Don’t Make Major Decisions in February

February 15, 2021

Good morning! Are you an April 15th person or a get-it-done-now person?To our Taiwanese and other Eastern readers:  Happy belated New Year — the Year of the Ox! Actually the celebration lasts for 16 or 17 days… until the new Whole Moon rises on the 27th.

On the Southwest corner of the Princeton University campus, near George’s famous battle, is an impressive circle of sculptures depicting each of the 12 lunar years. I don’t think I have a photograph of the Ox, but I do of the Rooster and several others. And, to any hopeless romantics, Happy Belated Feast of Valentine… easily a day of much greater frustration and disappointment than reward, let’s be honest.  Most importantly, Happy belated 212th birthday to Abraham Lincoln. It’s been a busy few days.

Things to Think About Today

• According to a source, the real dollar global cost of the COVIDs thus far has reached $20,000,000,000,000 ($20 trillion).  — Frieden
• Here’s something I’ve been thinking about:  After all of this is over — if it ever is — will there be general deformity of the ears?  
• A man with a cat is less likely to attract a short-term or a long-term primary relationship than a man without a cat according to research conducted recently. (Kogan, Volsche)
• We have a two-year-old granddaughter who delightfully phones two or three times each day to have a story read to her by her grandmother (Nana).
  • We have four or five grandchildren in this age group, but only one phones us with regularity.
  • Nana will sometimes ask, “Should BaBa (grandpa) read the story?”
  • This gracious and seemingly innocent question usually results in an emotionally-charged negative response, sometimes a tearful outburst.
  • Truth is, I’d rather function as a back-of-the-room spectator during these story times, deferring to Nana who is an experienced and highly-trained early childhood educator.
  • As I listen to the story from my favourite chair, enjoying the warmth of a sunbeam, I’m about as happy as a steaming rich mug of tomato soup alongside an oozy grilled cheese sandwich.
• Years ago a wise person from the Northern Hemisphere told me, “Don’t make major decisions in February.”
  • If you peel that back several layers it makes good sense and I often think about it — while also often forgetting to heed it.
  • Make smarter big decisions with the help of Without a Vision Consultancy.

The Future of Jobs

• (From 1789 Leadership First) — Addressing the paradigm shift on the future of jobs (there are no best practices to emulate or replicate) “… we would pursue using organizational experiments to test and validate what works best for the company’s specific context.  We’d make sure the whole process is evolutionary and incremental, plus involving the people to co-create their own future jobs.”
  • “… this would slowly lead to making the shift towards a Network Organization is which teams have full ownership over their products, and they solve real business problems such as:
    • Close proximity with the customer;
    • Team performance over individual contribution, including wider range of skill-learning;
    • Skin-in-the-game approaches;
    • A setting that supports the innovation culture, fluid collaboration, and individual growth.”

A Cup of Coffee

• Very few things are as important to me, or as enjoyable, as two or three cups of freshly roasted and ground piping hot coffee early each morning.
  • The other day I counted; there are twenty-nine (~29) separate steps to brewing a cup of coffee the way I do it.
  • Just imagine if I were to skip one of those steps; I would have no coffee, or at the very least, imperfect coffee.
  • (If the bean grinder is empty, add eleven more steps to the 29… I just counted twice.)
• A must-read Book:  The Four Winds, Hannah, 2021.
• We need breakthroughs and we need follow through.  (CBS News)
  • Where is that desperately-needed and much publicized COVIDs Logistical Playbook?  Why can’t it be found?  Do we need more people looking for it?