America’s Gun Violence, When does it stop?

Why Americans can learn from the facts of the American Civil war to divine a better future

Everybody has being shocked and outraged at the needless deaths of African Americans at supposedly routine police stops along with the deaths of the Police Officers by a deranged killer in Dallas, TX over most of last week.

I wondered at why such instant rage was tapped into so immediately when the girlfriend of the first man killed by police in Louisiana released the footage of the incident on Facebook? How can so many people be so ‘instantly’ angry underneath the calm demeanour of everyday American life? It would reason soundly that should it be the case, then the general public is segregated into two main groups, those who are affected by injustice (majority) and those who are not (privileged) making for an unbalanced and volatile nation. Yet, following that line of thought, it’s hard not to think about the injustices of 19th century autocratic Europe and how we moved on after learning very difficult lessons. Europe has many social and political problems but is a fairer place to live in today than at any time in its history! Surely, progressivism is alive and well in America with a well oiled legal system that can address such injustice? Isn’t the American dream still alive and coming true for many Americans as it has done in the past?? Afterall, isn’t America the land of opportunity for all?

I did not have to search too far before I realised America does not get instantly angry, America is always angry! The poverty gap pushes the 99% further away from the 1% who are elevated to ridiculous levels of personal wealth. Also, the 1% has a 1% who elevate again well beyond what is considered reasonable in terms of being wealthy. Wealth distribution has become very narrow in America and the inequality its breeding is getting people killed. Many in the 1% donate generously to charity which saves lives in reality, yet it does not stop the cultural disembowelment of a great nation! It would appear the status quo comes at great cost! So, this thought been a little obvious and put to one side, what of the nasty undercurrent of racism that apparently has not gone from America despite considerable efforts by many parties since the 1960s and the civil rights movement?

One might think the issue lay with the bottom feeders of the KKK weigh laying the US nation with racially fuelled violence and oppression in the 1960s as the sole source of racial tension. Over the years, such tension boils over into murders and recrimination to remind everybody why Black, White, Asian, Christian, Muslim and Jew matters more than just being ‘American!’ It’s at this juncture that I came across a very interesting article in the Washington Post by James W. Loewen addressing this issue and tracing its origins all the way back to the 1870s.

Those years were post civil war America and the vanquished pro slavery Confederacy apparently decided to fight on with the pen rather than the sword poisoning the accuracy of American History with more than misinformation. They used this misinformation to create a mirage of injustice forced upon them by the Union as denying their freedoms as States. A cruel and ridiculous lie transformed the pro slavery Confederacy into a pro state Confederacy. To keep the Confederate fires alive and the United States divided culturally from the inside, they successfully managed to:

Succession - Create the illusion that the Confederate cause for succession was based in the pursuits of freedom for individual States when they in fact succeeded due to their stubborn intent to persist with Slavery and have it vigorously enforced without any Union interference.

Trust - Create a cause that pitted those who believed in it against everybody else. If they can divide and conquer making sure others did not trust each other because of race and/or religion, then the cause of the confederacy shall remain alive and develop with the times in the cracks of ignorance that separated ego driven Americans from each other based on these kernel partitioning criteria.

Fast forward to today and apparently the fantastical glorification of the Confederacy can be found in current US School books, which paints a violent, oppressive and racist movement as folk heroes striving for what is just against the big bad old Union Government. As this is untrue and brazen to say the least, why does America want to make its people ignorant of their own immediate past? Its down to this in my view. A powerful yet dark hearted and malevolent group of Americans have a neofascist worldview that has its origins in Confederate misinformation post Civil war. They see it as their seat of power, which they will fight to maintain and grow through transformational leadership of people already intellectually and emotionally weakened by the lies, innuendo and mistrust that traces its lineage to Confederate America. Nobody wants to confront it yet everybody feels it everyday when they size a stranger up by race, gender, religion and/or net worth.

