Tao of Management Verse Sixteen

Applying twenty-two hundred year old Chinese philosophy to modern business management – one verse at at time. This is my project to translate the Tao Te Ching into something usable by modern business leaders. Just as there is no single right way to lead, there is no single interpretation of the Tao. So consider this exercise worth every penny you paid. Today we look at one of my favorite verses, number sixteen. First the original verse, translated into English by John C.H. Wu:

Verse Sixteen
ATTAIN to utmost Emptiness.
Cling single-heartedly to interior peace.
While all things are stirring together,
I only contemplate the Return.
For flourishing as they do,
Each of them will return to its root.
To return to the root is to find peace.
To find peace is to fulfill one’s destiny.
To fulfill one’s destiny is to be constant.
To know the Constant is called Insight.

If one does not know the Constant,
One runs blindly into disasters.
If one knows the Constant,
One can understand and embrace all.
If one understands and embraces all,
One is capable of doing justice.
To be just is to be kingly;
To be kingly is to be heavenly;
To be heavenly is to be one with the Tao;
To be one with the Tao is to abide forever.
Such a one will be safe and whole
Even after the dissolution of his body.

My Version:
Make yourself an empty bowl
Cling to the stillness of internal peace
While chaos whirls around you
Be the eye of the storm
Bird fluttering around
Will return in time to roost
Keep your eye on the goal
Maintain focus on the goal with inner peace
To find this peace is to define your leadership
And this leadership can be constant
And your constant peace in the goal gives you insight.

If you focus on the noise of doing business
You’ll be blindsided by disasters
But if your focus with peace on the goal
You’ll embrace the noise
And understand the moving parts
If you can do that, you’ll be just to your people
And to be just, and at peace,
And to be constant and focused on the goal,
is to be a true leader.

This verse comes again and again to my attention when I consider the difference between the leader and the manager. A manager solves problems, and leader builds his people to solve their own problems. This advice is prevalent in a piece I read today called “Stop Wasting Your Time Solving Problems” over at Leadership Freak. Go read it, I’ll summarize: Don’t fix things; Don’t give advice. Instead, listen and honor their frustrations and hard work, then give them the skills and confidence they need to resolve their own problems. Tell them why you believe in them. Ask questions to give them clarity. Draw them out to their own conclusions. This is true leadership.

This is a Tao of Management.

[This is also part of my ninety-night blog challenge. This is night Seventy-five]

Tao of Management Verse Fourteen

I’m sometimes intimidated by this quest on which I’ve put myself: to relate the Tao Te Ching to modern management, but then I see this:

Good Leadership begins with with solid values (Globe and Mail)
The CEO of one organization I work with continually warns his staff, “Let’s not do things we don’t understand. Let’s not get ourselves convinced we are totally better than everybody else all of the time. Let’s retain some humility.” That’s the way he leads his organization, and he surrounds himself with people who have the same core beliefs and values.

Which reassures me that there is something to this intuition I have that these teachings have a place in modern management thinking. So here we go on verse fourteen. First the real verse, followed by my take on it.

LOOK at it but you cannot see it!
Its name is Formless.

Listen to it but you cannot hear it!
Its name is Soundless.

Grasp it but you cannot get it!
Its name is Incorporeal.

These three attributes are unfathomable;
Therefore they fuse into one.

Its upper side is not bright:
Its under side not dim.
Continually the Unnameable moves on,
Until it retums beyond the realm of things.
We call it the formless Form, the imageless Image.
We call it the indefinable and unimaginable.

Confront it and you do not see its face!
Follow it and you do not see its back!
Yet, equipped with this timeless Tao,
You can harness present realities.

To know the origins is initiation into the Tao.

My version:

Look for it but you cannot see it.
It is not in your Power Point.

Listen for it but you cannot hear it.
It is not in the latest Podcast.

Grasp it but you cannot get it.
It is not in your RSS Feed.

