One's Origins

We are taught what we are taught the way we are taught to fit to a one-size-fits-all teaching plan.  Each element is designed to build on previous elements thus reinforcing its validity. Later, once we are exposed to experiences, stimuli, or other input that is not congruent with what we were taught, we are inclined to dismiss it as wrong.  The extent to which this is pronounced is, in many cases, correlated to the weight we placed on the evaluations from others about how well we were taught.  We have subjugated ourselves to being taught, thus often abandoning our opportunities to learn.
I plan to expand further in future posts.  I appreciate and welcome comments.
Thanks for reading. Have Great Day!
Matt G.

I recently read a brief piece titled The Sabbatical by Denise Gershbein. (full text available at http://designmind.frogdesign.com/articles/work-life/the-sabbatical.html).  I commend her for sharing this.  It has encouraged me to share my own downtime experience.
For many hard working focused individuals, the notion of a sabbatical can range from an elusive dream to completely irresponsible and everything in between.  After fifteen years of management consulting – eleven of which I was employed by a top tier audit and advisory firm – I embarked on bigger dreams in smaller organizations.  For me this was truly eye-opening.  I took for granted the more progressive position larger more established organizations took in cultural development. While smaller organizations are much more nimble and lack bureaucracy (both almost always good things) there is, in my experience, a lag in the adoption of forward looking thinking and long term development.   Since survival might appear more doubtful and tenuous, fear and insecurity can drive decision-making.  This might not always be inappropriate for smaller firms.  (For clarity, I do not suggest that large firms need not make adjustments in response to environmental changes.  They may have the benefit of size to think more long-term and/or size necessitates longer-term thinking.  Either way, their response profile is conspicuously different.)  I soon realized that I made missteps in transitioning from one modus operandi to the other.  This was my breaking point.  My proclivities towards more enlightened and progressive philosophies led to undesirable outcomes. From this, I learned a lot – and therefore, something was gained for sure.
While not planned, this led to some time ‘unplugged’ from work to engage in both generative and recuperative sabbaticals – self funded and self imposed.  During this time I did not travel much. I did did however, engross myself with books and articles.  I reread parts of a few books from my MBA courses.  I was, at many times, introspective to better identify my best self from what I have experienced and learned up to this point in my life.  Basically, the last six months were a retooling of sorts of thought and intellect.  Some might find this wasteful or irresponsible.  With every gram of respect, having gone through this experience, I shall disagree.  Upon returning to work, a pursuit with which I am now vigorously engaged, I am now more emboldened to better appreciate my environment as I effectively contribute to organizational growth and development.  This is how I put extended time-off to valuable use.
I welcome you to read the article in the link at the top of this post.  I also welcome you to share your feedback either to this post or to the post of the article itself.
Thanks for reading. Have a Great Day!
Matt G.

I was once involved with an organization that had realized some great successes by servicing clients in a highly regulated industry.  Violations of the regulations drew big fines so having expertise in the area was valuable to our clients and profitable for us.  Unfortunately, such an environment can lead an organization to misidentify the reasons for its success.  I witnessed (and I was told I was hired into a senior management role to neutralize this trend)  an atmosphere were intimidation and distrust appeared to be prevalent in employee management. The predictable result was an erosion of morale.
This was very sad for me because our junior staff were usually of the demographic of having recently completed their undergraduate education – they were young and impressionable.  And the impression being left upon many of them I fear is that ‘Wow, this is what the work world is like.’  If left only with such an experience at a young age, it does not bode well at all for the business leaders 20 or 30 years hence.
My point is that as managers and leaders of today, we must always remember that our ontological selves greatly influence those that are in the position of looking up to us.  We can use our influences for better or for worse.  The former requires fortitude and emotional intelligence; the latter requires only apathy (though ego and insecurity are often catalysts).  Unfortunately, many people in management underestimate the enormity of the responsibility bestowed upon them.
I am not naive; I know businesses need to focus on making money.  Focusing on the growth of your people and the bottom line are not dichotomous activities.  In fact, they complement each other beautifully.  Research continues to support this.
It is our choice. We can decide the impact we have on the next generation. The bigger the change we wish to initiate, the longer the time required. Be patient and have faith that you are doing a great thing!
My intent in telling this story is to share my perspective on a particular  experience that I feel might have commonality with the experiences of others.  As always, I welcome you to share your point of view.
Thanks for reading and have a Great Day!
Matt G.
(Author’s note: As I wrote this I was reminded of my very first position of supervisor early in my career.  As I was preparing for the morning arrival of my team, my boss came by and asked, “Are the kids here yet?”.  I was initially offended that my staff was made akin to children.  It felt derogatory to me.  While I will never look upon anyone reporting to me as a child, I can certainly draw the analogy to a manager’s role involving the growth and development of the individual while staying focused on the goals and mission of the organization.)
© 2011 Vonarx Systems, LLC