It’s my belief that when Americans face up to their past shedding misinformation for hard historical truth on the Confederacy, then and only then can they discern who they are as a people! Americans need to embrace their civil war demons as part of what it means to be American and with it, plan a better future with cool heads and wise insight gained from all lessons learned. Until then, the pattern of ebb and flow will continue as new generations of Americans are depleted of their future by a misinformed past that refuses to stay in the history books!

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.bcnn2.com

www.reddit.com

https://stocksnap.io/photo/B09CE159C8

Credits;

Prof. James W Loewen in a Washington Post Article

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/07/01/why-do-people-believe-myths-about-the-confederacy-because-our-textbooks-and-monuments-are-wrong/

Bitter Defeat or Sweet Success - Stepping forward into One from the Other

How belief breaks down the imaginary wall between success and bitter defeat

There is no doubt in my mind that I have made as many mistakes as I have made good decisions in my life thus far! In fact, I would argue that ‘the more I learn, the less I know’ as my world view widens and deepens with the years. Needles to say, this is nothing new, which is why I wonder at how folks become irrationally afraid of failure and at times obsessively proud of their successes?

The answer is complex with things like societal attitudes, culture and external circumstances playing an important part in shaping our view of the world but ultimately is outside of our control So, in life’ trials and triumphs why should we:

1. Become overly concerned about what other people may think?
2. Pay homage to a culture that depreciates our contribution by not ensuring we collectively benefit from our efforts in a fair and reasonably distributed manner?
3. Dwell on the actions of others, good and/or bad that we cannot influence or control? 

As a guy with a few life tales to tell, I can say this! If we respond to the above with “I will do it anyway” and not change our outlook to one where we recognise the uncontrollable elements for what they are; then possible success turns into a certain failure.

So, after figuring out that the struggle within is where all enrichment starts and ends, it’s my view that we should change ourselves by:

Understanding the external forces at work in our environment and not dwell on things we truly cannot change. Steve Jobs did not reinvent Apple by obsessing over the poor treatment he received when he was removed from the company. He looked to himself, changed from within before returning to Apple as a ‘hero’ so many years later. In essence, he learned to let it go to a point where he could achieve his goals!

Quiten our minds when making big decisions at big junctures in life. Ever sit back and wonder about what you could have achieved if you had just listened better, remembered something or sought better understanding before deciding friends are enemies and enemies are friends? I know I have some regrets on poor decisions but undeterred by social taboo, I have chosen to learn from them. A good tip is to learn to meditate for 5 to no more than 30 minutes a day for leaner, stronger and a more controlled mind. It remembers more, processes information quicker and provides a better sense of well being. Even if you do not meditate, when you consider your position on an important topic, try to focus on 2-3 good breaths, then focus on the topic at hand excluding all background noise in your mind. Quieten your thought process to a single thread of the matter in front of you only.

When challenged, pure focus must be fuelled by pure belief. If you are right, but don’t assert your beliefs, then you will fail. Those opposed have to by definition play a dirtier game to rewrite the definition of correct... so don’t let them! Firstly, be clear on what is needed, be sure of what you are doing then use your belief to ensure a genuine ‘win’ is realised after finding out what is right for the situation, compelling others in consultation with your belief and stepping past failure to success with a ‘group’ effort. A solid approach like that with pure focus delivered by pure belief cannot be easily derailed.

Too often, folks fall prey to the temptation of bitter recourse for a situation that “may” harm one’s enemies but ultimately will harm themselves. Gandhi once said “If you change yourself you will change the world.” I like to think we can… all we have to do is believe and our journey starts from within illuminating the road ahead.

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.123rf.com

www.tinybudda.com

https://stocksnap.io/photo/XPNTVEF1SZ

Credits;

Independent Thinking - Making Waves or Just Making Trouble?

