Your Life Story–Do You Hear What I Hear?

I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening. - Larry King

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk. – Doug Larson

Some years ago, I was driving home from work when for some reason I felt strongly compelled to stop into a retirement facility in the area.  It was an odd feeling since I did not have any friend or family member in residence there but I felt it was important to stop by anyway.

After arriving at the facility, I wandered around the grounds, not really engaging with anyone while simultaneously wondering why I was there when suddenly my eyes locked with the eyes of an elderly gentleman sitting alone.

For reasons unknown to me until today, I walked over to him, introduced myself and sat beside him.  He introduced himself as Mr. Green and within minutes he began telling me his Life story.

Mr. Green had outlived his children, his wife and his siblings and was spending the final days of his Life alone at this facility.  He told me stories of growing up in a small outport in Newfoundland, of the days where he would row more than 5 miles one way every day across the harbor (and the same distance back later in the evening) to visit the woman who would later become his wife and the victories and challenges he had experienced raising his family in a small town.

The few hours I spent with him went by quickly and he thanked me for taking the time to listen to his “silly stories”.  I in turn thanked him for sharing with me the most powerful moments of his Life and then I left.

And just as I couldn’t explain at the time why I had stopped by that day, for reasons equally unknown to me, I never returned to visit Mr. Green again.

That interaction took place 30 years ago, remaining dormant and forgotten in my memory until a conversation with someone today about the importance of listening brought the events back to me as if they had happened yesterday.

The power in our story

Mr. Green thought his collection of memories were merely silly stories when in fact they were a beautiful compilation of a Life well-lived.

A Life like his.

A Life like yours.

As he told me his stories, he saw each of them as expressions of stand-alone, unrelated events.  I saw them as an unfolding tapestry of connected events, each event in his Life clearly and obviously equipping him for the next event in his Life.

In speaking to someone about his story today, they made an observation that I thought was powerful.  The observation was this:

After we have survived or experienced a significant event in our Life, is there a hint of our future that is provided to us?

Do we listen to the messages that such events present to us?

Do we see the connection between the events in our Lives?

I found this to be an emotionally stirring series of questions.  << Yes, we tough, cold, ruthless Wall St. ***holes have been known to get misty-eyed in coffee shops.  Please don’t tell anyone – we have a reputation to protect. >>

Mr. Green did not see the connection between the events nor did he see how each event equipped him with new knowledge, wisdom and growth in his character, values and morals to prepare him for the next event.

He didn’t see the importance of the lessons he had acquired through the living of his Life.

He did not understand the true value of the events he had experienced.

He did not fully comprehend the value of his Life story.

And he didn’t understand the impact of sharing his stories with a young stranger who wandered into the retirement facility that day for unknown reasons.

Unknown to me until today ……

It is true that each of us is nothing more than a collection of stories.  It is these stories that define the legacy that we leave behind when we have long-since departed this place.

Our stories represent our perception and expression of our experiences both significant and mundane.  While we are the primary author of our story, many people are brought into or forced into our lives to contribute material to our story while we are simultaneously invited or forced to contribute material to theirs, creating the collection of comedies and tragedies that form the essence of who we are.

Many of our stories are written in the public eye.

Many are written seemingly in private when we think that no one is watching.

Regardless of how we write our stories, there is someone out there who is modeling our behavior or looking up to us in some way.

In those moments, we are not just writing our story.

We are creating or providing the material by which others are writing their story as we knowingly or unknowingly participate as coauthors.

The Bottom Line

Remember when we used to take our high school yearbooks and collect the autographs of our fellow classmates, creating a permanent memory of who they were?

In a similar way, people leave indelible marks on our hearts and Spirits as we make our way through Life, adding material to our Book of Life, inviting us to contribute to theirs or one person being forced to accept the contribution of another.

And as we write our collective stories together, what matters is that we are listening to the story that our Lives are expressing about us, since we never know who is modeling our Life or looking up to us for wisdom, knowledge or inspiration.

The questions then become ….

Are you listening to your story and the impact on others?

Are you listening to the stories of others and their impact on you?

Are you listening at all?

Are you sure?

How do you know?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

---

Related posts:

• Connecting the Dots–Valuing the Connections In Your Life

Newfoundland PC MHAs Welcome Premier-Elect Dwight Ball

The wealth of the country, its capital, its credit, must be saved from the predatory poor as well as the predatory rich, but above all from the predatory politician. - James J. Hill

The worst thing for a politician is to try and cling to power by every possible means, and focus only on that. - Vladimir Putin

With the announcement today that Bill Barry has withdrawn his candidacy from the PC Party Leadership race in Newfoundland and Labrador, the PC Party has just handed the next election to Liberal Leader Dwight Ball.

Bill Barry, devoted family man, world traveler (having been to over 40 countries), well-informed businessman and passionate Newfoundlander, has just discovered that when you bring a message of necessary change to Newfoundland and Labrador, you are considered the enemy and certain people will do whatever it takes to prevent said change.

God forbid that anyone disturb the trough that MHAs (and the people who support them) feel blessed to feed from.  The idea that someone would have the audacity to suggest that serving the people with courage and transparency was the real reason for public service was too much for the descendants of the merchant-mentality to deal with and so they rose up against anyone daring to suggest such change.

They remind me of this scene from History of the World – Part 1.

History of the World

Intelligent, courageous, unselfish leadership is needed.

As I noted in posts such as Newfoundland–Should We Just Shoot It And Put It Out Of Its Misery? and Newfoundland–A Leadership Crisis, Not An Energy One, I mused about how the leadership of the Newfoundland and Labrador Government had seemed out of touch with both the people and the financial realities it faces.

A change is needed within the Government and the PC Party of the Province.  It needs leadership that recognizes the value of the people, the need to serve the people and the importance of making difficult decisions to benefit the people in the long run (not just until the next election).  This is essential in order to return the Province to a place where it can harvest its unlimited but unrealized potential.

When Bill Barry noted that a Government under his leadership would be that change, the MHAs quickly rose up against him and threw their support behind Frank Coleman, someone who promised to not rock the boat as noted in this article by The Telegram.

I don’t know about you but when I am taking over an organization that is trailing in the polls, indicating that I will “stay the course” doesn’t sound like much of an effective strategy to me.

It is clear that the MHAs feared change.and in throwing their support behind a candidate who promises to continue the current Government’s mandate and approach, they identified what was important to them:

1. Their political party
2. Their job

Somehow the people of the Province never seemed to enter the equation.  Public service in the Province seems to be like a red light at an intersection in New York City – both are merely suggestions.

And while playing it safe seems somehow reassuring that all will be well in the future, the move in fact condemns the Party to a loss in the next election with many of the MHAs going down with the Party’s futures.

The Bottom Line

Newfoundland and Labrador needs a cranial defibrillator in the form of a leader who knows that difficult decisions are needed in order to create success and a leader who has the courage to make those decisions.

Instead, the PC Party of Newfoundland and Labrador likely placed the defibrillator on their own head and electrocuted themselves.

Frank Coleman will win the PC Party Leadership process uncontested although if I were a PC MHA I wouldn’t get too excited about this given past experience with acclaimed leaders.

In fact, when Mr. Coleman is ready to move into the official residence of the Premier, they might as well just give him a camper trailer in the backyard.  He won’t be Premier long enough to move in and get settled.

There’s an old joke about a doctor who tells a patient that he has good news and bad news.  The patient asks for the bad news first and he is told that he has three months to live.  He explodes in anger and asks “If that’s the bad news, what’s the good news?”  The doctor replies, “Did you see that gorgeous receptionist out front?  I’m having an affair with her.”

