The Right Answer

The right answer to a situation often is related to perspective.  The criteria that makes it right can be different for various people.  Of course, there is the fact based information but when it comes to outcome the decision making process can diverge dramatically.


I see two potential overarching guiding factors. you can make a decision that will give you the biggest potential upside or you can make a decision that will give you the least potential downside. I suppose the skilled decision maker would know when to use each perspective but lets be honest, I'm not always the best at making decisions and neither are most people.


I seem to be noticing that I am migrating from looking for the biggest upside to the least downside. I see a couple of potential reasons for this. One is I'm getting older and the other is I changed jobs about a year ago and the job change came with a perspective change on the same subject material.


If you are making decision that have the highest potential for good results you are looking for the biggest impact. You are trying to have the biggest outcome. The drawback is if you have made a bad decision you will often have more the clean up. When you are young, I think it would be easier to make a decision that has a big impact. There is a pretty good chance you haven't had to clean up too many messes, yet. They will come and you will learn. Hope fully you will make better decisions that require less clean up. There in lies the change. Now you are looking to make decisions that have the least potential for a downside.


If a decision has a limited downside, it is probably safer but also has less probability to have a significant impact. Sometimes this is the best type of decision to make but it shouldn't be the default decision.


In m employment I find that I have less control with the input of decisions I make. It is a sign of moving forward in an organization. However, it seems to make it easier to make safe decisions. Not having the control to make small corrections as things move forward, makes it difficult to take chances with decision making. That being said, it doesn't mean you should always be taking the safe way out.


All this explains a lot of why people seem to take the safe way out as they move up in an organization. Everyone says that they would do it differently of they were in charge but it rarely seems to change. It seems like you can change the people but the results remain eerily similar.


Maybe a sign of great courage is to take fearless decision making from a place where you have a lot of control to a place where you have less control. Even if you trust the people around you it is human nature to make it easier for them and ultimately you. So you opt for the safe way. Once in a while I think going with a bit of calculated risk is a good plan. It will keep you sharp and maybe make everything better, in the long run.


I'm in the middle of learning this life lesson, I have not figured it all out but acknowledging I am faced with this dilemma is the first step to learning how to step forward and find some of that creative courage I have deep down inside.

Reliability

Yesterday my big screen television stopped working. I think it is fixable but I'm not that skilled at working on electronics and since it cost more than may first car, I'm going to wait for the guy to take a look at it. Since I bought the extended warranty I might as well use it in this case.


My whole incident with my television has got me thinking about reliability. We value reliability. Up until yesterday, my TV was reliable. The Barenaked Ladies sing about how if they had a million dollars they would buy you a nice reliable automobile. But, what makes something or someone for that matter, reliable?


I think reliability comes down to a combination of two requirements, performance and timing.


To be considered reliable the item or person must perform as advertised.  It must do what it is supposed to do.  It is supposed to do it in the manner that is expected.


To be considered reliable the item or person must perform when called upon. It must meet the deadline or start the activity when demanded.


Without both components someone or something cannot be considered reliable. A car that only starts when the outside air temperature is twenty degrees Celsius, does perform as expected but not necessarily when requested and we don't consider it reliable. The whole thing is probably more important when you apply it to people. Good but late work may no longer be relevant and poor but on time work isn't much use but if you can do good work and be completed on time the world will become your oyster. Sometimes you are in the groove and sometimes you are not but if you keep working back towards being reliable, people will put up with a lot from you.


It's a bit of a surprise to me that my television not working made me think about how to be a better person but the world can be funny that way. You never know what may strike you as funny, sad, or important.

Autumn

There are a lot of things to like about fall time. There is the relief from summer heat, the return to your routine, football, the changing leaves, and so much more. I like all of that that, in fact I generally like fall. How can you not. It has a lot going for it.

Despite all that's good about fall there is one thing I really don't like about it. I seem to get sick every fall. It only last a day or two but it seems to happen every year.

I, just like everyone else, doesn't like to be sick. It really is a good way to ruin your day. Starting late yesterday, I just started to feel worse and worse. I managed to limp through the workday. I wasn't as productive as I would like to have been or really needed to be. I did get some work done but not being 100% means it will take more time to get everything done that I should. I find myself concentrating on my general discomfort instead of what I'm supposed to be doing and I have to keep fixing my own work.

I'm not sure why I seem to get an annual shot of illness as we transition to winter. I try to take care of myself, after all, I'm not 20 anymore. But almost without fail, I have a day or two where I feel like garbage.

I like autumn. It has a lot to offer but it also seems to offer a couple of off days. I guess I will just have to power through it and get back to the good stuff.

