Last night, my wife and I were talking about math logic problems. Just wait - we really do talk about a lot more than mathematics. My wife happens to be a middle school math and algebra teacher, and she was trying to find some math puzzles or logic problems to include as bonus questions on her students' next homework assignment. She was testing the problems on me - I think she figures that if I figure out the right answer then her students probably will be able to as well (and she is absolutely, positively, 100% correct for doing so - math was never my strongest subject). Well, she found one. And I gave up on it after about 5 minutes. Apparently it is a well-known problem called the "missing dollar riddle" and it goes like this:
Three people check into a hotel room. The clerk says the bill is $30, so each guest pays $10. Later, the clerk realizes the bill should only be $25. To rectify this, she gives the bellhop $5 to return to the guests. On the way to the room, the bellhop realizes that he cannot divide the money equally. As the guest didn't know the total of the revised bill, the bellhop decides to just give each guest $1 and keep $2 as a tip for himself.
Each guest got $1 back, so now each guest only paid $9, bringing the total paid to $27. The bellhop has $2. And $27 + $2 = $29 so, if the guests originally handed over $30, what happened to the remaining $1?
Figure it out yet? I told my wife (with the usual, "why do you ask me to do these, I hate math brain teasers!") that the answer was impossible, "$30 is $30!" After giving up on any help from me, my wife did what she always does in these cases - she text messaged my four children to see what they thought! The two oldest never responded (SMART!!). The youngest responded with a "That a-hole bellhop clearly stole the last $1!" And, the other one apparently had heard the problem before and forwarded the link to the answer on the Internet.
The answer really is simple - and, after you look at the answer (see the Wikipedia page here) you will realize that I was absolutely correct (for once). It's a trick question - the $9 paid by each guest is already included in the original $25 that the hotel clerk now holds in her cash register. The breakdown of the actual money changing hands goes like this:
$25 - for the room (now with the hotel clerk at the front desk)
$3 - refund to the three hotel guests (3 x $1)
$2 - "tip" that the bellhop kept for himself.
Now do you understand it? As with many logic problems, the trick to figuring out the puzzle is to not make assumptions. The trick here is to think through the problem in an organized, logical fashion - using pictures (or even real dollar bills) also helps! But don't overthink it - you will end up going in circles. Don't ever assume that the simplest explanation (in this case, the fact that $27 + $2 does not equal $30) is the correct one. Never assume anything.
I think this is a great example of the high reliability organization principle of reluctance to simplify. Quick logic ($27 + $2 = $29, not $30) doesn't get you to the right answer. Only by thinking through the problem in a logical fashion (the clerk has $25, the guests have $3, and the bellhop has $2) will get you to the answer to the riddle.
Life is all about metaphors and personal stories. I wanted a place to collect random thoughts, musings, and stories about leadership in general and more specifically on leadership and management in health care.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Sunday, September 24, 2017
All about iron
I recently finished reading a book called The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom. The book's premise is one that I have been interested in for a while (and have written about in the past) - the concept that decentralized, so-called "leaderless organizations" are perhaps preferable to highly centralized, hierarchical, command and control organizations in certain situations and industries. Brafman and Beckstrom use the analogy of a starfish and a spider to describe and explain the concepts of centralization and decentralization. "If you cut off a spider's head, it dies. If you cut off a starfish's leg, it grows a new one." Traditional top-down, command and control, highly centralized organizations are spiders, while the less traditional, decentralized organizations are the starfishes. Brafman and Beckstrom provide several examples of starfishes - the Apache Indian tribe, Wikipedia, YouTube, Alcoholics Anonymous, eBay, and craigslist, to name just a few. It's an interesting book, though to be honest, I thought that they could have elaborated further on some of their concepts. Regardless, it is a fairly quick read and worth the investment of time.
One of my favorite sections in the book describes the importance of catalysts in starfish organizations. They started the section explaining what a catalyst does using the beautiful analogy of the element iron. Take a container and fill it with nitrogen and hydrogen - nothing happens. Add the element iron to the mix and you get ammonia (through a complex chemical reaction known as the Haber process - I am confident that it is more complicated than I describe, but the analogy worked for me!). Iron, in this case, is acting as a catalyst. Note that the chemical formula for ammonia (NH3) does not contain iron - iron is an important part of the chemical reaction, but it does not constitute any portion of the final end-product, ammonia. Brafman and Beckstrom go on to tell the story of several "catalysts" (in this case, specific individuals) who played an important role in the formation and subsequent function of several starfish organizations throughout history.
As I thought about it more, iron is really a fascinating element. It is one of the most common elements in the Earth's crust (fourth most common, by some reports) and comprises the major portion of Earth's metallic core. Found in its natural state, iron is actually quite brittle. However, with a relatively straightforward metallurgical process, iron can be turned into one of the strongest substances, steel. Iron is absolutely essential for life on Earth - it is an important co-factor in photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert solar energy into chemical energy for growth. As part of hemoglobin, iron makes life possible for air-breathing animals, including humans (iron is an important co-factor in the chemical compound, hemoglobin, which carries oxygen through our blood stream). Iron makes our blood and the planet Mars red.
