is helping me to see where else do I not have the muscle to listen and be present to what is going on. I'm looking forward to stretching the "being present muscle" and am committed to stop spraying virtual "Pam" in my mind. I am available and willing for life!

Is paint a miracle or just a cover up?

I am amazed at how a great paint job can make a run down house or building look well kept and loved. When the right color is chosen, and I'm a stckler for that, it can be an absolute transformation. As an example; most days I walk by an old run down Spanish style home. There are weeds growing in front, and for weeks there has been a rather large dumpster in the driveway.

The other day I walked by and the whole place was painted this lovely warm creamy color, with brown trim and suddenly this old house looked like it was truely loved and almost new. What was really different? A surface paint job was all. So it got me to thinking that the way we present ourselves, and our projects will either catch the eye of our colleagues and business partners or not.

Right now I am working on a project that needs a simple and elegant way to propose our future expenses. We need to balance this with expected revenues. I have looked through the usual materials and have not found anything suitable. Instead I am creating it with the intention that it provides our business partners with all the clear precise information needed and it looks really spiffy.

I do think that how something looks, its simplicity and elegance make a difference. When something is appealing to the eye, you have passed through the first hurdle of acceptance. You do however have to follow up with great content and excellent research, a good paint job can only cover so much.

TGIF or lets have a four day week

What would happen in your world if you got paid for results, not how much time it took to get those results? Would you be willing to play that game? Some results are easy to measure, like, “I will ensure that company XYZ will have an increase in sales by 10% if they use my methods”. What about the intangibles?

Today I went outside to dig in my little garden patch. It is under a large pine tree and the soil needs work in order to have the best results. So I have taken it upon myself to do the needed work, to get the results I am looking for.

The results will be measurable and immeasurable, as in many lines of work. The particular measurable results I am working towards will be as follows:
Delicious food from the garden direct to our plates this summer
Lower cost of food
Fewer shopping trips for veggies

The non-tangible results I am also expecting are in the area of personal sanity and well-being. How will I measure this? Will I be more tolerant of others? Will I have more restful sleeps? Will I be a better person?

In a work related project how do we calibrate these kinds of intangible quality of life benefits? Until now the traditional way to assess these results has been through less sick days, and improved employee retention. Is there another way? Bhutan, a small Himalayan country has embarked upon a novel idea, a GNH or Gross National Happiness quotient. Read this link on the left hand side of the blog and let me know what you think. Would this work in your work and home environment? Would you like to be paid for results or for putting your time in?

The gadget to the left is an old one, at least 50 if not more years old. It is a sifter.

A sifter is something a home baker uses to blend together dry ingredients before they are mixed with the wet ones. Although this sifter has considerable age it still works and has a brilliant design. On the top half you put all the unmixed dry ingredients. Then you press the button repeatedly on the handle and it will mix all the ingredients into a whole in the bottom half. You take it off and put into your bowl, no fuss, and no muss.

Why bring this antique kitchen item into a blog that is interested in mixing project management with all types of business, especially the arts? I think that one of the primary goals in any project is to be efficient, and do the work with as little mess and unnecessary waste as possible. Sometimes old designs carry this wisdom, I know that I often get seduced into thinking that new is better.

I could carry the sifting metaphor way too far, so what I am wondering is where in a project life cycle do old ideas get axed merely to try what is new? What old ideas still have staying power?

Can Integrity become a practice?

Integrity is a word that sends shivers down my back. It is one of those words that we often use in business especially in mission statements. But how to overcome my fear of bringing the word integrity into a meeting and develop it as a practice with my peers and supervisors?

I decided to look up the word in the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) to bolster my confidence, and found that its root is in Latin. The OED states that the word integrity comes from the Latin integritās wholeness, entireness, or completeness. The first definition is: The condition of having no part or element taken away or wanting; undivided or unbroken state; material wholeness, completeness, entirety.

I was disappointed, because my version of integrity is that one does what one says one will do, more or less like honesty. I scrolled down the OED website to see if I could find a definition that fit better with my personal views. And I found one…as the third and last definition: “3. a. Unimpaired moral state; freedom from moral corruption; innocence, sinlessness. Obs.” The Obs. here means obsolete! Oh no! Luckily the next definition 3 b. was what I was looking for “b. Soundness of moral principle; the character of uncorrupted virtue, esp. in relation to truth and fair dealing; uprightness, honesty, sincerity.”

Bringing integrity into the workplace as a living breathing entity is not the same as reading a concept from a dictionary or putting it into a mission statement. Putting integrity into practice takes looking at myself, and where I have not done what I said I would do. So the practice in the coming months and weeks will be to keep bringing integrity to my own life and engaging in conversations in the workplace to bring integrity in as a practice, something that is alive for the whole team, not a dry anachronism on a wall plaque.

Is Patience a Virtue?

What do you do when a project is stalled or delayed? I know what I do; I keep trying to find a way to make it to the next milestone or goal. I keep my head down and try to be creative. So my question, when is patience a virtue and when is it a way to avoid the truth of the matter?

Reassessing the timeline for a project and making the necessary changes is one way of working through delays, but on the other hand, am I just trying to get by? For me I am sometimes so committed to the "doing" of the project that I miss out on what the intention of the project is. Here is a simple example: I am helping my aged parents clean out a room that was used as an office. When I started this project, my stated goal was to provide space for my father to work in as well as a guest room for future nurses or relatives visiting. I thought it would take 2 weeks. My first milestone was completed yesterday, after one month of sorting. I have made it around the perimeter of the room in a first sweep. I have reassessed this project and have made room for the fact that this will take more time than previously allotted. I have altered the milestones, and have allowed time for issues that will come up that I am not currently aware of. I have however not changed the objectives.

In this case patience has been a virtue, and although I do not have unlimited time, I can extend the timeline. There are precious items hidden in and amongst the old Christmas cards and detritus in the room. There are family stories here. What if instead of this example I was working on a project where the timeline was so incredibly incorrect? What if I realized that the project was going to be a failure, based on these conditions? What if my job was on the line? For me part of every project that I participate in has my own criteria, and my own version of integrity. So despite the possibility that I may loose out personally I think it is important to call a spade a spade, state the breakdown and take it as an opportunity to re-invent the project or shut it down.