“Cross tie those bales or you’re going to lose the load!”

–    Dick Heston (1933-2002)

Here is proof that I “ain’t right:” I loved to bale hay.

I remember when I started helping in the barn, and later, at age 12, when I moved to loading the wagon in the field, Dad would always holler at me to “cross tie” the bales as I stacked them.  Two going one way, the next two on top of them perpendicular to the base layer; one length-wise in the middle with the same two-by-two configuration next to it.  And so on…

I also remember that we had a hard and fast 60-bales-per-wagon limit, and that, if you cross-tied the bales, you didn’t even need a rack on the back of the wagon to hold the load in place.  On the RARE occasion that we’d let an approaching thunderstorm force us to go to 64 or even 68, you could hear the wagon protesting under the load, and you could see the frown on Dad’s face.

Today, it matters less that the stack in the barn was stable or that the loads on the wagon were always solid and never too much for the running gear.  What matters is that I understood, after some maturity settled in (I did say “some,” for those of you snickering out there), why he was adamant about why we finessed what, on the surface, looked like a “brute force” kind of job.

I remember the big factory workers and football players who came to help bale hay and who couldn’t do half the work a 12-year-old could because they tried to manhandle the bales.  I remember the High School All-American linebacker who came to bale hay in short pants, and how he left within an hour.

Most of all, I remember that there was always a “why” behind what Dad tried to teach me, no matter how hard I wanted to focus on the “what.”

If you’re not sure of the “why” behind anything you’re doing, ask.  If you don’t see the “why,” seek support in finding it.  If the “why” doesn’t make sense to you, let’s talk about it….maybe you’re on to something.

“Often the best solution to a management problem is the right person.”

–     Edwin Booz (1887 – 1951), founder of Booz Allen and subsequent iteration firms

Tempted to replace “often” with “always,” I came across this concept while reading the July – August Harvard Business Review article, “Why We Love to Hate HR…and What HR Can Do About It.”

Talent comes first.  Always.  It’s why my REELAX Leadership Formula is best tackled in chronological order, with the “R Factor” coming first:

1. Recruit and Retain the best talent available.  It is better to be short staffed than poorly staffed.
2. Create an Environment where success is the most likely outcome.
3. Set Expectations that are so clear they can not be misinterpreted.
4. Lead!  You can manage things / processes, etc, but we must lead people.
5. Put in place Accountability that is consistent, relentless and that runs both up and down the organization, every hour of every day.
6. X-ray everything we do until we understand why we’re doing it, why something happened or didn’t happen.

It all starts with people.  And this is why HR should be a strategic, direct-to-the-CEO part of every company that plans to make a difference.  Unless the CEO and Board are directly connected to the HR leader, it is very difficult for a company to get this key function right.  And notice the conjunction is “and.”  The CEO and the Board.  According to The Conferece Board and the Wall Street Journal,  24% of CEO’s will ultimately be fired — by the Board — and unless that Board is connected to and in day-to-day lockstep with a solid people strategy, the next CEO will likely meet the same fate.

The right people.  First.  Difference making commitment.

“Maybe one day I can have a reunion with myself.”

–       Sebastian Bach

No, it’s not often that I quote the lead singer from Skid Row, but as I head off next week for the 35th Reunion of the Fairfield (IA) High School Class of 1980, I’ve been thinking a lot about what reunions are and what they should be.  35th reunion!  Man, if you do the math, well, don’t do the math…

I am looking forward to staying with my sister and brother-in-law, checking out the farm and seeing LJ, Crilly, Doc, Hutch, Special Ed, Clunker, Wellsy, Ledge, Sky, Tommy Trojan and the other 60 or so of our original class of 190-something members who will be there.

Facebook® has already allowed us to see pictures of the kids, and (YIKES!) grandkids and to know whether ol’ so and so in Pocatello liked their dinner last night.  More than ever, especially in this connected, social media frenzied time, the point of a reunion is to be together with people you miss.