When we talk about leaders who show a lot of resolve, we say that these leaders have an "iron will." Margaret Thatcher was known as the "Iron Lady" when she was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The ancient Roman emperor, Julius Caesar was said to "rule with an iron hand."
Iron is a symbol of strength. Iron is a symbol of life. Iron is a symbol of change. Leonardo da Vinci said, "Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation ... even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind." In other words, iron, while one of the strongest metals (as steel) is subject to weakening by exposure to moisture and air - iron rusts and eventually falls apart. Left to rust, iron loses its strength. Only through continued care and use does iron stay strong.
Iron is a fascinating element. We should all be like iron - in more ways than one.
One of my favorite sections in the book describes the importance of catalysts in starfish organizations. They started the section explaining what a catalyst does using the beautiful analogy of the element iron. Take a container and fill it with nitrogen and hydrogen - nothing happens. Add the element iron to the mix and you get ammonia (through a complex chemical reaction known as the Haber process - I am confident that it is more complicated than I describe, but the analogy worked for me!). Iron, in this case, is acting as a catalyst. Note that the chemical formula for ammonia (NH3) does not contain iron - iron is an important part of the chemical reaction, but it does not constitute any portion of the final end-product, ammonia. Brafman and Beckstrom go on to tell the story of several "catalysts" (in this case, specific individuals) who played an important role in the formation and subsequent function of several starfish organizations throughout history.
As I thought about it more, iron is really a fascinating element. It is one of the most common elements in the Earth's crust (fourth most common, by some reports) and comprises the major portion of Earth's metallic core. Found in its natural state, iron is actually quite brittle. However, with a relatively straightforward metallurgical process, iron can be turned into one of the strongest substances, steel. Iron is absolutely essential for life on Earth - it is an important co-factor in photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert solar energy into chemical energy for growth. As part of hemoglobin, iron makes life possible for air-breathing animals, including humans (iron is an important co-factor in the chemical compound, hemoglobin, which carries oxygen through our blood stream). Iron makes our blood and the planet Mars red.
When we talk about leaders who show a lot of resolve, we say that these leaders have an "iron will." Margaret Thatcher was known as the "Iron Lady" when she was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The ancient Roman emperor, Julius Caesar was said to "rule with an iron hand."
Iron is a symbol of strength. Iron is a symbol of life. Iron is a symbol of change. Leonardo da Vinci said, "Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation ... even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind." In other words, iron, while one of the strongest metals (as steel) is subject to weakening by exposure to moisture and air - iron rusts and eventually falls apart. Left to rust, iron loses its strength. Only through continued care and use does iron stay strong.
Iron is a fascinating element. We should all be like iron - in more ways than one.
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
"What do I know of man's destiny? I could tell you more about radishes."
The last blog was about marshmallows. This one is about radishes. I like to eat radishes on my salad. I will even pick up a radish and eat it whole from time to time. I remember having a vegetable garden one summer when I was a young boy, and radishes were one of the easiest things to grow. But given the choice between eating a radish or a marshmallow? I would pick the marshmallow. Given a choice between a plate of chocolate chip cookies or a plate of radishes? Even easier - I would pick the chocolate chip cookies 99 times out of 100!
As it turns out, most college students would prefer to eat a plate of chocolate chip cookies rather than a plate of radishes too. Which brings up another interesting psychology experiment. The social psychologist, Roy Baumeister published an interesting study on will power in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1998. The study was popularized further in Chip and Dan Heath's book, Switch. Basically, college students were told to fast for at least 3 hours before coming to Baumeister's psychology laboratory. The students were told that they would be participating in an experiment on taste perception. Upon entering the laboratory, the students immediately detected the aroma of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Each student was told to sit at a table on which was placed two plates - a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a plate of radishes. The laboratory staff then obtained informed consent and explained that the study was designed to test subjects' taste perception. Each student was assigned to either the "cookie group" or the "radish group." Students in the "cookie group" were told to eat at least 2-3 cookies but no radishes, while students in the "radish group" were told to eat at least 2-3 radishes but no cookies. The laboratory staff then left the room and observed what happened through a one-way mirror. After about 5 minutes, the laboratory staff re-entered the room and asked the student to complete a nearly impossible puzzle. Students in the "cookie group" spent, on average, a total of 19 minutes on the puzzle before quitting. Students in the "radish group", on the other hand, spent only 8 minutes on the puzzle before quitting.
What did Baumeister and colleagues conclude from this experiment? The radish experiment, as well as the follow-up experiments which provided additional, confirmatory evidence, supported Baumeister's "ego depletion" hypothesis. Essentially, we all have a finite amount of self-control or willpower that we can rely upon in any situation. Once we use up that self-control, we are more susceptible to a loss of control or willpower in a later situation. Here, subjects that were told to eat the radishes and refrain from eating the cookies were using their willpower to follow the laboratory staff's admonition NOT to eat the cookie (they could have easily done so - no one was stopping them, right?). Most of the students did, in fact, refrain from eating the cookies. However, the mere act of refraining from eating the cookie used up all of their willpower. So when they were faced with a more difficult cognitive task, they simply gave up. It really doesn't take a lot of willpower to refrain from eating radishes, especially when you are told to eat the cookies. Therefore, the students in the "cookie group" still had enough willpower to persist for a longer period of time on the impossible puzzle.
