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Thursday, December 16, 2010

A BRYCE CHRISTMAS

I don't want to sound like Scrooge or the Grinch, but Christmas is not one of my favorite holidays. I see it more as something for the kids as opposed to adults. Before I get started though, I want to make something perfectly clear; I still refer to this season as "Christmas" as opposed to the "Holidays" which may sound more politically correct, but to me it's an admission that Christians are in retreat in this country. I am not a super-religious person mind you, but it bothers me that we have turned the celebration of Christ's birth into a marketing bonanza. To illustrate my point, consider the following:
* We spend millions on lights and decorations around the house as opposed to investing in our planet and conserving energy resources.
* Instead of helping the less fortunate, we give opulent gifts to people who really do not need them. Last time I checked, there are still places in the world where people are sick and hungry, and need an education or a roof over their heads.
* As opposed to trying to replenish our forests, we kill trees to do nothing more than decorate our homes for a few scant days.
* Instead of promoting Christ's words of peace, we are still at war with ourselves, particularly at the checkout counter.
If this has all changed, I must have missed the memo on it.
In the workplace, we exchange superficial gifts more because we feel we have to rather than because we want to. I would much rather have a heartfelt handshake than most of the gifts I have received in the office. But then again, this probably isn't politically correct either. I have even seen people compete over who is going to give the most extravagant gift to someone for political purposes as opposed to the generosity of their heart.
It is also customary to hold office parties this time of year, much to the delight of caterers, restaurants, hotels, entertainers, etc. But I wonder if the substantial money expended here would be put to better use by rewarding the employees with a bonus instead.
Following Thanksgiving, the media immediately shifts its programming into the Yule tide swing with Christmas music on the radio, and specials on television. It seems a little like brainwashing to me to force you into the Christmas spirit weeks before the actual holiday. I'm sorry, but I don't like being coerced into anything.
I wonder what Jesus would say about all of these shenanigans. First, he would probably wonder who the jolly fat guy was in the red outfit. I imagine he would tell us that we all have our priorities wrong. I can even hear him say, "Hey guys, you even got the day wrong!"
If Jesus were to come back, I'd bet he would be kidnapped by the marketing people for at least the month of December, maybe longer.
With this said, I sincerely wish everyone, be you a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, or whatever, a very merry Christmas, not because I'm trying to force my religious beliefs down your throat, but because I genuinely wish you Peace on Earth, good will toward men. Maybe I do have the Christmas spirit after all.
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

FATHERS EAT HEELS

I was making a sandwich the other day, and as I opened a loaf of bread I observed the heel customarily unclaimed by other members of the family. I, of course, took it to build my sandwich. Only then did I stop to think how many times I had done this over the years as my family seems to have an aversion to eating the heel and, consequently, it was always earmarked for my consumption exclusively. It's not that I relish eating the heel, I just don't want to see it go to waste. I then started to think about the other attributes that distinguish fathers. For example:
It is the father's job to kill spiders, bugs, and any other potential vermin frightening the household. In Florida, this includes man-eating grasshoppers, ants, armadillos, opossums, snakes, and the rare alligator that may wander by the house.
It is the father's job to take out the trash, not just the regular kitchen garbage but virtually anything that can be shoved into, on top of, or next to a trash can. This includes items from the attic, bio-hazardous material stored in the garage, and anything that can be hacked off on the property. When the receptacles are full, it is the father's job to somehow transport it to a dumping station, usually in the cleanest car available.
It is the father's job to mow the lawn. More than mere mowing, this includes edging, hedging, pruning, sodding, raking, fertilizing, and blowing debris off the property. Hopefully the father is assisted by his offspring, but most find it an imposition for the child and therefore pays for Mexican laborers to perform the task instead.
It is the father's job to change the oil and wash the car. I don't mean running down to a car wash or quick-lube either. Every father should know how to use a hose and bucket of suds, not to mention wax. Further, they should be able to change the oil, miss the pan, and cleanup the slop spilled on the driveway. Hopefully the father is assisted by his offspring, but most find it an imposition for the child and therefore pays for Mexican laborers to perform the task instead.
It is the father's job to eat leftovers and anything else the family refuses to consume. This distorts his palate which explains why father's have a passion for such things as lima beans, Brussels sprouts, artichoke hearts, rutabaga, lamb shanks, liver and onions, black eyed peas and collard greens, grits, tapioca pudding, Rhubarb Pie, and Bosco.
It is the father's job to help the children with their homework when they hit a problem. It is also his job to look as helplessly puzzled when he doesn't know the answer (or understand the question).
It is the father's job to make simple house repairs, such as changing the garbage disposal, fixing the toilet, repairing the door bell, or electrocuting himself when he should have called an electrician.
It is the father's job to be the computer technician of the house, to hook up wires and strings, to buy and replace printer cartridges, and to curse Microsoft.
It is the father's job to take the blame for whatever goes wrong, large or small, regardless if he is at fault or not, pick up the pieces and try to mend things.
It's not easy being a father. They get all the dirty little jobs to do, and the leftovers to eat. They only ask for a little love and attention in return.
Just remember, fathers eat heels.
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
Like the article? TELL A FRIEND.
Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

HOW COMPANY PARTIES WORK

The following is an excerpt from my book, "MORPHING INTO THE REAL WORLD - A Handbook for Entering the Work Force" which is a survival guide for young people as they transition into adult life. The book offers advice regarding how to manage our personal and professional lives. As a part of this, I found it necessary to discuss how to behave at company parties.
Company Parties
During your employment, you will undoubtedly have to attend some company sponsored parties, be it a year-end party or simply going out for a drink with the boss. Your attendance is important as the company is trying to relieve some stress and promote camaraderie among the workers. If you are married, bring your spouse (if they are invited) as companies tend to like to create a family-like environment. If the spouse refuses to attend, it will send a negative message. But assuming they are going to attend, be sure to brief your spouse prior to the function on any pertinent politics so he/she will not accidentally say something inappropriate thus causing an embarrassing situation to make you look bad.
Yes, it is time to relax and unwind, but it is also time to be on your toes. Alcohol tends to loosen the tongue so do not imbibe to the point of drunkenness. Now is not the time to tell off your boss or coworker. Do not say something you will live to regret, such as revealing a dark chapter of your past or how you screwed something up at work, which is how rumors are started. Keep cool and collected. If you are leery of alcohol, order something that looks like a regular drink, such as club soda and lime (which could pass as a gin or vodka tonic) or apple juice (which easily passes for whiskey). This leads people to believe you are a social drinker, yet allows you to maintain control over your faculties.
Aside from this, company parties tend to loosen up inhibitions and allows you to get to know your fellow workers and boss on a more personal level. Also observe protocol in regards to smoking. Some people enjoy a good smoke, others vehemently dislike it. Do what is suitable for the occasion.
If you are ever put in charge of coordinating a company party, make sure it is a success and accommodates everyone, especially if it is the year-end holiday party. Companies take such parties seriously and you are often measured by how successful the party is executed. For example, I have a friend who served at IBM in New York years ago, and was saddled with the company holiday party where families were invited to attend. He quickly found this to be a big responsibility. Nonetheless, he put on a great party where everyone enjoyed themselves. He even had a Santa Claus there to deliver a present for every child in attendance. And best of all, he delivered the party under budgeted costs. In fact, the party went off so well, that his career at IBM took off immediately thereafter.
"Do not underestimate the power of the company party."
- Bryce's Law
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
Like the article? TELL A FRIEND.
Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Monday, December 13, 2010

