The wrong end of the oxen

I once heard a presentation that included a quotation from the beginning of Proverbs 14:4. That proverb reads, "Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but much revenue comes by the strength of the ox". Now, I want to zero in on the first 9 words of that proverb for a minute.

"Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean...."

So true. It is bad enough having to clean up after my dog in my backyard. (Though I confess that is my son's job). I am sure a few oxen in a stable could make quite the mess. But the point of the proverb is that to get to the value of the oxen (revenue) you have to put up with a little poop (troubles). There is a lot of the presentation that I heard that I no longer remember the details of. Except for this one lesson in which I recall vividly from time to time.

Consider this a new way to remember that anything worth having requires effort. If you are willing to work at it, you will reap benefits that you would otherwise not have. Sure, you don't have to keep oxen in the stable. However, when it comes to working in the field, the oxen make it possible to glean rewards magnitudes larger than if you were to harvest alone.

It amazes me how I zip through life at times expecting that things should come so easy to me. As though there is no opposite end to the oxen that I have to deal with, regardless of whatever it is that I may be engaging in. Then when I am faced with life's stable mess, I am surprised and frustrated by it. What if instead I just expected it, got out my shovel, took care of the mess and moved on. No frustration, only an understanding that I must care for the stable mess to experience the power of the oxen. What if instead I met the work with a smile knowing it is because I enjoy the benefits of the oxen that I get to clean the stable.

"Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment"
- Dale Carnegie

Learning Python

My 10 year old son Ben is learning to program. He started lessons from the Internet and has graduated to a Python book. The book is specifically on programming Python for games. Having a game as a goal, makes it interesting for him. From his first program after Hello World! he has been programming simple games.

On one particular occasion, I recall Ben getting really upset because he could not figure out why his program was not working in the way he expected. In this one life lesson, he progressed more than any prior programming lesson before. He had to figure it out. The program wasn't going to fix itself and to reach the goal he would have to put in the effort. In the end, he came to realize that the code he wrote was not exact enough. He missed details that resulted in bad code and the inability for his game to execute. When he got into the details of the code he had written, he had probably 10 corrections to make, whereas he could find none to correct before.

Ben could have given up. And quite honestly, I thought he was going to. He did need some help and encouragement, but ultimately Ben knew he had to work through the problem to get to his goal - a game programmed by himself. If Ben had no goal, he would have swayed from the difficult path and just found something easier to code. To reach a goal is to achieve. However, I also maintain that the simple act of setting the goal is also an achievement. When things aren't executing as you expect, sometimes that simple goal can offer you the persistence you need to push through difficult times.

My son Ben learned more about programming in Python this day than he would have if there were no problems to work through. But what is even more fantastic, is he was exposed to the more macro lesson of only getting to the goal by persisting through the difficulties. It was a good reminder for me.

Used Car Deal

This summer I bought a Volvo V70 car only a few years old for my wife from a nearby dealer. Now, let me first say that my wife tells me there are many blog stories available in this one day of shopping I could share. But rather than go through them all, I am more or less just going to tell you the story for you to enjoy.

Buying a car from a dealer is actually fun for me. I did the research I needed ahead of our excursion so my negotiation would be prepared and we knew pretty much what we wanted. I spent time preparing my wife for her role in the negotiation and how things would likely play out. We checked around online for inventory then we headed out.

Our event took approximately 10 hours. One of the greatest things that made my negotiation easiest was the ability to use a loan calculator on my iPhone. I was able to immediately evaluate every offer and counter offer on the spot. If it didn't get me where I wanted to be, I said no. It was awesome. I was surprised that more salespeople didn't have something like this themselves while we were looking at the cars. I kind of felt like it gave me more influence in the negotiation at that stage.

The hard part for most car negotiations seems to be saying no. I warned my wife about this. We talked about keeping in mind alternatives and that there are many cars out there we would be happy with not just one. But once my wife starting driving some, all of that planning changed a little. She certainly didn't want to walk away and say no. At that point she wanted a car. And I found myself in negotiation with my wife and the dealership. My original plan was to let my wife try to do the negotiation, but I quickly realized I needed to take it over. And as I said, I kind of enjoy it whenever I have to do negotiations anyway so it was probably better for both of us.

So with my iPhone in hand, I hammered out my scenario and prepared my wife that I would walk away without the car she selected if the car dealership didn't meet me there. She readily agreed. Then it all fell apart. They offered $1500 less for our trade in. They were $1000 more on the price than I wanted to be at. The interest rate I was offered was 1.5% more than I thought I could get. The dealership manager said he could not move my trade in for the price I wanted. He couldn't give me the interest rate I wanted unless we bought a new car. And he already discounted the price to cut halfway through his margin so could not go any more. My wife would have signed the deal right there. But we didn't.

