A 50-year-old wrestles with the gig economy

As usual, I’m late to the game, which is probably a testament to the fact that I’m 50 years old and don’t have any teenagers or twenty-somethings in the house.  I usually “discover” music artists about 3-5 years after they are hugely popular, and see movies after I read an article about the digitally-remastered 25th anniversary release.  A pop culture aficionado I am not.

Amazon Flex started in 2015, so in pop culture age, it’s already about 70 years old, which seems just about right for me to join this small sector of the “gig economy.”  I don’t even know what that term means, and I’m too lazy to figure it out.

There are literally thousands and thousands of articles already out there about Flex.  As Lance Armstrong says, “Give it a goog” and you’ll find enough YouTube commentary and blog content to fill your weekend.  Just remember, if you jump in the Reddit hole, you may never make it out.  

So let’s get to it.  Hi, my name is Marc, and I’m an Amazon Flex driver.

Signing up was pretty easy.  You do EVERYTHING on the phone app (you can’t do it on the computer even if you want to).  I suspect that since actually delivering with Flex is totally dependent on the phone app, requiring completion of the signup process on the app is intentional.  If you can’t navigate the application process, the outlook for you as a delivery person is probably not good.

I had to fill in the basic information, including bank account (so they can pay you), vehicle and insurance, driver’s license, etc. Once all of that is processed (it only took a day or two) then they run a basic background check.  After you clear that hopefully-not-so-difficult hurdle, there are 8 training videos that you must watch on your phone.  Most of them are 5 minutes or less and include titles such as, “What to expect on your first delivery,” “Safety reminders,” “Making Amazon Fresh deliveries,” and “Dog safety tips.”  

The videos aren’t very helpful.  They aren’t “live” videos with real people.  They are kind of cheesy animation videos.

For example, the video “App Overview” doesn’t show the actual app – it’s the same cheesy animation stuff.  And it’s a minute and a half long.  As I said earlier, the entire delivery process is based on the app, and yet you don’t really get to see any of it until you actually show up for your first pickup.  

I wasn’t smart enough to do the YouTube research before I signed up for my first delivery block.  That probably would have given me a better comfort level and reduced my anxiety for trip numero uno.  

Before I get to that first pickup, a short note about the schedule and blocks.  Being in San Diego, there are about 5 or 6 Amazon locations around the county.  During sign up I “picked” the one nearest to me.  But I didn’t realize that what I am “offered” in the app doesn’t have any correlation to my preferred location.  Probably because I’m new, but I’ve never been offered anything other than evening shifts, and they are at the locations most distant from my house.  I’ve done all five of my shifts at the Rancho Bernardo location (North county), which is 20 miles away from my house via the slower route, and 30 miles away via the fastest route.  I’m a creature of habit, so I keep going back there, although I have been offered blocks in National City (south San Diego) and Carlsbad (even farther North county).

The easy way to explain Flex is to say it’s like Uber for Amazon, but that’s not quite true.  The primary way that Flex drivers make money is by accepting “blocks.”  Blocks are a set amount of time, normally three hours around here, but I can’t speak to other cities or locations.  When you sign up for a time block on a given date and time, you can cancel up to 45 minutes prior to the start with no penalty.  If you cancel too late or don’t show, it goes into your “record” and could result in the loss of your authorization to drive.  

I feel like I’m backtracking, but let me explain what I mean by “offers” since that was confusing to me when they talked about it in the training videos.  As a Flex driver, you don’t have access to a scheduling page where you see the full schedule and sign up for available slots.  You can only sign up for blocks that the app presents to you as an “offer.”  And they aren’t that abundant.  When I finish a block, the app will typically offer me blocks for two days later (sometimes the next day, but not often) in the same Rancho Bernardo location or National City.  I stick with what I know.  If I don’t find a full-time job soon perhaps I’ll branch out and try the other locations.

This is as boring as replacing the toilet paper on the holder.  I can’t believe you’re still reading.  Does ibuprofen ever lose its potency?  I just took some that has to be 4-5 years old.  I digress.

The first block that I accepted was a 5:15 – 8:15 block that paid $66 (all blocks have a pay amount associated with them).  When you accept a block, you are expected to arrive at the pickup location within a 20-minute window: 15 minutes prior to block start time to 5 minutes after start.  If you don’t arrive in that window and check in on the app, it is reported as a “missed block.”  And yes, the app is location enabled, so it won’t allow you to check in unless you are actually there.

I arrived early, at about 4:55 and discovered that you can’t actually check in prior to the 20-minute window, so I parked in the nearby lot to wait for 5 minutes.  At 5:00pm sharp they started to let cars in.  It looked to me like there were about 20-30 cars lined up by that time.  The gate attendant asked for my name and checked me off the list.  

And then I realized that nothing in the training video about pick up was reality.  I don’t know why I was surprised.

Video: Roll down all windows and turn on hazard lights when entering the warehouse.

Reality: No warehouse, just a bunch of yellow-vested people directing cars in a parking lot like when you arrive at an amusement park or concert venue.

Okay, if I learned anything from the New Jack Swing era and Tony! Toni! Tone! it was that it never rains in Southern California, but I didn’t expect to be loading packages outdoors in a parking lot.  But that’s the way it works at that location.  You pull up to something that looks like a luggage rack and that’s where you load.

Video: Warehouse personnel will check you in.

Reality: You check in yourself on the app.

I followed directions and pulled into my spot.  I looked on as all the other drivers around me were getting to work loading packages in their vehicles.  I stood there like an idiot until I was able to get the attention of one of the yellow-vested workers and sheepishly said, “Uh, I’m a first timer.  What am I supposed to be doing?”  

He asked, “Did you check in?”

“I gave my name to the person at the gate,” I replied. 

“That’s not checking in.  You check in on the app.”

I then had to ask him to show me how to do that.  He called someone else, probably the supervisor, who was actually really helpful once she found out that I was an idiot newbie.  The app asks if you've taken your temperature that day and it's below 100.4.  Of course! (Lie.  I'm fairly confident that for 99.8% of the Flex workforce answering that question in the affirmative is a lie).

The first thing you have to do is find a piece of blue paper with your rack of packages that has the length of the block (e.g. 3.0 hours) as well as a QR code on it that is the very first thing that needs to be scanned.  When you scan that QR code with the app, it loads all the information for that planned route.  It includes a listing of the packages that should be on the rack.

Video: Each shelf of the rack that contains packages will have a QR code that allows you to scan all packages on that rack into your phone without having to scan them individually.

Reality: Nope.  Not true.  Doesn’t exist.  

It makes sense that for accountability purposes you have to individually scan every package before you load it into your vehicle.  That way the app knows that you actually have taken possession of all of the packages associated with that route and helps you identify any missing or extra packages prior to leaving.  Not having any actual experience with the app (there is no demo version or practice area on the app; you don’t have any idea what the interface looks like until you scan a route QR code) it took me awhile to even figure out how to scan the packages.  The next time you get a package from Amazon, take a look at the box.  It likely has at least two different barcodes and up to four different QR codes.  Confusing to say the least.