SNOWBIRD MIGRATION

The snowbird migration is in full swing down here in the South. This is where northerners, predominantly retirees, make their annual trek to Florida to spend the winter. Their money is particularly needed as Florida's economy is still reeling from the recession and we have high unemployment. Nonetheless, there is a price to be paid for having our neighbors from the north flock down here.
For starters, you have to put up with some God-awful drivers. There are New Yorkers in SUV's who think they own the road, people from Ontario who believe they are always driving in a school zone, and others from the Midwest who are just plain lost. Such eclectic driving habits causes some rather strange "stop and go" traffic. As if driving in Florida wasn't bad enough already, traffic volume is easily doubled during snowbird season.
When the snowbirds arrive, they are typically on a tight budget, particularly Canadians who know how to pinch a penny that would have even embarrassed Jack Benny. I don't know who the genius was who invented the "Early Bird" restaurant specials beginning at 4:00pm, but they timed this perfectly to snarl rush hour traffic. Snowbirds flock to "Early Bird" dining, as well as anyone offering a pancake breakfast or spaghetti dinner for $5 or less. They sniff these bargains out like a Bloodhound and consume more than their money's worth. God forbid they find a defenseless buffet as they would attack it like piranhas attacking a wounded water buffalo.
You know the snowbird season is in full swing as you watch the trailer parks fill to capacity. You see just about every kind of RV imaginable, either pulling a Smart Car or something comparable, or pulling trailers containing motorcycles and other equipment. If you visit such a park you get the feeling you are visiting a U.N. refugee camp as you hear the various dialects and idioms whereby it is easy to distinguish a visitor from Massachusetts from someone in Ontario, versus Illinois, versus Ohio, etc. The Germans and English also like to visit but are easier to spot as they generally wear less clothing on the beach than everybody else, and not in a flattering manner I might add. Whereas native Floridians think the weather is cool or chilly, the Europeans think it is a heat wave.
This brings up a point, perhaps the best way to distinguish a native Floridian from a snowbird is to simply visit the beaches. A true Floridian won't be seen on one from November to March as they think it is too cold. Everyone else is a snowbird. The half naked people soaking up the sun in t-backs (including men) are from Frankfort and London. It's that easy.
All this aside, snowbirds tend to be quite cordial, and as I mentioned, we could certainly use a cash infusion. There is only one real problem with snowbirds, fewer and fewer migrate home at the end of the season and decide to nest permanently down here.
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
Like the article? TELL A FRIEND.
Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

THE SPEED OF TIME

When you discuss concepts like the speed of time, people like Einstein and Newton come to mind who would have you consider such factors as space, light, gravity, and other elements from physics and mathematics. This my be so, but in human terms, time is measured by experiences and memories. And, Yes, time does indeed speed up and slow down. I believe we can all agree on this.
As a child I can remember summers that seemed to last for years. We spent our time capturing fire flies, camping and fishing, shooting BB guns, playing baseball, riding bicycles, playing miniature golf, collecting pop bottles so we can earn money to buy candy, sneaking some fruit from nearby orchards, building forts, swimming in a nearby stream, and playing games of tag, hide and seek, and red light/green light. Aside from the occasional rain, we spent most of our time outdoors until our parents called us in for dinner or to put us to bed.
In school, time also seemed to crawl along, particularly if we had a boring teacher whereby we would agonize over how slow the hands on the classroom clock would move. There never were any second hands on the clocks in our day. However, they would make a distinctive click just two seconds before the minute hand moved. When we heard the click just before the end of the class, we instinctively began rushing for the door. Time was perhaps the slowest as we approached the holidays. Students turn into zombies as they await being released for the holidays or summer. I really do not think it is possible to teach them anything during this period as their minds are elsewhere.
Time starts to speed up after we leave high school though. We look around and all of our classmates have left to start their lives, be it in the military, in a job, in college or in a technical school. From ages 18-22, we begin to notice how fast time goes by. One minute we're graduating from high school, the next we're starting our careers and adult life. It doesn't slow down either. During our 20's and 30's, our lives are moving at warp speed as our career and family begin to blossom.
It doesn't slow down in your 40's and 50's either as you remain active personally and professionally, but you start to notice that your children and their friends, who you used to watch playing in the yard yesterday, are now grown up, have facial hair, and smoke and drink.
I don't know about retirement, which kind of scares me. Some people tell me things slow down radically as they retire, others say they've never been busier. Some complete their college education that alluded them earlier in life, others travel, and still others take on smaller and more menial jobs which keeps them in contact with people.
I believe the speed of time is measured by how actively we use our mind. If we want it to go faster, we have to remain busy and possess an intellectual curiosity about life. If we want to slow it down though, all we need to do is withdraw and surrender to tedium. Which is better, fast or slow? I guess it's a matter of who you talk to. I just can't help but thinking time will slow to a crawl when we've finally departed this world.
"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."
- Albert Einstein
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
Like the article? TELL A FRIEND.
Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

IN PRAISE OF SLIM WHITMAN

Back in the late 1970's/early 1980's the American public was barraged with a series of television commercials that baffled most of us. We didn't know it at the time, but these were probably the first "infomercials," something we were unaccustomed to. There was Zamfir, "The Master of the Pan Flute" who, we were told, was incredibly popular in Europe. The only problem was that nobody in North America had ever heard of him. Next, came Rula Lenska, a Romanian actress from the U.K. who was hawking Alberto VO5 hair products. Again, nobody in this country had ever heard of her. Even Johnny Carson asked, "Who the hell is Rula Lenska?" Finally, a yodeling country singer asked us to buy his "greatest hits" album which was allegedly more popular in Europe than the Beatles and Elvis. The singer's name, Slim Whitman. Because of their claim of notoriety in Europe, these three personalities became the butt of many jokes and the American public was reluctant to take them seriously. Nonetheless, they persevered and kept touting their products over the airwaves night and day.
Of the three personalities, Whitman was the only American of the group. Over time, Lenska and Zamfir returned to Europe, but Whitman continued his career in this country. Although the heyday for his music was the 1950's and early 60's, he faded from view until his commercials started to appear in the late 70's. Following this he was all but forgotten until Tim Burton's movie, "Mars Attacks!," in 1996 whereby Whitman's song, "Indian Love Call," was used to destroy the Martians. Although this was done in jest, it was certainly not a compliment to Whitman or his music.
Although I originally didn't take Slim seriously, I happened to come across several of his songs on "You Tube" a couple of years ago and began listening to them out of curiosity at first. In no time at all I was hooked. Keep in mind I have a pretty eclectic taste in music. I like just about everything from Rock to Jazz to classical, and lot's of in-betweens. However, I never could stomach Rap or Country/Western. Sure, I have heard lots of songs from these genres but nothing really captivated me, until I started listening to Slim Whitman.
Whitman's trademark is, of course, his yodeling, but that's not what grabbed me. Instead, it was the total package of his music, his orchestration, his tempo and melody, and his voice. Whereas, I had thought of Whitman as nothing more than a country bumpkin, I learned to respect his music. Heck, I even enjoy it and am proud to say so. When I placed links on my Facebook page to his YouTube videos, I was surprised by the number of people who said they were also hooked on his music but were reluctant to say so until I spoke up. Thanks to "Mars Attacks!" most people consider Whitman's music a joke and, as such, are hesitant to admit they like it. I'm actually finding more and more people coming forward who say they love it.
When I started to research Whitman's background, I was pleasantly surprised to discover he is a product of Tampa, Florida, right in my own backyard, and at age 86 he is supposed to be retired in Middleburg, Florida (southwest of Jacksonville). He has sold millions of records, been recognized by his peers, and influenced many other notable artists. Unfortunately, the general public doesn't remember this or understand his impact.
As for me, his music reminds me of a simpler time, something we could sure use more of these days. I particularly enjoy his classics, "Rose Marie" and "I Remember You." And, Yes, I have been known to listen to his "Indian Love Call" now and then if for no other reason than to help me change gears during the day.
When I think of the whacky times we live in, a little Slim Whitman is very much appreciated. I'm only sorry I didn't take him more seriously years ago.
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

