Day 22 - Return on Effort (ROE)

In business school @BGI we talk about businessy things like ROI (Return on Investment) and other common metrics (EBITDA, Contribution Margin, etc), just as any business school or operating business does. What are we getting back for the investment we're putting in? Pretty basic, fundamental concept. Also terrifically difficult to completely articulate and understand at the highly abstracted level of business finance.

I'm also getting more and more interested, at least when it comes to teams and organizations made up of human beings, is the idea of "Return on Effort" (ROE) - which I've also seen expressed as "Return on Energy" or "Return on Engagement" in other circles. The organizational development philosophy of Human Performance Improvement posits that the truly scarce resource organizations must manage most wisely today is not their access to capital, it's access to clarity and focus. Leaders - and workers - have never grappled with a more distracting, harried and chaotic time than the landscape of business today.

ROE asks us to look at ourselves, what we're doing, and how we feel both about the results along with the process that produced them. Where are we spending our time? In meetings? On the phone? In front of the computer screen? On the plane or in a taxi en route to meet more clients? What are we doing and how does it feed the organization's need for actions leading to financial outcomes, but also the individual's need for purpose, meaning and equity?

Performance management is about persuading people to do the things you need them to do in order for your organization - company, non-profit, school choir, etc - to continue performing those tasks that make it what it is. If you stop (or never start) delivering what your customers demand, you won't be around very long. But for people, how does that actually play out? Salaries and bonuses? Profit sharing? Generous benefits? Strict discipline?

All of these rewards have limited lifespans for motivating people to go about doing the hundreds of little tasks involved with managing, designing and producing quality work. I don't care if your charged with pealing 50 pounds of potatoes or negotiating the fine-print language on a $50,000,000 long-term contract, people must be motivated by more than short-term rewards.

Seth Godin talks about about this concept today, too, at least as it applies to Customer Service:

"Overseas call centers and online chat handled by untrained workers with no incentives seem like clever ways to cut costs during stressful times. What they actually are is scalable engines of annoyance, time-sucking processeses that raise expectations and then totally dash them. Better to not even have a phone number. (You can't call Google but you don't want to call Adobe--which one generates more animus--the inability to call, or the promise, unfilled, of respect and thoughtful help?)" (read the full post here)

It's always struck me as strange that organizational leaders often manage to decouple quality of service or efficiency of processes from investment in quality staff, both in who gets hired, but also how they are trained and treated once on the team.

This post represents another entry on my part in a "40 Days of Writing" project entered into voluntarily and without coercion.

Day 21 - Coarse Meaning

Many people, English speaking at least, make a big deal out of certain words. The late, great George Carlin gave us the now long famous 7 dirty words routine back when I was just a wee lad. The link here goes to a transcript, but there are plenty of clips of Carlin delivering this out there on the 'nets if you want to watch. And we know you do.

Okay, onward. George makes many good points about the 7 dirty words, among them the word "fuck". This is, I would wager, everyone's favorite in the coarse or foul language lineup. Foul? Adult language? Naughty talk? So many euphemisms. It's a good, strong word, useful for many, many things as noun, verb... well, so many others have written this story before, I suppose I should just direct you here, here and here for more on the history and diversity of useful applications for the word "fuck".

I can't think of a better example of the utility of keeping the original word in film broadcast on network television than Sam Jackson's now canonic Snakes on a Plane overdub. Here is the original, unedited scene (warning, if there are children present, mute your fucking speakers):

This word disappears from many films when they hit the television/cable aftermarket. It's strange this still happens, now that the 'nets have made distribution so impossible to control.
In the above clip, it's clear what Mace Windu up there is telling the passengers of that most unfortunate plane. He's going to get the snakes out and - hopefully - the people will survive. You know he's serious and best of all, you know what he means.

Now, let's take a look at the television broadcast version.

 

Clearly, the television viewer, presumably some child under the age of 13 whose precious ears would be scarred for life without the aid and protection of television censors, has experienced a very different scene. One with much less meaning. Does FX or ABC or TNT or TBS really believe airing butchered films like this draws in more viewers? They might consider how any form of censorship degrades us all more than any fucking word every could. Monkey fighting and Monday to Friday. Really. 

