Earth Day 2010--April 22, 2010

April 22, 2010 is Earth Day 2010.  Disney has timed its release of the Oceans movie in theaters for this date and the Avatar movie is released in DVD and Blue Ray as of today.

The earth is experiencing lots of changes at its depths, on its surface, and in its atmosphere.  We hear of earthquakes and volcanoes, global climate change, holes in the ozone layer, and much more.

Yesterday someone I know mentioned a belief from a previous generation that traveling outside of the earth's atmosphere--to the moon--would cause problems on the planet.

While I don't see the cause and effect relationship of our moon walk to current earth changes, it is a good time for many of the people on this planet to hold a focus for healing the planet.  I don't know what the healing would look like--I leave that to Spirit.  I do believe that we can hold a focus (or put out a prayer) for healing of our planet and everything connected with it as a contribution for Earth Day and beyond.

The images of our "blue marble" planet sent from space are beautiful.  With all that beauty it is amazing to be aware of the conflict and crime and pollution that are still taking place here.  Earth Day is traditionally (since 1970) a time to focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling materials to preserve our planet.  We may also want to be doing that within our own thought systems.

New Font for Blog Book

I have been working on converting this blog to a book.  One of my concerns was the type face (font) I was going to use when the book goes to print.  My 95-year-old mother has trouble reading small print and I find more and more people gravitating toward large-print books.

I went to the public library yesterday looking for some audiobooks by Rick Riordan.  While looking for the audiobooks, I actually picked-up a print version and the librarian (Thanks, Amy) showed me the front page with the publication data that included the font used for the book.  The book was easy to read and I liked the font.  The font used for The Last Olympian was Centaur MT, 13 point.

I came home and looked for the font on my computer.  Unfortunately I didn't have it and I immediately went to Adobe.com.  I have used Adobe Type Manager for years and thought that Adobe would have the font.

While Adobe Type Manager is largely outmoded--built-in to such programs as Windows Vista--the font was available from Adobe.  I don't know if anyone remembers the "typeballs" used by the IBM Selectric typewriters.  Each ball was for a font and you had to purchase and to change the balls when you wanted to change type face in your typed documents.  The fonts for the computer work in a similar way.  I had to purchase and download three different fonts--Centaur Std, Centaur Std Italic, and Centaur Std Bold--in order to have the three types of fonts I need for the book.  The good news is that they were available and I was able to purchase, download, and install (after using Adobe help menus) the fonts on my computer (in Windows Vista) and in two Adobe programs, PageMaker 7.0 and Adobe Acrobat 9.0 Pro Extended.

You won't see that type face on this blog except in a picture I will include here.  It will work for the book and for the onscreen version of the book.  I need to contact my print-on-demand printer tomorrow to make sure everything will work when I present the finished book in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format for publishing.

The Emperor's New Clothes--Insight into the "New Economy"

The media says that there are many current signs of economic progress, low inflation, more jobs being created, people spending, the DOW Jones moving to over 11,000.  At the same time nation-wide unemployment remains at about 9.7%. (This is an artificial figure because it represents people actually claiming unemployment benefits.  When people exhaust their benefits or, after a year or more of not finding jobs, apply for Social Security or take a lower-paying job, they drop off the rolls of the unemployed.)

Recently I have encountered many people hired to work on the Census 2010.  Almost all of them are looking (and have been looking) for work and have been unable to find it.  It is good that the census gives them a temporary ("intermittent") job--similar to a substitute teacher, working when there is work to be done.

Hans Christian Andersen created a story about The Emperor's New Clothes.  A child looked at the emperor and said, ". . . but he isn't wearing anything."  The "new economy" (and economics in general and the current economic recovery in particular) is a lot like "the emperor's new clothes."  There is a lot of trust involved and everyone needs to see and believe in the same way for it to continue to operate.

There are a lot of reality checks that act like the child.  The FDIC is anticipating more bank failures this year.  Homes are still being foreclosed.  Many people are looking for work to replace incomes they used to have when, for whatever reason, they were laid off.  States are hurting for income because people haven't made enough money to pay what they used to pay in taxes.

Is this a pessimistic post?  I believe in seeing the glass "half full" rather than "half empty."  At the same time, if the glass is half full, it's important not to claim that the glass (or gas tank) entirely full and to expect to "go the distance" a full glass (or gas tank) would allow.

