We stood at the counter, Dawn, our six-year-old daughter Lauren, and me. 


And from Lauren&#39;s tiny mouth come these words, &quot;I&#39;ll have a banana smoothie, please.&quot; 


She had&nbsp;read this $2.50 line-item from 20&#39; away and ordered it herself. 


My, oh my, how times change.&nbsp; A year ago, she could read one and two-syllable words.&nbsp; Two years ago, at age four, I think she &#39;recognized&#39; words, but I don&#39;t recall her reading many sentences.&nbsp; But here we are, May 2009 at the age of six, and she&#39;s reading chapter books, street signs, movie titles, Viagra commercials, Disney Channel barrages... she can, in short, read just about anything.&nbsp; Words like &#39;catastrophe&#39; throw her, but with these&nbsp;wily exceptions, she can pronounce most everything. 


Like soft mid-sections and wiggly skin, I know that, as adults, undesirable things creep up on us.&nbsp; But the year the world begins to reveal itself to a child like a blossoming flower in Spring is a&nbsp;welcome year indeed. 


Life itself is like this, I believe.&nbsp; We are born into utter darkness, ignorant of all.&nbsp; And year by year, bit by bit, our eyes open.&nbsp; They open to the good, the bad, the indifferent -- but they open.&nbsp; And over time, we assert ourselves (or fail to) and become a person with proclivities, opinions, preferences, and biases. 


What an amazing thing, life.&nbsp; 


Relish it. 


And every now and again, stop and smell the flowers -- indulging and appreciating the awesomeness of simplicity. 


After all, there&#39;s more to saying, &quot;I&#39;ll have a banana smoothie, please&quot; than meets the eye.

Banana Smoothie

Sometimes I&rsquo;m slow on the uptake, but having heard this sentiment three times this past week from employees in different organizations, &ldquo;message received!&rdquo; 


Indeed, there are many loser-bosses.&nbsp; Why so surprised?&nbsp; The rungs of leadership and management are not immune to the bell curve of life. 


The succeeding questions, however, are what matter more: &ldquo;Why?&rdquo;&nbsp; and more audaciously, &ldquo;How can I remedy this?&rdquo; 


First, to the Why.&nbsp; There are generally 5 Root Causes for Leadership Failure.&nbsp; Quickly (lest this become a 10,000 word essay), they are: 


1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Selection: We&rsquo;ve started with an acorn, hoping it will grow into a pecan tree. 


2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Understanding: The individual fails to grasp, intellectually, what is expected as a leader.&nbsp; 


3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Behavior: The individual fails to acquire or master the skills required to blossom into leadership competence. 


4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Barriers: Whether personal (e.g., drama) or organizational (e.g., hierarchy, ambiguity, limited resources), there is an Achilles Heel that continually pulls the leader down and away from performance. 


5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Desire/Motivation: Sometimes resulting from the preceding, but often evolving from burnout or rustout, the leader simply fizzles out. 


Considering these root causes and their branches, it&rsquo;s relatively simple to pinpoint an individual&rsquo;s reasons for failure. 


And now, a tad on Remedy.&nbsp; I will provide only the broadest of strokes and address just three factors here, because entire FIELDS and INDUSTRIES exist to fully remediate leadership deficits. 


To develop a leader, just like a diamond, three key &lsquo;environmental factors&rsquo; are helpful.&nbsp; (This is to say &lsquo;nothing&rsquo; of the perennially important &lsquo;nature vs. nurture&rsquo; dialogue and innateness.)&nbsp; 


1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; First, great leadership generally emerges over Time if it is to sustain deep roots and broad leaves.&nbsp; 


2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Second, enough Pressure must exist &ndash; in terms of consequences &ndash; to berm, direct, and focus leadership talent.&nbsp; (This is the &lsquo;push.&rsquo;) 


3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Finally, enough Heat must exist &ndash; in terms of personal drive &ndash; to regularly motivate and inspire oneself to achieve, ascend, serve, contribute, sacrifice, whatever.&nbsp; (This is the &lsquo;pull.&rsquo;) 


From within environments where adequate mentors, coaches, and role models exist&hellip; where there is solid feedback and developmental opportunities combined through education and experience, organizations are more inclined to breed leaders.&nbsp; All the more so when these leaders overcome the five roots of failure and experience the time, consequences, and motivation consistent with aspects of pressure cookers, kilns, or crucibles. 


