Month: November 2013

I asked a friend who has young children what the hot gift was for the kids this Christmas.  He replied that his young daughter wants a special Lego kit — that costs $130!  When she told him about it, she said: “I would never ask you and Mom to buy it because it costs so much, so I am asking Santa for it!”

Do you have things in your organization where it seems like people are asking Santa instead of Mom and Dad?  Things that come out of a capital fund seem more like they are from Santa instead of operational expenses out of your budget.  Leases or long-term contracts seem easier to swallow than paying a six-figure sum up front, but it still costs that much in the end.  When building a home, it somehow is more palatable to add in a thousand dollar enhancement, but if we paid $1000 out of our checking account it would be painful.

Economists have shown that the more direct link there is to the cash, the smarter people are with their expenditures.  What steps can you take in your organization to help your employees understand that Mom and Dad are paying the bills and not Santa?

Thanks Grace!

During the year I was chairing the strategic planning committee and we were actually developing the new plan, there were many moments when it seemed like a plan would not emerge.  We were months into the process, wondering if all of our data gathering, input sessions, research and thinking would actually produce something besides volumes of seemingly disjointed notes.  During this stage we talked a lot about the “rabbit coming out of the hat” and wondering if it would!

This week I needed an update from the chair of one of our planning sub-committees.  She is charged with leading a group to accomplish a very complex task and they have only been together for a short time.  “I am nervous that there is not a rabbit in the hat,” she said. “And everyone seems to be expecting us to produce it quickly.”  

I was reminded of a quote from Gilda Radner: 
Some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end.  Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what is going to happen next.  Delicious ambiguity…

I think Gilda is one of the few people who would link the words delicious and ambiguity.  Most people want things resolved quickly.  Often they rush to submit something; when, as was the case with our strategic plan, waiting a bit longer significantly helped the process and strengthened the final product.  

Try to get comfortable with a level of limbo.  Usually the rabbit does appear in the end, and the wait is usually worthwhile.