Archive for category Motivation

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Career Seekers Take a look! I have added a new links block to the website, (Career Seekers). Those of you that maybe unemployed at this time might be interested in some of these compaines. I can reccommend most of them as over the past 20 or so years I have worked for......
Im trying to find out what workmans comp is comp is charging the company I work for.Its a commercial cleaning. I have been working for soemone for about three years. Ive realy gave alot for this company for along time now. Still feel like Im not getting the money I should be. My boss does not even have to come to our jobs Im there allways taking care of things.......

reorganization, The Who

Don’t Go Through Life Seeking Forgiveness

Posted by enrique s in Career, Motivation, Productivity, Rants on January 26th, 2010

Sorry - On Australia Day
Photo by spud murphy

We all run into the type of person who’s always sorry for disappointing you. They’re late for a holiday dinner. “I couldn’t find my car keys.” They forget to pick up milk on the way home. “I was in a rush, and forgot to write it down.” They don’t show up for an important meeting. “I was on a telecon with the rep from XYZ Corp, and couldn’t break away.” Sometimes, we might even do it ourselves, and we expect to be forgiven for our small indiscretion.

My dog ate my homework

But what happens when it becomes a pattern, a modus operandi? You’re always apologizing for something that you did or didn’t do. Your reputation suffers. People label you as a person that can’t be counted on, because your track record shows that you’ll eventually fail to come through in the clutch. If you can’t be relied upon, what value do you have to other people? I worked for a controller who fired a highly skilled worker because he called in sick too often on Mondays. How much was too often? Twice. I kid you not.

…but at least you’re here

I had a cousin who wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, if you get my point. But his boss absolutely loved him, no matter how many times he had to re-do his work. The secret: he always perservered, and left no job unfinished. He was a man of his word. He always showed up for work, too, and on time. The saying, “You ain’t worth a damn, but at least you’re here”, would apply in this case. His boss valued his reliability over his somewhat lacking ability.

Pull your weight

I had a discussion in this vein with my son the other day. We were talking about the remaining free agent pitchers, and Jon Garland’s name came up. I told him that I thought that Garland was just mediocre, but that he always ate up lots of innings. In other words, he wasn’t in the same class as John Lackey or Rich Harden, but that you could count on him for his consistency. He would win about 12 games and give the bullpen a break, just what you look for in a 5th starter. Harden and Ben Sheets, while possessing far more ability, are always coming up with sore arms. Garland will probably make about $4 million this year. Not too shabby for mediocrity.

Making the cut

Look around your office. It might be full of mediocre workers, but they probably share some of the same traits as my cousin and Jon Garland. They always show up, like cops to a loud party. They can be counted on, and their reliability may be the only thing keeping them employed. So when push comes to shove, and it’s time for downsizing, a worker who is more skilled but less reliable might be sacrificed instead of a less skilled worker who can always be counted on.

Think about that before you have to make an excuse. Like Jethro Gibbs says, don’t apologize. It’s a sign of weakness.

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Deming's Seven Deadly Diseases I've wrote about W. Edwards Deming and his 14 Points in a previous post. You can read it here. Today, I'd like to talk about his Seven Deadly Diseases. These were the ailments that Deming saw as reason for the decline of Western Management: Lack of constancy of purpose to......

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Are You on “Lombardi Time”?

Posted by enrique s in Career, Motivation, Productivity, Rants on January 14th, 2010

Vince Lombardi, the all-time great football coach of the Green Bay Packers, epitomized preparation and hard work. He also operated on “Lombardi Time”, the principle that you should show up to a meeting, prepared, at least 10-15 minutes early. His winning record speaks to the success of his time management. Alas, Lombardi Time seems to be foreign to many of my coworkers, and they demonstrate their ignorance of this principle far too often.