In short, if you want fewer &ldquo;loser bosses,&rdquo; start with the right seeds and afford them the right&nbsp;mixture of soil (which includes water, oxygen, sunlight, etc.) and fire.

“My Boss is a Loser”

Wow, do we have ambiguity in spades today, or what?&nbsp; 


Surely it&rsquo;s not just my own little perception! 


Surely not. 


I&rsquo;ve heard it by the truckload lately.&nbsp; Here are four quotes from four different clients: 


&ldquo;There&rsquo;s so much ambiguity that we cannot make decisions.&rdquo; 


&ldquo;Our environment is rife with ambiguity; our people are wandering aimlessly.&rdquo; 


&ldquo;We&rsquo;re waiting for direction we know will never come.&nbsp; Can you help us help&nbsp;our people to &lsquo;lead through ambiguity?&rsquo;&rdquo; 


&ldquo;Until this economic mess clears up, we&rsquo;re flat-footed.&nbsp; We can&rsquo;t seem to catch, roll, or run.&nbsp; If it&rsquo;s 2011 or 2012 by the time things improve, we&rsquo;ll be long-dead by then.&rdquo;&nbsp; 


What are leaders, organizations, employees to do? 


The short answer is, &ldquo;Leverage what you&rsquo;ve got.&rdquo; 


As I described with one organization this past week, many entities currently resemble Swiss Cheese.&nbsp; They&rsquo;ve got &lsquo;some&rsquo; of the answers, but not all.&nbsp; Opportunity, challenge, and competitive advantage are found by those organizations FIRST able to fill in enough of the voids to move on. 


It&rsquo;s true&hellip; we NEVER have all the elements we need to form a perfect or complete answer.&nbsp; But yes, we generally have a much clearer vision than today&rsquo;s &ldquo;survive.&rdquo;&nbsp; In lieu of that clear vision, there are many aspects of direction that we CAN&nbsp;marshal from the cheese. 


For example, a sense of Purpose or Calling.&nbsp; Values.&nbsp; Key Strategy Categories like Talent Development (which includes dozens of helpful touchstones like recruitment, selection, development, appraisal, promotion, compensation, and succession planning), Image (branding, marketing, messaging, advertising, and promotion), and Financial (business economics, accounting methodologies, and anything remotely sales or revenue-related). 


Sure, we may not have a full set of maps or navigational equipment, but we&rsquo;ve been in the ocean before and we can generally make out a flicker from the distant lighthouse.&nbsp; Knowing the storms are striking each market and industry differently, some organizations will need to identify and pursue entirely different beachheads and destinations, while others simply need to decelerate, accelerate, or make tiny course corrections.&nbsp; 


In the process of &ldquo;organizational evolution&rdquo; (lest one experience Market Darwinism and risk extinction through failing to adapt), we accept that DNA adapts slowly where at all.&nbsp; Sweeping changes are less realistic or required than pivotal 1&deg; tacks which, in the aggregate over time, generate significant transformation and success, all the while holding onto the riggings of what is familiar. 


We know that for every sixty miles traveled, each degree of change throws us off course by one mile.&nbsp; Said another way, even the smallest tweaks can take us to an entirely DIFFERENT, NEW, or BETTER destination. 


Don&rsquo;t let ambiguity cripple you or your organization&rsquo;s ability to remain fixed on a long-term objective while accomplishing small and short-term wins.&nbsp; They are indeed there, hoping against hope to be found.

The Crippling Nature of Ambiguity

I recently visited with an Operations Manager in a factory who was clearly distressed.&nbsp; &ldquo;But I learned something long ago that serves me well in times like these,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp; &ldquo;Never get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired, or Scared.&nbsp; As long as I manage H, A, L, T, and S, I&rsquo;ll be fine.&rdquo; 


Knowing that few things in the universe are &lsquo;original,&rsquo; I Googled this acronym and discovered it originated as a mnemonic in the treatment of substance abusers, be they alcoholics or drug addicts. 


Whomever it was originally designed to help, I love its simplicity, &lsquo;memorability,&rsquo; and relevance. 


Indeed, when we are too hungry &ndash; be it for food, drink, or practically anything, we make poor, immediate, irrational choices that we predictably regret later. 


