Breakfast with Cicero

Well once again I have been blown away by a small early morning experience at the 24^th St. Café in Bakersfield California.  In a recent essay, I talked about lessons of business and life that I learned from a conversation with a funeral home director at the counter of this same restaurant (http://fylegacy.blogspot.com/2017/01/lessons-from-bakersfield-funeral-home.html) and now I am inspired by the writings of a famous roman senator and orator from over 2000 years ago in a most unlikely setting!

Since 2009, I have had the chance to travel to Bakersfield numerous times for my work at Bolthouse Farms.  I have come to really enjoy travelling to “Bako”, with all of its quirks and charms, and have developed quite a routine when I visit.  Most mornings start early, checking in at home at 5 am pacific (8 am Atlanta time) in order to talk to Marie before she goes to school and to Jennie before her day gets going.  Finished by 5:15am, I usually hit the streets for my morning walk, cruising through the Westchester neighborhood near downtown Bakersfield with its beautiful historic homes and quiet streets.  Once back from my walk, I hit the shower, get ready for my workday and head over to the 24^th St. Café for a great breakfast on the way to the plant.  Last Tuesday morning was no different, and I walked into the restaurant at 6:30 and quietly sat down at the counter.

With a fresh cup of coffee in hand, I noticed that one of the waitresses was standing on a booth in the corner, writing something up on a chalkboard.  Expecting to see the “special of the day” featured (their food is really out of this world!), I was blown away to see a quote from Cicero appear on the board (pictured above):

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

Cicero

To say the least, that was not what I was expecting to see, early on a Tuesday morning, in Bakersfield California.  I asked the waitress what the story was about the quote and she mentioned that the owner had “sent it in” and wanted it up on the board all week.  Asking to speak to the owner, she mentioned that he should be in later in the day and came over to take my order (the Tri-Tip Omelet and sourdough toast!!)

As a historic note, the Romans believed that there were 15 common “virtues” that were part of the “Roman Way or Via Romana” that were the bedrock of what made the Roman Republic and Roman citizens unique in the world 2000 years ago.  The list includes: humor, mercy, tenacity, industriousness, truthfulness, and gratitude among others.  Cicero’s quote really got me thinking.  If “gratitude” is not only the greatest of the virtues, but also the “parent” of all the others, he must mean that you can’t really show “mercy” unless you are personally “grateful” for what you have.  In the same vein, the root of “industriousness” is to be appreciative and grateful for your own situation.  Etc., etc.  Cicero’s challenge is basically in order to be virtuous we need to be grateful!

As I headed out of the 24^th St. Café that morning, the Cicero quote on gratitude really hung with me.  With so much division and challenge facing our communities/country and world, it’s hard to be “grateful” or feel “gratitude” in our everyday life.  We are so busy with the challenges and issues of the day, whether they are personal, professional or political, that we miss seeing all the “blessings” that should “stir” our “gratitude.”  The world really needs us and our “virtues” to come to life everyday, now maybe more than ever!  Taking Cicero’s quote to heart, let us focus on “gratitude” as our first step in living our “virtues” every day!

Three Dimensions of Career Growth

Recently I had the chance to have a candid conversation with a young work colleague who was considering a job/company move.  She is early in her career, performing at a high level, and was more than intrigued with this new opportunity/offer.  Before engaging on the specific role/title/comp plan of this opportunity, I asked her to reflect on this role on “three dimensions” and we would “chart out” how this opportunity might fit into her career plan.

Now with over 30 years of a professional career (wow is time flying!) my personal experience has suggested that we often get too caught up in titles and compensation elements rather than staying focused on three key foundational elements/dimensions for long term career growth and success; these three “dimensions” being:

1    1.) Skill Development

2    2.) Business Impact expansion

3    3.) Organizational Experience breadth

In other words, when assessing a new role or opportunity, lets reflect on it through the triple lens of “Skills, Impact, & Experience.”

Skills: lets use the x-axis (model above) for this dimension and ask your self how well the opportunity being reviewed DEVELOPS your current skill set.  Does this role allow or even force you to build new skills and learn how to deploy them in the work environment?  Too often opportunities become available that utilize your historic skills without offering the chance to build new skills.  The broader the opportunity to build new skills, the farther “right” you would plot the opportunity on the x-axis.  The opposite is also true.  If an opportunity would only allow/require you to use a very narrow set of your skills, not allowing you to even “keep current” on your existing sill set, you would plot it to the “left” on the axis.

