All Done

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." Lao Tzu

Five new posts in the past six months. Yep, I've lost interest. I don't know if there's anyone still out there. Actually, I don't know if there ever was.

I started this blog three years ago as a way to offload as this stuff that was cramming up my neural ports and as a send off I just read all of the posts starting with the preamble.

There's some pretty good posts out there. Ten Simple Rules, You Can't Fix Stupid, Greg Shrugged, The Pleaser's Dilemma among them.

Then I wrote the eight-part chronicles about starting the wine bar, starting with this one The LBV Chronicles.

And I got to use this space to miss Bonnie.

But now I'm done and it's beyond just needing a break or needing material. I run across things each week that make for good blog fodder but I have no interest in composing.

So, if you were ever out there. Thanks for indulging me. It was very good and important to me once upon a time.

Updating the Rules

“The first rule is not to lose. The second rule is not to forget the first rule.” Warren Buffett

Back when I started blogging – you know, when I actually posted more than once every couple of months – I published “Ten Simple Rules”. It stands today as my personal favorite and still the one I’ve gotten the most comments about.

I’ve always been proud of the fact that it’s short and factual. There’s just not a whole lot to disagree with. But it’s time for an update.

There’s nothing in the fundamental set of 10 that I would alter, but I am going to add a thirteenth bonus rule.

13. Treat Social Media sites as the thin-ice, potentially toxic, personal and career altering quagmires that they are.

OK Strouse, you always have a story. What’s this one?

Glad you asked.

I was talking to a guy today who had just lost his job because of something he posted on Facebook about his job. It wasn’t overly derogatory, though to be fair neither was it flattering. But in it he posted a picture of a white board with some company info on it.

Bang!

Didn't even get that second cup of coffee in.

Although this doesn’t break Rule #2:

Never (ever, ever)….(ever, ever, ever) lie, cheat or steal. It will create a stigma that can never be overcome.

It dances up close enough.

South Park had a great episode on Facebook titled “You have zero friends”. You can see a clip here: Zero

Look, I like Facebook. I follow my kids and grandkids through it. I use it for my business, BUT, I rarely post anything and when I do it’s benign. And I’ll tell you something else, anytime I’m wanting to check out a potential new employee, client, whatever, I go look them up on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, et al. And if they’re posting what I consider to be goofy stuff I pay attention. FWIW.

Anyway, as with the other rules, do what you want but just know…they’re out there and they’re watching and they’re paying attention.

No Tone

All of us learn how to write in the second grade. Most of us go on to greater things”. Bob Knight

I’ve been exchanging a series of business emails with a guy who continuously starts many of his mails with “No tone” at the beginning.

I asked him the other day what that meant and he told me that since voice inflections and physical moments (such as an eye wink) are impossible in written communications that sometimes people can misconstrue the meaning of things said (written). Thus sarcasm and innuendo can get lost and the reader can imply anger or disappointment when none is meant.

Tone.

OK, I get it. I guess.

But it makes me wonder. Written communication has been around a long time. Long before telephones were invented and even long after people got letters. Business was conducted through the use of the written word. I’m old enough that I’ve gotten thousands of letters in my lifetime and I don’t remember one of them starting with “No Tone”. Yes, it does mean that you have to be thoughtful in what you write and how you write it, but so what?

Now THAT got me wondering if No Tone actually means “Tone”, kind of the modern equivalent of starting a statement with “I don’t want to offend you”. Yes you do. Or “I’m not being nosy”. Yes you are. Or “I have to be truthful with you”. Do you now?

So I’ve decided the next time I get an email from him that starts with “No Tone” I’m going to reply back that I find his constant use of that phrase to be stupid, insulting and highly irritating and if he doesn’t stop using that idiotic phrase I’m going to ram his laptop up his nose.

No Tone, of course.

