May, 2015 | Lorne Rubis

Work is ‘Love Made Visible!’

Key Point: I am so attracted to the idea of using every day to create something important, even beautiful. When people start the day thinking of themselves as story creators, they thoughtfully paint, craft, hone, sharpen, build, and compose. I feel saddened when I hear people grumble about their work and often about many other things. They behave in ways that Pope Francis refers to as a “pickle face.” What a graphic picture. So what are the thoughts of two eminent philosophers and ancient mystics on the matter of daily work & living?

Kahlil Gibran, the Lebanese-American writer, poet, and philosopher noted the following:

“Put love into your work.

“Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger. And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distills a poison in the wine. And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man’s ears to the voices of the day.”

He also stated:

“Your attitude towards life will determine life’s attitude towards you.

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”

“You are what you do every minute, hour, day.”

The very respected spiritual philosopher, Richard Rhor, in a recent daily meditation wrote about the desert fathers (Abbas) and mothers (Ammas); Mystics who chose solitude in the desert to achieve a deeper encounter and presence with their spiritual selves. Rhor notes:

“Through their solitude, the abbas and ammas learned to be sparing and intentional with their words and to preach more through their lifestyle than through sermons. There were few ‘doctrines’ to prove at this time in Christianity, only an inner life to be experienced. Abba Isidore of Pelusia said, ‘to live without speaking is better than to speak without living. For the former who lives rightly does good even by his silence but the latter does no good even when he speaks. When words and life correspond to one another they are together the whole of philosophy.’

An old abba was asked what was necessary to do to be saved. He was sitting making rope. Without glancing up, he said, ‘You’re looking at it.’ Just as so many of the mystics have taught us, doing what you’re doing with care, presence, and intention is prayer, the very way to transformation and wholeness. As other master teachers have taught in many forms, ‘When we walk, we walk; when we chop wood, we chop wood; when we sleep, we sleep.’ As you know, this is much harder than it first seems.”

Character Moves:

1. Many organizations use this time of the year to conduct engagement surveys with employees. Their intent is usually noble. They want to create conditions for people to thrive. Excellent! What organizations also need to become great at, is to attract and retain people who come and put love into their work. That is a totally winning combination: Organizations creating an environment for people to love work and having employees who approach their work, whatever it is, with love. Where do you fit and contribute on this continuum?

2. When we work with care, presence and intention, the path for what’s next most often shows up. It is perhaps counterintuitive but most often true. When our heads are too much in the past or future we may stumble. The desert mystics were powerfully insightful: “When we walk… We walk.”

Walking with love in the Triangle,

Lorne

One Millennial View: I’m going to focus on the “And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy,” part, because it stands out to me… Sure, I think we’re all striving to work with love. We’re hopefully taking stepping-stones to get there, but sometimes it might feel more like back breaking labor than that majestic match. That’s ok. It’s not just supposed to be handed to you. Unfortunately, unlike for the desert mystics, it’s 2015… If we just quit cause the “love” isn’t there yet, the “gates of the temple” could be our parent’s basements, or friend’s couches, or worse… And our “alms of those who work with joy,” is what? A bunch of credit card debt? No thanks! Guys, let’s absolutely all strive to love our work, but I bet if we work hard, suck it up, and stop complaining so much about “Bob in reception’s sighing problem,” we’ll get there faster and certainly with more appreciation.

– Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis

Are You a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ Person?

Abundance Growth mindset Happiness

Key Point: Getting to “YES” is often hard work. It is so much easier being a “NO” person. Google’s Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt, stated the following: “Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country. Say yes to meeting new friends. Say yes to learning a new language, picking up a new sport. Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job. Yes is how you find your spouse, and even your kids. Even if it’s a bit edgy, a bit out of your comfort zone, saying yes means you will do something new, meet someone new and make a difference in your life, and likely in others’ lives as well… Yes is a tiny word that can do big things. Say it often.”

I resist hanging out with “NO” people. Of course when something is illegal, immoral or hurtful then NO is the only right answer. However, too often people get to NO within themselves and with others because saying yes can be scary and/or more work. YES usually involves each of us learning how to do something different. A recent article in Inc. Magazine noted seven reasons to take every opportunity to say YES. I agree with the author’s viewpoint. How about you?

“1. The next opportunity might change your life.

Sometimes I’m tempted to say NO when a new work opportunity presents itself. However, I know that the next opportunity might be the one that changes my life forever. So I do everything possible to say YES.

2. It pays to push yourself just a little harder.

While we’re all busy and often feel pushed to the limit, we can always squeeze a little more out of our lives. Remember: If you get up just one hour earlier each day, you’ll have 15 extra days to work with every year.

3. People like people who are agreeable.

People like other people who are agreeable and open rather than disagreeable and closed. Who would you rather work with?