At work, we’re in meetings a lot.  We’re on conference calls a lot.  We’re on WebEx® a lot.  We’re on airplanes and e-mail chains a lot.  We’re not together enough.  So, every time we leave a meeting, a conference call or a WebEx®, it’s too easy to just go on to whatever meeting or conference call is next on the calendar without checking the fuel tank to see how much of us is left.

It’s especially true when you look around and some are missing.  We’ll raise our glasses (multiple times — it’s what we do and we’re very, very good at it!) to Garry “Skeeter” Higgins, one of the close circle of friends who died tragically as the result of a work accident a few weeks ago.  His wife, Linn, will be with us, not because she’s a member of The Class of 1980, but because she is, as Skeeter’s wife (widow?  Dammit!), a member of the family.

I’ll arrive in Iowa on Wednesday with some of me intact.  When I leave Fairfield, IA to head back to The ATX, I’ll bring more of me back than I arrived with.  This trip will be especially re-charging.  I’ll be with the guys I grew up with (to whatever degree we’ve grown up…it is a low bar…).  I’ll remember that even though the hair is thinner and grayer, and even though the waist size is larger, that we’re a part of each other, and I’ll enjoy that reunion of souls that comes from the reunion of classmates.

The greatest gifts we can give one another are parts of ourselves.  Friday and Saturday on the golf course, and Thursday through Saturday nights at the social events, we’ll be more of who we were in simpler times, and we’ll benefit from how much it meant to be together during formative years.  And, hopefully, we’ll keep that in mind when we all settle back in to work the next week.

Reunions.  Being together.  Being more of ourselves, and giving of that to those who complete the circle.  Let’s give parts of ourselves to each other, and get deeper than the conference calls and meetings.  Let’s take the larger “us” and apply it, not only to the tasks at hand, but to the camaraderie and cohesion of our calling.

Reprised from a 2010 post

“The best players will play.  That’s the way it will always be.”

–     Larry Joe Bird, one of the greatest basketball players in history

Anyone who followed basketball knows that Larry Joe Bird was an A++ competitor.  Anyone who ended up across the table from Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Jack Welch — was up against a competitor.  And I don’t mean “competitor” in the context of Bulls vs. Pistons, Microsoft vs. Apple or Ford vs. Chevy, either.

The context today is that just as the best players will play, so will competitors compete.

Brian Gaffney was one of 20 Club Pros to qualify for last week’s fourth major championship, the PGA Championship.  He’s the Head Pro at Quaker Ridge Country Club in Westchester County, NY.  On Thursday and Friday he was competing against the likes of ultimate champion Jason Day, 2015’s dominator, Jordan Spieth and the defending champ, Rory McIlroy.  But he was competing.  Ever the pragmatist, though, he had booked a flight home for sometime during the weekend.  Club pros, you see, don’t make the cut.  But they do compete.  When Gaffney made the cut — it was a win for the little guy, but the $17,900 check he ultimately collected — $17,900 more than several household name players who missed the cut — was chewed up by change fees, additional nights lodging and payment to his caddy, etc.

Being a club pro is not a glorious gig.  Neither is being a staff accountant or a sales rep or a customer service rep or a bank teller.

So, why compete?

Because the best will compete.  And if there’s no one to compete with, they’ll challenge themselves, competing against whatever bar they’ve set.  Club pros all over applaud Brian Gaffney, even though he was back on the range Tuesday teaching New York’s version of hacks like me how to better compete.  And staff accountants, sales reps, customer service reps and bank tellers who want to be the best were back at work on Monday, competing.

Are we competing, or just showing up?  The best players will play.  That’s the way it will always be.

“There are no coincidences, only an incredible tapestry of events…”

–     “Young” Bryan Anderson, my friend and a member of The Friday Morning Gang

It’s set up so that we talk about Faith, and we do.  We’re also at a point in our lives that Faith and Life don’t intersect as much as they do intertwine.