But the scanning process is not hard once you know what you’re doing.  Super easy.  But for first timers, well, not so much.  Ordering a sandwich at Subway is easy if you’ve ever done it before and you know how it works.  Pick your bread, pick the kind of sandwich, which cheese, toasted or untoasted, and then choose toppings.  Easy right?  But can you imagine someone from another country going into Subway to buy a sandwich and not understanding how it works?  It's only easy if you know how it works.  Same with the Flex pickup process.

So, with help, I finally got my packages loaded in the Toyota Highlander and was able to figure out how to start the directions to the first delivery point on the app.  

I drove into the lot to load or pickup right at 5:00 but didn’t drive out of the lot until about 5:25. Even only having done it five times now, it seems that 10-12 minutes is really long enough to scan and load if you know the process.  My five trips have averaged 28-30 packages.

Of course, it’s not a race, but it’s a matter of maximizing your earnings.  I was 10 minutes or more into my delivery window when I drove off the lot.  Optimally you want to be driving off the lot at the start of the actual delivery window.  Unfortunately, you can’t really do that now… more on that in the next edition.

So it really is that simple if you want to call it that.  You accept a delivery block, show up, load the route and packages, and then you’re on your way.  That’s when the real fun starts. 

This still seems to me to be incredibly tedious and boring storytelling.  Congratulations if you made it to the end and let me know if this is at all interesting.  I gotta be honest, I’m boring myself too.  I need a break, so if you want to read about my experiences with the actual deliveries, stay tuned.  

But trust me, I understand if you’d rather go back to the Reddit hole or video land. 

46, only up from here

Well my main motivation was to get rid of the ugly ugly post from 4 years ago about the impending dumpster fire of the Trump presidency. We were hopeful that he wouldn't be what he was. And he turned out to be everything he said he would be, amplified, to its awful awful conclusion. Our democracy survived, barely. But it remains on life support. That was a battle, part of a bigger war on democracy in the US of A. President Biden won't fix it, he can't. No single person can. The fight continues every day to protect voting rights to put as much power into the hands of voters as possible. I'm hopeful but not yet optimistic. We've got a lot of work to do in this country. Let's get to it.

45th President of the United States

Today the media (inclusive of social media) is sorely reminded of just how wrong they were, as Donald Trump gets sworn in as the 45th President of the United States.

What I personally take away from the events leading up to his inauguration is to not under estimate just how unhappy the American people really are with the current state of politics. Many are masking their unhappiness by glamorizing the past eight years and our outgoing President. I understand.

But recognize that many voted for Trump (and against Hillary) because he represents the polar opposite of what is our current political system - the good, the bad and the ugly. Well today America inaugurates into office "an experiment" that many hope will usher in significant change to our political system.

Will it happen? I have no idea, but I have hope.

On Trump's agenda is a health care strategy better than ObamaCare, taking a tougher stance on illegal immigration, a constitutional amendment to set term limits on members of Congress, removing restrictions on American energy production to increase self-sufficiency, and carving better deals on trade to restore jobs here in the US.

As a country I hope we can focus on the issues we face and how best to develop solutions to address them, not the man taking the oath today. He was elected, just as other past presidents were, and has a lot of work to do to restore our country's waning faith in our political system. He is imperfect in a multitude of ways, just as all past presidents are and have been, perhaps even more so. I collectively share the disgust for many of his actions and words.

But I don't hope Donald Trump fails. In fact, I hope for exactly the opposite. He needs knowledge, facts, understanding, support, wisdom, empathy and compromise. He needs that from all of us.

In these unprecedented times I pray now more than ever that God Bless the United States of America.

Motivation and other leadership miscellany

My study of leadership began around 2001 when I started duty as a facilitator in the Navy leadership continuum (as it was known then; it doesn’t exist anymore).  I enjoyed it enough to do my Master’s degree from Liberty University in Christian Leadership.  I’ve always had somewhat of an interest in it, but I will be the first to admit that after a few years, it all seemed to be the same kind of stuff.  The “new” leadership theory was just the old stuff repackaged in a slightly different form, just like they do with candy in the grocery store.  More on that in a minute...

One of my classes during this term is “Leadership and Management in the Intelligence Community.”  My professor is Dr. Mike Mears, and he’s a pretty amazing guy.  I love his class.  It’s not really about leadership in the intel community, but leadership in general.  I can’t believe how smart the guy is.  He can quote from studies and books like he read them yesterday, and he is loaded with personal stories from his consultations with so many well-known leaders, both government and commercial.  But what impresses me most is how he boils down so much leadership theory to “being a good person,” or as he sometimes likes to say in class, “Don’t be a dick.”

We had an assignment for a class discussion to watch this video by Dan Pink called, “The Puzzle of Motivation.”  I admit that my first thought was, “Yeah yeah yeah, they always say that money doesn’t motivate people but…”  As I mentioned earlier, I thought this was going to be another “repackage” job.  But I will admit that I was blown away.  The science and research part of it is just crazy.  And when it was all done, I started thinking about the stuff in my leadership bag that I use to try to motivate Sailors, and was embarrassed to find that it was completely extrinsic stuff.  Time off work, awards, recognition, Starbucks cards, promotions - these are the things that I’ve assumed people want the most.  I’m not saying that they don’t ever want those things, but they don’t get to the core to build a culture that makes people want to stay and work with or without those other things.  I feel like I’ve been missing the mark for years.  I’ll be taking a hard look in the next couple of weeks to see what I can change to give people autonomy, mastery, and purpose (see the video - it’s a TED talk so it’s not too long).  It’s certainly no easy task, but I feel like I need to make a change to some of my personal leadership philosophy.

This class is causing me to do a lot of introspection about myself and my strengths, weaknesses, etc.  I’ve done a couple of assessments that I had not done before.  I did Marston’s DISC assessment which I thought was very interesting because it gives you two results: how you view yourself and how you probably actually act.  I wasn’t too surprised that my own perception was very balanced across the board.  Dominance was a little lower than the others, but influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness were all equal.  But how I actually act was completely different.  Dominance, influence, and conscientiousness practically disappeared, and I was extremely high in steadiness.  I read the description of a high “S” in the DISC assessment, and it was pretty spot on for me.

I also did the StrengthsFinder 2.0 through Gallup.  That one cost a bit of money, but my professor loves it and highly recommended it.  My top five traits from 1-5 were: developer, connectedness, communication, positivity, and input.  I need to do some more reading (I took it today so have only done a cursory look) to see how I can apply an understanding of those strengths.  

If I’m honest with you guys, I’ve suspected for years that I’m not really gifted with the strengths to be the guy at the top.  I’m really more suited to be a supporter and helper - kind of a right hand man.  It’s what I do best, and I actually enjoy that aspect of my work now.  I like lightening the burden for those that I work with by handling mundane or “lighter” tasks.  Thinking of a few years down the road, I don’t know how that translates to a resume or job interviews.  The military focuses so much on leadership and being the leader that saying, “Hey, I’m better suited to be a helper” wouldn’t be viewed as such a great things and I suspect it may be the same when I am applying for civilian employment.

