Odd Fellows

Perhaps I was doomed to be an “Odd Fellow” from the start.  My father was a card-carrying member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  (Yes, it’s a real organization!  http://www.ioof.org/)  But, quite apart from this formal association, he did a lot of “odd” things informally … like keeping two sets of books as an insurance agent for Appalachian farmers and coal miners and accepting “in-kind” payment or deferred payment or, in some cases, no payment for insurance premiums so that families could be protected from abject ruin, should the bread-winner of the family become disabled or lost.  He raised his family in a foreclosed bank building, taught Sunday School, was a Boy Scout leader, served on the local School Board, had one of the largest organic gardens in the region, supported an exchange program for students from Nigeria, and provided scholarships for aspiring local students who would not otherwise have been able to attend college. 

Either from inheritance or from default of association, I have also become an “Odd Fellow” … though not card-carrying, and not nearly on such an expansive scale.  Among other lesser things, I take shopping carts into grocery stores.  I pick up trash off the street.  I visit nursing homes.  I write an “Odd Blog”.  I don’t watch much television, can’t tell you much about Tailor Swift, and don’t go to movies.  I’m abysmal at Trivial Pursuit.  I don’t text and drive.  I shop at Good Will and the Salvation Army.  I cook “odd” stuff, eat leftovers, recycle and have a compost pile.  And it’s downhill from there: Yes, I even sing in a barbershop quartet that serenades unsuspecting public in unlikely places! 

Among other “odd” traits, I also struggle to down an entire beer in an afternoon, while many more "normal" folks can go through an entire case of brew on any given weekend.  I was, thus, intrigued by a discussion on NPR about regulating binge drinking in fraternities at the University of Virginia in an attempt to straighten out and sober up an entire campus following the Rolling Stones article on a fraternity-associated gang rape.  (http://weku.fm/post/uva-looks-ways-curb-drinking-its-frat-houses). 

When I was “coming of age”, such blatant opportunities to “waste” oneself didn’t occur often, but those that did seemed “juvenile”, at best, unrewarding, in general, patently “foolish” in the main, and exhaustively debilitating; my particular journey seemed plenty tough enough without seriously compromising my limited ability to cope with life’s vicissitudes when I had all my faculties intact.  To a significant number of fellow travelers, that was just ODD – and completely unnecessary!   

However, it did occur to me that significant numbers of folks appear to need the positive reinforcement of negative experience.  From that perspective, it seemed that a “permissive” policy on alcohol use is probably helpful: a person who needs a “near death” experience from overdosing on alcohol before sobering up should probably have that experience early in life. 

Which raises the fundamental question:  Why is doing “sensible” things – never mind anything that would be perceived as personal advancement or social beneficence – “ODD”? 

 

I think it has a simple answer:

Base-level self-esteem requires external affirmation – particularly from a peer group.  And the more brazenly risk-taking we are – the more “shock and awe” we can generate, the more “credentialed” we become as club-worthy, particularly among the ostensibly defiant.  In fact, defiance, either overt or covert, carries its own mark of distinction in most quarters.  It’s why we elect politicians – to thwart the “establishment”!  Bravado/machismo – as opposed to being a “wimp” or a “Goody, Goody Two Shoes” – i.e., “ODD” or “UNCOOL” – is the name of the base-level game.  

More genuine, more mature, more sustainable and more “legitimate” self-esteem comes from internal affirmation … from becoming comfortable in our own skin … from knowing who we are … from taking pride of ownership in who we are becoming … from building capacity … from creating something(s) of intrinsic value … from seeing our OWN unique enterprise and “stake” in the world emerging … from being creatively “different” in the most positive way(s). 

