The Sanford Berenberg Experience

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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Message of the Day - Are You Being Good? Are You Sure?

Good Morning,

I recently read that some people have a different viewpoint of what is considered to ‘be good’. That what some consider to ‘be good’ may not be something that we feel is ‘being good’. And if that is the case, is their good, really good, or for that matter, is our good really good?

In my current read “How Good Is Good Enough” by Andy Stanley (http://www.amazon.com/How-Good-Enough-LifeChange-Books/dp/1590522745), there is a section where he talks about how missionaries were sharing the gospel with a people group who held betrayal in high esteem. That is, these peoples thought it was good to get into the good graces of others then the ‘stab them in the back’ figuratively. In this case, these folks thought Judas Iscariot was the hero.

These peoples saw this behavior as good. They esteemed this behavior and people who exhibited it. Although this is not a feeling or value I share with these people, but it makes me think.

There are many different perspectives held by many different people, and often the viewpoints held by others do not match those we hold. This means what we consider to ‘be good’ may not, in fact, be thought of as ‘being good’ by others. What we think of that is ‘the bomb’ may be a dud to others.

Assuming that what we hold as important and valuable to us may actually not be important at all to others, and at the same time, what we hold as unimportant may be all important to others.

This also ties into customs. Dr. Todd Arwood shared with me that when giving business cards to a person from Japan, it should be treated reverently, and held in its own case. To the Japanese the business card is a revered item, and to pull it out of your wallet where you keep everything else, demeans it, and thus demeans you in their eyes.

So what does this all mean?

It means that we need to get a better understanding between us and the other people we deal with if we are to truly communicate and work with them. This does not mean that we have to agree with everything that the others we deal with believe, but we should make the effort to at least understand what they are thinking.

Get passed assumptions and work toward understanding. It will help clear up many many issues, like ‘being good’.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

502-533-9336

Monday, February 2, 2009

Message of the Day: Being Adaptable to the Changing Times might have Saved Rome

Good Morning,

Currently I am listening to “The Secret of the Ages” by Robert Collier (http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Ages-Robert-Collier/dp/0912576111) and came across an interesting section right up front. Robert Collier asks what the Dinosaurs, Ancient Greece and The Roman Empire have in common.

They all are no longer with us…Why?

According to Collier, they did not adapt to the changing times around them and were ultimately swept away by the changing world. In other words, they stopped growing or learning and expanding their ability to change with the times.

Okay with the Dinosaurs, there was this meteorite thing, but not all of the Dinosaurs died off, only those who could not adapt.

We are seeing this same situation in action in our economy today. Like two tectonic plates rubbing against each other, the old and new economies are causing financial earthquakes the world over.

The times have changed, and many ‘old school’ businesses and people are fighting tooth and nail to hold onto what they know are comfortable with and fight off adapting to the changing world around them. The harder they fight, the tougher the economic times will be with them when they finally fold.

This is nothing new. In the early 1990’s, IBM’s funeral was being planned by such companies as Microsoft and others. The global giant, IBM, lost touch with the current playing field and continued doing business as usual; not listening to customer’s needs, but doing what THEY thought the customer needed. Other smaller companies came in and started eating away at market share and IBM did not even notice nearly half of its market was gone. It took a strong CEO, Louis Gerstner Jr., to turn them around and make them more flexible and adaptable, and he did not have an easy job of it.

Apple was in the same boat when Steve Jobs was hired back as CEO. He had to go in and literally change the culture of the company from top to bottom to get it to stop dying. He forced them to change and adapt.

We too can become victims of the changing times if we refuse to change and grow. When I was downsized in 2003, I felt I had all I needed to get a new job ASAP. I had experience, I had an Associates Degree, and I had landed my last four jobs on the first interview. It was a rude awakening for me seeing that I was very, very wrong. I had to change and adapt and grow if I wanted to survive. And that is what I did, two college degrees and nearly 300 books later I am in a better, but still not invulnerable position, so I will keep learning and growing myself.

We all need to grow and learn and boost our ability to adapt. The world is changing, we cannot stop it, so we better find ways to allow ourselves to embrace the new world or we may be going the way of the Roman Empire and the Dinosaurs.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

502-533-9336

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Message of the Day: Being Perfect or Being You

Good Morning,

My latest read was Anna Quindlen’s ‘Being Perfect’ (http://www.amazon.com/Being-Perfect-Anna-Quindlen/dp/0375505490). It is a short and powerful book with a strong message. I love those books.

