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The #1206 Series

This series, a departure from my usual musings, is inspired as a result of conversations with former senior advisors to multiple Presidents of the United States, senior officers in the US Military and other interesting folks.  It is also heavily influenced by my own career as a strategy advisor and large-scale IT architect for Fortune 25 / Wall St. clients as well as various government and military agencies.

While these musings are just “fiction” (note the quotes) and a departure from my musings on technology, strategy, politics and society, as a strategy guy, I do everything for a reason and with a measurable outcome in mind.  Many of them have truths woven into the fiction based on my previously mentioned background.

For more information about this series, please go here or scroll to the explanation at the end of the series list.

The #1206 Series:

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2008

#1206 Background and Origin

My primary intention with this series, as always, is to encourage people to think (not necessarily like me - that would be too boring and potentially limiting).  Other intentions can be easily discerned within the content itself and I leave it up to the reader to draw their own conclusions or inferences.

I would caution people who read this series to not believe that the content suggests that I am a pessimist or someone who believes in spreading gloom and doom.  In fact, I am the complete opposite.  As the eternal optimist, I often refer to myself as the realistic optimist (or the optimistic realist), someone who believes in our unlimited potential to create an amazing world while accepting the realities that we face today.  Our unlimited potential is only realized when we convert hopes, dreams and desires into reality through sustainable, intelligent, collaborative, hard work that leverages and maximizes our individual and collective strengths, knowledge, wisdom and gifts to move past the realities of today.

When we choose to allow the wrong things to happen in the world (while complaining that the world is not as we prefer) or we execute in a manner not in alignment with our potential, then we in fact are part of the problem and not part of the solution to helping us move towards our potential.

I believe a balanced individual sees both the realities of today and the positive potential of tomorrow.  Seeing only the good or the bad produces little if any value to one's life, present or future.

The Origin of the Name Itself

For some time, I had been having a series of dreams where people unknown to me kept referring to the digits "1206". Despite the persistence of the dreams, I ignored them (chalking them up to a subconscious reference from social media, mainstream media or other source that I was not consciously aware of).  In a trip a few years ago, my brother and I had gone to a movie together and when we came out of the theater, the electronics in each of our cars had been reset completely, with the digits "1206" showing on the radios in our respective cars.  The digits remained until the clocks were reset.  When I returned home from that trip and on the morning after my travel, I sat in my vehicle and noticed that even though the current time was 11:40, the clock read 12:06 and would not change until I reset the clock.

Thinking that enough was enough, I solicited everyone I knew, asking them if they knew what the significance of the digits "1206" was.  Many people offered opinions but it was my friend Nathan who said "Maybe you need to read Numbers 12:06 in the Bible."

Here is what Numbers 12:06 says (ESV version quoted):

And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.

While I don't claim to be a prophet of any sort, I was intrigued as almost all of these blog posts come to me in my sleep (which Nathan did not know).  For these posts, I would awaken with a strong need to write and the post would flow out of my fingers.  Many of the posts below, while complex and sophisticated in message intention and content, often take me 15 minutes or less to write (including editing).

If, after reading any of the entries in the #1206 Series, one is convinced that I am evil, I recommend that you read one of the following posts instead. :-)

The Anti-#1206 Series - A Subset:

Scattered between the #1206 series and the Anti-#1206 series, you will find various musings on business, politics, strategy, motivational musings and whatever else moved my heart at the moment.  Many have asked that I write about sweetness and light only, condemning the scary stuff, while others have asked that I write more scary stuff and move away from the "fluffy" stuff.

As noted previously, I do everything for a reason and so I enjoy watching people explore both sides of my musings. :-)

And with that, I present the #1206 series.  There is benefit to reading these in reverse order (oldest to newest) but this is not required. Each post stands on its own merit.

Click here to go to the top of the series.