Message of the Day - She ate my favorite donut

Good Morning,

 

This past Saturday evening, after working at a yard sale for the Scottish Society, I got to bring home the left over donuts. I had just re-found my favorite, the bowtie, one of Dunkin Donut’s finest. I had not realized they were in Kentucky, or I would have eaten a whole bunch more of them.  

 

 

Anyway, it was after dinner and our daughter, Samantha, came to ask what she could have as an evening snack. I pointed to the donuts and as she opened the box, she saw the one remaining bowtie. She frowned a little bit as she had not remembered ever seeing one. I told her it was my favorite and what it was called.

 

She smiled and took my favorite donut.  

 

I had a split second thought of ‘HEY!’ but then I smiled as I realized a bigger picture.

 

She listened to me and trusted my judgment. She took a chance that she would not like something she never had before based on my recommendation.

 

It may seem like a small inconsequential event, but as a parent it means heaps.

 

Having our kids trusting our judgment as they grow up is not only heartwarming, it is also stress relieving.

 

We can and often do almost anything for our kids. When they mess up, we roll up our sleeves and get to work. And we keep doing it over and over again for our kids. It is only after years of repeat failures that we sometimes give up on our kids. But, until that time, we give it all we got.

 

And when we see our kids making smart choices, using wisdom earned from our mistakes, it is a good feeling to know that our kids have a chance of listening to us on the big things.

 

It may only be about a donut today, but some day it may be about college, a house, a trip, a car, or a husband.

 

It was a good feeling. And she enjoyed the donut.

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
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Message of the Day - Letting Go is Hard to Do

Good Morning,

 

Over the last year I have worked to divest myself of some of the projects and programs that I have led in the various organizations that I either work in or lead. This is to free up time for the family, increased responsibilities at work and focusing my efforts on where I see my life heading.

 

That being said, what I find interesting is that when  you let go of something and let someone else do the work, that how they do it, and how they organize it and how they communicate it is not being done the way that I would do it. In some cases I see novel new approaches and in others I see a potential train-wreck coming.

 

In any case, the challenge with letting go is to let go and let the others who are taking over to have a chance. Have a chance to breath, to think, to experiment, to try, to fail, to get up again, and to try again.

 

The worst thing I could do is run back in and grab control one more time because I have fears and concerns. The only time I should do that is when there is confirmed imminent danger of collapse. And in that case, it has to be corroborated with others and not just my opinion, because we as people tend to get emotional about those things that are near and dear to our hearts and can sometimes get a distorted impression of what is actually going on.

 

It is a learning experience, for sure, but the best part is the freed up time, and the knowledge of what is important to me is getting done, by others. These others are learning and growing at doing what caused me to learn and grow previously. And in time, they too will turn around and pass the mantle onto the next group who hopefully will do the same.

 

Letting go is hard to do, but it is necessary if we want to instill trust in others, and at the same time, show others that we are not control freaks and can let things take a new direction.

 

When others lead what we have led, it will be different. And that is ok.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

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502-533-9336

 

 

 

Message of the Day - The Fallacy of Time Management

Good Morning,

In one of my mentoring sessions I was asked what is the best way to learn how to better manage our time.

The answer I gave caused an initial puzzled look, and then one of understanding.

 

 

I said that there is little we can actually do to manage time.

 

 

Time comes and goes as it pleases. We cannot catch it, we cannot hold it, we cannot avoid it, it moves and goes as it wants to do, no matter what we do or try to do to it.

 

 

We cannot catch time, save time, exploit time, ignore time. Time marches on regardless of what we do or don’t do.

 

 

So, what can we do to improve our productivity. That is, do more with less time?

 

 

The answer is to better organize and prepare ourselves.

 

 

And by organizing ourselves I mean every facet of our lives.

 

 

·         We can keep our files in piles or neatly stored in a predictable system

 

 

·         We can keep our key personal information in a file or try to remember when we need it.

·         We can learn more about stuff we may encounter or leave our hopes on serendipity.

 

 

·         We control all of these things.

