Wanted: A Few Good People

Posted by jlubans on November 12, 2024  •  Leave comment (0)

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In the spirit of my recent An Immodest Proposal, here is a suggestion for Elon Musk's proposed Government-efficiency Commission (GeC):
Action Force Teams (AFT) that create a pilot for a legislated idea.
What is the deliverable? A working pilot. For example, in the case of rural high speed internet access, the pilot results in a functioning network for a largish geographical area taking into account terrain and weather. (Why this example? Broadband Internet access for rural America was enacted in 2021 with 42 billion dollars in the kitty. To date, "not one home or business has been connected through it.")
An AFT pilot is to demonstrably deliver the most for the least cost.
If feasible, assign two independent AFTs on the same problem but in different geographic locations.
The AFT will be free of:
regulations that include diversity, equity and inclusion requirements,
climate-change rules
price controls (artificial, arbitrary or otherwise)
preferences for union labor, and (in the case of the broadband Internet project)
schemes that favor government-run networks.
Each AFT is set up to implement legislation that is funded but stalled or being boondoggled.
Each AFT reports to the head of GeC and enjoys considerable latitude and independence.
After each pilot, an AAR (after action review) will enumerate what worked and what did not and what could be improved to help implement fully what was intended in the legislation.
AFTs use their best judgement to implement a fiscally responsible, functioning pilot using available resources.
No irreversible actions are to be taken.
When things go awry, then changes and corrections are made and learned from.
This is not a laboratory-controlled experiment; it is to show what is possible with a rapid hands-on implementation of what has already been legislated. The mistakes made along the way are essential in getting the best results in the national roll out.
Who?
Each AFT is a select, recruited group of action-takers, innovators, implementers, and pathfinders.
It is quintessential that each member, including volunteers, has a demonstrated ability to get real things done.
It is important that each member understands "urgency trumps all".
Action team members rotate off and on with a mix of people from not-for-profits, from government (including the military) and from industry.
Local communities are consulted to identify specific needs and to help develop a functioning pilot.
Compensation for AFT members is paid from existing funds in the stalled project or from projects that are evolving into boondoggles.
Team dynamics are addressed up front and resolved early.
Each AFT ascribes to and follows best practices for high performing teams.

Copyright all text by John Lubans 2024

Flying Solo

Posted by jlubans on November 09, 2024  •  Leave comment (0)

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Caption: Herb Kelleher, co-founder and CEO of Southwest Air winging it alone
.