That’s what led Bryan to this beautiful statement on the role we play — or more accurately, that we don’t play — on that grand tapestry of our time here on earth.

It’s also what led Red Oak Ministries to be on the streets of a ginormous city, helping get women OFF of those same streets.  They didn’t set out to do what they’re doing, but what they’ve done is make sure that their part of the tapestry burns bright with purpose and passion.

When you look into Red Oak’s mission, you’ll become aware of parts of the tapestry that we try not to think about, and, if you look deep enough, you’ll see that there are no coincidences — or at least that we’re often in a position to help.  The good people of Red Oak simply dug in, blindly, trusting and Faithful, and began to make a difference.

They need our help.  Most specifically, they need our prayers and our cash.

This blatant solicitation (brilliant headline, don’t ya think?) is about the cash part.

Today, this week, this month, this year, we’ll all donate to something.  My ask is this:  Today, this week or this month — substitute Red Oak Ministries for whatever else you had in mind.  It WILL, in fact, make a difference.

More standard fare begins tomorrow.  Thanks for indulging my need to help Red Oak provide hope for those who so desperately need it.

“There are kids starving in _________.”

–    Pat Heston, who filled the blank with “China” and Dick Heston, who filled the blank with “Africa,” circa 1965ish – 1978ish

“Here’s the problem we face:  We live on a planet of 7 billion people that is projected to have more than 2 billion more mouths to feed by the middle of the century.”

–     Christopher Mims, in his “Keywords” column in the August 10, 2015 Wall Street Journal

When Mom and Dad would toss the quote above out, I would (smart-ass that I was / am) suggest that we “box it up and send it to them.”

It turns out, almost 50 years later, that the food isn’t the most valuable part of the equation any more.

Whether or not you had the advantage of growing up on a farm (imagine how easy the “talk” was for my parents…we had livestock…) understanding how the farming game is played today is a pretty incredible eye-opener.  I have many friends who are still in the trade.  I have new friends who are leveraging the very subject matter Mims covers in today’s column.

It’s a pretty compelling exercise in evaluating our appetites for change in our companies, regardless of the industry they serve.

Mims likens the shift to data-driven analytics and self-driving tractors (seriously, folks, John Deere is almost a full generation ahead of Tesla on this topic!) to the farming industry finally getting it’s ERP (Enterprise Resource Management) software — a market that has existed in manufacturing and services industries for much of the last 30+ years.  So, there are two parts to the lesson; sometimes we need to wait for the right time to make the change, like the farming industry has, and sometimes we need to predict and be ahead of the change, like John Deere has.

The constant, of course, is change.  And if you’ll read Mims’ column with that in mind — regardless of whether your just a consumer of food, or a provider — something tells me your perspective will widen, possibility thinking will ensue and a difference will be made.

In other words, things have changed on the farm.  How can we best understand and learn from that change?

“It is a tricky thing, teaching on-court energy, especially to a roster of veterans.”

–     Brian Hamilton, in the August 3, 2015 Sports Illustrated, featuring Texas basketball coach Shaka Smart

“I would rather us be really simple and do the things that we do, well than be complicated and not be very good at anything.” 

–     Shaka Smart, UT basketball coach, in that same article

“Ours is a very complex business.”  It’s the first thing many people say when they try to explain what they do.

“No, it’s not,” should be our answer.

We fall victim to it, too, if we’ve been in place or if our team’s been in place for a long time.  We try to complicate it.  Over-think it.  Layer in process or sacrifice basics in the name of “freshness.”

Better we should be simple, and do the things that we do, well.

Especially with a roster of veterans, but even with a team chock-full or rookies, teaching, leading, reinforcing the basics and playing to each individual’s strengths will be a primary creator of success, whether we’re creating or maintaining, whether we’re growing or weathering a market storm.

Complication complicates, right?  Simplicity separates and makes a difference.

“How strong can we be?”