Why independent thinking should not be confused with negativity or just plain trouble-making

We all love the thought of an easy life; one where we don’t worry about bills, money in our pocket or why we have to (v ‘want to’) use the bus to work in the morning! Our career journeys are often primed to identify “independent thinkers” that are destined in our eyes to interfere with our plans for a domestic utopia; with us taking remedial action at the earliest possible opportunity. This phenomenon is more common then one might think and in enough numbers can often lead to a malformed clan culture in companies where protectionism rather than visionary insight dominate the company culture and arguably its destiny…

So, in walks the fear of losing one’s job, being relegated in career progression to the guy with deeper insights and/or just not succeeding like one feels they should ‘cos that guy is just doing better…’ It may sound like a case of jealousy, but it is a herald for more serious organisational issues especially in a company(s) where leadership tends to be weak and reactive in nature.  

Needless to say, this if unchecked ends ups a management issue that can often lead to a rounding on the ‘trouble maker’ to suppress his or her “performance” or even expel them from the organisation in the name of employee satisfaction. A direct chase to the finish line of bad management practice is obviously not the way to go, which is why I would recommend to any manager the following:

Is the person in question a balanced independent thinker, a whiner/neigh-sayer or an out and out trouble maker??? You will find such issues always boil down to the initial person of interest been accused of being one or more of the three. So quick definitions of the three and what to do:

Independent thinker: Articulate, outspoken, creatively intelligent, passionate about topics and can exude an air of confidence that at times may intimidate some. Issues often arise due to misunderstandings and/or folks becoming threatened by their willingness to think and step outside of the corporate box on issues. Defying conventions can lead to ‘witch hunts’ so beware of folks trying to manipulate events to paint a person like this in a bad light. If there is ever a need for creative types, it’s in this information era where innovation happens at an ever faster rate. Direct such engagements towards mutual accepting of each other’s value to the organisation and to each other. After all, absent one, the other will be eventually be out of job when the company fails. Creative and process driven employees make a successful company in partnership with well rounded leadership of both!  

Negativity: Negative, passive aggressively forward in meetings and backbiting anybody they feel like behind closed doors. Such personalities often seek to deflect attention from themselves by targeting an outspoken independent thinker with the traits they actually display. They are arguably the master of ‘dirty politics’ and most difficult to spot as they “seem to be liked” more by the silence of others then by direct compliment. They are socially active in groups spreading gossip and an innuendo in an apparently gleeful manner. They are the proverbial ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing.’ If the person you are informed about is charged with such transgression, I recommend you evaluate the complainant as much as the initial person of interest for signs of deception and follow up for signs of social interactivity that indicate narcissism and a sense of grandiose. Getting them talking about their correctness in an issue at an appropriate time can be revealing in this regard. Be sure that after completing your investigation, the results are impartial and the real narcissist is identified as an issue, which should be symptomatically addressed in a firm manner as they will raise issues due to their inevitable (future) infractions, which affords you remedial reproach. That said, always be impartial but never forget who you are dealing with.

  

Trouble Makers: The need to see how a bad employee behaves can be subtle like the negative employee or down right threatening like the argument makers. I had a crazy guy work for me who at a team meeting in an open space with our team and two senior managers in guest attendance told me to “lay off the drugs” in a loud disrespectful manner when I talking. The counselling session afterwards lead to more verbal abuse on his part where a verbal warning was his prize. If someone makes a claim about someone you know to be like that, then be sure to not jump to conclusions but be ready to follow the prescribed disciplinary process of your company after your initial investigation is complete. The results from the investigation can start the disciplinary process. People like that are not worth the effort and arrogantly detract from a team’s effectiveness and longevity in a real way. They need to be removed and if management don’t support you on it, then find a new job!

So, you can see that independent thinkers are the lifeblood of any company's longevity but if you let bad ones in that carry the traits of negativity and/or trouble maker, then be prepared to act for everybody’s benefit and future. A “good cultural fit” often misses this at selection letting in the bad ones and keeping the good ones out. As a manager, it then becomes your problem to fix it and fix it we must!