What is the greatest compliment you ever received?  Not something nice someone said recently that gave you smile, I am talking about a compliment you were paid unexpectedly at some point in your life (might have been recently) that you know you will remember many years from now and that made you feel extremely proud of what someone else recognized in you.  To serve as an example, my response is at the end of this post.
My sincere request is that you give us a few short moments of your reflection and feedback and post a comment to this blog entry before March 31 in answer to this question: “What is the greatest compliment you ever received?”
Please include about how long ago it occurred and if you wish, also include why it was so memorable.  There is no need to identify yourself when submitting your response but you may if you wish.  When I post a future blog (early April) to summarize what we have collectively shared, I will not use any names in my summary if I do draw upon examples.
Here is my answer to the greatest compliment I ever received.  In the early 1990s I worked for a small engineering/architectural firm and we had a summer softball league with other architectural firms in the Philadelphia area.  One evening after a game, I was heading home and my route incidentally had me passing by the neighborhood of our office.  When I left the ball field, I felt that a call to nature was in my near future but I figured I would make it home with no problem.  Well, with a bottle of water and extra traffic, hope soon faded that I would make it home and I stopped at the office to use the facilities.  An administrative assistant that was also a close acquaintance of mine was leaving as I entered the building.  She asked if I was returning to work later.  I told I just stopped by because I really, really had to use the bathroom.  I will never forget what she said next. “Oh Matt, you are so human.”  To this day that is by far the greatest compliment I have ever received because at the end of the day that is all I can truly hope to be.  I will never forget that.
There is my most memorable compliment. What is yours? I look forward to reading some great responses.
Thank you for reading. Have a great day!
Matt G.

In the book, The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy, there is a scene that stopped me cold in my tracks.  Let me set the scene. There are two brothers, Tom and Luke, and one sister, Savanah. They grew up on an island off the South Carolina coast. Their father was a shrimp boat operator. Tom was college educated while Luke was not. Rather, he went to fight in the Vietnam war. (He returned physically intact but emotionally affected.)  What follows is my paraphrasing of the conversation in the scene.

Luke had to decide what to do with his shrimp boat while he was away at war.  Tom’s wife Sally suggested that Tom manage the shrimp boat operations so the payments on the boat could be kept current.  Luke’s reply was along the lines of, “Tom went to college so he wouldn’t have to run a shrimp boat.”  Tom, interjected and said. “No, Tom went to college so that he could decide to run a shrimp boat or not. I wanted to have a choice…”

For me, this was one of those moments where I was instantly drawn to reflection.  I worked my way through engineering undergrad throughout my twenties while working.  About eight years later I pursued an MBA, again, while working.  I now thankfully realized that I had not pursued my academic credentials because I felt I had be on a specific career path or even to avoid the need to rely on other limited career paths.  My pursuit was for the pure joy of learning and having choices on where and how I would live my working life.
I share this as a reminder that we might all benefit if we look inside oursleves and truly understand the ‘why’ of what we do.  With richer understanding of the ‘why’, more ‘whats’ and ‘hows’ become available to us.
Thanks for reading. Have a Great Day!
Matt G.