My Australian friend, Kaz Kazim, has been editorially skewering Qantas - Australia's national airline - about "the fundamental flaws of the management style that failed our national carrier and sent it tumbling into the doldrums, distrusted by staff and customers alike."
Qantas' Chairman Richard Goyder asserted that "you needed a command and control [style]through COVID"
Au contraire, says Kaz. Tightening control was not what was needed to survive and thrive. What was needed were a "shared vision, a collaborative commitment and well-informed and engaged staff implementing action."
Kaz's criticism of the Qantas chairman, reminds me of an AT&T CEO I went to hear speak, years ago, at a luncheon in Houston, Texas as part of a Public Administration class.
His speech was full of bromides, platitudes and cliches with little substance. I was not expecting to be inspired - I'll take care of that - but I was expecting unique insights and opinions on telecommunications.
Instead the AT&T CEO came across not as a leader but as a caretaker, a place keeper, an empty "suit".
Surely he did not get the top job by acting and talking that way? Or did he?
Do corporate boards want someone who looks the part (let's hear it for presidential) but does little more than keep the organization on an even keel?
Is that it?
Or, once hired the CEO prefers to be "better safe than sorry" by not taking on more risk. Risk taking is what leadership is all about. The true leader is a risk taker (depicted), self-deprecating, and always has a sense of who he/she is.
Didn't someone say many CEOs suffer from imposter syndrome? In some cases the imposture is real.
But, don't let me get too smug.
Am I any different than Goyder or the AT&T CEO?
Not sure. I was always a good second to a great #1, but what would happen if I went solo, like Hank flying on the wing?
How would I do in a crisis?
When crisis hits, the caretaker CEO hides, dissembles, since new ideas are foreign and risky.
During the pandemic, the airline industry, across the board, displayed little leadership. Airlines the world over panicked and did the same things.
They cut back staff and promoted early retirement in spite of huge governmental supplemental funding intended to help them weather the storm.
Once the pandemic ended, the airlines found they did not have enough staff, or planes, for that matter!
Imagine that. You are running a company and you fail to adequately plan ahead.
Worse, why did all these leaders do the same thing?
Even Southwest, about which I have blogged numerous times, went lemming.
Gary Kelley, who once notably and irrelevantly claimed to eat a banana a day, succeeded Hank Kelleher upon his retirement.
Kelley led SWA well, but not in Hank's inimitable way. While he built on past successes, he innovated little.
Kelley was an excellent second in command: fiercely loyal, honest and able to carry out complex and innovative decisions.
But when he replaced Hank, things seemed to shift into a lower gear.
Sure, much of the esprit de corps remained (To quote Hank: "It's in the DNA*") but the absence of Hank's looming persona took its toll.
Hank, if his leadership post 9/11 is any indication - SWA was the first airline back in the air - would have done the opposite of what the other CEOs did during the pandemic. Hank died in 2019, so he was not here for that panic, but I don't think he would have gone along with the lemmings.
Instead, he would have used the drop off in travel to upgrade systems, to streamline schedules, to rethink how and what SWA was doing, and anticipate what was next , etc. In so doing he would have avoided the gargantuan meltdown SWA suffered shortly after the pandemic.
Importantly, his contrarian leadership would have brought other airlines along; they would have followed him, the person leading the way, the tip of the spear.
In my own career, I found that taking a contrarian approach when everyone else was playing it safe, often resulted in significant improvement and productivity gains for my organization.
But, I have to remind myself, I did that as a second in command.
My boss had my back, as they say, and deflected the numerous slings and arrows of envy and jealousy and admonishment from people I upset with my contrarian ways and success.
That all changed for me when a new and unsupportive boss came on board.

*My Latvian cousin who works for Norwegian (an airline) was recently in the USA and flew SWA for the first time. She told me: "Southwest Airlines was really exceptional, what a great service and hassle-free travel!"
Like Herb said, the SWA spirit lives on.

Copyright, all text, John Lubans 2024

Abandoned or Foolish?

Posted by jlubans on October 31, 2024  •  Leave comment (0)

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Caption: Where's the Down Trail?
*
My suggestions for Elon's efficiency board (see previous post) will have to wait.
This AI generated picture has me jumping the line.
The story is about a Colorado wilderness adventure in late August that could have ended with a dead teammate.
Instead, the teammate (Steve Stephanides) survived the night lost on the side of a mountain in wind and icy rain.
Large questions remain of how and why he was left to make a solo ascent/descent of a 14,000 foot high mountain, (almost 4300 meters).
Was going solo a team decision? Was there conflict? Was leadership befuddled ?
The Search and Rescue team leader suggests all was not well in the group: "In what might cause some awkward encounters at the office in the coming days and weeks, one member of their party was left to complete his final summit push alone."
Another source builds on this freshly sown doubt: "during a company outing, they left (Steve) behind on a trail, forcing him to spend the night alone in the wilderness during a heavy storm."
And more roiling of the murky waters: "Stephanides' colleagues had inexplicably collected belongings left in a boulder field to mark the path down, officials said."
Now is this just the usual journalism pushing-conflict-where-none-exists or was something nefarious going on?
Will there be an After Action Review, an AAR? What will it reveal?
As a participant and leader in numerous outdoor team building events, I see how things can go off the rails.
Once, bowhunters trudged nearby a team's individual solo retreat amidst trees and bushes like the deer they were hunting!
At night, a rowing boat and crew I was ineptly captaining as a participant just missed smashing into coastal rocks.
Or, a participant clad only in shorts and t-shirt could develop hypothermia from an unexpected deluge and temperature drop.
Etc.
As we know, there is risk in any wilderness adventure. Often the higher the controlled risk, the more to be learned.
The best planned adventures are ones that have anticipated most contingencies.
Foremost, you never leave anyone behind.
If a person is slower than the group, assign someone, usually a co-group leader with a satellite phone to stay with the loner.
Always be prepared, as Boy Scouts say, for worst case scenarios.
A first aid kit and expertise in how to use it are essential.
And, if the group is in conflict - like my Tom the Turkey's Tale of a flock intent on pecking to death an injured turkey, one of their own - that has to be resolved on the spot.
Avoidance - which may well have been what occurred on the mountain - is negligence.
Mr. Stephanides appears to want to put this sorry mess behind him. His alma mater (University of Florida) published an interview on October 1, Fueled by determination, double Gator Steve Stephanides survives 30 hours on a Colorado mountain.
The story tells of his survival but makes no reference to why he went solo or why the team did not report him missing until 9PM.
Bottom line: I would stay clear of any future wilderness adventures with this crew of co-workers until there is an AAR with clear resolution of what happened and how to prevent it ever happening again.

