Colleagues,

Ten days ago, I heard a huge crash come from my back yard. I thought a tree had fallen.
 
Instead, it was the frame of my shed!
 
Long time readers will recall that I dismantled my minimally viable greenhouse in the early fall to build one that would stay above freezing when it was 20 degrees outside.
 
What should have been a two-week project with clear A-B steps became a typical Big Change nightmare.
 
Though my goal was to keep greens growing through the winter, I decided to add a shed to the north side of the greenhouse. The shed design became increasingly complex to the point that everything I was doing was beyond my abilities.
 
Six-months after the old greenhouse came down, all I had was a foundation, two bare walls, and a floor standing vertically. Don’t ask.
 
Then it all came down in a heap of splinters. Again, don’t ask.
 
This is exactly why I advocate incremental change!
 
Like my greenhouse, the typical Big Change project goes like this:

• BIG ideas and excitement
• Lots of front-end investment of time, money, and energy
• Stalling as other demands assert themselves
• Collapse

 
Reflect:

• What do you think? 
• Has this happened to you?
• How should I have approached this project?

 
Cheers!
 
Frederick

Colleagues,

I was awesome today!
 
I stayed focused all day and completed many tasks.
 
I was extremely efficient in getting things done.
 
But is my business any better now than when I began working eight hours ago?
 
Did I write or share anything that will help you?
 
In all that busyness, 

• Did I work on things that are deeply connected to our core purpose? 
• Did I uncover the why of some of the challenges we face?
• Did I help anyone get better?

 
Don’t confuse efficiency for effectiveness. One is driven by urgency, the other by purpose.
 
Which one will drove you this week?
 
Cheers!
 
Frederick

Colleagues,

This message is not about politics or teaching!
 
In response to a severe teacher shortage, multiple states are working to allow public schools to hire teachers without certifications and training.
 
So, if this isn’t about politics and teaching, what is this about?
 
Strategic leaders, when faced with an issue, ask, “What’s the problem?”
 
A teacher shortage is just a symptom. Attempting to fix the shortage without understanding the problem is simply putting a temporary fix on it. 
 
But please don’t think I am criticizing legislators because the rest of us do this as well.
 
List the top three “problems” you are facing right now. 
 
For each one ask, why is this happening?
 
You may need to ask why more than once, and you may not immediately get to the underlying problem. What you can get to is this…
 
In at least one case, what you have said is a problem is not the problem!
 
Can you solve the problem by treating the symptom? Probably not.
 
Cheers!
 
Frederick

Colleagues,

Yesterday I alluded to Seth Godin’s daily email from February 3, 2022. The basic message is that we dig ruts for ourselves, but that escaping them is a choice we can all make.
 
What I really love about his message is that he ends with this:
 
“Simple hack: change things in your life to make things better for someone else. Generosity unlocks our passion.”
 
I love it!
 
When everything is overwhelming, there is one simple thing that will make it better. Not fix it but make it just a little better. Stop focusing on yourself and your problems and be generous.
 
Generosity can look like many things, but in the spirit of keeping things simple, here is my go-to:
 
Be fully present. Listen. Care.
 
Is there just too much going on right now?
 
Try being present for someone.
 
Yes, you will get even further behind because you couldn’t afford to give that time away. But when you give that time to someone, you have done the most important work of all.
 
It is all about people. It always has been and it always will be.
 
Cheers!
 
Frederick

Colleagues,

Seth Godin’s daily email from February 3, 2022, is all about strategic leadership.
 
The basic message is that we dig ruts for ourselves, but that escaping them is a choice we can all make.
 
This is the epitome of strategic leadership:

• We choose each day whether to be intentional by prioritizing based on purpose or to be reactive to what is most urgent.
• We choose, when faced with a challenge, to stop and ask “why is this happening?” or to jump into action to treat the symptom.
• We choose to focus on making immediate incremental improvements or cooking up big ideas that we won’t have time to follow through on.
• We choose to invest in growing people at every opportunity or to focus on our tasks and to-do lists.

 
We choose, which is beautiful and scary at the same time.
 
However, what is amazing is that we get to make these choices every day!
 
This morning, it doesn’t matter what choices you made yesterday or the day before that. It doesn’t matter what choices you will make tomorrow. The only thing that matters is the choices you will make today.
 
Try this: pick one of those bullet points and hold it close today. Be mindful and work to be strategic in just one of those areas.
 
Cheers!
 
Frederick