Think big, act small

I recently came across a great quote by the Stoic writer Ryan Holiday a few days ago.  As I have mentioned several times in the past, I subscribe to a daily email from Holiday called "The Daily Stoic".  Holiday has also written several short books on Stoic philosophy, which I also highly recommend.  The quote came from one of these books, called Ego is the Enemy.  I thought it was profoundly appropriate.  Holiday said, "We will learn that though we think big, we must act and live small in order to accomplish what we seek.  Because we will be action and education focused, and forgo validation and status, our ambition will not be grandiose but iterative - one foot in front of the other, learning and growing and putting in the time."  Wow.

Think big.  Dream big.  Do not be afraid to stretch yourself beyond your limits.  But on the other hand, act and live small.  A wise man once said that the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.  In order to reach our goals and fulfill our ambition, we have to start somewhere.  Anywhere.  With one foot placed right in front of the other.

When I read this quote, I thought a lot about so-called stretch goals, which the management expert Jim Collins sometimes calls BHAGs, or "Big, hairy, audacious goals".  But I also thought about SMART goals and something called the "perfection premium".  Remember, SMART goals are ones that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.  In other words, think big but act small.  Even the most audacious BHAGs start with smaller scale SMART goals.

Honor Code

The United States Military Academy (more commonly known as West Point) was founded in 1802.  Since its inception, the officer corps operated upon a code of honor - an officer's word was his bond.  Cheating was informally added to this code by superintendent Sylvanus Thayer a few years later in order to increase the academic standards at the academy.  Allegations of theft (stealing) were addressed via the normal Army regulations.  Superintendent Douglas MacArthur (yes, that one) formalized the honor code in 1922 when he commissioned the first Cadet Honor Committee to review all allegations of honor infractions.  However, Superintendent Maxwell Taylor (another famous Army general) drafted the first Honor Code in 1947, which has more or less existed in its current form until the present day (the words expressly forbidding toleration of honor code violations were added in 1970).

The Honor Code is simple, but powerful, "A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do."

The punishment for violating the Honor Code, either the first part that forbids a cadet from lying, cheating, or stealing or the second part, which forbids a cadet from tolerating another cadet from doing so, can be significant, up to and including expulsion from West Point.  There is a standardized process to investigate any allegations of violation of the Honor Code, as well as a formal hearing process.  Cadets are first tried by a jury of their peers, and if found guilty, the case goes up to the commandant to either impose sanctions or recommend expulsion (the final decision on whether to expel a cadet is made by the Secretary of the Army).

As hard as it is for a Navy guy to say anything positive about the Army (though the United States Naval Academy has its own version of the honor code), the West Point Army Code is incredibly powerful and very well stated.  I really like the last phrase, "or tolerate those who do."  West Point is using what is commonly called "200% accountability" here - I am not only accountable for my own personal behavior, but I am also accountable for making sure that those around me are held accountable as well.  I've talked about this in a couple of posts in the past (see for example "Stop. Point and Cross" and "The Patriot Way").

I was just having this conversation with someone at the hospital.  Take the notoriously poor compliance with hand hygiene in most hospitals, despite the evidence showing that handwashing is one of the most effective ways to prevent transmission of infections between patients and between patients and providers.  While there are technological fixes to help improve compliance, one of the best ways is for those providers on the front lines to hold each other accountable for it.  It's like the famous adage, "If you see something, say something."  If you see someone who is not following handwashing rules, call that individual out!

200% accountability.  The Honor Code.  These are both ways to improve how we work together for a greater common goal.  

Your focus determines your reality

Several of members of the Wheeler family are training for the 25th Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, Ohio later this Spring.  Rather than running outside in the dark and cold weather, I've been spending a lot of time on the treadmill this winter.  I usually pass the time by watching one of the Great Courses or most recently one of the the MasterClass videos.  I am currently watching the MasterClass by Bob Iger, the former and once again current CEO at The Walt Disney Company.  It's been pretty good so far, which doesn't surprise me because I really enjoyed his book on leadership, The Ride of a Lifetime. 

One of Iger's MasterClass videos starts with a scene from the 1999 movie, "The Phantom Menace", Episode 1 in the Star Wars canon.  In this particular scene, the Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn tells a young Anakin Skywalker, "Always remember, your focus determines your reality."  Iger follows the video clip with a discussion on his lengthy interview process for the CEO position at Disney.  His first admonition was to always be true to yourself, stating "If you can't be true to yourself, how can you be true to others?"  His second admonition, paraphrasing the Master Jedi, "Stay focused."

Iger had a friend who happened to be a political consultant help him prepare for the series of interviews with Disney's board members.  When Iger started to list his key strategic priorities for Disney, his friend told him to stop at three (Iger could have listed five or six).  It's all about focus.  As Iger suggested, if you have more than three strategic priorities, you tend to get lost.  More importantly, your customers and employees get lost too.