About the author: John Mulhall is a Community Manager and newly Minted Software Developer. John is also a committed blogger and from February 2016 onwards, will be publishing blogs every second week on topics around Technology, Leadership and Sustainable Capitalism.

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

https://stocksnap.io/photo/VJF8BWGNNW

www.positivethinkingseminars.com

www.123rf.com

Credits:

Employee Churn - Finding the Curve

How relationships can help you find the curve drivers for employee churn

The old saying “employee's leave a bad manager, not a bad company” may have allot of truth to it but it’s not the full story.  A leave decision by an employee is often made after considering a wider set of criteria internal and external to the company including points of a more personal nature.

Did you ever note that exit interviews often provide a “nice” picture of the company by the exiting employee with a less flattering account on Glassdoor? This begs the question, what drives an employee to leave the company? Bad Manager? Sure.. this is a regular reason but not the only one… What about role, environment, organisational structure, peers, subordinates, other “silos” in the organisation, customers, 3rd parties, under use of talent, over use of talent and of course compatibility with company culture??? Do they factor in the decision to leave?

Forbes ran an article producing employee survey results where 31% of chronically overworked employees thought of leaving the company for another job and 15% of employees who ranked company culture poorly were of the same mindset. So, spinning up the correlation engine, what element has a strong correlation with everything else in the decision for an employee to leave? “Relationships” is the answer. How they are structured is critical to understanding and addressing the reasons for employees leaving, which range from small issues to structural issues within the organisation.

Does the fix sounds like a big task? It sure does but if you approach it from an angle of starting with the end in mind, you will see how your organisational structure, management style, business process management infrastructure, leadership styles, environmental management (Facilities & HR) and resulting company culture impact the employee’s ability to conduct and maintain relationships in the workplace. Contrary to popular belief, a normal person does not want to be a millionaire at all costs, they want to be happy by making a positive impact on their company and society in general. In order to be happy, an employee needs to be reasonably able to maintain relationships in support of this overall disposition within their company’s paradigm of existence. This is where relationships come in with peers creating a good atmosphere and managers/leaders supporting this through consultative leadership. This includes tactical delegation of the appropriate amount of tasks that are framed in a genuine manner as meaningful and important to the company. Many overlook this due to “been busy”, which is counter productive as a valuable employee moving on will make the leader even more busy coping with the loss of the employee and filling their shoes in an unplanned manner! Good leaders count as does a good company.

In my quest for understanding in new leadership roles over the years, my high level approach implementing the above in a functional role has been the following:

• Know Your Team -   Know your team, what frustrates them, what makes them happy and what creates obstacles in getting the job done (start with the end in mind)
• Know Who Interacts with your Team - Introduce yourself to management and leadership peers, find out what makes them happy, excited, frustrated and sad. Find out how they interact with your team
• Understand the process - understanding the business processes around what your team does and how it interacts with the company internal and external to customers and 3rd parties noting bottlenecks, inefficiencies and pain points for your team
• Research the Company culture and organisational structure - from experience there is no real point in creating an adhocracy sub culture in a company that has a dominant dictatorial culture. You will only be targeted at best by other “silos” if you succeed and it could send your team into even more disarray if you fail. Loosely align best practice to culture before you start to make changes as this factors into the happiness (& productivity) of your employees.
• Be a genuine leader - I have met many pretend leaders who care only for their own interests and come across as fake leaders out for themselves. Don’t be that guy, your employees cannot have a genuine relationship with a fake leader!
• Build together - as a believer in consultative leadership, I can tell you from experience that sustainable processes which work are built when collaboration (versus coercion) happens within a team in developing a process from the ground up. Its acceptance and deployment are far more successful then when a process is designed and deployed by force upon a team. We need to feel important in our roles and employees feel the same way, which is why inclusion not imposition needs to underpin any new team venture. After all, we need to know that what we do matters!