Editing Lots of Posts--Inspiration--Creativity-Perspiration--Perspective

Editing the posts in this blog to date--this is post #239--is lots of work.  I now have all of the posts in a format that allows editing.  To turn it into a book--or multiple books--requires lots more work and thinking about the details of the posts.

Lynn Pierce advised me that I could have the book ready to edit by the end of the weekend and she was right--it's ready for editing, though not yet edited.

I'll be working on the edits during the week and we'll see what I have to share as the work progresses.  I'm looking for inspiration and perspective as I work with creativity and perspiration. 

Wish me luck!! :-)

Ides of March--Risks of Being a Prophet of Change

March 15th--the Ides of March--the day Julius Caesar was murdered.   A prophetess predicted his death at the "Ides of March."  "Beware the ides of March" has become a commonly recognized phrase associated with this event which took place in 44 BC.

Prophecy is a risky profession.  Stemming from the murder of a prophetess to the Greeks who advised one city state that another was going to attack them, the phrase "Don't kill the messenger" is another phrase that has come into common use.

Telling people bad news in advance is risky.  It can be even more so when someone makes changes and the bad news doesn't happen.

More than merely avoiding "bringing bad news," some of my family members point out that, "if you can't fix it or do anything about it, what is your purpose in telling someone about a problem?"

What that kind of question makes me do is to reflect about what I was going to say and to rethink a bit--often leading to improving whatever remarks I was going to give and sometimes improving my input by keeping silent and observing.

When I lived in California I became an earthquake preparedness consultant, learning about earthquakes and how to prepare (physically) to survive them (assuming that you are not killed in the moment they happen).  While this was important for people to know in Los Angeles, in some businesses I was not even allowed to bring the subject up because it would bother people.  I helped develop one of the first Earthquake Preparedness courses and manuals offered by the American Red Cross in Los Angeles.  It has since been revised and is available in 11 languages to help residents know what to do to prepare for and to survive earthquakes.

In some of my work as an organizational change consultant, I advise clients about how to prepare for major change in their business.  Some of my clients don't want to think about the changes because it will disturb the comfort zones of many of their investors or employees.  At the same time, organizations can be more successful in dealing with change if they are prepared for the change and can take positive actions to allow the change to help them rather than to overwhelm them.

"She's Out of My League"--the Movie

The movie, "She's Out of My League" was released this week.  While some of its language is raw, the basic concept is worth observing.  Kirk (Jay Baruchel) has several male friends who he works with at an airport.  They provide him with advice that "keeps him in his place" (even though he really doesn't fit with the picture they paint of him).  He does a favor for Molly (Alice Eve) and, contrary to everyone's expectations--including his own--she likes him and they start dating.

The male friends talk about a rating system with "10" as the top number.  (See the movie 10 directed by Blake Edwards.).  Molly is a "solid 10" and Kirk is rated by his friends as a "5."  There is also talk about a lower number not being able to date a number much higher than his or her own.

In the film, that rating system is shown to be totally false and people who find something to love in another person can do so.  Everyone is a "10" and the rating system seems to keep people doubting their own self-esteem rather than recognizing their own values, especially as seen through the eyes of someone who cares about them.

The movie has lots of comic scenes and the ending is very positive.  It's good to remember as we age that we are still "10's" for ourselves and others.

Learning and Change--Action Steps for Teams and Organizations

Teams and organizations are created for different purposes.  In general, they have goals and intend to work together somehow to achieve these goals.    This post is a continuation of yesterday's post on Learning and Change.  There is a follow-up post focusing on individual learning and change.

Sometimes teams are more successful than at other times in achieving their goals.  Over time meta-models have been created that help explain what is going on in the groups and teams that make some more successful that others.

The Team Tracking Tool (see slide 12) is reproduced below.  Notice the "Do Not Enter" sign at the top.  Many teams and organizations think they can go immediately from inputs to outputs without moving through the process steps required.  Almost 100% of the time this spells disaster and the team or organization has to undo or redo everything--as well as recover the lost trust that failure promotes.  Note the trust building elements of the tool.  Blake and Mouton developed a Managerial Grid explaining the different focuses of people and production in teams.  (A variation of that grid is reproduced below the Team Tracking Tool and a link to Blake and Mouton's model is also provided here.)

(Click on the picture to see it separately and completely.)

Blake and Mouton created a management grid to explain the relationship of people (maintenance) focus and production (task) focus.  The grid is reproduced on Wikipedia.

(Click on the picture to view it separately and completely.)

 Both task and maintenance functions are critical to the successful progress of teams and organizations.  Over emphasis on one or the other delays the development of trust and the effectiveness of teams.  In my early career in Change Management, I learned to make people my task--thus ensuring that both task and maintenance functions were completed.  Trust is the bonding that allows teams to function well and is a critical maintenance function.

(Click on the picture to see it separately and completely.) (See slide 11.)

 If trust is not allowed to develop, synergy--the energy that allows the output to be greater than what could be produced by the sum of its parts (people) will be missing.  As new people are added to a team, group, or organization and as the vision changes, building blocks of trust need to be revisited to allow for the group energy to move freely to the next area.

Valentine's Day--More than a "Hallmark Moment"

Saint Valentine's Day--the day for intimate companions to acclaim their love for each other in the form of greeting cards and other gifts.  Hallmark loves the date.  There are cards for Mom's, sons, sisters, lovers, and more.

Saying "I love you" and bringing love present in relationships are both essential to bringing and maintaining love and joy in the relationship.

Families develop very different ways of saying "I love you."  In fact, sometimes the words don't come out very often and they need to.  A friend of mine says "I love you" by being a provider in many senses of the word--not just food and shelter (though that way too), also weather, guiding someone to get where they need to be, making sure that their day goes well.

One of my uncles was not used to getting hugs and hearing "I love you."  Because that was natural to me, I shared it with my uncle to his great surprise.  Shortly after that he began reintroducing that habit into his family as well.

"I love you" doesn't go without saying.  We need to feel it and to say it often--in words as well as in actions.  As we do, our own loving is more present and more accessible to us--and to the people we connect with in our daily lives.

A Matter of Energy and Power--and Spirit

On January 23, 2010, I wrote a post on serendipity and synchronicity.  Writing that post reminded me about James Redfield's Celestine Prophecy and the Insights.  The third and fourth Insight were about energy and a struggle for power.  The fifth Insight was about tapping into the internal source of Spiritual energy--the energy flowing from God in all things and all people.

The way to overcome the struggle for power was to tap into our own inner source of Spiritual energy and to give freely of the overflow--sending it out to all things and all people.

In my own life I have found that tapping into the Spiritual power and giving freely (without attachment to outcomes) of the overflow helps me experience more joy and abundance and to see the positive energy around me.  James Redfield talks about it in The Celestine Prophecy and I experience it in my own world.

Sandra Bullock did an excellent job in the movie, 28 Days, in which she portrays Gwen Cummings, a person addicted to alcohol and drugs.  She is given a choice of jail or rehab and she chooses rehab.  Her experiences in the rehabilitation center and the choices she makes during and after rehabilitation make the movie an excellent reminder of choosing life rather than choosing the addiction.  There is clearly a struggle for power shown in the movie when Gwen's boyfriend at the beginning of the movie tries to influence Gwen Cummings to stay with her addiction.  The movie clearly depicts her claiming her own power and resisting efforts to bend her will.

In the Celestine Prophecy movie this struggle for power is depicted in the energy fields around the people trying to influence each other.  While the energy in real life is more subtle, the ideas ring true and I am aware of the power struggle when someone engages me in conversation on the telephone or even in e-mails and in ads. 

Thinking about the struggle for power that Osama Bin Laden demonstrates against the West brings me back to the third, fourth, and fifth Insights. 

While The Celestine Prophecy is a novel, I have found an excellent source for insight into practical spirituality for everyday life.  Many of the ideas expressed in The Celestine Prophecy are also part of the spiritual teachings from many spiritual paths.

Tapping into the connection with God that is inside each of us is a key to being aware of the loving and joy that fills and surrounds us and all things.  Remaining aware of that connection is both a challenge and a goal.  When actually filled with this loving energy that I will call Light, it is easier not to be influenced by people trying to steal power and influence behavior.  Sending  the Light for the highest good of all concerned (with no attachment as to outcomes) is a way to ask for God's blessings to be manifest in ways and times which are for the highest good of all concerned.  This process certainly fills me with loving and joy.