Iger proposed three strategic imperatives for Disney that he would prioritize and focus upon as the new CEO:

1. Invest most of Disney's capital in high-quality branded content (i.e, creativity)

2. Use technology to make more compelling content and to reach people in more innovative ways.

3. Grow globally, deepening connection to markets around the world.

That's it.  Everything Iger did as the CEO boiled down to these three priorities.  Was he successful?  I will let you be the judge of that, but consider that during his tenure as CEO from 2005-2020, Disney acquired Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox.  During his 15 years as CEO, Disney increased its market capitalization fivefold.  Following his retirement in 2020, he was replaced by Bob Chapek, though Disney brought him back as CEO just recently.

"Always remember, your focus determines your reality."

Don't hold a grudge

As I mentioned last time, I just recently finished reading A. Scott Berg's biography of Woodrow Wilson and learned a lot about a President and a time that I didn't know previously.  Like all leaders, President Wilson certainly had his faults (the book only loosely referred to some of the accusations of racism that have appeared more recently - see the article in The Atlantic by the writer Dick Lehr as well as a more recent press statement from his alma mater, Princeton University).  I will leave that discussion for others who are more qualified.  I did notice another fault of Wilson's which, while far less important than his beliefs on diversity, equity, and inclusion, are still relevant for leaders today - he often held a grudge.

President Wilson was a college professor and later the President of his alma mater, Princeton University.  Just as you would expect to find in any position of leadership, there were a lot of politics that he had to address during his tenure as Princeton's college president.  Apparently, there was a fight between some prominent alumni as well as a faction within the administration over where to build a graduate school (see the great review of the fight here).  Wilson would eventually lose the fight (both politics and money were involved).  More importantly, one of his greatest and oldest friends, John Grier Hibben, who actually became Princeton's 14th President when Wilson left to become the Governor of New Jersey, sided with the alumni.  Wilson would never forgive Hibben.  Hibben (and other mutual friends) tried to reconcile and restore the friendship, but Wilson resisted for the rest of his life.  At one point, while President of the United States, Wilson returned to Princeton and even refused to shake hands or meet with Hibben, who was then president of the university.

There is at least one more example of a time when one of Wilson's friends disagreed with him, which led to the break-up of the friendship.  Again, Wilson would never forgive the friend.  I can certainly empathize with how Wilson felt - particularly with Hibben, Wilson felt betrayed during one of the most difficult times in his life.  

The evidence shows that holding a grudge negatively impacts our mental wellbeing.  At the end of the day, it's not worth it.  The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius said, "To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it."  The writer Charlotte Bronte once wrote, "Life appears to me too short to be spent nursing animosity or registering wrongs."

As I have said many, many times, leadership is not easy, particularly in difficult times.  The natural tendency is to look towards an organization's leaders and point the finger of blame at them for everything that is going wrong (whether or not these things are under the leaders' control).  I've found in my own experience (trust me), whether as a leader or a follower, it's better to forgive and move on.  Don't hold a grudge.  It's just not worth it in the end.

"Win by the Audacity of Method"

For the past few years, I've been in a book club that is reading biographies of the U.S. Presidents in order, starting with George Washington.  The book club met virtually during the pandemic, but lately they've been meeting in person again (which has created some difficulties for me, as the book club meets at the Mercantile Library in Cincinnati, Ohio).  I've tried to keep up with them from afar.  

I just finished reading A. Scott Berg's biography of Woodrow Wilson and learned a lot about a President and a time that I didn't know previously.  I remember learning about Wilson's 14 Points and his proposal for the League of Nations at the Treaty of Versailles following World War I.  However, I never knew that President Wilson suffered a stroke in the middle of his second term, which basically resulted in an abrupt cessation (more or less) of all activities by the Executive Branch of our government (remember that this occurred long before the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)!

I remember learning about the highly controversial Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, but I don't remember learning that Congress passed very similar (and equally controversial) legislation called the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 during Wilson's term in office.  As controversial as these were, I have to confess that President Wilson was exactly the kind of leader that the our country needed to help prepare for the United States' entry into World War I.  

President Wilson delivered a famous speech to the naval officers of the Atlantic Fleet on August 11, 1917 onboard the USS Pennsylvania, the flagship of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet (the ship was at the U.S. Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia at the time).  The speech was not prepared in advance, and the members of the press weren't aware of it beforehand.  Wilson addressed the men "in confidence" and delivered a message of inspiration, asking them to look beyond the lessons in their manuals and be prepared to fight a war like no other war before in history.  He warned that the upcoming war was without precedent and "therefore it is a war in one sense for amateurs. Nobody ever before conducted a war like this and therefore nobody can pretend to be a professional in a war like this." 

Wilson admonished these officers to "please leave out of your vocabulary altogether the word 'prudent.'  Do the thing that is audacious to the utmost point of risk and daring, because that is exactly the thing that the other side does not understand.  And you will win by the audacity of method when you cannot win by circumspection and prudence."

He went on to say that "so far a experience in this kind of war is concerned we are all of the same rank. I am not saying that I do not expect the Admirals to tell us what to do, but I am saying that I want the youngest and most modest youngster in the service to tell us what we ought to do if he knows what it is."  That sounds a lot like the High Reliability Organization (HRO) principle of "deference to expertise" to me!