So, what are the implications of ego depletion for leaders? Dan Heath explains in a video that accompanied the release of the book (Switch) that he co-authored with his brother, Chip. The Heath brothers use the radish experiment to explain (partly) why change is so difficult for all of us. To summarize, the Heaths believe that people resist change because they are exhausted - it all comes down to ego depletion. They spend their finite amount of self-control on willpower on other things and then just don't have enough willpower leftover to stretch themselves in new ways and new directions to change. We, as leaders, can help people embrace change by remembering that people are subject to ego depletion. So, we should:
1. Make sure that the "new way of doing things" is easier than the old way. Make change easy. Cookies are always better than radishes!
2. Don't change too many things at once. Too much change will exhaust everyone's "willpower" stores. Keep things simple.
3. Limit the number of choices. If people have to think too hard about what to change or how to change, they will likely expend their limited stores of willpower. Too many decisions will lead to "decision paralysis" and force people to go back to the more familiar (and often more comfortable) "old way of doing things."
It seems fairly simple, right? Maybe. Radishes - or at least the radish experiment - seem to offer more insight on change management, and perhaps life, than the author and playwright Samuel Beckett (you may have heard of Beckett's famous play, Waiting for Godot) suggested when he said, "What do I know of man's destiny? I could tell you more about radishes."
As it turns out, most college students would prefer to eat a plate of chocolate chip cookies rather than a plate of radishes too. Which brings up another interesting psychology experiment. The social psychologist, Roy Baumeister published an interesting study on will power in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1998. The study was popularized further in Chip and Dan Heath's book, Switch. Basically, college students were told to fast for at least 3 hours before coming to Baumeister's psychology laboratory. The students were told that they would be participating in an experiment on taste perception. Upon entering the laboratory, the students immediately detected the aroma of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Each student was told to sit at a table on which was placed two plates - a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a plate of radishes. The laboratory staff then obtained informed consent and explained that the study was designed to test subjects' taste perception. Each student was assigned to either the "cookie group" or the "radish group." Students in the "cookie group" were told to eat at least 2-3 cookies but no radishes, while students in the "radish group" were told to eat at least 2-3 radishes but no cookies. The laboratory staff then left the room and observed what happened through a one-way mirror. After about 5 minutes, the laboratory staff re-entered the room and asked the student to complete a nearly impossible puzzle. Students in the "cookie group" spent, on average, a total of 19 minutes on the puzzle before quitting. Students in the "radish group", on the other hand, spent only 8 minutes on the puzzle before quitting.
What did Baumeister and colleagues conclude from this experiment? The radish experiment, as well as the follow-up experiments which provided additional, confirmatory evidence, supported Baumeister's "ego depletion" hypothesis. Essentially, we all have a finite amount of self-control or willpower that we can rely upon in any situation. Once we use up that self-control, we are more susceptible to a loss of control or willpower in a later situation. Here, subjects that were told to eat the radishes and refrain from eating the cookies were using their willpower to follow the laboratory staff's admonition NOT to eat the cookie (they could have easily done so - no one was stopping them, right?). Most of the students did, in fact, refrain from eating the cookies. However, the mere act of refraining from eating the cookie used up all of their willpower. So when they were faced with a more difficult cognitive task, they simply gave up. It really doesn't take a lot of willpower to refrain from eating radishes, especially when you are told to eat the cookies. Therefore, the students in the "cookie group" still had enough willpower to persist for a longer period of time on the impossible puzzle.
So, what are the implications of ego depletion for leaders? Dan Heath explains in a video that accompanied the release of the book (Switch) that he co-authored with his brother, Chip. The Heath brothers use the radish experiment to explain (partly) why change is so difficult for all of us. To summarize, the Heaths believe that people resist change because they are exhausted - it all comes down to ego depletion. They spend their finite amount of self-control on willpower on other things and then just don't have enough willpower leftover to stretch themselves in new ways and new directions to change. We, as leaders, can help people embrace change by remembering that people are subject to ego depletion. So, we should:
1. Make sure that the "new way of doing things" is easier than the old way. Make change easy. Cookies are always better than radishes!
2. Don't change too many things at once. Too much change will exhaust everyone's "willpower" stores. Keep things simple.
3. Limit the number of choices. If people have to think too hard about what to change or how to change, they will likely expend their limited stores of willpower. Too many decisions will lead to "decision paralysis" and force people to go back to the more familiar (and often more comfortable) "old way of doing things."
It seems fairly simple, right? Maybe. Radishes - or at least the radish experiment - seem to offer more insight on change management, and perhaps life, than the author and playwright Samuel Beckett (you may have heard of Beckett's famous play, Waiting for Godot) suggested when he said, "What do I know of man's destiny? I could tell you more about radishes."
Sunday, September 17, 2017
"Life is a marshmallow - easy to chew, but hard to swallow"
A couple of weeks ago, one of my daughters was planning to have some friends over for a bonfire. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, and the party moved indoors instead. She had wanted to make S'mores, so we ended up with Hershey's chocolate bars, graham crackers, and marshmallows. The Hershey's bars didn't last very long, but the other night I was in the mood for a snack and opened the bag of marshmallows. Apparently marshmallows don't go bad very quickly, as they were still soft and tasty.