Here’s a secret: It’s OK to be defiant in becoming “creatively different”.  Defy the odds.  Defy “average”.  Defy mediocrity.  Defy failure.  Defy any person who says you can’t accomplish what your passion dictates.  Defy convention.  Be ODDLY UNCOOL.  Be the ODD GUY OUT.  Do stuff that “ordinary” people don’t, won’t or can’t do.  It’s the CRAZIES … the ODD FELLOWS … the Out-of-the-Box Visionaries that make the world go ‘round – and they have a lot more fun in the process!  Become an “Odd Fellow” in a “club” of your own making … follow your own star.  It can be one of the most exhilarating, enriching, satisfying and fulfilling pursuits of life.  TAG: You’re now IT!!           Quartermaster

Choose Something Like a Star 

“... not even stooping from it’s sphere,

                                                It asks a little of us here.

                                                It asks of us a certain height,

                                                So when at times, our paths unblazed

                                                Allow us to digress too far,

                                                We may choose something like a star

                                                To stay our minds on and be staid.”

                                                                                    Adapted from Robert Frost

Colonization of Space

There is an increasing concern – at least an increasing discussion – about the fact that earth has finite dimensions and finite resources while its population – at this cusp of the 21^st century – is threatening to exhaust both available space and resources within a foreseeable future. 

More than a few scientists and arm-chair wizard wannabees have suggested it’s time to seriously consider colonizing other planets – like Mars.  More refined minds are suggesting the development of de novo, free-floating “Space Settlements”, as described in the following clip from NASA: http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/Basics/wwwwh.html:  

“Space settlements will be a place for ordinary people.  

A space settlement is a home in orbit.

·         Rather than live on the outside of a planet, settlers will live on the inside of gigantic spacecraft. Typical space settlement designs are roughly one half to a few kilometers across. A few designs are much larger.

·         Settlements must be air tight to hold a breathable atmosphere, and must rotate to provide psuedo-gravity. Thus, people stand on the inside of the hull.

·         Enormous amounts of matter, probably lunar soil at first, must cover the settlements to protect inhabitants from radiation. On Earth our atmosphere does this job, but space settlements need about five tons of matter covering every square meter of a colony's hull to protect space settlers from cosmic rays and solar flares.

·         Each settlement must be an independent biosphere. All oxygen, water, wastes, and other materials must be recycled endlessly.”

This is a theorist’s/purist’s view, completely unencumbered by real world challenges.   

First of all, de novo can’t happen in a complete vacuum – other than by some incomprehensible “Big Bang” occurrence.  Thus, creation of such new settlements would require the extraction of enormous megatons of resources from current earth – where resources are already nearly tapped out.  Space settlements would, thus, be limited by the resources available from “mining” the earth.  While the sun can provide solar energy and can generate vegetation, at least the initial raw material would have to come from sources all too familiar.  Perhaps mining the moon, Mars, asteroids, and other celestial sources could provide eventual replacement and expansion possibilities.  But construction of a “flying flotilla system” for heavy duty transport of raw materials around and about the universe is imponderable with currently conjecturable reasonability.   

Second, if we have even half a thought that we can create such a tightly controlled life-support system in space, why can’t we do it on earth? 

·         Because we don’t have the WILL? 

·         Because we don’t have the DISCIPLINE?

·         Because we don’t have the RESOURCES? 

·         Because it’s already too late?   

Third, we can’t hope to establish something sustainable in space that we haven’t made sustainable here on earth.  To think that we would leave all the “unworkable” and “unsolvable” challenges here on terra firma is naïve at best.  Let’s set up a model system HERE and see how it works.  How would it work politically and economically, and how closely would it be tied to current earth-based systems?   (Some would say that democracy is the best we have to offer but it’s no longer working as it “should” … so what’s next and what’s better?) 

Fourth, we grossly underestimate the interdependencies we have on earth-based sources and systems that cannot readily be transported into space.  Try replicating the Pacific Ocean or polar ice caps which act as diverse climate control reservoirs, not to mention the former as a major life-support system.  Or consider earth’s “atmosphere” … which is a lot more complex than a bunch of “hot air”.  Among other things, it protects us against meteor showers and small asteroids.  Try replicating THAT!  And replicating gravity (actually reverse gravitation) by creating centrifugal (rather than centripetal) force in a rotating enclosure would have an unknown and potentially deleterious effect on natural biologic propensity.   

Speaking of the Pacific Ocean, why don’t we consider “colonizing” the two-thirds of the planet earth covered by water that are currently “uninhabitable”?  It would seem a lot less challenging to float large watercraft than to create inordinately large space craft.  NOTE: Vast portions of earth’s oceans are currently “deserts” – because plankton and corral do not easily grow over deep trenches and cannot support “edible” fish.  How about creating “floating corral reefs” or floating “continental shelves” to support the microscopic and macroscopic infrastructure for expanded life-support systems? 

If we’re going to use space, why not use it to dump toxic waste?  We could dump all our toxic chemical and radioactive waste on the moon and then mine it back as needed for recycling for future use, or set up reprocessing centers THERE.    

To think that we can create a completely independent replica of earth – not to mention a “better” earth – in empty space … on any fully functional scale … is an exhilarating thought.  But it’s based more on the fantastic notion of running away from our problems – most of which we’ve caused ourselves – rather than on fully understanding and making the most of what we’ve already got – which is pretty fantastical already … if we’d only put the same amount of time, energy and money into doing it sustainably right.  Quartermaster

 

Character

“… the students who persisted in college were not necessarily the ones who had excelled academically …; they were the ones with exceptional character strengths, like optimism and persistence and social intelligence.”

“Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification”

by Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman 

This 800-page tome was developed to help understand and explain what it takes for successful matriculation through academics and beyond, and has generated a wave of follow-up exploration and commentary from multiple sources since first published in 2004.

“Character Strengths and Virtues classifies twenty-four specific strengths under six broad virtues that consistently emerge across history and culture: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.  They approach good character in terms of separate strengths-authenticity, persistence, kindness, gratitude, hope, humor, and so on – each of which exists in degrees.”
 http://www.amazon.com/Character-Strengths-Virtues-Handbook-Classification/dp/0195167015  

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A more in-depth review, focusing on related work by Dominic Randolph, headmaster at Riverdale Country School, was given by Paul Tough in the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/magazine/what-if-the-secret-to-success-is-failure.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0  

“The most critical missing piece [for success], Randolph explained [echoing Peterson and Seligman], … is character — those essential traits of mind and habit that were drilled into him at boarding school in England and that also have deep roots in American history. “… that if you worked hard and you showed real grit, that you could be successful,” he said. “Strangely, we’ve now forgotten that. People who have an easy time of things, who get 800s on their SAT’s, I worry that those people get feedback that everything they’re doing is great. And I think as a result, we are actually setting them up for long-term failure.”

Additional excerpts …

“The list included some we think of as traditional noble traits, like bravery, citizenship, fairness, wisdom and integrity; others that veer into the emotional realm, like love, humor, zest and appreciation of beauty; and still others that are more concerned with day-to-day human interactions: social intelligence (the ability to recognize interpersonal dynamics and adapt quickly to different social situations), kindness, self-regulation, gratitude. 

Angela Duckworth … notes: ‘The problem, I think, is not only the schools but also the students themselves,” she wrote. “Here’s why: learning is hard. True, learning is fun, exhilarating and gratifying — but it is also often daunting, exhausting and sometimes discouraging.

Duckworth’s early research showed that measures of self-control can be a more reliable predictor of students’ grade-point averages than their I.Q.’s. But while self-control seemed to be a critical ingredient in attaining basic success, Duckworth came to feel it wasn’t as relevant when it came to outstanding achievement. People who accomplished great things, she noticed, often combined a passion for a single mission with an unswerving dedication to achieve that mission, whatever the obstacles and however long it might take. She decided she needed to name this quality, and she chose the word ‘grit.’  

Levin and Randolph …settled on a final list: zest, grit, self-control, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism and curiosity 

One eighth-grade girl … said that, for her and her friends, the biggest issue was inclusion — who was invited to whose bat mitzvah; who was being shunned on Facebook. Character, as far as I could tell, was being defined at Riverdale mostly in terms of helping other people …

K.C. Cohen: ‘When I think of good character, I think: Are you fair? Are you honest in dealings with other people? Are you a cheater?’ 