It is not a headline.
It is not a footnote.
Continually the Unnamable moves on.
Until it returns from beyond theory.
Call it manager-less management
Call it leaderless leadership

You know it when you see it
But you cannot point it out to anyone.
Yet equipped with this timeless Tao
You can harness your present reality.

To know how to begin is the initiation into the Tao of Management.

What Could I Be For Halloween?

I have one final chance Sunday to come up with a Halloween costume. So realistically, what can a middle-aged overweight white guy dress up as for Halloween? Here are some thoughts:

Sandman - Wesley Dodds

I’ve got the suit and the hat, just need a gas mask and a ray gun or something…

1960's Green Hornet

Again, got the suit and the hat, just need the mask…

Burgess Meredith's Penguin 1966

Now this would be fun! I love Burgess Meredith. I’ve got a tux & umbrella, just need the hat, monocle, cigarette holder and that nose…[click image to make larger - it is so worth it!]

Clock King Walter Slezak 1960's Batman

I remember when he trapped Batman and Robin in the hourglass. Strange what sticks with you. Found out years later his father was an opera singer. Love the hat. Would need an opera cape, hat, and not much else, except a ready explanation.

If you see a pattern here, it’s deliberate. I love those old golden age super villains and heroes, even/especially the 1960′s “mystery men” types!

What do you think?

The Mistress of All Evil!

I must admit Maleficent was the only villainess that ever really scared me…

I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night?

“Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is…

‘Who in the world am I?’“

“I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid, Sir, because I’m not myself you see.”

Such a sweet little smile, Alice…

This Post Could Save Your Life

Don’t Worry

This is what I need to focus on for the next 72 hours.

My day kind of collapsed today after work, and I’m worried about doing things right for the next couple of days. Now is the time to employ some of that Taoist emotional calm I’ve been practicing.

Step one: Get a good night’s sleep.

Night-night.

Slide In Sideways

I have an online friend who has been going through some very, very serious health issues as of late. I related this quote to him recently in the hopes it would give him hope, so I post it here, now that I’ve actually found the original.

If anyone knows where this originally came from, let me know and I’ll attribute it, gladly.

Future/Proof

Just wanted to post something beautiful tonight. I recommend blowing it up to full screen for full effect.

Directed by Nathan Drabsch, the performances were shot over one day using two RED Epic cameras, capturing the action at high speed!The DMC Initiative (DMCI) developed this piece as a response to the 2011 A/NZ PromaxBDA Conference title of Future Proof.

found over at the curious brain blog

Ten Things I Want To Say About My Life

When all is said and done, there are some things I’d like to be able to say about my life:

1. I followed my heart.
2. I spoke up.
3. I acted when others hesitated.
4. I took control of my life.
5. I made a difference.
6. I loved, and was loved; truly, madly, deeply.
7. I was grateful.
8. I was happy.
9. I forgave myself and others.
10. I was afraid, but I did it anyway.

I’m pleased to say I’ve got about half of these knocked out, especially number six, thanks to M. And since I’m middle-aged, I’d say that’s just about the right pace.

Here’s three good articles that got me thinking about this topic tonight:

Ten Things You Should Be Able To Say Before You Die
What Do You Want To Say You’ve Done?
Be Afraid. Do it anyway.

[This post is part of my ninety-night blog challenge. This is night sixty-eight]

Specific Social Media Objectives

Nonprofit organizations seem to have trouble figuring out what to do with social media. So what I’m going to do in this post is tell you exactly how to set objectives by using a brilliant post by Beth Kanter over at Beth’s Blog. You’ll get the Cole’s Notes version here – so please, for a full version click on the links up there.

Also, you might want to take a look at this post and prior posts on Sensible Social Media Policies, Social Media Planning, and Social Media Auditing.

