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Misdirection

May 22, 2012

I often arrange my days so I can see their sunrises and sunsets; so I have seen more of them, and paused longer over them, than most people I know.  But in spite of the large number I’ve seen, I still have some favorites.

Without question, my most memorable sunrise was observed this past January as I stepped out on the balcony of a hotel room in Panama City, cup of coffee in hand, and watched a huge, red-golden sun rise out of the Pacific Ocean.  That’s right, the Pacific!

I was in one of those relatively rare locations in the world where the Pacific Ocean is located east of the Atlantic Ocean.

Nearby, great ocean-going ships were traveling east through the Panama Canal in order to reach their western destinations more efficiently.

And beneath the ocean surface, the trim tabs of the huge ships’ rudders were being turned to the left to help the ships steer right, and to the right to help the ships steer left.

Sometimes it is quicker or more economical or just more acceptable to go in one direction for awhile in order to reach an ultimate goal that’s in the opposite direction.

Permission to Disagree

February 17, 2015

An organization leader who is doing a good job works hard to provide the organization’s board of directors all the history and detail necessary to make good decisions. Questions and concerns are anticipated, and addressed in advance.

As a result of this good leadership, meetings usually run with efficiency, decisions are made without long discussions, and debate is infrequent and never contentious. Votes usually reflect unanimous agreement.

While these are traits of good organizational leadership, a tradition of great organizational dynamics is disagreement.

If the board is always in total agreement, then management is not bringing the board tough enough topics. The subjects are not serious enough. They are operational more than strategic; they are transactional, not transformational.

Among the current topics of school sports in Michigan are two upon which there is certain to be disagreement: (1) the role of 6th-graders in school sports and the MHSAA; and (2) out-of-season coaching rules. We see the lack of consensus at the local level and the league level and between different coaches associations. And we expect the Representative Council will lack unanimity if these topics ever arrive for the Council’s action.

These are large topics, worthy of our time because of the disagreement, not in spite of it.