“The individual who is habitually tardy in meeting and appointment, will never be respected or successful in life” - Rev. Willbur Fisk

Early this week, I was in two separate meetings where the start time was treated as a loose guideline. In one meeting, one late comer literally stood on a chair and turned the clock back to joke that he was early. Everyone laughed, except the guy running the meeting. In the second meeting, another late arrival disrupted the meeting by slamming the door shut, stepping on another person’s foot, and grunting his way out of his coat. I’m sure that Miss Manners would have been horrified. I know that Jake would have been fuming.

“He was always late on principle, his principle being that punctuality is the thief of time.” - Oscar Wilde

Jake, you ask? Jake was a big shot in the first company that I worked for. Jake also operated on Lombardi Time, which is where I first heard the expression. Jake expected all of his managers to be on time for his monthly staff meeting. I pity the fool who arrived late for Jake. See, Jake wouldn’t tolerate any Johnny-come-latelies who barged in and disrupted the proceedings. Jake was an old-school hardass. His remedy was locking the door at the scheduled start time, and then taking attendance! If your name didn’t show up on the attendance list, you were in for an ass-whoopin’. Needless to say, you were only late for Jake’s meeting once. The second lateness was your ticket out the door.

“The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.” - Franklin P. Jones

I’m not saying you should show up for every meeting 15 minutes early. The cost of the time spent waiting for meetings to start over the course of a year would be staggering. I’m just saying that you should show up early. Let’s say two minutes early. That gives you enough time to pick out a choice seat and spread out your materials. Oh, yeah, and when your Outlook calendar reminder pops up 15 minutes before the meeting, this is not the time to start printing out the attachments for the meeting. If you follow my end-of-the-day system, the attachments should already be sitting on your desk when you walk in (you’ll have printed them the night before). If you are late, try to be a little less conspicuous. You’ll be a less disruptive force. And Jesus, don’t step on my feet!

I used to be arrogant, and felt that my time was more important than anyone else’s. Running a few of your own meetings makes you appreciate the punctual people. I’m not perfect; I’ll still occasionally find myself racing toward the closing door of a meeting. But I’m working on improving my on-time performance, especially after reading this quote:

Punctuality is the stern virtue of men of business, and the graceful courtesy of princes. ~ Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Here’s some good reading from the coach:

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Deming’s Seven Deadly Diseases

Posted by enrique s in Career, Leadership, Motivation on December 17th, 2009

I’ve wrote about W. Edwards Deming and his 14 Points in a previous post. You can read it here. Today, I’d like to talk about his Seven Deadly Diseases. These were the ailments that Deming saw as reason for the decline of Western Management:

Lack of constancy of purpose to plan product and service that will have a market and keep the company in business and provide jobs.

General Motors, anyone? Remember the Hummer? As people were clamoring for hybrid vehicles, dealerships couldn’t give these beasts away.

Emphasis on short-term profits: short term thinking, fed by fear of unfriendly takeover, and by plush from bankers and owners, for dividends.

My company focuses on “key salients”, i.e. measurable targets such as new orders, sales, profit, etc. Bonuses for the directors are tied to achieving their numbers for the year. It gets real interesting at year-end, as contracts are accepted with less-than-optimal profit margins just to achieve the new orders target. If this isn’t short-term thinking, I don’t know what is.

Personal review system, or evaluation of performance, merit rating, annual review, or annual appraisal, by whatever name, for people in management, the effects of which are devastating. Management by fear would be better, than management by objective without a method for accomplishment.

Oh boy, a pet peeve of mine. Every year, we have to compile a list of our objectives. The achievement of many of these is out of my control, but they count towards my performance anyway. What everyone does is sandbag their objectives, making most of them easy to attain, so that there’s only good news at review time. Nobody wants to miss accomplishing an objective. The system as it exists is basically useless as a management tool.

Mobility of management: job hopping.

One of my former employers encouraged this practice. They felt that you were ready for a new assignment every 18 months, and encouraged job-hopping. The only problem with this, besides lack of continuity with your customers, is that someone could do a lousy job and get promoted out of it - the Peter Principle in practice. You wouldn’t even know what damage was done until the dust settled. These screw-ups were using company policy to run away from their own messes. People were changing jobs more often than Larry Brown.

Use of visible figures only for management, with little or no consideration of figures that are unknown or unknowable.

Our division has been tasked with an 8% annual CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate). Our division is in the defense industry. We’re in a recession. Guess what’s getting cut to help pay for all of last year’s bailouts? That’s right, new defense contracts. Rather than look at a dollar value, we should measure our success against market share. Market share might be harder to measure than new orders, but it is more accurate in determining effectiveness in a declining market.

Excessive medical costs.

My company has a health club on the premises. You pay a small amount as a “copayment”, and you can use the equipment on your own time. We also have free blood pressure screenings. If more companies would offer these preventative measures, maybe we could cut health care costs.

Excessive costs of warranty, fueled by lawyers that work contingency fees.

The product line that I support has a built-in level of expected failures. This leads to the purchase of excess material, which ties up working capital. For every dollar that could be saved, we could invest it back into the company. Think about that when your foreman wants a few extra pieces “just in case”. Improve the quality, and improve the profits.

I’ve pointed out where my company has “sinned”. How about yours? Do you see your own company in any of these examples? If so, have the problems been identified, and any corrective action taken? Let’s hear it in the comments!

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Deming’s 14 Points

Posted by enrique s in Leadership, Motivation, Productivity on November 30th, 2009

Back when I was working towards my MBA, I had a professor that was very passionate. Let’s call him Nick. One night, Nick polled the class, asking us who we thought was the epitome of a great leader, a person whose policies allowed for everyone to win. When one of my classmates offered Lee Iacocca, the then-chairman of Chrysler as an example, I swear that I could see steam pouring out of Nick’s ears. “LEE IACOCCA!” he bellowed. “Lee Iacocca is building his engines in Mexico! How does that help everybody win? He’s trying to solely increase the bottom line by costing Americans jobs!”

You’re kidding, right?

Rather than ague with Nick, lest he burst a blood vessel in his forehead, we let him rant on. When he finally calmed down, he gave us his example of a good leader: H. Ross Perot. Yup. This was before he ran for president, and just after he sold his business, EDS to General Motors. All that I knew about Ross Perot was that Richard Crenna played him in that movie about a hostage rescue in Iran. As part of this diatribe, Nick also managed to dismiss Peter Drucker and Management By Objectives (MBO), and introduced us to W. Edwards Deming.

Who?

W. Edwards Deming was a statistician by trade, who wound up in postwar Japan to work on the census. He was invited to teach statistical control and the concepts of quality to a group of engineers, managers, and scholars. His concepts were put into practice by Japanese industry, and the rest is history. Japanese goods became renowned for their quality and reliability. Couple that with the energy crisis in the 1970s, and you can understand why Japanese automakers took away market share from Ford, Chrysler, and GM.

Indelible mark

See, while American auto companies were giving us the Corvair and the Pinto, Japanese car companies were building a reputation for quality that trumps American car companies to this day. Maybe Iacocca should have listened to Deming. Anyway, here are his 14 Points:

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and stay in business, and to provide jobs.

2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.

3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.

4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.

5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.

6. Institute training on the job.

7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.

8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.

9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service.

10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.

11.a. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership.

11.b. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical goals. Substitute leadership.

12.a. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.

12.b. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objective.

13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.

14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody’s job.

It’s funny how these concepts are just being accepted now, more than 20 years after Deming wrote about them in his book Out of the Crisis. My company has started preaching the “factory without walls” concept to help our diverse divisions work together to bring in new business. Too bad they’re still stuck on slogans. Here’s a link to a Wikipedia entry that provides more background on Dr. Deming: W. Edwards Deming at Wikipedia

I’ll be revisiting Deming in the coming weeks, so stay tuned! Why not subscribe, so you don’t miss a new installment? Subscribe

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Slacking Off at Work

Posted by enrique s in Career, Leadership, Motivation, Productivity, Rants on November 26th, 2009

Happy Friday!
Photo by cell105

As we get toward the end of the year, people in my area of expertise (finance) tend to get busy. Very busy. It starts just before Thanksgiving, and just gets crazier as the end of the year gets closer. So today it’s Thanksgiving, and I’m planning on slacking off big-time. Because when the bell rings on Monday, all Hell will break loose.

To everything there is a season…

Some professions have their busy seasons, while others don’t fall prey to quarterly reporting like finance and accounting people do. In my case, these are the engineers, who work on projects that may span years. Sure, they have certain milestones to meet along the way, such as Technical Readiness Reviews, Critical Design Reviews, and Functional Bench Tests, but these aren’t contingent on the calendar year.

I guess it’s just not my season

So, for my friends in Engineering, the time after Thanksgiving is slack-off time. Holiday parties are arranged. Extra vacation time is burned. Trips to Rockefeller Center to see the tree are taken. I know this, because the ranks are thin in Engineering during the holiday season. I had one guy tell me years ago, as I was going balls to the wall in order to get home at a decent hour, that he was “pretty much finished” with his work for the year. This was two weeks before Christmas. I must be in the wrong racket.

Personal Standard of Excellence

So, as I kick myself in the ass for not becoming an engineer, I see that my technical brethren are just enjoying the spoils of their craft. I can’t blame them for exploiting the peculiarities of their profession. But even if I had the opportunity, I don’t think that I’m wired for slacking off. I think way back to college, and one of my business lessons that dealt with motivation and the responsibilities of managers. My favorite teacher, Professor Stanford, told us a tale of a worker who lowered his productivity to that of his coworkers. One of my fellow students thought that the worker was smart for not “rocking the boat.” Prof. Stanford admonished him for not upholding his own personal standard of excellence, regardless of what those around him were doing. Wow. That one really hit home, and I carry it with me to this day.

Less bullshit, more work

If I think even farther back, I had a lesson in not slacking off from my older cousin, on a roofing job. His was less subtle, however. It went something like, “Less bullshit, more work”, accompanied by an angry shake of his fist, but the message was basically the same. He was also bigger and could beat the crap out of me, so work hard I did. I consider it a primer for Stanford’s more elegant lesson.

So, before you slack off, think about your personal standard of excellence, and whether you want to risk compromising it by getting caught goofing off. But, you can goof off today.

Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble ’til you wobble!

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The Conspiracy Guy

Posted by enrique s in Career, Motivation, Productivity, Rants on November 25th, 2009

Conspiracy
Photo by Marko MiloÅ¡eviÄ�

One of my coworkers is a little paranoid. Well, maybe more than a little. He’s always looking for hidden meanings in the most pedestrian announcements that are issued by our company. To him, black is white, up is down, right is left, etc. He thinks someone is always trying to put one over on him. He’s Oliver Stone in corporate casual. He’s the Conspiracy Guy.

If an announcement comes out about changes to our pension plan calculation, Conspiracy Guy thinks the worst. He starts spreading the word that the company is scrapping the pension plan, sending all of the other Nervous Nellies into a frenzy. I’m sure that HR appreciates all of the phone calls. He worries constantly about the health of the company. When a big shot retires, he wonders what scandal will be breaking in the news, be it sexual harassment, bribery, or other unethical behavior. When layoffs are announced, he thinks the survivors are part of some sort of productivity experiment.

Conspiracy Guy is a tortured soul. I feel for him. If I were that paranoid, I would seek professional help. While it’s prudent to keep an eye on the trends of your company, doing it to the extreme will only make you sick. And let me tell you, he doesn’t look so good. A week away from work would do wonders for him. I’m sure this must have a carryover effect into his personal life, and I feel bad for his family. I also feel bad for my coworkers.

Because Conspiracy Guy is affecting his coworkers. Each unfounded rumor spreads through the ranks like wildfire, and Conspiracy Guy is there to fan the flames. His behavior is hurting the productivity, not to mention the motivation, of anyone who happens to catch his shtick. My old buddy Ed had a saying: “When you’re up to your ass in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your job was to drain the swamp.” Conspiracy Guy is creating these imaginary “alligators”, and his coworkers focus more on those than on their real duties. The more rational of us just think that he’s a little nuts.

I was taught a lesson about work a long time ago. At one of my earlier jobs, I complained to my boss that some guy in another department wasn’t pulling his weight. The exchange went something like this:

Me: Frank doesn’t do anything all day. He just bullshits on the phone.

Boss: Does he owe you anything that you need to finish your work?

Me: No, but he shouldn’t be slacking off like that, it looks bad.

Boss: Listen, when it’s your job to clean out the barn, just keep shoveling until it’s empty.

Me: Huh?

Boss: You’re not in charge of Frank. That’s his boss’ job. Just worry about your own responsibilities.

That’s a lesson that Conspiracy Guy needs to learn. Just worry about your own job. I’ll leave you with this familiar affirmation:

God give me the strength to change the things I can. The courage to accept the things that I cannot. And the wisdom to know the difference.

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Beware of the Office Snitch!

Posted by enrique s in Career, Motivation, Rants on November 20th, 2009

Head to head
Photo by AlexK100

Today, at work, I had an encounter with a shadowy figure; a cunning, pernicious specter; a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I caught him in the act, doing what he does best: undermining the cohesiveness of the workforce. He’s that well-known office stool pigeon. Smell a rat? It must be the Office Snitch!

What’s up, guys?

It starts innocently enough. A new face joins your watercooler conversations about football, or horse racing. He never adds much to the chat, but he takes it all in. He does ask some probing questions, though, and not about sports. He’ll ask if you feel overloaded, or if you don’t have enough to do. Or what you really think of the director. Your guard is down, because there’s a certain given sanctity to office bullshitting. So you offer an opinion.

Err, but I mean that in a good way…

And as the words are coming out of your mouth, you realize in that instant that you’ve made a mistake. Because you know Mr. Pipeline is going to repeat what you said, verbatim, to the director. Because the Office Snitch is an asskisser bar none. Shamelessly so. And he’ll use whatever intel that he picks up to further his standing with the higher-ups.

By the book

There’s the letter of the law, and the spirit of the law. Sure, maybe you’re checking out the latest trade rumors on ESPN.com, but your work is finished, and everyone’s happy. Ten minutes of internet browsing isn’t going to hurt anybody. But the Office Snitch doesn’t see it that way. He’s a letter of the law guy, through and through. He never takes his foot off the accelerator, and expects the same of everyone. As you can probably guess, he’s a real joy to work for.

A bag of tricks

His latest trick is to circle around the office, and secretly check up on what people are doing. I’m sure the director loves having a toady who’s as loyal as the Office Snitch. But what the director doesn’t understand is that the Snitch is a divisive force. He’s killing morale with his weasely ways. People are growing distrustful of each other. It’s the Orwellian world of 1984 in microcosm.

Disciples

What’s even worse, is that he’s franchising. He’s holding a recruiting drive. So now, we not only have the Snitch to worry about, but we have to be on the lookout for his minions. Where does it end? Is there no hope?

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

Well, the best way to combat this cloak-and-dagger espionage is to confront it. Once a secret is exposed, it’s not a secret anymore. One of my coworkers asked the Snitch while he made his loop of the office, “What the #&@$ are you doing? There’s nothing to see here.” Or words to that effect. The patrols stopped abruptly. I guess it’s not as much fun being a tattletale when everyone knows what you’re up to. I’ll have to see if this tactic worked.

Anyone else had to deal with a snitch in the office?

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A Tale of Two Meetings

Posted by enrique s in Career, Motivation, Productivity, Rants on November 11th, 2009

Office
Photo by Svadilfari

I had two meetings yesterday. One was a status meeting with a group of engineers, and the other was a meeting with a proposal manager. What struck me was the difference in how people behaved during each of the meetings.

…it was the spring of hope…

The first meeting, with the engineers, was a weekly status meeting on a development program. It was held in a conference room in the engineering area of my building. The conference room was a bare-bones affair, with a nondescript table and chairs, and no windows. The walls were covered with project schedules, and every available inch of counter space held a prototype of some unknown product. This was where work got done. It was cramped, to be generous, and I kept hitting elbows with the lefty seated to my right.

…it was the winter of despair…

The second meeting, with the proposal manager, was held in a conference room that was brightly lit from a south-facing window. This room was located in what is commonly referred to as “mahogany row”, the executive area of the building. The only reason you ever get called down there is to take your lumps in front of the VP for some screw up. It’s the place where angels fear to tread. But I digress. This cavernous conference room had a shiny cherry wood table with matching chair rail, and plush leather chairs that I could have taken a nap in. The matching cherry sidebar held two trays of pastries. First class, all the way.

Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule. - Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Guess which meeting was more productive? While the engineers in the first meeting resembled a frat party, the proposal meeting took on the ambiance of a court martial. My great expectations were dashed. The first meeting, in the crappier conference room, offered a forum for everyone to speak freely. Problems were addressed, without judgments being passed for minor errors. There was a positive vibe, an exuberance that though they had experienced some setbacks, they could ultimately make the design work. The second meeting had all of the exuberance of a chess match. Things were not going well for this proposal, and time was running out. I had the sense that everyone was sharpening their knives, ready to pounce on the person who dared to utter a discouraging word. After an hour and change, not much was accomplished.

My point? It doesn’t take fancy conference rooms and ultra-modern equipment to get things accomplished; what matters most is the mix of people involved. Surround yourself with the wrong crew, and misery awaits. Find the right people, and you can accomplish anything. To paraphrase Dickens, it will be a far, far better thing that you do for your career, than you have ever done.

I have another proposal meeting this afternoon. I hope they still have pastries.

Follow me on Twitter: CorpBarbarian

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Take the Fork in the Road

Posted by enrique s in Career, Leadership, Motivation, Productivity, Rants on November 10th, 2009

And unto Edward appeared a fork
Photo by Ed.ward

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” - Yogi Berra

Many of us were stuck last week awaiting further clarification on a hot assignment that was due later in the day. The assignment could be interpreted in two different ways. Most of my coworkers literally stopped in their tracks; they were paralyzed by not having complete instructions for carrying out the task, and didn’t want to proceed, lest they waste their efforts. I, on the other hand, took a novel approach: I did the assignment twice, covering each possible outcome, while they contemplated The Road Not Taken.

Woof, woof

We’re used to following instructions. Do Step 1 before proceeding to Step 2. We’ve been conditioned throughout our childhood so that we can become good workers when we graduate college. We’re not taught to question authority; that would be counterproductive in a corporate setting. But this leads to a dependence upon management, the Alpha Males and Females in the wolf pack called Corporate America. We’re kept in a suppressed state of puppyhood, always following, never leading, waiting for the next order to be barked at us.

Lone wolf

So when one of my coworkers asked for my opinion on how to proceed, my answer shocked her. “You’re going to do it both ways? Isn’t that a waste of time?” Well, it’s also a waste of time to sit around and do nothing while you wait for an answer. I figured that if I finished one part of the assignment before receiving the instructions, I had a 50-50 chance of being right, and of having the assignment completed. If I guessed wrong, and “wasted” my effort, I would still be in the same boat as everyone else, so no harm, no foul. It can be summarized on the following crude flow chart. Click on the thumbnail for a larger view:

If you follow the timeline on the left side of the flow chart, you can see that I saved myself about 4 hours because I decided to forge ahead with my assumptions. My coworkers, who waited for precise instructions before even starting the assignment, finished 4 hours later. While I was diving headlong into the exercise, they were carping about lack of communication, et cetera, et cetera ad nauseum.

“In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” - Theodore Roosevelt

So, unlike the protagonist in the Robert Frost poem, I didn’t have to wonder about the road not taken, because I took ‘em both. I chose the wisdom of a New York Yankee over that of a New England Yankee.

And THAT has made all the difference.

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