WORK HORSES

Within any company or organization, there is at least one person managers count on time and again to get a particular job done. Such a person is commonly referred to as the "Work Horse" of the group, the "Go-to guy" or the "Iron Man." Such a person is not necessarily the smartest or most physically endowed, but can be counted on to see a task through to completion based on sheer will and determination, something we used to call "dedication." The Work Horse may not be a thoroughbred, but possesses certain talents and strengths we find vital for running a company. Without such people, companies tend to flounder, thereby they should be prized and coveted. Quite often they are not, unfortunately.
Day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year we saddle up the Work Horse and have him pull the cart on his appointed rounds, feeding on nothing more than a modest diet. The Work Horse seldom complains even when the load gets heavy. He simply perseveres and keeps going until the job is done or he drops over from exhaustion. Driving such a person is a deeply seeded love of the job and sense of responsibility. He does not think in terms of making a quick buck. Instead, his personal and professional lives are one and the same, it is his livelihood.
Should the Work Horse leave, pandemonium tends to break loose, at least for awhile until someone else picks up the load or the company goes defunct. This brings up an interesting point, what makes the Work Horse unique is his intimacy with the system of the company, complete with all its foibles. Over time, the Work Horse has learned all of the weaknesses of the system and how to get around them, thereby making the person indispensable. Work Horses can perhaps be best described as "resourceful."
Despite his abilities, the Work Horse is typically taken for granted. This can be dangerous as the Work Horse likes to know his work is noticed and appreciated. A little recognition now and then can work wonders, be it nothing more than being treated with courtesy and respect. Abuse tends to wear out the Work Horse and makes him less productive.
Until such time as managers can move their workers around like interchangeable parts in a machine, they would be wise to take note of their Work Horses and care for them accordingly. Work Horses may not be glamorous, but they're the ones that get the job done.
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
Like the article? TELL A FRIEND.
Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

STAGE FRIGHT

This may be hard to believe, but I suffered from shyness when I was young. The idea of speaking in front of a group of people or meeting strangers was just plain scary to me. So much so, I refused to sit on Santa's lap at the department store during the holidays. When I was a kid, my father would love to give tours of our house and introduce my brother and myself to guests while we were relaxing in the back of the house (which we thought was a safe haven; it wasn't). My father did this so many times that we eventually took to hiding in closets when we heard him coming down the hall on one of his many tours. It always baffled him why he couldn't find us. I can still hear him say, "And here are my sons who are...Gee, where did they go? They were here just a minute ago..."
I'm sure there are a lot of people who suffer from this affliction. It wasn't until I was a freshman in college when I was able to overcome it. At the time, I took a basic speech class where students were asked to give talks on a variety of subjects. At first, the speeches were no longer than three minutes, which seemed like an eternity to me. They were then stretched out to five minutes, and then ten minutes. I eventually caught on and did a capable job. Since then, I've gone on to do all kinds of lectures and training classes, some lasting several days.
As for me, I overcame my fear when I decided I wasn't going to be intimidated by people anymore. I learned that stage fright was an acknowledgment the audience is better or smarter than yourself, which I discovered was simply not so. If I prepared my speech properly and knew my subject matter I realized I was in the driver's seat and not the audience. This was the confidence boost I needed. Since then, I always prepared myself accordingly, was incredibly organized, and embarked on my lectures with a little swagger. That college speech class may have seemed trivial to some people, but it worked wonders for me.
In the past, you have heard me discuss how I believe technology is having an adverse effect on our socialization skills. I still believe it but fear it is getting worse. I am finding many of the young people coming out of college tend to be very introverted. They may be a whizz at text messaging and talking on cell phones, but they are at a loss as to how to effectively communicate face-to-face. I think this is because there is not enough emphasis in school on sharpening their speaking skills.
In order to complete our college speech class we were asked to give a five minute talk on a soap box at the main college gate while other students passed by on their way to class. The subject could be anything. As it was nearing election time, I made some unflattering remarks about our incumbent governor (are you surprised?). Regardless, it was a positive experience for me and frankly, I don't know why High Schools and Middle Schools don't do likewise, maybe even Elementary Schools as well. It sure would help overcome stage fright and improve the speaking skills of our youth. I can tell you authoritatively, we need more people who can articulate a sentence, motivate people, and educate others than we need people who can text message faster than the speed of light.
As a manager, the last thing I would want to say to a visitor in my department is, "And here is my staff who are...Gee, where did they go? They were just here a minute ago..."
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
Like the article? TELL A FRIEND.
Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Monday, December 6, 2010