‘Sure, a trait can backfire,’ [Mike] Witter said. ‘Too much grit, … you start to lose your ability to have empathy for other people. If you’re so gritty that you don’t understand why everyone’s complaining about how hard things are, because nothing’s hard for you, because you’re Mr. Grit, then you’re going to have a hard time being kind. Even love — being too loving might make you the kind of person who can get played.  So, yes, character is something you have to be careful about. Character strengths can become character weaknesses.’ 

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or C.B.T., involves using the conscious mind to understand and overcome unconscious fears and self-destructive habits, using techniques like ‘self-talk’ … “The kids who succeed … are the ones who can C.B.T. themselves in the moment,’ 

Randolph wants his students to succeed, of course — it’s just that he believes that in order to do so, they first need to learn how to fail [and how to recover from failure].” 

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A more general exploration of the core elements of character through “moral stories” was given in “The Book of Virtues” by William J. Bennett (Simon and Schuster, 1996, 818 p.)  Perhaps reflecting his own personal struggles with a gambling addiction  (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0306.green.html), Bennett opens the compendium with the importance of Self-Discipline.  Other elements include: Compassion, Responsibility, Friendship, Work, Courage, Perseverance, Honesty, Loyalty, and Faith.  In a 1973 review of “Virtues” (Newsweek, November 13, p. 75), Jerry Adler laments Bennett’s slighting of self-esteem and creativity.  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Here’s the “Cliff Notes” version:  Do the most “right” thing you can do, keep being creatively better than you were yesterday, and make it a habit.  Why?  Character is the currency of preferred citizenship; it’s the collateral we carry for credit we’ve already been extended and for credit we’ll need to open doors of future opportunity; and it’s the core element that allows us to live with ourselves “in our own skin”.  Ultimately?  Nobody on their deathbed ever said “I wish I’d made a bigger fool of myself!”  A few have said “I wish I’d gotten away with more!”  But that pretty much nails the point home, doesn’t it?  It’s about “getting what we deserve” from the investments we make, and Blue Chip investments with total intentionality – including investments we make on others’ behalf – leave the fewest regrets.  Quartermaster

Ownership

Assertive OWNERSHIP of who we are and where we are is one of the most critical links between current circumstances and who or where we COULD be /\ WANT to be.  It’s the difference between letting life happen and making life happen … between mediocrity and magnificence … between winning and losing … between mere survival and achieving our highest potential /\ our truest Destiny. 

What does "Ownership" mean, operationally? 

An “Owner” is the designated prime mover to start the ball rolling and it’s the last bastion of defense where “the buck stops”.  Ownership means willingly taking total responsibility for anything that needs to be done to build or enhance the health and wellbeing of the enterprise(s) in which one is engaged. 

Differences in ownership orientation are why scientists prefer to have graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in their labs rather than legions of technicians: The grad students and postdocs are taking on “ownership” of advancing the methodologies, culture and investigational workings of the laboratory as part of their own life’s work whereas the technicians are merely passing through, putting in their time and applying themselves superficially to somebody else’s lifework.  Technicians generally have to be told what to do, whereas graduate students and postdocs are expected not only to figure out what to do but how to do it … and, then, to teach the technicians. 

This is not to say that technicians and tacticians can’t or won’t take up mantles of ownership.  They should, and those committed to “making it” DO!  Any employee who assumes ownership of the enterprise in which he or she is engaged carries a notable mark of distinction.  Ownership at bench-level/street-level may mean any or all of the following:

·         Is absolutely dependable and accountable

·         Sometimes comes in early to get things going and stays late to tie everything down

·         Refills copier paper trays after completing a large document feed

·         Becomes the “Go To Person” for increasing numbers of corporate functions

·         Acts unilaterally or calls in specialists, as necessary, to solve problems when something goes awry (i.e., rather than simply a) ignoring it, b) saying “That’s not my problem!” , or c) saying “Somebody should do something about that!”)