When we act out of anger, we are really re-acting. 


When we become too lonely, we succumb to poor choices, depression, and thoughts of failure or inadequacy. 


When we get tired, everything collapses.&nbsp; We become agitated, distracted, and shadows of one&rsquo;s self. 


And when we get scared, we convert shadows into monsters and make big decisions in belittling ways because fear reduces us to fight or flight instincts. 


H.A.L.T.S&hellip; I just love this handy little reminder, and hope that &ndash; while ideally you would never require it &ndash; perhaps it will serve you well in a&nbsp;needing moment.

H.A.L.T.S.

A brief entry for today&hellip;
First-up, THANK YOU for your many responses to help TBLG shape our Research Question as proposed in my preceding <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=010954872372078951253:oygrmqks3iw&amp;q=https://www.leathgroup.com/blog/post/call-to-action-request-for-participation-in-forthcoming-research&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiNtarc4NjpAhUEGuwKHcibDDIQFjAAegQIAhAB&amp;usg=AOvVaw2QyWGG3VKCf11Q--JyWwfj">blog entry </a>dated April 8th, 2009.&nbsp;KEEP &lsquo;EM COMING, and please share the link with others so they might also contribute.&nbsp; We have received several Comments and scores of Emails on the proposed topic(s).&nbsp; As with all research, this project will take some time and we will nurse it in the background as we multi-task with daily chores.&nbsp; Keep one eye open for forthcoming Calls to Action, as they will describe progress and &lsquo;next steps.&rsquo;
I am emboldened by your passion,&nbsp;guidance, and willingness to help with and participate in the research.&nbsp; So many contributions were intriguing that the task becomes richer as it becomes deeper.&nbsp; Thank you, thank you, thank you.&nbsp;
Stay tuned.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Last-up, speaking of multi-tasking, this is my signal to make a Lane Change, as I will momentarily upload a few waylaid blog entries that accumulated in recent days, as I found myself on several airplanes.

Thank You. Lane Change –

As I&nbsp;listen to and exchange ideas with contemporary leaders on the front lines of today's economic battlefield, I am encountering a troubling theme.&nbsp;
It revolves around&nbsp;a notion I wrote about several weeks ago... the 'treading water' phenomenon.&nbsp;
So many leaders are 'waiting to see' what the new world of work will look like... that the 'see' is being&nbsp;thwarted&nbsp;and delayed!&nbsp; It is a vicious, self-fulfilling cycle not unlike the 'prior experience required to be hired' dilemma we&nbsp;all faced as we exited school.&nbsp;
To provide answers/clarity/solutions for clients and colleagues,&nbsp;we&nbsp;intend -- in the coming weeks -- to embark on a new Research Project.&nbsp;
Here's where you come in.&nbsp;&nbsp;We are&nbsp;in dire need of your&nbsp;help.&nbsp;
We&nbsp;are&nbsp;in the early, embryonic stage of crafting, honing, and&nbsp;refining the Research Question itself.&nbsp; Currently, it&nbsp;messily&nbsp;goes something like this:&nbsp;&nbsp;
"What are the most burning Issues or Questions&nbsp;leaders need&nbsp;Answered for the burgeoning 'new world of work' and the 'to-be-determined' new 'social contract' between Employees and Employers to manifest?"
In simpler terms, "What the heck do employees need or expect from their 'bosses' in order to engage, thrive, re-commit?"&nbsp; Or, "In our unstable environment, what can leaders and organizations realistically do to gain&nbsp;focus and&nbsp;performance from employees?"
But now I'm starting to put words in your mouth.&nbsp; Here's the 'call to action;' the specific Ask and How You Can Help:
Please email&nbsp;us a stronger Research Question or whatever Issues or Questions you would like to better understand to more effectively lead your people in the 2009-2011 timeframe.&nbsp; As our economy ebbs, flows, and ultimately reshapes itself, what burning Answers do you require?&nbsp; What do you wish to understand?&nbsp; Have a better handle on?&nbsp; Need in order to more effectively lead your people?
Based on your responses, "TBLG" (The Blake Leath Group) will refine the fundamental research question with the most value to the most leaders -- and launch a research project that we hope will provide CONTEMPORARY (not re-hashed) tools, frameworks, or answers&nbsp;to serve&nbsp;you through this volatile season of ambiguity.
We are searching for both new wine and new wineskins and hope to&nbsp;make a statistically-oriented&nbsp;contribution&nbsp;that is&nbsp;equally scholarly and pragmatic in nature.&nbsp;
Step 2 will be to ask you to recommend 5-10 leaders to participate in a subsequent Survey/Assessment/Questionnaire to be predicated on the final Research Question.
We&nbsp;anticipate a broad Umbrella Topic and various Sub-Topics, and TBLG will publish its findings in ways to be&nbsp;identified in coming weeks.
&nbsp;
Thank you, in advance, for your responses.&nbsp; Please email them directly to <a href="mailto:bleath@blakeleath.com">bleath@blakeleath.com</a>.

Call to Action: Request for Participation in Forthcoming Research

In recent months, the &lsquo;noise&rsquo; regarding the eroding viability and the non-future of Newspapers has reached an all-time-high decibel level.&nbsp;&nbsp;The crescendo&nbsp;is now practically deafening.&nbsp;&nbsp;
And yet there are no&nbsp;accordant answers.&nbsp;
A lifelong friend and colleague of mine (who resides vocationally at the nexus between &ldquo;what was&rdquo; and &ldquo;what may be&rdquo;) forwarded this absolutely salient blog entry by Clay Shirky,&nbsp;who&nbsp;shares&nbsp;his&nbsp;prognostications on the matter.&nbsp; Like my friend, Clay has also been thinking about the internet since before the internet.
Though arguably a bit long for&nbsp;today's microwave-mentality, I am certain you will find&nbsp;his&nbsp;perspectives&nbsp;fascinating and hope you will read to the end.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.edge.org/conversation/clay_shirky-newspapers-and-thinking-the-unthinkable">NEWSPAPERS AND THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE</a>

Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable

About a week ago, I learned of an Organizational Development position within a local, premier hospital.&nbsp; I was asked by a colleague if I knew anyone who might be interested in the slot. 


I sent an email to 80 like-minded associates, colleagues, friends, professionals, contractors, the works.&nbsp; I kept track of the respondents for several days because they were so many.&nbsp; I nearly had to build a spreadsheet.&nbsp; Within a week, 29 people had replied.&nbsp; Some ten days later, I have lost count &ndash; but perhaps 37 to 40 OD professionals have responded to my first feeble feeler.&nbsp; (I don&#39;t know yet if any of my &#39;referred&#39; will get the job, but I do hope I&#39;ve been more helpful than disruptive in the sourcing phase.) 


And talk about 6&deg; of Separation &ndash; it amazes me how &lsquo;connected&rsquo; our world is. 


And yes, there is a lot of unemployment hurt in the world right now, but that is not the point of today&rsquo;s blog, either. 


Years ago, I earnestly thanked my best CEO for all he had done for me, meant to me, and provided to me.&nbsp; &ldquo;Keep your thanks, Blake.&nbsp; All I did was give you a shot.&nbsp; After that, it was all you.&rdquo; 


(It wasn&rsquo;t, of course.&nbsp; It never is, though I appreciated his selflessness and graciousness in equal measure.)&nbsp; 








------------------------------ 


The wall of water that burst as a result of my innocuous email got me reflecting on two groups of people in my career:&nbsp; the Helping Hands and the Helpless Hands. 


The Helping Hands are those who have truly helped me along my journey.&nbsp; Who saw me in need at various points in my career and said, &ldquo;Here, let me help you.&nbsp; Let me show you how this works.&nbsp; What more can I do for you?&rdquo;&nbsp; And they did it.&nbsp; They broke down doors, wrote letters, scheduled meetings, sent emails and notes, made phone calls, busted barriers of all sorts and sizes.&nbsp; They often went out of their way, exerted time and energy,&nbsp;risked their reputation(s)&nbsp;on my trivial pursuits, and worked tirelessly and authentically to really move the needle in my life. 


The Helpless Hands did the opposite: nothing.&nbsp; Or worse, they served as obstructionists. 


In my career (beyond the equally irreplaceable&nbsp;and anonymous&nbsp;friends and colleagues), I have also periodically interacted with a handful of&nbsp;well-known individuals (some more well-known than others, sure).&nbsp; People like Tom Peters, Stephen Covey, Peter Block, Tony Jeary, Jeffrey Gitomer, Steve Buchholz, and others who shall remain nameless. 