PEARL HARBOR DAY

It's Pearl Harbor Day, a day we set aside in America to commemorate "a date which will live in infamy," December 7th, 1941, when the Imperial military forces of Japan bombed military targets in Hawaii or, as many called it, a "sneak attack." Today, in the 21st century where 9-11 is fresh in our memory, the Pearl Harbor attack is quickly fading into obscurity as the "greatest generation" fades away with it. I'm afraid 9-11 is superseding December 7th, just as the Pearl Harbor attack superseded "Remember the Maine" in 1898. All were unfortunate disasters, and I don't want to say one is better than another, but it would be unfortunate if we forgot the important lessons they taught us, particularly December 7th.
Pearl Harbor is a story of courage, survival, and a spirit of "don't give up the ship." On that day in 1941 approximately 2,500 people were killed and another 1,200 wounded. Four major battleships were sunk in the harbor (though two were subsequently raised), numerous planes were destroyed, and the Pacific fleet was set into disarray. To this day, 69 years later, oil still leaks from the USS Arizona which sits in its watery crave in the harbor.
The bombing shocked and angered the nation. Had it not been a surprise attack, it may not have aroused the emotions of Americans, but such is hindsight.
The real lesson learned from Pearl Harbor was how unprepared we were and how we could have prevented it. To illustrate, prior to the Pearl Harbor disaster, the Army sent General Billy Mitchell to study Pacific defenses. Mitchell's notoriety stemmed from his advocacy of air power. During World Way I he commanded all of the American air combat units in France. He was a visionary who understood the potential of the airplane and pushed hard to promote air power which, as he discovered, was difficult to do during peacetime. His arguments extolling the virtues of air power fell on deaf ears and earned him the scorn of his superiors, who sent him to the Pacific (and get him out of their hair).
During his tour of the Pacific, Mitchell visited Japan and witnessed firsthand how the Japanese were embracing air power and realized America was far behind their counterparts. Following his tour of the Pacific he produced an extensive 323 page report on his assessment of American defenses in the Pacific. Here are excerpts from it:
"One hears it often said that Japanese cannot fly. Nothing is more fallacious than this. They can fly, are going to fly, and may end up by developing the greatest air power in the world... It takes no longer to teach Japanese than it does Anglo-Saxons."
"Japan knows full well that the United States will probably enter the next war with the methods and weapons of the former war... Japan also knows full well that the defense of the Hawaiian group is based on the island of Oahu and not on the defense of the whole group."
(After describing in detail the tactics and timing of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor) "I have gone into attack by an enemy in some detail to show how easily it can be done by a determined and resourceful enemy... Actually nothing can stop it except air power..."
"(Japan) knows that war is coming some day with the United States, and it will be a contest for her very existence. The United States must not render herself completely defenseless by on the one hand thinking that a war with Japan is an impossibility, and on the other by sticking to methods and means of making war as obsolete as the bow and arrow."(1)
Interestingly, this report was produced in 1924, seventeen years before the Pearl Harbor bombings. Mitchell was not only prophetic, he was correct. Regardless of how accurate Mitchell's report was, he was criticized and ignored by the Army, and the report was quickly dismissed. One year later, Mitchell would be court-martialed and suspended for remarks he made accusing the Army and Navy of military incompetence.
Regardless of the military's feeling about him, Mitchell had delivered a fair warning and provided a blueprint of weaknesses in Pacific defenses which, had they been corrected, would have changed the course of history.
Pearl Harbor Day to me is a strong reminder of how Americans tend to be reactionaries as opposed to planners. I find it incredibly strange and dangerous that we prefer to pay attention to a dog only after it has bitten us, as opposed to heeding its bark. Our history is checkered with many examples of reactionary behavior, all coming at an incredible expense to American lives.
I hear the dogs barking in the Middle East and Asia, but does anyone else?
Keep the Faith!
EPILOGUE: In 1942, after Pearl Harbor proved Mitchell correct, FDR restored his service record and elevated him to the rank of major general. Regrettably, he had passed away six years earlier never knowing how prophetic he had been.
1 - The Billy Mitchell Story by Burke Davis
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
Like the article? TELL A FRIEND.
Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

THE NEED FOR A BALANCED BUDGET

I remember Ronald Reagan's televised farewell address in 1989 as if it were yesterday. It was touching, it was encouraging, and it was patriotic. There was one thing missing as far as I was concerned: a final plea for enacting a balanced budget and line-item veto, or at least a warning of the consequences for failing to enact such a law. Alas, I was greatly disappointed when neither a plea or a warning was included in the address. I'm told every state except Vermont has a balanced budget amendment and all but a small handful of states provide for a line-item veto, Vermont included (it kind of makes you wonder what those Green Mountain boys are up to).
Now we find ourselves saddled with a federal budget with a massive deficit; something which, as of this writing, hasn't been approved yet even though we are already into our third month of the operating year. This is the first time since 1974 we failed to approve a budget and I am at a loss as to why. I've been involved with lots of budgets over the years, both commercial and nonprofit. When you start talking about preparing a budget, I've noticed people tend to roll their eyes and hope it just goes away. It doesn't and it shouldn't. A budget is a vital part to running any enterprise and is actually not that hard to prepare, at least in terms of the mechanics of its preparation. I think this is why the good Lord invented spreadsheets. Admittedly, the federal budget is bigger in complexity than a lot of little local nonprofit groups but the principle is essentially the same.
The hard part, of course, is determining your planned or anticipated income and expenses and getting them to match. Sacrifices have to be made one way or another. Nonetheless, the budget dictates your game plan for the operating year. True, we have had to deal with a lot of emergencies over the last ten years, such as 9-11, numerous hurricanes (anyone remember Katrina?), the Gulf oil disaster, and of course Iraq and Afghanistan, but despite all of this, our government has done a pitiful job of preparing and adhering to an effective budget. Deficit spending has been the order of the day for far too long which has greatly contributed to the economic meltdown of this country and causes us to become beholden to foreign powers such as China.
Like any institution, our Congress and President have a fiduciary responsibility to the American people to manage financial resources wisely, but they have violated this charge far too many times. Frankly, our government cannot help themselves, it is an addiction and something they cannot be trusted to properly maintain. This is precisely why it is necessary to have a balanced budget amendment and line-item veto as our Congress doesn't know how to say "No!" And this goes for both sides of the aisle.
Adhering to a budget requires determined discipline. If you haven't got it, you can't spend it. If an emergency arises, you find a way to pay for it. Hopefully, you've created a fund for just such a contingency. It's called "planning." It's that simple. Now, in order to balance the federal budget will it be necessary to curtail certain projects? Undoubtedly. Will people feel the pinch? Absolutely. Can we afford NOT to do it? I'm afraid not. As we know all too well, if you run in the red too long, you will inevitably go out of business, and we don't need an economist to tell us so. It's just common sense.
"Okay Mr. Smarty-pants, where should we start cutting costs?" That's easy, flatten the government by 25%. That'll be a good start. If the government intends to squeeze the taxpayers and business community, it seems only natural that the government should lead by example and squeeze itself.
"Common sense told us that when you put a big tax on something, the people will produce less of it. So, we cut the people's tax rates, and the people produced more than ever before. The economy bloomed like a plant that had been cut back and could now grow quicker and stronger. Our economic program brought about the longest peacetime expansion in our history: real family income up, the poverty rate down, entrepreneurship booming, and an explosion in research and new technology."
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

