"Dive in and figure it out"

“Dive in and figure it out”

Let me start this essay with an admission; I love working with friends and I have had the pleasure to work with my good friend Cathy across a number of roles and companies over the past 19 years, what a treat!  Cathy works with me today as I am building my consulting practice and I always count on her as a trusted adviser, work partner, and close friend.  The following story comes from a “run of the mill” interaction from earlier this summer.

I have been doing a lot of speeches and presentations over the past few months, and I have been “re-sharpening” my PowerPoint (PPT) skills in the process.  While I am nothing more than a novice, the presentations are pretty functional and have been well received.  To see a little more about that, take a look at the “Public Speaking” section of my website, www.levisayconsulting.com.  I was in the middle of working on a revision for an upcoming speech a few weeks back and I hit a proverbial “pothole” in the process.  I had a PDF version of a document that I had used for another consulting assignment, and I wanted/needed to incorporate a few pages into the PowerPoint speech template.  While stumped at the limit of my PowerPoint skills, I immediately called Cathy looking for help.

After a brief explanation of my dilemma, she asked me to send over the PDF doc and she would take it from there.  When I asked her how she was going to do the PDF-> PPT conversion, she was open to say that she didn't know but that she would “dive in and figure it out.”  “Dive in “ she did and a bit later that day, the PDF was part of the PPT presentation and the speech when off with great success.   While the speech has come and gone, Cathy’s quick response, and that spirit of “learning by doing” has stuck with me over the past few weeks.

So often we are intimidated by starting new things, craving to be immediately competent/proficient at some new skill/technology without putting in the time to “dive in and figure it out.”  Think outside the work world for a second and imagine that you wanted to learn to play the piano, or take on the challenge of learning a new language.  While tempting to think that you could sit down at the keys and play Chopin or Debussy in your first sitting, the reality is that you would start by sitting at the piano and learning individual notes, practicing scales, learning to read music, etc.  The simple truth is that competency/proficiency take time, and that road requires work and time.  Malcolm Gladwell is famously quoted in his book Outliers that "an extraordinarily consistent answer in an incredible number of fields ... you need to have practiced, to have apprenticed, for 10,000 hours before you get good."   While I am not here to debate the specifics of the “10,000 hour rule,” I do want to suggest that success takes work and excellence takes practice, and that it all starts by taking Cathy’s advice to “dive in and figure it out.”

 Think about the challenges/opportunities that you are facing today in your professional or personal lives.  Rather than wishing/hoping for some quick fix or easy path to success, my advice is to get busy “starting.”  It may be messy, it may sound a bit out of tune, it may not go well at first, but you have to start somewhere!  To close with the famous quote of Goethe,  “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.“

Be Thoughtful, Be Generous, Be Quick

A very dear friend of mine lost his wife earlier this year, passing away at the very young age of 54 after a long fight with a pervasive disease. A number of his friends gathered at the funeral, to provide support to our pal and to recognize and celebrate the life of his lovely and caring wife. This was a number of months ago and while his grief is still real and at times raw, life has a way of moving forward and a number of “post -funeral” tasks/realities have come into focus.

In a recent phone call, he shared that he was in the process of working with his wife’s sisters and “cleaning out” her closet and a number of “her things;” a very tough/poignant reminder of the life lost. Very sad work indeed! In an attempt to pass along some helpful advice (maybe sometimes I should just listen quietly!) I empathized on the challenge ahead for him and encouraged him to keep three ideas in mind …. “Be Thoughtful, Be Generous, and Be Quick.”

While these three ideas were meant for a grieving friend as he was diving into the tragic work he was facing, I have been thinking about them over the past few weeks and have realized how applicable they are to moments in Leadership and Life.


Be Thoughtful



I have always advocated for thinking before you act and I have gone as far as writing two essays on the topic that you can find on this blob, “Act with Intent”, and “Act with Intent: Redux.” I deeply believe that one needs an idea/plan as they move into the world, whether as they think about their career or their personal lives. Now I am not naïve to think that one’s “plans” actually dictate or control all the outcomes of life; there are clearly unexpected twists/turns/opportunities/challenges/setbacks that we all must face and respond to in the course of our lives. With that said, I DO believe that we are not just the “flotsam and jetsom of history” to quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we need to have a POV and deploy it into the path of life that is ahead for all of us!


Be Generous



It is too easy to be consumed by all the things we don’t have, haven’t achieved, haven’t accomplished, haven’t experienced, haven’t earned, etc. We seem to be consumed by the “haven’t syndrome,” rather than taking a good clear look at what we actually have! Again, I wrote about this idea in an early essay on this blog titled “There’s always a bigger boat.” I may have my stats a touch off but if you earned >=$54,000 in 2014, you are actually in the top 1% of the world population as defined by income. I would hazard a guess that the majority of the readers of this blog are global “1%er’s!” If we actually had that perspective, maybe it would affect our perspective on what we actually have that we could/should “share” with others. Whether thinking about our personal philanthropy plans or considering what talents/experiences we have to give/share with our teams, our focus should be clearly centered on what we can give vs. what we need to take!


