Thank Goodness It's Monday #364

WORD UP!

JDS!

The words we use often determine the success or failure of our interactions. 

Huh? Just exactly what does that mean? 

You’re right. It’s not clear. Intentionally, let me quickly add –

To make this point: Communication has the potential of being a powerful tool in a person’s repertoire of skills. The clarity, effectiveness and positive tone of that communication not only determines the outcome of your personal interactions, but it ultimately determines the quality of your life.

It’s a 21^st Century fact: Every waking moment of your life you are communicating, either with other people or yourself. Some folks who tally such things calculate that the average person receives 250,000 information “signals” each day.

BIG Q: How important do you think it is to differentiate your signals?

BIG A: Very! In today’s world, more than any other time in history, you need to deliver your message powerfully, quickly and with clarity.

So here’s the deal: In the summer Mondays ahead, with an occasional time out to consider topical events like “Olympic”-size Life Lessons, I figure we can benefit from a mini-course in –

How To Communicate

With Clarity & Confidence

Why this? And why now?

In this “Age of Communication” via an abundance of effectively free media readily available to all and connected to all, there seems to be an abundance of miscommunication at every turn. (And the upcoming political campaigning isn’t going to help matters.)

But if we do have something of value to convey, we ought to do that effectively. And although the “tech” of communicating may be nanoseconds new and evolving with 4G speed, the problem is classically old. 

And that’s –

Good news: Proven-in-action secrets, strategies and solutions for effective communication have evolved over the millennia. That’s what I hope we can explore here.

Bad news: These only work if we master them. And mastery takes time and practice. And life requires living. So you can’t tackle too much at one time if you expect it to stick successfully.

More good news: Summer has a “slump” quality (if you let it) that may afford us the opportunity to add some skill-building to the routine. And communicating seems like a good place to begin. 

So let’s begin by confidently suggesting you (and we) –

JDS

We love acronyms. And JDS has become the battle cry of a recently formed “Inner Circle” of similarly minded friends. If you’re not in the Inner Circle, then you need to know the acronym stands for –

Just Do … “Stuff”

Actually the phrase is more, uh, “graphic” most of the time. 

No offense. But, c’mon. If you have a summer slump mentality, you’re not gonna shake it with niceties.

And that helps us transition over to an important communication kickoff point:

Communication Fundamentals: Difficulty in communicating effectively arises primarily from our inability to do two things:

Say clearly what we really mean

and/or

Hear clearly what others have to say to us

And that’s what we’ll be confronting in the days ahead.

Good stories enable good communication. So here’s a smile-inducing story we heard from some friends in the “Information Technology” business (not known for being a hotbed of clear communication).

NOT for-geeks-only: Keep reading and we’ll get to universal takeaways.

The pilot of a hot air balloon discovers he has drifted off course and is hopelessly lost. He spots a man on the ground, descends until he is within hearing distance, and shouts: “Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”

The man below shouts back, “You’re in a hot-air balloon, about 30 feet above this field.”

“You must work in information technology,” the balloonist yells back.

[Note: Fill in your own choice of industry when retelling this story.]

“Yes, I do,” the man on the ground replies. “But how did you know that?”

“Well,” says the balloonist, “what you told me is technically correct but of no use to anyone.”

The man below says,” Ah, then you must work in management.”

“I do,” the balloonist acknowledges. “But how did you know that?”

“Well,” came the reply from the ground, “You don’t know where you are, how you got here, or where you’re going, but you expect my immediate help. And you’re in the same position as you were before we met, but now it’s my fault.”

Don’t be full of hot air. Although we sometimes use this tale to teach leadership lessons to managers who tend to be full of hot air, for TGIM purposes this Summer of 2012, let’s consider its value as a lesson in less-than-effective communication.

TGIM Takeaway #1: Although this joke is set up to make it’s point, it’s funny because it’s pretty darn close to many real-life experiences.

How often do we let our personal and professional “communication” descend to this level? Who’s at fault here? And what breaks down? And why?

TGIM ACTION IDEA #1: Hone those listening skills. Communicating begins with listening. That’s an old bit of news, for sure. And it’s really just a shorthand way of describing listening with intent; listening with an open mind, with preconceived notions set aside and with the objective of understanding the real meaning of what the speaker has to say.

TGIM Takeaway #2: From the “speaker” side of the communication equation, consider carefully before you speak.

TGIM ACTION IDEA #2: When you speak, be sure what you say is – to the best of your ability to say it -- what you mean to say. Follow up your initial message with differently phrased observations. Toss in some open ended questions in order to elicit responses that indicate you have not simply been heard, but that you’ve also achieved clear understanding.