THE CELL PHONE PLEDGE

As many of you know, I have never been a big fan of cell phones, particularly as people use them when driving their cars. My loathe for them was such that I vowed to be the last man on the planet to own one. Well, after seeing countless housewives in the grocery store talking on them, the multitude of idiots using them in cars, kids on tricycles, the homeless gabbing away, even prisoners using them, and finally seeing nobody else in line ahead of me, I finally succumbed and acquiesced to get one. Actually, my wife got it for me as she was frustrated in tracking me down and felt it was time to bell the cat.
Unlike a lot of people, I see the cell phone as something used in emergencies and not as an integral part of my daily life. I can do very well without one, thank you. No, I do not need a cell phone to relieve the tedium of waiting in traffic, the radio will do just fine; nor do I find it necessary to entertain someone while sitting on the toilet or standing in the shower. There is a time and place for everything and I do not believe cell phones fall into these categories. Then again, this is not the first time I've been accused of being old fashioned, and likely it will not be the last. I tend to believe I am more pragmatic about the use of the cell phone than most and have no intention of allowing it to change my life style. Consequently, I hereby pledge the following in the use of my cell phone:
* That I will not use it while driving an automobile. If I really need to use it, I'll pull off the road to talk on it thereby not causing a traffic hazard.
* That I will not use it in the bathroom. I'm sorry, if another party wants my full attention, they will just have to wait.
* That I will keep it muted or off in a public venue and if I find it necessary to talk to someone in a public setting, I will excuse myself so that I do not interrupt others.
* That if I find myself in a situation where I must either focus my attention on either a pressing problem at hand or talk to another party on the cell phone, I will quickly determine which has priority and devote my attention to one or the other, but not both. In other words, I may ask the caller to excuse me so I can finish what I am doing and will call them back when it is convenient for me to do so.
* That I will be judicious in distributing my cell phone number. I don't need another blockhead calling me regarding some inconsequential nonsense. If I give you my number, it means I trust your judgment, value your friendship or business, and recognize you will not redistribute it to others unless I ask you to. Further, I will do likewise to safeguard the cell phone numbers I have in my address book.
* If I have a voice mail message that says I will call you back, I will, but if I have a voice mail message stating I will be unable to return calls, don't hold your breath.
* That I will not send text messages while driving or performing some critical function.
* That I will read the manual even though it is written incomprehensibly by programmers who haven't got a clue what "user friendly" means.
In other words, I pledge not to let the cell phone run my life, but I'll run it instead. I may be the last man on Earth to get a cell phone, but, alas, I fear I'll be the first to use it rationally.
EPILOGUE: I first published this column on May 5, 2009. Since then I have remained true to my pledge. I just wish more people did likewise.
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

OUR PROPENSITY TO LEAP BEFORE WE LOOK

A few things recently got me thinking about the American propensity to "leap before we look." The recent Gulf of Mexico oil disaster and the Health Care Bill (aka "Obamacare") are two good examples of fatal deficiencies in our ability to plan. In terms of the Gulf disaster, I was stunned we had no contingency plan as a lot of other countries do. We were simply unprepared for such disasters. Obamacare was different though; instead of taking the time to prepare a full feasibility study, as is customary in the business world, some cockamamie bill was cooked up in a back room in Washington and shoved down our throats. It's no small wonder people revolted against it. This is a prime example of short stroking the planning process and rushing to implementation. The excuse often is, "We don't have time to do it right." Translation: "We have plenty of time to do it wrong," thereby creating more problems with the program than it cures. This is precisely what we now have with Obamacare, a mess. Don't get me wrong, I believe there are probably shortcomings and problems in our current health care system, and we could probably do more to help others, but how Obamacare was produced was plain and simply wrong and consequently Congress and the President wasted a lot of time rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
The next question is, why do we tend to resist planning? Not just the politicians, but throughout the corporate world (particularly in the I.T. world where planning is openly spurned). The short answer: "Because it requires work."
The long answer: People tend to resist gazing into the crystal ball and prefer to react to life as it passes them by. Some people believe planning in today's ever changing world is a waste of time, that you must be more "agile" and accommodate changes as they occur. As anyone who has designed and built anything of substance knows, this is utterly ridiculous. We would not have the many great skyscrapers, bridges, dams, highways, ships, planes, and other sophisticated equipment without the efforts of architects and engineers. Without such planning, our country would look essentially no different than how the pioneers first discovered the continent. Although we must certainly be flexible in our plans, and we will inevitably make some mistakes along the way, little progress would be made if we did not try to plan a course of action and control our destiny.
People often take planning for granted, that someone else will be making plans for us, such as government officials, our corporate management, or even the elders of our families. Consequently we become rather lax about looking into the future. Nor is there any encouragement by anyone to plan our affairs, such as a tax break. Whereas other countries offer incentives to save money for the future, such as Japan, America does not. Therefore, planning is a rather personal activity; we either see the virtue in doing so or we do not.
Americans have become legendary reactionaries who procrastinate until it is too late. We see this in everything from business planning, to career planning, family planning, financial planning, and even planning for our demise. It is simply not in the American psyche to plan, but to react instead. There are plenty of examples to illustrate the point; such as Pearl Harbor (where General Billy Mitchell predicted the attack with great accuracy 17 years prior to December 7th, 1941); there is also Hurricane Katrina (where engineers and government officials knew well in advance of the weaknesses in New Orleans' system of dykes and levees, yet did nothing about it); and, of course, 9/11 (where we learned a hard lesson of dropping our defenses in the face of terrorism).
Years ago, a long range business plan was for five-to-ten years. Such plans have become scarce in recent times; probable casualties of a dynamic world economy. Now, "long range" either means until the end of the fiscal year or end of the quarter. It is even difficult to get a prioritized list of objectives for a department, let alone a whole company. Instead, companies are now operating under a whirlwind of ever changing "priority ones," thus confusing workers and causing them to be counterproductive.
In the I.T. arena, planning is still very much a faux pas, but then again, it has always been such. For example, in our "PRIDE"-Information Systems Engineering Methodology (ISEM), developers would like to skip through the early phases used for planning and design, in order to get to the programming phases. In other words, they didn't feel comfortable in planning and instead preferred to be writing software. This makes for an interesting paradox: although they liked to skip down to programming (where the "real work" was performed), they also liked to complain about deficiencies in requirements definition and other design specifications (which would naturally result from the preceding phases had they been performed). The most common excuse you hear from developers is, "The users do not know what they want." Basically, this is an admission that the developer is either not properly trained in or lacks the discipline to plan properly.
Part of the problem is that we have become very impatient for results and I think this can be attributed to our technology. For example, we now expect information at our fingertips, instant communications, quick turnarounds in medicine, etc. Instead of patiently waiting for results, we now want instant gratification. Consequently, activities such as planning are perceived as interferences for getting a job done.
There are, of course, several tools available for planning: calendars, statistics and trend analysis, blueprinting and flowcharting, feasibility studies, priority modeling tools, etc.
If we do not understand or appreciate the need for something, we tend to avoid it, but that is not the excuse here. We all have at least a rudimentary idea of what simple planning can do for us, we just balk at doing it.
We fail in planning not because we lack the proper tools, there are actually quite a lot of them available to us, but simply because we lack the discipline or desire to do so. Rather, we prefer to wait until disaster strikes so we can blame others for our problems and hope they can bail us out.
Like it or not, planning represents work. It is also something many of us are not disciplined to do, regardless of how simple it is to perform. We can rationalize why we do not plan all we want, but in the end, it is because of one thing, plain and simple: we are lazy.
"Remember, it's Ready, Aim, Fire; any other sequence is counterproductive."
- Bryce's Law
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