Let's close with this one, perhaps the best use of the word in film ever:

This post represents another entry on my part in a "40 Days of Writing" project entered into voluntarily and without coercion. 

Days 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 - Life Moves Pretty Fast

I've just returned from four days in Seattle and on Bainbridge Island for the 4th-to-last BGI Intensive weekend of my three-year career as a student of Sustainable Business. In June, when I receive my MBA as part of the 10th graduating class of the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, I will be walking the same walk as the nearly 500 alumni (and friends) who've come before me. It's my hope that in 10 more years there will be well over 1,000 of us out there working to change the worlds of commerce, trade, education, finance, manufacturing, farming, ecology and more. Some of us are passionate about food, others about energy, and still others about eco-tourism, finance, green building or waste-stream reduction. It has been my distinct pleasure to be surprised at every one of my 24 Intensives (with 3 to go!) by the depth and diversity of my colleagues' interests and experiences.This past weekend reminds me that I'll never stop learning so long as I am willing to keep my mind open, stay humble and acknowledge the talents of those around me. Such a privilege to be a part of this great community, warts and all.

Speaking of school, I've submitted my team's intention to compete in the University of Washington Business Plan Competition. Our business, currently called "Next Global Language" in its pre-startup phase, [redacted]. Looks like it just got real, as the expression goes. We'll be up against teams from all over the country (and world) as B-school students attempt to create new ventures addressing social (and/or simply financial) needs. Not all of the teams seek to create companies with social-benefit missions, but we're banking on this being part of our secret sauce. We'll see how the judges respond following the next deadline for Executive Summary in April. We've also entered the Madrona League Business Plan Competition, along with 9 other teams from BGI and several from other schools. This will be a new experience for me, as well as the other members of our team. Not quite sure what to expect just yet.

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In other news, I'm continuing to educate myself on all things brewing as I continue pursuing my dream of opening the Hawthorne Boulevard Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon sometime in the next 6 to 12 months. This necessarily involves a lot of reading both online and in analog (aka "book") format, along with as much sampling of different craft beers as is both possible and responsible. I had the pleasure of drinking the Port Townsend Hop Diggity IPA and the Tripel Entendre by Sound Brewery over the weekend. A wannabe brewery owner's work is never done. Thanks to everyone for all of the support and advice I've been receiving lately. I look forward to putting more time and energy into this effort as the year progresses.

Much more to update on, too, but time flies. I'll post another drawing next time soon.

This post represents another entry on my part in a "40 Days of Writing" project entered into voluntarily and without coercion.

Day 14 - Drawing Someone Else's Art

Trogdor the Burninator

If I was lucky enough to be in the 10th cohort @ BGI, this would be my totem animal.

Day 13 - What is Truth?

Now, following the greatest "pics or didn't happen" moment in, well, recent memory, at least, we have this: OBL was not buried at sea as reported originally, but rather taken to Dover, Deleware. Really? Thanks Wikileaks. It's really over, isn't it? Or maybe it never existed; a time when truth mattered in the public space. As soon as they announced it, the doubters began their caw caws from the peanut gallery, myself included. Why the mystery move? Why not demonstrate the evidence? It's all the same shit different bad guy. The swirling bowl of lies and half-truths and stories and spins and press conferences full of obfuscation and big words like obfuscation.

Maybe it's always been just like it is now, just with less media coverage.

I don't know... maybe it was, Utah.

Good night, Moon.

This post represents another entry on my part in a "40 Days of Writing" project entered into voluntarily and without coercion.

Day 12 - Sometimes it Matters Who's in Charge

Before you go and assume this is a Left vs Right thing, read/hear me out.

The US House of Representatives - the one with all 435 members on 2 year terms, remember - just passed HR 347 on a vote of 388-3. Ron Paul and two other Republicans were the only dissenters. (source: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/mar2012/prot-m03.shtml)

So, this was one of those boring "unanimous consent" bills the House always passes on things like Post-It Notes re-orders and naming elementary schools after puppies with cancer, right?

No, it was a bill about the People's rights, specifically, our right to freely assemble and speak out against the government or corporate corruption, inequality and social justice. At least, it's about those things as they relate to the gathering and assembling on federal properties and/or buildings, most realistically during protests in Washington, DC, if/when that becomes the new reality of life in 2013, -14 or beyond.