JDS: In the 1941 film noir classic The Maltese Falcon, based on a novel by the master of hard-boiled detective fiction Dashiell Hammett, Sidney Greenstreet’s character (Kasper Gutman) says to Humphrey Bogart’s character, Sam Spade –

“Here's to plain speaking and clear understanding.”

For us this summer that will be, to quote the penultimate line of the film, “The, uh, stuff that dreams are made of.”

“Stuff” of dreams. No shit.

Bogart in a studio still with
"The stuff that dreams are made of"

The Rara Avis ... 
The Dingus ..
The Bird, The Black Bird...
The Maltese Falcon

Geoff Steck   
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P. S. “Behind the need to communicate is the need to share. Behind the need to share is the need to be understood.” Humorist and academic Leo Rosten (1908 – 1997) communicated that idea.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #363

LIFE LESSONS FROM THE TRAVELS

OF A ROLL OF PARCHMENT

The birthday of the USA —Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4, the day in 1776 when the wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved by Congress.

Let’s get ready to PARTY! Celebrations. Cookouts. Fireworks. It’s what we’ve come to expect as we commemorate the 1776 creation of the unique Declaration.

But the ideals it spells out and the rights put in place by virtue of its guidance were, in fact, a long time coming.

Evidence: The worn and faded document itself and the trials and tribulations the physical piece of parchment endured before becoming enshrined as it is today as a National Treasure.

And speaking of National Treasure: Last year at about this time we took a look at the seldom-seen back of the Declaration. (An important message IS written in a mysterious way on its back; see it HERE.)

And in the process we saw that the handwritten “front” -- replete with the autograph signatures of the 56 original signers -- is not the pristine, sparkling icon we call to mind.

The original engrossed parchment
Declaration of Independence
as it appears
in the National Archive

It’s faded and barely legible. 

So how did it get this way?

TGIM sums it up for you. 

And in the process we’ll uncover a 21^st Century Takeaway or two, OK?

In the beginning: The Declaration of Independence was adopted in Philadelphia, July 4, 1776, and printed copies were distributed immediately. These printed copies bore only the names of John Hancock, President of the Congress, and Charles Thomson, its secretary. Not until a month later the original document, inscribed on sheepskin, was presented to the Congress for signing. Then this unique document was placed in the custody of Thomson.

And away we go. Before the end of the calendar year, the travels of the Declaration of Independence had begun.

With British forces closing on Philadelphia, Congress moved to Baltimore, taking along all its important records, including the Declaration, in a baggage wagon.

The following spring all returned to Philly. But in the autumn of 1777 it packed up again and fled as Redcoats occupied the city.

New destination: Lancaster, Pennsylvania (briefly), then further west to York PA which served as the new nation’s temporary capital for eight months until the British withdrew from Philadelphia enabling Congress – and the Declaration – to return to Independence Hall.

But wait, there’s more: Following a period of nearly five years in the building where it had been adopted and signed, the famed roll of parchment was –

On the road again. In June of 1783, to avoid certain Pennsylvania-related troubles (not British), Congress packed up and moved for a four-month stay to Nassau Hall in Princeton, New Jersey.

Later Congress (with the Declaration) moved and met in both Annapolis, Maryland and Trenton, New Jersey. Then, in 1785, it took up residence in New York, New York.

A wonderful town: In 1789, with the inauguration of George Washington and the formation of a new government under the Constitution, the Continental Congress ceased to exist. Its records were turned over to the new administration with the Declaration going to the first Secretary of State –

Thomas Jefferson. So for three years the document was in the possession of its author. In 1790 he took it back to Philadelphia for a ten-year stay while Washington DC – then called Federal City – was rising beside the Potomac River.

In 1800 the seat of federal government moved to DC and the Declaration went along.

In Washington it had several homes until, toward the end of the War of 1812, the British again threatened the security of the document and it went into hiding in a private home in Leesburg, Virginia.

When the British sailed out of Chesapeake Bay, the roll of parchment moved back to whatever building the State Department occupied. In 1841 it was put on display in the Patent Office Building where it hung on a wall, unprotected from sunlight and changes in temperature for 35 years.

In 1876 President Grant permitted it to be taken to Philadelphia and exhibited to thousands of admiring Americans as part of a Centennial celebration. Many expressed alarm at its poor condition.

On its return it was displayed at the new State, War and Navy Building, a fortunate decision since its old Patent Office Building home was destroyed by fire shortly after the move.