THE "CAN DO" MENTALITY

What ever happened to the "Can Do" mentality of the United States? Let me give you an example; 1982 was a particularly profitable year for our company. We were flush with cash and like a lot of other companies in such a situation, wanted to spend it before the end of the year as opposed to letting the government tax us for it. At the time, we were in need of a new computer. PC's were not in vogue yet, and mainframes were cost prohibitive. Instead, we were interested in a midrange computer that could suit both our development and administrative needs. After considerable investigation, we settled on a DEC VAX (an 11/750 with VMS) from Digital Equipment Company in Massachusetts, a fine machine with a good reputation for reliability and service. Keep in mind, such computers back then were high ticket items costing thousands of dollars.
There was just one problem with the computer; we couldn't buy it. True, we had plenty of money, but we had difficulty finding a salesman to take our order. The last week of the year is always bad in terms of people taking time off between Christmas and New Year's Eve, but a big company like DEC should have someone around, right? Wrong. We ended up speaking to a salesman who was more interested in the holiday break than in selling us a computer. When we realized he was incompetent, we asked for another salesman. The second rep said he could take the order and would begin the paperwork in terms of setting us up as a customer and performing a credit check on us, which would take several weeks to complete. This was unacceptable, so we had to make additional calls to find the right person, a sales manager.
We explained to the manager we had spoken to his underlings who didn't seem to comprehend our situation. We said, "Look, it's simple, you've got a computer on your docks which we want to purchase; we'll send you a certified check by overnight mail, if you can process the contract and ship the product within 24 hours." The salesman sensed the urgency of the matter and understood the necessity for acting promptly (as he didn't want to lose the sale). "Can do, Sir," was his response. We processed the check accordingly and promptly received the computer from DEC. All of the bureaucratic problems as described by the DEC underlings never materialized and everybody was happy with the transaction, all because the DEC sales manager knew how to take some initiative and conquered all of the obstacles in his way.
Three years later, in 1985, we were planning on moving our offices from Cincinnati, Ohio to our present location in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Again, keep in mind, we were not dealing with PC's that could be easily packed up and shipped accordingly. Instead, we would need a team of technicians from DEC to break the computer down and another team to set it up on the other end in Florida. Many people warned us it would take weeks to make the migration; "It can't be done in a weekend," we were told.
Fortunately, we had established a good relationship with DEC's Customer Service group and knew some key managers who had a "Can Do" attitude. We met with them and explained our move and asked for their assistance. On the day of the move, on a Friday, we backed up the computer one last time before powering it down. The DEC team then came in and took it apart and packed it for shipping. The last thing loaded in the moving van was the computer with its many terminals and other peripherals. The time - 5:00pm.
Our company then moved by convoy down I-75 until we arrived at our new offices in Florida. At 8:00am on Monday, the DEC technicians arrived and helped us unload the computer and move it into its new room. By 9:00am, Monday morning, the computer was powered up with everything connected and our developers began to work. In other words, we didn't miss a beat, all because of a little planning and a "Can Do" mentality.
You don't see too much of "Can Do" anymore in business, it's more of a "Can't Do" attitude instead. I'm not sure why this is. Perhaps because we tend to overly micromanage people and, consequently, they no longer feel empowered to take action, waiting instead for authority to do so. Perhaps people are not properly motivated either. Regardless, I see this "Can't Do" attitude permeating our society. It is very negative and to my way of thinking counterproductive.
I'm not going to be one of those old fuddy-duddies who says this is how we did something years ago, but there is definitely something to be said about someone with a "Can Do" mentality. It's always a pleasure to work with anyone, regardless of their occupation, who knows what they are doing, and does it well. Some call it "confidence," some call it "empowerment." I call it, "Can Do!"
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
Like the article? TELL A FRIEND.
Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Monday, November 29, 2010

ENTERPRISE ENGINEERING

"Enterprise Engineering" is a term we coined in 1988 to reflect the third and final part of our concept of Information Resource Management (IRM) representing a triad of methodologies to design, develop, and control all of the resources needed to support the information requirements of an enterprise, be it a commercial or nonprofit endeavor. Earlier we had produced organized methodologies for "Information Systems Engineering" and "Data Base Engineering," but now our attention turned to producing an Enterprise Information Strategy, a plan for satisfying an enterprise's information requirements based on business priorities.
We used the term "engineering" in all three of our methodologies to emphasize they possessed a solid conceptual foundation derived from engineering and, as such, could be applied and taught as a science. The three methodologies are complementary; whereas "Information Systems Engineering" was primarily implemented by Systems Analysts and Programmers, "Data Base Engineering" was implemented by Data Analysts, DBA's, and Data Communications personnel. When we introduced "Enterprise Engineering" we invented the position of "Enterprise Engineer" to describe the type of person who would execute the methodology. What we described as "Enterprise Engineer" then is perhaps best exemplified by what is today called a "Business Analyst."
Among the innovations we introduced with the "PRIDE"-Enterprise Engineering Methodology (EEM), were two techniques we called "Enterprise Decomposition," and "Priority Modeling." As to the former, companies were all familiar with drawing hierarchical organization charts depicting administrative reporting relationships. Such graphics represent physical relationships which tended to be rather volatile in nature. For example, it is not unusual for organization charts to change from one moment to the next. We also realized jobs are created to implement certain business functions, such as sales, customer service, manufacturing, etc. Business functions are much less dynamic than jobs and personnel relationships. Wanting to invent a stable model of the business, we devised the Enterprise Decomposition technique which basically said within any enterprise, there are three fundamental functions, "Produce Income" (which is typically referred to as "Marketing"), "Administer Resources" (such as human, financial, and equipment resources, etc.), and "Produce Product/Service" (representing the outcome of the business, be it Manufacturing and/or a particular service"). With these high-level functions defined, we subdivided them into a three level hierarchy. Level-1 represents the fundamental "Operations" of the business; Level-2 is a "Control" level to oversee operations and implement executive directives, and; Level-3 was the highest level where "Policy" decisions are made.
This simple "three-across and three-down" approach resulted in a hierarchy of logical business functions representing a stable model of the business. We tried this on several types of businesses and found it to be an effective approach for modeling an enterprise. We also discovered that companies with the same business mission were identical in terms of the logical business functions to be performed. For example, all automotive manufacturers were essentially the same, as were life insurance companies, banks, etc. The difference between companies of the same sort was physically how they were organized and the effectiveness of their information systems. Nonetheless, this resulted in a template approach for modeling businesses.
The second unique technique we introduced in "PRIDE"-EEM was "Priority Modeling." At the time, one of the most fundamental flaws in planning was that plans were inflexible. After agonizing over the formulation of project plans, companies were hesitant to change them even though business conditions were changing due to such things as competition, economics, government regulations, and changing technology. No sooner were massive monolithic systems plans produced, they were already obsolete. This meant a company's information systems were never synchronized with changing business conditions. It also explains why so many systems projects were simply abandoned as opposed to completed.
Using our logical business model, we defined the objects needed to run the business, be it something as tangible as a product, a part, an employee, etc., or as intangible as an event, such as a customer order, a shipment, or a billing. From this, we could define the information requirements needed to support each business function. Requirements were then grouped together into business objectives based on commonality. Business objectives were then grouped into projects. Using a weighting technique based on the value of the information requirements, we devised a means to calculate the priority rankings of business objectives which, in turn, drove the priority rankings of projects. If a business objective's value changed, we could easily recalculate the priorities of all objectives and projects. This shuffling of priorities allowed executives and business analysts to play "what if" scenarios of corporate priorities, hence the expression "Priority Modeling."
In addition to "Enterprise Decomposition" and "Priority Modeling," "PRIDE"-EEM provided several byproducts, such as an organization analysis based on a comparison of the physical organization against the logical, defining the corporate culture, and producing a skills inventory.
"PRIDE"-EEM introduced a new and innovative way of looking at the enterprise, the objects and information requirements needed to run it, and provided a handy way of formulating an enterprise-wide information strategy under changing business conditions. As such, it is based on a simple concept, "If anything in life is constant, it is change."
The concepts and terminology used in "PRIDE"-EEM are pragmatic and straightforward and, as such, can be easily taught to others. For more information, see:
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

