“Real leadership requires putting aside guilt and shame and facing fearsome facts.”

Thanks Jerry.

H. L. Mencken once said “for every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” (A qoute I keep tape to the white board in my office).

Thanks, Brian

There is so much to be explored around the concept of “integrating” — with end users, with patients, and I think there is tremendous value in extending this thinking in many directions.

It's interesting that you bring up medicine. My dad's dad was a surgeon in Slovakia from roughly 1900-1950 and founded a sanatorium (hospital) in a small city. In that old-world model the doctor was a key part of the fabric of the community. He knew everyone he was treating, they knew him, they saw each other around town. I have to imagine that in this level of integration was as great foundation for bedside manner, follow-up, accountability, and ultimately, caring. I've heard stories from that era and I know it had an impact on my dad.

Our society has lost that type of inter-relatedness.

Today, so many businesses, institutions and functions are structured and rewarded on being “dis-integrated”. It's hard for people to see a process from end to end, and consequently to 'own' the results as they relate to human beings. It's hard for them to relate enough to allow themselves to care (other than reducing # of customer services complaints).

There are also massive segments of society from whom we have completely dis-integrated. Aging adults, for example. We are incredibly siloed and the way we live, there are extremely limited opportunities for people to relate meaningfully with others who are different from them, who don't reside in their socioeconomic/age/racial/gender/professional “cell”. Especially kids. They need exposure to others, to skill them for later.

I'm signing off for a week….taking my little girls to VT to teach them to ski!! So they will be my focus. Looking forward to tapping back in when we get back. I've greatly enjoyed this conversation.

Great to see you back in the blogosphere, Jerry.

This top to bottom approach and dedication to the user of the product should be taught at design school, similar to how doctors should be taught to have a good bedside manner. Integrating the product, fully down to the user, as a chief goal, should really be the focus in this advanced age, along with the humility towards those you work with and those you serve.

I worked with a coach briefly. She was really good, and we got a lot
of great work done. Then she gave me the exercise “When you're 80 and
looking back on who you were and what you've done, what are those
things?”

Totally fair question. But it triggered an uncontrollable crying fit.

See, neither of my parents made it to 80. My mental model is I
probably won't either; it's kinda beyond my wildest dreams. So I
don't really dare to wish it or plan backwards from 80. Or any other
number. That's too scary and has lost all logic to me. For now I'm
on the 'if I get hit by a bus today am I OK with choice X” camp and
use that to guide decisions.

I never would have thought that wording could have such an unintended
effect, but there you go. We all have our blockages.

I haven't really felt compelled to go back to her, I needed to
marinate in that for a while and it gave me a nudge for work I could
do on my own. What a priceless realization though.

OK enough kimono opening — gotta go get work done!

You know when these kinds of guys show up at his funeral many years
later, that he had an impact. It really moved me.

Whatever a business's version of “walking the plant floor” is, it's a
must — to integrate with all the beautiful, messy realities of the
business. That leader has to be totally passionate about linking the
big vision to the “shop floor”.

On the language front, how's this. Last week a friend kindly reminded
me how in 1992 in Prague I called up an office hoping to interview
some woman, say 'Ms. Novak'. But Czech is hairy grammatically and
with the slip of a vowel I asked for 'Virgin Novak'. Big laugh on the
other end and then response: “We don't have any of those here. But of
you want Ms. Novak, here she is.”. Later that same week I ordered
chicken t*t for lunch instead of chicken breast.

I resolved then and there not to care — there was power in
entertaining those strangers. They thought it was kinda charming and
raw and many became friends.

I hear the N number in preschool is 35, but that was a while ago.

Perfection can be so dull, dry, and humorless. As success can be. In Innovation Paradox, some successful people rued how it had removed them from being with the less successful at their craft. They felt they learned little without those struggling around them because there was less interesting discussion. The contact they had with highly successful people was boring in comparison, more resting on laurels than striving and growing.