Volume 3, Number 3 May 24, 2003
Publisher: GoalMinds, Inc.
E-mail::condrill@goalminds.com http://www.goalminds.com http://www.jocondrill.com
Copyright 2002-2003 Jo Condrill All rights reserved

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SUCH AS REGIMENTS HAND DOWN FOREVER

“There is nothing particularly glorious about sweaty fellows going along to fight.
And yet they represent a great deal more than individuals mustered into a division.
There is something behind those men: the old battles, long forgotten, that secured our nation.
Traditions of things endured,
and things accomplished
Such as Regiments hand down forever,
and that abstract thing called PATRIOTISM
Which I have never heard combat soldiers mention.
All this passes into the forward zone to the point of contact
Where war is grit with horrors, and common men endure these horrors, and overcome them
Along with the insistent yearnings of the belly
And the reasonable prompting of fear
And in this I think is Glory.”

JOHN W. THOMASON
CAPTAIN OF U.S. MARINES
FRANCE 1918
Provided by R. G. Neilson, LTC, US Marine Corps, Retired
Happy Memorial Day Weekend

PRIVACY STATEMENT: We will not distribute your address to anyone. Period.
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Conflict as a Catalyst for Change
2. Communication for Engineers
3. Are You Good Enough?
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Book Expo America at the Los Angeles Convention Center May 29-June 1, 2003
Meet Jo Condrill in Booth 2318 with Blue Loon Press
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GoalMinds, Inc. has been awarded a Federal Supply Services contract by the General Services Administration (GSA). This contract places GoalMinds on the list of major suppliers of management, organizational and business improvement services for the federal government and the District of Columbia. Staffed by a consortium of highly qualified trainers, consultants and facilitators, we offer services not only to the government, but also to businesses and associations as well. How may we serve you? http://www.goalminds.com
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1. Conflict as a Catalyst for Change—by Terry Paulson, Ph.
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Jan Carlzon, CEO of SAS, knows the power conflict can have as a catalyst for change when it occurs in the context of dialogue. He states: "One of the most interesting missions of leadership is getting people
on the executive team to listen to and learn their way to collective solutions when they understand one another's assumptions. The work of the leader is to get conflict out into the open and use it as a source
of creativity."

Differences when treated with dignity and dialogue instead of distance and attacks can set the stage for creative, collective decisions. Unfortunately, few leaders rise to the occasion to affirm the value of
conflict. They too often try to separate and appease factions, to silence disagreement and to avoid the tough issues that often harbor the most promise for positive change. You will never change people's minds from a distance. Any decision worth making has more than one side. Honor the diversity of your team and don't let anyone convince you that silence is the best option. When people argue openly in your presence, celebrate. Just keep all conflict in the open and eyeball-to-eyeball. Where are you avoiding conflict that can be used as a positive force for creative change?

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2. Communication for Engineers--& Others
by Thomas T. Grady, P.E.
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Communication is as important to engineering as math yet we spend hours in math classes and little time in communication classes. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded killing Christa McAuliffe and the entire crew, the engineers that had designed the seals knew that the seals could fail in cold weather conditions. They had made efforts to communicate their fears and concerns to others but without success.

What is communication? In simple terms it is message sent, message received. We are both a transmitter of communication and a receiver of communication. We each have a unique filter through which we send and receive messages. The message we send may not be the message someone else receives. The message that we think we are sending, may not be the message that leaves our filter. Unfortunately, incoming messages are sometimes completely blocked by our filters.

Our ability to communicate is determined by how well we can adjust our filter to send and receive messages. As engineers we go into great detail to define our message using specifications. We ask not for just stainless steel, we ask for a specific type of stainless steel. We know that 304 stainless steel is not the same as 316 stainless steel. Can you imagine communicating on a casual level if we had to define every detail? Ordering flowers by phone might take several hours. It would make communication impossible. Communication is more than facts and logic, it is emotion and that’s the rub.

Albert Mehrabian, a communication specialist, concluded in a study that one-on-one communication is 58% body language, 35% vocal tone, and 7% words. The study is generally recognized as correct. Clearly, in engineering communication words take on a higher level of importance. The type of stainless steel does not change by the tone of our request nor by our body posture. At the same time, as engineers, we must recognize and accept that every day communication is not subject to written specification although there is a trend in our society to write about how we communicate. Books like “You Just Don’t Understand” and “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” are best sellers. These books help define why and how we communicate but communication is not a mathematical equation. Communicating is a complicated process that is often illogical and inefficient.

Fortunately, communication does have a process. The steps in the communication process are, questioning, listening, advocating, and repeating. Communication is circular, no beginning and no end. We can start anywhere on the circle, as long as we keep going. We can even change directions. The more times we go around the circle, the better we can define it.

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“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

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3. Are you good enough?
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Several years ago, I attended a Success seminar in northern Virginia. I don’t remember the name of the seminar nor the presenter. But I have two small pieces of wood that have locked that seminar in my head.

If you’ve ever attended a motivational seminar, you may remember the presenter encouraging you to “be all you can be.” You may have been convinced that you can make a million dollars or reach other dreams using their methods. This seemed like the usual fare, until someone began passing us pieces of wood that looked like an 8 X 12 inch board an inch thick. “Think of how you’ll feel when you reach your goal. Imagine you’ve arrived! Feel it, smell it. Now in one word describe the feeling.” I was skeptical, not really with it. Suddenly inspiration hit—WOW! That’s how I would feel. Then the presenter told us to turn the board over and write on the other side what was standing in our way. I couldn’t think of anything and as he kept talking, I figured, “Well this is a waste.” From out of the blue came, “not good enough.” My insecurity, my feeling inadequate, thinking of everyone who could do things better than I, held me back. So I wrote “not good enough” on the board, only half listening as he was explaining the next step. With our bare hand we could break through the negative idea we’d written on the board and reach our goals. “Oh, yeah,” I thought. “Right.” I had to be the oldest, most out of shape person in the room!

Other people rushed to the front of the room to be first in line. I sat still, looking for someone like me. People began to step up and break through the board. I measured them and compared myself to them—still thinking “not good enough” without realizing it. Then someone failed on the first try and broke through the board on the second try. That broke the ice for me. I ambled over to the end of the line.

My turn came all too quickly. There I was facing the presenter who was going to hold the board while I hit it with one hand while I held the other hand behind my back. He explained how I should position my feet, which part of my hand to use, and what I should be thinking. I was squaring my shoulders when he stopped me. My feet weren’t just right. “Let’s try it now,” he said. I drew back my arm and thrust it forward, breaking the board on my first try. It was the most unexpected emotion I’ve ever experienced. Wonder turned into awe. How could this be?

They ushered me to the side so the next person could have a turn. I joined the group who had broken the board and stood still while a wave of emotion enveloped me. Tears came to my eyes, but I checked them. I can! I am good enough! I can never go back and hide behind that thought again. I must move forward.

I still have those two pieces of wood and when the going gets really tough, looking at them takes me back to that awesome experience. I reach deep inside, call up all the reserves I have, and carry on.

If you ever have the feeling that you’re just not good enough, I hope you find a breakthrough experience like I did. Perhaps you’ll also find my book, A Millennium Primer: Take Charge of Your Life, helpful. You are good enough for any task you want to undertake. You have an obligation to the rest of us to share your talents and be the person you were created to be.
Let your light shine!
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Exciting book events are coming to Los Angeles! The Publishers Marketing Association will present its University beginning Tuesday morning and ending Thursday evening. This year a new Los Angeles affiliate is being born, Publishers Association of Los Angeles. In PA-LA we will have opportunities to network with and learn from other publishers in the area on a regular basis. Come join us at the Wilshire Grand Hotel, LOS ANGELES ROOM, 930 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, following the PMA Reception Tuesday evening May 27 at 6:00 p.m. You will have an opportunity to become a charter member. The next regular meeting will be June 10. More details at http://www.sunshinebydesign.com/PALA

Following PMA will be Book Expo America! Booksellers, publishers, authors, and others will gather in the Los Angeles convention center. See http://www.bookexpoamerica.com for more details. I will be sharing the Blue Loon Press booth 2318 with two terrific women, Joni Wilson and Carolyn Gross. GoalMinds books will also be displayed in the Publishers Marketing Association’s collective booth. John B. Slack, coauthor of From Book Signing to Best Seller, will be greeting convention goers there.
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