OK, so here are some specific social media objectives you can set:

Specific Social Media Objectives

1. Increase website traffic by X% by adding social media content starting [date].
2. Acquire X new donors/members/subscribers/patrons through social media by [date].
3. Increase email list sign ups through social media channels by X names by [date].
4. Increase the number of website visitors who purchase by X% by [date].
5. Increase online and print mentions by X% by [date].
6. Increase “Friends” through Facebook to X by [date].
7. Increase blog subscribers by X% by [date].
8. Increase mentions by X% on Twitter before, during, and after [event] for [time period].
9. Increase likes and comments on Facebook/blog to X likes/comments per post by [date].
10. Increase views on YouTube Channel by X% by [date].
11. Increase number of retweets and @replies on Twitter by X% by [date].
12. Increase web site traffic from Facebook/blog/Twitter by X% by [date].
13. Identify top 25 influencers on Twitter to spread the word about company/programs by [date].
14. Increase the [key target demographic] of Facebook fans by X% by [date].
15. Conduct an constituent survey to determine where to expand, grow, and diversify social media presence by [date].
16. Create one video per [time period] to tell stories about the impact of our organization by [date].
17. Recruit X staff members in various departments to contribute to social media content X times per [time period].
18. Conduct social media use surveys at the end of every [production/program/class/workshop] by [date].
19. Increase visual content creation by posting X videos, X photos by [date].
20. Create and support social fundraising via [platform] by [date].

So, if you wonder what to measure – there you go. Take a crack at these. No you don’t have to pick them all, in fact I wouldn’t recommend that. I’d focus on a handful that have meaning for your organization.

As far as the dates and percentages go – pick small percentages and long time frames (months). That way you can surprise yourself when you surpass the goals. You’ll have to consider too how mature your market and your efforts have been, and relatively speaking how successful you’ve been so far (do an audit first). For example, you can’t get a 50% increase if you already have 80% of the market.

I have too much respect for the idea of God to make it responsible for such an absurd world.

Georges Duhamel

Has A Problem Come Along?

Pursuit of Happiness

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Well, clearly there are a lot of unhappy people around these days, but how do you measure happiness in a civic-minded way? Well, it seems that in addition to having an amazingly charming prince and (new) princess, the people of Bhutan have it pretty well figured out. They measure happiness like this:

• Physical, mental and spiritual health
• Time use (balance among productive activities)
• Community vitality and social support
• Cultural vitality
• Education
• Living standards
• Good governance
• Ecological vitality

I discovered that the folks in my own Province have taken up this idea as well, with the Greater Victoria Foundation conducting a study of happiness of the local population. You can read it by clicking here. (They are conducting a 2011 follow up report right now.)

Turns out Canadians are a pretty damned happy bunch. On a scale of 1 to 10 (I assume) Canadians score a 7.7. Who’s at the top? Who do you think? Denmark (8.2) then Sweden (8.0) with Canada rounding out the top five. I don’t know who the others are, but it is usually Finland, Norway, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia. The usual suspects. Iceland & Ireland sometimes join the party.

It would seem then, that Canada has it pretty good and makes its people pretty happy? How?
Let’s take a look at the numbers driving the happiness index up the most:

Number One Driver: Freedom from Deprivation – adequate food, shelter, clothing and medicine
Second Driver: Social Support – assurance of public support (not family,friends) in times of crisis
Third Driver: Freedom from Exclusion – freedom from discrimination based on sex, race, religion, or values

So it seems if you want to have a happier population you should:

* Make sure people don’t lose their houses, or an ability to clothe & feed their family.
* Give people reliable, reasonably priced access to health care.
* Assure consistent public support for those in crisis.
* Be sure not to marginalize people for inherent traits like those assured in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
* Be sure to provide for basic human rights.

Seems simple enough, no? Not too hard to understand, right?
Just checkin’….

Let me know what you think.

[This post is part of a ninety night challenge I gave myself. This is night 64.]

Pro Infirmis Video Will Get You

Pro Infirmis has a message they’d like you to listen to. No hammer, no yelling, no big budget or big celebrity spokesperson. Just this:

Wow. I found this over on Simply Zesty: Online PR and Social Media and I agree with them:

This is the best sort of advertising in the world because it doesn’t rely on big budgets, complicated scripts or huge production value. It’s just a good, simple story that will connect with viewers. Absolute genius!