Birthday Wishes

“When you lose someone you love, you die too, and you wait around for your body to catch up.” John Scalzi

Today is Bonnie’s birthday – she would have turned 58. Now approaching two years since her death it still seems inconceivable that she’s gone. So much for it getting easier. I think watching the grandkids grow makes it hard. They’re so damned cute and will forever miss out on the massive amounts of love and spoiling that would have been theirs. I know it’s tough on the kids too. Thankfully they’re all grown, responsible, and stable and have great sets of in-laws around them. But it’s still hard.

Her birthday can’t roll around without thinking of her 55th, just a little over a year before she died. She always wanted a Sheik of Arabic theme so the kids organized and built one. It was a blast and something she enjoyed immensely.

I’m hosting a fundraiser on August 1st with the proceeds going to the International Myeloma Foundation. The IMF provided incredible knowledge and support to Bonnie and me throughout the 4 years she suffered with it. I have attached a link to the International Myeloma Foundation here – IMF - who has included a flyer for the event on their website. I hope those of you that are local can attend. I know many of you are remote and will be unable to come; I would really appreciate any donation that you may be able to give so that we can help find a cure for this horrible disease. Please help me in this journey as I continue to help get the word out about Multiple Myeloma and to help raise funds for a cure.

Lisa Roberts, a friend who used to live here in Michigan and now resides in Florida, blogged about Bonnie the other day. Very sweet – you can read it here – Bonnie.

If you have a moment today or whenever you read this give Bonnie a “Happy Birthday”, she’ll enjoy it.

Finding Mark Knopfler

"You win some, you might get lucky now and then". Mark Knopfler

My buddy Brian took me to see Mark Knopfler in Ann Arbor at the Michigan Theater. It’s a great venue just off campus, nice and small with only 1,700 seats.

I have never really followed Knopfler. I knew him from Dire Straits but only their radio and MTV stuff – never owned an album.

So I go see him and POW, I realize I’ve been missing out on music of the type and style that I love. He’s a bluesy, folksy, kind of a C&W for the Celtic set with great lyrics, big voice and of course world-class guitarist.

So instead of being happy to make this discovery I’m pissed! I can’t believe I’ve been missing out for all these years. He has 8 solo albums plus all the ones with Dire Straits. Throw on to that the litany of composing for movies and it turns into a lot of catching up to do.

So now along with downloading his music to my iPod I have a Mark Knopfler station on Pandora.
It’s kind of crazy when you discover something that’s been all around you and then become a little obsessed with it.

So naturally I applied this little eye-popper to the business world. How many Knopfler moments have or do exist? Are there clients/solutions/people all around that you just haven’t discovered? This came about the other day when my Seattle-based company was looking for a particular, kind of hard to find, talent for a project and discovered one right here in the town where I live in Michigan.

It’s somewhat human nature to think all the good stuff must be somewhere else. We do it all the time whether it’s driving to other towns to eat as people in those towns drive to yours. In business we relocate newly hired people because they must be more qualified than anyone close (or god forbid inside the company). Or let’s spend zillions of dollars opening a new international market rather than increase our existing market share with people in places we already know.

Really, we all need to get better at paying attention to what's around.

We might get lucky.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I just got a note from Pandora that they’ve added a bunch of new stuff to my Knopfler station.

Fessin' Up To Messin' Up

“Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes” Confusius

Like a lot a sports fans I’ve been watching the trauma and drama unfold over the blown call by umpire Jim Joyce that spoiled the perfect game thrown by Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga.

It was a very unfortunate incident. Perfect games – where 27 batters come to the plate and 27 outs are recorded with no hits, walks or errors – are very rare. There have only been 20 in all of recorded major league baseball history. The fact that Galarraga wasn’t the 21st came due to the last batter being called safe at first when all the replays showed that he was clearly out.

But this little piece of trivia is not what has me intrigued enough to blog about it. What has transpired between the cast of characters since the game ended is what’s worth noting.