As a side note, one of the things we’ve discussed in class is that the bottom 15% of leaders (the worst leaders) think that they are in the top 25%.  They are clueless and have no self-awareness.  I’m consoling myself with the thought that because I tend to be introspective about how I’m doing as a leader, hopefully I’m not in the bottom 15%!

You guys have a LOT of experience leading and developing people.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on motivation and the value of these assessment tools that supposedly help you identify strengths and weaknesses.  I still have a lot to learn.

Out with the old, in with the new

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.’”  - Alfred Lord Tennyson

For you Ed, and for all of us, I hope that it is happier.  

2016 had some fairly big events for me.  I decided to go back to school (and did!), made a commitment to RAGBRAI (and did it!), got a dog, started going to counseling, bought TWO new bikes, and started a new job.  I guess when I line it all up like that, it seems pretty significant.  As usual, there were weeks I found myself saying, “I just need to get through this week,” but then there were other times when I felt like I must be missing something, just because I had a lot of time to choose what I wanted to do.  

I’m not sure how I’ll feel about 2017 next January.  The monumental task that I have before me in this new year is a thesis.  I need to identify a topic soon and start my research.  My goal is to graduate in the summer of 2018 when my classes are finished.  I don’t want to have to ask for more time to finish my thesis.  

Hardly a day goes by that I don’t think about my Navy retirement.  Most of the feedback I get from the people that have retired before me is that it’s never too early to start preparing, so that’s what I’m doing.  I am scheduled for a retirement brief in February, which is a requirement to attend the one-week retirement preparation class, which I will hopefully attend sometime this year as well.  It’s a little bit scary to me to think I could be retiring as early as Spring/Summer of 2018 if the Navy decides that they won’t let me finish out my 30 years in Maryland.  Regardless of whether it’s 2018 or 2020, the planning has started.  I’m dreading things like LinkedIn, resumes, etc.  But it must be done.

My social calendar for 2017 is probably a bit ambitious.  I’m hoping to make it to Colorado and San Diego/LA at some point this year.  I’d love to squeeze in some time in Monterey, CA (we have some friends there and I haven’t been back since 1989), and I have an old Navy friend in Louisiana that I’ve been hoping to see for years.  The last two are doubtful considering I am definitely taking a week to ride from Pittsburgh to DC, and I may have to use two weeks of vacation for college (if the Navy won’t give me that time) this summer.  First world problems.

I know we aren’t very consistent with this blog, but I do enjoy the shared history that it writes for us, regardless of where any of us lives.  Happy New Year guys, I love you both very much.

Ringing in the New Year

Well, 2016 sucked!

It was the worst year that I can remember for lots of reasons not worth gushing about because it's over ... thankfully.

Because 2016 sucked so bad, I'm so grateful for the support I received from my family over the past year.  My beautiful wife and continual supporter; my inspiring and loving kids; and my extended family for their love, guidance and support.

I learned a lot about humility in 2016, and I hope that will serve me well in the coming year.

So what's ahead for my family and me in 2017 to get excited and be optimistic about?

Oh, a few small things (tongue firmly in cheek) ...

• Me making a 'career pivot' and diversifying professionally beyond just being an HR guy.
• Holly dipping her toes back into the working world, continuing her role as SuperMom in the family.
• Haley becoming increasingly grown up and finding her way as a college student; finding the college major and career she wants to pursue.
• Alex closing out his high school days, deciding where he will go to college and venturing out as a young adult to bigger and better things.
• Luke growing out of those awkward teenage years and thriving in high school as an upperclassman; recognizing that he will have three bedrooms to choose from since he'll be the only one of our kids "stuck" living with Mom and Dad.
• Our family contemplating whether to remain in Denver, move back to Iowa, or split the difference and move back to Kansas City.
• All of our kids continuing to 'make us proud'.

I'm optimistic and hopeful that we'll make the right choices with these life decisions and 2017 will be much improved from 2016 for us.  It's going to be, it has to be.

Wishing you and yours the very best in 2017!  

Thanksgiving

No doubt, Thanksgiving was the holiday that we spent with Dad's side of the family.  I don't know exactly how much we saw our cousins on that side of our family, because my memory may just be skewed by the massive amount of time that we spent with our cousins on Mom's side.  But either way, it's interesting that it didn't seem to matter how much we saw the Franks - there wasn't anything awkward about it when we did get together.  We behaved as if we spend every day together!

I remember the "hunts" that we used to do, and what I remember most is the year that we actually killed a rabbit.  Of course it was dumb luck, because even though we had the sharpened sticks and other weapons, somebody (I think it was either Ed or Marty) stunned the rabbit by chucking a bottle at it.  Once it was stunned, we all swarmed like sharks with blood in the water.  It was dead within seconds.  I remember that although we were pretty proud of our work, Grandpa didn't seem to thrilled about cleaning a rabbit.  It wouldn't surprise me if he never did and that thing went right in the garbage.

On to the controversial topic of... apple pie.  I never really liked Grandma's apple pie, but that may be because I didn't really like apple pie at all as a kid.  Grandma was usually kind enough to make a chocolate pudding pie for me.  Please don't excommunicate me from the family, but even when I became an adult and started eating apple pie, I wasn't crazy about Grandma's version of it.  Maybe it was the texture.  Her apple pie was very mushy, and even to this day I like chunky apple pie.  Sorry Grandma, but I wouldn't worry about it.  I think I'm alone in the "not the best apple pie" camp.

Food...  I think the idea of eating loads of food is a purely adult take on Thanksgiving.  When I was a kid I don't think I was that crazy about Thanksgiving food.  It was food that you just don't typically eat.  Mashed potatoes?  Couldn't stand them as a kid.  Turkey?  Can I have a drumstick?  Casserole?  I never liked casserole as a kid, especially something like green bean casserole.  Pumpkin pie?  Ewww!  I'm not doubting that there was a TON of food at Thanksgiving, but for me, that wasn't really the draw.  I think my best hope was for an unattended dish of M&Ms or something like that.

I do like Thanksgiving, because it still is considered a holiday that you are supposed to spend with extended family.  That's the focus.  Christmas, due to the complications with Santa Claus delivering presents and the perceived obligation of family gift exchanges, etc., is a time when many people want to "hunker down" with their own individual family unit.  It's just less complicated than trying to get together with other family.

In fact, we should just get rid of Christmas altogether, huh Brad?  ;-)

Thanksgiving Memories

I recently came across a blog post I wrote but never published about Christmas memories.  I caught myself grinning fondly as the memories I wrote about sprung back to life for me.  What awesome memories!  Well, the same is true of Thanksgiving and since it's too early for a Christmas post (right Brad?) I thought I would jot down my memories of Thanksgiving growing up.

Not sure if my brothers will remember Thanksgiving as I did, but Thanksgiving was the holiday we generally spent with Dad's side of the family.  We weren't as close to Dad's side of the family for a number of reasons, but one reason was that our cousins on Dad's side were older, and there were more girls - so we didn't relate to them as closely as we did with the cousins on Mom's side of the family.  We were all pretty close in age, and mostly boys, so we had a lot in common.