One thing I have noticed in my career about negotiations is the influence time has. The more someone invests in the negotiation, the more they are willing to make concessions. We spent another 3 hours at the dealer working out our deal. We drove cars again. Held to our number. Asked for more. When told by the manager he could do no more for us, we went to our car to leave where we were followed by our salesperson, who had about 4 hours invested in us. I have to say, at that point my wife was begging me to just buy the car as we were only $250 away from my number. I said no and was perfectly fine with driving away in our undervalued trade in vehicle.

To make a long story short. My wife was mortified at the end of the day, and probably embarrassed throughout the negotiations. But near 5 hours after our first offer by the dealership manager we drove away in the car my wife wanted. I received the additional $1500 for our trade in to get the full value, I got the additional $1000 off the price of the vehicle we were buying and I locked up an interest rate 2% lower than we started. Now let me be clear, the dealer made their money as well, though maybe not as much as they had hoped. And they certainly wanted me off the lot (they traded salespeople on us several times). In the end, we got a fair deal and they sold a car. When both parties keep working at it, a good negotiation can be reached in most situations.

My wife said if we look, the salesperson probably wrote their own blog the next day and would be telling a different experience. It would be interesting to read that one. She also said after reading my blog entry, it sounded more mild than it was. As I mentioned, it was pretty obvious the salespeople and manager wanted me off the lot. The manager, after handing us off to another salesperson, made every attempt to avoid us. I don't know if he was worried he would have to give up more or what, but he steered far clear of us until we signed the papers. There was a document fee of $10 that the dealership forgot to tell me about. Both my wife and the dealership were visibly concerned that I was going to walk away due to that $10 when they told me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out $10 in 1 dollar bills and told them I didn't want to finance that. I thought it was funny even though I kept a serious poker face. No one else did, in fact they all looked at me in shock. So I put the money back in my pocket and said it was ok, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. When we finally got into our new car to drive off, there was a vehicle warning light about a bulb that had just burned out. The salesperson was calling the manager over to help but he refused to come over. I think he was exhausted with us.

Finally, I should add the detail of the story that I purposefully wore my black t-shirt that said, "No, I will not fix your computer..." that day. I think in some small way wearing a shirt that said "no" on it helped send a message that I wasn't going to easily say "yes". I can't quantify it, but I would do it again next time I go shopping for a vehicle.

I don't know if this was a helpful blog entry or not, but it was sure fun to write.

Ropes Course

I have this really awesome team at work that works for me that typifies the 'work hard, play hard' attitude. I will leave the ugly work details out of this blog entry. But the play hard part of our propensity brought us to a ropes course at Colorado State University on September 2, 2011.

The first thing I need to say is, being that high off the ground is a great equalizer. It just doesn't feel natural. So anyone who pushes beyond what they believe their limits may be deserves applause. Everyone on my team did just that and we all walked away from the day learning more about ourselves and our team.

The two things I personally had to muster the courage for was a leap of faith and a blindfolded walk. I did the blind fold walk first. It was 28 feet in the air. I climbed without sight and transitioned to a small platform. From there I blindly stepped off onto a telephone pole that I walked horizontally across until reaching the other side. Little did I know that the horizontal pole I was walking on tapered thinner as I walked! The leap of faith I had to climb a telephone pole that was about 16 feet high. I stood on top of it and launched myself out to catch a trapeze bar.

I am happy to say I was successful in all of my challenges and required a little more from myself than I would have imagined. That is the thing about team building. I had people on the ground encouraging me and helping me go farther than I would have on my own. I was genuinely happy for each person on my team who achieved and accomplished throughout the events of the day. Too often companies don't remember the importance to let teams achieve together outside of the workplace. My team was already a good team, now they will be even better.

I wrote this blog today only as a reminder that even during recession-like times, an investment in people can give the biggest returns. Sometimes I think we lose sight of that. September 2, 2011 was not one of those days. Not all team building has to cost money. We did a geocaching challenge in the Spring and once a quarter play a board game instead of a staff meeting, both of which cost us virtually nothing.

So what's next? Well we have talked about white water rafting, trap shooting, ghost hunting and snowshoeing. If any of that sounds like fun, get your waivers signed and do some real team building with your own teams. There is no better way to build trust in the work place than having someone hold a rope that will keep you from a 30 foot fall to the ground.

September 11, 2001

On Tuesday September 04, 2001, I was on top of the World Trade Center. I recall looking down at the Statue of Liberty and commenting to myself how small it appeared, knowing how large it is. I was staying in a hotel next door as I was traveling for business. I recall putting my back against the side of the building on its corner outside and looking up to experience vertigo, one week before the tragedy of the day we know as 9/11.

It could have been me.

I have not returned to New York since that time. Though I don't talk about it much, I don't know if I could easily visit the city again. The height at which I stood on the top floor of that building and the lasting imprint it left in my mind would make it difficult for me. I recall people joking in the lobby of the World Trade Center about bombs. I think of the security guards in the building who would be there a week later. I remember the awkward silence of the elevator ride to the top. When the silence was broken, it was with a nervousness not typical for a simple elevator ride.

