Small is Better. Less is More.

A colleague and friend sent a link to a recent New York Times article called “Living With Less. A Lot Less” because she said it made her think of me.  I was as interested in the reasons why it made her think of me although admittedly, there is much there which is food for thought.  The author describes how his space is small but his life is big. I think that is how I would describe our lives these past three months.

We have been living in about 270 square feet of indoor space and about 240 square feet of adjacent outdoor space.  We have everything we need, and probably more than we need but it all seems adequate, more than adequate as we have hot and cold water, heat and AC if we need it, a shower and toilet, three sinks, a washer/dryer combo, a queen size bed, a stove, convection oven and microwave, all the necessary clothes, plenty of storage, computers and internet connections, plus iPhones and pads.  In fact, our outdoor space expands with a beach or mountains or village or city, wherever we would like to be.

We are in our home on wheels, otherwise known as a motor home or in some circles, an RV, recreational vehicle.  We have met numerous people who do this full time and we have actually considered it, maybe with a small home base somewhere convenient and inexpensive.  Here are just a few things I have discovered with this kind of living arrangement.  Nothing earth shaking but these experiences confirm small and less being rewarding.

We seem to have more time, time to read, write, walk, be with friends and family and still work part time.  I think full time work is over rated anyway.  There is less to care for, less stuff, fewer things.  It’s a lot like living on a boat.  Everything is compact and yet it is very comfortable, and we’re mobile, at least in North America all the way to Central America. Most of these three months have been in Mexico and that’s another story for another time.  Suffice to say here that is just terrific all around.  Maybe it’s time to reevaluate the mega mansions and visit the small house movement.  That’s symbolic as well as real.

There is an entire sub-culture, especially in the U.S. and Canada, composed of active RVers as we’re called, and we drive every imaginable conveyance you can think of from big converted buses to small campers and trailers and a lot in between.  I don’t know how many of us there are but I think we have discovered the value of less is more and smaller is better.

Five Internal Perspectives on Leadership

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 Here is a brief summary of what leaders must deal with internally, almost all the time.

1-    Understanding the difference between your work and your job.

Work is your passion, what you care about the most whether reaching goals, accomplishing big projects or meaningful personal relationships with colleagues. Your job is what you have to do to get to your work, all of what I have called “administrivia” for many years.   For me, it’s the paper work, the myriad of details where the devil resides. Others, such as a top-notch assistant can be enormously helpful here in order for you to spend more time with your work and less time with the job.  We usually say going to work, not going to the job unless it’s a construction site, often known as a job site.  There may be some parallels here.

 

2-    Some expectations for top-level administrators (CEO's Division Heads, Directors, CFO's CIO's and others).

As the one in charge, you have overall responsibility for the institution or organization and you are expected to be decisive, supportive, intelligent, sensitive to the needs of others, communicative, positive, constructive, insightful, wise and available.  In fact, accessibility is often a key ingredient in the success of many leaders.  Other expectations are that you are the one who sets the tone and pace for others, and you must be capable of making difficult choices and persuading others to accept the outcome.  You must respond coolly and calmly in the face of an urgent and critical issue, and you need a handle on any board or governance matter.  

3-    The results of anxiety, stress and fatigue.

There is sufficient research that documents the negative effects of continuing and unresolved stress.  Illnesses of every variety from cancer to immune deficiencies to the common cold can often be traced to stress or one of its allies such as fatigue or anxiety.   Poor health habits that include lack of sleep and exercise, lousy nutrition, and no time for reflection and renewal all contribute to a stressed life out of control.

One of the keys to successful leadership is balancing the demands of the workplace with the personal needs of the individual.  It is apparent that when the latter are addressed in meaningful and productive ways, the former are met with a higher degree of confidence and energy.  Everyone experiences moments of doubt, frustration and discouragement.  But those down moments can be counterbalanced with times of insight, understanding, intelligent action, and positive outcomes.  Examine your priorities and include some for yourself!

4-    Choices, choices and more choices

Some of the better-known diversions for a CEO, head or director are a get-away or a conference that can fall under the heading of professional development.  Other official and approved “escapes” include travel to meetings with peers, visiting other places in conjunction with developing partnerships and other individuals and including an extra day on either end of a trip for some much needed R & R.  What should be clear is that in order to lead and serve others well, we must also take time to take care of our own needs, thus making it easier and much more possible to meet the demands and expectations of others with grace, dignity and style. 

5-    Qualities and characteristics of good leadership that can enlighten and energize.

Regardless what you think leadership is or should be, what is clear is that

good leaders know how to marshal the energy, talents and resources of others in order to accomplish certain stated goals and move closer toward fulfilling the mission and vision of their particular organization. Robert Greenleaf contends that one of the things that sets good leaders apart from ordinary ones is the gift or talent of foresight.   He calls it “a constantly running internal computer that deals with intersecting series and random inputs and is vastly more complicated than anything technology has produced…it means regarding the events of the instant moment and constantly comparing them with a series of projections made in the past and at the same time projecting future events- with diminishing certainty as projected time runs out into the indefinite future.”   That’s a lot to chew on and digest but it is a comprehensive yet concise view of what makes for a good leader.

(This short article is excerpted from a longer one entitled “Internal Perspectives on Leadership”, copies of which are available by request.)