Most Thanksgivings were spent at Grandma's, a mere four to six blocks away from our house.  I can remember Thanksgivings at Mary's or Marcie's, but not many.  Most were at Grandma's house, and the ones that were most memorable was when our cousins from Bellevue (near Dubuque) came ... the Franks.  Marty, Angie and Tony in that birth order with Marty being about my age and Tony being somewhere between Marc and Brad in age.  Angie usually tried to stay out of the way of five energetic boys trapped in a little house, looking for things to throw, shoot and tear up.

Following a traditional Thanksgiving meal, dessert was the real treat I remember about eating at Grandma's house.  Aside from Grandma's pickled beets, which for some reason I really liked and like to have on Thanksgiving in remembrance, Grandma's real treat was her apple pie.  Quite simply, it was the best ... and I can recall several debates with others as an adult because EVERYONE says their Grandma made the best pie.  But seriously, ours did!  As ammunition for why our Grandma's was the best I would usually ask, did your Grandma use real lard, real sugar, real apples, and make her crust from scratch?  If the answer to any of these questions was either 'I don't know' or 'no' then I had won the argument.  The Amish couldn't make a pie as good as Grandma.

While she made all sorts, pecan, cherry, rhubarb, peach and apple, none compared to the apple.  Boy, I wish I could have a piece right now!

Once someone filled your plate with turkey, ham, mash potatoes and gravy, and a carrot or slice of green pepper as garnish you headed to a card table in the back room of Grandma's house.  Away from adults in the kitchen that was engulfed with a standard dining room table and a mixed set of chairs to accommodate the large number of guests that were atypical for every day of the year except this one.

We chatted with cousins we saw once or twice a year, munched on the massive amount of food that none of us could finish, and gazed outside for some fresh air and room to breathe.  It didn't take long till the tipping point had been reached where we weren't going to eat any more (in spite of parent promptings) and the adults wanted us outside so they could enjoy the meal together in the absence of kids.  That's when the fun began!

It usually started innocent enough with throwing a football, a baseball or any object that could be made airborne behind the strength of a kid's arm.  All it took was one overthrow of the ball into any of the bushes that framed the back yard.  When that occurred and someone went into those bushes to retrieve the ball, out popped a rabbit who considered it little more than a distraction on a gorgeous fall day.  There were rabbits everywhere around Grandma's house ... it was on the outskirts of town and there was lots of cover and food for a ballooning rabbit population.

What it signaled for a bunch of boys was an opportunity to go hunting, rabbit hunting!

Our hunting instincts evolved quickly, first we would hurl the balls we had at the fleeing rabbits. From there it was sticks and rocks.  After that, spears (sticks with sharpened ends thanks to Grandpa's woodworking tools) and clubs that had nails affixed to them via electrical or duck tape, again thanks to Grandpa's stash in their garage.

Hours spent strategizing, stalking, chasing and hunting rabbits.  I remember coming back to Grandma's house with my arm sore, my body covered in sweat, my clothes covered in dirt and stickies (I don't remember the actual term) from the bushes we trounced through, and with a huge smile on my face because of the time spent with family. I was exhausted and incredibly happy.  And then I got to look forward to a slice of Grandma's apple pie, a side of vanilla ice cream, and a glass of milk.

I can also remember there being football on the TV, but I don't remember ever spending much time watching it. There was nothing like the fresh air, the leaves covering the green grass, the exercise from hunting rabbits, and topping it all off with a slice of Grandma's fresh apple pie with my cousins and brothers that was what made Thanksgiving special for me.

Ahhh, the good ole days!

P.S.  Marc, if you've got any pictures from Thanksgiving you could share to accompany this post that would be awesome.

Lies lies lies (no, not Fox news)!

I love the three lies and three truths.  In my own spiritual walk I find that one of the hardest things to do, and one of the things that our pastor is always reminding us to do, is to believe what GOD says about who I am, not what the world says about who I am.  God's truth is real truth, and God's love is not dependent on anything that we say or do, which is a lot different than what most of us experience on the human side of love.

I'm glad that you had a good retreat.  I haven't been to a "men's event" for a long time, and your blog makes me want to participate in something like that again.

My Disney observations

Your observations on Disney reminded me of a few of my own, and how much I love Disney.

They work unbelievably hard to maintain the magic at Disney.  You'll notice that it's nearly impossible to actually see anything broken, worn down, or trashy.  The place is spotless.  The upkeep is impeccable.  Even keeping the place clean is carefully orchestrated so as not to affect the magical sense of the park.  You don't see, for example, a cart full of trash bags - that all happens underground.  You don't see employees entering and exiting the park - they enter at a separate location out of the public eye.  I remember when I went to Disneyworld with the OCHS band my sophomore year.  When performance time neared, we had to EXIT the park, load up the buses, drive around to the employee entrance, get dressed, and then enter the park through a performance staging area.  When we were done performing, it was the same in reverse.  We were never allowed to be seen in our band uniforms apart from actually being a part of Disney's performance (actually performing).  All of the preparation takes place out of the public view, so that you never see a Disney character out of character per se; you never see a dwarf with the head portion of their costume off for example.  Everything is always perfect.  It's just amazing.

Another thing that amazed me was the music in the park.  You may have noticed that there is almost always music playing around you, and yet you can never find a spot where you hear two opposing music streams.  Somehow they have coordinated ALL of that to be seamless throughout the entire park.  Even during the parades, the music is seamless as it arrives and passes or as the various floats with different music pass through.  For the life of me I don't know how they do it!  Also, you just don't see speakers ANYWHERE.  The audio sources are hidden.  It's crazy.

The creative detail is perhaps what impresses me the most.  Near one of the bakeries at Disneyland in California, right off Main Street, up on the second floor, there is what looks like an apartment.  The sounds coming out of that "apartment", complete with window motion (shadows) is that Goofy is living up there - watching TV, showering, cooking etc.  You could pass through there and not even know it.

I also remember waiting for a performance of one of their theatrical shows.  A "maintenance guy" came out on the stage and really looked as if he was checking the lights, etc., for the show.  But then he starts talking with some people up front in the stands, and eventually he's singing and dancing, and a few other "maintenance guys" wander in and join him, and boom!  Without hardly realizing it, we were witnessing a planned pre-show performance to keep the crowd occupied.  Again, I was just amazed.  It felt like we were getting a special treat, when it was all creatively planned that way.

Lastly, (I can think of dozens of other examples) when we were at Disneyworld we spent a day at the "Blizzard Beach" Disney waterpark.  How do you make a WATERPARK look and feel like a ski resort???  I have no idea how you would even want to attempt that, but Disney absolutely nailed it.  It looks like a ski resort.  The buildings look like they have snow on them, there are icicles on the roof edges, the big water slide looks like a ski jump, there are ski lifts to ride to the top, chateaus, icebergs in the water, etc.  Absolutely blew my mind.  And then there is "Typhoon Lagoon" (the other Disney waterpark) that somehow makes it look like it just got wrecked by a typhoon and yet it's still charming!  