Hi, and no, the title of this post is not a typo but rather an admission that I had not completed my thought in my most recent post.
On January 20, I shared my thoughts on an article in the Economist that discussed the upward swing in happiness post-middle age.  I found this article so fascinating that I was eager to share it along with my reflections as a result of reading it.  In my haste, I realized I omitted something that spoke more to me than any other part.  In this post, I want to share my reflections from that part here.  Below is an excerpt taken from comments made by Laura Carstensen, professor of psychology at Stanford University.
“ ‘But older people know what matters most.’ For instance, she says ‘young people will go to cocktail parties because they might meet somebody who will be useful to them in the future, even though nobody I know likes going to cocktail parties.’ ”
This gave me pause. The implication of this is the idea that people see other people as a utility to them.  I am not naïve. I know this happens and it happens very often.  And I do not assess it as good or bad, it just is.  Yet I was taken aback in the realization that my default setting is not to see people as utility for me, but rather myself as utility for others.
Before I get labeled a martyr wanna-be, let me explain this.  I believe my upbringing has much to do with this.  My father’s attitude toward his work (primarily in the service of others) was always to deliver the best of yourself to the mission at hand.  He once said to me, “When you’re in the service business, you give service.” This is more profound to me than what lies on the surface.  I believe that we all are in service to one another.  I believe the ‘pay it forward’ approach yields remarkable dividends – always has and always will.  My mother, for her part, always demonstrated an approach to meeting new people as simply a joy in its own right.  She never thought or spoke in terms of a person’s use or utility.  For her, human beings are merely a gift to one another for sharing the joys and experiences of life.
The impact on me is the innate inability to see other people as merely tools to advance my own agendas.  This might explain why many of my past pursuits of grandeur (as defined by others) have found themselves on the wrong side of successful.  I figured that I would have to “use” people to get there and I simply was not brought up to think this way.  As I said earlier, this is neither good no bad – it just is – and that’s ok.
In the book “Get Rid of The Performance Review” by Samuel A. Culbert, the author speaks to the relationship of boss-subordinate as one where the boss takes more ownership of his/her responsibilities to the development of the subordinate.  This entails the boss being in service to the subordinate to help them grow in their careers.  Indeed, as I strongly believe that a struggling student could be reflective of teacher or education system that needs evaluation, so too might the struggling employee be a reflection of a manger who, more likely than we are prepared to admit, lacks the faculties to develop the subordinate.  As support for this supposition, who among us is not familiar with the experience (perhaps first hand) of an employee who receives a negative evaluation from one manager, is transferred to another manager, and then shines?
My overall take-away is that so long as all parties commit to reciprocity or an equitable give and take, regardless of position, so many breakdowns can be avoided.
Thanks for reading. Have a Great Day!
Matt G.

This blog is my reflection upon reading an article in the December 18, 2010 Economist magazine.  I give full credit to the Economist and the author(s) and I am not in any position to reap material gain through this post’s publication.  My intent is solely to share the reflections I had as a result of reading the article along with the my beliefs on how we might learn from what is discussed.

Last month, the Economist magazine had a wonderful article about the onset of happiness and a greater sense of well-being as we age.  The article shares a good deal of supporting evidence that suggests that once we reach mid-life (about mid-forties or so), there is an uptick on our over-all sense of well-being following a decline in the couple of decades leading up to that point.  Some regions in the world are going so far as to even define a metric for a collective level of happiness.
This phenomenon has many dimensions and each has its own share of theories as to their existence.  Of all that is presented in the article, I have two favorites.  First there is the belief that as we age we are better equipped to seek happiness from within.  As mortality becomes less and less distant, living in the moment becomes slightly easier if not even more natural.  This is supported by observation and/or study where such patterns exist in regions where life experiences are vastly different; United States and Zimbabwe for example. Also, even when externalities such as money, employment status and children are controlled, this mid-life U-bend, as the article refers to it, is still present. As a result, older people tend to deal with conflict more constructively, manage their emotions better and are less prone to anger and are less likely to pass judgment on people who say negative things about them.  It seems to me that we seem to finally realize that happiness truly is an inside job.
Second, and here is where I have greater pause, there is this notion of a dichotomy between acceptance and ambition – a rise in the former ostensibly yields to a fall in the latter.  As we age and become more aware of our strengths and weakness, we become more accepting of what we will not accomplish despite all our grand ambitions of yesteryear.  I celebrate acceptance. Yet I personally am challenged by the idea that we become less ambitious.  Perhaps, given a greater understanding of self and our own limitations, our ambitions become more congruent with our natural abilities.
There is an old adage that suggests that youth is wasted on the young.  Perhaps there is some truth to this.  It is also said that experience is the best teacher. I have long held that in most circumstances experience is the only teacher.  Nothing teaches us like having made mistakes.  I do believe that wisdom is only begotten through challenging experiences.  The process of aging brings with it the ability and mindset to live more harmoniously amongst one another.  Isn’t that what civilization is all about?

Philadelphia Phillies fans are by now well aware of the city’s early Christmas present – Cliff Lee is back in a Phillies uniform.
I listened to a segment about this on the local news radio station the day after it became official. After listening to his decision-making process, I believe he is an athlete many other athletes could look up to.
Cliff Lee will be paid $120 M over a 5 year period. He was also courted by the New York Yankees for what I inferred from the news story was a greater sum of money. Mr. Lee’s remarks were along the lines of, “well, I wanted to assess the community where my family would live and the money from Philadelphia is plenty for a nice life for my family. At some point you have to realize that enough is enough…”.  He further went on to say that his criteria included being on a team that he thought had the best chance of winning a championship.
I think it is beautiful that we have an athlete in town who recognizes value in other parts of the offer than money alone.  Nowhere in any of this were there negative sentiments towards living in the New York area.  He simply recognized he had a preference and included that into his decision-making process.
I emphatically admire him for this and I look forward to the start of the 2011 season.
Welcome Home Cliff!