I got to thinking about marshmallows. There are a number of interesting facts about marshmallows. For example, did you know that marshmallows originally came from a plant (Althaea officinalis) that grows in marshy areas of Europe and western Asia? Mallow plants grow in marshes, so naturally the tasty snack that comes from the plant is called a marsh mallow! And if that is not enough to pique your interest, maybe this next example will do so. Psychologists from Stanford University in the late 1960's and early 1970's conducted a series of experiments on grade school children known famously as the Stanford marshmallow experiments.
The first set of experiments were conducted by Walter Mischel and Ebbe Ebbesen at a nursery school located on campus and involved children ages 4 to 6 years. Basically, children were placed in a room and told to sit in a chair at a table. The investigators placed a plate on the table with a special treat - a marshmallow (hence, the name of the experiment), Oreo cookie, or pretzel (the investigators made sure to ask which kind of treat an individual child preferred prior to the experiment). Each child was told that he or she could eat the treat now or wait 15 minutes and get a second treat as well. There are a number of videos on the Internet that show some of these children trying hard to resist the temptation of sitting for 15 minutes in front of their favorite treat. Some of these videos show children pulling at their pigtails, sniffing the marshmallow, sitting on their hands, even licking the marshmallow, all in an effort to resist the temptation of eating it. The experiment was conducted on a number of children (somewhere around 600 children participated in these experiments). A surprisingly small number of children chose to eat the marshmallows immediately, thereby foregoing a chance at a second treat. Approximately one-third of those children who attempted to earn a second treat by trying to wait the full 15 minutes actually were successful.
So what were the conclusions from this experiment? The experiment really is a test of "delayed gratification" - can someone put off an immediate reward now for a greater reward later? A number of long-term follow-up studies showed that those children who were able to wait the full 15 minutes for the second treat had higher SAT scores, higher educational attainment, lower body-mass index (BMI) as adults, lower rates of substance abuse and addiction, and greater overall success. Surprised by these results? I am not. "Delayed gratification" has a lot to do with self-discipline and self-control. It stands to reason that individuals who exhibit these characteristics are more likely to be successful. It also makes sense that individuals who have a longer term view of the future will be more successful.
There are probably a number of factors, both environmental and genetic that determine whether an individual has self-discipline and self-control. It is important to realize that these characteristics can also be learned and developed with practice. As Charles Duhigg explains in his book The Power of Habit, we can replace bad habits (for example, lack of self-discipline and self-control) with new habits (self-discipline and self-control) using something called a "habit loop" (cue - routine - reward). Will Durant, author of "The Story of Civilization" and "The Story of Philosophy" once paraphrased the ancient Green philosopher Aristotle and said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Self-discipline and self-control can be taught. Self-discipline and self-control can be learned. Self-discipline and self-control can be practiced.
There are a number of ways to build self-discipline - most experts suggest some variation of the following:
1. Know your weaknesses. Don't try to hide your weaknesses or your fears. Acknowledge them. If you can't resist eating junk food, that's okay. Face your fears and temptations.
2. Remove temptations ("out of sight, out of mind"). If junk food is your Achilles heel - get rid of the junk food in your house.
3. Set clear goals and make a plan. Setting goals is important - as we have talked about before. Goals give you something to shoot for, but having a plan will help you achieve them.
4. Start small and keep things simple. If you want to start running on a regular basis, start small. When I first started running again a few years ago, I started by walking 30 minutes every night on the treadmill. I would start running 1 minute out of every five minutes, and every few days I would increase the amount of running until I was running the entire 30 minutes. Remember, "Rome was not built in a day."
5. Reward yourself when you are successful. Just as importantly, forgive yourself when you fail. Celebrate your successes by doing something nice for yourself. And if you slip backwards from time to time, that's okay. Forgive yourself and move on.
6. Believe in yourself. There are studies that strongly suggest that willpower can be improved with positive thinking. Believe in yourself. You can do it!
We will explore some of these issues in more detail in future blog posts. But for now, the next time you are eating a marshmallow, remember the Stanford marshmallow experiments and think about self-discipline and self-control.
I got to thinking about marshmallows. There are a number of interesting facts about marshmallows. For example, did you know that marshmallows originally came from a plant (Althaea officinalis) that grows in marshy areas of Europe and western Asia? Mallow plants grow in marshes, so naturally the tasty snack that comes from the plant is called a marsh mallow! And if that is not enough to pique your interest, maybe this next example will do so. Psychologists from Stanford University in the late 1960's and early 1970's conducted a series of experiments on grade school children known famously as the Stanford marshmallow experiments.
