Musings on a Monday Morning from Mike Mullin…

The weekly Newsletter of Without A Vision Consultancy LLC

Want this in your inbox? Subscribe to the newsletter.

November 18, 2019 – The Dog Has Been Up Since 3am

Good morning!

We had two or three mornings last week when the temperature here in Central Minnesota (not the wind chill) was below zero (F)!We still hiked, but heading into the wind blowing out of the Northwest was a good reality check.One week from today we will feature Without a Vision’s Feast of Thanksgiving edition; be sure to tune in.All glory is fleeting — and if you think not, consider the University of Minnesota’s meteoric rise and fall in just seven days.And life is of infinite value; embrace it, savor it, cherish it, be grateful for it.

• The results are in, and the best airports in the United States are… (can you guess?)
  • Phoenix, Tampa, Denver, Portland (OR), Fort Lauderdale, Austin.
  • I don’t think I agree with any of the top six; how about you — certainly NOT Fort Lauderdale?!  Have you ever waited there late at night for a Spirit Airlines flight?
  • I would choose Columbia (SC), John Wayne (CA), and maybe Milwaukee.
  • Among the worst, according to The Wall Street Journal:  All three of the New York airports, Chicago Midway (ORD close behind — or ahead), and Miami.

• Whoever popularized the phrase, “The only certainties in life are death and taxes,” might want to consider a revision.
  • For the very sophisticated it might now be possible to avoid taxes if not yet death.
  • And, the amended phrase might be, “The only certainties in life are death and change.”
  • By way of example, in addition to the original Coca-Cola of 1886, the company now manufactures, markets, and sells more than 500 different beverage flavours and brands.
  • Might Coca-Cola still exist manufacturing and selling just its original product from 1886 (1892 after the purchase from Pemberton)?
  • Perhaps; we’ll never know, but apparently the company thought not and has been continuously changing itself since it began.

Quiz: Would Leadership Coaching Help You?

• We’re working with a client who insists the Whack-a-Mole approach is best for his situation.
  • Do you know Whack-a-Mole, the arcade game that has you whacking with a hammer the random, pesky moles that unexpectedly pop up out of holes, sometimes two or three at a time, and you score points if you’re able to stay ahead of the rapidly-escalating assault of the varmints?
  • Time runs out and you stick in another quarter to continue the insanity.
  • We can’t think of a person or an organization well-positioned for the Whack-a-Mole approach unless you’re literally being attacked by a herd of moles — and then there might still be a better approach.
  • But, Without A Vision Consultancy will still work with you if you practice the Whack-a-Mole approach because we might learn something unique from you, who knows?
  • And, what we hope to have happen by working with you is to help you understand the value of the strategic approach with the strong underpinnings of a shared vision.

• Five G(eneration)… is coming and life is going to be immeasurably better, or so they say.
  • So much better in fact that billions and billions ($34 billion auction bid to-date for spectrum alone) is being invested to have access to the remaining airwaves owned by the public and controlled/ managed by the Federal government under the Constitution’s commerce clause.
    • Think 1800s and the railroads…
  • With this rush to Five G there are some being left behind, but that’s another topic for another day; there are always those left behind.
  • For the most part, we the public don’t understand spectrum; i.e., the airwaves.
  • If you make the analogy to real estate it suddenly is very simple:  Some is more valuable and there is a finite amount — until or unless we go to Mars.
  • A further analogy is Lincoln’s Homestead Act of 1862; at the time land was so plentiful the people gave it away free of charge to the people.
  • “It is the purpose of this Act, among other things, to maintain the control of the United States over all the channels of interstate and foreign radio transmissions; and to provide for the use of such channels, but not the ownership thereof, by persons for limited periods of time, under licenses granted by Federal authority, and no such license shall be construed to create any right, beyond the terms, conditions, and periods of the license.” (Public Law 1912, 1934)
  • “Allocating spectrum among competing commercial uses is, perhaps, the [Federal Communication Commission’s] most fundamental responsibility. In starkest terms, we determine whether particular uses— indeed, entire industries—are able to exist.”
  • “Today, we appear to have reached the spectrum frontier, at least for certain types of applications such as mobile communications. The bad news about reaching The Citizen’s Guide to the Airwaves the frontier is that there are no more unsettled frequencies that can be used for mobile communications. The good news is that with digital, smart radio, and other technologies, reaching the spectrum frontier doesn’t matter much anymore. There is great opportunity to use our existing frequencies far more efficiently than they have been in the past. However—and this is the great if—it requires the government to pursue policies that will maximize efficient spectrum use, especially in the lower frequencies. The history of government spectrum management has not been encouraging in this regard…” (Snider)

• Since change is an essential component of effective leadership and organizational health, we don’t want to rush through the subject with some pie-in-the-sky formula.
  • There also tends to be a perception that change is easy or a simple matter of following a recipe; the truth is it is hard, complicated, frustrating, difficult.
  • More than 70% of attempted changes fail — largely due to the lack of a shared vision.
  • Over the next five weeks we will introduce the five stages of change one at a time — as suggested by two of the world’s leading authorities on this subject, Scott Keller and Bill Schaninger.
  • #1:  Aspire:  Where do we want to go?  (Without a Vision would call this formulating a shared vision.)
  • Create a compelling long-term change vision, roll back the future to a mid-term aspiration, and guard against biases in the process.
  • Objectively check your (personal/ organization’s) health, choose where to be exceptional, and target any ailing areas in need of immediate improvement.

Everyone loves taking little quizzes; here’s one for you right now:  could you benefit from leadership coaching?

Quiz: Would Leadership Coaching Help You?

###

Looking for help on your next capital campaign, leadership training, or any number of other services? Contact us today!