Yup. Simple message. Brilliant storytelling. You can support Pro Infirmis by clicking here

Middle Age

I’m officially middle-aged. How the fach did that happen?!? I realized today I’m exactly half as old as I ever wanted to be. I decided a long time ago that it would be nice to live to XX years old, like that would be about enough living for me.

Now I’m half-way there. I must say the fates have smiled on me so far. I married the girl of my dreams (literally), I’ve got two beautiful kids, and hey, I even have a new job I like. Plus I get to live in Canada, which I must say, I’ve grown quite fond of.

Aside from being a bit too stiff, a bit too chubby, and a bit too lazy, I’m doing quite well. Now which of those might I tackle first? I’m thinking maybe “lazy” as that might address the other two, plus it may improve the life of my wife, on whom falls the side effects of this laziness.

SO: next challenge – be a better husband. Certainly she deserves it. But where to start? Well, first thing that might help is going to bed at a reasonable hour, so stay tuned for slightly earlier updates.

Cheers

WIM – See You Hurry

WIM – See You Hurry (Live) from Modular People on Vimeo.

Oooo. I like this!

Gif Back

Gif Back – Kinky Beatles LCD Mash-Up from Simon Victor on Vimeo.

Yay! I finally got a vimeo video to load properly!

Collector – Here We Go Magic

Marvelous Lunacy. Delicious Madness. Choreographic Chaos. Magic. Enjoy.

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.

“The truly wise make no plans, and therefore require no wisdom. They do not separate, and therefore require no glue. They want nothing, and therefore need no virtue. They sell nothing, and therefore are not in want of a commercial capacity. These four qualifications are bestowed upon them by God.” Chuang Tzŭ

I’ll take a break from my ongoing series of The Tao of Management to look at something that caught my eye today, which is the graphic above. When i saw it, I loved the simple art, and the simple message, which to me (initially) meant “Just Do It!”

Then I got to thinking about it, and realized it could also mean “Do. Or Do Not. There is no Try.”

Then I got serious and tried to think about it some more. All I could come up with was this:

You can waste your life planning. You can waste your life in fear.
You can waste your life waiting for the perfect moment.

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.

What a Crappy Day

I had a crappy day today. A shitty day. Just a fucked day. Got sick, got my “pet peeve” minor injury, and had to deal with shit I hate to deal with all day. Not just that, but anything that went wrong with my day was my fault, and someone else in the family was having an even shittier day, so tough shit for me. Altogether an )*(&^@$%!#)(*&^~ day. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! I have lost my patience, I have lost my empathy, i have lost any desire to be a decent human being. I’m even just too pissed to go to sleep.

So, off to troll the internets….

It was a crappy, crappy day...

[This glorious, uplifting message is part of my ninety night blog challenge. This is night sixty.]

Find-a-word

The First Three Words You Find Describe You:

me: Love, Nice, Fun

which proves this is b.s. in case you’re not happy with what you found…

Neutrality

I never knew how opinionated I was until I wasn’t supposed to express one. My new job calls for neutrality as part of the fundamental principles of the movement. “In order to continue to enjoy the confidence of all, the Movement may not take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.” The Movement is the Red Cross’ description of their mission:

“To prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found to protect life and health, and ensure respect for the human being, in particular in times of armed conflict and other emergencies, to work for the prevention of disease and for the promotion of health and social welfare, to encourage voluntary service and a constant readiness to give help by the members of the Movement, and a universal sense of solidarity towards all those in need of its protection and assistance.”

This is not to say that one can stand by in the face of outrage. Just look up “Red Cross Condemns”.

So I guess the lesson is to pick your battles and for the Red Cross, that sets the bar very high. So the bar is now set at the level of the Geneva Conventions. Did you know the Red Cross was behind that and is charged with monitoring and defending them? That’s pretty amazing.

I have an awesome job.

Been awhile since I posted any zombie stuff…

Words To A Friend

Cling single-heartedly to interior peace.
Focus solely on the root of your peace.
To find peace is to find that you matter,
To find that you matter is to fulfill your destiny.

Fulfilling your destiny means embracing all of it.
If you can embrace it all, you can do justice to all.
If you can do justice, you can abide forever in others’ hearts
And if you can abide forever in our hearts,
You will be safe and whole,
Long after the dissolution of the body.

For the body is a tool,
and the race not won by the beautiful corpse
but by the one who has wrung every usable minute from it
before laying it down and taking his rest.

Seven Tips To Help You Focus

Beth Kanter’s blog is like the opposite of Pandora’s box in that once you peek in, great ideas fly out and you can’t put them back in. Here is a post that I’ve been storing away for a day just like today – when I needed to focus. I’ll paraphrase here, so any errors are mine, and you’ll be more inspired to go read the real deal.

Seven Tips to Help You Focus in The Age of Distraction

1. Manage your attention, not just your time. Things take different levels of attention. Sort duties according to your natural rhythm. If you are focused as soon as you come in – put the high attention demanding items first. If you find you can focus only so long, then need a break (like me) then schedule short bursts of low attention demanding activities to break up your work flow.

2. Visualize on paper. This is the first thing I tried after reading Beth’s blog and I was surprised how well it worked. Rather than try to lay out another excel spreadsheet, some scrap paper and a pen solved my information hierarchy problem in about twenty minutes. Let your creativity flow on paper, chalkboard, whiteboard, whatever. Scribble, erase, draw lines and arrows. Work it out!

3. Establish Rituals. Some habits are good. They can get you into a groove. Best habit: Sleeping patterns. My bete noir. But more to the point, rituals establish a sort of “muscle memory” for your brain – they are like the warm-ups and stretches before the run.

4. Reflection. This is a big one for me, and one I highly recommend. Take time to reflect on what you are about to do, what you have just done, and what it means to you. This should ideally be coupled with positive self-affirmation and a wind-down mentally. I don’t recommend doing this right before bed, but you might want to do it at the end of your day or right before dinner to set a good end-point to your work day.

5. Cut down on manufactured distractions. Turn off the pop-up notification on your desktop. Best thing I ever did. Silence your notification of text messages on your phone. Second best thing I ever did. Close your door. Turn off the TV. Turn off the radio. My new trick is to work with headphones or earphones – whether there is music coming through them or not.

6. Manage your physical space. Beth’s best comment hit the nail on the head: “When I see clutter in my physical work spaces, I try to take that as a sign that I need to hit a pause button. Usually it is because I’m doing too much.” M uses a block of time each hour to take a break from her work and clean or straighten something up. It keeps her focused, but gives her a mental break, while also getting some things that would otherwise be nagging domestic details taken care of.

7. Just say “No”. Take a break. Turn off, tune out, drop out. Take a hike, take a walk, take a trip around the office. Don’t take on another project. Do the ones you have better.

All of these tips can be useful for you to manage your daily distractions and bring more peace and joy to your work day. Tomorrow just try one and if you think of it, let me know how it works.

Are You A Crazy One?

[Part of my ninety night blog challenge. This is night fifty-five]

Totem Poles and Masks

Took the kids to the Museum of Anthropology today.

growl....

They have an enormous collection of First Nations art and a large collection of aboriginal crafts. The house bear that Roan is standing next to is about the size of a dune buggy and probably weighs about the same.

totem pole atrium

It’s hard to describe just how huge the totem pole atrium is. It clearly goes up over three stories and some of the totem poles easily scrape the roof. These are no barbershop indian totem poles. These things are massive, with bases too large for you to put your arms around. They are intricately carved and painted and match any western works of art you’ve ever seen. Consider them as pillars for a massive hall roof, which is what some of them were.

"I can barely see the top, daddy!"

