DW's Blog

Are You Really In Control?

by DW Green — April 10, 2019

Trying to control our lives limits us.

Learning what we can control and what we can’t, makes life’s journey a more pleasant and interesting one.“The closest thing to being in control we’ll ever be is in that moment when we realize we’re not.” — Brian KesslerGustavo Razetti writes the following in an article entitled Control Less, Trust More, “Happiness is about being in charge of your life not controlling every aspect of it.Not everything that matters can be controlled, and not everything that can be controlled matters.That’s the paradox with life: we want things our way, yet, most of the times, things take on a life of their own. What if we stop trying to control everything? And start trusting our ability to adapt?Letting go of control doesn’t mean not caring. But keeping our minds and hearts open — to make room for the unexpected.As Shakespeare wrote, “Come what come may. Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. One way or another, what’s going to happen is going to happen.” (I like Shakespeare. He’s one insightful dude! My words)“Being in control might bring you serenity at the expense of driving everyone else crazy.Control is ...

by DW Green — April 3, 2019

The status quo impedes the search for competitive advantage.

I was reading an article on leadership the other day. The following from Bill Taylor, cofounder of Fast Company, makes really good sense to me.“The true mark of a leader is the willingness to stick with a bold course of action—an unconventional business strategy, a unique product-development roadmap, a controversial marketing campaign—even as the rest of the world wonders why you’re not marching in step with the status quo. In other words, real leaders are happy to zig while others zag. They understand that in an era of hyper-competition and non-stop disruption, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something special.”It’s been my experience that following the status quo promotes imitation rather than innovation. Leadership is about discovering and performing different activities from rivals or performing similar activities in different ways. Differentiation arises from both the choice of activities and how they are performed. Activities, then, are the basic units of competitive advantage. Overall advantage or disadvantage results from all of a company’s activities, not only a few. The status quo often impedes the search for competitive advantage.

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Timeless

by DW Green — March 27, 2019

Strong brands are enduring and successful over time.

Time is just an illusion. Albert Einstein said, “The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” Hmm.Well, this blog post is not about time as an illusion, but indirectly, it is about time.In my view a company’s BRAND is its most important asset. Strong brands are enduring and successful over time. Weak brands not so much. Wise leaders protect their brand by investing in their brand image. The brand is what connects their business with their customers, community and employees. Controlling expenses is critical but not at the expense of diluting or harming the brand. Marketing and promotional design must reflect the nature and professionalism of the brand. Poor design can have a negative effect on the relationship between the brand and its stakeholders.2019 marks the 100^th Anniversary of the National Football League. Impressive. Even with their recent hiccups, the NFL is a very successful and enduring brand!

A Tidbit of Consciousness

by DW Green — March 13, 2019

Tidbits to ponder

If you were traveling in Tibet, you would experience tidbits of Tibet. If you were a native Tibetan, you could be a Tibetan tidbit?Any way here’s some tidbits to ponder.Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.You are not in the Universe. You are the Universe, an intrinsic part of it. Ultimately, you are not a person, but a focal point where the universe is becoming conscious of itself. What an amazing miracle.The secret to happiness is letting go.Accept all people and all circumstances in your life exactly as they are. Knowing that everything is as it should be. Practice defenselessness and relinquish the need to convince or persuade others of your point of view.Tibet is an administrative division of China. North of the Himalayas: prior to 1950 a theocracy under the Dalai Lama; the highest country in the world, average elevation about 16,00 feet. Capital is Lhasa. Tibet is north and east of Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal, is my favorite city name.

The Dalai Lama on Leadership

by DW Green — March 6, 2019

“We are naturally driven by self-interest.”