CHILI RECIPES - IT'S PERSONAL

A couple of weeks ago I attended a Chili cookoff at a nearby town. For the uninformed, a "cookoff" is a cooking competition that concentrates on a particular dish, in this case, chili or "chili con carne" to be more precise, a spicy meat stew which is particularly popular in the South. There were a few dozen vendors in attendance and I took my time to sample all of them. I've tasted a lot of different interpretations of chili over the years, e.g., shredded beef versus ground beef, various types of chili peppers, textures, not to mention how served, such as on a bed of rice, on spaghetti, with corn bread, etc. Because of these many variations, I like to believe I have a pretty open mind when it comes to chili.

The competitors in the chili cookoff came from different backgrounds; everything from restaurants to mom and pop operations, to individuals who relished participating in such events. Usually when you go to a cookoff like this, you are likely to run across some commonality between entries. Interestingly, I didn't find anything remotely similar between the various competitors. Although I thought when it came to chili I had seen everything, I of course didn't as everyone seemed to have their own unique interpretation. Most had little or no spice whatsoever in it, which baffled me. Some were runny or soupy and others had more kidney beans than meat. I even found one with shrimp that could have easily passed for gumbo as opposed to chili (I think the guy was lost). There was also a vegetarian chili which I personally consider blasphemous. Regardless, each and every competitor was genuinely proud of their entry and boasted it was the best in the competition. Frankly, most of the entries could have been better used as fishing chum in the Gulf. I may not be a chili connoisseur, but this was bad and I think it would have offended everyone in the great state of Texas where chili is the official dish.

Regardless of the outcome, I discovered chili is a very personal dish and there are probably no two people who prepare it exactly the same. Even if people use prepackaged ingredients, I have found they like to add their own unique nuance to the recipe. When you ask someone to describe their version you usually get a contrived answer like, "It's Spanish style," or Cuban, Greek, Filipino or Ethiopian (huh?), not to mention Cincinnati-style with its "5 ways" of combining ingredients.

I have also found chili recipes are usually jealously guarded family secrets (sometimes even between family members). As to the cookoff competitors I experienced, I don't think they have to worry about the misappropriation of any trade secret. They could paste their recipes on every telephone poll from Tampa to Fairbanks and I think it is safe to say their secrets will remain proprietary.

I guess I don't see chili as a complicated dish. There is meat and there are spices. To me, it's the spices that distinguishes the dish. When you are in the southwest, it's usually a matter of red chilies versus green chilies, both have different tastes and degrees of heat. We could easily stop there but inevitably we do not as evidenced by the many different interpretations I experienced at the cookoff. But shrimp chili? Vegetarian chili? Turkey chili? Ethiopian chili? No, no, no, and Hell no. Just give me the beef and an interesting spice, two things I didn't find at this year's "chili cookoff."

Keep the Faith!

Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.

Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com

For Tim's columns, see:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/timbryce.htm

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Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

WHO SHOULD CONTROL THE WORK ENVIRONMENT?

Good question. For years, controlling the work environment was considered management's responsibility. After all, they were the ones charged with the task of implementing certain business functions. But the times have changed or have they really? Today, most young people expect the corporate culture to adapt to their life style and work habits, not the other way around. And there is some evidence to this effect. For example, suit and ties have been replaced by some rather avant-garde dress. Even "Casual Fridays" have been replaced by grungy appearances on a daily basis. This has manifested itself to the overall office appearance and organization. Further, most younger office workers are now plugged into iPods to avoid social interaction. One has to wonder if this new corporate culture has truly been conducive to completing assignments on time and within budget. If not, maybe a change is in order.
But the question remains, has management surrendered control over the work environment? Well, to a degree, Yes. Some things have admittedly changed over the last couple of decades, and management is less sensitive to adhering to corporate policies and procedures. Nonetheless, young employees must still conform to the corporate culture rather than their own.
Interestingly, a dichotomy has emerged in the work place; whereas employees are given more freedom to look and act as they so desire, micromanagement is on the rise. The two may or may not be related, but the two phenomenons are too noticeable to be considered nothing more than a coincidence. While employees want more participation in the decision making process, managers are more resistant to giving it to them. Is it possible that employee appearance and conduct doesn't instill confidence in the manager? Not just maybe, but highly likely. If employees look and act unprofessional, the less likely management will trust their judgment.
Can a happy medium be found? Frankly, I think so, but it requires a reexamination of the corporate culture by management. Companies may balk at going back to suit and ties, but there are some fundamental changes that can be enacted to affect discipline, organization, and accountability; and this all begins with taking control of the work environment.
As I have described in the past, there are both logical and physical aspects to controlling the work environment. The physical attributes represent those things affecting human senses and the logical affects the human spirit. The physical work environment affects sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, which of course influences our perceptions. This means management should be sensitive to lighting, temperature, colors, personal appearance, equipment, etc. The logical side refers to management style and reflects management's values; e.g., ethics, conduct, dedication, professionalism, motivation, and social interaction. As such, both the logical and physical attributes are closely related.
The intuitive manager should spend more time on controlling the work environment and less time on supervising the smallest details (micromanagement). This means the manager needs to empower workers, delegate responsibility, hold people accountable, and get the heck out of the way. In other words, by treating people as professionals, it is not at all unreasonable to expect them to act as such in return. By doing so, the manager is promoting trust, and encouraging teamwork and loyalty by giving the employees a sense of ownership in the work products to be produced. Frankly, I believe employees prefer such an arrangement.
The military has long understood the need for an organized work environment. In addition to uniform appearance, you have three standing rules of operation: either you work on something, store it away properly, or throw it away. Clutter is avoided at all cost. True, there is a lot of personal supervision during boot camp and a soldier knows how to take an order, but when you are in the field, the officers do not have time to hold your hand.
But the reality in the corporate world is that management is spending more time on supervising, and less time worrying about the work environment, hence the decline of discipline and organization. I tend to describe this relationship using the game of football as an analogy. The Head Coach is responsible for checking on field conditions and preparing his players through practice (training) and devising a game plan (strategy), not by going out on the field and instructing the actions of every player. So, as you sit down to watch your favorite football game, ask yourself how the play of the team parallels your office. Just how much supervision is going on in the field and who controls the work environment?
"Manage more, supervise less."
- Bryce's Law
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
Like the article? TELL A FRIEND.
Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

THE 2010 SPLIT

To me, the most significant outcome of the past mid-term elections was how it split the country along ideological lines. There has always been substantial differences between the Democrats and the Republicans, but nothing as pronounced as what we are witnessing today. I remember the sharp differences of LBJ versus Goldwater in 1964, Nixon and Humphrey in 1968, and Reagan/Carter in 1980, but I do not remember a time in our our history where the people have been so bitterly divided in terms of how the country should be run. The differences between the two are often described as the "Haves versus the Have Nots" or "Givers versus Takers," but more precisely, the two sides can be distinguished by the following attributes:

THE LEFT

THE RIGHT

Wants big government representing totalitarian control whereby the state regulates everything, a sort of "Big Brother" mentality.

