August 8, 2022
Good morning!
I had never heard of Alex Jones before a few days ago… and now I wish I had never heard of Alex Jones.
You see seven (7) bananas in a perfectly-colored and perfectly-sized bunch, but you want and need only three of them.
Did you know it is allowed to split-off just three bananas from that bunch of seven, leaving four for the next person?
Are you kidding?! They’re conducting serious research to determine if the public would be happy with LESS room in a seat on an airplane.
- I’ve never been to a demolition derby and it would appear I’ve once again missed this year’s opportunity.
- The woman at the bakery lamented, “I sure hope it doesn’t rain, I want to go to the demolition derby!”
- I assured her she would be just fine if she wore a raincoat… we need the rain.
- Ravenous finches, butterflies, and bees create the sensation of vibration within the summer’s prairie flowers.
Leadership Requires Strategy
- There are thousands of reasons Meade’s army prevailed over Lee’s army 159 years ago following three days of unprecedented carnage just south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
- One factor people often forget — or rarely consider — are the logistics Meade leveraged to his considerable advantage.
- Hundreds of well-stocked chuck wagons, hospital tents, water sources, dry gun powder, tools, equipment, horse wranglers, sanitation (where do 165,000 humans go to the bathroom?!)
- … and of course, the higher ground secured by Meade at the end of the first day.
- High ground technically isn’t logistics, but Reynolds understood its importance and secured the advantage.
- No leader is able to achieve success without synchronizing the daily agenda with logistics and comprehensive forward forecasts.
- There is an iconic photograph showing a long line of chuck wagons winding around the back side of Culp’s Hill as the battle rages just a few hundred yards to the southwest; very instructive.
- (Make your own metaphors)
- Remember when Just-in-Time Inventory was all the rage?
- There are winners and losers in any (every) macro economic environment. How are you doing?
- The big winners over the two year period Q4-2019 through Qr-2021 based on revenue growth and margins are:
- Logistics — 79%
- Automobiles — 65%
- Oil and Gas — 59%
- Basic Materials — 43%
- Chemicals — 40%
- All of the extra money you’re paying for goods and services is a GOOD thing for someone somewhere along the economic labyrinth.
- Regardless of whether you think more should be done to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the work place — your work place — McKinsey & Co. has some interesting recent data.
- Reminds me of the time I was in the room when someone asked a person of color what was needed or wanted to make things better.
- “You could start by asking me — and then by listening.”
- All too often (I’m guilty) we try to solve a problem, with good intentions and a pure heart — without realizing we don’t begin to understand the problem.
- You can find this at every level of every relationship because listening is among our weakest skills.
- Look at these data:
- “My organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies are effective…”
- Agree Senior Management = 82%
- Agree Front Line Workers = 59%
- “My organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and practices are effective…”
- Agree Senior Management = 70%
- Agree Front Line Workers = 42%
- “My organization encourages use of work/ life balance policies… without fear of jeopardizing job, career, Etc….”
- Agree Senior Management = 76%
- Agree Front Line Workers = 55%
- “There’s a big difference between being responsible for something and being accountable for it. Leaders aren’t responsible for results; they are accountable for them.” (George)