Impact:  lets use the y-axis for this dimension and ask your self how well the opportunity being reviewed EXPANDS or increases your impact on the business.  A specific individual comes to mind that over her career took a number of “lateral” roles, each one offering opportunities that allowed her to work on bigger and broader parts of the business.  The greater the impact expansion, the farther “up” you would plot the opportunity on the y-axis.  Even if an opportunity is a “promotion” but has you having an impact on a smaller part of the business than you are currently “touching,” you would plot it farther “down” on the axis.

Experience:  lets use the z-axis for this dimension and ask yourself how well the opportunity being reviewed BROADENS your set of professional experiences.  Too often we get “pigeon holed” into narrow roles, with every successive move actually narrowing/limiting the work experiences.  This is a dangerous tendency, especially early in one’s career.  It’s vital that you work on broadening work experiences as a way to put your “expanded skills” to work in the professional setting.  Like above, the more the role broadens your experiences, the farther “forward” you would plot the opportunity, and the more the role narrows/limits your experiences, the farther “away” you would plot it on the z-axis.

I won't try to do an on-line plot as an example, but try this model out on a recent role/opportunity you have reviewed.  See if the role plots to the “right/up/toward you” quadrant (which would be great!) vs. the “left/down/away from you” quadrant (which would not be great!)  Keep this model handy as you reflect on opportunities going forward, and I am confident that you will find it productive to drive career growth and success over the long term!

E/E/S: a model for decision-making and growth

I have had the fortune to know a number of very talented executives who have build significant careers in the non-profit sector.  Ranging from global broad ranging foundations, to national health issue/disease state organizations, to local groups working on providing food to those in need, I have been inspired by the work of these individuals and have learned a number of lessons from this “non-profit world” that I have tried to model in my private sector reality. The “E/S/S” model is one of those lessons that I have applies personally and have shared with friends and clients.

The “E/E/S” model comes from a no-profit environment that is a grant provider to various organizations working within identified sectors.  As they review and evaluate potential projects/grants, they use the “E/E/S” model or filter to help them differentiate between competing grant applications.  The following is a brief description of the fundamentals of the model:

E: Efficacy:  noun, “the ability to produce a desired or intended result.”

The first step in the model is to assess and validate the “efficacy” of a project / proposal.  Does the actual idea produce the “desired result” against the problem statement at hand?  At this step, you aren’t trying to understand costs, or ease if execution, purely the impact of the idea/proposal being recommended.

E: Efficiency:  noun, “achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.”

The second step is to assess the “efficiency” or productivity of the idea/proposal.  This is where hard costs, timing, opportunity costs and other factors are assessed in order to understand the relative project “impact/$” or the relative “ROI” of one project vs. benchmark or vis a vis competing ideas/proposals.

S: Scalability:  noun, “the capacity to be changed in size or scale.”

Finally the “filter” of scalability comes into play.  For a global foundation, a project/proposal might have high levels of “efficacy” and efficiency” but has limits to its ability to scale broadly across the world due to idiosyncrasies of the test market or other barriers to expand the project into other countries/markets/applications.

In one form or another, I have had examples of this model deployed to help make crucial decisions across a number of non-profit organizations.  You can imagine this model being deployed to assess grant proposals, funding ideas, or deployment projects based on the unique criteria from each organization.  I want to take a moment and review how this same model can be utilized in “for-profit” private sector settings.

Consider the annual planning cycle, when strategies and tactics are being reviewed and debated as ways to accomplish the required annual objectives.  The “E/S/S” model is a solid consistent tool to use on all alternatives, framing the discussion on each potential initiative and how well it  “stands up” to the “E/E/S” filter:

E: Efficacy: This is a review of the impact of a marketing intuitive, pricing approach, innovation idea, supply chain project, etc.  Does this initiative drive the “impact” that you are looking to achieve and how well does that impact drive against the required annual objectives of the business.  Too often “pet projects” stay alive for the wrong reasons, living from one annual business plan for internal political reasons rather than achieving/exceeding the requirements of impact/efficacy.

E: Efficiency:  It is rare to have a disciplined review of the relative ROI of various elements established as key drivers of an annual business plan.  Linked to the key metrics of “net revenue”, or “EBITDA”, how well/how “efficiently” do various programs /investments drive the plan.  In the landscape of marketing investments, this ROI discussion is too rare, and a discipline of “efficacy” needs to be introduced into the annual marketing plan review.

S: Scalability: Finally, there are often innovation projects or test market initiatives that are productive, but have limited ability to expand or “scale” in order to again drive the required annual objectives of the business.  Pilot project, test ideas, or other “small scale” innovation work is a vital part of many business plans if and only if they can “scale”/expand (if proves successful) in order to accelerate macro results.

