The Fire Within

I have three girls, ages 5 to 14 and there is something interesting that I've observed in the older two. The way they talk to their friends in person and on social media, the word love is used frequently. It isn't just my girls, they all talk that way with each other. "Love ya!" "I love you so much ____!" "Love you too!" When I first heard it, I will admit it made me uncomfortable, it seemed a little odd to me. I was asking myself if they could really understand what love was as they threw the word around as easily as hello. Then I remembered that as a guy, I really don't understand girls. I never have and have determined I probably never will. So I decided to ask my wife. I didn't remember ever hearing girls talk to each other like this but maybe it was some secret girl thing that they couldn't let boys in on. She didn't recall hearing the word love used a lot between friends when she was in school. From my observation the nex

I came across this tweet from Brent Beshore : If your goal is to "win" an argument, you've already lost and just don't know it yet. This is such a true statement that we all need to be mindful of with what is going on with the narrative in our country today. There are a lot of people speaking out, giving their opinions - which they all have every right to do. As I read most of them they sound to me like the person is trying to win the argument. Trying to prove why the other side is wrong and they are right. Maybe that is why in so many ways it feels like we've already lost. It isn't just about political or social issues. It can happen at work, with your friends and the people you love. Have the conversation, share knowledge, listen to others. But when you see that it has become an argument work to change the tone back to something productive.

Everyone knows that cable TV is dying. People want options and control over what they want to watch without being tied into 2 year contracts and paying crazy fees. The people running the cable companies know this and it seems like instead of trying to re-imagine themselves and build a service that people actually want they make it harder and more confusing, frustrating people to find some way of reducing their service even more. I have limited options for Internet Service, so I go through my cable company. Overall the service and quality has been pretty good. Not perfect but nothing really is, so I really can't complain about it. What I can complain about is the fact that I wanted to go online and see what the different speed and cost options were for me. I'm an existing customer. I log into my account and I can't find it anywhere on their site. I search. I enter my address to generate service options. All of them are for bundled services. They tell me I can save more mon

One thing that every person or organization has to be mindful of is getting complacent after they achieve a goal. After setting a goal and working really hard to improve it, I believe it is natural to stick with the same goal, stagnating and therefore falling behind in many ways.  Here are three examples that I've heard too many times in my career and how we need to change the conversation. It will never be perfect. This is common in goals where the target should be 100%. Be it up time performance, on time delivery or customer retention; a perfect world the number would be 100%. While nobody and no business is perfect, there is always room for improvement. If your goal was 90% and you have been hovering around it for a while, it is time to increase it to 95%. If you are at 99.9%, try and get five 9's (99.999%). Response - "No, it might not ever be perfect, but how fun would it be if it were? Let's figure out how to blow the doors off our old number." It i

One of my favorite words is dichotomy, for me it tells a story about life. Dichotomy describes two things that are completely opposite from each other, things that are mutually exclusive. But sometimes those opposing things become complementary. Take for example hot and cold. They seem contradictory but with the right elements they become great. Put ice cream on a chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven and you have a magical dessert that is way better together. When you find things that seem like they are opposite, finding a way to make them compliment each other is usually when greatness emerges. A marriage between a man and a woman. Various departments in a business. Offense and defense on a team. These work the best when the two sides realize they are on the same team and find ways to work together, make the other side better. Our world continues to get more divided where each side of every issue expends all of their energy proving why they are right and the "enemy&q

I've had a number of conversations recently where I have learned some things where I've walked away feeling a little upset. It wasn't the words that were said that were upsetting, it was the fact that I wish they would have just told me sooner. I wish that I had more of that information earlier as I probably would have made some different decisions. I'm not sure if it is the Minnesota nice culture here but we seem to not want to tell people the truth about how we feel. I know there have been plenty of times that I've held things back, kept my feelings to myself, figuring it was better to not say anything. Always remember that nobody can tell you how to feel. They can debate your actions or behaviors, but they can't argue how you are feeling. Speak the truth in love, but we need to speak up more about how we feel and continue to build the bridge between the people we care about and want to have relationships with in our family, friends and work. Here is the

As my kids go back to school I am reminded of the fact that everyday you aren't learning something is a day wasted. There is always something to educate yourself with and one of the things I really enjoy in life is finding little things from books, movies, sports or businesses that form connections and I can bring into my life, family and work. Even from something like taking a vacation to the Happiest Place On Earth. I've read a number of things about Disney and I am well aware of their attention to detail, but every visit I find new things that simply amaze me. The first from our most recent trip was from a bell hop that greeted us when we first arrived. I chatted with him for a moment as they unloaded our bags from the bus and he talked about how he retired and moved down to work at Disney three days a week because he loved that every day he was able to serve the families visiting to make their vacation as magical as possible. Listening to him reinforced my goal to one day

I vaguely remember the story of Mo Isom when she was trying out to kick for the LSU Tigers in 2012. At the time I didn't know her name, only that she was a soccer player and was attempting to kick for a Division 1 football powerhouse. Five years later I heard her whole story through the Sports Spectrum Podcast  (episode #4 if interested). Jason Romano interviewed her where she told an amazing story of tragedy and triumph. Her life includes battling eating disorders in high school, a father's suicide, a horrific automobile accident that she miraculously survived and a life full of bad choices in her words as she tried to make sense of more than most people deal with in a whole lifetime. Listening to her tell her story in that interview and when I later read her book, it was amazing the grit and perseverance this young woman possesses to face everything and through it all develop a deep faith that she shares with anyone that is willing to take the time to listen. As I hear her