Seriously, their creative minds are through the roof.  I am so impressed with Disney that I almost don't mind forking over the $150 that it costs to spend a day there!  I'd like to see what they do to convey to every one of their thousands of employees that they have an integral part to play in creating the magic of Disney.  

Christian Men's Retreat Learning

This past weekend I attended my first Christian men's retreat ever.  This one was sponsored by our church, a church we've been attending fairly regularly since our move to Denver in mid-2013.  It's an awesome church, but a big one, and I had failed to connect with many in the congregation because of the size.  So the retreat represented a big opportunity to get to know others in the church better, and in doing so grow closer to God in my walk with him. 

So while I was contemplating whether to go or not, Holly encouraged me and signed me up.  Nothing like receiving that much needed nudge when you're on the fence!

Off I went, with anxieties and anticipations in tow ...

I'm really glad I went.  What were my takeaways from the retreat?

• We are all broken. I met other men in the church who are at various stages in their walk with God.  It was comforting knowing that I wasn't alone in my struggles to be a better husband, father, friend, colleague, neighbor and man of God.
  
• There is one specific quality and character trait that is a key attribute of living a God-centered life - HUMILITY.  It will protect our relationships, safeguard our career, and enable us to experience life to its fullest.  I learned that Jesus' teachings centered on humbleness more than any other character trait except one - love.  I also learned that being humble always outpaces us.  If you reach a point at which you are proud of your humbleness, then by definition you aren't being humble!
  
• Three lies and three truths:

• Lie #1: I am defined by my success.
• Truth #1: I am defined by God's love.

• Lie #2: I don't need close friends.
• Truth #2: God created me to live in community with others.

• Lie #3:  I don't have what it takes, AND I have what it takes.
• Truth #3:  God will provide what it takes.

The content of the conference was rich and I took a great deal from it beyond what is stated above.  It provided a great opportunity for reflection and spiritual growth.  Like many things, the learnings will be fleeting unless I incorporate a plan to make the learnings a daily part of my life.  So all participants were challenged to create a personal plan for living a more God-centered and less self-centered life.  

Although I read as much scripture over the weekend as I had read in a month, I'll only offer one here because it is a fitting summary to my weekend spent at the retreat.

"He must become greater, I must become less" - John 3:30

   

The "magic" of Disney

I am fresh of my first and perhaps only visit to Disney World. Overall a great experience and one that was enjoyed and will be remembered by our family. I have a few takeaways about Disney, and perhaps about our family as well. Here we go!!!

1. The Happiest Place on Earth?
It is cool, and a ton of fun, but I'm not sure about the happiest place on earth billing. Many people have shared their experiences (more on that later) which invariably include a zombie march through the throngs of people in the middle of the night to see the fireworks illuminate the Magic Kingdom. Shortly followed by screaming, overtired kids who have endured so much fun they can't see straight.

For us, that's not our happy place. And I thought that melt down only happened later into the day. What I learned is that every 10-15 minutes, within earshot there will be some kids losing her/his mind over something. A toy not purchased, a treat denied, a ride or experience delayed, or succumbing to the heat and humidity. It starts about 15 minutes after the park opens. It probably ends about 90 minutes after the park closes, although we did not stay late enough to see the closing ceremonies any night.

2. Everyone has advice on Disney.
I remember very clearly when we were pregnant with Sasha, everyone had some advice. If they had kids they shared their experience and wisdom, and if not they shared the wisdom from their childhood experience or that of their parents. But make no mistake, there is nothing that brings out the unsolicited advice from others like having a child. EXCEPT Disney!

In the 4-6 month build up to our trip, we would casually share our family vacation plans. And invariably we received immediate feedback on what to do/not do. I was surprised although in retrospect I should not have been. Disney is such a big experience that it is a lot like having a child (and nearly as expensive!), everyone has done it or known someone who has. They've got ideas to share and are more than eager to do so.

Now lest we think that this is an unwelcome sharing of advice, we actually benefited tremendously from all the feedback we received. Our trip would not have been as enjoyable as it was if we had not listened to all the ideas of others and used them to craft our Disney plan. Which brings me to...

3. Have a plan or suffer the consequences.
Integrating all of that advice with the independent research we (by we I mean Sheila) did was a hefty task. Then to use all that information to craft our plan of attack for making the trip what we wanted was a part time job. So many items need to be planned in advance, and we are talking months not weeks or days. Sheila was all over every detail as we all know she would be. More than anything from the trip, I am thankful that due to all of her effort we had the trip we wanted. To have not gone through all of that effort would have left us scrambling for each experience, each meal, each transportation, each [fill in blank here]. For some maybe that works, but as the B3aW readership know that's not really how we run our railroad.

4. They think of everything.
For the last couple years I have read the Disney Institute blog which focuses on how Disney tries to create the best customer experience possible. I consistently find tidbits that I can apply to our business at MediRevv. I look at that information in a whole new way now having a personal experience at Disney. They really do think of everything. From ride queues, transportation, transaction efficiency, it all is super dialed in. I was incredibly impressed by it all and it made the inevitable lines, crowds, and weather which can be daunting a bit more enjoyable to see how the Disney engine manages these issues to drive the right customer experience.

5. It's a trip, not a vacation.
This was perhaps the best advice I received about our visit to Orlando. A week at Disney isn't a vacation. It is simply to intense, by any reasonable standard, to be a vacation as defined by most. I didn't come back refreshed, not energized. Not quite exhausted, but close. But having that perspective going in made it much easier to enjoy.

6. The Disney pay before you go model.
Most businesses are go/get then pay. It makes sense. Why would I pay the plumber before he fixes my leaky sink? Why would I pay for my jeans before I get to wear them? Experiences are typically the exception where you pay for the football or concert tickets in advance of going. But that's a minor expense.

At Disney? Hotel - in advance. Park tickets - in advance. Experience meals like breakfast with the Princesses - prepaid. We've been paying for this trip for six months! When you turn that around and think about it from Disney's perspective, they in many ways get to cash flow their business by using the proceeds from future sales. Running that expensive of an operation (70k employees are expensive!) is a cash hungry machine to say the least, but I imagine that a greater percentage of operating costs are covered by prepaid revenue than most businesses. That's a pretty awesome financial model for them.

Going dark...

AFB+1  (After Facebook Day One)

Today I went dark on Facebook.  Account deactivated.  Deleted from my phone.  Deleted from my iPad.  Shortcut deleted from my Apple Safari.

Well, technically it hasn't even been a whole day yet because I deactivated my account at around 5pm, so I'm only in my fourth hour without my primary social media connection.  No big deal yet... yet.  Some people said some nice things on FB about how they would miss me - nice sentiments but it didn't help my resolve.

This evening I got an email from an old Navy friend that told me he did a similar thing a couple of months ago.  He checks his FB once a week (that's how he saw my post).  It was encouraging to hear him say that he's very happy with the decision and doesn't miss the hate and discontent.  I had weeded most of that out of my content on FB, but you can't avoid it altogether.  I definitely won't miss that.