Hopefully you can see how this non-profit model can be utilized in a private sector setting.  While I used the annual business plan as a deployable example, numerous others exist.  Give the “E/E/S” model a try, work your way through all three filters as you review options and alternatives in your business and I am confident that you will find it a helpful tool for decision-making and growth.

Lessons from a Bakersfield Funeral Home

Its amazing at times to reflect on all the unusual/unexpected/unplanned and unintended sources of learning and inspiration that have been part of my life’s journey!  From errant cabdrivers, fellow airline passengers, an aging “dancer,” and literally the list of unusual sources of inspiration go on and on!  Once again, my list of “sources of inspiration” expanded recently after a “chat” with a Director of a Funeral Home in Bakersfield California.

Over the past eight years, I have travelled extensively to Bakersfield.  As the home of Bolthouse Farms, I started working out of “Bako” late in 2009 and have learned the “ins and outs” of the town over the past few years. I have found my favorite Basque restaurant (Noriega’s for sure), my favorite watering hole (The main bar at The Padre Hotel), and my favorite breakfast spot, the 24^th St. Café.  My typical routine is to get up early and check in with my family back in Atlanta (usually around 5am local time.)  After the call, I hit the pavement and get a walk in through the Westchester neighborhood of downtown Bakersfield, and usually hit the 24^th St. Café on my way to the Bolthouse Farms plant on the east side of town.  It was earlier this month, that I crossed paths and shared an amazing breakfast with the director of a major funeral home in Bakersfield.

Sitting at the counter on a dark, rainy January morning, I ordered coffee, eggs and sourdough toast, and got caught up on email.  Soon after a small, immaculately dressed older gentleman came into the café and found a stool two places down from me on the counter.  Dressed in a pressed black suit, crisp white shirt and a red tie, he cut quite a figure that rainy morning!  After exchanging pleasantries and a cheery “happy new year,” he introduced himself (first name Ray), describing that he was in his early 90’s and had been in the “mortuary business” since he was a young man.  Asking about my business, I described my work at Bolthouse Farms and we both complained about the amount of rain (too much) and its impact on all the agriculture in the central valley of California (long term great, short term very challenging).  After ordering his breakfast, Wheatena, brown sugar and coffee, he asked if I wanted to know the “three secrets of success” of the funeral home business.  Not your typical question at 6:30 in the morning, at the counter of the 24^th St. Café, but not missing a beat I said an emphatic YES!

Leaning in close, almost like he didn't want others to hear, he held up three fingers and shared his “secrets:”

        1) “Be Strong:” Ray said that when people lost a loved one, they have experienced a loss and possibly a tragedy and they were weak and vulnerable and needed someone to “be strong” on their behalf.

        2)  “Be Professional:” he shared that the funeral home process was bewildering, foreign and at times scary, and his clients often don't have a clue what to do, thus they needed his “professional leadership.”

        3)   “Never lose your love of life:” being surrounded by death and loss everyday, you were constantly reminded of the value of every day.  Ray said that even on the very bad days, he reminded his staff how fortunate they all were to have the chance to live another day, enjoy life another day, love those special to them for another day, etc.

Inspiring to say the least!!  As I walked out of the café, I wished Ray well, and thought about those three “secrets” and how deeply they connected to my life today. 

“Be Strong;” working with clients across a number of industries, all dealing with challenges and issues, I was tempted at times to “get sucked into” the problems/issues facing their businesses.  While I need to be empathetic, I need to “be strong” and work hard to help my client’s organizations work hard to find solutions/responses to their problems.

“Be Professional:” again this connected to my current consulting work across a number of clients.  Whether a global pharmaceutical company, a fledgling startup, or my old company, all of my clients need me to bring all of my professional capabilities and experience to bear on their projects/problems.  Not discounting the need and importance of building relationships in professional settings, their primary need and expectation of my work was and is deeply professional.

“Never lose your love for life:” this lesson has resonated all across my life, since I lost my mom to breast cancer when I was a young teenager.  Life is precious and fragile, and we have all lost loved ones who passed too early.  I have written a number of essays of my experiences with an old boss and friend, Bruce Paynter, and his battle with ALS and his passing in the summer of 2009. (See more at http://fylegacy.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-return-to-appleton.html). 

I wonder all the time what Bruce would have given to have just one more day, or one more week, and I remind myself not be casual and cavalier with the possibilities and potential of one more healthy day.  A very important daily reminder!

As I mentioned at the outset, another unusual source for a moment of inspiration!  I hope that Ray’s “three secrets of success” ring true in some way for you and you can find a way to apply them to your day-to-day work and life.  The next time you are in Bakersfield, try the 24^th St. café.  You definatetly won't be disappointed by the food and you never know who might be sitting at the counter with you!!