This book starts off with being perfect and all that goes into acting, thinking and being perfect from the author’s perspective. Then cracks in the shell of perfection start showing up. Over the course of the book, filled with pictures, Anna Quindlen’s message about the importance of being yourself comes through. By the end of the book, it is no longer the goal to be perfect, but to be yourself.

We are not perfect. We may be good at some things and maybe even the world’s best in others. Karen, my wife, as previously stated makes the world’s best meatloaf. Since there are more facets to ones life than cooking a mean meatloaf, or giving the best presentations or crafting the best code, there are going to be areas where we are not perfect.

And that is ok!

Our imperfections then are what make us unique. Everyone has a different level of skill and ability than others. These differences help make it possible for us to be ourselves.

Being ourselves means we have an identity which is ours alone.

Anyway, the world would be a lot more bland and boring with everyone being perfect. Think of it, no more soap opera’s and sitcoms because everyone is perfect, no mistakes. It reminds me of the episode of Spongebob Squarepants (yes we have young kids…..) where Squidward moves to a community where everything is perfect. What happens, it got old fast.

While we should strive to improve ourselves, remember we are looking to be MORE of who we already ARE. Do not try to fill a mold of perfection, because for one thing, it is near impossible. Secondly, if it is not who we are, how long will we have to keep it up? What will happen to us as we funnel all of our energies to be the best in this one area which is not really us?

It is okay to be who we are, and work to improve ourselves, and it is okay NOT to be perfect.

Being our flawed selves is just fine!

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

502-533-9336

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Message of the Day - Where Strengths Become Weaknesses and Weaknesses Become Strengths

Good Morning,

If the title of this piece confuses you, don’t worry, we will sort it out in a bit.

All People have strengths and all have weaknesses too. These strengths are not so glamorous as Superhero powers and abilities, but we all have something that we are good at. These skills, abilities and strengths are what help us get through the day.

These strengths though, can also house weaknesses within them. That is, the strength itself can be a weakness.

Let’s take the strength of being compassionate. You are able to see the human side of things no matter how harsh or rough a situation gets. People love working with you because they know you care. Taking that strength too far can become a weakness. You may not be able to make the tough decisions because you tend to be too emotional and avoid hurting the feelings of others.

Now let’s go to the other extreme. You are tough and you can take on any situation and your emotions are rock solid. No matter how bad a situation gets, you remain the rock, the pillar of strength for the team. People respect you because when the smoke clears, they know you will be standing. Taking this strength too far can also be a weakness also. Being too strong can cause you to be unemotional and trample on people’s feelings as you do your thing.

Going up the middle, you could be very flexible and adaptable. Nothing can throw you off for long. No matter what happens you can change gears at any time and move to a different beat and follow a different pattern. Folks look to you because you are always in the know because you are a first adopter and often chosen for pilot projects. Taking this too far, someone who is overly flexible may be too wishy-washy and indecisive, changing decisions with the directions of the wind.

We must keep an eye on our strengths and appreciate and understand them, but also we need to know when they start going too far and start becoming weaknesses and tying us down.

You see, strengths can become weaknesses, and if you were to start the other way, you could turn a weakness into a strength. A person who is cold-hearted and unchanging could take this weakness and use it to lead a team through a tempest of a time, holding fast to the plan and goals of the team, through thick and thin. In one situation we had a major snafu we needed to fix, which required calling nearly 100 banks to ask for them to fix a problem we caused. We chose a person some felt too sweet to handle the rigors of the desk, and she wowed us by using this sweetness to get the banks to work with us. It was a great strength she had.

I guess whether something is a strength or a weakness, lies in the perspective you see it in, and how you apply it.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

502-533-9336

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Message of the Day - Be A Hero With Discipline

Good Morning,

On Sunday my wife Karen handed me an article to read in the January 2009 issue of National Geographic. The article was about the Expedition of Fridtjof Nansen from Norway, who in the late 1800’s made several Arctic explorations. He was both an explorer and a scientist, being said to be just as skilled with microscope as with a ice ax and skis.

He gained fame from his traversing Greenland in 1888, where he missed his boat back to Norway and stayed with the Greenlanders for a spell. Nansen then planned a trip to reach the North Pole in 1893 with a well built boat, the Fram (meaning ‘Forward’). Incidentally this is the same boat used by Roald Amundsen in his historic trek to the South Pole. The goal was to have the boat locked in ice and float close to the Arctic where he and his team would go the rest of the way by sled, kayak and skis.

