Doing is easy when you have lots to work with and a pretty clear picture of what you are doing and where you are going from the dreaming.

Nirvana occurs when visionary dreaming transitions to passionate doing.

Can dreamers be trusted as doers, and can doers actually dream?

Of course!

In fact, we’re all dreamers and doers!

We are bombarded with updates, breaking news, monitoring alerts, and spam.

In the midst of all that, we also get a significant number of very significant information items that pertain to the very thing we’re thinking about or working on.

Many of us may react very negatively then to the overload of information that pours into our collection systems (emails, texts, tweets, etc).

Not me.

I glance at and move on from those things I have no interest in.  I ignore those things that from title or author have zero applicability to anything I care about or need for my job or life. 

But I don’t want others to decide for me what is important or relevant.

I want to do that myself.

When I decide for others what they need to see, hear, or experience, I’m denying them their information-age right of deciding for themselves what they want to pay attention to or ignore.

I hate to do that to them.

I hate it even more when they do that to me.

Let the information flow.

I bet there’s been a lot of twinges in business these past few years.

Changing markets.

Bankrupt customers.

Financial collapse.

All create twinges.

And there’s been lots of them lately.

I grew up believing that twinges weren’t solely from pain, but also from excitement.

And I must admit, I have some twinges now.

Not from pain or collapse or concern.

But truly from excitement.

Don’t know why.

Something’s happening.

Bring it on!

In those times when the headwinds are the highest, some businesses seek a low, wind-resistant profile, hunkering down and marching methodically forward.  Their goal is to minimize risk and protect a greatly reduced yet still forward momentum. 

A very few elite businesses, though, gun the engines, leverage the power to overcome the wind created drag, and accelerate through the storm to get to the desired destination on time and within budget.

For those of you who know me, it won’t surprise you that I prefer to power up and accelerate into the storm.  It just seems natural.

In fact, I struggle with the guy that walks in and starts the conversation with, “it’s going to take longer now because of _____________”.  You fill in the blank. 

That’s his way of saying, “the headwinds are going to make the time to deliver against the previously made commitment impossible”.

On the contrary, I love the guy that walks in and says, “Man, it’s a lot harder now, but I’ve cranked into a higher gear and we’ll get this done”.

It’s a clear choice, and the hunkerers aren’t getting it done, though they certainly seem to be in the majority.

Long live the turbo driven team members who refuse to cower to the headwinds (regardless of velocity) and instead amp up the performance and power through the momentum killing resistance.

Or, to grossly tweak the renowned quote from David Farragut, “Damn the headwinds, get it done”!

In these villages, nothing is discarded, but instead, things are stashed away just in case they may be needed at some future point either for what they were originally designed and built for or as parts for other things.

In our individual lives we do that as well, not just with goods and materials, but also with things we’ve learned from the past and experiences we’ve gained throughout our lives.  Stuff is stashed away – a particular action we took that yielded a desired result; a special gift we gave that provided very special meaning to the one who received it; a slight we felt when someone we loved or respected gave us negative feedback; some words of wisdom we were given by a respected elder or loving family member.

Everything that is stashed away could be used in the future, but much of that stash is pretty much forgotten until and unless a trigger occurs that creates the navigational clarity to where that particular thing is stored.  Those triggers occur in many different ways – a question that yanks what’s stashed out of the abyss of our minds; a stimulus that forces us to think back to a lesson learned or something valued; a crisis that forces us to dig deep, remember things that helped us before, and ultimately leverage experiences from the past to prevent a repeat of those adverse experiences in the future.

Ultimately, all that is stashed is recoverable, but much of what’s stashed is not.

Our goal should be to leverage as much of the stash as possible, and clear out all that can’t be leveraged.

Then we can stash more for later.

Because the stash is ultimately finite.

And so are the triggers.

So stash away.

Then clear the stash.

And focus on the triggers!