By 1894 the 118-year-old National Treasure had deteriorated so badly that a decision was made to lock it in a safe, away from the light, where it remained for more than a quarter century. 

Fast forward (thankfully) to today. In 1924 it went on display again in more stringently controlled and protective conditions. In 1941, after Pearl Harbor, it spent some time in an underground vault at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In 1952, with great ceremony, it was ensconced in a marble and bronze shrine prepared for it, the Constitution and Bill of Rights at the new National Archives Building. 

In 2001, using the latest in preservation technology, conservators treated the documents, put them in new encasements made of titanium and aluminum, filled with inert argon gas and put on display again, in 2003, in the remodeled National Archives Rotunda. 

So – with July 4, 2012 a day away – are there life lessons we, as citizens and individuals, can take away from the lengthy recounting of the travels of this now-revered roll of parchment?

TGIM Thoughts:

·         Writing focuses your thinking. Getting the Declaration done was the result of fair and open argument and debate among widely read, thoughtful individuals. And then all that was synthesized by the writing talents of Thomas Jefferson.

·         When everyone “signs on” a thing has more power.  

·         It’s the idea that counts.  Ideas, really. Having served its original purpose in announcing the independence of the United States, the actual physical Declaration was initially neglected in the years immediately following the American Revolution, but the ideas and ideals embodied there remained quite alive. 

·         It’s the inspiration and the act, not strictly the text. The Declaration was rarely mentioned during the debates leading to the United States Constitution, and its language was not incorporated into that document. The Declaration’s meaning and its interpretation is not evergreen or even clear (the understanding of “all men are created equal” for example).

·         Celebrate achievements. Early celebrations of Independence Day, like early histories of the Revolution, largely ignored the Declaration, especially as an object.

TGIM TAKEAWAYS: Great ideas, like American Independence –

·         Take time.

·         And thought.

·         And debate.

·         And understanding

·         And compromise and cooperation

·         And risk -- sometimes great risk. 

Our nation’s founders knew this. Most were among the most affluent Americans of their day, yet look at their mutual pledge in the closing line.

Immense change seldom happens overnight. The creation of the document and philosophies and the individual mind-changes that set in motion the American Revolution was not the product of quick-and-easy agreement. It’s not a one day thing. It’s a living, ongoing process that continues this very day – and beyond.

An Independence Day Challenge for you: Think about what the history of the Declaration of Independence means to us in these “modern” days as well as the document itself. Then, I invite you, as I always do at this time of year, to join the 56 original signers. 

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Make YOUR declaration. To celebrate this July 4th I’m joining the signers of the Declaration of Independence HERE.

Will you, too?

We hold these truths to be self-evident. If we, with careful forethought and all due consideration, are half as bold and committed as they, what might we achieve?

In your quest for a Best Year Ever, we hope your Fourth is Glorious.. 

Geoff Steck   
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P.S. What about that bright, clear copy we imagine? After the War of 1812, the symbolic stature of the Declaration steadily increased even though the engrossed copy's ink was noticeably fading. In 1820, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams commissioned printer William J. Stone to create an engraving essentially identical to the engrossed copy.

One of 200 copies
of William J. Stone's
1823 copper-plate copies of the
Declaration of Independence

Stone's engraving was made using a wet-ink transfer process, where the surface of the document was moistened, and some of the original ink transferred to the surface of a copper plate, which was then etched so that copies could be run off the plate on a press. When Stone finished his engraving in 1823, Congress ordered 200 copies to be printed on parchment. Because of poor conservation of the engrossed copy through the 19th century, Stone's engraving, rather than the original, has become the basis of most modern reproductions.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #362

UNLEASH THE POWER OF ENTHUSIASM

AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE 

Norman Vincent Peale -- is there a student of self improvement who doesn’t know that name?  (If you don’t know him, you better find out.)

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
(1898 - 1993)

His contributions to the canon are rooted in the idea of “Positive Thinking” – a concept and practice he developed, championed and seriously popularized in the post World War II era of the early 1950s. 

And today? He’s still relevant. Although his vocabulary and examples may sound a bit pre-Mad-Men dated, his ideas still work like gangbusters in the 21^st Century. 

Just one example: There’s widespread acknowledgement that the currently popular book and DVD The Secret is grounded in principles Peale espoused. 

Peale’s “job” for 50+ years was pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. 

And more. Much more. As a prolific writer and savvy business man he, with his wife Ruth Stafford Peale, extended his influence in many directions and nurtured friendships with such prominent business giants of his day as James Cash Penney, founder of J.C. Penney & Co., Thomas J. Watson, founder of IBM, Frank Gannett, founder of the newspaper chain, Branch Rickey, General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Richard Prentice-Ettinger, co-founder of the publishing giant Prentice-Hall, Inc.

