Collaboration

April 4, 2022

Good morning! The Robins are back to our yard… just a day or two ago. Their song is strong – starting at about 5:43 AM. We made it — all the way to April! Readers in warmer climates are probably nonplussed, but hey, those of us who’ve stuck it out up north the last several months have accomplished something. It’s tax time, that’s our reward, I guess.

• The Final Four was in Minneapolis; second time in three years.
  • Congratulations to Columbia; I’ve hiked that campus several times.
• With the recent deaths of three people who outranked us, we have suddenly ascended to being the most senior residents on our block.
  • Not by age, but by length of living here.
    • Wait, it might also be by age?!
• You know you’re in the middle of the late winter doldrums when prime time television features bull riding.  (No offense, rodeo friends!)
• Looking for a good television show:  Julia (Child, that is) is a new series with lots of substance, clever dialogue, and plot — even though you know what’s coming.
  • Like the genre?  Hundred Foot Journey never disappoints.  Julia Child
• Patience might be the most undervalued and least appreciated virtue.
• Unemployment in Nebraska is reportedly at 2.1%; unprecedented.
  • According to ZipRecruiter there are 3,170 jobs available in Omaha alone.
  • There are government jobs and private sector jobs; the data appear to be legitimate, but maybe not… I didn’t dig too deep.
• In our neighborhood there is a well-worn path with origins decades-old.
  • It’s a foot and bicycle path, mostly bicycle, its use having saved thousands of cumulative miles for travelers over the years — 400 feet at a time.
  • Bikers and hikers on the path long ago vanquished the vegetation while establishing a sunken railroad-like spur through the manicured lawn.
  • It’s a well-known shortcut if you’re from the neighborhood.
  • Literally, a narrow, shallow trench, or was.
  • When encountering it several times lately I couldn’t help but notice it has atrophied, from 18″ in width, down to maybe 6″.
  • And, from a rut several inches deep, to parts of the historical trench reverting to almost on-grade.
  • Vegetation is slowly but surely reclaiming the concrete-like surface metamorphosed by hundreds of thousands of bike tires seeking a shorter, faster route to somewhere.
  • Is this a demographic puzzle, or something more puzzling?
  • Question is, where did all the bike-riding children go?

Spring!

Spring wants to happen.

You can hear it, smell it —

almost feel and see it.

Winter won’t willingly

release its merciless grip.

If spring is serious

it must wrest control bit by bit

from the frozen status quo.

Sunshine, crocuses, buds and breezes,

enthusiastic avian songs

cannot alone break the tradition.

Measured little steps.

Patience — but not too much.

By Michael A. Mullin 2022

Collaboration

• Collaboration.
  • Do we even know what it means?
  • Does it mean the same thing to everyone?
  • Eighty-six percent (86%) of employees and executives attribute work place failures to a lack of collaboration… (Greenstein, 2022)
  • Seventy-five percent (~75%) of employers rate teamwork and collaboration as very important…
  • … but only eighteen percent (18%) of employees are evaluated on their communication skills at performance reviews.  (Ibid.)
  • Listening — Reading (Comprehending) — Writing — Speaking (Which of the four do you suppose is least important?)
  • Is collaboration a useful euphemism?  Is it the flavour of the month?  A flash-in-the-pan?  Or, is it here to stay?
  • Collaboration consistently ranks at the top — or near the top — as highly desirable, even essential, among clients with whom I work.
  • One thing is for sure, if it’s authentic collaboration it requires trust and time, plenty of both.
  • Collaboration cannot be accomplished in an unhealthy culture — lest it be focused on getting rid of that culture.
• “Growth is uncomfortable; not growing is worse.”  (Lavingia)
• “To get what you want, stop doing what isn’t working.”  (Warren)