Violence, Videos and Many Voices

I wrote the following piece some five years ago but when I saw that the app of the day (2/21/13) was Gun Bros 2, I thought it might be time to re-issue it.   The debate and conversations about gun control and our culture of violence continues to put people on opposite sides of the issues but perhaps there is space in between for some rational conversation about where we're headed.  We just watched the movie, "Zero Dark Thrity" and it's up for several awards tomorrow night at the Oscars. I doubt that the Academy will award any but we'll see.  And now "Manhunt"  a documentary produced by HBO that features three real CIA agents who tracked Bin Laden for 20 years.  I continue to wonder what price we're really paying for all of this and I do not mean the billions of dollars but rather to our collective psyche in terms of how we regard violence and when and how it can be justified.
So, here's the original piece for your consideration and review.

Originally written 4 Feb 2008:

Adults with many years of experience cannot expect children to be able to relate easily or quickly to an adult perspective.  Neither should they always try to persuade or convince the young to understand or accept their particular point of view.  However, that is what we do when we try to communicate personal, family and cultural values, transmitting our culture from one generation to the next. 

I expect young people of today to question and debate the issues that affect them and their generation..  And when there is disagreement, there can and should be a conversation with respect for each other’s views and positions. Then both will learn something of value.

Playing violent video games can increase a person's aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior both in laboratory settings and in actual life, according to two studies that were in the American Psychological Association's (APA) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. (April 2000) Furthermore, violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor, say the researchers.

Violent Video Games and Hostile Expectations: A Test of the General Aggression Model.

    B. J. Bushman and C. A. Anderson (2002)  See also:  Short-term and Long-term Effects of Violent Media on Aggression in Children and Adults.  B. J. Bushman and L. R. Huesmann (2006) Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine 160, 348-352

     What is clear is that the research is divided and there are no easy or definite answers for any position – whether the games contribute to more aggression or that they only contribute to aggressive behavior in those who are already angry or that they contribute, but in a small and insignificant way or that they make it possible for aggression to occur but only under specific circumstances.  More reliable research is indicated.

     To understand some of the effects of video games, you need to go back to debriefings conducted by the U.S. Army after WWII. Interviewing soldiers returning from battle, researchers discovered a disturbing fact. A significant number of soldiers had been face to face with an enemy soldier, rifle in hand, enemy in their sights, gun not jammed, and had not fired. Something deep in their being, some sort of innate humanity, or values instilled early on, had prevented them from actually pulling the trigger.

     This was very disturbing to the military. They began a research effort to figure out what to do about this problem. They discovered that in the heat of battle, under the incredible physical and psychological stress of being faced with another human being you were supposed to kill, the higher mental functions were largely absent. Under such conditions, the mind reverts to much simpler modes of operation, to deeply wired, almost instinctive behaviors. In other words, no amount of target practice and classroom lectures about how you're supposed to kill the enemy had much effect when it counted.

     Over the following decades and wars, the Army learned that the way to get soldiers to reliably pull the trigger was to use very basic, repetitive operant conditioning, along the lines of standard behaviorist theory. Behaviorism provides a poor model for how humans act in everyday life, but it turns out to be a fairly good model for how humans act when they are under stress and have to act quickly, and are responding primarily to fear. Under stress, fearful people do what they have been conditioned to do.  That is one reason we have repetitive fire drills, so that we know how to react in an urgent situation.

     The Army's solution was to replace dry target practice with realistic training grounds, complete with pop-up targets, loud noises, smoke, stress, the works. The goal was to condition the soldiers: if it moves, shoot it now, don't think about it. Repetition, repetition, repetition: Target pops up, you shoot. Target pops up, you shoot. Do that often enough, and, research shows, next time you see something pop up, you are more likely to shoot it, even if it's a real human in a real battle. Sometimes it’s called “friendly fire” when it is a mistake.  This is not just a theory, it is documented by exit interviews from soldiers in later wars: The Army got what it wanted.

     What does this have to do with video games? The answer should be obvious. The whole point is, if it moves, shoot it. Again and again and again.  The military uses all kinds of expensive simulators, basically high powered video games, similar to what kids use every day, to train its recruits and to overcome the aversion to killing.   And there is evidence to suggest that those who are expert at gaming are some of the best and most effective fighter pilots and soldiers.  In the end, if you believe in war, maybe video gaming is a good thing for survival!  The downside is that, in most cases, the enemy is also trained in shoot to kill.  Is it that he who presses the right buttons faster wins?

     The cost for soldiers who survive, as witnessed by the increase in post-traumatic stress, is devastating.   As many as one-third of the homeless men in the U.S. are Viet Nam veterans, most of them suffering from PTSD and we are only beginning to count the cost from the years of human destruction in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

     What can we learn from this?  Whether or not violent video games cause aggressive behavior may not be the real issue.  Perhaps the real question that needs to be explored is whether video gaming might contribute to an acceptance of the need to destroy the “enemy” without any need to feel anger or anything that can be consciously identified as aggressive behavior.   After all, it’s just a game.

Here is a sample:

“Hunched with his troops in a dusty, wind-swept courtyard, the squad leader signals the soldiers to line up against a wall. Clasping automatic weapons, they inch single-file toward a sandy road lined with swaying palm trees.