First was Galarraga immediately upon the runner being called safe. Since he was covering the bag on the grounder hit down the first base line he was within a couple of feet of the umpire Joyce. Rather than putting on some spectacular display of theatrics we’ve all become accustomed to with today’s athletes he smiled (in disbelief to be sure) and walked back to the mound to pitch to the next batter.

Next was the umpire Jim Joyce. Since there is no replay for situations like this in baseball he had no choice than to go with “what he saw”. But afterwards he watched the replays and knew he’d blown the call. So, he went to the Tigers locker, asked permission to come in and face-to-face apologized to Galarraga, manager Jim Leyland and the rest of the team. Then he went out and faced the media and said, “I blew the call and cost that young man a perfect game”.

Then manager Jim Leyland afterwards said, “We’re all human and make mistakes, he’s a good man and a good umpire and should be left alone”.

The next day the same umpiring crew was present with Jim Joyce being scheduled to be behind home plate. He was given the out to not umpire that day but refused saying “that’s my job”.

What then happened is Leyland had Galarraga take the line-up card out during the pre-game ceremony, the two pitcher and umpire shook hands then the rest of the Tigers came up and gave Joyce a slap on the back.

So, a potentially difficult player/umpire/fan situation was totally defused by simple acts of sanity. And it all started with the two people most affected – the pitcher and the umpire – doing the right thing. Galarraga acted like a pro and Joyce acted like the good man everyone says he is. No whining, no theatrics, no sniveling, no acting persecuted, no blame shifting, no hiding just a mistake made, regretted and apologized for.

How many business (and personal) situations should be handled this way. How much easier would life be if more difficult situations were handled like this one?

It all started with the person who was the most affected handling himself professionally. But from what I’ve read about Jim Joyce – who’s considered one of the best umpires working – he probably would have done the same thing regardless.

How about you?

Pondering the Future

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Alvin Toffler

For Mother’s Day as well as flowers for my mother I also sent flowers for her to take out for Bonnie’s gravesite. I asked my parents if they would take a picture for me and the kids.

This seemingly innocent request started an odyssey beyond any expectations.

Me: “Mom, would you take a picture of the flowers?”

Mom: “Well, I guess, I don’t know.”

Me: “Is that a problem?”

Mom: “I’m not sure we have a camera.”

Me: “Really? I’ll get you one”

Mom: “No, don’t do that, we’ll never use it”

Me: “OK, what about your cell phone?”

Mom: “What about it?

Me: “I’m sure it has a camera in it, you can use it.”

Mom: “Oh, I wouldn’t know how do that.”

Me: “OK, no problem”

*sigh*

I didn’t think that much about it until I got this email from Mom:

We took pictures of the flowers. Hope they turn out O.K. It was funny (in a way) when your Dad took them to be printed all the places said "we don't do that kind of film anymore” but they do send it away will take about a week. They only do digital. Anyway we should have pictures in about a week. Shows you are up (s---) creek without a paddle if you are not up to date in this fast world today.

Now, my parents are neither dumb nor illiterate, they’re just 85. When you think about how much things have changed in their lives it’s pretty overwhelming. Hell, when you think how much things have changed since they were MY AGE it’s pretty overwhelming.

This in turn got me thinking about what I will be like if I’m lucky/unlucky enough to someday be 85. If I think about change in the past 27 years (the delta between me and my parents) and project that forward it’s pretty impossible to predict.

I consider myself pretty progressive – for an old geezer head – and like to think that I’ll be able to keep up. But then again I’m not so sure. Will I be able to keep up? If my kids request me to do something seemingly simple will the then current technology be like voodoo? I can see it now, "Dad, all I'm asking you to do teleport the casserole dish I left at your place, use your global teleport app that came with your iPlant implanted telecomm device. Just hold the dish in your left hand, hold your nose with your right, say my name and fart".

Actually maybe the better question isn't will I be able to keep up, but will I even want to?