I guess Instagram is the methadone to my FB addiction.  It will help with the withdrawal symptoms that are surely waiting just around the corner.  One day at a time...

Brad on Accomplishments

Interesting topic, I've enjoyed reading both your comments. Its a pretty personal subject, one I'll attempt to dance carefully around so we can go back to arguing about how much football coaches make.

One slant on the topic that perhaps is obvious but nonetheless worth noting is that accomplishments are a reflection of priorities. Thinking how personal accomplishments are it makes sense that what you choose to prioritize in your life and invest time, energy, effort, and resources will likely create the output of accomplishments.

I'm barely 40 so I'm not feeling super accomplished in my life. I feel good about my trajectory, but have so much that is in front of me that I want to accomplish. But looking in the rear view mirror here are some thoughts on what I've prioritized in my life.

I've been able to navigate professional success and to this point do not feel I've had to sacrifice my family commitments. I've hopefully been graded kindly by my wife and kids, their grade matters to me. But I believe my effort score would be an A...as in Accomplishment. See what I did there? I'm flawed as a husband and dad, but I hope that my commitment and effort to trying to be the best I can will win the day. I hope.

Outside my family I've maintained a small network of relationships that are very important to me. For those in my extended family I feel a level of commitment to a supportive relationship with them that I hope enriches them. I hope.

I enjoy and prioritize growing and helping others. That takes a lot of forms, first and foremost my kids. But I enjoy growing the talented people that I get to work with in my career. I also enjoy engaging in my community through volunteering which the last 6+ years has been a volunteer and board leader for Junior Achievement. I hope that those investments have helped others in some way. I hope.

Lastly, I've prioritized some very selfish pursuits that are important to me. I've always wanted to maintain an identity that is based on my own personal pursuits. Completing an Ironman triathlon sits squarely on the top of this list. That's probably a shallow "accomplishment" to some, and I agree. But I have placed a priority on some selfish pursuits.

So there you go. Commitments to my family, my extended family, my community, and to myself. I'm comfortable with my steps forward and back, and am hopeful to have the opportunity to prioritize in the future that ultimately builds on my resume of accomplishments. I hope.

Accomplishments

I hesitate to respond because, well, I don't know.  Tough subject I guess.  It's tough because, like many things, what I believe in my head and what I'm able to actually live out in real life doesn't always match up.

Any time we start listing accomplishments, I feel like we're doing it so that we can compare, and I just don't like it.  We applaud when we read or hear stories about people being comfortable with themselves regardless of what people think, and yet we (yes, I'm including myself) spend our days comparing.  We can't help it.  We start teaching kids to compare themselves to others from the day that they're born.

"Just had his one-month follow-up appointment.  He's in the 95 percentile for weight, and 75% for length."

"She's only in first grade, but she's reading at a third grade level."

And it never ends.

My mental health depends on me believing that I am who God says that I am.  It's fact.  So I need to recognize when others contradict that truth and ignore it.  Comparison to others = feeling like a failure.

So accomplishment to me is hardly worth discussing.  Not that you guys would, but maybe my accomplishments don't mean a hill of beans to you.  And perhaps I'm not emotionally strong enough to handle the possibility of someone telling me that what I believe is an accomplishment isn't really an accomplishment at all.  Is a majority vote required by the general populace in order for it to be an accomplishment?

I apologize in advance because this has sparked a thought process for me that drives to what I believe is a core issue in the world these days, and that is being comfortable with yourself.

Yep, that's cliche.  But I believe it's the most powerful and transformational thinking for about any human being.  I guess I feel like so many people spend so much time and energy doing stuff so that they can tell someone else that they did it, because it will convey an image that they hope to portray.  They didn't do it because they wanted to, but because they think someone else would want them to.  Or they don't do something that they want to do, because they are afraid what someone will think if they do.

What a miserable life.

I'm all over the damn place.

What were we talking about?  Oh yeah, accomplishments.  Ed, relational accomplishments are absolutely the best accomplishments.  I wholeheartedly agree.  You don't generally hear eulogies the include the "stuff" that people did, but rather about what kind of person they were: loyal, kind, generous, loving, faithful, friendly, caring, etc.  Those are relational.  Certainly traits that can be on display at work, but they aren't work related.  They can be displayed in any relational context: parent to child, child to parent, friendships, marriages, cousins, neighbors, co-workers, teacher to student, authority figures, etc.

Perhaps the world would be a better place if we all had relational bucket lists - if our bucket lists included things that express our friendliness, our love, our loyalty, and our care.  Even just a little.  Not for the sake of comparing to someone else's list, but even if we strive to do it just a little, I think we would all benefit.

[Raises hand to express the international "I'm sorry" gesture, steps off the soap box, and shrinks away from the blog]

What's Your Greatest Accomplishment?

I've been in job search for a while now, and a common interview question is to ask what your greatest professional accomplishment(s) are.  Because of my experience being the interviewer and the interviewee, I'm always prepared with those accomplishments in my past experience that I derived the most satisfaction from, and that delivered the most value to my employer.

But what about in your personal life?  Do you have accomplishments personally that are equivalent to or exceed what you've accomplished professionally?

And further, think about why you consider any accomplishment (professional or personal) so gratifying.  In my case, I'm judging the magnitude of my accomplishment in terms of:

• the value derived, for someone else AND for me
• how hard the achievement was to achieve, the challenge was really big
• those that participated in the achievement, I achieved it in collaboration with others

So do I have personal accomplishments that exceed my professional ones?

Absolutely.

If you have a 'life' portion to a 'work/life' balance then I suspect this should be the case.  Because in most cases (not all, but most) professional accomplishments revolve around business success.  And the measuring stick to business success is typically making money.  And while making money and being a part of a successful business is gratifying, I'm not sure it 'rings the bells' on the achievement scale I've created above to the degree a personal accomplishment can.

So when I think about life accomplishments the single accomplishment that far exceeds anything else that I've achieved in life is ...

BEING A GOOD SPOUSE TO MY WIFE, AND A GOOD FATHER TO MY KIDS.

Now you might say that's two accomplishments not one, but the two are so inextricably intertwined that I beg to differ.

There are so many admirable pursuits in life, personal and professional. Write a book. Climb a mountain.  Give your life as a sacrifice to your country. Invent or discover something. Become the best in your profession. These are the accomplishments we hold up as a society, and create statues and memorials to never be forgotten.

I do admire those who accomplish these things.  But for me the accomplishment I'm most proud of also points out what I value the most in others.

I've been a good spouse and good dad.  Not great, but good.  Because clearly there are things I regret. And there are lots of things I could have done different.  Or better, much better.  But that's also part of the value obtained, learning from your mistakes. And I also value loyalty, and loyalty comes in the form of commitment to your family - those who loved and raised you.  Those you love and raise.  Ones who cared first, when others didn't.  And persistence.  Persistence (some people refer to GRIT as a slightly different version of this) is also admirable.  Not giving up when your chips are down. Family can be hard.  Lots of emotion and passion that can be divisive in relationships.  But it can also be the most valuable.  I've been told that relationships are doomed when one no longer cares.  As long as I care, expressed as anger, disappointment, disgust, etc. there is hope.  But when I no longer care, the relationship is doomed. Well suffice to say I care about my family, and they care about me.  