Be Quick


I have been pretty focused lately on the need for a heightened action orientation in business. I have been doing a lot of public speaking recently and almost every speech includes or ends with the idea that regret is a trap, and that we have an infinite inability to affect yesterday, but an infinite ability to affect tomorrow only if we “Take action today!” I have often seen organizations that slow their decision-making and business processes to a crawl in an attempt to not make a bad move or decision; in my experience a fools errand. My experience is to dive in and take action quickly, don't dither! There will be successes and failures certainly but if you work hard to experience and learn from both fully, future outcomes will be enhanced. I often am reminded about this powerful quote from Goethe, “Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.”


Well, I will close with the simple encouragement as you face the challenges that lie ahead in your work and in your life, keep these three little ideas handy. Find ways to “Be thoughtful, Be Generous, and Be Quick,” as you live your life and pursue your career. I am hopeful that you can use these ideas in environments much less painful and poignant than my grieving friend.

Inspiring words to remember .... Again!!!

Over the course of my career, I have had the chance and honor to lead a wide variety of teams and organizations.  As you can see in various essays on this blog, I deeply believe that “Leadership” and “Management” are radically different ideas; the simple truth being that one “leads” people and “manages” projects.  You can see more on this if you dive into the blog archive on the left of the homepage and look up essays on “Leadership.”

In a wide number of leadership settings and moments, I have looked to historic writings, speeches, and documents as personal points of inspiration and ones that I have shared broadly with my teams.  While I have covered writers and documents that literally span millennium, (from Cicero/Plutarch to Walt Whitman and Aung San Suu Kyi) there has been no single inspirational figure (or specific reference) that I continue to reflect on and share broadly with others than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech from December 1964. 

Regardless of the specific team, the business / life moment at hand, or the pressing challenges of current events, I keep finding my way back to this speech and specifically to the 5^th paragraph.  Just a week ago, I shared this speech with the young leaders of a Tech startup that I am advising as part of a strategy retreat that I lead.

Quite literally I was drawn back to the speech this week by the shootings at the Emmanuel AME church in Charleston S.C.  Clearly I am not alone in feeling overwhelmed and deeply saddened by the oppressive burden and insanity of hatred, racism, and violence that pervades our country and communities today.  In this moment of a pervading sense of hopelessness, once again I turn to the inspiration of Dr. King.  It is truly amazing and certainly uplifting to “re-read” this speech, written amidst the violence and madness of the 60’s in America.  If he can “call out” that he has “an audacious faith in the future of mankind” and that he refuses “to accept the idea that the “isness” of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching  up for the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts him.” 

While we are surrounded by a wide and growing set of dramatic, hate and violence filled examples of our “isness, we all need to find a moment and reconnect to Dr. Kings’ admonition to not lose focus or hope on humanity’s “eternal “oughtness.””  We all have real work to do in our communities for our county to be safer, more just and less filled with racism and hatred.  Let Dr. King’s words strengthen and inspire us for the hard work ahead; take a moment and reread the entire speech, and please take the next few moments and reflect on the 5^th paragraph below:

“I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.”   

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Noble Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, December 1964.

Navigating the “swamp” of a packaging project gone awry

It happens all the time, good intentions combined with strong instincts, and a desire to act quickly, conspire together to create quite a mess.  That exact setup was the reality I stepped into on a recent client trip.

I have had the pleasure over the past few months to start working with a wide variety of engaging clients as I started my consulting business, (to see more on Levisay Consulting, click the link on the top left of this blog’s homepage.)  Ranging from a tech startup, a logistics software company, a telemedicine company, a vineyard/winery and a global pharmaceutical firm, it has been a fun and challenging, “pivot” in my professional career.  The range of business models, organization structures, p&l dynamics and business issues is extraordinary. It is certainly “sharpening my saw” regularly and it “feels” great to be building new skills at this point in my career.

A few weeks ago I had a client call, frustrated and challenged with a packaging project that was his responsibility.  The project had been underway for a number of months, and had become stalled amidst a cloud of competing opinions and agendas.  As is often the case with any “subjective” topic (and candidly this happens all the time across the board), everyone has an opinion, everyone is an expert, and no one is ready to make the final call.  There were competing groups, everyone by now getting frustrated with the project and “digging in “ on their favorite designs.  That was the situation that I entered as an “outside voice” that might be helpful….. yikes!

By the time that I got involved, there were 30+ designs being discussed, emanating from a variety of design firms and designer “friends”.  While I was asked the simple question, “Bill, which design do you like?” I was smart and cagy enough not to fall for that bait!  Rather than adding my voice to the cacophony, I asked to convene a live meeting of ALL stakeholders and lead a “little decision process.”