Faith's Favorite

There are probably forty of these in all in the atrium.

lodge pole and slaves

I tried to explain this one, but Faith said, “The look too happy to be slaves, Daddy!” So we just went along to the next one…

detail of the image above

It’s hard to get a sense of scale in these photos because I couldn’t put the kids in each one. This mask however is probably four feet across, say about the size of a slide door on a van.

this is probably 8 feet across

While the Greeks and the Romans worked in stone and plaster, the First Nations of BC worked in wood. Massive, massive wood. I cannot imagine how big the source trees must have been for some of these pieces. The kids kept asking me, “Is this real wood?” they just could not imagine wood pieces, single wood pieces this large.

So then we moved on to the masks gallery. Oh my…..

our ultimate favorite

we decided this was a vampire

jaguar masks from central/south america

japanese hairy mask

another favorite

They must have a thousand masks. From small little ones that would fit on dolls to massive ceremonial ones shaped like orcas.

articulated orca mask

We basically scurried from display to display…

there's a duck bill in the center of the face

we did some impressions….

And we generally had a good time…

Tao of Management Verse Fifteen

Can the ancient writings of the Tao De Ching be applied to modern management practice? This series attempts to find out. Some nights I feel inspired to write – this is one of those nights. I feel this verse in particular is an important one to meditate on for any manager. I know I will. I hope you enjoy.

Verse Fifteen
THE ancient adepts of the Tao were subtle and flexible, profound and comprehensive.
Their minds were too deep to be fathomed.

Because they are unfathomable,
One can only describe them vaguely by their appearance.

Hesitant like one wading a stream in winter;
Timid like one afraid of his neighbours on all sides;
Cautious and courteous like a guest;
Yielding like ice on the point of melting;
Simple like an uncarved block;
Hollow like a cave;
Confused like a muddy pool;
And yet who else could quietly and gradually evolve from the muddy to the clear?
Who else could slowly but steadily move from the inert to the living?

He who keeps the Tao does not want to be full.
But precisely because he is never full,
He can always remain like a hidden sprout,
And does not rush to early ripening.

My Version

To be adept be subtle and flexible, profound and comprehensible.
Know that not all is clear to all at all times.

Consider the habits of the adept
Who know they are unknowing:

Hesitant like one wading a stream in winter;
Timid like one afraid of his neighbours on all sides;
Cautious and courteous like a guest;
Yielding like ice on the point of melting;
Simple like an uncarved block;
Hollow like a cave;
Confused like a muddy pool;
Yet with quiet and calm – resolves to crystal clarity
And brings the stillness within to life.

He who keeps the Tao leaves space for the Tao.
And precisely because he is never full,
He can always remain like a hidden sprout,
And does not rush to early ripening.

This one lends itself to nearly a wall poster. Know you are unknowing. Be timid, cautious, courteous, yielding, simple and open when approaching your work. This will keep you from stifling your creativity by “knowing it all”, and will keep you flexible and strong in the long run.

A very full cup is a very tense thing to carry around. Rather than being a vessel of satisfaction, it becomes all about the cup – guarding it, balancing it, defending ti from any outside influence. Leave plenty of room in a cup and you’ll be able to make it all about the people you work with. You might even get it filled up by someone else, increasing the goodness.

[This post is also part of my ninety night blog challenge. This is night fifty-three.]

Something Steve Jobs taught us all is that beautiful design is as important as function. Case in point:

The bluetooth headset

‘HEARRING’ is about taking the concept of ‘urban lifestyle’ to the next level. The idea was to define a new category of ‘urban jewelry’. We wanted to shake off the bulky appearance of metal and plastic and transform it to an elegant piece of ornament. The crystal functions as the ‘call control button’, using the crystal clarity to represent the earphone status by different colors.

Why Music Education Matters: Enter Sandman

This is my idea of a garage band. Time to get the kids back together.

And this…this is just hilarious. Love these [badass] candies!

And this girl…she just reminds me: don’t buy music – MAKE music!