The squad leader orders a point man to peer around the corner, his quick glance revealing several foes lying in wait behind a smoldering car. A few hand signals, a quick flash of gunfire, and it's over.  The enemy is defeated, but no blood is spilled, no bullet casings spent: All the action is in an Xbox-based training simulator for the military, called Full Spectrum Warrior.”   (Associated Press 10/03)

 Finally, here is something which should also concern all of us.  When many people see a real video, shot live, they think that because it’s seen on a screen, that it’s not real when it is.  It’s just like a video game or worse, a television program with a script and actors and made up in a studio or on a set somewhere like a movie.  If you want to test that out on yourself, take a look at some of the current, live, very real, military videos and register your own cognitive and emotional response.  This is somewhat the flip side of the video gaming issue and equally important because it is very real and not a game.

     Not every child playing video games will develop aggressive behaviors and only a small percentage will become soldiers who are trained to do what soldiers have to do.  The point is that both children and adults can be easily influenced by the media and high powered, well- conceived video games.  What the short and long term results are will continue to be debated but there is compelling evidence to suggest we better take a hard look at what is happening as a result of violent video gaming.

Vernal Equinox, March 20, 2013: Lessons from Mother

When the Julian calendar was established around 45 BC, a date in March was fixed for the vernal equinox, that time and moment in the Spring when night and day are of equal length. It has to do with the tilt of the earth toward the sun and at this time it's approximately zero.  But the hours of night and day are not really exactly the same. George Greenstein, an astronomer had this to say: "There are two reasons. First, light rays from the Sun are bent by the Earth's atmosphere. (This is why the Sun appears squashed when it sets.) They are bent in such a way that we are actually able to see the Sun before it rises and after it sets. The second reason is that daytime begins the moment any part of the Sun is over the horizon, and it is not over until the last part of the Sun has set. If the Sun were to shrink to a starlike point and we lived in a world without air, the spring and fall equinoxes would truly have ‘equal nights.’”

In the northern hemisphere, we celebrate the return of the light, actually beginning at Winter solstice but even more so in the Spring with the advent of new growth that we can see and smell.  While we may spend more time inside than outside in the winter, we are now glad to be outside again.  And the closer you are to the earth, the more enhanced the senses.  I usually remember at this time of the year that Easter (Eostre, pagan goddess of Spring) is the first Sunday, after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

What can we learn from Mother Nature?   Photosynthesis is as natural to plants as eating is to humans.  In fact, there are some similarities with several significant exceptions.  One is that plants seldom overeat.  They take what they need, water from the ground through their roots, CO2 from the air and sunlight to turn water and CO2 into oxygen and glucose.  The way they do this is called photosynthesis which means literally “putting together with light.”   

Lessons from nature abound.  The rhythm and dance continue in their annual display of new growth, especially that green, green, green of newness.  Here are some 10 lessons to consider.

1      Eat what you need to sustain your vitality.

2      Save resources for leaner times.

3      Add some color to your life.

4      Figure out what you don’t need and let it go.

5      Prepare well for the next season.

6      Wait and don’t try to rush the process.  Let it work.

7      Embrace and celebrate inevitable change.

8   Know that what is not seen is often more important than what is seen.

9   Drink enough water to help the flow and grow
10 Remember that too much sun may be more damaging than not enough.

Organizational Check-Up

Here are four words, huge in their implications, challenging in their applications, and sometimes confusing in their descriptions.  The following comments are my brief take on each of the words and their meanings, at least for me in the past, present and possible future.  As Yogi (Berra) said, "It's very hard to make predictions, especially about the future."

Structure -  How is the institution, company, team, division, department or individual organized?   What are the essential features of how the parts connect with one another and work for both efficiency and effectiveness?  When you look at it from the outside what do you see?  Is there a chart, one of those diagrams that show people and how they are all connected? And if there is, when was it last updated?   If form follows function then this would not be the first thing listed but perhaps the last, as it would be formed and informed by the work that needs to be done.  Think about it.  When putting an organization together, where do you start?  Or if you are re-forming and re-shaping an organization, team or whatever, it might be better not to start rearranging the tables and chairs (and people) until you have a really good idea of how its working.

Function -  Is it working?  So many responses are that if it's working, don't mess with it.  Don't fix it if it's not broken and I say that if you think it's not "broken" perhaps you're not looking hard enough or far enough or deep enough.  It does not have to be broken to make it better or to rearrange some pieces in order to make it work or function better, more efficiently for example.  You may want to increase the flow or the capacity or maybe you even want to slow it down.   Maybe you want to do something entirely new and different or add a piece to what already exists.  Are you willing to consider what you might want to discard in order to replace it with a newer, better model?  Of course, the marketers are all about built in obsolescence in order to keep selling the new stuff.

Process -  Here is where the proverbial rubber hits the road and two of the words that have gained popularity recently in the parlance of organizations are "traction" and "recalibrating."   I am all for gaining traction as that is what moves us forward.  How do you measure progress?  Assessment and evaluation have become enormous markers for determining success, so much so that they are an integral part of the process.  As for recalibration, maybe that just means that in the face of so much change so fast, we need to make certain adjustments in the way we adapt to change or even design change as part of the process itself.  If you believe you have a good process, then it's important to let it work on behalf of the organization and/or the individuals who comprise it.  If you need to design a new plan, then go for it.