And me. Sort of. 

My first “real job” in publishing was at P-H, the publisher of Peale’s books in their heyday. And one of my first non-trainee assignments centered on the creation and promotion of a high-dollar-value “Executive” edition of one of the seminal Peale works, Enthusiasm Makes The Difference. 

I unearthed my copyright 1968 Executive Edition ($25 plus postage and handling; not a small price back in the day) recently and am inspired enough by its reappearance in my life to share with you some penciled-on-yellow-legal-pad notes I had squirreled away there many decades ago. 

TGIM TAKEAWAY: These are my notes and thoughts, not necessarily NVP’s. They are a bit rough because they are simply notes. I’ll edit them a little for clarity and to align with TGIM style, but not too much. I hope you find them worth reviewing. 

Enthusiasm has many faces. 

Your degree of enthusiasm indicates your degree of liking for people, as well as the degree of liking of people for you.

Enthusiasm is deliberately manufactured until the time it becomes an integral part of your personality. It’s a stepped-up performance, designed not only to give you a lift but to compellingly and exhilaratingly step up the enthusiasm of everyone else.

So think Enthusiasm!  It shows! 

Use the following steps to generate enthusiasm:

·         Have a desire to do things. The world is filled with wonderful things and wonderful people. They are as bright or as cheery as you see them. Find a happy side to every event. See the bright and cheerful. Leave no room in your life for the dull and the gray.

·         Turn enthusiasm on even when you don’t feel like it. One of the amazing factors about enthusiasm is that, once you turn it on, it grows.  

·         Try “pretending” if you doubt. Pretend you’re happy about some occasion or event. Build it up. Show interest. Get going; quit stalling. Play it up to see how effective it is.

·         Have many interests. See the bright side of each. Get new interests. Make each new thing you do a challenge. Let the challenge be a catalyst that fires up your desire to achieve.  Feed this challenge with interest and watch enthusiasm take you to the bubbling point.

·         Widen your horizons. “New” is good for you. Find new studies, new travel, new faces and new friends to spread the extent of your personal verve. Return to your work inspired.

·         Do what you enjoy doing. Enthusiasm is blunted by dull associates and dull occupations if you see them as such. Enthusiasm is stepped up, however, when you have a change of pace. Renew the batteries of the charm by disassociating yourself with the routine and the dull.

·         Color everything you do or say. Consciously ignite your smile, your hello, your eyes, and invest your words with the drama of the technicolor approach. Create colorful descriptive imagery. Choose your words. To all words, add actions. Accompany a warm smile with an even warmer hand clasp. Make conversations sparkle, even when you are not feeling at your best. 

·         Know what you are and saying or doing. Be sure to have all the facts before you comment. Research the things that are important to you. The more you know about any particular subject – the more you are informed -- the more informative you can be. The more you can support your ideas, the more fascinating your opinion becomes. To develop the depth of your enthusiasm, know what you’re saying and doing at all times.

·         Spread praise lavishly.  People hunger for praise, so give it freely. Remember that praise is power and empowering. Indicate your appreciation. Be warm. Be kind. Be sincere. Spread compliments in all directions. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, make someone feel your enthusiasm through praise.

·         Look for good things in and about people.  Don’t stop at simply forming first impressions. These are often inadequate and – with justification – drain enthusiasm. Walk away from idle gossip.  Refuse to listen to negative talk about people with whom you have contact. Instead, deliberately turn the conversation to the person’s good points or to another subject altogether.

·         Find interests in common with others. Deftly and delicately probe those around you to determine the area of their interests. For another person to find something in common with you is for them to find you an interesting person. Between you is rapport in a common bond called enthusiasm.

·         Offer encouragement. Nothing makes others see you as an enthusiastic person better than your ability to encourage them. Listen to people. Aid them in their problems. Make them feel better because of your presence, your interest, and your encouragement.

·         Render personalized attention. In the enthusiastic approach there is nothing better than personalized attention. This attention must be defined. It must be a planned program of action. Talk and do in terms the other person understands. Give pleasure.  Organize your attention to please a client, a spouse, a patient, or an army. Do what you would do specifically for them.  Make them feel pleasure.  Make them know you care.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Enthusiasm Makes The Difference.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Sharing is caring. I hope I’ve done that enthusiastically. Now you go make a difference and do the same.

