Projects succeed when teams succeed. Successful teams share a congruent vision, pursue coordinated objectives, are bound by trust & adhere to timeless principles.
Through years of managing projects I have identified 31 prompts to keep critical team principles at the forefront & in focus. These reminders are presented in the form of six acronyms, keeping them easy to remember. The acronyms are: GREAT, FLAVOR, DREAM, ANSWER, SMART & SAFE.
G.R.E.A.T. (Goals, Roles, Expectations, Accountability & Timing)
GREAT Interactions/meetings take place when everyone understands what is expected of them and others.
F.L.A.V.O.R. (Follow, Lead, Attitude, Value, Ownership & Respect)
It is the personal responsibility of everyone to add FLAVOR to the team.
D.R.E.A.M. (Decision Makers, Representation, Expertise, Ability & Manageability)
When building project teams, remember that DREAM Teams are winning teams.
A.N.S.W.E.R. (Accurate, Necessary, Succinct, Written, Effective & Responsive)
ANSWER serves as a guide toward successful communication.
S.A.F.E. (Simple, Affordable, Flexible & Efficient)
Provide SAFE solutions to internal & external customers.
In subsequent posts I will delve deeper into each acronym. Until then, I leave you with a memory key. Committing the silly phrase “GREAT Interactions add FLAVOR, while DREAM Teams ANSWER Communications, & SMART Objectives lead to SAFE Solutions,” to memory will help you recall these important team principles.
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I first saw the S.M.A.R.T. acronym in use by various entities on the web. All other acronyms presented herein are original creations.
Watty Piper’s The Little Engine That Could, left a permanent impression on me as a child with its simple depiction of the value and power of perseverance. Often during life’s many tests of endurance, my memory of this potent story acts as my own personal coxswain, chanting in my mind’s ear, “I think I can, I think I can.” Sticktoitiveness is the key ingredient in any worthwhile achievement and every truly successful life. “The characteristic of genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have resolved to be great, abide by yourself, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be the common, nor the common the heroic,” stated Ralph Waldo Emerson. Louis Pasteur recognized it as the key to his success, “Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.” In her every-bit-as-eloquent yet more down-to-earth entreaty, Dolly Parton reminds us, “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
Exemplars of the ‘moxie’ principle are found in all ways and walks of life, but I can’t think of a more complete embodiment than Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe’s successes and ‘failures’ are legendary. Before he became the 16th President of the United States, he had been defeated over 7 times in his political aspirations, failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown. As president he lead America through its most challenging chapter, the Civil War. The trials and tribulations President Lincoln endured gave him a unique perspective into the necessity of perseverance. Sharing that perspective, Mr. Lincoln taught, “The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.” He further taught “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
Rudyard Kipling (RK), author of the poem ‘If’, was born 8 months after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Though they could never have met, I can’t help but wonder if Kipling was indirectly influenced by the life of Lincoln. It’s as almost as if the next 4 lines RK’s masterpiece, were written with Mr. Lincoln’s character in mind:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
Certainly Lincoln exemplified the will to ‘Hold On.’ His commitment to persevere through his personal trials, laid the foundation of strength needed for keeping an estranged nation together. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States describes such tenacity this way, “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
Like Lincoln we can prepare for the challenge and reward of tomorrow by standing resolute today. Such constancy not only conditions, but as John Quincy Adams observed, clears our way, “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” I take my closing admonition from the words of English poet and politician, Joseph Addison, “If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother and hope your guardian genius.” ~Russ
Guiding the perpetual rennovation project that is my character, is a set of heavily-edited and dog-eared blueprints. Like many a budding architect, I move from one building site to another, garnering ideas for alterations to my own master plan. When introduced to Rudyard (RK) Kipling’s poem, ‘If’, I knew I had hit the proverbial mother-lode. While studying RK’s masterpiece I discovered improvement upon improvement I wanted to incorporate into my own design. The poem’s extensive collection of noble characteristics has provided countless hours of personal inspiration and cleansing perspiration. It is within this context that I have long considered the next lines of Mr. Kipling’s poem a blemish upon a near-perfect life admonition…
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
My distaste for the images these few words conjured up, often led to the temptation to go ‘wiki’ on RK’s literary jewel. I pictured something akin to a crazed husband and father, eyeing a roulette wheel, after succumbing to the temptation to literally ‘bet the farm.’ Upon deeper contemplation I have supplanted my gambler imagery and embryonic understanding. I now view his words as a wake-up call to let go of the things that matter least, so our arms are free to embrace what matters most.