A Touch of Discipline

What was clear to me, working outside the company and project, was that a “touch of discipline” was needed immediately.  I gathered the group together, with plenty of time to work through this project, and started by taking a few steps backward.  I had one of the senior folks refresh all of us on his view of the strategy for the company.  While nothing was on paper (as of yet, I am working on that one next!), he had a clear idea and was pretty eloquent on what the next 3-5 years looked like and what key strategic priorities would be the focus for the team.  With those captured on flip charts, I then asked for someone to share the packaging design “brief.”

Well, to put it mildly that question was met with silence and stares.  OK, no “brief,” so I asked the packaging project lead to share his thoughts about where they needed to go.  Laced with market-based insight, opinions and a desire to “act fast,” the drivers of the project were still muddy across the room.

Design Principles

Rather than let the meeting break down, I started a process where everyone in the room, privately, put together “their” list of “design principles” for the project.  As they did that work, I opened up excel on my laptop and started building a worksheet.  (more on that later)  once everyone had their list I asked everyone to share their lists, and not surprisingly there was significant overlap and alignment.  We had a bit of debate about what each “principle” meant, and pretty quickly came up with a list of 6-7 agreed on “design principles” for the project. 

Rank & Multi-Vote

Once I had them in my excel worksheet, I lead the team through a weighting exercise and had everyone rank the “design principles.”  I captured the “votes” on a flip chart and the debate ensued.  Wide ranging opinions about what should be most/least important came bubbling up through the process, no wonder that the project had stalled!  To clear the logjam, I had everyone “multi-vote” their top 2/bottom 2 “principles.  The list became clearer quickly and we had an agreed on list of “design principles”, in order of priority.

Weighted Scoring

Now the tedious work really began.  I quickly completed an excel work sheet with the 6 “design principles” as rows, with a “weighted” value for each principle so that the sum of the 6 “design principles” equaled 100.  Once completed, we put each design  (yes all 30) through the “design filter” and gave each a score (1-5).  Everyone’s score had the same “weight” and I randomized who scored first and which “design principle” I started on.  While slow and tedious, two hours later we had weighted average scores for each of the 30 designs.

Clarity and Decision Making

While no one liked the tedious process, the output was startling.  The scoring process “sorted” the 30+ designs into three distinct buckets:  there were 3-4 designs at the very top, 6-7 designs at the very bottom, and a bunch in the middle.  Once we agreed that we could eliminate the bottom designs (a very quick call), we turned off the excel worksheet and did a “fast flash” through all the middle group to see if there were any that “needed” to be kept in the running.  Interestingly, 1-2 did pop up for a variety of reasons and we added them to the “top bucket,” so we had 4-5 designs to really work on.

Design IS ultimately subjective

Keeping in mind the retail reality for this product category, we pulled all of the top designs up on the screen at once, and discussed (time boxed to 30 minutes) the pros and cons of each one, whether there were any production realities/challenges that one or another might cause, etc.  Finally we had 2 of the top list left, and quickly the group ALL gravitated to a single “winning design”; one that they would “be proud of”, and would “represent their brand” in a winning way, etc.

Well the proof will ultimately be seen in the market, and I will need to wait a few months/quarters until the new packaging hits retail to see how well my “little process” really worked.  It took about a full day to work our way to the final decision, after the project had “wandered” for weeks and months.  I share this story and the specific steps so you all might try it in your worlds.  While I used it to help guide a packaging project, the idea and approach is applicable in almost any situation where there are a variety of opinions / voices/ approaches for a project.  Rather than waiting for the project to stagnate and the team to “meltdown,” try bringing this approach into the process on the front end, I am confident that it will help you guide the initiative to a successful conclusion.  Good luck!!

Inspiration from my sweet daughter Marie

It’s rare over the 130+ essays on this blog for me to use this forum to tout the exploits of my children.  While I am certainly a very proud father of two wonderful kids, Bryson 16 and Marie 14, I try to reserve my expressions of parental pride for other moments and venues.   Well […]
The post Inspiration from my sweet daughter Marie appeared first on Levisay Consulting, Inc..

Inspiration from my sweet daughter Marie

It's rare over the 130+ essays on this blog for me to use this forum to tout the exploits of my children.  While I am certainly a very proud father of two wonderful kids, Bryson 16 and Marie 14, I try to reserve my expressions of parental pride for other moments and venues.   Well today I take a momentary break from that tradition to share an amazing and moving poem from my daughter.

Marie wrote this inspiring poem for a project at school, and she is referencing the illness and ultimate passing of her grandmother, Jane Firmin Saliers.  Jane passed away in 2011 and we miss here deeply.

