Yes I know that it is the end of January as I write this, but better late than never, right?

As I look back at 2010 and look forward to 2011, I find myself wanting to review the past and plan for the future. After major health issues in our family this past few months, it is easy to feel discouraged. However, it is important to remember that we all face disappointment and setbacks.

Everyone has times in their life where they ask themselves such questions as “is it all worthwhile,” “am I really on the right path” and “if so, why is it so hard?”

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A National weather service spent a gigantic amount of money on a new forecast system. All the emerging technology was included, and it had an accuracy rate of almost 70 percent. Then a clever person challenged the super machine with a much simpler algorithm. It was called Yesterday’s Weather, and it said, “Tomorrow will be like today.”

Guess what? It had the same accuracy as the super computer. Estimating future achievements is basically guessing too. So, why not use history and assume it will repeat itself?

You have heard this, “If you continue to do what you have always done, you will continue to get the same results you have always received”. The story of the weather forecasting system above tells us that is is true 70 percent of the time.

Is that good enough for you? Are the past results enough for you? If they are, then continuing on the same path with the same actions is just about fine. If not, then we need to change our actions to change the outcome.

While teaching a course on business ethics for the insurance industry the other day, the subject of ‘relative ethics’ came up. You know what I mean, relative ethics is when one action is not ethical but under some circumstance it is acceptable.

A recent Harvard School of Business survey found that almost half the MBA graduates thought it was OK to lie or cheat under ‘certain’ circumstances… No wonder Wall Street and Corporate America took the world into a recession.
Kids are, in some families, raise to believe that since Mom and Dad do it, it is OK to steal and cheat until you get caught. How disturbing ! I remember a few years ago, working for a large company, that my manager always ordered extra pens, pencils, notepad, binder in August because employees would take office supplies home ‘just in time’ for the return to school in September. I was shocked by this culture of closing the eyes to open theft of office supplies from employees. Later on, I remember reading that 80% of theft was from employees.

Is ethic relative or not? I personally think that there is a black vs white when it comes to what is the right thing to do or not. Life honesty for example, would you hire an accountant that is relatively honest? Would you want your spouse to be relatively faithful? Would you want your teacher to teach some of the truth some of the time, and lie some of the time…

Some things are black and white, ethics is one of these.

The first step before attempted to make our work, career or life’s goal fit us is to find put who we are. Who I am, what are my strengths, what am I passionate about is critical information that few people actually know about themselves.

In a recent Gallup Poll survey, researchers were trying to find the common denominator among successful people. They did not define success only by income, but also whether these people were recognized in their field of endeavour, and or were doing what they ‘wanted’ to do and were happy about it. The researchers interviewed artists, scientist, medical professional, business people, politicians, educators, parents, volunteers even nobel prize winners. What they found was surprising. Read the rest of this entry »

My book, tentatively titled “Cranking Widgets” is in the first draft and will be self-published on this web site by Christmas 2010.

In this book, we will talk about people that are feeling like square pegs in round holes. We have all things we are passionate about, we have natural skills and talents and then we have skills we have learned and experience we have gained. Read the rest of this entry »