As if such a charge wasn’t daunting enough, RK raises the bar to new heights of intimidation when he suggests we might do our letting go without flinching…
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
However let’s not forget, Kipling’s lofty advice is more of a becoming than that of a being. He concludes the poem, “And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!,” as if to leave the gap between aspiration and destination fresh in our minds. For over 20 years I have kept a card given to me during a pivotal point in my life which reads, “Goals are stars to guide you by, not sticks to beat you with.” Like ancient mariners we need unwavering points in our night skies against which we can confidently chart our course. Nonetheless when we find ourselves astray, our efforts are best spent on speedy course correction ratherthan drifting further as we attend to flogging the crew.
Further insight into minding the gap between our personal goals and our current selves came from a cherished friend and mentor, Rusty Snow. He said something like, “Spend your time raising your reality up to your ideals, instead of tearing your ideals down to meet your reality.” So dear reader, I appeal to you and myself alike. Let us continually close the distance between where we are today and where we want to be tomorrow. And may we always find the fortitude and character to increase that gap as we discover new and loftier destinations. ~Russ
The next four lines of Rudyard Kipling’s (RK’s) poem, ‘If’, are my personal favorites…
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
Though I had heard the twin admonitions; believe in yourself and never quit, many many times before, RK’s poetic delivery left a deep and indelible impression.
History parades before us a variety of champions of the soul. Thomas Jefferson said, “The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies,” and Winston Churchill exclaimed, “Never, never, never give up.” Even the tongue-tying Dr. of bedtimes stories, Suess, encourages us, “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
This past week, Fortune Magazine named Steve Jobs, CEO of the decade, in the article, A Decade of Steve. And rightly so… Steve Jobs (SJ) is truly the personification of the killer one-two punch; personal conviction and tenacity. So much so, I almost expected to see SJ’s picture in the dictionary when I looked up chutzpah. Fortune’s editor at large, Adam Lashinsky, opens his piece on Mr. Jobs with, “How’s this for a gripping corporate story line: Youthful founder gets booted from his company in the 1980s, returns in the 1990s, and in the following decade survives two brushes with death, one securities-law scandal, an also-ran product lineup, and his own often unpleasant demeanor to become the dominant personality in four distinct industries, a billionaire many times over, and CEO of the most valuable company in Silicon Valley.”
One could easily argue that being “booted from his company” compares well with hearing “the truth you’ve spoken twisted,” and rebuilding Apple into “the most valuable company in Silicon Valley,” epitomizes “build ‘em up with worn-out tools.” Jobs is quoted as saying, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Borrowing from Apple’s famous slogan, I propose we allow ourselves and others to “think different,” and may we all find the courage to get up each time we fall. ~Russ
I can think of no better introduction to the next lines of Rudyard Kipling’s poem, ‘If‘, than those of author, public speaker and advisor to world leaders, Anthony Robbins. Mr. Robbins’ counsel, “Goals are a means to an end, not the ultimate purpose of our lives,” soundly echos what I believe Rudyard Kipling (RK) meant when he said…
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
We often fall victim to the very human phenomenon, I refer to as the forgotten objective. We get so caught up in the journey, that we lose sight of the original destination. Death bed confessions are replete with accounts of lost focus and painful regret. In the frenzy of work and the blur of checklists, it is all to easy for The Power of If, to be supplanted by the whimper, if only.
A complete recitation of Tony Robbins’ quote provides further insight, ”Goals are a means to an end, not the ultimate purpose of our lives. They are simply a tool to concentrate our focus and move us in a direction. The only reason we really pursue goals is to cause ourselves to expand and grow. Achieving goals by themselves will never make us happy in the long term; it’s who you become, as you overcome the obstacles necessary to achieve your goals, that can give you the deepest and most long-lasting sense of fulfillment.”