It’s a hard sell to some and an easy sell to others based on belief and leadership orientation. Even if you reject the above approach, just be consistent with your approach knowing that relationships are key to employee retention. If you do, you become more effective from the get-go leaving rest up to you…

About the author: John Mulhall is a Community Manager and newly Minted Software Developer. John is also a committed blogger and from February 2016 onwards, will be publishing blogs every second week on topics around Technology, Leadership and Sustainable Capitalism.

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.insperity.com

www.blog.hubspot.com

Credits;

http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2015/10/10/why-do-employees-leave-their-jobs-new-survey-offers-answers/#66ed2d0956a9

Gifted with hope… The reward of the Continuous Learner

Learning becomes a vocation in life for those who truly embrace it finding… the value of passion, understanding and purpose

When at school, my main aim was always the gate, to get home in the evening, the summer holidays and of course for my ‘education’ to be ‘over’! When I finally completed my secondary education, I was relieved it was all over and was ready to be an adult...woohoo.. I’m all “grown up!” <<sigh>> Anyway, I eventually become a real adult and with it came maturity and perspective. The giddy hum of the teenage idling mind became a curious, passionate and purposeful drive to find out more about my place in the world and what my passion is... my “raison d’etre” if you will.  After the Military and Financial Management, I found a deep passion for Technology and with it a natural curiously for how things worked. If I had only connected with this sooner???

The irony of wasting time on things we think others want us to do and then struck for time chasing our true passions and place in life is nothing new. It’s something we all feel and the opportunity cost can weigh on us in an unfair manner when we eventually come to terms with it. At that point, we always look back on that part of our lives with the clarity of hindsight connecting the dots accurately.  Needless to say, it’s not so easy to be that wise in the moment ergo the challenge life has laid out for us on our path is duly set. So, how do we overcome this conundrum and find our passion in what we do before it’s too late?

After considering this at length, I have come to some realisations as follows:

• It’s never too late to find your passion and start again. If you find your passion, remember it’s a key ingredient to your happiness.
• Society may expect a certain standard, if its your path to rewrite the book of standards, make sure it’s a good read and you fit into your own narrative.
• For every problem, there is a solution. As Lao Tzu said “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. Analyse and develop a step by step plan to change career and/or occupation and/or lifestyle based on passion, ability and real interests.
• Learn to love the world you’re living in. Be bold and curious about the world and harness your remaining time in it to become richer in character for being here. It’s not enough to skirt past life hoping no-one will see you and/or will not like you... embrace your passion and the world around you with both arms. Without the negative, you can not really live in the positive. 

 If we can do that, then the tenants of continuous learning become very relevant and useful indeed. What might once have seemed like a hostile concept becomes a cherished companion on life’s journey lighting up our minds and hearts with understanding along the way. If I was to say anything on continuous learning, it is that the more I learn, the less I know. Its that fascination with the world around me that drives my passion, purpose and contentment becoming a little wiser and happier at the end of every day when I think of lessons learnt, both good and bad that have been visited upon me during the day. When all's said and one, I can say... “hmmm that was a good day”. Not a bad ending for the bad days and only getting better from there… What do you think? Can understanding lighten your load along life’s path? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment…

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.communication4m.blogspot.com

www.digitalpromise.org

https://stocksnap.io/photo/1YE1LLNXGB

Credits;

Disruption and Innovation - Change as the new “Status Quo”

Some industries are finding change as difficult as keeping up with innovation 

It is hard to imagine Madonna going out of style in the late 1980s but as entropy carries us forward, Madonna must have seen her pending decline in music could only be reversed with a refocusing of her music, skill-sets set and approach to the marketplace. Madonna has since had a reasonable career as an actress, a highly successful (refocused) music career and a successful career in business. The twice married mother of 4 has currently a net worth of $520 million, which is a testament to Madonna’s call to action when faced with decline. By her actions, it’s not hard to see that she embraced change as a good thing and got ahead of the curve in a dynamic marketplace.