There are those in the press attempting to label this the "anti-Occupy" law. And, with a name as boring as the "Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011" it certainly could do with something less functionally descriptive.

Not to go entirely down this rabbit hole without a pause for perspective. That link above is indeed to the World Socialist Web Site. Not exactly unbiased, at least in the eyes of some readers. So, who else out there is talking about HR 347? Here's what Reason says:

"So it's hard to know the exact implications of this one-word change, especially when some very nasty, excessive crack-downs happen already in cases like G-20 summit protests. But law is precedent and interpretation. So in a world where the National Defense Authorization Act maybe allows for the indefiniate detainment of citizens, but maybe not, but the President says he won't use the power so trust him, governments don't need one more inch – not one more word of excuse — to crack down on protest and speech. The cult of the presidency has gone far enough." (source: http://reason.com/blog/2012/03/01/does-hr-347-the-trespass-bill-change-any)

Anything else to support the idea that HR 347, if passed as Law by the US Senate and signed by the President, as read, would permit further government abrogation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution? Okay, so the Examiner, which is another "progressive" site, has this to say:

Tonight you no longer need to be a conspiracy theorist to have real questions about whether we are becoming a police state. (source: http://www.examiner.com/progressive-in-philadelphia/h-r-347-could-be-making-the-first-amendment-illegal) 

In the end, I'm unsure if this is all just a bunch of hyperbole. Then, I find Jonathan Turley's blog out there on the expanse of undulating InterWebTubeNets. You may remember him from such programs as The News Hour with some old guy, and other official serious, talking about the news shows on the telly. Yes, that guy. A "respectable" fellow.

"However, it seems to be a trend that vague or overly broad language could be fairly described as being purposefully adopted allowing “wiggle room” for Federal authorities to potentially abuse civil and human rights under the color of authority. This is a dangerous practice." Source: http://jonathanturley.org/2012/03/03/imprecise-language-and-the-risks-of-h-r-347/)

So, even if you don't buy the sinister intent of bought-and-paid-for corporate puppets passing laws to completely gut the US Constitution and all that it once upheld, it's obvious we have at the very least, intellectually lazy and completely incompetent people passing laws that affect the lives of millions of citizens with little understanding for the true impacts of their decisions. Neither scenario gives me much comfort.

Pictures of the future?

This post represents another entry on my part in a "40 Days of Writing" project entered into voluntarily and without coercion. 

Day 10 + 11: Some days are later than others

I sometimes enjoy a good British film. Recently, thanks to the joys of streaming movies via the Internets, I watched young, sexy Helen Mirren and Bob Hoskins smoke, drink, shoot and stab their way through London in The Long Good Friday. This is one of those "never heard of it" films that comes along and surprises you. BFI calls it the 21st best British film of the 20th Century. I'll take their word, since I frankly could barely understand half the cockney dialog in the film.

As good as this film was, and it was pretty good, the part that made it great for me was the combination of ambiguity and finality the end provides. Bob Hoskins, at least in 1979, could emote in ways that seem animated better than Who Framed Roger Rabbit? You end knowing his fate and yet, not knowing how things ultimately "end" after the credits roll. Beautiful. It's interesting, when I still let it be, just how different the movie industry is today than compared to 1980 when The Long Good Friday was released. It was truly Art at one time; or, closer anyway.

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I've been practicing some Kata exercises for my Operations class in business school. The steps involve identifying the current condition and target condition, then iterating small steps improving one aspect of the gap between them or another. Plan, Do, Check, Act it's called, or PDCA in the biz. Over and over, until the goal, the target condition, has been achieved. It's a flexible system, too, permitting failure to become an opportunity to learn, regroup and try again, rather than an end point.

About ten years ago, I used to live on some wooded property in a special little slice of the world called Brown County, which sits in the hilly woods of southern Indiana. Among other things, this experience taught me how to cut down trees and harvest firewood (and even a bit of lumber). Maybe I was feeling nostalgic for those wood-splitting days since it has been so cold here in Portland, Oregon, and here I am without a fireplace. Nothing beats wood heating you three times, except possibly breathing easier at night.

This post represents another entry on my part in a "40 Days of Writing" project entered into voluntarily and without coercion.

I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay.

This post represents another entry on my part in a "40 Days of Writing" project entered into voluntarily and without coercion.