Waiting Doesn't Make the Decision Easier

This was a hard week. The normal stresses of a very busy life and many responsibilities were certainly felt. In addition, I made a significant decision in my work place that will have long term implications for both myself and others. I decided to sell a division of my small company that has never been profitable and has been a frequent source of considerable frustration. I decided to sell, rather than close down, because it gave better opportunity to some of the employees most affected by the sale.

This issue has been under consideration for many months while I tried to develop a plan to redeem the problems involved. Several interested parties had been advising me to prune this branch off the company tree and I have stubbornly resisted, hoping to find a more productive solution to the problem. I felt that closing or selling this division of our company would be an admission of failure on my part as an owner. I kept searching for ways to motivate key employees that also happened to be problem employees. I considered it my task to find a way to modify work conditions so that even problem employees could become productive contributors. I also hoped to maintain the division long enough so sufficient marketing and time would allow the business to grow. Unfortunately, after almost five years of subsidizing, adjusting, marketing, encouraging, and managing, it still does not seem to be probable. I consider this a failure of my business sense and management ability.

However, I realize that I can’t be responsible for the behavior of the problem employee, who has been given plenty of freedom, resources, opportunity, and accommodation and still can’t manage to work as a team player and can’t earn enough fees to offset the cost of employing him. In addition, I realized my extended tolerance of underperformance not only hurt me financially, but it was hurting the other employees financially when the absence of profit translated into absence of bonus to them. That is what finally motivated me to take serious action to stop the financial drain on the company.

Why am I writing these thoughts in a blog? Perhaps someone like me might read and recognize that their stubborn resistance to give up on a losing activity may be hurting some of the people they are trying to protect. I finally realized that I had to disrupt one employee’s work life so that another six employees might suffer less. I am hoping that I might read this in the future to help me not make similar mistakes……

Learning to Dance

In March 2007, Sandy and I started taking ballroom dance lessons at a studio near our home. We have gradually increased our involvement (translation: made a larger time and financial investment!) and have come to fully enjoy the activity. It has many features:

we spend time learning something challenging.... together,
it requires teamwork,
we get pretty good exercise,
there are many other like minded people that are intentionally friendly,
it is really good therapy for taking your mind off your daily worries, AND
it gives me an opportunity to be in Sandy's arms!

We have progressed a little beyond simple steps, but both of us are regularly humbled by what we struggle to learn, and by observing what some others seem to have learned quite well. It is incredible to know a little, and just enough to know how difficult it is to make beautiful dancing look effortless.

Regardless of our eventual development, we each hope that someday we can simply dance comfortably, without having to actually count in our heads and think about which foot to move where! Sometimes we actually make it completely through a musical piece without having to stop and restart, or without stepping on each other's feet. However, the best part is when we are able to dance like there is nobody watching!

Fathers' Day at Taco Bell

Hello Phantom Blog Readers!

I have not posted in several weeks and feel that I have neglected the process. I am the primary benefactor of these journal entries so perhaps it is time for me to write! Today is Fathers’ Day 2007 and we certainly are enjoying the day! My daughter living in Sydney is home, my son attending school in Denver is home, my son working and studying in Manhattan is home, my Marine stepson just returned from South America and is home, and my step-daughter who works and lives from home is home. Only my daughter volunteering in Zambia must miss this day. I would say I am a pretty fortunate Father!

I even was able to celebrate another Fathers’ Day with my Father….how cool is that! My brother’s family met us at the local Taco Bell to have lunch with my parents because that is my Dad’s favorite place to have lunch on Sundays! Our party certainly entertains the workers and “normal” patrons at this simple little restaurant. We have no trouble with waiting for tables, the food is VERY inexpensive, and even my wife can find some nachos and cheese to eat!

While everyone has negative “stuff” that is a part of life, everyone, and I mean certainly everyone that lives in the USA, is pretty fortunate to live as they do. I am not glossing over the bad things about our society, things that truly should not happen in this great country. However, compared to how things have been in the past, how things might be in other parts of the world right now, and how things could be a whole lot worse for everyone right now, we live in a time and place that is just plain good. Not perfect, not as good as it should be, or could be, not as good as it might become, but really good.

I am fortunate to have a fairly functional family, to have work that is generally enjoyable that provides me with the funds to certainly meet all of my needs and grant even some of my wants, to live in a community that is reasonably safe and pleasant, to have the freedom to act mostly as I please, and to not be too concerned about the future. There are literally billions of people on earth that would gladly switch places with me. Of course, they are unaware of the high taxes that I have to pay, and most of them would not stand for the level of taxes that Americans generally accept without much complaint. Oops, that is a whole another blog…back to the theme at hand. I don’t want to trade places. I know I am fortunate, and am thankful to be a citizen of the USA, even in its imperfection. It is part of my duty as a citizen to make my society, and country, better.

Thanks Dad, for choosing to have children in your life, in your home, in this community, in this USA. Without your decision to become a Dad, this son of yours might have started life in a much less fortunate condition.

Taken For Granted

Well, it seems that my blog happens to be an outlet for my frustrations with life. Perhaps it is better than expressing my rants in less productive ways.

Recently a regular source of frustration at work was awarded significant recognition by an organization that consumes a great deal of "work" time that I as an employer have spent many, many dollars in lost production, while this individual "volunteers" his skills and time. Certainly Mr. "Volunteer" deserves to be honored, and I AM happy for his recognition. However, this individual ONLY works for his own benefit, NEVER recognizing the tolerance and contribution of his very generous employer. In fact, by his actions and words, one might think he has been chosen for this honor IN SPITE of his employer.

In fact, one might wonder how Mr. "Volunteer", managed to accomplish his contribution to the society when he has been asked to be accountable for the time (salary dollars!) that HE has "contributed" to the society. Over several years, he has spent up to 33% of his work time in a month, meanwhile indicating he only spent 1 to 1.5 hours during that month. He certainly takes credit for his "contribution" , yet it is very difficult to find that he is even employed by his generous employer........ Even his announcement that he has received the honor came via a gmail account certainly identifyiing him, instead of the company e-mail account that is provided for him free by his employer!

For where your treasure is, there will be your heart, also.......

Let's Give Them Something to Rant About!

Today I traveled from Kansas City to Los Angeles for a work project job visit. Not only was my departure delayed by 4.5 hours, I had to perform that cattle like activity all airline passengers mus t perform these days...be herded through the security scam, by the cowboys branded with TSI.

It is not only the reduction in dignity of which all passengers are subjected, but the concept of an organization composed of lower functioning people being given complete authority to treat others in any manner they choose, without accepting any responsibility for their individual actions. History has taught that when even pure, talented, high ethics individuals are allowed to exercise complete authority with no corresponding responsibility, moral disasters are only a short time away. People or organizations that are less than pure fall into the same abuse of power, just in a shorter amount of time.

The issue that really concerns me is that TSI has no oversight by another agency. They set the rules. They do not have to answer for their words nor actions. No person or organization has the power to exercise control over this potentially very powerful organization. And the organization is generally staffed by people who can't find other work! Very, very scary......

And we citizens of the world just chew our cud, silently and contentedly comply (okay, sometimes we grumble a little but we still comply), and let our human rights slip a little closer to a very dangerous chasm of complete loss of freedoms...

Have I succumbed to fad, or is this truly a trend?

Well, here is my initial post. In my first ever blog. I do not intend to post to this blog daily..only when there is something significant to say.

I WILL treasure you comments when I do post, so please feel invited to respond to my occasional posts.

This is a new adventure for a person who has not been a particularly good correspondent in the past. Perhaps I will be able to find a new ME inside the old ME.

TTFN