Musings on a Monday Morning from Mike Mullin…

The weekly Newsletter of Without A Vision Consultancy LLC

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July 6, 2020

Good morning! The best thing about this weather (95 F and humid) is it’s just like being in The Bahamas — and you don’t need to spend a dime to get here.

• A couple days ago I watched as a man was chucking golf ball-size rocks at pigeons roosting on the roof of his business — at least I presume it was his business and his building.  The better-than-real-life-theatre made me wonder about the economic consequences associated with a few pigeons vs. the inevitable damages caused to the building, maybe even broken glass, due to an errant throw.  I also wondered whether this was COVIDs-inspired behaviour — perhaps someone going over the edge — or simply normal for him?
  • I saw a meme which suggested pigeons are free, you can take as many home with you from the park (or presumably the roof of your building) as you want — no charge.

• As I’ve been doing for nearly four months, I conducted most of my work last week virtually, by ZOOMs and what-not, but for one full day I experienced what it was like to conduct business in real life, face-to-face — physically distanced, of course.
  • I miss it.
  • I don’t plan to start doing dumb things, yet I long for more substantive three-dimensional interactions.

• “Be there for each other.” (Sinek)
• Hope is passive — faith is active — love is a choice.

• If you are among the minority who long for a holy day to linger — as opposed to jump starting it — then Happy Canada Day, Happy July #4, and Welcome July’s Whole Moon!

• Thank you for your descriptors of the COVIDs.
  • Here are my five (5), as promised, for the moment:  Uncontrollable – Surreal – Unprepared – Humbling – Opportunity
    • The United States now has more new cases of COVIDs each day than Wuhan (China) has had cumulatively for the entire 150+ days duration since all of this started.

Recovery Planning

• Leaders, when you plan your strategic response in the recovery, you need to account for a whole new level of speed and potentially a completely different level of productivity.
  • “I cannot overemphasize… supply chains.  That has been a massive wake-up call for many companies… the role of the supply chain director and logistics people will rise in prominence as the human resources position did a few years back.”
  • “While companies have crisis teams dealing with business continuity, it is healthy to also set up separate plan-ahead teams.  These are not your normal strategy teams but planning groups that develop ideas for moving faster in this crisis.”
  • “There is a study that looked at the past 287 recessions, both small and large, and found the point at which consumers return to spending and businesses to investing is when they see the path out of the valley and can take the first step.  It isn’t enough to just see the path, they have to be able to make that step.  Consumers need to have their first dinner out and say, ‘Hey, this works!’  It’s as mundane as that… we have to crush this uncertainty.”
  • “I believe we will be in a better position to manage a resurgence of the COVIDs because we’ve learned lots during this first surge.”  (Dash, Brown, Smith, 2020) 

• Bill George, retired CEO of Medtronic and now a professor at Harvard, has arguably taken the mantle (along with lesser known co-author Sims) as the US’s #1 business guru, following in the footsteps of — or perhaps walking alongside — people like Deming, Gladwell, Covey, Barra, Saujani, Peters, Sandberg, Blanchard, Dubner/Duckworth, Lewis, McPhee, Etc., et al.
  • His big takeaway is discovering your so-called True North which is nothing more than some introspection to get and keep yourself on the right path, true to yourself and your goals.
  • If you are on the right path; i.e., True North, it is much more likely you will find happiness and success, according to George.
  • If you are not a fan or have not read his books or attended his lectures on campus, here is a snapshot of how YOU might find YOUR True North:
    • (A few are edited slightly for brevity and clarity; one is added by me… see if you know which one.)

Discovering Your True North

How can you discover your True North so you can take steps to get where you want to go in life? You have to know what your values are and what’s important to you. To that end, I’ve come up with this list of 30 questions (YT has trimmed it by more than half for brevity!) to help you find your True North. Don’t answer them all at once. Take a day to carefully think each one through. Remember, if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. (George/ Sims, True North, 2007)

1. What one word do you want people to use to describe you? What do you think they currently use?
2. If money were no object, how would you spend your time? What would your day look like?
3. If you were to donate everything you have to a cause or charity, which would it be?
4. What is your biggest regret? If you could go back and have a ‘redo,’ what would you change?
5. When was the last time you told a lie? Why? What would have happened if you had told the truth?
6. What did you like to do when you were 10 years old? When was the last time you did that activity?
7. What skills do people frequently compliment you on?
8. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would you say?
9. What do you not want others to know about you?
10. List the five people you interact with most frequently (not necessarily friends). How is each helping you to reach your goals (or not)?
11. When was the last time you embarrassed yourself?
12. At what moment or span of time were you the most euphoric in the last month?
13. What price would you take to give up on your dreams? What price would you be willing to pay to achieve them?

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