During Nansen’s expedition, his ship did not get near enough to the arctic so he set out with another man, Hjalmar Johansen, by sled with many dogs, some kayaks and skis. They trekked for months and got closer to the North Pole than anyone else in history at that time.

Here is the interesting part. Knowing that he was close, but knowing the status of his supplies, equipment and his promise to his wife to come back alive, he turned away from his goal and headed home. That trek home took over six months. After coming back Nansen and Johansen were treated like heroes. When the fervor for polar expeditions heightened even more, he again chose discretion over valor and went into other fields of study and passed the baton to the likes of Peary, Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen. He worked in the League of Nations, became Norway’s first Ambassador to the United Kingdom and went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize for his work after World War One for helping repatriate prisoners of war.

None his accomplishments in oceanography, meteorology and diplomacy would have happened if he did not show discipline and turn away from reaching the North Pole when he knew it would be best to stop. He would have certainly died in the Arctic, another lost explorer if he pressed on. That is a very powerful force of will and character.

Many people cannot, or worse, will not make those same decisions when they need to. They see the glory, the windfall from pushing onward against all good reason and safety and turn a blind eye to reason.

One of the reasons Karen shared this article with me was because while attempting to fix the bathroom sink pipes, I ran into a series of problems. Each problem I fixed brought out another issue. I looked over the situation and then said, ‘Honey, I think we need a plumber to help fix this’. I looked at the issue and realized that if I kept pushing forward, I would be possibly tear up the wall, the counter and who knows what else. Instead of trying to prove my manliness by fixing the pipes, I chose to admit it was beyond me and we had a plumber take care of it. She was proud that I was able to make that decision and chose discretion over pride (not to mention making a huge costlier mess in the bathroom).

I am no Fridtjof Nansen by any stretch of the imagination, but I was able to be like him because I stopped and re-thought my options and chose to stop. This is a great lesson for everyone. Knowing when to stop is a tough choice. Folks often push forward without thinking. Others try to cover their fear of being found out that they don’t actually know what they are doing. Whatever the reasons, knowing when to stop and choose another option is of vital importance in our lives.

I look forward to learning more about Fridtjof Nansen and his great discipline.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

502-533-9336

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Message of the Day - Focused thought and visualizing goals.

Good Morning,

Welcome new recipients!!

I am taking a break from Marcus Aurelius and read “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace D. Wattles (http://www.amazon.com/Science-Getting-Rich-Wallace-Wattles/dp/B001D95XKO). This is also a book mentioned in the 50 Classics Series, and while I did not immediately add it to my list of books to read, I kept seeing it sitting prominently on a shelf at Half-Priced Books. After the third time, I bought it.

This book, written in the early 1900’s is another forefather of ‘The Secret’. Like ‘The Magic of Believing’ and books on ‘The Law of Attraction’ this book covers how to focus our thoughts to visualize what we want and then welcome it into our world.

Wallace Wattles talks about formless ‘stuff’ which is shaped by thought. Our thoughts, when consistent and focused, forge what we want. Although he says it is not a simple as thinking of getting something and having it materialize in front of you. While that would be cool, it does not work, so far as I have tried. He does mention how these things do end up in our life through a series of events. Someone has an extra item and wants to give it away, and tells a friend, who remembers hearing that someone was looking for such an item and one thing leads to another and the item ends up on your doorstep.

Praying works the same way. We can get what we pray for, but not necessarily in the way that we think. Someone shared with me a story of a shipwrecked man on a deserted island. He prays to be rescued, and in the days that pass, he builds a shelter out of driftwood. He is starving and lonely and keeps praying. Then one day his hut catches on fire and burns to the ground. He feels forsaken and gets angry. The next day he is awaken by a boat coming to save him. He asks how they found him, and they tell him that they saw his smoke signal.

However we visualize, pray or ask for things in our lives, be positive and consistent. Some folks I speak with think they can visualize a million dollars and it will show up next Tuesday. It would be great if it did, but more likely that visualization will create a series of events, ideas, actions, opportunities which if we keep focused on our goal, can eventually come our way. Some folks liken this to serendipity.

When we look at how successful people made it to success, it is often based on hard work and focused thought, consistently visualizing their goals and driving forward in the same direction.

Seems to me that they have successfully used these principles as well.

Something to think about.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg