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How to Move Things Forward, by Doug McVadon

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Forwarding the Action means empowering others to succinctly address the matter at hand so the next thing can happen. Fundamentally, forwarding the action often means knowing when to shut up. That is a “big ask” of the average human being! I was going over a Vision document with Gary and Nancy, so they could critique it, add to it, and help me take it to the next draft. When they suggested I take out a part or say it a different way, I reflexively began explaining why I did it that way to begin with. “Well, what I had been thinking was...” “I know, I just thought when I wrote this that...”          I forgot that the purpose of the conversation was not to uncover my motives for writing it the way I did. It was nearly impossible for me to simply shut up about that, and get clear on the new suggestion or addition. How much more useful to ask more about their suggestions than to defend what I had already writ...
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Compromise by Jane Smith

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A good compromise is supposed to leave no one happy. The lack of one does the same thing. I don’t know where I read this but it certainly makes sense. Happy isn’t the goal of a compromise. Action is, moving forward is, taking new ground is…  The NHL (National Hockey League/ owners) and the NHLPA (National Hockey League Players Association/ union) don’t seem to want compromise, even though they say they do… They want happy… Both sides want happy, and that apparently mean someone wins, someone loses.  Right now it looks as if there will be no hockey, even a shortened season, because both sides want what they want. The fans suffer, the owners are losing money this year, and the players aren’t getting paid…nonetheless, no compromise. Our Congress doesn’t want compromise on the fiscal cliff issue; both sides want happy. And there really is no way for this whole issue to be resolved without a compromise. We can’t do exactly what both sides want, so there has to be give and ta...
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Between Me and My New Car, by Nancy Chek

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It may seem like a small thing to many people, but it’s a miracle that I’ve finally discovered how to get Arial to be my default font, which saves me at least three key strokes (and a heavy groan) on every new Word document. There are things that I cannot change, such as my birthday odometer clicking over another number once a year, and there are things I can--like getting someone to repair the hole in my kitchen ceiling (done) or getting rid of that bloody Cambria font (done). I am just waking up to the number of things I put up with--either because it is “so unfair” that I have to fix it (someone side-swiped my car while it was parked at BWI so the left mirror is hanging there like a broken wrist) or because it’s so much trouble in my mind to fix it or pay to have someone else fix it. I have been carrying 10 old paint cans in my trunk for almost a year because I don’t want to take the time to go to the junkyard.  Every time I go over a speed bump I hear them make a ha...
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