The subsequent lines to RK’s If …
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
… aptly illustrates that like Robbins, Kipling recognized that the competing apparitions, ”Triumph and Disaster,” are truly impostors. Such impersonators can never, “give you the deepest and most long-lasting sense of fulfillment.” The experiences that hold the greatest value, are discovered in deep waters, far from the shore of public opinion and beyond the light cast by our fifteen minutes of fame. ~Russ
One of life’s most character revealing gaps, that brief moment between provocation and reaction, is solemnly illustrated by Viktor Emil Frankl M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Frankl was a psychiatrist, a Holocaust survivor, and author of the book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning.’ In September of 1942, Dr. Frankl, his wife, and parents were imprisoned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where he would spend the next two and half years of his life. Reflecting upon this cruel backdrop, he states, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Our choices not only reveal our nature, but are the very building blocks of our character. Regardless of our circumstances, we have the God given right and responsibility to choose how we respond. It is in our daily choices that we incrementally move ourselves toward ultimate freedom or shackle ourselves to the dictates of others. Dr. Frankl’s observation personifies the power of choice, “everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
In the second four lines of the first stanza of his poem, ‘If’, Rudyard Kipling presents less ominous opportunity for character building choice…
“If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:”
The choices put to us by Kipling seem insignificant when compared to the ones Victor Frankl faced. However, it is small bricks of choice that form the foundation of our character. A foundation more apt to survive the truly tough times if daily choices are made more wisely. -Russ
You are bigger than life’s ifs.
When turning the poem If into a word cloud, I was pleased to see that the word You is just as big as the word If.
You are bigger than life's ifs!
I created the word cloud using Wordle. I first processed the poem with a script I wrote. Then I fed the output into Wordle’s Advanced Settings. My script provided custom word filtering and calculated the number of times a word was used. Wordle’s default creation function is normally adequate, however it did not preserve the word ‘if’.
Once during a brainstorming session, Dan Uslan, a good friend and former colleague asked our team, “What are your superpowers?” His question served as a great ice breaker and a most effective jumpstart to our meeting. I don’t remember what my answer was, but I know how I would like be able to respond in the future. In the first four lines of the first stanza of his poem, ‘If’, Rudyard Kipling (RK) describes a most incredible superpower.
“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;”
Some of you are thinking, “That’s not a superpower. Superpowers are seeing through walls, jumping buildings and out muscling locomotives.” Admittedly, flying around and zapping things with laser beam eyes would be pretty cool, but for me, Mr. Kipling’s words describe a greater superpower. As I see it, though amazing as Clark Kent’s powers are, he didn’t have to earn them. For mere mortals to attain the superpower RK describes, we have to face the fiercest of all arch enemies, ourselves. Let’s face it, we are our own kryptonite.
The first ingredients in this superpower recipe are personal peace, “keep your head,” and calm in the storm, “when all about you, are losing theirs.” Peace and calm provide our inner foundation and fortress, a safe perch from which to view life’s challenges. The next and most volatile ingredient is self confidence, “trust yourself when all men doubt you.” Make sure you don’t add too much, by making “allowances for their doubting too.” Too much confidence and our mixture turns proud and hard to work with. If allowed to set in, pride will destroy our fortress from the inside out.
Well, four lines down and twenty-eight to go. Please share your comments and feelings about the post or your own interpretation of this amazing poem. -Russ
On December 30, 1865, Joseph Rudyard Kipling, novelist and author of the world famous poem, If, was born in Bombay, India. Though he wrote literally hundreds of poems, none have captured the public’s attention quite like If. A few minutes on the internet yields countless references and scores of interpretations of the poem. In 1995, “the BBC conducted a poll over a period of several weeks to discover the ‘Nation’s Favourite Poem’. The poem ‘If’ by Kipling was determined to be Britain’s favourite.” (source: www.bbc.co.uk)
When still in my youth [ahh, where did it go], Mr. Kipling’s poem was shared with me, by some very dear friends, during an extremely difficult life chapter. It struck such a strong personal cord that it has never stopped resonating. I cannot begin to count the dark storms that it’s resonating message has helped me navigate. It is only fitting, as I find myself seeking it’s comfort yet again, that I share my own personal interpretation of the poem. Given the probable “wordiness” of this endeavor I have chosen to break the project up into parts, but first, the poem:
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
‘ Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