The first set of experiments were conducted by Walter Mischel and Ebbe Ebbesen at a nursery school located on campus and involved children ages 4 to 6 years. Basically, children were placed in a room and told to sit in a chair at a table. The investigators placed a plate on the table with a special treat - a marshmallow (hence, the name of the experiment), Oreo cookie, or pretzel (the investigators made sure to ask which kind of treat an individual child preferred prior to the experiment). Each child was told that he or she could eat the treat now or wait 15 minutes and get a second treat as well. There are a number of videos on the Internet that show some of these children trying hard to resist the temptation of sitting for 15 minutes in front of their favorite treat. Some of these videos show children pulling at their pigtails, sniffing the marshmallow, sitting on their hands, even licking the marshmallow, all in an effort to resist the temptation of eating it. The experiment was conducted on a number of children (somewhere around 600 children participated in these experiments). A surprisingly small number of children chose to eat the marshmallows immediately, thereby foregoing a chance at a second treat. Approximately one-third of those children who attempted to earn a second treat by trying to wait the full 15 minutes actually were successful.
So what were the conclusions from this experiment? The experiment really is a test of "delayed gratification" - can someone put off an immediate reward now for a greater reward later? A number of long-term follow-up studies showed that those children who were able to wait the full 15 minutes for the second treat had higher SAT scores, higher educational attainment, lower body-mass index (BMI) as adults, lower rates of substance abuse and addiction, and greater overall success. Surprised by these results? I am not. "Delayed gratification" has a lot to do with self-discipline and self-control. It stands to reason that individuals who exhibit these characteristics are more likely to be successful. It also makes sense that individuals who have a longer term view of the future will be more successful.
There are probably a number of factors, both environmental and genetic that determine whether an individual has self-discipline and self-control. It is important to realize that these characteristics can also be learned and developed with practice. As Charles Duhigg explains in his book The Power of Habit, we can replace bad habits (for example, lack of self-discipline and self-control) with new habits (self-discipline and self-control) using something called a "habit loop" (cue - routine - reward). Will Durant, author of "The Story of Civilization" and "The Story of Philosophy" once paraphrased the ancient Green philosopher Aristotle and said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Self-discipline and self-control can be taught. Self-discipline and self-control can be learned. Self-discipline and self-control can be practiced.
There are a number of ways to build self-discipline - most experts suggest some variation of the following:
1. Know your weaknesses. Don't try to hide your weaknesses or your fears. Acknowledge them. If you can't resist eating junk food, that's okay. Face your fears and temptations.
2. Remove temptations ("out of sight, out of mind"). If junk food is your Achilles heel - get rid of the junk food in your house.
3. Set clear goals and make a plan. Setting goals is important - as we have talked about before. Goals give you something to shoot for, but having a plan will help you achieve them.
4. Start small and keep things simple. If you want to start running on a regular basis, start small. When I first started running again a few years ago, I started by walking 30 minutes every night on the treadmill. I would start running 1 minute out of every five minutes, and every few days I would increase the amount of running until I was running the entire 30 minutes. Remember, "Rome was not built in a day."
5. Reward yourself when you are successful. Just as importantly, forgive yourself when you fail. Celebrate your successes by doing something nice for yourself. And if you slip backwards from time to time, that's okay. Forgive yourself and move on.
6. Believe in yourself. There are studies that strongly suggest that willpower can be improved with positive thinking. Believe in yourself. You can do it!
We will explore some of these issues in more detail in future blog posts. But for now, the next time you are eating a marshmallow, remember the Stanford marshmallow experiments and think about self-discipline and self-control.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
"The legs feed the wolf..."
As I have confessed on a number of occasions, I am a huge fan of sports movies! Today I want to talk about the 2004 movie, Miracle, a story about the 1980 U.S. Olympic Men's Hockey Team that beat the odds and won the gold medal. The movie stars Kurt Russell in the title role of the legendary coach, Herb Brooks. The movie is packed with lessons on leadership using the story of how a team of U.S. amateur hockey players beat perhaps the greatest "non-professional" men's hockey team of all time, the Russian National Team. Brooks says at one point, "We may not be the best team out there, but we will be the BEST conditioned team." Coach Brooks knew that the only way that his hockey players could beat the Russians (which they would have to do in order to win the gold medal) would be to play together as a team. His hockey players would not win on talent - instead, they would win by working harder than everyone else, being better conditioned than everyone else, and playing together and achieving the kind of synergy where 1+1 = 3.
While talent helps, it certainly is nowhere near enough. Every single Olympic athlete is the among the best at his or her sport - but it is the athletes who work harder than everyone else that truly achieve greatness. The gold medal winners are those athletes who work the hardest.
In one of my favorite scenes of the movie, Coach Brooks tells his players, "The legs feed the wolf, gentlemen." Think about it. What do wolves do to eat? They hunt in packs - there is no such thing as a "lone wolf" who can survive in the wilderness. Wolves live together, hunt together, and eat together. How does a pack of wolves hunt? They typically chase their prey for miles and miles until their prey tires out and drops to the ground out of fatigue. The wolves outlast their prey. They don't have to be faster to win - they just have to be able to run farther and longer than the animals that they hunt. Strong legs can run farther than weak legs, so it is indeed the legs that feed the wolf.
I will leave you with another of my favorite scenes - Coach Brooks' pre-game speech that he delivers before the United States plays the Russians. It is a great speech. Enjoy it. And remember. "The legs feed the wolf."
While talent helps, it certainly is nowhere near enough. Every single Olympic athlete is the among the best at his or her sport - but it is the athletes who work harder than everyone else that truly achieve greatness. The gold medal winners are those athletes who work the hardest.
In one of my favorite scenes of the movie, Coach Brooks tells his players, "The legs feed the wolf, gentlemen." Think about it. What do wolves do to eat? They hunt in packs - there is no such thing as a "lone wolf" who can survive in the wilderness. Wolves live together, hunt together, and eat together. How does a pack of wolves hunt? They typically chase their prey for miles and miles until their prey tires out and drops to the ground out of fatigue. The wolves outlast their prey. They don't have to be faster to win - they just have to be able to run farther and longer than the animals that they hunt. Strong legs can run farther than weak legs, so it is indeed the legs that feed the wolf.
I will leave you with another of my favorite scenes - Coach Brooks' pre-game speech that he delivers before the United States plays the Russians. It is a great speech. Enjoy it. And remember. "The legs feed the wolf."
Sunday, September 10, 2017
"In the Arena"
Tomorrow marks the 16th anniversary of September 11, 2001 - a day that changed all of our lives, some more than others. I don't remember a lot of things that happened to me 16 years ago, but I can remember exactly where I was, what I was doing, and who I was with the moment that I heard that an airplane had crashed into one of the two towers at the World Trade Center in New York (see last year's blog post, "Leadership during a crisis - remember 9.11.01"). I remember the anger (and the fear) that I felt the moment that I learned that a second airplane had crashed into the other tower, at which point I knew (we all did) that this was not an accident. I can remember the conversation that I had with my wife about how we would talk to our kids about what had happened and how our lives were never going to be quite the same. I also remember what an amazing job Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and President George W. Bush did leading our nation in one of the most significant events that had occurred in all of our lifetimes. September 11th was a defining moment in history. And it is at those kinds of defining moments that some of our greatest leaders have shown their mettle.
I am reminded of a great speech - some would say his greatest speech - that former President Theodore Roosevelt delivered on April 23, 1910 called "Citizenship in a Republic" but more widely known as the "Man in the Arena" speech. The most famous passage in the speech goes as follows:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena"" passage (which I prefer to call his "In the Arena" passage, as there are great men and women who are in the arena) has served as a source of inspiration to many. President Richard Nixon used the quote in his resignation speech, Nelson Mandela gave a copy of the quote to Francois Pienaar, Captain of the South African National Rugby Team in the 1995 Rugby World Cup (as told in the movie, Invictus), and baseball player Mark DeRosa read the quote aloud to his teammates before Game 4 of the 2012 National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals. And if that isn't enough, apparently Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth tattooed the quote on their arms!
The quote is certainly inspirational. At some point in our lives, all of us will be "In the Arena." The question is, how will we respond?
I am reminded of a great speech - some would say his greatest speech - that former President Theodore Roosevelt delivered on April 23, 1910 called "Citizenship in a Republic" but more widely known as the "Man in the Arena" speech. The most famous passage in the speech goes as follows:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena"" passage (which I prefer to call his "In the Arena" passage, as there are great men and women who are in the arena) has served as a source of inspiration to many. President Richard Nixon used the quote in his resignation speech, Nelson Mandela gave a copy of the quote to Francois Pienaar, Captain of the South African National Rugby Team in the 1995 Rugby World Cup (as told in the movie, Invictus), and baseball player Mark DeRosa read the quote aloud to his teammates before Game 4 of the 2012 National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals. And if that isn't enough, apparently Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth tattooed the quote on their arms!
The quote is certainly inspirational. At some point in our lives, all of us will be "In the Arena." The question is, how will we respond?
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Golden Gopher Leadership 101
I have written in the past (see"Row the Boat" ) about the new University of Minnesota Golden Gophers head football coach, PJ Fleck. While Coach Fleck was at Western Michigan, he created a winning culture based upon several key tenets, many of which he has brought to the University of Minnesota. Admittedly, Coach Fleck is absolutely, 100% high-energy - his leadership style is not for everyone. Moreover, some would argue that his leadership style is a bit clichéd and somewhat "over-the-top." If you are interested in a tutorial on the culture that Coach Fleck is trying to build, there is a great series of short video clips starring - you guessed it - PJ Fleck.
There are a few core tenets to Coach Fleck's culture. First off, he describes what it means to be "ELITE." If you follow him on Twitter (@Coach_Fleck), you will find that he uses the term "ELITE" for almost everything ("We had an ELITE practice today" or "Wishing the Gopher Volleyball team ELITE luck as they start their season today" or even, "We had an ELITE time at the Minnesota State Fair"). But don't be fooled - he is not overusing the term here. Rather, by using a common set of vocabulary (he reportedly gives a binder with between 150-200 words and phrases that he commonly uses to build his culture, an ELITE dictionary if you will), staying on the same message over and over, and boiling everything down to one vision, he is slowly creating the culture that he wants his team to embrace.
Coach Fleck says that there are five kinds of people in this world - bad, average, good, excellent, and ELITE. He goes further to say that "the problem with excellent is that it is a standard of excellence - a lot of people want to be excellent." Very few individuals want to be considered elite. "Being elite is a lifestyle and a choice." It is a commitment to being the BEST OF THE BEST. Coach Fleck wants his players to be ELITE in four ways - academically (i.e. intellectually), athletically, socially, and spiritually. He goes on to describe how his players can become ELITE:
1. Have a "Nekton Mentality": "Nektons" are an aquatic animal that is able to move or swim independently of the current (which differentiates from those aquatic animals that move passively with the current, or "plankton"). In Fleck-speak, Nektons are "always hungry, always attacking, and never satisfied." Nektons don't let the situation dictate what happens next - nektons dictate what happens next. The ultimate "nekton" is the Great White Shark - it is "always attacking, never full." Nektons are like the Great White Shark - always progressing forward and never satisfied with the status quo.
2. Set a "Prefontaine pace": Steve Prefontaine was an ELITE U.S. Olympic long-distance runner known for setting a "suicide pace" (legend has it that he once said, "The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die." Steve Prefontaine was the ultimate Nekton - always looking forward, always attacking, and never satisfied with second-best.
3. Have a "Farmer's Alliance"": Coach Fleck says that a "farmer's alliance" is all about building trust throughout the organization - complete transparency, 100% honesty, and mutual trust and accountability. Be unselfish. Work as a team. Trust one another. Next time you are in a farm community, watch and listen. The farmer's are indeed a community - a family. They work for each other, just as much, if not more so than they work for themselves.
A little too much hyperbole? Just plain crazy? I don't know about that - PJ Fleck took Western Michigan to the 2016 Cotton Bowl and played competitively to a very good Wisconsin team, losing 24-16. He was one of the hottest, most sought after coaches during the 2016-2017 off-season, eventually accepting a job at the University of Minnesota. Time will tell if he coaches the Golden Gophers to success. But I like his style. And while I may not have my own language, I have adopted my own core tenets that build into my "Charlie Golf One"" mentality ("Be like Young."." "Work as a Team." "Clear the Deck."). Definitely not as catchy or memorable as a "Nekton Mentality", but it works for me. And that is what matters the most.
There are a few core tenets to Coach Fleck's culture. First off, he describes what it means to be "ELITE." If you follow him on Twitter (@Coach_Fleck), you will find that he uses the term "ELITE" for almost everything ("We had an ELITE practice today" or "Wishing the Gopher Volleyball team ELITE luck as they start their season today" or even, "We had an ELITE time at the Minnesota State Fair"). But don't be fooled - he is not overusing the term here. Rather, by using a common set of vocabulary (he reportedly gives a binder with between 150-200 words and phrases that he commonly uses to build his culture, an ELITE dictionary if you will), staying on the same message over and over, and boiling everything down to one vision, he is slowly creating the culture that he wants his team to embrace.
Coach Fleck says that there are five kinds of people in this world - bad, average, good, excellent, and ELITE. He goes further to say that "the problem with excellent is that it is a standard of excellence - a lot of people want to be excellent." Very few individuals want to be considered elite. "Being elite is a lifestyle and a choice." It is a commitment to being the BEST OF THE BEST. Coach Fleck wants his players to be ELITE in four ways - academically (i.e. intellectually), athletically, socially, and spiritually. He goes on to describe how his players can become ELITE:
1. Have a "Nekton Mentality": "Nektons" are an aquatic animal that is able to move or swim independently of the current (which differentiates from those aquatic animals that move passively with the current, or "plankton"). In Fleck-speak, Nektons are "always hungry, always attacking, and never satisfied." Nektons don't let the situation dictate what happens next - nektons dictate what happens next. The ultimate "nekton" is the Great White Shark - it is "always attacking, never full." Nektons are like the Great White Shark - always progressing forward and never satisfied with the status quo.
2. Set a "Prefontaine pace": Steve Prefontaine was an ELITE U.S. Olympic long-distance runner known for setting a "suicide pace" (legend has it that he once said, "The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die." Steve Prefontaine was the ultimate Nekton - always looking forward, always attacking, and never satisfied with second-best.
3. Have a "Farmer's Alliance"": Coach Fleck says that a "farmer's alliance" is all about building trust throughout the organization - complete transparency, 100% honesty, and mutual trust and accountability. Be unselfish. Work as a team. Trust one another. Next time you are in a farm community, watch and listen. The farmer's are indeed a community - a family. They work for each other, just as much, if not more so than they work for themselves.
A little too much hyperbole? Just plain crazy? I don't know about that - PJ Fleck took Western Michigan to the 2016 Cotton Bowl and played competitively to a very good Wisconsin team, losing 24-16. He was one of the hottest, most sought after coaches during the 2016-2017 off-season, eventually accepting a job at the University of Minnesota. Time will tell if he coaches the Golden Gophers to success. But I like his style. And while I may not have my own language, I have adopted my own core tenets that build into my "Charlie Golf One"" mentality ("Be like Young."." "Work as a Team." "Clear the Deck."). Definitely not as catchy or memorable as a "Nekton Mentality", but it works for me. And that is what matters the most.
Sunday, September 3, 2017
"Hard winter training"
We here it a lot this time of year. Teachers tell us how much their students have regressed over the summer vacation, which usually necessitates reviewing the previous year's material in the first couple of weeks of school. As a matter of fact, one of the justifications for moving to "year-round school" is to prevent this so-called "Summer learning loss". Another way to mitigate against the regression that inevitably occurs over the long summer break is for teachers to assign summer homework. My four kids all usually had specific books that they had to read or math problems that they were required to complete over the summer break. My wife, a middle school math teacher, told her students that they had to finish their math workbooks over the summer, and the vast majority of them did complete the workbooks (it probably helped that she told them they would be given a grade for doing it).