Outcome -  Here is where your goals and objectives rest and wait for you.  You may think you have determined what they ought to be and depending on your values, whether bottom line profit for the stakeholders and shareholders or individual and corporate success by some other measure, the results
"prove" or demonstrate that what you are about is worth all the investment of time, effort, energy and resources.  When you and those with whom you work are excited and energized by your mission, your vision and values, these are what will drive the decisions that will eventually produce the outcome.  Mission driven decisions, according to the research, are the most effective ones.

In summary, have a look and if you need some outside, more objective expertise to do that, then get it. You will be glad you did!

© Gary Gruber 2013

Finally, an explanation of Why.

We are currently in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and as lifelong learners committed to postponing dementia for a few more years, we are taking Spanish lessons at Warren Hardy's Escuela at # 6 San Rafael.  It's a great neighborhood although we are camped about 2 miles north in the country.
Warren offered a lecture this morning describing a brief history of the United States, a similar chronology of events in Mexico and the importance of social protocols.  He said that the ethnologists tell us that the top three values of the U.S. are financial opportunity, time and its control and personal freedom.  In Canada the top three were peace, good government (reported debatable by one of many Canadians in attendance) and respect for all people.  In Mexico the top three values are respect for the individual; trust, family and friends; and free time.

Furthermore Warren linked the founding of the U.S. as an opportunity for the puritans to work hard and that God would prosper them and the compulsions about time are evident just about everywhere.
(I wrote an earlier blog in October of 2011 entitled "It's About Time" with a few references to our use of time).  What Norteamericanos do not understand or appreciate is the significant cultural differences between the neighbors to the north of Mexico as well as the significant historical differences.  Being enslaved for 300 years provides a very different perspective on one's freedom from that of a country which has been relatively free for its entire existence, a mere 237 years.  There have been people and previously a few advanced civilizations here in Mexico, for 20,000 years and that is very much part of the cultural heritage.  The indigenous people of Mexico actually merged with the Spaniard conquistadores.  Not so in the U.S. as our regard for the indigenous tribes of North American did not allow for nor encourage much assimilation. 

What I finally understood is why I have lived in conflict with many of the core values of the United States which I struggled to define about 45 years ago.  I encountered the spend-buy-waste-want-borrow paradigm which was diametrically opposed to my own personal values of save-use-keep-have-give.  It is not that I am opposed to spending or investing but bottom line profits in terms of money have not been one of my life's motivations. And I came to the realization years ago that time was a construct, an invention for our convenience.  When Warren said that Mexicans would rather have free time with their friends than use that time to work for money, the light bulb burned brightly.   Yes, I said, that's it!  Eso es!   That could even be a play on S.O.S. but it's not.  It's part of the way of life here and it is truly refreshing and just one of many reasons we are enjoying being here and realizing that we are guests in this wonderful country of gracious, generous, polite and friendly people.  We have much more to learn.

The Mexican people love to hang out; they are very proud of of their race as a nation (La Raza); they are among the hardest workers of any industrialized nation and their economy is on the rise globally. And unless they become too much like the U.S. they may be able to retain their core values without compromising respect, family, friends and free time.  What a great model that would be.  In fact, we could also take some values lessons from our neighbors to the north, where peace is a top value.  There is much more to learn, linguistically, culturally, historically - perhaps in reverse order as the history defines the culture, language comes along with both and there you have it.  Becoming multi-cultural in our global village today is an essential piece of learning, growing and evolving, as human beings, as people who care about and for one another. Thanks, Warren for finally explaining why!

Giving Yourself a Gift of Time and Space

This piece was originally written a year ago and this is a revised update. This interesting phrase, “taking time off” doesn't mean much because one can not really ever turn time off.  What we mean is "time out" from the usual and ordinary, perhaps to invest in the unusual and extraordinary.   Like it says in the old ads for Timex, it just keeps on ticking and one day, we will run out of time, or walk out, or lie down and check out.  Think of some of the amusing ways people speak about time.  “I didn’t have time to do it.”  What they really mean is they did not choose to take the time to do it, whatever “it” was, but who is going to say that?    How about this one?  “It’s time to eat.”  That was my mother calling from the kitchen.  Whether you were actually hungry or not didn’t matter.  It was “time” for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  One family I knew quite well, not my own, sat down precisely at 5:30 PM every evening for dinner and everyone was expected to be there and be on time.  Being “on time” is highly important to many people but different cultures regard that behavior with more or less value.  Personal priorities about being “on time” may also vary.

Researchers have found that individuals are divided in two groups in the ways they approach time.  The Iowa State University Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning puts it this way:

"Monochronic individuals are those who prefer to complete one task at a time. For them, task-oriented time is distinguished from socio-emotional time. In other words, there is a time to play and a time to work. These individuals value punctuality, completing tasks, and keeping to schedules. They view time as if it were linear, that is, one event happening at a time. Examples of monochronic cultures include the U.S., Israel, Germany, and Switzerland.
Polychronic individuals, on the other hand, are more flexible about time schedules; they have no problem integrating task-oriented activities with socio-emotional ones. For them, maintaining relationships and socializing are more important than accomplishing tasks. These individuals usually see time in a more holistic manner; in other words, many events may happen at once. Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa are places where the polychronic orientation prevails.
In certain cities in the U.S., it is not uncommon for us to find timetables or daily schedules for buses or trains. If the bus is to be at a certain stop at 10:09 PM, for example, one can expect that to happen at the designated time, give or take a minute.
For polychronic individuals such precise timetables are mind-boggling, as many of them are simply used to going to the bus stop and waiting – not knowing whether they will be waiting for five or forty-five minutes. That is just the way things are.
This difference in time orientation is reflected in the complaints of U.S. business people conducting business in Saudi Arabia or in Mexico, for example. A big source of frustration for them is the difficulty of getting through a meeting’s agenda. That is because in these countries meetings begin with an extended socializing time in which time is spent establishing social rapport – usually over many cups of coffee or tea."

