Clearly I have NOT mastered this fine art of getting things done, as it has been a month since I last posted something.  Since then, however, I have been educating myself in the fine art of managing my time and the productivity of others.  I am currently availing myself of interns, with whom I am getting systemic changes accomplished that daily demands would have me ignore.  Like moving into Cooler Email, for instance, lock stock and barrel for managing my business from software-as-a-service.  There’s more to the story — stay with me.

Without some troops I would not tackle a project like shifting the locus of my business from my computer to another system so that others could share it.  Having that locus of control shifted makes many things possible that weren’t possible before.

While I have them (before they move on with their REAL lives), Ipek (on the left) and Semih (on the right) are making possible this transition to Cooler Email and other great tools of productivity.

On a related topic, I attended a business gathering last evening where we talked about execution of strategy.  The overarching theme of the evening was that for there to be a shift in the collective consciousness of bringing our heart to the business world, and not just our head, we all need to work for the common good and make decisions with the common good in mind, not just our selfish interests.

This is a theme of mine, and fortunately not JUST mine!  Working for the common good means that as we go about our regular work, we bring in the fine art of considering how what WE do will impact others.

I have helped Semih find a school where he will get his MBA, and I will help Ipek get a job.  I met these two young adults through an earlier intern, Orcun, whom I helped find a job and in doing so I lost him as an intern.  He replaced himself by introducing me to his two friends who needed internships.  THAT, my friends, is the FINE art of getting things done!  When I released my need for Orcun to be my intern, little did I know that I would end up doubling my workforce of interns!  My deciding based on the common good turned out to be good for me, good for Orcun, and good for Ipek and Semih.

I think that’s the way the world REALLY works, and it is NOT intuitive any more than leaning into the curve on a motorcycle is intuitive.  It is a choice, and in the end things get done that should get done, even though in the beginning we don’t see the whole picture.

Fear is a big saboteur of trust, one of many saboteurs.  I had the pleasure to spend the day with Robert Porter Lynch in a seminar, Trusted to Lead.  The time flew.

Dr. Lynch has studied trust in organizations so thoroughly he is writing two books on the architecture of what it takes to build trust, providing a breakthrough in generating successful relationships; one for academia, one for business leaders.

Specifically yesterday we were learning about the ladder of trust in organizations (as opposed to some quick and insufficient definition of trust) and how people climb up the ladder of trust (above the belt) or descend down the ladder of distrust (below the belt).  No platitudes or hollow concepts, this was a sturdy, application-driven workshop experience.  This video gives you a two minute moving snapshot (if you listen closely, because I was in the back of the room) of a highlight moment of the day.

One requirement essential to trust is to balance two interests; self interest (individual good) and mutual interest (greater good, noble cause).  Many folks would have their savings intact if the greedy few hadn’t tipped the scales to ignore mutual interest and gobble gobble gobble for themselves, never mind the impact on the rest of us.

Dr. Lynch’s research reveals that 80%-90% of people are capable of achieving that balance, and we all should look out for the dark side that is in the other 10-20% of the population.  Whether we like it or not, that element is indeed real in our society, and it can play a very strong hand in our experience of life.  If we don’t feel safe with one another, how can we trust?  If we don’t trust, we revert to fear.

I invite you, the reader, to be a champion for trust and to learn how to be that champion in your organizations.  At the creationship tip-top of the ladder of trust, fun and joy are present.  Are you having fun in your organization?  Are you being creatively collaborative?  You could be.  As Dr. Lynch says, “Fun is where Fear Disappears.”

Dr. Luanne Frank opened the Conference on Global Transformation 2010, occurring this weekend in San Francisco.  Because she is a professor of philosophy, those who want quick and easy information might find her dry.  She commented, in fact, “Information is largely bereft of being.”

I found her fascinating.  Imagine having a job thinking about how people think, and why they think that way, by studying the sources of those thoughts.

This two minute video clip is Dr. Frank’s extemporaneous answer to a question from the audience, “What is Truth?  Heidegger’s sense of Aletheia is an attempt to understand the meaning of truth in a completely new, or rediscovered manner.

Dr. Frank ’s presentation of post-structuralism included the thoughts of Heidegger (the 20th century philosopher), whose thinking is rooted in pre-Plato times.  As best as I can tell, being a fringe student of philosophy, Heidegger is the main man of post-structural thought.  As opposed to analytical thinkers, Heidegger was the expert/writer/author about the world AS we know it; AS means it’s “a burdened world.”  Post-structuralism attempts to point people toward a clearing, an opening.  That we (people) are the givers of meaning to this world requires words if we are to have meaning. Post-structuralism asserts that we have made our world, we can change it.