What's my point here? I have been reading a lot of Stoic philosophy lately - I find comfort in some of the main precepts of the early Greek and Roman Stoic philosophers, Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Cato (the Younger). I have enjoyed reading the works of Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, former POW during the Vietnam War, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and one-time candidate for Vice-President, who used Stoic philosophy to help him survive over 7 years as a Prisoner of War in the famous "Hanoi Hilton". It was Epictetus who said, "We must undergo a hard winter training and not rush into things for which we haven't prepared." Recall that in the time of the ancient Greeks, wars were not fought during the winter, a practice that continued well past the American Revolution - recall that George Washington "wintered" his troops at Valley Forge. Epictetus is using an analogy here, suggesting that during the winter months when the ancient Greek armies did not (and probably could not) fight, they should have spent their time (and history suggests that some actually did) training for the battles that would come with the Spring. Also recall that Washington spent the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge training the Continental Army - the Prussian General, Baron von Steuben helped mold the rough, inexperienced militia men into professional soldiers. The Continental Army came out of that winter much better trained, a fighting force to be reckoned with, and a fighting force that eventually did what many thought was not possible, defeat the British Army.
The lesson here is that we need to prepare ourselves and practice - as they saying goes, Practice makes perfect. You wouldn't go out and try to run a marathon without training, correct? My wife and I officially start training for the Disney Marathon tomorrow, September 4th. We are going to follow a specific training plan. In other words, we are not going to "rush into things for which we haven't prepared." Hopefully, by January 7th, we will be in tiptop shape to accomplish our goal of finishing a marathon.
As it turns out, leaders need to practice and continually improve their leadership skills. Some of the greatest leaders in business, the military, and government were known to be avid readers. Successful leaders read all the time. Leaders are always looking for new experiences to further develop, refine, and improve their leadership skills. A diversity of experience is very useful - and in some ways, it is the absolute essential ingredient for leadership success. Leaders need that "hard winter training" that Epictetus talks about, so that they can become better at their craft.
I recently listened to a couple of really great audiobooks while driving our youngest daughter to college and back (thirteen hour trip each way). I told my daughter that I had a lot more reading to do, as I wanted to go back and validate, clarify, and learn more about several of the topics discussed in these two audiobooks (The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain). I have my own "hard winter training" to finish, in more ways than one. I also told my daughter that I had a lot of new ideas for my blog, so stay tuned for more. But for now, keep training yourselves to become better leaders - start your own "hard winter training" and avoid the "Summer learning loss."
What's my point here? I have been reading a lot of Stoic philosophy lately - I find comfort in some of the main precepts of the early Greek and Roman Stoic philosophers, Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Cato (the Younger). I have enjoyed reading the works of Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, former POW during the Vietnam War, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and one-time candidate for Vice-President, who used Stoic philosophy to help him survive over 7 years as a Prisoner of War in the famous "Hanoi Hilton". It was Epictetus who said, "We must undergo a hard winter training and not rush into things for which we haven't prepared." Recall that in the time of the ancient Greeks, wars were not fought during the winter, a practice that continued well past the American Revolution - recall that George Washington "wintered" his troops at Valley Forge. Epictetus is using an analogy here, suggesting that during the winter months when the ancient Greek armies did not (and probably could not) fight, they should have spent their time (and history suggests that some actually did) training for the battles that would come with the Spring. Also recall that Washington spent the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge training the Continental Army - the Prussian General, Baron von Steuben helped mold the rough, inexperienced militia men into professional soldiers. The Continental Army came out of that winter much better trained, a fighting force to be reckoned with, and a fighting force that eventually did what many thought was not possible, defeat the British Army.
The lesson here is that we need to prepare ourselves and practice - as they saying goes, Practice makes perfect. You wouldn't go out and try to run a marathon without training, correct? My wife and I officially start training for the Disney Marathon tomorrow, September 4th. We are going to follow a specific training plan. In other words, we are not going to "rush into things for which we haven't prepared." Hopefully, by January 7th, we will be in tiptop shape to accomplish our goal of finishing a marathon.
As it turns out, leaders need to practice and continually improve their leadership skills. Some of the greatest leaders in business, the military, and government were known to be avid readers. Successful leaders read all the time. Leaders are always looking for new experiences to further develop, refine, and improve their leadership skills. A diversity of experience is very useful - and in some ways, it is the absolute essential ingredient for leadership success. Leaders need that "hard winter training" that Epictetus talks about, so that they can become better at their craft.
I recently listened to a couple of really great audiobooks while driving our youngest daughter to college and back (thirteen hour trip each way). I told my daughter that I had a lot more reading to do, as I wanted to go back and validate, clarify, and learn more about several of the topics discussed in these two audiobooks (The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain). I have my own "hard winter training" to finish, in more ways than one. I also told my daughter that I had a lot of new ideas for my blog, so stay tuned for more. But for now, keep training yourselves to become better leaders - start your own "hard winter training" and avoid the "Summer learning loss."