Geoff Steck   
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

Thank Goodness It's Monday #361

UNPACK YOUR PORTMANTEAU

(CHECK WIKIPEDIA) 
AND CELEBRATE JUNETEENTH 

Any Alice In Wonderland fans out there in TGIM Land?

If so, you may know that, via Humpty Dumpty, Lewis Carroll claimed naming rights to the description of "a word formed by blending sounds from two or more distinct words and combining their meanings."

He called this linguistic blend a –

Portmanteau word. (For all you stuffers of wheeled carry-ons into overhead compartments, in then-contemporary English, a portmanteau was a suitcase. The roots of the word are French but, in this usage, it’s an English word and so isn’t italicized.)

In Through the Looking-Glass Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the unusual words in Jabberwocky, the nonsense poem within the story.

You know it. It begins – 

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

 Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

 All mimsy were the borogoves,

 And the mome raths outgrabe.

There "slithy" means "lithe and slimy" and "mimsy" is "flimsy and miserable." Humpty Dumpty clarifies the practice of combining words in such ways by telling Alice:

“You see it's like a portmanteau

—there are two meanings packed up into one word.”

Now that you’ve been alerted to it, you’ll realize we use less whimsical portmanteau words all the time: Just the other day at brunch on our Amtrak journey we were discussing the politics of stagflation and fired up our Verizon connection to check Wikipedia to see if it could refudiate the origins of gerrymander.

Got it? Good. Now here’s another portmanteau word you need to know:

Juneteenth

American Flags of Freedom
U.S. & National Juneteenth Flag

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States and has been an African American tradition since the late 19th century.

But, although it’s recognized as a holiday or holiday observance in 41 states of the USA, an amazing (to me) number of people are unaware of it. (I even had to add it to my computer’s dictionary to keep it from tagging it as a misspelling.) 

Juneteenth -- aka Freedom Day or Emancipation Day -- honors African American heritage by commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas in 1865. Celebrated on June 19, the term is a portmanteau of June and eighteenth and nineteenth.

Historical context: Although Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863, it had minimal immediate effect on most slaves’ day-to-day lives, particularly in the Confederate States of America and especially as deeply south and as far west as Texas.

Juneteenth commemorates June 18 and 19, 1865

·         June 18 is the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its quarter million slaves.

·         On June 19, tradition has it, while standing on the balcony of Galveston’s Ashton Villa, Granger read the contents of General Order No. 3: 

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor…”

Here’s one more very important point:

Note the date. This announcement came nearly two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been made official, and more than two months after General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army had surrendered.
 

You can read more on the decline and subsequent resurgence of Juneteenth celebrations in many places such as Wikipedia (a 21^st Century portmanteau word; wiki from WikiWikiWeb, the first collaborative website software + pedia from encyclopedia).

But just imagine: Upon receiving the shocking news of their freedom, former slaves had to grapple with the realities of their new status -- what it meant to be an "employee"  … to have the option of migrating to search out and/or reunite with long lost family members … to suddenly need to carve out a new place for themselves within society at large … and more.

Juneteenth Celebration
Austin, Texas
June 19, 1900

TGIM Takeaway: Slavery conjures up negative images and emotions for most of us. It's hardly a concept that gets people in the mood to party. However, when we can view an occasion such as Juneteenth as a Celebration of Freedom, attitudes change.

 

Welcome to the 21^st Century: The abolition of slavery marked one of the greatest moral victories in our nation's history. Not only did it begin to restore basic human rights to all our forebears, but it was a giant step in securing for all the constitutional liberties we enjoy these days.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Juneteenth is a time for reflection. It's a time for appreciating the great struggles of our ancestors to achieve freedom, no matter their ethnicity.

·         If we don’t yet live in what’s been characterized as a “post-racial” society, then it behooves us to sort through why, and quickly move closer to that resolution.

·         If we do live in that post-racial world, then it’s a great time to celebrate with friends of every color, creed and persuasion.

 

Spread the word and share the experience. Imagine if the modern day equivalent of General Granger arrived in your town this Juneteenth with such dramatic news that affected you personally. It’s easy to take freedom and liberty for granted. We can all use a reminder from time to time.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Commemorating Juneteenth with the joy and appreciation it deserves is the best way to ensure those freedoms are forever shared. Learn more about Juneteenth. Celebrate tradition. Juneteenth signifies a time when African-American families were able to be reunited. Celebrate family.

 

In addition: Any occasion that features culturally significant traditional foods, red velvet cake, strawberry soda and barbecue seems like a good idea to me.

 

Geoff Steck   
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

 

P.S. “The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation …  In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.” Abraham Lincoln declared that, December 1, 1862, in his Message to Congress on the State of the Union.