And finally, paying it forward.  This has become a coined phrase that is over-said and under-used. Serve others in a way that makes the world a better place.  And who better to do this with than your own children?  They will be in this world long after I'm gone.  And I entrust our collective future more to them than anyone on the planet.  So best to invest in that future right?  Spending time with your kids, educating them, telling them of your successes and failures, and encouraging them to explore their own.  That's parenting, and I'm so proud of what Holly and I have achieved.  Our kids have made us proud, and I expect they will continue to - only further increasing the value derived from our investment!  But I recognize that my greatest accomplishment is unfinished and undone.

So why is our world today filled with accomplishment outside of being a good spouse and parent? Why is this accomplishment so undervalued in today's world?  I don't have the answer but it is a question very worthy of pondering.  Several thoughts rush into my head, all worthy of argument and debate.

But we need to get back to valuing the accomplishments of being a good spouse and good parent again.  Akin to the other accomplishments we value in life, as a society we must once again value these traits in people.

I've personally fallen prey to judging my success in life (and derived happiness) based on my professional achievements.  Forgetting about success in my personal life I've instead focused on my professional accomplishments of working for a great company, my job title, my job responsibility and what I earn.  And I've gotten down when unemployed and not able to invest in these pursuits.

Make no mistake being a success in your profession is important - but not nearly as so as being a good spouse and parent - at least not in my opinion.

So whenever the accomplishment question comes up in a job interview, my thoughts turn to what I'm really most proud of, and everything else at that point in time that I share with the interviewer seems incredibly minute and inconsequential in comparison.

Cops and lives that matter

A tough subject for sure.  As with all complicated issues, there are no easy answers, and my comments are more observations than anything else.  

The “Black Lives Matter” movement has generated a lot of controversy and I don’t agree with all of the hub bub.  I suspect that people have a problem with it because of fear.  They fear that if they say that black lives matter that they will lose something.  Perhaps they will feel that they owe something, that they have failed at something, or that acknowledging that black lives matter will then require a response on their part.  And so people just don’t want to admit it.  No one wants to admit that there is a problem, because that would require a need for a solution, or at least some kind of response.  If you’re a white person, you’re probably pretty comfortable with the status quo - no need for any change!

Along with the other tons of stuff that gets posted on social media, I saw a nine-box cartoon that makes an excellent point about people demanding that we say “All Lives Matter” instead of “Black Lives Matter.” 

I like the analogy.  Yes, all lives matter.  But there is an issue with black lives that I think needs to be addressed right now, and I’m not scared to say it.  I don’t know what that looks like in it’s totality, but for the present, I think that it means showing some solidarity with the “Black Lives Matter” movement.  Is it perfect?  Of course not.  Neither is the church.  Nor any charity.  Nor any company.  There are bad people everywhere.  I don’t think that it negates the whole idea.

In regard to the police…

I’ve been saying it a lot lately, and I’ll say it again: you could not pay me enough to be a police officer in this day and age.  I can scarce imagine a tougher job in America, and I make no attempt to exaggerate.  As nice as it is to hear the gratitude for my military service, policeman deserve it WAY more than I do.  Short of deployment to a war zone like Afghanistan or Iraq, policeman face far more danger on a daily basis than those in the military.   Being a cop is crazy dangerous.  

Body cameras certainly should be part of the solution.  However, can you imagine any profession where every second of your performance can be analyzed by the masses?  I can’t.  I do not seek to make excuses.  However, how men (and women) respond when they feel that their life is in danger is hard for any person to judge.  EVERY traffic stop has the potential for something really bad to happen.  If I were a cop, EVERY traffic stop would have my heart beating at twice its normal rate.  I would quit due to anxiety problems within two weeks!  Police work is thankless - they are either being criticized for doing too much, or for not doing enough.  I don’t want to trivialize it, but it’s like Monday mornings around the water cooler when EVERYBODY seems to be qualified to criticize the quarterback who is getting paid $18 million a year because he’s the BEST at what he does.  Except with the police, the consequences are real.  People die as a result of their action (or inaction).  

That’s a start.  I may have more to add later.

My View on Police Shootings, Gun Control and the Politics of these issues

Last night there was another shooting tragedy, this time in Dallas with two snipers opening fire on police officers (killing 5 and injuring several others) who were on location to oversee a peaceful protest against police brutality.  The protest was organized due to two police shootings earlier in the week that occurred in Louisiana and Minnesota, at least one of which was witnessed thanks to video by millions of Americans.  This is the most recent of a string of confrontations between uniformed personnel and the public that ended in shootings where innocent people were killed.

Quoting from A Few Good Men (you know I love this movie) "Those are the facts of the case and they are undisputed."

But that's seems to be where we go off the rails, common sense ends, sensationalism erupts, logic goes out the window, and differences in opinion emerge.  It's really sad.

We need to find common ground and remain focused on that common ground when we disagree on what to do.

I wanted to speak my mind and share a couple of thoughts on these events without prompting a never-ending argument or debate with those who I don't know, and don't know me.  Remarkably, doing so on this blog site will accomplish that since our readership appears limited solely to my two brothers and our Mom and Dad!

The first point I want to make is this:  There are good people in this world, and there are bad people in this world, and they come in all shapes and colors.  Black, white, and everything in between.  You can't differentiate between good and bad people based on their outward appearance, the color of their skin, their ethnic origin, or for that matter whether they wear a badge or uniform. That last part is sad to say, but it's true.

Second point: All lives matter and we have to quit needlessly killing innocent people because of what a small percentage of bad people have done.  If a bad HR professional does something egregious like shooting an employee who doesn't perform, that doesn't entitle anyone to wage war against all HR professionals and start killing them in retaliation.  Because there have been some bad cops that have killed innocent people doesn't mean we should start shooting all cops as a means of resolution.  I read a quote from Gandhi today (who knows if it actually came from Gandhi that said "an eye for an eye just means everyone is blind."  Profound whether it came from Gandhi or not.

Third point:  Video evidence clarifies exactly WHAT happened, but provides very little clarity as to WHY it happened. Millions of people now have the benefit of seeing what happened in these confrontations via video evidence.  But many jump from seeing WHAT happened to making a lot of assumptions about WHY it happened.  As an HR professional I have limited training into investigation.  But one of the basic premises is to withhold judgment until you've gathered all the facts that you can.  When someone who is white shoots someone who is black (or vice versa for that matter) it doesn't automatically mean that their motivation for shooting that person was because of the color of their skin.

Fourth point:  Our men and women in uniform have an unenviable job that deserves the benefit of doubt when their actions are being judged.  They are tasked with protecting us and themselves. And they put themselves in harm's way daily.  In my opinion they should be given the benefit of doubt because of this sacrifice.  The world is far more dangerous today than it has been in the past. I'm not saying that those in uniform have a license to kill or harm others solely based on the uniform and their motto to serve and protect, but they are entitled to the benefit of doubt in doing a job that is thankless, and where differentiating between good and bad people in a split second is challenging at best, impossible at worst.  I've reached this conclusion by putting myself in their shoes.