We are often like Pavlov’s dog.  The bell rings and we respond whether by changing activities, answering a call or checking something in the oven.  We are conditioned and regulated by time.  It’s “time” to go to bed.  It’s “time” to get up.  It’s “time” to go to work.  It’s “time out” and “time” to start again.  It’s “time” for the meeting.  It’s “time” to leave in order to get there in a reasonable amount of time.  It’s all about time and yet time is an invention, a construct for our convenience and we are bound by it.  How we measure time and how we use it reveals an enormous amount about who we are as individuals and who we are as a culture.

Here’s a phrase that amuses me because of the double entendre. “It’s about time” we say, meaning usually that we have waited for some time for something or other to happen and finally, it has taken place. Whether that expresses gratitude, relief or annoyance depends upon the context.  A long-awaited package arrives at the door and we say, “It’s about time!”   And really, it is simply that it has taken longer than was expected or desired for the delivery to be accomplished.  Big deal!  Get over it!  At least we got the package.

In order to get more done in the same amount of time the phenomenon of multi-tasking has appeared and it seems to have arrived in conjunction with the advent of computers that are able to perform several functions at the same time.   Recent research at Stanford on multi-tasking shows that people who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time.

High-tech jugglers are everywhere – keeping up several e-mail and instant message conversations at once, text messaging while watching television and jumping from one website to another while plowing through homework assignments.  But after putting about 100 students through a series of three tests, the researchers realized those heavy media multi-taskers are paying a big mental price.

When it comes to our brain’s ability to pay attention, the brain focuses on concepts sequentially and not on two things at once. In fact, the brain must disengage from one activity in order to engage in another. And it takes several tenths of a second for the brain to make this switch. As John Medina, author of “Brain Rules” says: “To put it bluntly, research shows that we can’t multitask. We are biologically incapable of processing attention-rich inputs simultaneously.” ( http://brainrules.blogspot.com/2008/03/brain-cannot-multitask_16.html)

When we are in situations where there are multiple sources of information coming from the external world or emerging out of memory, we are apparently not able to filter out what's not relevant to our current goal.  That failure to filter means we are slowed down by that irrelevant information."  However, that said, there are examples and instances that may show some exceptions and here is one such illustration.  The song, “The Time of My Life” which was the music and lyrics used in the final scene of the movie Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, was written by Frankie Previte.   Previte said: "I received a call from Jimmy Ienner who asked me to write a song for this little movie.  I told him I didn't have the time and he said, 'Make time. This could change your life.'"  Frankie's former bandmate John DeNicola and his friend Don Marowitz came up with the music for the song. Says Previte, "I received a track from John and Donny and I wrote the lyric and melody for the chorus in the car while I was driving along the Garden State Parkway, going to a studio session for another song."

Here’s the message:  Making or taking time to do what is really important can change your life. The question is, what is really important?  And if you’re driving, be careful!

Our April Seminar title is "Leadership Unplugged."  It provides leaders with the time and space to reflect on their personal and professional lives, renew themselves and their commitments and contemplate what might be next in life's great adventure.  If you've gotten this far, care to join us?   http://www.santafelead.org

The Sea of Cortez, Sunrise and Looking Ahead

This is more of a personal than a professional piece but with less and less separation between the two dimensions, herewith.  Our recent travels began the first week in January, took us respectively through Houston and Phoenix and we crossed the border around noon to Mexico on January 9 at Otay Mesa, the eastern port of entry at Tijuana, thus missing one of the busiest border crossings in the world.  We had camped the previous two nights in Chula Vista, CA getting ready for the big trip south to Baja.  Little did we know what lay ahead.  Driving a 39' motor home some 8' wide, towing our Jeep we stopped the first night in Ensenada, only 91 miles. We set out the next morning, quickly ran out of good roads and then began the narrow two lane roads and later on through mountains of snaking curves, steep ascents and descents and the trip to Los Barrilles, some 1000 miles, took four more days arriving on Sunday, January 13.  This fishing, kite surfing village is about 45 miles north of San Jose del Cabo and another 20 miles from there to Cabo San Lucas at the tip of Baja.

Ten days later we set off for La Paz to put our vehicles and us on a ferry to Mazatlan. We had arrived in plenty of time to pick up our reserved tickets, measure and weigh the vehicles, go through customs and inspections and get them and us, separately, on board the Mazatlan Star of Baja Ferries.  The pictures here (www.bajaferries.com) are not our ship but a newer one with a few more amenities.
This was definitely not a cruise ship but a commercial ferry that carries mostly big tractor trailer rigs and a deck or two of cars and of course some passengers, maybe 100-150 many of whom walked on.  There are six decks, four of which are for vehicles, one for reception, cafeteria and lounge and a few cabins and another with mostly cabins and outside deck space.  We had a small but comfortable cabin on the top deck.