·         Plans ahead: Anticipates potential problems and opportunities

·         Prepares documents/correspondence/portfolios/presentations for supervisor

·         Does quality control: double checks/carefully edits critical schedules, documents, products, benchmarks

·         Familiarizes self about important regulatory issues

·         Knows who to call for what kinds of needed services

·         Cultivates collaborators/partners/clients/customers

·         Has a “Can Do!” attitude

·         Is a problem solver rather than a mere “sentinel”

·         Functions as both a “Thinker” and a “Doer” 

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Related Points to Ponder 

Being in charge of our own Destiny requires constant revisioning.  We start out life, and end up living most of the rest of it, as if somebody ELSE is in charge.  Early on, they are.  But each of us needs to raise our sights as far as we can above the shadow of external dependencies, and we need to keep rising.   At some point, we need to completely “own” our own Destiny.  

If not YOU, who?

If not YOU (being as “good” as you are), who BETTER? 

We should, personally, have the largest “controlling ownership interest” in our personal wellbeing, in the enterprises with which we are associated, and in our future, with ownership of more stock than anyone else.  And “Junk Bonds” won’t cut it!   

Whereas “ownership” has always been a defining attribute of the overachiever, it’s now a requirement for all of us.  Job security is dying, as noted in a recent Forbes article:  

“[Organizations are now] … completely abandoning the concept of ‘managers’ in favor of completely employee-driven organizations.”  http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorieclark/2014/09/18/job-security-is-dead-and-heres-why-thats-awesome/

 And seniority is an increasing liability, as companies seek to reduce the “baggage” of senior staff salaries.   

So we need to get “Charged” to come into our own:   

… to own our own Dreams; 

            … to own our own Destiny.

You are now so “Charged”:

YOUR journey is now YOURS.

Your failures are now YOURS.

Your incompleteness is now YOURS.

Your possibilities are now YOURS.

Your Successes are now YOURS.

You now OWN all of it!

Make something magnificent of it with everything you’ve got!

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Fewer people have been criticized for taking total responsibility

than for taking total credit. 

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An “owner” is generally the first onboard and the last to leave the ship –

the first one “hired” and the last one fired. 

Quartermaster

Adjustments

“It’s the most agile that run closest to the front

on the most challenging obstacle course.”

Craftmaster 

LIFE is one of the most challenging obstacle courses we will ever face – whether we have the inclination to make something magnificent of it or not.  And the instructions aren’t highly detailed, but are mostly a Figure-It-Out-For-Yourself proposition.   

Many life lessons can be learned proactively and prospectively by creating artificial obstacles (aka, sports) and observing what it takes to overcome them.   

All other things being equal, the person or team that makes the most effective adjustments throughout a contest generally wins.  It was said that Tubby Smith “peeled paint” in the locker room with his exhortations of the UK basketball team at halftime to induce an appropriate “attitude adjustment” in his players … and it generally worked wonders!   

But, beyond attitude, one has to analyze strengths and weaknesses of the competition (obstacles and opportunities), as well as who’s actually on the floor, team chemistry, execution of the fundamentals, etc., and adjust to the “realities of the moment” to get the best result for the effort.  Not just at half-time, but moment-to-moment, in the thick of the competition.  Experimentation with play-by-play micro-adjustments is often much more effective than bold and brash sea-change adjustments, although “clearing the bench” with across-the-board substitutions can help a team break out of a languishing slump.  

On the way to the national title in 1998, UK was down 10 points at halftime but ended up winning by 9 points over Utah!   

Some coaches decry either the necessity or benefit of “adjustments” and adamantly refuse to waiver from their ascribed “Game Plan” … even when the chips are substantially down, the tide is running out, and the current is flowing alarmingly against them.  Sometimes this works.  If the “Game Plan” is to get the ball into the highest scorer’s hands and that scorer misses 100% of his shots early in the going, the coach, who has an abiding faith in short odds and real talent, will bank his bets that the star player will eventually come through.  Sometimes it happens and sometimes not.  Everybody has a “cold night” once in a while.   