The Dalai Lama seems like a pretty cool guy. It’s amazing to me how people get to be who they are. For example, Tenzin Gyatso is the 14^th and current Dalai Lama. He was born on a straw mat in a cowshed to a farmer’s family in a remote part of Tibet. He was born into a humble family of farmers as one of 16 children. He became the most popular world leader by 2013. It’s amazing how wise and insightful he has become.He wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review in the February 20^th 2019 issue. The article is titled The Dali Lama on Why Leaders Should Be Mindful, Selfless, and Compassionate. Here’s a portion of that article.Be selflessWe are naturally driven by self-interest; it’s necessary to survive. But we need wise self-interest that is generous and cooperative, taking others’ interests into account. Cooperation comes from friendship, friendship comes from trust, and trust comes from kindheartedness. Once you have a genuine sense of concern for others, there’s no room for cheating, bullying, or exploitation; instead, you can be honest, truthful, and transparent in your conduct.Buddhist tradition describes three styles of c...

by DW Green — February 27, 2019

Say YES to life

I really enjoyed reading Adam’s blog last week. Is the bar really lowered? At the end of the blog Adam wrote that “Adapting is not surrendering to the pressure of an unwinnable battle.” The word surrender got my attention. Surrender carries mostly negative connotations, for guys anyway. But I’ve learned that surrender is a positive action. I liken it to acceptance, to letting go, to trusting or having faith in a higher power, a higher intelligence. Surrender is to say ‘yes’ to life—to see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you. It’s about giving up everything that no longer serves you. Easier said than done.Eckhart Tolle defines surrender in the following way.“To some people, surrender may have negative connotations, implying defeat, giving up, failing to rise to the challenges of life, becoming lethargic, and so on. True surrender, however, is something entirely different. It does not mean to passively put up with whatever situation you find yourself in and to do nothing about it. Nor does it mean to cease making plans or initiating positive action. Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yieldi...

by DW Green — February 20, 2019

You don’t know what you don’t know.

I was reminded recently that I attended my first Amba Gale Leadership workshop in March of 2003. Wow, 16 years ago. I’ve attended Amba’s workshops and retreats annually since then. Her courses have affected my life in unimaginable ways. Her course content has sent me down a rich and rewarding path of personal discovery. Thank you Amba, Ruth, and fellow journeyers!The most important thing that I learned on my first day of class was this:

You know what you know. (yep)
You know what you don’t know. (yep)
But you don’t know what you don’t know. (huh)

We spent much of our workshop time learning about things that we didn’t know we didn’t know. Make sense? I’ve spent a lot of time in that space, that space of not knowing, sense and since then!So in the spirt of knowing and not knowing:“Appearance is not essence, perception is not reality, and the cover is not the book. Error is quite often convincing, which is an unpleasant fact to consider and accept. Everyone secretly believes that his or her own personal view of the world is real, factual, and ...

by DW Green — February 13, 2019

As a famous Philosopher once said, “Shit happens.”

We have to keep going.

He goes on to say “If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that sometimes, the darkest times can bring us to the brightest places. I’ve learned that the most toxic people can teach us the most important lessons; that our most painful struggles can grant us the most necessary growth; and that the most heartbreaking losses of friendship and love can make room for the most wonderful people. I’ve learned that what seems like a curse in the moment can actually be a blessing, and that what seems like the end of the road is actually just the discovery that we are meant to travel down a different path. I’ve learned that no matter how difficult things seem, there is always hope. And I’ve learned that no matter how powerless we feel or how horrible things seem, we can’t give up. We have to keep going. Even when it is scary, even when all of our strength seems gone, we have to keep picking ourselves back up and moving forward, because whatever we’re battling in the moment, it will pass, and we will make it through. We’ve made it this far. We can make it through whatever comes next.” Because shit happens.

by DW Green — February 5, 2019

Intuition is the highest form of intelligence.

A client and friend of mine sent me this article last week. He said, “I found this article interesting and supportive of customer relationships. A good blog topic — technology vs customer interaction and experience.” I agree.PCC Removes All Self-Checkout LanesIn Seattle, KIRO-TV News reports that cooperative PCC Community Markets is removing all self-checkout lanes from its stores. The company says that it stopped putting self-checkout in new stores three years ago. Heather Snavely, VP of marketing at PCC, says that the company looked “at the relationship our shoppers have with our cashiers and our staff. And what we realized was a kiosk doesn’t create community or connections. So we wanted to take those out so that when someone comes into our stores, they have a human connection with someone and an interaction that will make the experience more special.” Snavely also says that “removing the self-checkout machines won’t create any new jobs, they’ll just shuffle existing employees around. They’ll also build new express checkout lanes to replace the kiosks and keep the lines moving.” The story notes that at t...