–     Pete Carroll, on facing the 2015 season after the crushing, last play loss in the Super Bowl

“You’re next!”

–     Shaka Smart, New University of Texas Men’s Basketball Coach, from an article in August 3, 2015 Sports Illustrated

Just as Greg Bishop changed my perspective on Pete Carroll, Brian Hamilton has given me one on Shaka Smart.  And just as Carroll has built a system that provides his team singular focus — constant improvement founded in resiliency — Smart brings a similar mindset to Austin.

“If you’re down, you have one second to get up,” he enforces.

The over-arching method these two coaches apply is almost maniacal positive energy.  “Make sure this is our best week of the summer,” Smart encourages.  “It starts now, doesn’t end until Friday.  Make this the best week yet.”

“Are you ready to attack the day?” is a question Smart asks his players ever day, and it’s a question that will serve us well as leaders.  What will serve us even better is making sure that our system, our preparation makes them most likely answer, “You bet I am!”

“He had a personality and a style, but he didn’t have a system.  Nothing that he’d written down.”

–     Greg Bishop in the August 3, 2015 Sports Illustrated cover story on Pete Carroll

A system.

Not only what we want to accomplish but how we’ll go about it.

Bishop details Carroll’s epiphany after reading one of John Wooden’s books — Wooden the legendary college basketball coach who took 18 years to win his first national championship and then won 10, including seven in a row a one point of his career — and then altering his approach to sweat the details.  Every detail.  Bishop says that Carroll “dissected every aspect of performance.”  He asked everyone from his assistant coaches to rappers, CEO’s, janitors and golfers to “explain their vision in 30 words or less.”

Finally, having a system allowed Carroll to diversify his talent.  Steve Kerr, the coach of the NBA World Champion Golden State Warriors visited Seattle and noticed the sheer number of strong personalities on Seattle’s roster, but also how Carroll “encouraged rather than restricted what made them different from their teammates.”  One player, who later saw his production taper off under a coach who tried to make everyone conform said, “If you don’t feel your individuality is respected, a piece of you doesn’t show up to work.  You can’t be who you are.  Pete understands you can’t reach everybody in the same way.”

Systematizing puts us in a position to diversify, surrounding ourselves with parts that add up to more than the sum of those parts.  Systematizing allows us to leverage what makes us different as leaders, as coaches, as individual performers.  In short, as difference makers.

If we can define our vision in 30 words or less, we either have, or are on the verge of having a system.  And a system is something worth having.

“Where some people say, “worst possible decision,” (Pete Carroll) says “worst possible outcome.”

–     Greg Bishop, in Sports Illustrated’s August 3, 2015 Feature Story on Seattle Seahawks coach, Pete Carroll

Look, as a card-carrying shareholder and season-ticket sharing Green Bay Packer fan, I’m required to dislike Pete Carroll, and I have, for a long, long time.  That is, until I read Greg Bishop’s interview with / feature story on Carroll in the August 3, 2015 SI.  It’s followed by a great feature on Shaka Smart by Brian Hamilton.  Those two interviews will drive this week’s Daily Difference posts.

When we focus on decisions, we’re too often in the rear-view mirror in a way that casts blame and second guesses.  The rear-view mirror, as I’ve posted for years, is important but only inasmuch as it tells us where we’ve been.

I still wonder about the rules breaking at USC.  I still don’t think I’d like my kid to play for Pete Carroll — there’s just something there that bugs me.  But the way he thinks and makes decisions — well he’s all about outcomes and continuous improvement, and there’s a lesson in there for every leader.

For those of you who are football fans, it’s easy to say, “Pete Carroll made the “worst possible decision,” on the Seahawks last offensive play of the game.  Whether he did or didn’t, that play — that decision — is over and he’s moved on.  The outcome may well inform a future decision, and that is as it should be for leaders.  And Carroll’s system is about outcomes.

More on the concept of a “system,” tomorrow.