*Image created by Microsoft Copilot AI, October 30, 2024.
___________
John's books can be ordered via these links:
Fables for Leaders
&
Leading from the Middle

Copyright all text by John Lubans 2024

An Immodest Proposal

Posted by jlubans on October 23, 2024  •  Leave comment (0)

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It's been a while since my last essay.
In a dry spell, some suggest turning to AI.
But, I derive satisfaction from writing my own words, from creating in my head and transferring to e-paper.
I've used AI to recast something I've written, but to ask it to take a pile of my raw words and to make it sensible just ain't playing the game nor is the product worth reading.
Anyway, I am back.

You can blame Edgar Wallace* (or my reading too many action hero comic books in my youth) for what I have been thinking lately.
When I first read Wallace?\'s Four Just Men (1905) I was intrigued and tantalized. The story is about four wealthy men who form a secret society dedicated to executing prominent public figures they deem corrupt or harmful. In other words, vigilante justice, Dirty Harry, maybe Philip Marlowe but more likely Mike Hammer.
Of late, I've been bemused by the hapless impotence of governments, law enforcement, and private agencies to deal with criminal hackers - located in distant (and often hostile) lands - who insinuate malware and lock up, e.g. hospital data centers, and demand ransom. Unless you pay the ransom, your system stays locked and harms countless individuals.
While there's much hand wringing by authorities, the hackers dirty work eludes the law with impunity - there's complicity (backscratching) between the local government and the hackers including, more than likely sharing in the plunder.
Our hands are tied, whine the authorities because we, unlike the hackers and their sponsors, respect and abide by rules for sovereign nations even when that nation permits evil behavior.
These hackers are overtly criminal - eating Cheetos in your raggedy underwear while e-kidnapping hospital data should qualify one for that designation - so why not form an extrajudicial action group, akin to the Four Just Men, to detect, counter, and eliminate these extortionists?
And, along the way, steal their keys to offset their malware.
First, do something straight out of an Edgar Wallace book.
Nail a forewarning, to their physical front door(s). Word it something like one of Wallace's lurid book jackets:
Unless you stop, We shall have no other course to pursue but to fulfill our promise. You will die at Eight in the Evening.
Once read, I imagine more than a little consternation among the perps. How did they find me/us? Who put up the note? Where's our protection? I'm busy at 8, can I re-schedule?
If the forewarning is ignored, the action force can either do the Four Just Men thing or exercise other options.
Such as?
First, expose and humiliate the hackers - publish their mug shots. They wear dark glasses and hoodies for a reason.
Intercept and disrupt the hackers local source of electric power. Then, super charge the current and fry their hardware - a la certain exploding pagers - including refrigerators, tvs and wall clocks and their George Foreman Panini Presses.
Step two: Identify and confiscate their e-assets.
As well, sanction in painful ways, their corrupt enablers. Fry their home appliances; the lady of the house will make a forceful point far beyond an embargo on their bank account.
If to no avail, then unleash the final option. A particularly colorful way - like a Bruce Willis pic- would involve precise and explosive drones!

*Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was a prolific British writer known for his sensational detective, gangster, and adventure stories. His first major success came with ?The Four Just Men? (1905).

Next blog: Wanted: A Few Good People. How to Implement Elon Musk's proposed Government Productivity Council, starting - with urgency - Internet Access for Rural Areas and Electric Charger networks.

Copyright all text John Lubans 2024.

Sunsets and Sunrises

Posted by jlubans on September 23, 2024  •  Leave comment (3)

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Caption: Photo by Lorne Kenyon, sunset over Whatcom County, WA, USA Sept 3, 2024

After a friend's passing, I decided to set my lack of a sympathetic awareness to the tune of a country western song with the first stanza written by me with a chorus by Chat GPT:

My old friend sends me photos of sunsets
I'm still looking at sunrises
A few days later, I hear he's died
I should have known better
Ain't that the way it is, when you should know better you don't and
When you do know better it don't matter


Chorus:
Ain't that the way it is, when you should know better you don't
And when you do know better it don't matter
Life's a winding road, full of twists and turns
Lessons learned too late, and bridges burned.


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Caption: Sunrise on Three Mile Pond, Sept 18, 2024. Windsor Maine USA by John Lubans.
___________
John's books can be ordered via these links:
Fables for Leaders
&
Leading from the Middle

Copyright all text and Three Mile Pond photo by John Lubans 2024

Sweet Enlightenment: A Tribute to Andris Vilks

Posted by jlubans on September 11, 2024  •  Leave comment (0)

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Caption: Detail of illustration by Leila Snēbaha, 10 years old.* See her full illustration below.

A few months ago I was asked to take part in a project to commemorate Andris Vilks career and retirement as the Director of the National Library of Latvia. It was to be in the shape of an album amicorum, as the genre was known during its heyday in the 16th to the 19th centuries. A friends book consists of inscriptions, signatures, and sometimes even drawings from a person's friends.
I was inspired and delighted to take part. The bound Friends book was presented to Andris on August 26, 2024. A pdf version of the book can be found here.
Here's my contribution to the Liber Amicarum et Amicorum in Honour of Andris Vilks:
I recall my first one-on-one meeting with Andris Vilks.
It was during the snowy winter of 2011 at the old National Library building on K. Barona.
Due to the ongoing financial crisis, the building was dark, most lights were off. The heat was barely enough to prevent the water pipes from freezing.
We conversed in his dark office; the wintry light coming through the windows.
What a contrast to today's Castle of Light the new National Library!
Since that first visit, I've interviewed Andris several times about his leadership and how he overcomes obstacles and inspires others. In his younger days, when he was the captain of his basketball team he realized: I never like losing, and I never give up.
Now he captains a team of 400.
At the new building's grand opening in August of 2014, Gunnar Birkerts, the architect, likened Andris to a lion! Mr. Birkerts was saluting Andris' leonine courage and unwavering stamina in overcoming resistance.
In 2016, in the new building, I asked Andris, What's next? My question assumed his monumental task was done and now it was time to leisurely follow his many scholarly pursuits.
No, he told me, there was much, much more to do.
The building is only the skin. Now the focus is on what goes on inside. He shared with me a Herculean to do list, many of which have been achieved or are in good progress.
Indeed, the castle of light is a beehive of activity.
A beacon of sweet enlightenment.

Use the jpg
Caption: Full illustration. Leila is the daugher of Alise Snēbaha who designed my book, Fables for Leaders (illustrated by Beatrice Coron).
Clearly, Leila already shares several of her mother's artistic abilities.
Bee keeping and honey are among Latvia's defining national attributes.