As I started to drive on to the ferry in the motor home, Susie with the Jeep, one crew member wanted me to back on, another wanted me to drive on front first.  The two of them argued and the drive on head first guy won out and I proceeded up the steel ramp onto deck number 3 and up another  ramp to level 4.  I had to pull forward and then back into a very narrow space between two rows of tractor-trailer trucks of which there were probably five or six rows on that particular deck.  They pack all the vehicles in like sardines front to back, side to side, with several crew members directing.  That done, I squeezed through and was led by a security guard up to reception where I waited for Susie.  We had begun loading at 3 PM and all was accomplished in two hours and we cast off around 5 PM.  From the bay near La Paz, at the port of Pichilingue, we headed north then made a big turn south into the Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California.  Our course took us toward Mazatlan on the mainland, arriving there some sixteen hours later, a calm and easy crossing.

As we are often up before sunrise, we wanted to see this one especially out on the water and it was spectacular.  Sunrise on the Sea of Cortez reminded me of those early sailors and explorers who, guided by the stars, traveled so many of the oceans, searching for new lands to exploit and conquer but also seeking new countries for those willing to start a new life in another land.  Somehow, the sun over water adds a dimension of brilliance to both elements and the ocean air is a third variable in the equation that makes an early morning meditation both easy and very peaceful.  The winds were fairly clam although a flight of five large sea birds could hover almost motionless above the ferry as we plowed through the water.

Mexico has a fascinating history with significant cultures of indigenous people going back some 13,000 years.  Then the Spanish came in the early 16th century and either conquered or merged with the Mayan, Toltec and Aztec peoples.   Hernando Cortez was one of those explorers who marched across Mexico, over ran the Aztecs and established Mexico City but that whole campaign was not won easily.  There are many stories of the struggles of the Mexican people right up to the current day and the political leaders and issues that continue to plague this beautiful country and the people who live and work here.

We landed the morning of January 25th, in Mazatlan, exited the ferry for another inspection by the military and then hooked up and headed for Guadalajara, almost all expensive toll roads but easy driving until we hit the outer limits of the city.   Then it was solid six lanes of traffic in both directions until we made a wrong turn 300 feet too soon, had to unhook and get back out on the busy road before finally finding San Jose del Tajo, a remote campground in Guadalajara and drove down a cobblestone road under low palm trees and a narrow passage way.  The next day was a "morningmare" getting out of the city.  We got lost,  in spite of our GPS and good sense of directions, went at least 30+ miles out of the way, finally ended up in a barrio dead end and had to get a taxi driver to get us out to the highway headed out but in a different direction than we had planned.   We were about 2 hours delayed by that fiasco and then another wrong turn in Queretero and we ended up in some catacomb tunnels under the city, arched stone passages that were low and narrow and dark.  An angel on the street gave us directions out through a straight long tunnel and we headed on to San Miguel, arriving finally around 5 PM, about 4 hours later than planned but intact if a little harried.

Here at Hotel Balnerio San Ramon there are some concrete pads for about six RVs and one of them was already occupied by a couple with an identical Allegro Bus to ours, same year, a bit different floor plan.  They have been almost full time for about 7 years, lived on the island of Vieques in the Caribbean for six years prior and are originally from Colorado.  They have mega information about RV travels, Mexico and all the systems that make this kind of life comfortable and enjoyable.  There is good connectivity here most of the time via WiFi, cell phone and email, so I continue to work with those back in the states with whom I am engaged in several projects that are ongoing.  Another couple from the Yukon territory near Whitehorse arrived and have already been in Mexico for a month planning to spend 4-5 months seeing other parts.  They are traveling in a truck camper, the Dodge diesel truck is 10 years old, in great shape and the camper is new.  They can go many places we cannot such as boon docking on wonderful beaches, remote and beautiful mountain spots and smaller parking places in many campgrounds that cannot accommodate our big rig as they're called here and in the states.

Speaking the language would be a tremendous asset when traveling here and we're hoping that by the end of our three weeks of Level 1 Spanish classes we can at least get along better than we have thus far.  The Mexican people are wonderfully friendly and helpful and seem glad to see us Nortenos from Estados Unidas or Norteamericanos.  This is our fifth extended trip to Mexico and we are already looking forward to more.   The challenges are far outweighed by the rewards of both the travel and being here.  The weather is superb, the people gracious and generous of spirit, our house on wheels comfy and cozy with an outside patio for additional space.

Sunrise this morning over the hills of San Miguel de Allende reinforce our desire to continue this kind of travel and new living/learning experiences.  The warm days and very cool nights are most comfortable, the surroundings are beautiful, the old part of the city charming and intact, and we are looking forward to being here for the next several weeks.  School is hard, learning a new language at this age is challenging,  the teacher, Warren Hardy,  is terrific and we should come away with at least some basic language skills to help us communicate a little more effectively with our Mexican friends here south of the border.   We don't expect to become fluent but we do hope to add to our very limited vocabulary and use of the language.

I learned yesterday and even more today about why my brain is not so resilient as previously.  Both it and I are much older!  We fill that storage space with all kinds of memories, information and details.
And the older we get, the more that's in there and the harder it is to add anything more.  If someone has a way of erasing that which is no longer of use, without surgery, please let me know.  In the meantime, as lifelong learners, we continue to challenge ourselves with learning what we believe is important, valuable and practical.  The rest will just have to be put on ignore!  

Be Out of Touch and Enjoy it!

Be Out of Touch – And Enjoy It!   

As the owner/user of an iPhone, an iMac and a MacBookPro, plus a wireless connection in office and home, and in most public venues for all of them, (plus a roommate who is similarly connected) I am somewhat familiar with email, voice mail, live conversations and meetings through various means including Skype, Google+, webinars with and without video and conference calls.    Add to this mélange of apparati the social media network that includes one or more of the following social media -Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, My Space and Google + -  and you have activity that sucks up a lot of time, attention, energy and resources.  Yes, it’s how people communicate, connect and do business and fills our calendars and schedules with meetings, appointments, commitments and projects.

The phrase, “taking time off” is interesting because one cannot really ever turn time off.  What we mean is "time out" from the usual and ordinary, perhaps to invest in the unusual and extraordinary.   Like it says in the old ads for Timex, it just keeps on ticking.  One day, we will run out of time, or walk out, or lie down and check out.  Think of some of the amusing ways people speak about time.  “I didn’t have time to do it.”  What they really mean is they did not choose to take the time to do it, whatever “it” was, but who is going to say that?    How about this one?  “It’s time to eat.”  That was my mother calling from the kitchen.  Whether you were actually hungry or not didn’t matter.  It was “time” for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  One family I knew quite well, not my own, sat down precisely at 5:30 PM every evening for dinner and everyone was expected to be there and be on time.  Being “on time” is highly important to many people but different cultures regard that behavior with more or less value.  Personal priorities about being “on time” may also vary.

In certain cities in the U.S., it is not uncommon for us to find timetables or daily schedules for buses or trains. If the bus is to be at a certain stop at 10:09 PM, for example, one can expect that to happen at the designated time, give or take a minute.   For polychronic individuals such precise timetables are mind-boggling, as many of them are simply used to going to the bus stop and waiting – not knowing whether they will be waiting for five or forty-five minutes. That is just the way things are.

This difference in time orientation is reflected in the complaints of U.S. business people conducting business in Saudi Arabia or in Mexico, for example. A big source of frustration for them is the difficulty of getting through a meeting’s agenda. That is because in these countries meetings begin with an extended socializing time in which time is spent establishing social rapport – usually over many cups of coffee or tea."

We are often like Pavlov’s dog.  The bell rings and we respond whether by changing activities, answering a call or checking something in the oven.  We are conditioned and regulated by time.  It’s “time” to go to bed.  It’s “time” to get up.  It’s “time” to go to work.  It’s “time out” and “time” to start again.  It’s “time” for the meeting.  It’s “time” to leave in order to get there in a reasonable amount of time.  It’s all about time and yet time is an invention, a construct for our convenience and we are bound by it.  How we measure time and how we use it reveals an enormous amount about who we are as individuals and who we are as a culture.

Here’s a phrase that amuses me because of the double entendre. “It’s about time” we say, meaning usually that we have waited for some time for something or other to happen and finally, it has taken place. Whether that expresses gratitude, relief or annoyance depends upon the context.  A long-awaited package arrives at the door and we say, “It’s about time!”   And really, it is simply that it has taken longer than was expected or desired for the delivery to be accomplished.  Big deal!  Get over it!  At least we got the package.

ßIn order to get more done in the same amount of time the phenomenon of multi-tasking has appeared and it seems to have arrived in conjunction with the advent of computers that are able to perform several functions at the same time.   Recent research at Stanford on multi-tasking shows that people who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time.

High-tech jugglers are everywhere – keeping up several e-mail and instant message conversations at once, text messaging while watching television and jumping from one website to another while plowing through homework assignments.  But after putting about 100 students through a series of three tests, the researchers realized those heavy media multi-taskers are paying a big mental price.

When it comes to our brain’s ability to pay attention, the brain focuses on concepts sequentially and not on two things at once. In fact, the brain must disengage from one activity in order to engage in another. And it takes several tenths of a second for the brain to make this switch. As John Medina, author of “Brain Rules” says: “To put it bluntly, research shows that we can’t multitask. We are biologically incapable of processing attention-rich inputs simultaneously.” ( http://brainrules.blogspot.com/2008/03/brain-cannot-multitask_16.html)

When we are in situations where there are multiple sources of information coming from the external world or emerging out of memory, we are apparently not able to filter out what's not relevant to our current goal.  That failure to filter means we are slowed down by that irrelevant information."

However, that said, there are examples and instances that may show some exceptions and here is one such illustration.  The song, “The Time of My Life” which was the music and lyrics used in the final scene of the movie Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, was written by Frankie Previte.   Previte said: "I received a call from Jimmy Ienner who asked me to write a song for this little movie.  I told him I didn't have the time and he said, 'Make time. This could change your life.'"  Frankie's former bandmate John DeNicola and his friend Don Marowitz came up with the music for the song. Says Previte, "I received a track from John and Donny and I wrote the lyric and melody for the chorus in the car while I was driving along the Garden State Parkway, going to a studio session for another song."