Triple Bottom Line--People, Planet, Profit--The Three Pillars

We have moved from a concept of "the bottom line" to the "triple bottom line."  Organizations need to work from more of a social consciousness and the triple bottom line includes people, planet, and profit--sometimes referred to as the "three pillars."

When we are in a challenged economy, it is easy to focus on the "older bottom line" (net profit) rather than the "triple bottom line" (taking care of the people of the organization and its customers/clients, the planet [green economics] and net profit).

Year-End--End of the First Decade of the New Millennium

December 31, 2009, according to the cardinal numbering system, marks the end of the first decade of the new millennium.  Some "purists" look at the year 2000 as the last year of the old Millennium and, for them, 2010 would be the last year of the first decade starting in 2001.  Using the cardinal numbering system, 2000 was the first year of the new millennium, so today is the end of the first decade.

ABC World News for 12/30/2009, identified technology as a major definer of the first decade, with Apple's iPhone as the most significant technology of the decade.

With the changes to the economies in the USA and in the world seen in 2009, many people are ready for the new decade with a positive outlook.  While there may well be positive changes, year-end is also a good time to "clean-house" (even for the decade).  Getting rid of receipts more than 7-years old (for the IRS) or that don't have to do with your house, may open up more room.

I'm looking forward to cleaning out lots of unused and no longer needed "things" that take-up space and crowd my thoughts.

It's also time to do lots of rethinking for the next decade.  What do I want to be doing?  What is the future of business, especially of the kinds of business I am involved in?  What do I need to plan for?  How can I build an effective support network where members can support each other?

Lots to think about this December 31st, 2009.  Enjoy your evening tonight and your year-end activities!! :-)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in the USA on the fourth Thursday in November.  It is celebrated in Canada and in a few other countries.

It is traditionally celebrated as a time of thanksgiving for an abundant harvest and for all the blessings we enjoy.  The holiday itself has, from time to time, had political significance and, these days, it is the marker for the official beginning of the holiday shopping season (which starts on the Friday after Thanksgiving--"Black Friday" because so many shoppers buy that the retailers move into the "black" [positive side of their ledgers] for the balance of the year.)

This year some retailers are staying open on Thanksgiving to get a "jump start" on "Black Friday."

Regardless of the uses to which the holiday has been put, Thanksgiving is a good time to reflect and be thankful.

I'm thankful for the quality time I am able to spend with my mother (who will be 95 next month).  I am also thankful to be in a warm house with abundant food and close friends in a country which is at peace (at home, anyway).  I am thankful for my life experience and the blessings I have enjoyed up to this moment and for the future I can see from where I am standing now.

I'm also thankful for my understanding of God and spirituality and for the choices I have to make my life a positive difference for myself and for others.  I am thankful for the support I have in my work with Spirit and in my daily physical life.

Surfing Waves of Change

Moving from "paradigm paralysis" to "paradigm shift" is not easy.  Rather than resisting change (paradigm paralysis), it is more fun to embrace change (the paradigm shift).  Surfing conveys the image of embracing powerful currents and learning to move with them.

The economy in the USA is undergoing a variety of transformations.  People looking for work need to stay abreast of the technology being used to manage employment.  When someone completes an online application for work, it is good to recheck it a few weeks later to see if the software has changed.  Updates may mean the difference between being hired and being passed over for that employment.

Beyond the relatively simple challenge of using software to complete applications, the jobs themselves are changing.  More changes are on the way.  Research on education has indicated that many students in K-12 schools are reading below grade-level and that the trend is both continuing and growing.  Since 1995, millions of dollars have been invested and thousands of interventions have been implemented to change these outcomes and the outcomes are still with us. (For more information visit http://joelmonty.wikispaces.com/research.)

Jobs themselves are changing and many of the people who are unemployed are becoming underemployed because funds are not available--and jobs are not available at the moment--comparable to the jobs they have left.

Surfing is a skill that needs to be learned.  Surfing waves of change requires a variety of skills to understand the changes taking place and to take charge of what we can control in order to surf these powerful waves.