Empty House

By Marie Levisay

May 2015

You know when you move out of a house

and you clear everything out

It's still the outside of a house you know and love

But the inside is unrecognizable

empty lacking all the personality and possessions once there?

That's what it was like when you got sick.

Before it happened, I would visit your house and make you read to me for hours.

the books I chose scattered across your weathered couch

The words floated of your tongue like beautiful songs you had written yourself.

Each winding storyline a maze only you could solve.

You'd look at me and smile before each page turn

Your big reading glasses covering your face

We went to your library and checked out books every week.

When my teacher asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said a Librarian.

Just like my grandma.

Then it started

Your memory slipping through your fingers like water

Once when we couldn't find you

I remember moms hands shaking as she called the police.

we found you down the street

we asked what you were doing

with a pained look on your face you said you didn't know

The word dementia whispered on the lips of my family

I pretended not hear the fear in their words

Your stories slipped away when you could no longer read to me.

All the words mixed up in your mind causing you to stutter and slur.

I remember the last letter you wrote when I broke my arm.

The writing was slanted and it was hard to understand but I kept it next to my bed and I'd read it when mom thought I was asleep

Your mind like a thousand broken puzzle pieces that couldn't fit back together.

When i looked into your eyes I knew you didn't know who I was

I remember when we were eating and you started choking

Mom called 911

I asked my brother what was happening

He said you forgot how to swallow

You weren't really with us anymore.

Grandpa sat me down and said death almost came last night but I didn't believe him

You couldn't  be leaving me.

You were a survivor.

Breast cancer.

Broken hip.

Growing up poor and raising 4 kids.

Losing your youngest  to an eating disorder.

Never complaining about the horrible cards life had dealt you

They say you went in your sleep.

The family said

you were in peace now.

It was good in a way that

they were relieved that you were out of your misery

but I didn't understand how it could be good if you weren't with us anymore.

And I know in the end you weren't really yourself

But an empty house is better than no house at all.

I don't know If I believe in heaven

But if there is some kind of afterlife

I hope that wherever you are

You always  remember your stories

The Story of the Distracted Distributor: If you are present, be PRESENT!

This week I had a client in town that travelled across the country to meet with one of his key distributors. This client also happens to be the owner of the company and brand and makes these kinds of “market visits” just a few times a year.

Well we had a two-hour meeting planned yesterday, with three folks from our extended team participating, and two or three key executives from the distributor. While we had a short presentation, the primary objective of the call was to discuss opportunities to improve retail execution and performance; literally we needed to have a very open and candid dialogue about underperforming markets and retailers and to develop tactics, tools and incentives to improve the current performance trends.

As the meeting began, I sensed we might have some challenges when the senior exec from the distributor set up his Ipad AND IPhone on the table. He encouraged us not to be distracted, but that he needed to “keep an eye on a few fires” during the meeting. Sure enough, fifteen or twenty minutes into the discussion he starts responding to text messages and tells us “don’t worry, I am a good multi-tasker.” While it was certainly a distraction, we tried to plow forward. After another five or ten minutes his cell phone rings (yes the ringer was ON), and he walks out of the conference room and takes the call. Long story short, this combination of text messages, emails, and calls literally shuts down the meeting; not only do we not accomplish our objectives, my client leaves the distributor offices feeling unheard and disrespected…. Not a very good combination.

Unfortunately this story is not unique. There are too many instances where technology has enabled us to be “wired in” at all times, tempting all of us to be distracted from the primary topic at hand as we handle the texts and emails piling up every hour, every day. There is a lot being written about the dangers of “distracted driving,” and the trends of the rise of “distracted driving “ deaths since 2005 in the United States are staggering! In a related sense, the reality of a distracted work place is also dramatically on the rise. While certainly not as lethal as being distracted while driving, the outcome from our meeting yesterday certainly was not positive. I can’t imagine that the distributor’s senior executive came into the meeting with the objective to disrespect and ignore an important customer that had flown to Atlanta primarily for that two-hour meeting!

While the story seems extreme, I think we all need to reflect on our actions in past meetings and be careful not to emulate the distributor’s actions and impact. If we choose to lead or even to attend a meeting, we need to put the technology down and be present; not just physically in the room but completely present. We need to play an active role, advancing the topics and positions at hand and using the “two ears, one mouth” adage to listen twice as much as we talk. I highlighted in a past essay, “Selling: the art of the question,” that the best sales people I have ever been around are actually the best questioners. It’s important to be reminded by my story of the multi-tasking distributor that it is hard to listen or ask questions when you are distracted by multiple texts, emails and calls. We should all work hard to be fully present in those types of moments, respecting others who have taken their time and resources to be with you, and if there is a crisis (and they do happen) excuse yourself from the meeting to FULLY deal with that issue so when you return you can be FULLY present and active to the issues and topics at hand.