Wants government flattened with less regulation thereby encouraging personal initiative and responsibility.

Sees themselves as intellectuals who openly contest the status quo, including socioeconomic policies, religion, morality and sexuality.

Sees themselves as law abiding patriots who believe in the sanctity of the U.S. Constitution. They are more steeped in customs and morality with a deeper rooted belief in God.

Considered more politically correct and more permissive in nature.

Considered more disciplined and unbending in principles.
Over the years, the pendulum has swung back and forth grudgingly, but for some reason it has turned quite bitter. I can only surmise it is because our political consciousness has risen to new heights as evidenced by the record voting turnout in this past mid-term election. The reason for the rise is twofold: first, because people have become more aware of how government impacts their personal lives (plus it also makes for good theater), and; second, enhanced and accelerated use of technology which now reaches every corner of our society. Regardless if we have an opinion or not, media spin doctors now have access to the public's ears and is more than willing to tell them how to think and act.
Campaign discourse has become bitter and divisive. To illustrate, for all of Richard Nixon's problems, the 1960 presidential contest was much more cordial than by today's standards. I remember a Nixon interview years later when he discussed his relation with JFK. True, there were substantial differences between the two, but they both respected each other. So much so, it wasn't unusual for Nixon and his wife Pat to have dinner at the White House with JFK and Jackie.
The ideological split today is so pronounced it is becoming much more difficult to find what was once called "moderates" who are now being forced to choose sides, left or right. As the two sides become larger and more confrontational, we run the risk of igniting a social tinderbox which could explode into anarchy. The resulting violence which would ensue could make the 1960's seem mild by comparison.
The real battleground though is for the hearts and minds of our youth who, like always, determines our future. Whereas the Left makes extensive use of the media and our educational system to sway youth, the Right counts on family values and organized religion. Whoever captures the fancy of our youth will dictate which ideological side this country will embrace.
The country is so split, I do not see anyone on either side capable of holding the two together. Are we on a path of self-destruction? Let's hope not. More likely though, the states will begin to flex their sovereignty as in the case of Arizona's recent immigration bill which resulted in other states, particularly California, establishing an embargo on Arizona products and services thereby attempting to force them to revoke their legislation. Such tactics establish a dangerous precedence in the country. If such tactics become commonplace, watch for citizens to migrate to those states they relate to ideologically. What's next, checkpoints on state borders? Don't laugh. It is not as absurd a concept as you might think.
The point is, our country is split and if we are not careful we will cease to cooperate and function as a union and we will have become what is commonly called "Has Beens," something all red-blooded Americans should find repulsive.
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

THE TRUTH DOES NOT ALWAYS SET YOU FREE

My entire adult life has been spent trying to do what is right for all the people I've come in contact with, be it my customers who depend on me for advice, employees who wanted a comfortable and meaningful workplace, and constituents in the many nonprofit groups I have volunteered in over the years. You may not agree with my tactics now and then (I am most definitely not a politician) but I have always tried to be honest with the people I have come in contact with. You may not like what I have to say, but you know precisely where I stand on an issue. Throughout all of this, I have learned that telling the truth has cost me more than one friend over the years, but it is important to me personally to be able to look at myself in the mirror without blushing. As someone who has had to say "the Emperor has no clothes" on more than one occasion, I realize it requires some rather thick skin. Maybe this is why honesty is no longer in vogue anymore as it is easier and less painful to be so. It is a sad sign of our society when political correctness is more coveted than truth.
It doesn't seem like it was too long ago when things were more black and white, that we had a clear idea of what was right and what was wrong. Now it seems we have too many shades of gray whereby common sense is no longer common, that right is wrong and wrong is right. This is resulting in a new psychosis of uncertainty and frustration. For example, my generation was brought up to believe that if you worked hard and kept your nose clean, everything would work out for you, that your company would look out for you, and you would be able to lead a comfortable existence, both personally and professionally. As we now know, this is certainly not the case and there are now long lines at the unemployment offices consisting of people who are in a state of shock. These are people who are worn out and no longer understand the world around them; a psychosis of uncertainty that is permeating our society.
Truth requires courage, not political correctness. Telling the truth and doing what is fair and honorable is actually more difficult to do, which is why people tend to avoid it, and why it should be cherished. It also says a lot about our egos. Most people will go to extremes to avoid confessing "I screwed up." I have more respect for a person who admits a mistake and tries to correct it than someone who flaunts their contempt for you by lying. Yet our society for some reason accepts and prizes deceit over honesty. It's kind of like saying, "Ha Ha Ha, see, he got away with it."
Over the years I have learned telling the truth is better than being caught in a lie, and much less painful. The person who fabricates a lie must be prepared to defend it. For example, if a salesman in a company knowingly quotes an erroneous price or terms for delivery, and the customer discovers the salesman was deliberately misleading him, in all likelihood the company will lose not just the sale, but the customer as well. In contrast, an honest salesman that stands behind his product will have less trouble. Much less.
Discovering the truth is not always easy either. There are indeed two sides to every story, maybe more, which is why all sides should be given the opportunity to present their perspective. Quite often, it is nothing more than a misunderstanding that can be resolved amicably. Sometimes a third party judgment is required. Nonetheless, both sides must be allowed to have their day in court; any discrimination should be construed as intolerable. I have seen such discrimination on more than one occasion, and it appears to be becoming more pervasive due to political reasons. Consequently people are finding it more expeditious to say nothing instead of standing up for their beliefs. Not being allowed to tell one's story is a form of intimidation and should not be tolerated.
My business requires me to tell the truth. I have to tell clients exactly what I see with no sugarcoating. Whereas some people like to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic (political correctness), I simply point out there is a hole in the side of the ship that we either need to repair or prepare to abandon ship.
I am reminded of the Hans Christian Anderson tale, whereby...
But among the crowds a little child suddenly gasped out, "But he hasn't got anything on." And the people began to whisper to one another what the child had said. "He hasn't got anything on. There's a little child saying he hasn't got anything on." Till everyone was saying, "But he hasn't got anything on." The Emperor himself had the uncomfortable feeling that what they were whispering was only too true. "But I will have to go through with the procession," he said to himself. So he drew himself up and walked boldly on holding his head higher than before, and the courtiers held on to the train that wasn't there at all.
Telling the truth isn't for the faint of heart. It won't make you popular, but at least you will be able to sleep soundly at night.
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
Like the article? TELL A FRIEND.
Tune into Tim's THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 11:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.