4. People don’t like naysayers.

People who constantly look at the negative side of life are no fun to be around. Don’t be one of those.

5. YES is for optimists.

Optimists get more done and they’re more successful than pessimists. Just say YES, and you can be an optimist too.

6. You’ll build your network.

When you say YES and open yourself up to meeting new people, you’ll grow your network and your business reach. This can lead to all sorts of new opportunities — and success — that you never imagined.

7. You’ll be more successful — and happier.”

I recently heard a story about a top notch software developer wanting to come in to the office an hour later and then leave later, so she could lessen the pain of her long distance commute. Her neanderthal boss got to NO because there is “no policy for this and we don’t want to start a precedent?” Huh? So the talented developer quit and Mr. NO is still looking for a comparable talent. Don’t be the big NO in your workplace.

Character Moves:

Learn how to get to YES by really listening and finding what value YES really brings to you and others. Getting to YES does not mean acting with blind compliance or being a patsy. Instead, it does mean finding a way to achieve a meaningful and valued intent. When you learn how to use the phrase, “YES if…” the doors of possibility open up. Think! It is having the mindset of doggedly getting to YES that opens up possibilities.
How self-aware are you relative to being a YES oriented versus a NO oriented person? How would your teammates describe you? When did you say NO and wished you’d have tried harder to say YES? When did you say YES and you regretted it? What did you learn from that?
Learn how to start a conversation with, “let’s see how we can find a way.” OR a “what if?” You’re not being paid to having NO be your default response. Any machine or software program could do that!

Yeah to YES in The Triangle!

– Lorne

One Millennial View: One of my favorite podcasts is hosted by a guy who frequently travels, but will purposefully not book a hotel at his destination. Instead, he prefers the challenge of going out and meeting people who will eventually house him for the night… How courageous is that? Is it the safest? No. Cheap? Yup. Smart? Meh. But it’s certainly a “yes” mentality. There are times where he had to sleep in his rental car, but more often than not, he walks away well rested with a good story and new friends. Saying “yes” isn’t always secure, but it can be a great learning experience or a whole new adventure. “No” is just a Saturday night at home watching Netflix.

– Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis

Make the Process the Hero

Accountability Organizational leadership Transformation

Key Point: Heroic behavior at work is often an indicator that some process is really broken. Yet we often applaud heroic behavior to recover from a screwed up process, instead of honoring people who build exceptional, flawless practices.

I recently heard about a situation where a FedEx driver won the coveted Purple Promise award. According to the person who was telling the story, the FedEx employee’s truck broke down and in his commitment to deliver every package on time, he flagged down a UPS truck, transferred his packaged goods to the competitor’s vehicle and met the Purple Promise. That’s pretty ballsy! I wonder, however, if the mechanics that put a process in place to avoid any breakdowns ever get recognized for prevention. In my mind, they deserve the Purple Promise.

On a personal note, I just experienced a situation where a sales person drove 10 hours to pick up and deliver contract papers necessary to meet a closing the next day. His personal dedication made the deal closing viable. I bet you want to say “wow,” that sales person ought to be recognized and even rewarded. However, here is the dilemma… The reason the sales person had to take on heroic behavior is because he and his company’s processes are totally messed up. And when I say “messed up,” I mean completely out of control. The same broken processes have people working past midnight, on weekends, doing extensive rework, and enormous repetition and waste for customers. So why should we applaud heroic behavior when it is the result of processes that stink?

Character Moves:

It is important to recognize heroic behavior, but even more important to recognize a heroic process. I prefer a steady capable surgeon who applies a reliable operating process to one who heroically saves my life after taking a “short cut.” Challenge yourself and the team to build heroic process.

Look for indicators of opportunity to create heroic processes: too much overtime, work that has lots of customer recovery, complaints, and “warranty” work that few people want to do. Also, look for people that are considered “indispensable.” That’s likely because they continue to turn a crappy process into a positive result and hence stay heroic.

Heroic processes in The Triangle,

Lorne

One Millennial View: I’ve never worked for a huge company like UPS or FedEx, but I think the reason these individuals are awarded for their “above and beyond” service is because they simply don’t have the voice to do something like “change the process.” Especially in a timely fashion… Should every worker feel like they can be listened to? Absolutely. But, their small heroic actions are going to be heard much louder than any words (read: suggestions) that could trickle up to change a much larger, company wide process. We’re talking about those actions now, aren’t we? That means they made an impact. In my opinion, leaders should be commended when they do actually monitor and recognize lousy processes, because they’re not the broken down driver who’ll be presented with the problem in the field. So, if a leader has to present an “above and beyond” award to a worker, let the leader then also deliver a promise that they’ll do their best to make sure the worker doesn’t have to earn one for the same dumb deed again. Don’t take away the Medal of Honor just because the precarious orders of a general put the soldier in the position to perform.

– Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis