“If a battle can’t be won, don’t fight it. “— Sun Tzu

When I was growing up on my parent’s dairy farm, there was a story that I loved.  A farmer had one great field except for the big rock in the middle. For years the farmer plowed and planted and harvested around the rock. One year, the farmer finally decided to do something about the problem so the whole area could be more easily used.

The farmer brought all sorts of equipment to dig out and perhaps break apart the rock. The first tactic was to dig under one corner of the stone to see the full extent of the issue. The result was a shock. The rock was only about 1 inch thick. The problem rock was quickly removed.

However, that story has a counterpoint. In working in my garden, I have often found rocks whose visible area is small but when investigated, are much more extensive under the surface. Those rocks are icebergs! They require considerable time and effort to remove, and digging them out may impact the plantings around them.

When looking at new projects, I always like to look under the surface of the ideas from two angles.

Step one: Look at the value of the project being considered.
Would doing this project make a significant difference? How would it improve things for ourselves or our customers? For the farmer, the value of having that rock gone should have been a compelling enough reason to move to step two.

Step two: Look carefully at the project and determine how much work it will take to get it done.
Some high-value projects are more straightforward than anticipated. The trouble is that most projects are like those iceberg rocks. Taking them on will require time and effort and may have far-reaching repercussions. Look at how big of a rock you are trying to move. Take the time to consider how much these projects will really cost.

Look carefully at both the value and the total cost. For some rocks, continuing to plow around them might be the wiser choice.

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”— Oprah Winfrey

Recently, I witnessed two different ways to handle the same challenge.

I attended two meetings. The goal of each meeting was to choose a way forward that would affect many people for a long time. In each meeting, there was a very difficult confrontation between competing ideas. In both cases, the desire was to reach the decision by consensus. The decision would not be made by a leader, or by a majority vote. Everyone at the meeting needed to be able to live with the decision.

Leading up to the meetings, people had not been kind to each other in working towards the required decision. This meant that the meeting was made worse because some of the discussion wasn’t about the merit of the ideas, but more about the hard feelings people were carrying about each other.

Leader #1 handled the meeting in this way. They made sure everyone had a chance to speak. They didn’t allow interruptions. They ensured the agenda was followed. They ensured that the minutes captured the logical arguments for and against each proposed way forward.

Leader #1 ended the meeting with an accurate description of what took place. “This meeting was extremely hard. I am recognizing how strong the emotions are. Although there were many parts we agreed on, for me, it is daunting how many points of disagreement there are. This is going to be extremely hard.”

The meeting ended in silence and frowns. People left feeling dejected.

Leader#2 handled the meeting quite differently. They also followed good meeting facilitation with a clear agenda, note-taking, and ensuring that people had a chance to speak. In addition to this, before someone could talk about their point of view, Leader #2 ensured they expressed what they heard from others first. This made a big change in the dynamic of the meeting.

Leader#2 also ended the meeting with an accurate description of what took place. However, the frame was very different. Leader#2 was smiling and said “The passion of this group is amazing. We all believe so strongly that we can achieve something great together. There are absolutely parts we disagreed on. However, there were even more points we agreed on. I am especially excited about what we are going to achieve next. Every time in the past when we have had this much passion, we have created something amazing. Let’s do some more listening and creating. I look forward to our next session.”

In this meeting, people left laughing and talking. People who had argued with each other during the meeting immediately got together and started brainstorming how to merge their ideas.

Both leaders reflected what was going on accurately. It was the frame that was different. How do you frame your day? How do you frame the challenges your teams are facing?

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

“I also believe that it may happen that one succeeds, and one mustn’t begin by despairing; even if one loses here and there, and even if one sometimes feels a sort of decline, the point is nevertheless to revive and have courage, even though things don’t turn out as one first thought.”

— From Vincent van Gogh, to brother Theo, 22 October 1882

I was in awe. I was standing inside the paintings of Vincent van Gogh. 

On Saturday, we went to the “Beyond van Gogh: The Immersive Experience,” and I was enraptured. The 30,000 square foot space surrounded us in projections of many of Vincent’s paintings and also shared quotes by him.

The design of the experience was breathtaking. To be surrounded by works of the greatness of van Gogh, to be inside paintings that towered over my head, to be bathed in a beautiful soundscape, filled me with wonder. The event’s design allowed me to experience the vastness of Vincent van Gogh’s body of work. 

Later, I contemplated what the van Gogh experience meant to me. I realized I have five principles guiding the creation of my own body of work.

1. Learn. I learn from the best mentors I can find. I learn from my mistakes. I learn from my successes. I learn from others, often those who have knowledge and perspectives widely different from my own.
2. Create. I take what I learn and incorporate it into my work. I do this by writing newsletters, creating videos, writing books, creating courses, and creating learning experiences.
3. Share. I work hard to share the valuable things I have learned. I publish. I put things out there even when they are not “perfect.” Sharing what I’ve learned opens me to feedback, new knowledge, and further learning. The conversations created by sharing become an integral part of the creative process.
4. Mentor. I learn so much from mentoring others. Being a mentor is a multifaceted experience that allows me to pass on knowledge, look at issues from new perspectives, support others, and continue to strengthen my learning.
5. Make a positive difference. Many years ago, I had the experience of teaching a course that the survey forms said everyone loved. Despite this, when I came back a few months later, my clients were not doing anything I had taught them. Over time, I have learned how to share knowledge that fosters change. I strive to create a positive, lasting difference for those I work with.

This contemplation made me realize some new things. Van Gogh’s body of work is not just his paintings; it also includes all the people he has inspired.

What is the body of work you are creating?

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

“You’ll find I’m full of surprises.“— Luke Skywalker

Despite how much we complain, there is a joy to working on urgent items. They give us a ready excuse for not working on the hard things.  

We might shout, “Oh, I can’t work on the crucial long-term work. This crisis must be dealt with quickly!”  

We might even picture ourselves as the hero, with the wind blowing through our hair while wielding a lightsaber as we handle this desperately important thing. (Okay, maybe you haven’t, but I have.)

Someone listening might wonder who we were shouting our complaint to. The answer is that we are almost always shouting to ourselves. Urgent tasks are almost always just an illusion of urgency. The urgent work crisis is seldom like a medical crisis where life and death require rapid actions.

Instead, consider the following three ideas to deal with your next urgent crisis.

1. Wait. Often the crisis will dissipate like morning dew if we wait it out while working on the important items.
2. Delegate. If this is not something that will disappear and is essential, how can it help your long-term goals? One of your goals should be growing leaders for the future. Delegate this urgent crisis and mentor the person to success.
3. Combine. If this is not an easily solved crisis, it is almost certainly related to your longer-term goals for your organization. Use the crisis to accelerate your long-term goals. Work to determine how to combine this crisis with your work. Use this combo to move faster towards your significant achievements.

I can feel the wind in my hair again. Grab your lightsaber. Let’s go after those big goals.

I can feel the wind in my hair again. Grab your lightsaber. Let’s go after those big goals.

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

“I have learned all kinds of things from my many mistakes. The one thing I never learn is to stop making them.” — Joe Abercrombie

So when I saw the data, I did the natural thing. I tried harder, much harder, to stop making mistakes.

At first, I was shocked that trying harder did not make a difference. In the course, we normalized the data against both size and time. My rate of mistake-making did not change when I tried harder. It was only when I saw the experience of all the people in my cohort that I felt better about this. Everyone in the class was making mistakes at similar rates. And everyone was complaining that trying harder did not work.

Over the last 23 years, I have been able to study data sets of many thousands of people with over 30,000 data points about mistakes, or what I now usually call defects. I can tell you without a doubt that everyone makes mistakes. They make mistakes at a similar rate, and simply trying harder not to make mistakes doesn’t make a difference.

The following are three of the many things I have found that make a difference in reducing rework, increasing speed, and having more fun building great things.

1. Track the major types of mistakes that get into your work products. You can learn from them.
2. Create checklists for the types of mistakes you make. The lists must include the errors you make most often and the most expensive ones.   You will find that using these checklists helps immensely in finding the mistakes before they leave your personal workspace.
3. Find inspectors who will be thorough and brutally straightforward. Each of my projects has improved immensely as I benefitted from the feedback of the toughest reviewers I could find. I looked for reviewers who would give honest feedback for my books, not those who would try to protect my feelings. They did a good job. And it made my books better.

In the Quality Deep Dive experience that is coming up in February, you will learn how to implement each of these techniques and many other ways to master methods that improve your quality and speed.  

It is also good to know you are not alone. I am Alan Willett and yes, I do make mistakes.

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”— Mark Twain

I have always appreciated the Mark Twain quote noted above, but the sentiment always seems incomplete. You see, in my mind, worrying is just the first step. The next step is to consider whether this is a worry you should do something about. You should ask, “How likely is this worry to become a reality?” If it has some reasonable chance of coming true, you should ask, “How much of an impact will this worry have if it comes true?” With those answers, we can decide if and how to act.

In Ithaca, in the winter, it is going to snow. We don’t know when or how much, but it will. So we don’t worry about it, we prepare.

Exceptional leaders are the same as anyone else. They do worry about lots of things they needn’t. The difference is that exceptional leaders always ask questions and listen to the answers. They prepare to face their worries based on how likely it is that those things will occur.

I have a quality challenge for the leaders of significant projects.

Are you worried about quality issues coming up? If not, what is the “weather history” you have that shows that they are unlikely to happen? I don’t expect people in Miami, Florida, to have snow shovels. Have the projects you have led been like Miami with no snow?

The good news about risks to quality is that there is a big difference between quality issues and snowstorms. I don’t know how to prevent snowstorms, but I know how to prevent quality problems. If you want to know more about that, let’s talk!

It is good to keep those pathways clear of icy spots.

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

“A toast! To the road! May it lead to adventure and carry us safely back home.”— John Varley, Wizard 

December can be a busy time of celebrations, as well as a time of closing out one year and ushering in the new. For many of the exceptional leaders I know, finding ways to stay energized through this season takes a little effort.

I have three things I am doing that I will also recommend to others. 

Enjoy the outdoors wherever you are.  
I prefer temperatures between 80 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  Yet here in western New York, the temperatures have often been in the 20s with quite a brisk wind. It may not be my optimal weather, but getting out for a walk or a run is still refreshing. Because I live in a place with fairly low light pollution, the dark skies are full of stars.  Occasionally, I get to see the International Space Station pass overhead. Delightful!

Do some work you enjoy.  
I can’t think of any leaders I know who completely shut down their thinking about work during this time.  I certainly don’t.  Perhaps this is due to my upbringing on a dairy farm where days off just don’t happen. However, I know that when I do work during the holidays, I focus on work that I love doing.  I will be doing some writing for one of my next books.  I am very much looking forward to that.

Read something familiar that brings you joy.  
I decided to read John’s Varley’s Red Thunder again. It is a delightful space yarn where some teenagers meet an ex-astronaut. Together they get the far-fetched idea that they can build a spaceship to Mars.  I have heard sci-fi authors say that excellent science fiction requires one bit of magic; the rest has to be hard science. This one fits the bill.  Red Thunder is one of my favorites of Varley’s works.  It makes me smile every time, and this time seems to be the best of all the times I’ve read it.

My next newsletter will be in January 2022. I wish everyone an enjoyable holiday time and a delightful new year.

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett