FundingStrat

 

Effectiveness in getting Results is a matter of getting from A to B.

 

A is where you are now.

 

B is your chosen objective.

 

A Leader’s job is to get to B.

 

What is the fastest way to get to B?

 

Geometrically, the fastest way to travel from A to B is a straight line.

 

A straight line between A and B is the shortest distance between two points.

 

It is the shortest distance between where you are now and where you want to be.

 

On the path to B there will be problems to be solved.

 

Effective Leadership is about being extremely effective at solving your own problems and assisting others in becoming adept at solving their own problems as well.

 

To solve a problem effectively, it must first be simplified.  In its simplification, it can become solvable.

 

What typically prevents us from simplifying a problem so we can solve it once and for all?

Keep on Reading!

 

SMB guru, K. Cunningham, often tells the story of the wild forest fire that left almost no one standing:

 

On August 5^th, 1949, a small fire started in the backwoods of Mann Gulch, a remote canyon surrounded by 1,200-foot cliffs in Montana’s Helena National Forest.  The fire grew quickly, to the point that sixteen smoke jumper firefighters had to be called to the blaze before it got too out of control.

 

Mann Gulch’s canyon walls are steep and treacherous to navigate in normal conditions, let alone during a forest fire.  But it was its northern cliff that was particularly difficult because of its 76 degree incline.  As the 16 men parachuted onto the scene and began to battle the fire, the wind suddenly shifted, and the fire expanded to 3,000 acres in a matter of minutes. The escalation and shift in direction ended up trapping the smoke jumpers against the steep north face.

 

In a race for their lives, it now seemed like the only way to survive was for the jumpers to run and climb the nearly vertical northern wall of the cliff faster than the rapidly encroaching fire.  By day’s end, thirteen of these men unfortunately did not make it out of the forest, while three survived.  This fire taught the U.S. Forest Service some startling, but valuable, lessons that are now universal and relevant today regardless of the firefighting we are doing.

 

The Forest Service discovered that the thirteen men who died had all carried their cumbersome tools (poleaxes, saws, shovels, heavy packpacks) while attempting to outrun the fire up the face of the cliff.  They had been trained to keep their equipment with them at all times, and they did not deviate from these orders, even though their equipment was worse than useless in a footrace up the mountain.  They literally died with their backpacks on.

 

For these firefighters, their tools represented who they were and what they were trained to do.  Dropping their tools mean abandoning their existing knowledge, training, and experience – their identity.

 

The three survivors of the fire did things a bit differently.  One of the men, Dodge, had learned a technique from the plains Indians known as an “escape fire.”  Although it had not been taught by the Forest Service, Dodge gave it a shot: he struck a match and purposefully lit a ring of fire around himself.  The fire he lit burned the surrounding grass, leaving no flammable material.  He tried to convince the others to do the same but only two others listened.

 

These men lied down within their rings.  With no flammable grass to burn, the main fire bearing down in their direction jumped over them, leaving them intact.

 

The U.S. Forest Service’s conclusions from this blaze were the following:

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An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life.

 

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

 

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

 

One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

 

He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

 

The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

 

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

 

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

 

-FundingStrategist

https://fundingstrat.com

 

 

 

Japan’s greatest master swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi, was born in 1584 to a dysfunctional family and abusive father.  He became orphaned by the age of 10, and was then raised by monks until the age of 16.

 

Although he detested his father’s flaws, he was determined to follow in his footsteps to become a Samurai, albeit a more honorable one.  So he left the monastery and soon found himself in duels thereafter – all of which he won.

 

He went in search of a master that could help him hone his skills and mold him into a great martial artist.  He eventually found his place with the Ashikaga Clan.  But this was a great time of change in Japan, plagued by feudal wars and characterized by the constant rise and fall of the order of things.

 

His clan was called up for the challenge of defending itself against the victorious army that had been sweeping the land, the forces of Ieyasu Tokugawa.  At the Battle of Sekigakarai, everything changed.

 

The clansmen Musashi fought alongside was defeated, his entire clan slaughtered.  But he deftly survived the battle and massacre that shortly ensued.  This day in 1600 left Musashi master-less and banner-less.  He was now Ronin, a master-less Samurai.

 

All this, still while he was a teenager.  Most ronin were transient drunks, purposelessly roaming province to province.  Barely escaping with his life, he could have become jaded, given up on honor and moved on to something else – except he didn’t.  His sense of direction was taken from him, so he chose a new direction.

 

He went on a warrior pilgrimage known as musha shugyo.  It was during these years that he would master his martial art skills and develop the underpinning philosophy that would guide him and then eventually his students.

 

Today, the 16^th century Samurai is known as the most skilled swordsmen in history, never losing a fight or duel.  The undefeated Samurai won countless fights against feared opponents, even multiple opponents in which he was sword-less.  His expert use of space, the environment around him, he mostly attributed to the way he looked at the world and the events that took place in it.

 

“Observation and perception are two separate things; the observing eye is stronger, the perceiving eye is weaker.”

-Miyamoto Musashi

 

For Musashi, there were two ways of seeing the world: the observing eye and the perceiving eye.

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One day, King Solomon decided to test and humble his most trusted minister.  He said to him, “there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me.  I wish to wear it for the great festival in six months, you have these many months to find it.

 

“If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty,” replied the minister, “I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?”

 

“It has magic powers,” answered the king.  “If a happy man looks upon it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy.”  Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility.

 

Spring passed and then summer, and still the minister had no idea where he could find the ring.  On the night before the great festival, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem.  He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day’s wares on a shabby carpet.

 

“Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?” asked the minister.

 

He watched the old merchant take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it.  When the minister read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile.

 

That night, the entire city welcomed the holiday with great festivity.  “Well, my friend,” said Solomon, “have you found what I sent you after?”  All the other ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled.

 

To everyone’s surprise, the minister held up a small gold ring and declared, “Here it is, your majesty!”  As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face.  What he found written on this ring were the words: “This too shall pass.”

 

And so, in that moment, Solomon was reminded by the ring’s inscription that life and all of the material things in it are always changing, fleeting at times.  But also, he came to continue to wear the ring, and in challenging times he would look down and be reminded that even these difficult times would not be so forever.

 

Change continually proves to be the only constant in the universe.

 

TTSP

 

Hope everyone is well and healthy.  Please take good care of your loved ones through this time and stay safe.

 

 

-FundingStrategist

https://fundingstrat.com