My kids in school had an assignment this week which included asking my wife and I about September 11, 2001. For the first time in 10 years, I watched a video online of the tragic events that day with my children. My wife and I could barely watch it, and she left the room. My children are distanced from the tragedy of that day, while for us it remains very real. We remember what we were doing that day. My son was barely 5 months old and my wife held him in her arms while she saw the events unfold over the news. I was again traveling on business, fortunately within driving distance of our home this time. I walked down into the hotel lobby where people huddled around a television viewing the shock of the towers falling in disbelief and trying to sort out what it meant.

The fallen heroes of that day test my own grit when I consider their bravery. Would I have run into the building to save others or would I run away seeking my own safety? Would I give my own life for that of a stranger who happened to be in the World Trade Center that day - a stranger that I know not if they are good or bad? Would a cry for help be enough to motivate me to run inside a collapsing building, not knowing what other threats might still exist or even what these events all meant? Today, I honestly do not know the answer to these questions. Tomorrow, I hope to never have to answer them.

It is often repeated "Never Forget" when it comes to that day in U.S. history. Though it is not an all consuming thing for me, I don't know that I could simply forget. When I think about that day, I am haunted by how different things might have been if terrorism had selected 9/04 instead.

So this morning I ask my self one question. Am I living a life worthy of being saved by one of 9/11's fallen heroes? Because it could have been me who needed them.

Wisdom

Though I am not an expert, the word wisdom seems far less often used today. There is no shortage of the pursuits of wealth, knowledge, and love. But the pursuit of wisdom seems to be fast becoming a lost passion.

Perhaps a common definition of wisdom is in order. I did a cursory check at definitions online and most aligned to my own definition of wisdom. I believe wisdom to be the practical application of knowledge. It is an important distinction from knowledge itself in that it is more than just the acquisition of information and learning. It is the means by which that knowledge is applied in a lasting and meaningful way which defines wisdom.

Whenever I consider the pursuit of wisdom I think of leadership. The biblical reference of Solomon is perhaps the greatest example of wisdom the world has known. At the time of his ascension to the throne, God offered King Solomon one thing of whatever he would ask. Most kings would have requested power, wealth or honor. Solomon requested wisdom so that he might rightly rule the people. Solomon was given his request of wisdom in large measure. In addition, Solomon was given those things he did not ask for. King Solomon was further given power, wealth and honor greater than any king before or after his reign. For without wisdom, those other gifts would have been squandered.

It is for this reason, I don't mind the gray hairs I may display. To me, they act as a trophy that proclaim a level of wisdom only gained through experience and time. Those unable to produce a gray hair on their chin or temples should consider it an outward sign of an inward need to consider the wisdom of the more experienced.

We all float in and out of various capacities where we ourselves are leaders. If you think you have all of the answers, you don't. Instead, stand in the counsel of others. Relentlessly pursue wisdom so that you might rightly lead others. For if you expect to answer all of life's questions on your own, you will eventually fail and lead others astray. I am not saying you should fear making mistakes. For temporary failure is perhaps a path to gaining greater wisdom. I am suggesting it is blind arrogance that is a continuous path towards a lack of understanding.

On a related but side note, I learned from a National Parks Ranger who has since become an acquaintance of mine that owls aren't as wise as their reputation. Their eyes are so large and skull so small that the room available for their brain is actually very small. Therefore, pursue wisdom beyond the acquisition of it's perception, but seek to attain it as a cornerstone of your being.

"A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew." - Herb Caen

Simple

I am all about simplification. Over the many years I have been in Information Technology leadership I have preached the need for simple solutions. The most sophisticated solution need not apply. I am interested in mastering the requirements necessary with the simplest solution possible. Albert Einstein said it best,

"Everything should be kept as simple as possible, but no simpler."

The additional complexity that is unnecessary only adds burden. Perhaps it makes problems more difficult to troubleshoot and elongates mean time to repair. Or perhaps it demands additional life cycle management planning that could otherwise be unnecessary. Or maybe due to tightly coupled integration, invasive technical procedures require herculean efforts for stakeholder approvals.

It is my opinion some of the more innovative web applications recently are, at their core, simple. Facebook with it's simple interface. Twitter with its 140 character messaging. I think you can even make a case for Google's search engine success with its straight forward interface and business model.

So why is it that as inventors we gravitate towards complexity?

I can't explain it, although I am sure someone out there has a theory. Perhaps it is because we attach negative associations with simplicity. We use simple as synonymous with dim witted. We refer to simplifying messages so that the uneducated can understand it. But even with my own propensity to preach this principle, I myself tend to fall into the trap of designing solutions with too much complexity. I require of myself to reduce my solutions down after I am done to identify the meaningful elements for implementation.

Simplicity ensures and requires broader understanding. It requires greater discipline to provide solutions that are elegantly simplified. In simplification, there is greater freedom.

"If you can't explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough." - Einstein