May
19
Ordinary Miracles
Filed Under irRelevant Reflections | Leave a Comment
Over the years, I’ve observed that what we do attracts many very smart people that are living on the fringe of the business world. By the fringe, I mean they live in that world but as a necessity instead of a choice.
A great example is my friend Jim Blanden. Jim was perhaps the smartest person I’ve ever encountered. He had over 350 semester hours at ASU, but never enough in one concentration to get a degree. He is in the top five of anyone I’ve met in his knowledge and ability to taste the subtleties of wine. I will never forget attending a wine tasting at Duck and Decanter with Jim that was packed with a bunch of yuppie wine “experts”. Jim was loud and without any fashion sense and without much money; and assumed to not belong with these wine “experts”. They were doing blind tastings and Jim knew everyone of the wines long before anyone else. They ended the night with a strange blending of three grapes and no one even came close, except Jim. He named the grapes and even came within a few % of naming the ratio of the three. He understood Corrective Action intuitively and taught many of us that in the absence of credible data – follow the accounting records. Jim never fit in mainly because he never was concerned with politics or hierarchy or any of the normal things that help you succeed in an organization. Thank goodness for an organization like Motorola, where there was talk about understanding others. That made it difficult for Jim to be put out although that is clearly what many wanted.
Another great example is Tom McClain. The best, bar none, lean person that passed through AlliedSignal. Roots as an Army Ranger and as an engineer for Toyota. He was fearless and honest and always seeking to teach when he presented. He learned Six Sigma with no problem, but always defaulted to Lean and presented information as a Storyboard. He was moved from Michigan to Greenville, Alabama on his first day at Allied and never missed a beat. He was in tune with people.
Jim is an alcoholic who moved to a tent in the desert above Phoenix years ago to heal himself. I am not sure of his fate, except I am sure he found peace.
Tom dropped out of industry and was a preacher the next day in Greenville (I am sure he prepared himself, but it was never overt and most were surprised). I am sure the people of his church cannot find a more honest or caring person to be their pastor.
There are many others to greater or lesser degrees, but there seems to be a dividing line with those who practice this. There are those who do it because they love it and get fulfillment from it; and there are those is see it as a path to power and riches.
I mention all these things as they have been swirling in my head for the past three weeks. Several events seem to be conspiring to make me look inward to what is really important to me.
- We had two people from 13 years ago show up at my home, one expected, one a surprise. It turned out to be a rekindling of a great friendship between the two of them as well as with me and Aimee.
- The same week, I had the honor of attending the Bris of the new son of a great friend of 17 years. She asked me to be the Sandak, an honored role; but because I am not Jewish, I played the role of reader. I read a beautiful piece about love and honesty and the hope of the young man growing up to be like Tom.
- A great friend and great teacher was accused of stealing materials from one of the big SS consulting firms. His honor and integrity had been questioned and it hurt him. I got to help by mainly recognizing him for who he was while people he had trusted destroyed what should have been a life long relationship. He prevailed, by the way, he did not need to nor would he have ever stolen. His knowledge is equal to or superior to those who created and maintain the materials in question.
- Through my church, I played several roles in helping host 30 homeless people last week. It was sad and uplifting at the same time. Of the 30, 11 were children – one less than a week old. Many were clearly just getting by, but a few were clearly on a path to righting their circumstances for them and their children. I befriended a 7 year old who was clearly acting out some very inappropriate behavior when I met her. She turned out to be very smart, very friendly, and very helpful. I think she just wanted to be treated as a human being. I questioned the value of helping people get through a week of their life but my very wise partner, Aimee, pointed out that what we did at least was get the two ladies and their families a week closer to being whole again. And the week old baby? Clearly does not have a chance in his present circumstances; but I saw two very beautiful ladies, Jed and Laurie, hold and love the baby with unconditional love. I saw God in those ladies. I missed the opportunity to see Aimee do the same thing as I was not there at the time.
The point?
Not sure.
I am a person who has always loved teaching and learning (I think they are the same thing) and the rewards show up in the friends we make for life.
The thing at the church reminds me that there are more important things in life than the pursuit of a bigger house or faster car (I have to practice that one as I love cars).
I love the ordinary miracles in life, like growing a garden from seed every spring and raising children.
I know that God lets bad things happen to good people – I try not to judge what I don’t understand and try to help when I am smart enough to make it a priority in my life.
When I’m at my best, I am seeking and searching and trying to help. When I am at my worse, I’ve lost sight of that.
Gary