However, if something’s not working, flags should go up at least some measurable distance beyond half-mast.     

Certified “Life Coaches”, like “Game Plan” sports coaches, exhort us to develop our Game Plan and stick with it.  This may be the best overall strategy for many and the only hope for some.  But a “Game Plan” is only a starting point and general guide.  Contingencies, exigencies, hidden opportunities, potential synergies, and vicissitudes abound!  It’s also impossible to predict how long something is going to take, how many road blocks you’ll encounter, and how long your energy, focus and concentration are going to hold out.  To ignore such at all cost presents a grave liability!  We need to be agile and prepared for both major and minor adjustments to navigate through rapidly shifting sands.  This may require a much greater investment than just making a “Game Plan” and blindly sticking with it.    

For those who need more structure, consider this “Adjustable Game Plan”:

1.    Get the boulders on the docket early.  It’s a tall order, but get the biggest one on the workbench and start hammering away until you run out of either ammunition, time or latitude for further investment; call in help where needed – before help gets overwhelmingly engaged otherwise;

2.    Be aware the clock is running.  Take stock.  What’s changed since the “Game Plan” was launched?  NOTE: Lead time, development time, incubation and germination are important.  Get critical seeds in the ground early.  And learn to count time backwards in looking after the “perishables” – stuff that has the shortest time frame for full execution or that needs the longest lead time has got to be in the oven – even if it’s on “slow-bake”, not just on the radar.  DO AT LEAST ONE TANGIBLE THING FOR EACH “PERISHABLE” to keep the heat on.   

3.    Take stock.  What’s changed?  Etc.  Adjust. 

4.    Get back to the boulders.  Tend the “perishables”.

5.    Take stock.  What’s changed? Etc.  Adjust.

One of my most productive bosses practiced what I called “Revolving Door Channeling”.  He would tackle the biggest and most “perishable” items on his radar / in the oven until they advanced to the next benchmark milestone, take stock, adjust, and move on to the first next most pressing / most important element – hitting as many as 20-30 singles, doubles and triples in a single day … with more than an occasional home run!  Some days, of course, the boulders won, but not until after he had tackled them from 20-30 different angles – adjusting, adjusting, adjusting.   

The key to any Game Plan is eliminating “down time” …

1.    Transition time between productive engagements in different elements of the Game Plan; [ NOTE: it helps to plant strategically placed “meat hooks” in the workings where possible (i.e., “trigger thoughts”, words or phrases) to provide “handles” for picking things up in future encounters.]   A prioritized LIST can be your best accomplice here.  Such a list with already initiated projects can be your best friend. 

2.    Writer’s block / Thinker’s Block / Doer’s Block ... those nagging moments of unaccountable blank space within projects where momentum comes to a grinding halt. 

Here’s where environmental adjustments can be extremely helpful.  Turn the kaleidoscope.  Change the scenery.  Move outside your cubicle.  Go to the library.  Get some exercise – it’s one of the most regenerative things one can do … take a walk around the building … do some squats … go up and down 3 flights of stairs … ANYTHING to get the circulation going and reorient the synapses.  Whatever you do, don’t simply curl up in your comfort zone and “chill out” with your favorite comfort food!   [I used to walk up 4 flights of stairs 3-6 times a day to clear the cobwebs; before I got one flight down on the return trip, I had usually cracked my “block” and couldn’t wait to get back to the office!]  When all else fails, put a “meat hook” in it for later pick-up and move on to something else.  (That’s the virtue of starting early!) 

In sum, be agile, take constant stock, adjust, perfect the art of “transitioning”, and be brutally intolerant of downtime/deadtime; if something’s not moving, move YOU!  You can’t wear a mountain down sitting on your backside or standing with your back-against-the-wall stewing about it.  Be an agile, adjustable “Change Agent” and go git ‘er DONE!   Quartermaster