Last point:  Anyone who kills or harms others with a racially motivated bias should be brought to justice, uniformed or non-uniformed.  It's that simple.

So where to from here?  Good question that isn't getting enough thought, focus, and media attention right now.  Here's my proposed solutions, certainly open to criticism and suggested improvement.

• Mandate uniform cameras on all police personnel - this will shed light on the truth with the caveat of my second point above.  It helps solve the problem.
• Pass stricter gun laws - I believe it the first amendment and in gun ownership in America.  But I'm also moderate enough to support background checks, strict permitting, waiting periods and limiting some firearms from being in public hands.  
• Develop more respect for the men and women in uniform - I don't know exactly how to make this happen or what form this suggestion takes, but there is all this public BS about how much we appreciate those who protect our freedom.  Do we really mean it?  If so, we don't seem to be showing it.  In my limited interactions with the police, military and uniformed personnel I've found that "yes sir, no sir" goes a long way.  For a light hearted version and humorous version of what I'm talking about, check out this video from Chris Rock

I'm sickened by how polarized our country has become on issues that to me are more common sense than complex political problems.  

Treat people as you want to be treated, seek first to understand, show people common courtesy, assume positive intent, put yourself in their shoes; wouldn't any of these phrases rooted deeply in common sense go a long way in addressing the crazy and radical actions that are occurring on the streets in our country today?

And perhaps most importantly, what are we doing to correct course and tackle these issues with solutions and implementable change?  Isn't this more important than the outcries, the outrage, and escalation of difference being highlighted by our media?  

I'm genuinely interested in hearing from those I know and love on their thoughts and suggested solutions regarding these issues.  Not political, not partisan, just what you would suggest for improving what everyone agrees is crazy and unacceptable in terms of what is going on in our country today.

Read This Book

I'll try to avoid this post being a book report, but since I don't read as much as I should when I come across a book that resonates with me I feel compelled to share. Well Being, by Tom Rath and Jim Harter was one of those books.

It's an easy read (one of the key ingredients of a good book for me) on a topic many people struggle with most of their lives, myself included.  How to get the most out of your life and be balanced and happy.  And this book isn't just the qualified opinions of the authors.  It's backed up by Gallup research that ranks among the largest studies of human behavior on the planet.  They didn't survey 200 people to come up with the findings, rather millions.

And yet, the advice and guidance that comes from this research is very simple. Challenging to live everyday perhaps, but simple.  That's another ingredient of a good book, the ability to take a complex challenge that millions of people wrestle with and boil it down into simple and understandable actions that can address the issue.

So, without further adieu, here's the executive summary (a different way of saying 'book report'). There are five essential elements of Well Being:  Career, social, financial, physical and community. Each plays a prominent role in well being over your lifetime.  The five elements aren't completely mutually exclusive, so some decisions/actions in your life might have a positive/negative impact on multiple elements.  At the end of each chapter outlining each of the five elements there are three recommendations (see, only three) for boosting your well being in that element of your life.

Spoiler alert, here they are:

• Career Well Being
• Everyday, use your strengths (see StrengthFinders)
• Identify someone with a shared mission who encourages your growth, and spend time with them
• Opt into more social time with people and teams you enjoy being around at work
• Social Well Being
•  Spend six hours per day socializing with friends, family and colleagues
• Strengthen mutual connections in your network
• Mix social time with physical activity
• Financial Well Being
• Buy experiences, not material possessions
• Spend on others instead of yourself
• Establish 'default systems' to lessen daily worry
• Physical Well Being
• Get a minimum of 20 minutes of physical activity per day, preferably in the morning
• Sleep enough to feel rested (7-9 hours) but not too much
• Set positive defaults when you grocery shop, focus on buying foods that are red, green or blue
• Community Well Being
• Identify how you can contribute to your community based on your personal mission
• Tell people about your passions/interests so they can connect with you on relevant groups/causes
• Opt into one community group or event, start small

There are some really great nuggets of knowledge that are contained in each chapter on each essential element.  It's a great read, and one I got pretty fired up about after reading it.  I'm not a voracious reader but this book ranks among the best I've read all time.

Off the top of my head here are the books that have resonated with me the most:

• A Whole New Mind
• Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
• Sh*t My Dad Says
• It's All About the Bike
• Rich Dad Poor Dad
• The Richest Man in Babylon
• The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

What are the books off the top of your head that you feel are among the best you've ever read?

Well Being is a superb book and easy read that I highly recommend.  If you're into self help/actualization as much as I am, and perhaps even if you're not.  

The Warriors and the "Regular" Season

To be honest, I haven't thought a whole lot about the Warriors beating the Bulls regular season wins record.  I agree with you Brad, that things change.  And yet everyone is still following the "chase to beat the record."  Is it the same record if it's not the same basketball as it was when the Bulls were kings?  Perhaps I am a curmudgeon, because I'm "old school" in the sense that I think records should be incidental to the game, not the goal or focus of the game.  Just ask Gregg Popovich how he feels about records!  That's why he rested his "big three" for a Friday night prime time match up with the defending champions Miami Heat back in the day (and then got fined for it).  The Spurs were at the end of a long road stretch and didn't need the W - his starters needed rest.  No Ed, it doesn't make for good TV, but in that case I think it did make for an NBA championship.

Don't get me wrong - I am as much about entertainment value as the next guy.  One of the MYRIAD of things that irritate this curmudgeon is the I-like-NCAA-basketball-because-it's-more-fundamentally-sound speech.  I don't watch the NBA to watch lock-down defense and low-scoring affairs.  I like fast breaks, monster dunks, and downtown threes.

But let's get back to where the REAL money is in sports, and that's in post-season wins, and especially championships.  The Warriors have to know that if they don't take home the O'Brien trophy when it's all said and done, then in a couple of years no one will remember that they won 73 games.  The reason people remember the 96 Bulls is because they won the championship.  The Spurs have had 17 consecutive 50-win seasons.  You'll hear that mentioned occasionally, but not much.  Why?  Because it's not a championship.  The Warriors BETTER win it all.  I doubt that the two of you have to search very hard to find near-and-dear examples of excellent regular seasons that ended in forgettable fashion.

I will take a side trail for a moment to talk about something that you touched on Brad.  I actually LOVE the debates about players or teams from different generations and who is better.  And the reason is because they CANNOT be answered.  You guys have heard me mention before (probably) that human beings used to debate trivial things for hours and hours because there was no definitive answer handy.  That doesn't happen anymore.  If someone makes a comment like, "Notre Dame has won more football National Championships than Alabama has," then people could pass hours arguing about it.  But not anymore, thanks to Google and his cousin Siri, we can get a definitive answer almost instantaneously.  But those generational questions?  Well, no one will ever be able to answer those questions, and THAT is what makes it a fun discussion.

Scottie Pippen says that the '96 Bulls would sweep the Warriors.  So what do you think?