The Butterfly

I have a spot in my home that is my dream spot. It’s a new glassed-in porch with lots of sunlight and a beautiful view into the back yard. Yesterday I was sitting on a comfortable chair looking out at this gorgeous plant with bright red blossoms. Out of the blue came a monarch butterfly that started flitting from one bright blossom to the next just sucking up the nectar from those beautiful blossoms. And I said to myself, “That’s just like a supervisor going from one alternative to the next trying different things to fix a problem that has not yet been identified.” Wouldn’t it be great if every supervisor could learn that the best way to fix a problem is to define it first and then it would be easy to find the one alternative solution and fix it. It should not be necessary to be like a butterfly flitting from one alternative to the next trying to fix a problem that has not been defined. What do you think? Please share your thoughts.

The Crab Cake Sandwich

What a wonderful day this has been. I had the opportunity of a lifetime. I had lunch with my grandson who is a chef at a popular restaurant in Washington, DC. We met at a very nice place that serves wonderful food. As we sat down to eat my grandson asked me, “What are you having?” Without blinking an eye, I said, “You know what Jay, I’m gonna have the crab cake sandwich.” Now, when he asked me that question, I was able to answer it instantaneously. And the thought occurred to me how many times I have been in a restaurant and watched people spend precious time agonizing over a 10-20 page menu trying to decide what to eat. And I thought to my self, there’s got to be a way that a person can walk in a restaurant and make a decision in a reasonable period of time what they’re gonna eat. And you know what? That will eliminate the waiter coming every 5 minutes saying, “Have you made a decision yet?” only to turn away in disgust because people haven’t made up their minds. There really should be a way to walk in and, in an instant make a decision. I can compare this to the task of being a supervisor or a leader in the workplace. Many of them take an inordinate amount of time to make a decision. The employee is standing there waiting and waiting and waiting. But the supervisor just will not decide. Just like selecting from the menu there should be a way that people could make decisions quicker. They have all the information they need and they are not gonna get any more. So what do you think? What’s a good way to make a decision quickly? Share your ideas with me.