John's books can be ordered via these links:
Fables for Leaders
&
Leading from the Middle

Copyright all text by John Lubans 2024

Ambrose Bierce's An Optimist*

Posted by jlubans on September 08, 2024  •  Leave comment (0)

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Caption: Room and Board, ChatGPT. OpenAI, 7 Sept. 2024

Two Frogs in the belly of a snake were considering their
altered circumstances.
This is pretty hard luck, said one.
Don't jump to conclusions, the other said;
we are out of the wet and provided with board and
lodging.

With lodging, certainly, said the First Frog;
but I don't see the board.
You are a croaker, the other explained.
We are ourselves the board.
---------------------
What, pray tell, does this have to do with the modern world of work?
Quite a bit.
The snake is any boss or organization that exploits and uses up its workers, be it a financial firm that drives its bankers to mental exhaustion or a sweat shop of workers doing hazardous work, all to pay the rent.

* *Source: FANTASTIC FABLES By AMBROSE BIERCE
New York and London:
G. P. PUTNAM?S SONS, The Knickerbocker Press 1899

For more insightful (and eternal) workplace fables, for imaginative discussion, from all eras and cultures, get this book. Order from BookBaby:


Copyright commentary John Lubans 2024

Ambrose Bierce's A Needless Labour*

Posted by jlubans on August 19, 2024  •  Leave comment (0)

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After waiting many a weary day to revenge himself upon a Lion for some unconsidered manifestation of contempt, a Skunk finally saw him coming, and posting himself in the path ahead uttered the inaudible discord of his race.
Observing that the Lion gave no attention to the matter, the Skunk, keeping carefully out of reach, said:
Sir, I beg leave to point out that I have set on foot
an implacable odour.
My dear fellow
, the Lion replied, you have taken a needless trouble; I already knew that you were a Skunk.
_______
I have to admit, I ran into some skunks in my career. No doubt, perhaps for good reason, they thought likewise of me.
For the most part, like the lion in Bierce's fable, I was aware of who was the skunk and happily stayed out of range.
On a rare occasion, I failed to recognize the skunk in sheep's clothing and got a blast of its implacable odour.
Mostly I dodged the spray but some of its effervescence did cling and overtime, the stench got stronger and stronger.
Such is life, as Ned Kelly reportedly said, at his hanging.

* *Source: FANTASTIC FABLES By AMBROSE BIERCE
New York and London:
G. P. PUTNAM?S SONS, The Knickerbocker Press 1899

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Summertime Discount of 20%.For insightful (and eternal) workplace fables from all eras and cultures, get this book. Order from BookBaby:



Copyright commentary John Lubans 2024

Ambrose Bierce's The Ineffective Rooter*

Posted by jlubans on July 29, 2024  •  Leave comment (0)

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A Drunken Man was lying in the road with a bleeding nose, upon which he had fallen, when a Pig passed that way.
You wallow fairly well, said the Pig,
but, my fine fellow, you have much to learn about
rooting
.
__________
I've un-embargoed this fable. I was going to use it for a New Year's eve, when It's Commode Huggin' Time in the Country, but decided to post it sooner in keeping with my recent run of Ambrose Bierce fables.
Down the hatch!

* *Source: FANTASTIC FABLES By AMBROSE BIERCE
New York and London:
G. P. PUTNAM?S SONS, The Knickerbocker Press 1899

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Summertime Discount of 20%.For insightful (and eternal) workplace fables from all eras and cultures, get this book. Order from BookBaby:



Copyright John Lubans 2024

Ambrose Bierce's The Shadow of the Leader

Posted by jlubans on July 11, 2024  •  Leave comment (0)

An observation from 1899 relevant to today's headlines:

A Political Leader was walking out one sunny day, when he observed his Shadow leaving him and walking rapidly away.
Come back here, you scoundrel, he cried.
If I had been a scoundrel, answered the Shadow,
increasing its speed, I should not have left you.

*Source: FANTASTIC FABLES By AMBROSE BIERCE
New York and London:
G. P. PUTNAM?S SONS, The Knickerbocker Press 1899