I have been&nbsp;frequently amazed at the&nbsp;altruistic contrasts between people (several of whom had significant access to resources with which to help).&nbsp; 


When I was writing my second book, I reached out to a number of&nbsp;such folks to see what introductions or support each could provide for a publishing deal. 


While some&nbsp;individuals responded with encouraging comments like, &ldquo;Who do you want me to call?&nbsp; Name it and I&rsquo;ll make it happen,&rdquo; others (&lsquo;God Makers &amp; Career Destroyers&rsquo; as&nbsp;one colleague describes them) nary lifted a finger to help.&nbsp; &ldquo;Wait your turn in line,&rdquo; they seemed to say, with a scintilla of territorialism&nbsp;or zero-sum-thinking wafting through the air.&nbsp; 


As we would all attest, some things in life come easy,&nbsp;most come hard, and others simply never come.&nbsp; They were never meant to be, perhaps.&nbsp; They&rsquo;re not in the proverbial cards. 


I get that.&nbsp; I come to terms with that month by month and year by year.&nbsp; We all do. 


But from my own, exceedingly miniscule and modest chair, I do whatever I can to help others; to move the needle for them.&nbsp; To give them the shots or opportunities that I have been given literally hundreds of times over the years by so many generous advocates.&nbsp; 


Rather than come to the end of my days and have others think at my funeral, &ldquo;Blake did nothing for no one,&rdquo; I hope they might be able to&nbsp;say, &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t have much to give, but he gave it all to anyone who asked.&rdquo;&nbsp; 





------------------------------&nbsp; 


You&rsquo;ll live your life according to whatever software you choose.&nbsp; That&rsquo;s our individual, inalienable, God-given prerogative.&nbsp; Free Will, Choice, and all that. 


But I do hope that as you are blessed, you will live humbly in your own skin, appreciating the&nbsp;fragile and&nbsp;ephemeral nature of whatever we periodically, delusionally perceive we &lsquo;control.&rsquo;&nbsp; 


One serious health scare, loss of job, or loss of a loved one serves to remind us we are but dust in the wind. 


But to someone, somewhere, someday, we may have the great privilege to be a fortune.&nbsp; 


We may find ourselves holding the Key they have been searching fruitlessly for lo these many years. 


Should you ever find yourself blessed enough to stand&nbsp;at&nbsp;such a&nbsp;door with another human being, I do hope you&rsquo;ll consider opening it for them.

Helping Hands

&quot;Morality, when vigorously alive, sees farther than intellect and provides unconsciously for intellectual difficulties.&quot; 


&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; J.A. Froude 


&nbsp;


Earlier today, I spoke with a man in Westford, Vermont.&nbsp; &quot;It&#39;s damn cold here,&quot; he shared. 


Cold.&nbsp; Yes, I remember that feeling. 


But last week I was in Hawaii, this week I&#39;m in Texas, and next week I&#39;ll be in California, which I&#39;m sure will be glorious. 


Several years ago, I attended a workshop in Montpelier, Vermont.&nbsp; It was colder-than-cold.&nbsp; (I don&#39;t fare too well in the cold.&nbsp; Some people thrive, but my blood&#39;s so thick that I sputter and shake.&nbsp; It&#39;s as if my&nbsp;fluids turn to sludge and&nbsp;the &#39;ol body just sorta seizes up.)&nbsp; But wow, Montpelier was gorgeous, and it wasn&#39;t even Spring yet.&nbsp; I&#39;d love to go back some day. 


I&#39;ve spent my fair share of time in the cold around the world... scraping windshields, trudging through snowdrifts, fighting to open doors in the howling wind,&nbsp;wishing I had galoshes or waterproof socks, and sitting on miserable airplanes after midnight -- waiting for the de-icing machine to make its third pass. 


But today, my observation is one about Weeds -- the sort that have been recently exposed across the blanket of our lawn as Spring hits our region. 


Texas weeds are world-class.&nbsp; Enormous, like the State they occupy.&nbsp; And my, oh my, have we got some weeds in our yard.&nbsp; As I gingerly wandered around our yard this past Sunday, I found weeds of all sorts and stripes.&nbsp; 


Broad, squatty weeds... the kind that hug the ground and&nbsp;hide too low to be whacked by the mower. 


Circular, spindly weeds... the kind that run and shoot&nbsp;and trail off in&nbsp;countless directions like an octopus. 


Bright, flowery weeds... the kind my daughter plucks and mistakes for flowers. 


Tall, milky weeds... the kind that catch on your armpit as&nbsp;you wade through&nbsp;what&nbsp;might as well be a cornfield. 


And dandelions... the kind of weed that reproduces&nbsp;so&nbsp;amply that rabbits and the octomom herself&nbsp;are shamed. 


Meanwhile, in Vermont, it&#39;s&nbsp;cold.&nbsp; And weeds will not be seen for weeks.&nbsp; (This may be one instance where the grass really is greener somewhere else.&nbsp; Or perhaps not.&nbsp; The weeds certainly are.) 


I think this contrast of&nbsp;Vermont&nbsp;v. Texas is a good reminder for us all. 


Everything is seasonal. 


Things grow, things die.&nbsp; What came, went.&nbsp; What is not, will be. 


For many, it&#39;s still Winter.&nbsp; For some, it&#39;s Spring. 


And with Spring come Weeds. 


As the tide turns with our economy (and it will, one day), the greener pastures we&#39;ve been longing for all winter will be accompanied by weeds. 


Some of us will greet the green with open arms like Puxtahawney Phil, eager to crawl out from the dark lair of winter. 


But some&nbsp;will greet the green with derision, turning&nbsp;their noses up at imperfections and commenting snootily (as the critic Anton Ego in Ratatouille, played brilliantly by Peter O&#39;Toole), &quot;Oh.&nbsp; Weeds.&quot; 


I understand this.&nbsp; This is human nature.&nbsp; It is captured by turn in the notions of Selective Perception, Broken Windows Theory, Boiled Frog Phenomenon,&nbsp;The Pygmalion Effect, Target Fixation, and Chevreul&#39;s Pendulum.&nbsp; Some people are simply inclined to see the smudge on the Rembrandt.&nbsp; 


No matter; it is what it is and they are who they are. 


But alas, for you and me -- however frustrated we might be when Spring is accompanied by those buggery, parasitic Weeds -- let us revel in the fact that Winter has gone and Summer is but a couple months away.&nbsp; 


The world is full of people who only see the weeds in the meadow.&nbsp; So be it.&nbsp; Though they themselves might very well be weeds in our own organizations, everything and everyone has a purpose.&nbsp; With the toil that is required to remove or tame whatever challenges lie in our path comes the appreciation of all we have and the joy its beauty brings. 


In these days when our respective governments are taking actions to curtail, quarantine, and repair our ravaged economies, I cannot help but equate their work with plastic surgeons.&nbsp; Plastic surgery seems to be one of those very delicate pursuits.&nbsp; With just the right nip or tuck, ducklings might become swans.&nbsp; But too many surgeries, or too radical... and we have a Michael Jackson problem of disfiguration. 


There are no panaceas for the ills that have befallen us.&nbsp; What is required is transformative, systemic, holistic change that will take years of exercise and diet to manifest fully into a healthier global economy.&nbsp; This is perfectly representative of one situation in which morality must indeed see farther than intellect, because there is no chance that everything that will be tried will work right out of the chute.&nbsp; 


There will be foibles and mis-steps, errors and blunders.&nbsp; Such is the case with governing, with public policy, and with complex issues that span countries, cultures, and currencies. 


But as the gardeners demonstrate, with a little patience and pruning, together we can plant and nurture a healthy and lush field everyone can enjoy. 


<img style="width: 680px; height: 484px" src="/blogging/image.axd?picture=2009%2f3%2fDSC00011.JPG" alt="" width="680" height="484" align="middle" />

Weeds

Some of these are so appropos, they simply&nbsp;scream to&nbsp;be shared.&nbsp; 


As a comedian might say after delivering his punchline, &quot;I don&#39;t care who you are.&nbsp; That&#39;s funny!&quot; 


&nbsp;


(My sincerest apologies to lawyers and politicians.&nbsp; Don&#39;t shoot the messenger.)

