Nobody's Perfect

I was at the College World Series with my family Saturday night watching UCLA and Florida play in the night game. I’ve been watching and assisting little league baseball for many years. We expect a lot out of the young kids, especially as they get older. But what struck me at the college game was that as sharp as they looked in warm ups, they made just as many, if not more, mistakes than the 13 year old boys I watch and help coach. It helped round out my perspective. The same applies to work and life. We are constantly trying to get better and improve. No one is perfect, but we hope to improve in our personal and professional lives. So, don’t get discouraged, just keep at it, and know that no one is perfect.

Goals

Little things make a huge difference. I was thinking about a team of working professionals who barely missed their goals recently. It wasn’t for lack of effort. But it reminded me of my son’s baseball team. They’ve lost some close games in the last inning, also, not for lack of effort. A few things did occur to me in the baseball setting that may apply to business, however. For instance, when a kid doesn’t slide into second base (thinking the catcher wouldn’t throw to second with a runner on third) and his momentum carries him past the bag a half step, he’s called out because the shortstop is still applying the tag on him. So what might have been a tying run on second with one out turns into two outs with tying run at the plate. It’s a double whammy. The guy on third is meaningless unless the guy now at the plate gets home. Any routine fly ball or infield play will end the game. Arguably it goes back to the runner not sliding into second. But that’s not the way to look at it. Of course, the failure to slide was important. But we all know there are a multitude of other plays throughout the game (bad pitches, errors, lack of hitting) which all contributed, but it’s the plays at the end clinging in our memory banks. I think the same thing happens in business. If we don’t hit goals, we tend to focus at what happened at the end of the measured term. Instead, we’d benefit from looking at the entire period ( and before in the planning phase) to understand what may have contributed to a different outcome. And never forget, goals are to be attained and the fruits enjoyed as a result of much effort. Sometimes the effort procures the desired result, sometime not, but in either case, each contributor can walk away knowing they tried their best.

Tranquility and Occupation

The quote “it is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation which give happiness” is attributed to Thomas Jefferson. It seems most people intellectually understand this statement, but most people have a hard time living it. For example, where can you find tranquility and occupation at the same time? The quote implies more solitary pursuits. In Jefferson’s day, it was a more agrarian culture. No cell phones (no phones period), no computers, no cars. But think about it in the context of today’s world. Are you always tranquil when working alone without the phone in your ear or the computer in your face? When I’m pulling weeds, trimming around hard to get places, and cutting down tough branches – solitary pursuits, I’m not necessarily tranquil. My point? Occupation can come in almost any form today – physical labor, mental tasks, and intellectual pursuits. I believe tranquility is driven more by a person’s personality type. What do people naturally predisposed to do? Some people I’ve found are actually more “tranquil” and occupied working phones and relationships all day. Some love less interaction. In either case, the key is understanding what works best for each individual and working towards balance. This is especially critical for managers developing team cultures.

Summer

It’s June 1st. This is what I consider the first of day of summer. With Memorial Day over, I have faith in warmer weather to come and a little slower pace. From a business perspective, however, our indicators show a stronger summer than 2008 and 2009. And though the staffing business is always a roller coaster, activity is stronger. This heightened activity is confirmed by other data relating to industry as well. As always, the real test will come down to who can deliver the best candidates. Have a great day.