The Good Old Hockey Game

Yesterday I took my parents to a hockey game between the Ottawa Senators and the Winnipeg Jets. Overall it was a very cool experience for me.  There were several things that made it so good.


First, the Winnipeg Jets were playing. After a 15 year hiatus from the NHL, Winnipeg has returned to the fold. The team needs to get better but after not having professional hockey in the Manitoba capital, worrying about how well the team will perform is a good problem to have.


Second, it was really cool that my parents came to visit me in Ottawa when the Jets would be playing. We didn't plan it that way. It was based on when I could get away from the office but it worked out really well. We could all go to the game together.


Third, I am so happy that I'm in a place that I can treat my parents to a NHL hockey game.  Mom and Dad did a lot for me growing up and this was a way I could do something for them.


Fourth, the Senators organization had a very nice tribute to Winnipeg pro hockey as part of the pre-game. It was nice to see the team in the city that I live show a warm welcome back to the league to the team from where I came from. They also had several players who played for both the Jets and Senator in the crowd and showed them on the big screen. (Anne Murray was at the game and introduced but I'm still at a loss as to how she fit into the whole theme of the night.)


The Jets didn't win. They did play well for a lot of the game but they need some scoring power. That will come with time. Right now its about being back in the big leagues.


Last night I went to see the Winnipeg Jets play live for the first time in 15 years. It's one of those moments I will get to remember for a lifetime.

iOS Christmas

Today, Apple released iOS 5. I updated my devices and I'm happy with the results. Don't worry this isn't a product review. There is enough of that all over the Internet. I want to talk about the anticipation.

I have not been so excited about an event as I was for this operating system release. It was like Christmas but with a bit of uncertainty.

For a long time, the general public wasn't sure when the latest release would be available. In fact, we could only speculate at what time the software would be available.

Last night I actually had a bit of trouble getting to sleep. I felt like I was 8 years old and waiting for Christmas morning. All this for an upgrade to the software on my phone.

It may seem a bit silly to be this excited to upgrade my phone but this time around I just got wrapped up in it, which is ok when you really think about it.

Your Winnipeg Jets

On April 28, 1996 I went to what was the last game ever for the Winnipeg Jets. They lost in Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs. Their opponents were the Detroit Red Wings.

It was a sad day for Winnipeg sports fans. It made it harder for me to stay interested in hockey. Without a team to cheer for I became disinterested.

Over the next fifteen years many things happened. I finished my degree, the NHL made some rule changes that make the game more entertaining. I moved away from Winnipeg.

Then the unexpected happened.

Mark Chipman, David Thompson, and True North Sports and Entertainment purchased the Atlanta Thrashers and moved the team to Winnipeg. They renamed them the Jets and sold all their season tickets. And yesterday, through some luck I was in Winnipeg during the first Winnipeg Jets game in 15 years. I couldn't get tickets so I went to The Forks and watched it with a bunch of other fans.

For me, it was a special moment in my life.

The City of Winnipeg has some serious issues. There is a lot of violent crime. A lot of the city is not very aesthetically pleasing. It has long cold winters. Personal income tax is the second highest in the country without an equivalent benefit. All of that being said, it was the place to be on October 9, 2011.

People often debate the value of professional sports and why public dollars should be spent on facilities for these organizations. If you saw the intangible benefit yesterday in Winnipeg you would see why these things matter.

Yesterday, Winnipeg was alive. Everyone was wearing Jets clothing. Some was new, some was old. I'm sure some has been in the back of the closet for 15 years. It didn't matter. It didn't even matter that they lost. For the residents of the very blue collar city of Winnipeg, yesterday was about being recognized. It was about feeling included. It was about knowable hockey fans, getting their moment to shine.

The Atlanta Thrashers were not a very good team last year. There is a lot of work to make the team a real contender but you can't get the girl if you don't go to the dance and this year is all about going to the dance.

Go Jets Go!

You Can Take The Boy Out Of Winnipeg

Today I'm going to Winnipeg. It's been about ten months since I moved away and I haven't been there in about five months. I went back several times in the first five months and now that I haven't been for a while, I miss it.

I should be clearer. I miss my friends.

I am very happy that I moved to Ottawa. It has provided me with a lot of fun and opportunity. I have met some great people but it will never replace my friends and I don't want it to.

There are a lot of great things that come out of my friendships. They will continue. In this day and age it's easy to maintain contact. The Internet has forever changed that facet of our lives.

As I wait for my flight I am looking forward to seeing some amazing people and that's a great place to be.