And so it is with the MHAs of the PC Party in Newfoundland and Labrador.  In their desire to protect themselves and those who support them, they have potentially condemned the people they claim to serve by denying the people access to a leader who could have led them out of the conundrum they find themselves in.  There is good news and bad news contained within such actions.  The good news is that the MHAs will move on to lucrative contracts, pensions and the like no matter what happens in the next election.

The bad news?

Well … I guess that’s up to the people to discover, isn’t it?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS I was going to title this blog post “Newfoundland MHAs Flick the Bird at the People” but then I thought “now that wouldn’t be very fair, would it?”.  But then again, fairness is a two-way street when self-serving greed overrules the desire to selflessly serve the people.

On a side note, I interacted with some of Mr. Coleman’s people (including family members) on Twitter regarding his candidacy and they insisted he was not running even though I told them that his actions said otherwise.  After he announced his candidacy, they deleted their tweets indicating that he was not running.  Sounds like same-old, same-old in Newfoundland politics.  Truth and honesty in politics are as easy to find there as a living member of the Beothuk people.

---

Addendum – A Leader Without A Vision – April 19, 2014

What kind of leader will Frank Coleman make?  In The Telegram on Friday, James McLeod noted this:

But when he spoke to The Telegram Friday, the premier-in-waiting was still counting on somebody else to tell him what to do.

“I’m going to wait for some direction from the (PC party) executive. I don’t want to kind of get in anybody’s face on Day 1,” Coleman said. “I don’t want that to sound like I’m not willing. I’m certainly willing to do what is required of me at this point, but I’m not trying to elbow anybody aside earlier than what the party wants.”

Sounds like the kind of leader I would want for a political party or a Province.

Not.

There’s not an iota of strategy, vision, passion or energy in his message.

Who wants that in a leader?

Or ….. maybe the rumor is true that the selection of the PC Party leadership was fixed and that he’s merely a puppet for someone else.  If that’s the case, someone needs to slip their hand in a little deeper so that he has more things to say in order to incite excitement in the people.

Ahhhhh the stuff of conspiracy.

---

Addendum 2 – A Leader Without A Vision – Part 2 – April 21, 2014

I guess I’m not the only person concerned about the new PC Leader’s vision … or lack thereof as explained in this article Frank Coleman coronation turning into ‘train wreck’, prof says care of CBC.

I wonder if he has already written his resignation speech – the one that will be delivered after the PCs lose the next general election.

Funny thing about that is that I am a Conservative by nature.

But I’m also a realist by practice.

---

Newfoundland–Should We Just Shoot It And Put It Out Of Its Misery?

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. - Albert Einstein

The economics profession advances by one confusing financial disaster at a time. - Adam Davidson

As a passionate Newfoundlander (is there such a thing as an indifferent Newfoundlander?), I have always kept half an eye on the events taking place in my home Province.  The place that we know as The Rock is part of our DNA and we consider it more of a living, breathing place than merely a rock planted in the tempest that is the North Atlantic.  My culture is a fundamental component of who I am and how my heart beats.

On the other hand, as a long-time strategy guy for Wall St. and Fortune 25 companies, facts and figures rule my world and even when my heart occasionally screams to be heard in certain situations, my head relies on what it knows to be irrefutable and predictable realities.

And it is this hybrid human being that I am, being a New Yorker in a Newfoundlander’s body, that causes me great angst as I examine the contents of the 2014 budget for the great Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

To analyze the budget line-by-line would put most people to sleep with the exception of those of us who live for the excitement of mathematics and complex problems.  That being said, consider these simple-to-understand numbers:

1. Newfoundland unemployment rate: February 2014 – 13.1%.  1976 – 13.6% (Source: Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency).  The numbers outside of St. John’s are far worse.
2. Unfunded pension liability: $7.3 Billion (Source: Newfoundland and Labrador Budget 2014).  Think digging out of an unfunded pension liability is easy?  Here is the simple explanation of how this stuff works from Investopedia.  And yes – that is the simple explanation.
3. Overall debt: $9.8 Billion (Source: Newfoundland and Labrador Budget 2014).
4. Deficit for 2014: $537 million including borrowing of over $1 Billion (Source: Newfoundland and Labrador Budget 2014).
5. Total revenues for 2014: $6.5 Billion (Source: Newfoundland and Labrador Budget Estimate).
6. Total revenue from offshore royalties: $2.4 Billion - 36.9% of total revenue (Source: Newfoundland and Labrador Budget Estimate).

Now consider the fact that the Government is forecasting its offshore royalties based on a Brent Crude Oil Price of $105.64 / barrel (Source: Newfoundland and Labrador Economic Research and Analysis Division).

Meanwhile around the world …..

Consider that with concerns regarding the Chinese economy, the ongoing slow global economic recovery, events in places like the Ukraine / Crimea, significant additional production from shale oil and the like, Goldman Sachs is suggesting that Brent Crude Oil may fall to $90 / barrel with some outside high risk models suggesting a possibility of $80 / barrel (Source: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research).

This creates the possibility of a decline in oil revenue for the Province in the range of 14% - 24% in a single year and for the foreseeable future.

And so if you thought that Budget 2014 was hard to swallow, if such a decline in revenue actually takes place, budgets in the future will be a staggering piece of voodoo to sort out.

But increased spending continues anyway …. why?

I think the answer to that question is best answered by Finance Minister Johnson.  When asked about spending in high cost areas (healthcare alone will cost $3 Billion in 2014), she replied that “people told her cuts wouldn’t go over well”.

And this is the crux of the matter.  When Government believes it is in the business of telling the people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear, problems are bound to arise.

Or as Chris Morris once said:

The pursuit of approval usually ends in disaster.

And there’s another problem.

Ask the MHAs who are voting for the budget to sit down and explain the intricacies of it and the risks associated with it and you will find that most of them cannot.  If I approached you with an investment where I was risking your money and I could not satisfactorily explain the risks and rewards, you would chase me away (or possibly call the police if it looked too shady).  And yet, the average voter allows this to happen on a much larger, much riskier scale with their money and how the Government manages it.

And then there is this little item that doesn’t help.

With no disrespect intended to the Finance Minister, a BSc in Forest Engineering and a Masters in Environmental Engineering prepares you little to understand the numbers and exposes you to being vulnerable to accepting any numbers that others tell you are strong and viable.

And finally ….

Many of the people (and organizations) who would tell you that everything is in fact wonderful and that people like me are doom-and-gloom people are in fact benefitting strongly from leaving things just the way they are.  Follow the breadcrumbs and use data to inform you … don’t allow emotion (or their intimidation) to tell you otherwise.

The Province of Newfoundland and Labrador is “all-in” regarding oil revenue and uncontrolled spending to appease the populace and there is no Plan B if oil prices fall during a time of global uncertainty.

The Bottom Line

The Province of Newfoundland and Labrador needs a couple of things to happen in order to turn around a situation that is still salvageable:

1. It needs leadership that is not afraid to call it the way it is – someone who can cast a vision of tremendous optimism and possibility while at the same time, not being afraid to explain the realities to the people.
2. It needs voters who give a damn about their Province and who recognize that a short-sighted “Everything is grand - worry about tomorrow tomorrow” mentality as promoted by the Government is slowly but surely killing them.

Unless the Provincial Government takes a longer, more strategic, more intelligent, more transparent view of its situation and the voters do more than complain on radio programs and in coffee shops, you won’t need to shoot the Province to put it out of its misery.

Because there won’t be anyone left standing to pull the trigger.

To the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, I say this:

Demand better from those who lead you.  The place and the people are one, inseparable and bound together by 500 years of history that defines us.  Our storied, powerful history and culture and the unlimited potential of the Province are calling you to stand up for what is yours to take while it’s still available for the taking.

Are you willing to answer the call?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum – The Challenge - March 31, 2014

I mused on CBC about the challenges Newfoundland is facing.  That musing can be found here.

One of the great dilemmas facing Newfoundland and Labrador is the collision of these factors:

• A small population and thus a relatively small source of revenue from residents / corporations, creating reliance on revenue from the Federal Government, fluctuating oil prices and a fishery that was given away to the Federal government for its own use as a bargaining chip in international negotiation.
• A very large distributed area over which that small population is scatted.
• The complexities of that distributed area and the costs associated with getting “appropriate” levels of service to as many as possible, including remote areas where the costs of providing such services can never be recovered.
• A population that demands equal access to services without care as to cost.
• A resource-rich Labrador, a place that often feels that the Island merely uses them for its own needs.
• A government that tries to be too much to too many at any cost in order to get elected.
• A tangled knot of issues in the present that were created as a result of not addressing the aforementioned factors for years. Finding solutions for these issues would challenge even the most brilliant minds and are exacerbated by the notion that everyone wants a solution as long as they don’t have to give up anything themselves.  With this in mind, no one actually solves anything and the tangled knot grows in scale and complexity.
• Unions that won’t give an inch in regards to pension reform and other benefits for their members (current and retired).
• Political leadership without strategy, intelligence, courage, transparency or the realization that they exist to serve the people.  It is called public service for a reason.
• Too many people complaining on radio programs, on social media and in coffee shops while not applying their talents, strengths, energy and passion towards solutions and measurable results.

Is it any wonder that the Province finds itself in such a situation?  The challenges require leadership that can make difficult decisions and say “no” once in a while as a well as a populace that understands that if it wishes to live in a remote place, the quality of Life obtained from such a lifestyle must be traded off against the level of services that can be expected.

Unfortunately, everybody wants everything.

And when everybody wants everything, the result that is common is that everyone ends up with nothing or much less than they believe they are entitled to or is realistic to provide.

---

PC Parties in Alberta and Newfoundland: What Are You Baking?

If you're trying to create a company, it's like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion. - Elon Musk

As I watch the PC Parties in the Provinces of Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador prepare to choose new leaders while simultaneously trying to run a government AND prepare for an election where their grip on power is threatened, I can’t help but think of Gerald Weinberg’s Bread Recipe Rule:

If you use the same baker, the same ingredients and the same recipe, then you will always get the same bread.

The PC Party in each Province has learned in recent months that the populace has empathically expressed that they don’t like the “bread” that their respective governments have been churning out.

But as I watch the Party in each Province execute a critical course correction that will impact their respective Party and Province for years to come, I wonder if they are really ready to change or if they still haven’t gotten over the euphoria of having written a really strong rah-rah message to their supporters with the hope that that alone will carry the day.  With apologies to a lot of well-intentioned people, the messages “we always win” or “we know we are the best” don’t sit well with a data-focused guy.  Unfortunately, questions such as “why?” and “how do you know?” are inconvenient “hot potatoes” and so should be avoided at all cost.

Consider these components of the Bread Recipe Rule:

The Baker – from discussions shared with me, each of the respective Parties is looking for a leader with many of the same traits found in the two Premiers that were chased out.  There are also many hidden bakers that the electorate doesn’t see.  While these out-of-sight bakers need to be changed also, the likelihood of that happening is slim even though their role in choosing the last leader that failed and in not removing them before irreparable damage to the PC Party was done was significant.  This time it will be different, I suppose …. just because.

The Ingredients – while the PC Party ideology is something that resonates with many, there are so many variants of it within the Party that it is difficult for members to coalesce around a unified set of principles.  I recently asked some government members in each of the Provincial Governments why they felt Progressive Conservatism best served the people and they couldn’t answer the question.  If you don’t believe it (or understand it), you can’t sell it.  Period.  Maybe they are there not because they believe in PC principles but because a popular party served their own needs at the time.  Gasp … could people be so devious or opportunistic?  Surely not!

The Recipe – I have been assured that the people in the PC Party in each Province find comfort in the same strategy, communication mechanisms, optics management and execution that has worked so successfully in the past …. well, with the exception of getting their respective leaders turfed in the middle of disastrous approval ratings and the possibility of being out of power for years to come.  Other than that last little bit, it works pretty well.

The Bottom Line

To the PC Parties of Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador, I offer this thought.

While traditions of history and success are powerfully intoxicating, if strategic and tactical execution doesn’t change with the times, it starts to look more like this:

Your respective fortunes didn’t die in the last two years (or in the last few months) suddenly and without warning.  Just as a large ocean freighter needs miles to make a course correction or a speeding train may need miles to stop, this seemingly sudden decline was years in the making – years of not recognizing or adjusting to the shift all around you.

And if you don’t embrace the magnitude of the shift that is occurring within your respective Parties and within the electorate and if you don’t see what is needed to adjust to, embrace and maximize the opportunities present in that shift, you may not like the smell that your recipe is producing.

In fact, it may not smell like bread at all.

In fact, it may smell like …. hang on a sec …..  <sniff> <sniff>.

Hmmmmmmm …. is that REALLY what you want to be baking?

I didn’t think so.

So you have two choices:

1. Adjust to the shift and find a way to create a win that serves the people as you honor the title of Public Servant.
2. Get used to losing.

Choose wisely.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

---

Related Posts:

• Politicians, Diapers and Why We Need To Change Both – March 22, 2014
• Alberta PC Party – Indecisiveness, Mixed Messaging and Paralysis – March 16, 2014
• Newfoundland – A Leadership Crisis, Not An Energy One – January 6, 2014
• Newfoundland – Leadership (Or Lack Of It) In Crisis – January 4, 2014

---

Confessions of a Gentle Arsehole

I am an impure thinker. I am hurt, swayed, shaken, elated, disillusioned, shocked, comforted, and I have to transmit my mental experiences lest I die. - Eugene Rosenstock-Huessy

Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost. - Chauncey Depew

If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good. - Thomas J. Watson

Of the many emails that I receive regarding my musings, there are three types that are very common.  They are:

1. How can someone who can make make me laugh or cry also write with such a sharp (cruel) sword about certain subjects?
2. For someone who writes such interesting (potent) stuff, especially about politicians or business, why do you write about “weak” stuff like motivational or inspirational subjects?
3. Who the heck are you anyway?

And so, without further adieu, I feel compelled to offer a confession.

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned

As someone who grew up in a small town in Newfoundland, I learned the traditional things that one learns in such small places – the value of relationships, of knowing your neighbor (heck, we knew the whole town), of an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s effort and for appreciating the small things in Life.

Moving on to an award-winning career on Wall St., I learned new “values” and walked a fine line between the values I was raised with and the new ones – values that many might perceive as being in conflict with “normal” ones (whatever normal means) but which you must embrace to succeed in that environment or face being eaten alive.

This hybrid Life, commingling a relaxed rural setting and a frenzied urban one, created a hybrid human being – a New Yorker in a Newfoundlander’s body as I like to call it.

My heart beats to the values I was raised with, prompting me to write stories like:

• I Met a Man on a Journey
• Education – More Than the Three Rs
• Creating an “Oprah Moment”
• Blood Donations and Life Connections 
• A User’s Guide to Passionate People
• Boston Pizza – Master of Customer Relationships
• Overcoming Your Demons

They inspire thousands of people to share their deepest thoughts, hopes, fears and confessions with me and I am humbled, honored and moved by their sharing and their courage.

My head is driven by the values that I was exposed to on Wall St., prompting me to share musings such as:

• Strategy – Have You Hired a Million Monkeys?
• Quantum Physics and Problem Solving
• The World as Seen By the Objective Observer
• Solving Puzzles – Follow the Breadcrumbs
• Asking Questions That Get Answered

My exposure to “certain projects” and “special people” inspires “fictional” writing that I refer to as the #1206 series and includes stories such as:

• Financial Crisis (where I predicted the collapse of September 2008)
• Growing the Rot From Within (how to undermine a nation in one easy step)
• National Security – Arming Both Sides (growing my readership with the kind folks who monitor our security – hi guys!).

But when head, heart and experiences collide

Having been raised on one set of values while working in a world where values are merely a suggestion or a convenience in order to get one up on others has created a hybrid that motivates me to write about things such as:

• Newfoundland – A Leadership Crisis, Not An Energy One
• The Power of the Four-Poster Interview
• Politics and the Fortuitousness of Calamity
• Muskrat Falls – Mastering the Art of Communication Failure
• Bullies, Pink Shirts and Attaboys
• Mitt Romney, Bullies and Red Herrings
• Lip Service – The Solution to Everything
• Does Premier Dunderdale Like Pornography? (yeah, this one raised a few hackles)
• Will the Ignorant Inherit the Earth?

These are the musings that lawyers get all excited about but I know my boundaries and so while people get all excited they eventually give up realizing that to make an issue out of the truth will only make their client’s Life more complex (and more transparent).

The origin of the last set of musings are the most complex to decipher by some people as they seem out of character for someone who prefers to lead gently with the heart instead of aggressively with the mind.

But as with the strategic and tactical offerings I provide to clients, there is a method to my madness.

My Personal Philosophy

I believe that we live in a beautiful world of unlimited potential – a world that is simultaneously a complex, difficult chaos and a thing of simplicity and beauty that is perfectly orchestrated.

My personal vision and mission, as noted on my website, reads:

But such a world does not happen by accident nor does it evolve into its most beautiful potential when we condone or allow indifference, apathy, wilful ignorance, greed or one of the other “values” that many people embrace.

And sometimes when one comes across people who are either not guiding us towards a better world or are actively guiding us away from one, then one needs to make a stand.

Love and respect don’t always win.

For those who think that perfect love and respect can win over anyone or any situation, I agree …. most times.

But there are some people in the world that cannot or will not respond to such kindness.  In fact, to embrace unlimited love and kindness as the solution to everything sets some people up to be a doormat - one whom other people wipe their feet upon and move on as they seek their next victim.  Some of these people are like bulls rushing towards you with intent to tear you asunder in their anger or greed-driven need to accomplish their own objectives.

Such people cannot be reasoned with with love, respect or kindness.

They know only one way to treat people and so when they run into people like me who put up my hand and say “Sorry, your journey of greed, selfishness, wilful ignorance or indifference ends here” they don’t like what they see.  They don’t like the cranial defibrillator that I present either.  The idea that their irresistible force has finally met an immovable object presents a unique and potentially uncomfortable situation for them.

A mirror is a difficult thing to behold when we don’t like the image being reflected back to us.

And so while I don’t look for trouble nor do I go out of my way to make other people’s issues my own, sometimes karma has a way of placing me in the Path of someone else for a reason.

What matters at that moment is if both sides in the random or karmic encounter are prepared to explore and embrace the reason why their Paths have crossed.

The Bottom Line

To answer the final question as to who I am ties all three questions together nicely.

Professionally, I provide strategy, tactical and large-scale technology guidance to little, itty bitty, teen weeny companies and really, really, big, gigantinormous ones (sorry for the technical terms).  I live in a world defined by facts, data and measurable outcomes.

But in reality, I am a human being who seeks to lift those who need to be lifted, to defend those who struggle and to give a voice to those who believe they have lost theirs (or believe they never had one).  I am a passionate, respectful collaborator who seeks the best in people and opportunities.

I do so because I believe as a realistic optimist (or an optimistic realist) that a beautiful world exists and can be made even better by not ignoring the things (or people) that hold us back.

And while I confess to being a gentle arsehole (my apologies for so many technical terms here), I won’t apologize for it.  Maybe the ones who see me as an arsehole need to spend more time looking within.  Perhaps I’m not so much of an arsehole as I am a mirror, offering a reflection of their beauty or ignorance.

Being a gentle arsehole has its rewards and its difficulties.  In the end, what motivates me the most are our children and the legacy that we are creating for them.  Marian Wright Edelman said it best when she said:

If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much.

What do you stand up for?

Why?

Why not?

In service and servanthood,

Harry - an unapologetic, respectful, gentle (most times) arsehole (I mean mirror)

Muskrat Falls–Mastering the Art of Communication Failure

In marketing you must choose between boredom, shouting and seduction. Which do you want? - Roy H. Williams

You don't need to be the good guy to get a good message out. - LL Cool J

Watching the dialog around the Muskrat Falls energy project continue to degrade into a noisy cacophony of he said / she said (much of it veiled in secrecy or not based on data) in Newfoundland and Labrador makes me wonder who is in charge of communications on this project and within the Government.

Oh sure, many of those names are public domain but in truth, Muskrat Falls has moved from being a project of potential strategic and economic importance to one where the Government is unable to mange the message of its potential and so the project has morphed into a communication failure regardless of its potential in other areas.

Dear Government of Newfoundland and Labrador:

It doesn’t matter if the project is the greatest project on the planet.  If you can’t sell it, then it isn’t.  The world of the voter is less one of facts and more one of perspective and optics.  Failure to manage either or both produces failure for the Government no matter how much you would like to believe otherwise.

In other words:

To influence or move the mind, you must touch the heart – not stab it.

Engagement is easy, as I illustrate in this oversimplified overview of engaging the populace (click on the diagram for a larger version of it).

When it comes to managing the message around Muskrat Falls, the Government’s actions and message need to be centered around:

1. What do we want the voter to feel?
2. What do we want the voter to think?
3. What do we want the voter to do?

As far as I can tell, it is pretty easy to guess the answers to the first two questions and with an answer to those two in-hand, it’s pretty easy to anticipate what the answer to question three will be in the next general election.

If the Government can’t sell the numbers, then either:

1. They don’t have all the numbers.
2. The numbers don’t work.
3. They don’t understand the numbers.
4. They don’t know how to sell the numbers.

If any of these is true, they have a high probability of ending up in this embarrassing dilemma:

The Bottom Line

Scammers and spammers with almost no budget can write a compelling message to convince people to give up their identities and billions of dollars.  A guy in Nigeria can convince people to destroy their Lives with a simple email that promises unlimited wealth.

Infomercials on TV can convince people to buy every ridiculous product under the sun when knowledge exists in abundance that such products are merely the latest incarnation of snake-oil.  Monty Python’s bits about stringettes (miles of string cut into 2-inch lengths), Titan Missiles (the novelty missile) and Scum (the combination hair oil, foot ointment and salad dressing) are perfect parodies of this.

And yet the Newfoundland and Labrador Government still can’t convince the media and much of the electorate that the numbers for Muskrat Falls work.  However, they do appear to have mastered the art of failing to set, meet or manage the expectations of the Province (a dubious honor that occurs when there are issues in listening and adaptation as well as in communication).

Their inability to manage the message, touch the heart or influence the mind screams a loud warning to me in the areas of ignorance, indifference and incompetence.

What does it say to you?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum – Clarification of my stand on Muskrat Falls

Within the first hour of this blog being posted, I received a number of emails from people with some criticizing my strong stand in favor of Muskrat Falls and others criticizing my strong stand against it …. all based on the same post.

My response to them is “How can you find enough information to create an informed opinion at all?” and that is my primary concern.

Unfortunately for anyone in the business of communication, leaving a knowledge gap or void in someone’s mind invites that gap to be filled based on the knowledge and Life context of that person.

In other words, leaving the potential for influence to chance.

I don’t like to leave my results to chance.

Do you?

As to whether the Newfoundland and Labrador Government has the project well in hand in the areas of strategy, communications, et al, listen to this interview (part 1 and part 2) between James MacLeod of The Telegram and Natural Resources Minister Derrick Dalley, read Mr. MacLeod’s article here and form your own opinion.

