Great Quote

"To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often."
-- Winston Churchill,
statesman and prime minister

Proving the truth in the statement, it can be further improved by changing "perfect" to "excellent".

Pursuit of Excellence

We know it when we see it. More likely... We REALLY know when it's missing.

I'm talking about Excellence.

Excellence in quality, service, staffing, selection, etc.

Really... Excellence as a basis of culture. Personal, organizational, etc. It applies across everything.

Excellence is NOT perfection. Perfection is subjective, unattainable and trying to be perfect will make you nuts.

Excellence is constant and continual learning, adapting and improving. It's the drive to achieve. To shave a few seconds off your time, a few pounds off your weight, increase your ability to sustain, endure, adapt. To earn a little more, spend a little less, try a little harder. To do something, be something, try something. To go somewhere, or stay somewhere or see something... or someone.

Excellence is not a destination. It's a journey. A passion. When it's present its part of who you are. Who we are when we're on a team or part of something meaningful.

You can feel it when it's present... and it's a deafening void when t's absent.

The absence of Excellence is disappointing and inconvenient in its most minor infractions. In its full state of negligence and arrogance, it is a relationship killer and business suicide. Rightfully so.

When you stop caring, something dies. Attention, passion and love are the fertilizers of growth.

This blog is being repurposed because I have a passion for Excellence. I love to watch it, read it, talk to it, about and with it. I just want to be in its presence, constantly. It doesn't matter the subject, venue or if I know a thing about what is being achieved at the moment. But I can FEEL that passion for Excellence. I can FEEL that energy of the pursuit to do, create or be something just beyond average, normal or status quo.

And YOU can too. Admit it.

I appreciate, admire and respect the simple act of someone who is striving for (insert next goal here).

And YOU do too. You know you do. The entire social networking universe is driven by it.

So join me as I repurpose this blog to something I'm passionate about. Together, let's start a conversation about Excellence and draw attention to those who are clearly driven by that passion to pursue it in all it's wonderful forms.

Thanks for playing along.
This is going to be fun.

-S.

Enough

Ever ask yourself how much is enough?

Of anything?

There's the easy stuff... Money, food, friends, fun, sex, stuff, etc. The primary motivators in life.

But what about other stuff? Hard stuff?

Pain, fear, stress, pressure, insecurity, abuse, etc? Are there limits for those things as well? And what do you do when you've had enough?

What about the in between stuff? Those subtle influences that we hardly recognize anymore - manipulation, interference, deception, distraction, etc.

How much is enough? How do you recognize the limit and what do you do when your line is crossed?

What do you when you've had enough?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Air travel is not fun

I've been a frequent flier for 20 years. (Hard to believe but yes, it's been that long.) It's not improving or improving in customer service or experience. It's actually just the opposite.

* Seats are uncomfortable.
* Food doesn't exist and what they do serve is expensive, unhealthy and mediocre at best. Even in 1st class, the food is less than exciting. I'd rather grab something in the airport rather than be served anything from the flying school lunch program.
* Beverage cart is stingy. I'm on 5 hour flights constantly. 4 oz of sugar soda over mostly ice 1 hour into the flight and again in the last 30 minutes is not "service". It's like they are indirectly trying to save money on toilet paper.
* Services do not live up to their name. Entertainment is eliminated. Comfort is eliminated. Friendliness is eliminated.

So I'm looking for ideas on how to avoid and eliminate the airline industry.

I've successfully eliminated cable from my life. Replaced with on demand services that provide what I want to watch, when I want to watch it for a fraction of the price of cable.

How do we do the same for airline travel? I've started with pushing myself into video conferencing and more digital connections. Takes some getting used to and requires adapting to a whole new way of interacting but I can see the benefits as others embrace the technology. If I can reduce my air travel by 1/2 by conducting meeting "virtually", that's a huge time, money and frustration saver.

What other ideas can I adopt to keep myself out of the airlines profit line?
I want to hear your thoughts and ideas.

S.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:37,000 feet over somewhere between BOS & PHX

A new favorite

I love finding new must haves for my pantry and this one comes from Trader Joes.




A great bargain @ $7.99.
Equal to or better than the Green Eyed Mermaid version and a fraction of the cost. Dress it up however you like. Totally worth it.

Unfortunately, word is out so they are out of stock frequently. Just keep looking. Supply will catch up with demand and it will be worth it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rant: Consumers Deserve More

Warning.... This is a rant. A rant about obvious and blatant marketing misuse of marketing power to prey on the fears of the uneducated in a pathetic effort to drive "click through".

I subscribe to a "Natural" e-newsletter. They are all about Natural, Organic, Non-GMO blah, blah. Ordinarily I would insert their link here but I don't want to reward such bad behavior with driving you to their site.

The subject line included the following:

     Hate Food Poisoning? Go Organic. 

On the heals of 200+ people claiming illness due to Salmonella on their chicken, I find this in poor taste at best and at worst... misleading and false advertising.

Why? 

The story wasn't actually about preventing direct food poisoning. It was about the benefits of organic farming providing for a more robust and diverse microflora on the farm which studies indicate might reduce the ability for pathogens to compete. Unfortunately, this would mostly protect the health of the crops and the animals grown in that environment, not the humans consuming the food. 

Most food poisoning comes from mishandling or post-processing contamination in the home. Honestly folks, we mostly do it to ourselves. Undercooking our food, not washing our hands and/or utensils properly before and after use, touching contaminated surfaces (including our faces and other body parts) then directly cross-contaminating our own home cooking... that's what gives us the issues more times than not. 

Yes, you can argue that if the wee beasties aren't on the food, then we can't spread them around but there are so many other vectors (like using the bathroom and not washing our hands thoroughly.. or at all. Still in this day and age... really girls? ) for us to give ourselves the squirts, the stuff you bring home from the store is the least of your worries. 

Now, you do have to worry about raw meats and unprocessed produce but I have a secret to share.  Being organic doesn't prevent the likelihood that they are contaminated with those little bugs like Salmonella, E. Coli, etc.  The Organic processing facilities still have to handle it properly or you will find those bugs in your food, too. 

Look, I'm all for Organic. 

Love it for what it is but I understand what it is. 

What it is - An alternative production method that does not use conventional chemical pesticides, herbicides, etc (unless included on the USDA/NOP approved list of such things that can be included in your organic plan). I like the warm fuzzy I get believing that my decision to buy Organic prevented a little bit of Monsanto profit machine from spiking my local rivers and streams when some of the farm water eventually runs off during whatever infliction Mother Nature might throw at us. But please don't try to scare me with your marketing BS trying to drive readership or prey on my ignorance and fear of food production practices and microbiology. 

What it's not - A way for the "entitled" to buy food that won't make them sick, fat, or dead. 

It still has calories, trans fat and microbes - unless it's processed not to - just like it's conventional brethren. 

Just because something is organic does not allow it to violate Mother Natures basics. She designed the system to make you sick. It's called an "ecosystem". You're going to get sick and die one day. Those little bugs were designed to make you sick for population control. Once they go to work, other bugs were designed to turn you into compost so you could be food for other organisms later thus completing the circle of life. (Sorry if I'm the first to put it to you this bluntly but "spoiler alert", there is no Tooth Fairy either.)

This is not an anti-Organic rant. 

This is an anti-stupidity rant. 

To that "Natural" e-newsletter, shame on you. Those Organic consumers expect more. Please rise to the occasion and deliver. 

Petty Self Realizations

I believe in the basics. 

If you break it, you buy it. 
Do unto others... 
People in glass houses...

You know... the stuff character is made of. 

And then come those moments where you realize that you are human and are judging even if you don't realize it. Here are a few things I'm embarrassed to admit but the first step in solving a problem... well, you know that one too. 

1.)  Bad teeth

I don't mean just crooked but gnarly, nasty and yellow like they haven't been introduced to a dentist - ever. I've always had the good fortune of being hauled to the dentist kicking and screaming my entire life. First my parents did it, then I did it for myself. I'm blessed with very little dental issues so it's just an inconvenience to me. I should feel for those who did not grow up with the same advantages however, and this is where the judgment comes from, when your in your 30's and beyond, you can do this for yourself. I've never seen a respected boss, coach or other leader with a gnarly grill in any setting. 

C'mon folks. Save your cigarette & beer money for a couple of weeks and invest in a Sonicare, please. 

2.)  Poor vocabulary usage

This one is petty but I guess that's what this blog is revealing. Look, I'm the queen of using "you're" when it should be "your" and I never know if there should be an apostrophe after an s (xxs') or before (xx's). Let's not even start down the path of affect vs effect. Ugh. 

I'm talking about those who are so busy trying to be smart that they miss the point of the conversation entirely - to communicate a thought and/or idea. To be understood and to understand the other person. 

For example: in a business meeting, a person continued to use the word "egress". Now I know what egress means but in this situation it was an unnecessary use of a 25c word when "exit" would have made the point more clearly. Maybe it was their "word of the day" or they've been playing too much Words With Friends. I don't know, but it was pretentious and made them look like an asshole. 

Of course, then I had to go and be petty, interrupt the conversation and ask "what does egress mean", shining a light on their fecal covered faux pas. Yeah, probably got some on me too. Not my finest moment. 

The other vocabulary faux pas is choosing a big word that you think means something but actually means the opposite. In a recent conversation, a high level executive said "No deference to {insert other executive's name here}, but..." 

Okay, there is so much wrong with this statement that I hardly know where to begin but lets start with word usage. 

Deference actually means respect. By saying "No deference" he was actually saying the opposite of what he was trying to convey which was "no disrespect". I found it humorous and was smart enough to just smile to myself and leave it alone this time. This guy isn't a bad guy but his ignorance is showing. That's for sure. 

And another thing, any time your calling out another high level person by saying "no disrespect but..." you can stop right there because it doesn't matter what comes next. All we hear is, "but this guy is wrong and I'm going to trash his idea". Okay. I'll watch the penis contest unfold in front of me then point and laugh at how small both your dicks are. Idiots. 

Petty to the end.