I recently had a conversation with a colleague who shared with me his observations pertaining to my conversational style.  As a result of the exchange, I have made a huge leap forward towards greater self-awareness, and for that I am forever grateful.  Below, I share with you both the experience and the learning.
As a backdrop, one of the early classes in my Executive MBA program was titled Powerful Conversations, the tenets of which revolved around an exploratory approach to conversation along with the pursuit of clarity. It is the clarity piece that I shall focus on here.
I have witnessed conversations between two people where something was said and it was apparent to me that the two were not exactly on the same page.  In these instances, I would speak up and point to my perceived misunderstanding between them, thus avoiding potential outcomes that could be disappointing at best.
I tend to be equally pro-active in preventing similar breakdowns in conversations where I am a key participant.  I search for clarity when I converse with people.  I am never comfortable with the later conversation that contains the phrase (or something like it), “…oh, I thought you meant…”.  Rather, I much prefer the preemptive conversation (or something like it), “…ok, you said….,  I understand that to mean ….”.  Moreover, I sometimes repeat myself in conversation on key points when I seek to provide clarity as well.  Until this recent conversation with my colleague, I had not been as aware of the effect this ostensible act of splitting hairs might have on those with whom I interact.  From my perspective, my persistence on clarity is only proportional to my perception of either the consequences if it is later learned that there was a misunderstanding, or the magnitude of ambiguity in what is being said.  For me, pursing clarity is how I show that I am involved in the conversation.
What I have come to realize is that the unintended consequences of my search for clarity is the appearance of criticism.  Rather than guarding myself and the person with whom I am conversing against the undesired outcomes begotten of misunderstanding, I might, more than I realize, come across as being critical of the way someone said something or the words they chose.  For example, I might ask someone to explain what they intended by the words they are using. I then might explain what I interpret – or what could be interpreted – by what they said.  In other instances when I am conveying information, I might repeat myself if I do not get some sort of indication, be it verbal or non-verbal, that what I said was received in the manner with which I intended.  In the first example, I now realize that it might seem that I am being unduly critical of how the person is speaking.  In the second, I realize that I might seem to not trust the other person’s ability to either follow along or be engaged with me in the conversation.  Nothing could be further from the truth than these two misconceptions of my intent, which is and always has been, to avoid ambiguity and show that I am fully in the conversation – two causes I had long thought to be noble.
And here lies the epiphany for me.  We all have varying levels of comfort with ambiguity. I tend to have very little. Others have more. So when I seek clarity, I now understand why others think I am being critical.
I do not intend to acquiesce my quest for clarity.  My new commitment to conversation going forward is to be more aware of the fact that we all balance clarity and ambiguity differently.  And, my development step is to learn new techniques for assuring the clarity I desire while not appearing to be critical.
Thank you for reading. Have a great day!
Matt G.

On November 6, 2009, I purchased a block of shares in Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) for $57.83 per share.  Simultaneously, I sold the equivalent number of call options with a strike price of $65 and an expiration date of January 21, 2011.  The price I received for each call was $6.89.  As the option I was selling was out of the money to the tune of over $7, I thought this to be a nice price to receive.  So, I basically paid out-of-pocket $50.94 per share for Caterpillar stock selling for nearly $58/share.
Now, those familiar with call options know I was capping my maximum upside. And with this trade, I had room for the the stock to decline by 12% before I realized any loss.  Based on what I had read and what I learned form the research of others, I felt this unlikely.
Caterpillar has vacillated from low to mid 50s up to close to $70 for most of the first three quarters of 2010. In September, sitting at about $65 it began an upward march to the mid 80s.  At the end of November I learn my shorted call options were in fact called so I was obligated to sell my shares at the contracted price of $65 even though the market price was $84.69.  Sounds like a bum deal for me, huh?  Maybe, maybe not.
If I simply bought the shares in November ’09 with out selling the options and sold on November 24, 2010 at $84.69, my return would have been about 46%. NICE!!!  – But wait, no investor with common sense goes into a position anticipating that kind of a return.  If they do they are not an investor, but rather a speculator.  Not my game folks.  In my situation I settled for a measly 29.7% return – which is not too shabby. (Dividends helped too.)  AND, I gave myself a nice cushion allowing for a 12% decline in share price over the same time period before I would lose one nickel.
I am not a professional investor, nor do I claim to possess any exceptional insight into the equities market.  I do however, take a more active role in my investments than many people. For me, this trade was a textbook illustration of how call option writing can produce terrific gains and provide downside insurance.
Thanks for reading. Have a great day!
Matt G.