Addendum 2 – March 1, 2014

Previously mentioned reporter James MacLeod of The Telegram continues to ask difficult questions that are not being answered.  His latest exploration of the Muskrat Falls project can be found here - Feds won’t confirm details of Muskrat Falls watchdog report.

What worries me about Mr. MacLeod’s questions is that they are not tricky, underhanded, sly or designed to trip anyone up.  They appear to be honest, straightforward questions simply designed to obtain information that the people of the Province should already have.  When the answers provided to him are nonsensical, inconsistent or evasive, he asks additional questions to obtain clarity and he does so firmly, politely and respectfully.

So this journalist appears to be merely trying to obtain the truth in a non-sensationalist way which is a rarity in modern news media.

The inability for the Newfoundland Government to provide the truth either represents an inability to communicate or a refusal to.

I wonder which one is worse.

Up Next On Wheel of Fortune–The Newfoundland Government

However glorious an action in itself, it ought not to pass for great if it be not the effect of wisdom and intention. - Francois de La Rochefoucauld

If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random. - Donald Rumsfeld

Watching the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in action this week makes me wonder yet again if the results it is attempting to produce are as random as the results of a spin of the wheel on the popular television show Wheel of Fortune.

But before I explain why I feel this way, let’s roll the clock back a little first.

A few years ago, the Government was concerned about out-migration, the idea that many people were leaving the Province to seek their fortunes elsewhere.  When it reached high levels, the Government created all kinds of programs and promotions to prevent or at least stem the issue as they perceived it.

Unfortunately, they were treating a symptom and not a problem and ignored the voices of many who noted this.

Programs and promotions to get Newfoundlanders to stay “just because they should” could not compete with high levels of unemployment in the Province, education and healthcare systems that were lacking as compared to other locales, opportunities for growth and entertainment of the families of workers, etc.

People were leaving for real reasons such as the desire for themselves and their families to thrive and not merely survive.

However, rather than fix the root cause of the reason for departure, the Government treated a symptom and failed.  Their approach was analogous to treating a cancer patient by giving him painkillers and hoping for the best..

I remember that it was around this time also when I was attending a youth leadership conference on the Island and a Government official from one of the local development boards was touting the mantra “there was no reason for youth to leave the Island when there were plenty of $10-an-hour jobs for everyone”.

I don’t know about you but I’ll bet it’s pretty tricky to take out a mortgage, let alone build a dream Life, on a little over $20,000 a year.

In both situations, the Government attempted to treat a symptom and not the problem with a kneejerk, seemingly random response.

Returning to the present ….

The Conference Board of Canada produced some statistics last week indicating that the population of the Province will shrink significantly in the coming decades due to a number of reasons.  This shrinkage would in turn produce a strain on the tax infrastructure of the Province and thus represented a potentially significant problem.

There are a number of ways one can respond to this news.

Here is the Government’s method

The policy platform for the government offers this carefully thought out policy item (my bold emphasis added):

“We are committed to cultivating conditions that enable families and communities to grow.  We will develop a Newfoundland and Labrador population growth strategy focused on creating and improving conditions favourable to in-migration and an increased birth rate.”

In regards to this increased birth rate plan, Advanced Education and Skills Minister Kevin O’Brien said that something should be coming soon.

There’s a joke here somewhere but I can’t quite put my hand on it.  Maybe it’s a fallacy to expect anything useful from them at all.

But alas, I digress.  I’ll come back to the birth rate concept in a moment.

Here is the mass media’s method

Members of the mass media asked former Premier and current businessman Danny Williams about the numbers and with his usual gusto and bravado that is typical of a confident entrepreneur, he said the numbers were “bullshit”.  Whether you like his answer and the fact that he responded without facts is one thing.  However, many of the media, including writers like Pam Frampton of the Telegram, Randy Simms and others skewered him for presenting an opinion when in fact he had been asked to provide one and so he obliged.

Here’s a tip:

If you don’t want someone to open their mouth, don’t ask for their opinion. You may not like it. And remember that it is merely one person’s opinion and not worthy of deep analysis. To expect anything else from this interaction is unprofessional at best and in fact is almost psychotic in nature.

Meanwhile, I don’t see the media critiquing the Government’s bizarre plan to increase the birth rate.  I guess a distracted media that goes after a salacious, meaningless sound bite is a useful tool for the Government.

When it comes to controlling birth rates, we have things like the rhythm method, the withdrawal method and the bucket and saucer method.  It appears that some people now want to reverse the effects of these with the random method.

Meanwhile …. back to the increased birth rate

The provincial unemployment rate at 12% is only 1.4% better than it was in 1976 (source: Newfoundland and Labrador government statistics).  Salaries, employment and family-centric opportunities are booming elsewhere and people will follow the money and the opportunities.

For a policy platform to focus on in-migration and an increased birth rate as a solution is ridiculous.  Address the real reasons why people leave and these symptoms of issues will resolve themselves.

In fairness to the people, it’s not for lack of trying.  In a popular survey quoted every year by local media, Newfoundland and Labrador is either first or second in terms of the provincial population most likely to “get it on” in Canada.

Wear it with pride, by’s.

For those of you not picking up the slack, I have planted a subliminal message within this blog post that should help.

The Bottom Line

Focusing on increasing the birth rate or in-migration (two distracting red herrings) are a sign of the continued inability of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to differentiate cause from effect and thus be able to create meaningful, measurable outcomes.

In other words, rather than focus on things like increasing the birth rate, they should stop screwing around since their actions haven’t produced many bundles of joy and the people have been left limp, spent, exhausted and sore.  They also shouldn’t bother asking afterwards “if it was good for you” because I think I know what the answer would be from most of the populace.

For some members of the mass media to analyze the opinions (not facts) as expressed by Danny Williams or others is also a waste of time and newsprint and feels more like a gossip column than an editorial.  It might sell newspapers but it doesn’t produce solutions.

It’s time to stop, think and address real issues in pragmatic, effective, strategic, fact-based ways instead of using a constant kneejerk, nonsensical, random approach to problem solving.  Complex problems or problems with many data points and demographic factors don’t respond well to off-the-cuff, random execution while ignoring the real underlying issues and their interdependencies.

In the meantime, I’m going to get a box of Tide detergent off in the mail to the Government to help them with another problem that they have – a bad case of ring around the collar.

My buddy Ken B. from Bell Island years ago would say that “ring around da collar was common for people who couldn’t get der head out of der arse”.

However, this is a family-friendly blog, so I will merely say “Clean up your act and stop making every action look like a random spin of the Wheel of Fortune wheel”.

Because eventually you land on bankrupt too many times and the game is over.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS

For visitors to the Province in the coming months, if a Newfoundlander walks up to you and asks “How yer gettin’ on, me old cock?”, pause and choose your answer carefully, to make sure that you are hearing a common greeting and not being asked to sign up for a Government solution.  After all, the presence or lack of a comma (or pause) makes all the difference.

Newfoundland Politicians and the Three Wise Monkeys

Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you. - Aldous Huxley

Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct. - Thomas Jefferson

There is a long-told story of three wise monkeys by the names of Iwazaru, Kikazaru and Mizaru.  You may know them best as “speak no evil”, “hear no evil” and “see no evil” respectively.

As I observe the political circus taking place in my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador, I can’t help but notice how those three characters can be applied to the three leaders of the Provincial political parties.  However, instead of three wise monkeys, we will examine their behavioural opposites since wisdom is often a matter of perspective.

Speak No Evil

Former Premier Kathy Dunderdale who, through a number of poorly executed communication blunders, managed to cast the entire party as indifferent and apathetic to the people of the Province.  In addition, the behavior of many of the elected members of the party appeared to be above the law or at least beyond the scrutiny of the people (at least as perceived by the politicians), thereby reinforcing such feelings within the electorate.  Meanwhile, the Party is moving on to select a new leader, acting as if the damage produced by the current government leadership never happened and that suddenly they are the party of the people.  