Experience is the worst teacher.  Unfortunately, you get the grade before you learn the lesson.

How true.

The older I get, the more I cherish the wisdom of elders.

The older I get, the more I wish young people and new folks to any organization would lean on their elders or seek the counsel of those in the organization for a while.

But we don’t do that.

We believe we have the answers.

We believe we know how best to do things.

We believe we understand the culture and the way to get things done the minute we join an organization.

So, experience is our worst teacher.

And we get graded before we learn the lessons.

And we fail.

I yearn for the days when we sat and listened to our elders and learned the lessons before getting the grades.

Those were the days.

We’re also sending more messages than ever right now, in more ways than ever right now.

Our problem isn’t the communications; it’s the content.

How much of the stuff flowing through any of the communications paths we have is important?

Very little.

To get something done, we have to focus on that very small part of the flow that really is important.

How?

Candor.

Be honest with yourself and be honest with others, and tune out all that stuff that doesn’t get you to a purposeful objective.

Good luck!

Your car?

Your office?

Your float plane dock (I don’t have one but saw this one today at Lake Hood in Anchorage)?

Many people go to extraordinary efforts to make anything that’s their’s something very special.

It then becomes a place to be proud of, a place to be comfortable in, and a place to find peace at.

Those customized places can become very important (and probably essential) in the times of greatest stress.

I’ve been known to poke fun at those who go to extremes (just look at the float plane dock).

But the older I get, the more I understand why those customized places are so important.

They provide uniqueness and a reflection of your character.

They provide anchors to remember special moments.

They provide comfortable environments for needed release.

All are essential to manage the deep stress that seems to accompany today.

So for all of you who customize many things that are yours, customize away.

And come back (or come out) smiling when you get to spend time in those funky looking places that truly reflect you.

Here’s the definitions I’m using:

• People – time spent working issues related to motivating, nurturing, supporting, disciplining, so basically leading people
• Places – Time spent going somewhere to learn something new
• Things – Time spent doing the business of the business; in other words, the things that have to be done to move stuff forward

With those definitions, here’s my breakdown:

• People – 40%
• Places – 10%
• Things – 50%

These ratios change every week, sometimes with the ”things” being dramatically higher as I hunker down and work on something for the organization.  At other times, “people” requires significantly more time, especially at times of great change or distress in the organization.

Great leaders know where they need to focus, and they always seem to have the required time needed to support the people issues.

You can always hire or deploy others to do places and things.

You can’t delegate the people responsibilities, even though many try.

Where do you spend your time?

As I pondered and selected, a constant stream of others came into the store to pick out their one donut.  None of them paused and looked.  Every one of them walked up with passion and purpose to get what I can only surmise is the thing they get every single time they came into the store.  When each walked up, I quietly stepped away to let them have total access, which gave me time to compare what was packaged with what was left to make sure I maximized the diversity and thus guaranteed that everyone in the office would get at least something in the batch that would match their tastes and generate a smile.

When I got to the office, the access to the donuts came with one specific caveat – in order to get a donut, you had to introduce yourselves to someone who you didn’t know in the office.  When that note went out, many people rushed up to the kitchen to grab and go, hoping that they would go straight to step 2 without having to do that introductory step. 

What they didn’t know and quickly found out was I sent the note and sprinted to the door of the kitchen knowing the introverts would try to get their first.  The rules had to be followed, and the smile from getting to know someone new preceded the smile that came from salivary satisfaction.

As they always do, the attraction of the donuts and the desperate desire for the smile that comes from eating them forced all those ordinarily desk bound, monitor focused people to relate to others.

And they did.

And all was well.

For about 20 minutes or so.

And then everyone returned to their non-engaged, work consumed, desk bound routines.

It may be time for a beer cart type of mobile donut station that meanders around the office offering taste filled smiles with the only payment required of saying hello to someone else.

Then we could yell, “FORE” and toss the donuts around the office!

That would be cool!