Dr. Frank made several additional points that stood out for me, within her intense, dense academic message.  She said, “Information is largely bereft of being, and being comes before knowing…. Daza is “Being THERE, there is no being without ‘there”; being is related to the world of there. …. Two-sided-ness is necessary, for example to bring in the light requires darkness….. We are always there, in the way!…. Hermeneutics (one of those pot-structural comments) means interpretation, or understanding…

What I make of that presentation (and my Landmark Education eperience) — that is to say, my interpretation of her incredibly deep and mind-bending presentation — is that information, data, reality is not real, it is infused with our interpretation which is limited by where we are at any given moment.  Being-in-the-world is Heidegger’s replacement for terms such as subject, object, consciousness, and world. Being is temporal meaning it is related to time.

I am particularly mindful of paradoxes, and although she didn’t SAY “paradox,” her comments clearly point to the requirement of the paradox (a seemingly opposite which is in fact two ends of a continuum).  For example, she said, “We can only know a given truth when we also know it’s opposite.”

Touching this deep subject of how we think, why we think, what we think FROM was surrounded by the request that we look, in the conference, at where are we coming FROM, and what are we speaking FROM, and where are we listening FROM… right now!  As we have embarked on this weekend inquiry for ourselves, it is clear that my “evil twin” is sometimes speaking, my “higher self” is sometimes speaking, my “ego” is sometimes speaking…. and being aware if who is speaking gives me access to myself at a more forgiving, understanding, compassionate level.  I can then extend that forgiveness, understanding, and compassion to others with whom I am speaking.

So far, it has been a phenomenal conference… more later.

This is the fifth year I have had the pleasure of judging the International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition in San Diego at the Bahia Resort.  Students come from all over the world to compete in this simulation of a real business, and it is an excellent learning experience for them, win or lose.

While this video is a long, amateurish video (I did it) of 20 minutes or so, the contents are worth watching for the joy of seeing professionalism at a young age.  The team included Ryan Rotariu, CEO; Asia Snook, VP Marketing, Kim McIntyre, VP Operations and Michelle Plamondon, VP Finance. Their challenge — to make executive team decisions while running a public, international company over a seven year period.  This is a stellar executive presentation to their “board of directors,” of whom I was one, in the Intercollegiate Business Strategy Competition (ICBSC), at the end of year six of the simulation.

I understand second hand that they participated in this simulation for a measley 1 college credit, and returned to college from the San Diego competition to take finals (they are undergraduate seniors).

Anyone who has presented results will be sufficiently impressed with their thoroughness of analysis, and indeed they did win against three competitors in their “world” of four competitors.  Enjoy!

The University Club, where Larry and I are members, hosts a “Distinguished Speaker” series of presentation where all comers are welcome, up to the 200 capacity of their beautiful dining room.  This event last week was superb, and I took careful notes which I share with you here.

From top to bottom, the presenters were:

Moderator Stephen Mayfield Director San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology
Panel Lisa Bicker CEO, Clean Tech San Diego
Lee Stein CEO, Prize Capital
Irene Stillings CEO, CA Center for Sustainable Energy

Here is pretty much what they said about the Clean Tech industry in San Diego, from my notes (taken on my iphone).

Clean technology means a way to be more energy efficient.   Regarding GDP vs energy consumption, the US consumes 25% of the world’s petroleum. The Chinese have been buying energy reserves so there is increasing demand on limited energy resources.  We have to be inventive to retain our standard of living.  Energy is the only commodity with an unsatiable demand  for it.

Lisa Bicker heads Clean Tech San Diego, a market connectivity organization.  Her comments:  San Diego has one significant intangible asset with tangible results, which is the great collaboration between and among agents of innovation and this is different from other areas.  Playing nicely with others helps us succeed.  Many local mayors have a commitment to transforming our community in green ways.

There are 672 clean tech companies in SD.  Half are creators, half are enablers.

Lee Stein:  Environmental Entrepreneurs need to be a business voice for the environment.  Regarding energy resources, today we are using the resources of 2.5 planets, which is not sustainable – 45 mill barrel/day shortfall.  AB 32, under attack now, will create 352,000 jobs by 2020 but a ballot measure out there sponsored by one company seeks to damage the good that AB 32 does, do not put it on the ballot, do not be fooled.

China’s green leap forward. They looked at California.  With their “Negawatt,” they seek to arbitrage energy and it’s just good business.  China is going toward solar and wind.  There will be a slow start and will import less energy from us and we could import energy from them in the future.  Innovatively, 57 degrees below the ground can be mined for energy for instance and it is happening.

Irene Stillings:  The California Center for Sustainable Energy helps consumers to make wise energy decisions.  The need is insatiable the supply is not.  The Chinese invest more in this area than US investors.  China is now leading in solar power.  California leads the country and provides the cues to Washington.  Excellent renewable portfolio standard.  For example, in California, Title 24 is a series of stringent building codes equal to basic LEAD standards.   There is no national energy policy yet.  We could have cap in trade limits and carbon tax.  Also incentives for offshore drilling and other things.

Residential and businesses want it. Going green does green your bottom line.  Currently we are seeing job growth in solar and algae.  We need energy efficient audits.  We need more quality auditors and installers.  Irene has increased staff by 25%, and her organization will train energy auditors.

Comments generated from questions of the audience:  In San Diego, too many resources are going into gaming the system rather than improving the opportunity to bring innovation.  We need to be more proactive in legislative before stuff becomes law and SF is good at this, we could improve.

What about water technology?  San Diego is home to over 100 water technology companies that are often stalled, like gray water.  More needed, but water is not as sexy as energy.  The need is much worse.

China is producing ten times the energy engineers as the U.S.. What are these organizations doing to generate the needed people?  Academically, Science in the US was not popular but very recently STUDENTS have figured it out and are flocking to the lab.  Policy has lagged behind to support student applications.

Students have environmental ethic and are making it part of their own choices.  Look at usfirst.org.

There is no silver bullet to the energy issues, but there should be silver buckshot!

I’ve been dialoging on the topic of trust and integrity on a LinkedIn group called the Executive Reform Movement, hosted by Phillip Tanzilo.  In response to a suggestion that  we have the talent in this country to innovate and strengthen sustainable solutions, I said the following.

I don’t think it’s talent that’s missing. It’s good old fashioned values — for example, putting the good of ALL (including self, of course) as the forefront of considerations, asking, “How will this decision/product/financial strategy impact others? The world?”

To answer your original question, for me integrity and trust are not the same things. Integrity is how you go through the world, as I said before, reliably or not. And none of us is perfect! What we could be trusted to do, when we fail ourselves or someone else, is clean it up and make a new promise.

I believe that trust is generally granted to those who have integrity (to tell the truth, clean it up, take responsibility, be on time if humanly possible…), among other values.

In the broader realm, then, trust is earned, through consistent, continual behavior where evidence exists that my well-being (as a consumer, for instance, or a citizen of the world who has to breathe this air and depend on these oceans for food and eco-balance) has been considered when making that business decision, producing that product, creating that strategy.

For example, a garbage patch of plastics floats in the Pacific Ocean twice the size of Texas, killing fish and destroying our oceans. Yet we all purchase plastic bottles and throw them away. CUT IT OUT. Lots of talented people produce those bottles, which are damaging our eco-system.

At an event recently, someone brought 2 plastic-wrapped boxes of many small water bottles, and I succumbed… it’s easier… rather than say, “These pollute. Take them back. Write to the manufacturer. Buy a water filter for your sink, use glass bottles they recycle.” Shame on me, and shame on all of us, for doing what is easy rather than what is right. It puts a tiny ding in my integrity, and I trust myself less the next time… why should others trust me?… if I don’t trust myself to do the right thing…  well, I did, and do, recycle.

Taking a stand for the greater good takes something. It is so utterly human to fail ourselves and others, and so incredibly courageous to take ourselves on, to tell the truth, to make a new stand and then live from it. Not unlike dieting… we know how to honor our bodies, do we do it? If we don’t honor ourselves, why would others honor us? And the human condition beat goes on…. but we’re seriously paying for it.

We have a new friend, Kim DeMotte, whom we met at a fabulous conference last month for people who want to build on their success to expand the good they can bring to the world. At a dinner, Larry and Kim struck up a conversation about corporate governance, and Kim said some things that resonated with Larry and myself.

First, you have to trust people to do a good job, and in this instance we were speaking of someone holding the job of CEO. When a CEO reports to a board, how do you govern that CEO such that they are responsible AND allow them to do their job, their way.

In this video with Kim, you can get it straight from “the horse’s mouth,” (sorry Kim, not a literal translation)… Kim is an advisor to the corporate world. He lives in St. Louis. What you should know about Kim, in addition to his comments here on corporate governance, is that he authored a book called “The Power of No” in which Kim (and contributors) illustrate just that! Get the book, it’s excellent!  I particularly appreciate Kim’s straight talk.  No muss, no fuss, just straight talk.  We could use more of that today, with a sagging low in trust of leaders in this country (and elsewhere, we don’t on the corner on that malady).

In the name of mission (and I would say some think mission is vision, so I’m including vision here also), do the right thing. Clear communication enables a whole host of positive effects. Too many wus’s won’t take a hard stand, set a clear boundary, say no. Amazingly enough, some of the most mature, noble looking men fall into the trap of being too nice, and mucking it up for everyone from the top of an organization down to the last person to feel the effects of poor leadership.

To that I say, “Cut it out!” Get Kim’s book, read Susan Scott’s “Fierce Conversations,” and go back to the mission. Whatever doesn’t fit the vision and the mission, do not tolerate.