So if an Madonna can do it, can’t we all? I think so! That said, not everybody agrees, which is why we have what is often referred to as ‘the agents of change and the guardians of the status quo’. Needless to say, a happy balance of change and stability fit into every company and product lifecycle that exists in the increasingly hyperconnected world we live in.

The fact is that we are now in a hyperconnected age and to quote Marc Andreessen “Software is eating the world”. Companies, industries and society has a whole has had to come to terms with the new information era and deal with disruption as the new norm. What has become glaringly clear (in addition to positive changes society wide) is that some companies and indeed industries are better at dealing with change and innovation than others. What makes one better at change then the other is varied, but in general terms, the more successful change agents as companies tend to be:

Less dogmatic and thus less resistant to change. Instead of looking for ways to stop or stall change, they look for ways to embrace it.

More dynamic in terms of how one approaches problems with the marketplace. The glass is always half full and not half empty ergo priority is placed in innovating a way out of a problem that creates a better outcome instead of finding a way to restore the prior state to the problem. Thinking outside of the box is seen as a cherish virtue, not a despised vice.

Organisationally flexible to the point where organisational structures are set to allow horizontal workflows in orga charts and project management to occur based on people, not transactions. Company culture underpins this point of people, process, technology, not the other way around in terms of priority.

Innovation as a process (IAAP) is a reality, not a powerpoint chart aspiration. The management practices, leadership practices, financial planning and analysis processes of the company are geared up for innovation noting X% of people’s time will be on new product generation in all areas of the business participating in project teams, idea generation platforms and process management. This “non chargeable” portion of employee time is spent generating new products and bringing them forward to market.

Competition defined by collaboration, not confrontation. A careful monitoring of competition and collaboration with suitable competitors on “common good” goals for community and/or society (e.g. Open Source Hackathons) along with a set of ethics that define not only company policy but capture company culture and employee beliefs. It’s important that the substance of integrity is not watered down by some cheap “certification” by disengaged team leaders on an annual survey that their employees have “integrity.”

People first. The new age of collaboration in the information era favours companies that value people first allowing for the emotional quotient (EQ) to succeed. The days of awareness are here with hyper connectivity generating more and more understanding of the world around us thus connecting with our humanity, which is becoming understood as an essential driver of successful change. If employees are made redundant, it is the last, not the first port of call in reducing costs and is never done by tweet.  

Cultural expectation is one of change and considered normal. The business practices of companies who are comfortable with change are geared up to not only survive it; they are geared up to thrive in it. The culture becomes comfortable with a cycle of innovation that sees cyclical projects arise disrupting their workflow and augmenting it with new innovations, which they contribute to for best possible outcome. They are in essence comfortable with a cycle of innovation/ disruption/ change/ understanding new working reality/ stable workflows/ innovation. This makes employees a driver of innovation, new product generation, high performance process structures and long term financial viability.

Innovation and disruption are often seen as threats, when infact they should be embraced fully taking the people who innovate into processes allowing a fusion to occur where like Madonna, something better is created as a result of embracing change that will not stop coming no matter how much we try to deny it. Even in the most rigid, dogmatic and vertical industries, change will reach its shores sooner or later and now is a great time to plan and effect change not only of R&D, but of the entire company making all functions innovative and connecting them by innovative connections as much as by functional lines. The outputs will herald change and flexibility along with a new sense of longevity thanks to the new version of the company, which is a powerhouse of process awareness, effective innovation and people oriented culture.  

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.colombiabankonline.com

www.magforwomen.com

https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1436377734980-0ee004df570b?ixlib=rb-0.3.5&q=80&fm=jpg&s=c3ebb8709eea2235a3151fd7f9e44da8

Credits:

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/ | Forbes for information on Madonna 2015

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111903480904576512250915629460 | Marc Andreessen “Software is eating the world”