<ol>
	<li>In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.&nbsp; (John Adams)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>If you don&#39;t read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.&nbsp; (Mark Twain)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Suppose you were an idiot. &nbsp;And suppose you were a member of Congress. &nbsp;But then I repeat myself.&nbsp; (Mark Twain)&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.&nbsp; (Winston Churchill)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.&nbsp; (George Bernard Shaw)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.&nbsp; (James Bovard)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.&nbsp; (Douglas Casey)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.&nbsp; (P.J. O&#39;Rourke)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.&nbsp; (Frederic Bastiat)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Government&#39;s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. &nbsp;If it keeps moving, regulate it. &nbsp;And if it stops moving, subsidize it.&nbsp; (Ronald Reagan)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I don&#39;t make jokes. &nbsp;I just watch the government and report the facts.&nbsp; (Will Rogers)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it&#39;s free!&nbsp; (P.J. O&#39;Rourke)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.&nbsp; (Voltaire)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn&#39;t mean politics won&#39;t take an interest in you.&nbsp; (Pericles)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>No man&#39;s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.&nbsp; (Mark Twain)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Talk is cheap... except when Congress does it.&nbsp; (Anonymous)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>The government is like a baby&#39;s alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.&nbsp; (Ronald Reagan)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. &nbsp;The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.&nbsp; (Winston Churchill)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.&nbsp; (Mark Twain)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.&nbsp; (Herbert Spencer)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.&nbsp; (Edward Langley)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have.&nbsp; (Thomas Jefferson)</li>
</ol>

Political Quips and Whips

Practical Lessons from US Airways flight 1549

As a boy, I just loved the book A Separate Peace.&nbsp; Sad, yes, but beautifully written, simple, and powerful enough to make an impression that has lasted thirty years.
In recent months, two acquaintances and one good friend have metamorphosed into three quite different people.&nbsp; Two at the hand of a stroke, and one at the hand of encephalitis.
Today, I find them even kinder, warmer, gentler, more patient &ndash; and altogether&nbsp;delightful and inspiring&nbsp;to be around.&nbsp; One jokes that he&rsquo;s had &ldquo;a personality transplant,&rdquo; and he&rsquo;s right.&nbsp; His new perspective has led to a heightened appreciation of so many things.
Expectedly, when tragedies initially befall us, we struggle to come to terms with our new realities.&nbsp; I know this is true for me in my own tiny circumstances.&nbsp; Since December 2007, I have lived with chronic pain that subsequent surgeries merely refashioned rather than removed.&nbsp; For perhaps eight months, I prayed and expected to fully turn the corner and get my old life back.&nbsp; Fifteen months later, I remain increasingly acceptant of my new reality.&nbsp;
Whatever befalls us, it&rsquo;s best to carry on in whatever ways possible and find purpose and joy in every viable nook and cranny.
We are not promised Happiness, but Hopefulness is there for the taking.
And while we are&nbsp;not destined&nbsp;on this 3rd rock from the Sun to achieve any lasting peace, it is possible to find a separate peace, unlike the temporal sorts we generally seek.
I&rsquo;ll close with two quotes that really move me.&nbsp; I hope they move you, too.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Hi, Jules.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s Brian.&nbsp; I&rsquo;m on a plane and we&rsquo;ve been hijacked, and it doesn&rsquo;t look good.&nbsp; Hopefully, I&rsquo;ll talk to you again, but if not, please have fun and live your life the best you can.&nbsp; Know that I love you and no matter what I&rsquo;ll see you again someday.&rdquo;
&bull;&nbsp; Brian Sweeney&nbsp; (At 8:58 A.M. on September 11, 2001, Brian Sweeney, a businessman who had once flown F-14s for the Navy, was on his cell phone trying to reach his wife, Julie.&nbsp; She wasn&rsquo;t home, so he said goodbye into the answering machine.&nbsp; Moments later, Sweeney&rsquo;s plane [United flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles], crashed into New York&rsquo;s World Trade Center.)
&ldquo;Nothing so infuriates me as the incapacity of seemingly intelligent people to get it through their heads that God doesn&rsquo;t go around this world with His finger on the triggers, His fist on knives, His hands on steering wheels&hellip; never do we know enough to say that a death was the will of God.&nbsp; My own consolation lies in knowing that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God&rsquo;s heart was the first of all our hearts to break.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&bull;&nbsp; William Sloane Coffin, former chaplain at Yale, in a eulogy for his son Alex, age 24&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;