And here is exactly the kind of thing that happens at our house on a fairly REGULAR BASIS.
(except with less explicit music)

Shake It Out

“…it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back…So shake him off…”

A good song, a great video. Vocally reminds me of Annie Lennox. Visually reminds me of Alex Thomson’s cinematography for Legend. H/T to Mikael Bingham for pointing that out.

Role Playing

You know what, sometimes when someone tells you their problems, they don’t usually want you to give them a solution — especially if it is for them to do something different to remedy their situation.

If someone tells you they are in pain, they really don’t want you to tell them what they are doing wrong that is causing their pain. They just want you to listen and sympathize.

They also don’t want you to tell them about how much pain you are in by comparison, or how much pain you once experienced. These kind of comments just make it all about you, and basically delegitimizes them.

So next time someone tells you they feel terrible about something, don’t tell them what they are doing to cause their own pain, and don’t tell them to snap out of it, and don’t tell them how you feel or compare it to some of your problems.

Just tell them that you are sorry they feel terrible, ask if there is anything you can do, and sympathize. Unless they tell you they need your help to figure out what to do, your role is not “problem solver” it is “sympathizer”.

[This is part of my ninety-night blog challenge. This is night Forty-Nine.]

This describes my day. And it reminds me to tell staff people this on a regular basis. Fear is what holds you back from success, I think, more than a lack of talent does. Today I balanced my fear of being wrong or looking stupid with my desire to do something good. I think it was a success. The people I was with seemed to think so. It’s a good start.

That is all.

From African Queen To Slave Of New York

The remains of 20,000 African men, women and children have lain beneath the busy streets of New York for 300 years, waiting to tell their stories on the extent of slavery in the city.

The woman designated “Burial 340″ was a very intriguing person.

“She was in her 40s – and for the burial ground population that makes her kind of old”, said archaeologist Sherrill Wilson, now director of interpretation at the African Burial Ground.

“Around her waist the woman wore a belt of over 100 beads and cowrie shells,” she said.

“In some parts of Africa in the 1700s, it’s illegal for people who are not members of royal families to own even one of these beads – and she has over 100 buried with her,” she added.

Had this woman been born into royalty in Ghana and died a slave in New York City?

Such treasures are known to belong to Akan-speaking people. Had this woman been born into royalty in Ghana and died a slave in New York City?

And who chose to bury her with the waist belt of beads?

“These are very valuable items,” said Ms Wilson. “It implies that whoever buried her… could have chosen to sell those items to feed themselves – but they made the choice to bury them with her.”

Perhaps it was a tradition, a rite, or an act of defiance against those who had enslaved a woman of noble birth.

Something about this story broke my heart. Read the entire thing here at BBC News

Bump on Head Leads to New Job

I was home one weekend taking care of the kids on a day that was filled with accidents. One child fell and sprained her ankle, one banged his hand on a piece of furniture, then one scraped her knee, and finally one racing through the house slipped, fell and bumped his head.

Looking at his rapidly growing goose-egg, I thought to myself, “I really should take a first aid course.”

So I found a Red Cross first aid class starting the following week and signed up. I had such a great time, I thought “Wow, I’d love to work with these guys!” So when I got home, I decided I’d look up additional classes.

But first I thought I’d do my daily job search, checking one rarely checked resource – and lo and behold there was a Red Cross job!

I dropped what I was doing and applied immediately.

I’m fortunate to be given the opportunity to be added to their team.

And that’s how a bump on the head led to a new job.

just thought I’d give a little peek behind the scenes on how this came about…

First Day

My first day at my new job. When your first day is an 11-hour Saturday shift, everything from then on is a cake-walk.
Board meeting for four hours, office arrangements for three hours, then French-speaking reception for four hours.

Note to self. You can do this. This is what you do.

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new office pics.

Now, if only every day ended with a cocktail reception, we’d be all set. CBC Radio Canada – Merci de votre donation généreuse du projet de l’Afrique. Félicitations sur votre 75th anniversaire.