 

 

You see, time will march on, but we can prepare ourselves, our environments and our lives to capitalize on the time that does go by.  By equipping ourselves to better perform in less time, we actually give ourselves more time to do other things.

So in essence, it is not time management, but us management.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

http://learnandgrowdaily.com  Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"

502-533-9336

Message of the Day - Chaos is as Chaos does

Good Morning,

As my friend Justin and our daughters arrived at the concert hall for our long awaited concert earlier last December, we saw a lot of activity. People were moving around and people were doing stuff, but something just did not seem right. As we approached some doors, looking for an entrance, the people coming in and coming out of the doors seemed confused. When I was able to listen in, seems that there was a lot of ‘I don’t knows’ being slung around, followed by a few ‘not my area’ or ‘I’m not sure who handles that’.

Having one or two people in a few hundred like that is normal in most organizations. Newbies, or new rules, etc., often cause some confusion as they face the various learning curves they must overcome to become proficient.

Having most of the people in a few hundred not sure what is going on is a recipe for chaos.

We were able to finally find the main entrance and see what was supposed to go on, based on a few folks who seemed to have a clue. The sad part was that very little of what was supposed to go on, went on. One group was to go in early, so they lined up early, but never went in until the start of the concert. The lines to the doors were just going in all different directions, and then split several times so there were multiple lines going around in circles and along the walls, etc. It was quite amusing. No one was managing it, so it just happened.

When there is no control or brains in charge of an operation, or even a waiting line, entropy will enter. Left to its own devices, unless someone or something runs control over that operation, it will mutate and move toward chaos. What we end up with is often very different from what we start with.

When we lead a project or a team or an organization, there must be some form of control over it.

Otherwise we contribute to or worse open the gate to unleashing further chaos.

And once that happens, chaos is was chaos does and we spend a lot of time herding cats to bring it back under control, or let it run its course and hope our calls for help will garner some support and not further chaos from those who mean well, but all too often are not the most self-disciplined themselves.

And there are the control freaks who cannot let anything happen without their knowledge, approval and signed forms, in triplicate, but that is a tale for another day.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

http://learnandgrowdaily.com Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"

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Message of the Day - Lessons of Life from our Best Friend

Good Morning,

My current read is a delightful book called ‘The Gospel According to Brodie: Lessons from a blind labrador’ (http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-According-Brodie-Jennifer-Larcombe/dp/0551029854/). The book is in the form of letters between friends and animal lovers.

In the book we learn about a dog born without eyes who the author adopts and becomes part of the family. The author had had some medical issues and was confined to a wheelchair for 8 years and suddenly gets better. She would bring the dog out and the dog at first would follow her other dog, Minty, who had a little bell on her collar. Then years later when Minty passed on, Brodie learned to follow the sounds of her master’s footsteps.

When people would see Brodie bounding along, they would want to stop and pet her. When they saw she had no eyes, just sockets, most people’s first reaction was to suggest putting the dog out of her misery. Yet, Brodie lived a full and exciting life, showing that even damaged good could have a meaningful and loving life.

I think of myself and my struggles with my legs. I blew out my knee again last week and have been slowly nursing it back to health again. I have to laugh as my bad leg now becomes my good leg as I walk favoring my knee. I am damaged goods, and yet, I have a full and exciting life. I am far from fit, and I have a lot to learn in so many areas of my life. Compared to some folks, I probably should be retired and put out to pasture.

But, that is not how I roll.

Like Brodie, I am full of life and even though I have my limitations, I can make a difference in this world. I can help others and I can achieve many of my goals.

Brodie gets into all sorts of troubles, as you would expect a blind dog to do. Yet, don’t we all get ourselves into troubles from time to time, when we act ‘blind’ to what is going on around us?

From the Gospel According to Brodie we learn that with others, we can do more than we can do by ourselves. That we can enjoy life more with the help of those who care about us.

That no matter who we may consider ourselves to be over the hill, or warn out, or limited, that we have great potential all around us and within us.

If we only dare to live, search for and grab onto the wonders of the world that are waiting for us.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

http://learnandgrowdaily.com Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"

502-533-9336