Preventing Plateau

Change is good and necessary for the health of the organization. It is not healthy to have one person oversight of people, programs, or places for too long or stagnation will occur. Here’s the theory that I stumbled upon today:

Any one individual can only do so much. Even the most motivated and creative will work to a certain point (80% solution) before moving on to the next thing that vies for their attention. Once they have poured themselves into something, made it what they think it should be (often times “good enough”) they will let it lie and move onto the next challenge. Therefore, the object of their previous attention will be shelved, no longer evolving or improving, until reason is given for re-engagement.

I learned this during review of my departmental programs. All had been established and that’s all. The responsible Sailor brought them online administratively, thought they were fine, and then went on to other things. Not that they did anything wrong; they just did what they could/would do before other things popped up (life on a ship can be a lot like playing “wack-a-mole” at Chuck E. Cheese).

So, the solution to stagnation is change. Swap out program managers, give someone else an opportunity to show their capability. I assigned all new Petty Officers to my programs and told them to give me two ways they intend to make the program better. In 6 or so months I’ll do it again and induce programmatic evolution. Timing is important; you do not want to change while approaching assessment, but soon thereafter. Rotate leaders amongst work centers and divisions. Circulate new blood, cross-pollinate knowledge, develop people, places, and programs. The leader has to be the prime-mover of change for transformation to take place.

Spread His Fame

From JT's:

Shai Linne with "Spread His Fame." from Grace EV Free on Vimeo.

Unbeatable Re-enlistment

I love re-enlistments. This one can't be beat.

U.S. Marine Becomes First Blind Double Amputee to Re-Enlist

He has no legs and no eyesight, but Marine Cpl. Matthew Bradford has four more years of military service ahead of him after becoming the first blind double-amputee to re-enlist.

He has no legs and no eyesight, but Marine Cpl. Matthew Bradford has four more years of military service ahead of him after becoming the first blind double-amputee to re-enlist.

The rifleman was injured in January 2007 in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded right under him, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

But after years at the Center for the Intrepid, a privately funded, cutting-edge rehabilitation center, Bradford, 23, has learned to walk with prosthetic limbs and navigate without his vision, and he only regrets that he can’t return to combat duty in Iraq, the paper reported.

Instead the Kentucky native will head to Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he will work with other wounded Marines in hopes of helping them cope with anger, depression and other issues.

"I'm paving the road for the rest of them who want to stay in but think they can't," he told the Express-News. "I'm ready to get back to work."

Click here to read more on this story from the San Antonio Express-News.

How To Create A Movement

Great quote, "The first follower is what transforms the lone nut into a leader."

I Am Second

Awesome site! Powwweeerrrfuuul! Click the link, watch the video. This is intense, what he describes is real, and it is what we do. After you watch Chris watch a few other videos. Then share them - I'll post a few more.

I Am Second: Iraq War Vet

Missing Ship's Movement

The "Too Late" Lie

by Andree Seu

A man sits on the dock with head in hands, wailing for the ships that have sailed—as he is missing the ship that is sailing. This is a story of my life, of living in regret over past losses, even as I am losing the present moment’s possibilities.

In my 20s I thought all was lost. I chose despair and plunged headlong into a funk—and more disaster. In my 30s, when I saw what I had done, I plunged into yet more despair rather than learn my lesson. I lamented that I had been wrong in my 20s to think it was too late then—but that surely it was really too late now! So I dug into a costly depression. Despair over former fatal choices was itself the fatal choice that I continued to make. It is shameful to tell you all this. But at my age, I am grateful to serve as even a bad example if it will help someone.

Satan, with sweet rationalizations, tempts us to sin. And then, when we have followed his counsel, he switches sides to be the Accuser. It is hard to see this for what it is—the last lie in his quiver—because it comes with a semblance of righteousness: “I have sinned so badly that I have no right to joy again.” This is counterfeit repentance. Scripture tells us how to know a false repentance from a true one. The former kills, but the latter brings good things into your life:

“I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10).

I am a watchman calling out from the milestone of 58 years, to you coming up behind me at 28 and 38 and 48. And this is what I cry: Never say it’s “too late,” and it’s “no use,” no matter what you have done—and I do not doubt you have done plenty. The command to repent and believe is not issued to pretty good people but to the ungodly. If the gospel is not good for your present estate it’s not good for anything. Christ still stands at the door and knocks. The words “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37) are still true. “Do not fear; only believe” (Mark 5:36) is still addressed to you. You are not the one person in history that God’s grace is not going to work for. To refuse to believe in His love and to put your hope in Him—“Today, while it is still today” (Hebrews 3:13)—is to miss the boat that’s docked and waiting.

Tri-perspectival Leadership

Interesting leadership model. Examine it, Google it, then consider posting which one (or combination) you are. Do you have a dominant trait?