Here’s the message:  Making or taking time to do what is really important can change your life. The question is, what is really important?  You are!

In light of all this connectivity, our current offering is an opportunity for a small group of people to unplug for several days and come together in an old-fashioned retreat setting and see what we might make of this kind of experience.   It will be interesting to get some feedback on the unplugged part of the Seminar and see how many were really able to stay simply unplugged for most of three full days.  Perhaps the only way to accomplish that part is to go to a hermitage where there is no electricity, no wireless, no cell service (global sat excluded) no land lines and make it a true wilderness event.   I will put it on my to do list and write it out on a yellow note pad.  Consider the SFLC event in April in Santa Fe, New Mexico!  http://www.santafelead.org

© Gary Gruber 2013

PUT YOUR MONEY ON THE KIDS!

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Schools, organizations, kids and the future   

When schools began to be compulsory, the model was, following the industrial revolution, to make little workers of the students.  Like their fathers, and later their mothers during wartime especially, in the factories, they were to follow instructions, work diligently at whatever was assigned as their task – reading, writing, arithmetic – and produce good work or the right answers or whatever it was that the teacher wanted.  In the factory setting the foreman was the leader/teacher of the work group and the boss/manager was the principal.

Schools are still organized around the work day schedule whether 8 AM to 5 PM or the five-day week or the nine or ten months per year.  There are some notable exceptions where some high schools, recognizing the different bio-rhythms of adolescence start later in the day and have early evening classes.   Some even have some terrific week-end activities.   There are some year-round schools that take time off throughout the year rather than the long summer break fostered by an agrarian society that needed children in the fields.  One great disadvantage of the long summer for many students is that the first part of the following year is spent in review and catching up where they left off last year.   What if schools could break out of the adult mold and respond to children’s needs in developmentally appropriate ways?

Now it seems that students have moved up a notch or two but they’re still in the organization or company mold only this time they are the managers, trying to manage their time and their resources, their schedules and their activities, their homework (increased significantly over that of the previous generation) as well as their school day, friendships, parental expectations and future plans (both strategic and long-range).  Some schools are even preparing these young protégés for the next move up the ladder to the CEO ranks and have co-opted, with the best of intentions, a leadership theme.  How else can these young worker/students climb higher on the ladder of success and achievement?

Are they only fulfilling the expectations of those adults who surround them?  Or, as we might hope, are they being encouraged to ask their own questions about meaning and value, purpose and direction?  Are we helping them to become intelligent and critical participants of the very system that often fails to inspire and support them?  Are they developing a zest for learning, exploration, discovery and expression?  What other questions must we examine carefully to know whether or not we are serving their best interests or only those we have decided are important?   .

“The Organization Kid” (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/04/the-organization-kid/302164/  following by 45 years The Organization Man is one look at the students in the beginning of the 21^st century that remind us that authority of parents and other adults – teachers especially, was not only back in vogue but in fact may make a significant contribution to the way young people are able to live comfortably, securely and productively within specified boundaries of respect, responsibility and restraint.  The downside to all of this is what I found for so many years when asking the following question of students in numerous private and public high schools:   Why are you here? Why are you here in this particular school at this particular time?  Similar question of an organization:  What is your business or profession? What do you hope to achieve as a result of your practice? 

None of the students that I recall answered that they were there “to be students.”    Some responded that they were there to “receive an education” but that suggests a high degree of passivity in the same way that someone might respond by saying to get something by doing simply what is required as a means to an end.  What they did say in vast numbers, was that they were there to go somewhere else and “to get ahead” which meant to go on to the next place, to get a job.  In college preparatory schools they were there to get ready to go on to the next level of education.   Their response was sufficiently intriguing to pursue the conversation by asking them to explain the purpose of the next step and the response was equally future-oriented, to prepare for the next stage of life – it was something like this – high school, college, perhaps graduate school, good job, lots of money, comfortable life, early retirement so that they could really do what they wanted to do.  Why must they wait so long to do “what they really wanted to do?”  

I queried a recent graduate of a prestigious university that many aspire to attend about what was next now that the long sought degree was in hand.  The response

was, again, intriguing.  She said that she really wanted to teach and that she thought further that she would be really good at it.  But, she also said in the next breath that she was accepting a job at a bank because it paid almost twice as much and she wasn’t sure she could afford to teach just now.  However, her hope was that someday she would get to teaching, because that is what she really felt passionate about and that was where she believed she could make a difference.. This bright, attractive, energetic student was a math major, eager to share her enthusiasm for math with younger students and could easily contribute to a school in numerous other ways as a coach, advisor, mentor and role model.  Perhaps she could do some of those things from the offices of a bank but her presence and impact might not be as great as it could be if she had found a way to

pursue her passion and not make the compromise because of 15,000 dollars. 

There are signs of a shift in the paradigm from adult-centered and teacher-centered learning to more student-centered learning that capitalizes on their genuine interests and abilities.  Less emphasis on adult generated assignments and more on student originated topics that are relevant, timely and often extraordinarily creative and productive.  There are numerous examples from science experiments that tackle real world issues in the areas of environmental concern to health care and medicine to other global topics such as poverty, hunger and social justice.  For the future, I’m putting my money on the kids! 

© Gary Gruber 2013