Just to make sure that the officers knew that he would lead by example, Wilson continued, "Now, I am willing to make any sacrifice for that. I mean any sacrifice of time or anything else. I am ready to put myself at the disposal of any officer in the Navy who thinks he knows how to run this war. I will not undertake to tell you whether he does or not, because I know that I do not, but I will undertake to put him in communication with those who can find out whether his idea will work or not. I have the authority to do that and I will do it with the greatest pleasure."

It's a message of inspiration, but even more so it is an example of great leadership.  

Disappointed but not defeated

It's the Monday after Super Bowl Sunday!  It ended up being a really exciting game at the end, and congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs on winning their third Super Bowl (and second in the last four years).  The Philadelphia Eagles played a great game, so I am sure that Eagles fans are disappointed this morning.  I don't know how this actually breaks down, but I would bet that about one-third of the people who watched the game last night were happy with the outcome, one-third of the people watching were disappointed, and the rest could care less (give or take).  While at the end of the day, the Super Bowl is just a game, dealing with disappointment can be difficult.  

The writer and blogger Ryan Holiday posted about dealing with disappointment a week or so ago in his blog, The Daily Stoic (see "You can be this, but don't be that").  Look at how NFL coach Steve Wilks dealt with what I am sure was a big disappointment for him.  Wilks was named the Interim Head Coach of the Carolina Panthers, after the team fired Head Coach Matt Rhule on October 10, 2022.  During Wilks' stint as the head coach, Carolina had a record of 6-6, which is not bad when you consider how they started, winning only one game out of the first five games of the season.  The Panthers finished 7-10, but apparently that still wasn't good enough for the Panthers owner and general manager.  They ended up hiring Frank Reich instead.  

I have nothing personally against Coach Reich, but let's take a look at why he was available in the first place.  He was fired as the Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts earlier in the season after a 3-5-1 record up to that point in the season.  Even if you do like Frank Reich, the hire was a real head-scratcher to me.

Steve Wilks had every right to be disappointed and even angry.  But how did he respond?  He said, "The sun rose this morning and by the grace of God so did I...I’m disappointed but not defeated. Many people aren’t built for this but I know what it means to persevere and see it through.”

The writer Ernest Hemingway wrote in his classic novel, The Old Man and The Sea, "Man is not made for defeat.  A man can be destroyed but not defeated."  There's an old Japanese proverb about resilience (I mentioned it previously in my post, "The Oak and the Reeds"), which says "Fall seven times, rise up eight."  It's been said so many times by so many different people, that it really is a cliché - what matters is not how or when you fail, but how you persevere.  Wilks responded in the best way possible.

Holiday concludes his post by saying, "You don’t control what the fates decide for you. You don’t choose to be passed over for a job. Nobody wants to come face to face with an error or an unpleasant reality. But you do control whether you give up, whether you let it break your heart, whether you are defeated."

Great moments in Super Bowl history

I know there are a few members of our family that are really excited about the game tomorrow at Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.  It should be an exciting game. I'm sure there will be some new additions to the "Greatest Moments in Super Bowl History" list.  

Who remembers when James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers intercepted a pass at the goal line and returned it for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII?  Or how about when the lights went out at the Superdome in Super Bowl XLVVII?  I still remember the San Francisco 49ers defense stopping the Cincinnati Bengals for four plays in a row at the 3 yard line, late in the third quarter in Super Bowl XVI.  How about David Tyree's "helmet catch" in Super Bowl XLII?

While all of these are "great" moments, there are some bad moments too.  Remember when Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Leon Lett recovered a fumble and ran it back for a touchdown in Super Bowl XXVII?  Well, almost.  While turning around and trying to "showboat" near the goal line, Buffalo Bills wide received Don Beebe caught up to him and knocked the ball out of Lett's hands, resulting in a touchback.  But maybe one of the all-time gaffs was when the Seattle Seahawks were trying to punch it for the go-ahead score late in the game in Super Bowl XLIX against the New England Patriots.  Instead of letting the league's best running back, Marshawn Lynch run it in, Seahawks Head Coach Peter Carroll instead called for a pass play, resulting in an interception that ultimately lost the game.  Carroll's choice of plays has been called "the dumbest call in Super Bowl history" and "a terrible Super Bowl mistake."

Ryan Holiday, who writes a blog called the Daily Stoic wrote a great post yesterday on Pete Carroll's bad play call ("How to Handle a Bad Call").  Rather than trying to shy away or pass off the blame to someone else, Carroll totally owned it.  He said, "I told those guys, ‘That’s my fault, totally.'"  Holiday writes, "That's what a leader does."

Leaders make the best decision with the information that they have currently in front of them.  If the decision goes well, the best leaders will share the credit.  However, if the decision goes poorly, the best leaders take the blame.  Leadership isn't supposed to be easy.

Holiday continues, "Big or small, a crime or a bad play call, every decision lives in the past. In the here and now, they no longer exist, can no longer be touched. All that remains is what you do next. You can take responsibility. You can build on the lessons of your mistake. You can move forward. You can make sure you don’t compound the mistake. You can decide how the next part of the story gets written."  That's leadership at its best.