Even the leadership selection process has become a source of intrigue with many insiders staying away from the job.  What does that tell you about what they perceive as success potential?

Hear No Evil

NDP Leader Lorraine Michael who, despite going from first to last in the polls practically overnight as a result of a leadership and team collapse, insists that she is not concerned with the past and current events within the party.  I am reminded of Alfred E. Neuman from Mad Magazine who never worried about anything even when everything was collapsing all around him. 

The interesting thing is that I don’t hear a lot of people clamoring to join this party.  Maybe it is time to worry, Ms. Michael.

See No Evil

Liberal Leader Dwight Ball who indicated that everyone is welcome in the Liberal Party no matter what they have done in the past.  This includes if they were accused of rigging polls for a political party or were solely responsible for gutting their party and creating the calamitous fall that subsequently ensued. 

The party appears to be evolving into the party of the opportunist and the self-interested with people coming out of the woodwork to run for the party.  What does this say about the desperation and self-interest level of not only the party but of the leader as well?

So the ballot for the next election looks like this.

There is a fourth money, Shizaru, who symbolizes “do no evil”, but somebody got to him and paid him off before he embarrassed anyone.

Truthfully, there doesn’t appear to be a whole lot that separates all three parties.  Oh sure, they all talk about unique values and the like but under the facade projected to the people they are bound by a common tie …… the notion of “what’s in it for ME?”

Maybe the Newfoundland and Labrador government could actually be compared to a hockey farm team where the team captains and other key players use their experience in the junior leagues as a preparation for a position in the big leagues.  They do what they want, how they want, to whom they want and when it all hits the fan they step out of one league, supposedly in disgrace, only to reappear suddenly in the big leagues where the rewards are far more lucrative.

This could be said of many who have walked through the swinging door that is the Newfoundland and Labrador Legislature with the exception of Danny Williams who was larger than Life when he entered and even larger than Life when he left.  While he didn’t need to move on to a bigger league (being already there), he sort of fits the mould by actually buying a real hockey team.  Well played. :-)

So Where Does That Leave the People of the Province?

I have no idea.  Politicians come and go with such little accountability that no one holds them responsible for what they have done or didn’t do as promised and come election time, the cycle repeats itself.  Memories are short in the Province, it seems.

Ironically, if one reflects on the backroom wheeling and dealing (some would suggest skulduggery) of the pre-Confederation negotiations, things don’t really appear to be that much different today than they were more than 65 years ago.

So how does one fix a pattern that predates Confederation?

For starters, it takes more than expressing unhappiness in coffee shops, frustration on call-in radio programs and the like.  To do so emphasizes a truth as expressed in a great line from the Buddy Wasisname and the Other Feller’s song “Old Wooden Shack” where Ray Johnson sings:

Empty wishes leave a wanting man sore.

While passion and a desire to make things better are important, what is equally if not more important are the actions that come as a result of that passion and desire.

Because without action that is intelligently and strategically carried out and without demanding accountability, responsibility and transparency from its leaders, the Province is headed for more of the same in the future as it has experienced in the past - a mix of potential, realized and missed, without fully unleashing what the Province is truly capable of producing. 

Meanwhile, the people who have architected the mixed results move on to an amazing, lucrative future with little care of the trail of mixed results left in their wake or the people who are left behind to pick up the pieces.

Past performance is the #1 predictor of future behavior and results.

If the people of the Province recreate yet again what they have suffered from in the past, I wonder who the monkey is then.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS

For the local writer in the Province who has felt empowered to lift my blog content lately and pass it off as her own, I wish her well on the success of her next article.  Success is a team sport after all. :-)

Addendum – February 9, 2014

A few readers reached out to me yesterday and asked me why things don’t change and why people won’t stand up for something better.  When I replied that more people need to speak out against what is not working, they replied to me that this wasn’t possible for them because they had too much to lose.  As I pointed out to them, “legitimate” reasons such as theirs were exactly why change wouldn’t take place – that many who want change are counting on someone else to create it.  The response wasn’t received well by any of them.

I wonder if the electorate breaks down into:

1. Those who benefit from the status quo.
2. Those who don’t like the status quo but are afraid to rattle cages.
3. Those who have given up, resigned to the  belief that change is not possible.
4. Those who for a variety of reasons (some reasonable) are braver in coffee shops and in the anonymity of social media and call-in radio programs than in the public eye.
5. Those who are afraid to speak out.  This is related to the previous point but is worth noting separately because of what it says about democracy in the Province.
6. Those who believe they have the answer to making things better and compete against others with the same belief instead of collaborating with them.
7. Those who desire change confuse activity and productivity, not being strategic in their intentions and execution of those intentions and thus accepting any result as a good (or good enough) result.
8. Those who make a lot of noise but in the end are complaining for the sake of complaining without really caring about results.
9. Everyone else.

It would be intriguing to discover what percentage of people fall into each category.

What category do you fall into?

Addendum 2 – February 13, 2014

I just finished reading Greg Malone’s “Don’t Tell the Newfoundlanders” and there is a quote in the book that stands out. It is this:

This country [Newfoundland] has been so badly governed during the whole period of its history of over four hundred years that I think it is inevitable, and no matter how good a government may be, it is inbred in the people here to be always in revolt against the governmental authority.

These words were written by High Commissioner Charles Burchell to Norman Robertson (Department of External Affairs) in September of 1942.

They are interesting words that are just as relevant today, almost 72 years after they were written.

Should Newfoundlanders be disappointed or angered?

Maybe they should be both.

Are Newfoundland Liberals Values Chameleons?

To me, consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects. - Margaret Thatcher

At a press conference held by the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador today, two former NDP party members, Dale Kirby and Christopher Mitchelmore, were welcomed as they officially announced they were changing party affiliations.

There were a couple of fascinating comments made by Mr. Kirby that really struck me.

In responding to comments regarding how he may have walked away from his principles, he responded by saying to supporters today:

“My values are also your values”.

As a literalist, I interpret this to mean:

“My values will align with anything you want as long as it gets me elected.”

Why do I believe this?

My personal values in a number of areas are well defined and well known.  I do not bend those values for anyone or anything.  If you don’t like my values, you always have the choice of going elsewhere for whatever it is you seek.  As a public person, if I bent the definition of who I am for everyone who demands it, not only would you not know who I am but it is highly likely that I wouldn’t know either.

When a politician admits that his values are whatever you want them to be, then what you have is a politician for sale, willing to be bent or modified to suit the needs of specific people as long as the politician also gets what they want – to be elected.  In such a situation, are they representing the needs of the people or the needs of a select few?

As for Mr. Ball, the leader of the Liberal Party, he indicated the following in accepting these two new members:

"The Liberal party does have an open door policy, and we will not close that door on anyone who is seeking a nomination, looking to make a change for the better or questioning previous decisions."

To Mr. Ball, I say:

When it comes to strong leadership, sometimes what is equally important to accepting anyone is being firm in whom you will not accept, especially those whose values seem to depend on the direction of the political wind.

Otherwise, you appear desperate or selfish, sacrificing your own values to achieve personal gain.

And besides, a political knife in someone else’s back yesterday may be in yours tomorrow.  This not only reflects desperation or selfishness but a potentially low score in strategic and tactical intelligence as well.

Finally, when Mr. Kirby was asked if he would try to bring significant elements of the NDP camp to the Liberal camp, he replied, "I'd like to bring as many of them as possible."

All of this tells me that not only are Mr. Kirby’s values fluid but in fact the values of the entire Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador are fluid, being open to being chameleons that may become indistinguishable from the NDP.

I guess it comes down to being willing to do or be anything just to win.

We shouldn't be surprised that the values of these people are so fluid since they are politicians after all.

However, I am curious what it says about our values.

What does it say about your values?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum – February 4, 2014

I made an observation in social media today regarding politicians who cross the floor and it was censored (translation: it was deleted).

And so I offer it here for your musing and amusement:

People elect a person for one or more reasons, including but not limited to:

1. It's a beauty contest
2. They like the candidate
3. They like the party
4. They like the party leader
5. All options frighten them - the lesser of many evils is chosen

When a politician crosses the floor, they probably don't know the reason they were originally elected (I don't care how many doors they claim to have knocked on or what they believe they were told at the door).  The ballot also does not have "reason for choice" written on it.

For this reason, politicians cannot claim to be representing their constituents when they cross the floor since the constituents may have elected them for reasons 3, 4 or 5.

So when someone crosses the floor, only a by-election can determine the will and support of the people.  Without the by-election, only the will of the politician and the party that is accepting them is known.  The rest is a mystery until the next election.

This is NOT democracy.

The only people who believe that this is democracy are the people who benefit from the move or from the politician, people with close personal ties to the politician or the recipient political party and the recipient political party itself.

Whether the politician and the recipient political party actually benefit or not is not truly settled until the next election.

I wonder if the Liberals, in embracing events such as what transpired today, are about to snatch failure from the jaws of victory and hand a “gimme” election back to the Progressive Conservatives.

Only the constituents really know.

Everyone Makes Mistakes–Leaders Learn From Them

Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. - Bruce Lee

A man (or woman) must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. John C. Maxwell (I added “or woman”)

My blog Newfoundland–A Leadership Crisis, Not An Energy One, with my criticism of Premier Dunderdale’s handling of the electricity outage in Newfoundland, was hotly debated by a number of people in recent days with the vast majority agreeing with my musings.

A lot of people believe that my blog and similar musings prove that the final nail has been driven into her political coffin.

But I’m not so sure.

Few of us can claim that we have never made mistakes in our Life.  Some of us, including myself, have made some humdingers that we wish we could have taken back.  Most of us are fortunate that our worst mistakes have been mostly or completely kept out of the public eye.

But we move on, asking, pleading or demanding for forgiveness under the notion that we are only human and that we did the best we could with what we had at the time.

And now Premier Dunderdale has called for a full review of the decisions that led to the massive near Island-wide outage and the events that took place during and immediately after the event.

As a strategy guy and as a human being who has made mistakes, I offer this thought for consideration.

I posit that the people’s confidence in the electricity generation and distribution system of the Province could be restored IF the review’s terms of reference:

• include full access to all information (including not being blocked by Bill 29 legislation)
• include access to all required individuals, unhindered by the fear that their career is at risk for speaking transparently
• have clearly defined measurable outcomes set out before the review begins
• are fully transparent in execution
• are acted upon with appropriate strategy, actionable items and measurable outcomes that survive the vetting process of “why” and “how do we know” for every action defined
• provide a roadmap that illustrates that such incidents are unlikely to occur again and that the solution(s)can be measurably proven to be the best that is reasonably possible
• are designed as a fact finder / strategy creator / problem solver and not as a finger pointer / political hammer / political “saviour”
• are not a means of establishing a scapegoat who is willing to “take one for the team”
• are conducted by verifiably credible, independent experts in the industry who can be proven to be outside circles of interference and conflict of interest.

If these conditions are not met, then the review is a political tool (or an exercise of the incompetent) and will be a waste of time and money.

Premier Dunderdale is making a significant roll of the political dice, with her personal credibility, her political future and the future of her party on the line.

As someone who has made mistakes, I am willing to hold off on an emotional assessment of her upcoming actions until the measurable result potential of the review can be established.

After all, it is the measurable results as defined within the review and the execution that follows that will show Newfoundland if its Premier is willing, able and capable of learning.

Such learning is what separates leader wannabes from true leaders.

I have been strongly critical of the Premier but as a fallible human being, I am willing to put emotion and political analysis aside to see what happens next.

How about you?

Besides, if we are unwilling to explore every option available to solve the problem or if we actively block exploration of such options, don’t we become part of the problem?

If she does well, learns from the experience and produces positive, measurable results, the people of Newfoundland win.

If she doesn’t do well, she will have sealed her fate as many believe she has already done.  In that case, I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of the most passionate, politically-engaged groups of people on the planet.

Bottom Line – Fairness With a Warning

She deserves an opportunity to prove she is part of the solution and not part of the problem.  And besides, since she has almost two years left in her mandate, do the people have much choice at this point but to allow her to try?

But she better not take too long (with time and past performance not being her friend) otherwise she deserves what she gets, possibly and unfortunately damaging the future of the Province in the process.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum – Intentional Redundancy? - January 10, 2014

With the Premier and the Public Utilities Board both announcing separate, independent inquiries, I wonder what happens if they produce conflicting results.

Who would break the tie?

Who would have enough knowledge and context to know which action items would produce better results?

What happens if the Government uses the deadlock as justification for not taking action or for “needing to explore things further”?

The fun begins.

Addendum 2 – Premier Dunderdale Resigns – January 21, 2014

The press has announced that Premier Dunderdale will be announcing her resignation on January 22, 2014 and that Tom Marshall will be taking over as Interim Premier.  With public opinion significantly against her, this appears to be the only viable option available to her and she is taking it.

I am reminded of this blog post I wrote over three years ago when the previous leader, Premier Danny Williams, stepped down and I warned about the lack of strong leadership candidates to succeed him - Premier Williams and His Legacy.

Whether she was responsible personally for her political demise, she received poor advice or she failed to accept good advice, the world is not kind to leaders who appear to be weak as far as being strategic, tactical, fair, competent or empathetic is concerned.

I wonder whether history will be to Kathy Dunderdale.

As for her departure, it is unknown what is best for the Province – that a leader be burned, learn from the experience and come back better than ever or to go with an untried leader who, as an unknown, could be far better or far worse.  That’s why I think “celebration” regarding her departure is both unfair on a personal level and premature.

Newfoundland–A Leadership Crisis, Not An Energy One

Where there is no vision, the people perish - Proverbs 29:18

I must follow the people. Am I not their leader? - Benjamin Disraeli

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. - Publilius Syrus

<<Continued from my earlier blog post Newfoundland–Leadership (or Lack of It) in Crisis.>>

I am an optimist and I strive to see the best in every situation and in every person.

However, as my native Province of Newfoundland and Labrador enters its fifth day of rolling power blackouts, with 30,000 customers still without power after two major blackouts in 36 hours, even my eternal optimism is being strained.

Consider these items:

1. As previously noted, the Province is entering its fifth consecutive day of rolling blackouts with no official end in sight

2. On Saturday morning, the Province experienced a near Island-wide outage that put almost 200,000 customers in the dark.  At the time it happened, they had no real idea when the power would be restored.  Many were without power (and in many cases water also) for 24 hours or more.

3. After getting almost everyone back up by Sunday night, the Province suddenly had another outage that put 100,000 customers back in the dark.  The reason has not been officially identified at the time I write this (12:30pm Newfoundland time) and 30,000 customers are still without power.

4. Some towns are reporting food, heating oil and fuel shortages.

5. Schools and universities are closed until at least Wednesday.  Government offices are being closed early today as well.

6. There were emergency evacuations of senior citizen homes.

7. Some businesses, including the second largest shopping mall in the capital city of St. John’s, have closed down as pipes froze and burst without heat to protect them.

8. Some of the energy generating components used by Nalcor Energy have been identified to be years beyond their useable life. Nalcor has admitted that this creates risk for future energy production until Muskrat Falls comes into production 3-5 years down the road.

9. The Premier admitted that with such aging infrastructure, the possibility exists for the current power outage events to occur any time in the future until Muskrat Falls comes online.

10. Heavy rain warnings for some areas without power leave people wondering today if their basements will flood without electricity to power sump pumps.

11. Phone systems (landline and cell) started dying in some areas last weekend as battery backups became depleted, thus cutting off communications for some residents.

12. The Government asked towns and municipalities to implement their emergency contingency plans, including the setting up of warming centers.  Some towns declared a state of emergency.

13. For the first three days of the event, the Premier was nowhere to be found publicly and made no comments at all until her press conference on Sunday when people were crying out for their “leader” to appear.

And finally the Premier appeared

And now that she has surfaced, her focus appears to be on damage control, insisting on local and national media that there is “no crisis” and “no critical situation”.

With all due respect Premier, whenever electricity goes out for most of the Province and you admit that it could happen again at any time without warning for any duration, that has the potential to be a crisis. 

For some people, the events of this weekend were in fact a crisis (having limited or no access to food, water, heat, fuel and communications) and so it is unfair to tell people, without having context for their situation, if they were experiencing a crisis or not. 

A strong leader understands this and doesn’t make generalized statements negating or making light of specific situations without knowledge of those situations.

Adding to the confusion, some of the Premier’s messages have been mixed, indicating on Sunday that the events were not a critical situation while saying on VOCM this morning that they are.

When the Premier cites aging infrastructure being to blame, that is not the fault of the people.  It is the fault of the Government.  And when the Premier says the cold weather “caught people by surprise”, I would assume that people are paid good money for contingency planning. 

And besides, it’s Newfoundland.  Winter has been known to arrive there on occasion.

There are even rumors swirling around that the reason the Premier was publicly absent in the early days of the event is because she was secretly out of province on vacation and doesn’t want to admit it.  If (and I say if) that is true, then she also lied to the people in her press conference on Sunday when she indicated she was home during the crisis. Ahhhhh social media – a blessing and a curse when it comes to ferreting out the truth.

So now the Premier is doing the media circuit in typical CYA mode, even daring to get angry with people who challenge her leadership.

Personally, I would find it difficult to judge her leadership during the event. 

After all, she was invisible.  How can you judge what you can’t see?

However, I will agree with the Premier on one thing

She insists that there is no crisis regarding an energy shortage in the Province.

I somewhat agree with her although the potential for a real energy crisis is significant.

However, there is a more insidious crisis in the Province.

I believe there is a serious leadership crisis within the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

And as in Alcoholics Anonymous where you learn that you can’t begin working on solutions until you admit there is a problem, I believe the leadership crisis has far more dangerous ramifications than the current energy one.

To the Premier, I say (and with all due respect), leadership is not merely a title or how you see yourself.  It is how others perceive you, the actions you take and the results you produce.

To the people of Newfoundland and Labrador I say “Da arse is gone right out of ‘er, bys”.

No, I’m not referring to the Province, your storied history or the great people who live there.  You have always risen to the occasion (often with a great sense of humor) and you will again in the coming days.

I’m referring to the person who believes she is leading you.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum – Preparedness – January 6, 2014

Discussion about the impact that someone else’s choices and competencies can have on your Life brings me back to thoughts of preparedness.  Preparedness and contingency plans for personal health and safety in times of emergency can mean the difference between an event being a crisis, an inconvenience or a non-event altogether.

If you have the capability, resources and interest to be more self-reliant, then I recommend that you take steps to protect yourself as best as is reasonable from the impact of future events.

For those who do not have the capability or resources to create a stronger sense of self-reliance (despite their desire to do so), they unfortunately rely on the people who lead them.

Or attempt to.

When (not if) an event occurs, the problems of the unprepared become the problems of those who are self-reliant because as human beings, we care for those who struggle.

And so no matter how self-reliant you think you are, you are never isolated from the impact of decisions by leaders (whether self-described or real).

And that is why we all need to care more about the impact of decisions made by those who govern us.

Or attempt to.

Addendum 2 – Accountability - January 6, 2014

As of 6:00pm Newfoundland time, less than 1,000 customers remain without power, thanks to the tireless efforts of the men and women who are braving difficult conditions to restore service.

It has also been reported that 1 death and 8 injuries from carbon monoxide poisoning have been reported by Eastern Health.  No matter how much information about safety is promoted by officials, some people continue to fall prey to such accidents …. sadly.

As things get back to a sense of normalcy in the Province, it is important to not get complacent nor to allow “leaders” to duck accountability and responsibility under the guise of “we can’t talk to you right now because this is not the right time for you to be asking questions”.

There are too many times when problems never get resolved because of the interaction cycle that looks like this:

1. We’re too busy solving the problem to answer your question.

2. We’re too busy investigating the cause.

3. We’re too busy writing the report.

4. We’re too busy reviewing the report.

5. We’re too busy investigating the impact of the report.

6. I’m confused - what problem are you referring to?  Oh – that issue that we already commissioned an inquiry / investigation on?  I’ll get back to you on that.

8. You will have to follow the request for information process as clearly defined in step 7 <<if you can find it>>.

9. Sorry, I’ve got another problem to deal with right now. I’ve got priorities, you know.

And so the cycle repeats with each prior problem getting pushed down the pile and waiting to resurface at an inconvenient time.

Not keeping the issues front and center while the rawness is still being felt will allow people to get complacent only to relive the pain when the next event occurs.

Addendum 3 – Closing Thoughts – January 6, 2014

As the peak concerns fade and Newfoundland moves forward, it occurs to me why I was disappointed in the performance of the Premier.

I was in NYC during 9/11 and witnessed Mayor Giuliani work tirelessly around the clock.  He coordinated rescue, recovery and security efforts during a horrific disaster and yet was also constantly seen on the cameras and in the streets.  Our leader was involved, he was engaged and we felt the energy and inspiration that came from him.  He inspired us to pull together and move forward.

I was in Calgary during the flood of 2013 and witnessed the tireless, positive energy of Mayor Nenshi and Premier Redford, both working hard to coordinate efforts behind the scenes while simultaneously presenting focused, upbeat, inspiring personas to the people.

And then I witness Premier Dunderdale who makes an appearance several days into a difficult time for the Province and makes comments that could almost be translated as “My goodness, what’s all the noise about people?  Quit your griping and move along.”

When I see such lack of empathy, I cannot help but think of this excerpt from “History of the World – Part 1”:

So in defense of Premier Dunderdale, I was spoiled by better leaders and dared to hold her up to their standards – the standards of a leader of the 21st century.

Please accept my apologies for doing so, Premier.  Moving forward, I will lower my expectations to make your Life easier.

Addendum 4 – Thoughts on the Announced Review – January 9, 2014

After the Premier announced her plans for a transparent review of the events surrounding the power outages, I offered this musing - Everyone Makes Mistakes–Leaders Learn From Them

Addendum 5 – Premier Dunderdale Resigns – January 21, 2014

The press has announced that Premier Dunderdale will be announcing her resignation on January 22, 2014 and that Tom Marshall will be taking over as Interim Premier.  With public opinion significantly against her, this appears to be the only viable option available to her and she is taking it.

I am reminded of this blog post I wrote over three years ago when the previous leader, Premier Danny Williams, stepped down and I warned about the lack of strong leadership candidates to succeed him - Premier Williams and His Legacy.

Whether she was responsible personally for her political demise, she received poor advice or she failed to accept good advice, the world is not kind to leaders who appear to be weak as far as being strategic, tactical, fair, competent or empathetic is concerned.

I wonder whether history will be to Kathy Dunderdale.

As for her departure, it is unknown what is best for the Province – that a leader be burned, learn from the experience and come back better than ever or to go with an untried leader who, as an unknown, could be far better or far worse.  That’s why I think “celebration” regarding her departure is both unfair on a personal level and premature.