A Great Dad

I wrote this after Dad passed away a a few years ago.
As we approach Father's Day, I thought I would share.
Feel free to pass on to others.
Have a good one !

A Great Dad

It's easy to be a great dad if you have known one, spent time with one, been close to one.

It's easy to be a great dad if you have played with one, shared a laugh with one, celebrated a win with one.

It's easy to be a great dad if you have argued with - then made up with one, been respected by one, learned from one.

It's easy to be a great dad if you have been supported by one, cried with one,supported one.

It's easy to be a great dad if you have been the child of one, grown up with one, you want to be one.

People say that I'm a great dad.

It's been easy for me.

Dan MacDonald - November'2001

Innovation and the story of Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Est. 1902

Innovation and the story of Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, Est. 1902

Innovation is about creating business value out of new ideas, whether it’s new ways of doing things, new products, or new services.
Organizations must continually innovate to remain competitive, let alone grow. Failure to innovate inevitably causes organizational malaise, and invites the competition to come and take market share.

Innovation – straight forward, right? For many organizations, it is not so straight forward.

As organizations grow, many migrate from being the challenger attacker to being challenged and attacked. The problem usually lies in inadvertently allowing a culture to emerge that does not foster innovation. Strict policies, procedures, and product and project management styles put in place in the name of consistency and best practice often lead to a culture of risk aversion and dampened creativity.

In 1948, William L. McKnight, then president of Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, directed the management of his company as follows:

"As our business grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to delegate responsibility. This requires considerable tolerance and mistakes will be made. Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made will kill initiative. It's essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow.”

While many turn to the latest best selling business books and industry gurus for advice on just about everything, Mr. McKnight’s wisdom after 50 years still makes good common sense.

Later renamed 3M, Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing’s innovative culture is today the envy of companies around the world. From Post-it Notes, to Scotch tape, to health care and highway safety, to office products and optical films for LCD displays, 3M’s annual revenue tops $24.5 billion USD and its market capitalization is $52.72 billion. Mr. McKnight’s focus on creating and maintaining a culture of innovation is core to 3M’s continued success.

Businesses of all sizes need to enable a culture where innovation is encouraged, continuous, and recognized. Further, an innovative culture is one in which risk is managed, mistakes are learned from, customer and supplier input is welcome, and management is open minded to changes to established business models. To some this might sound like anarchy, but it simply describes a business culture where progress, positive change, and innovation are embraced.

Management must encourage and harness innovation across the entire organization. Processes, policies and procedures should be constantly evolved to ensure relevancy, competitiveness, and increased value add. Organizations can effectively leverage innovation and attract and retain top talent.

Whether you are trying to increase yield, decrease costs, increase customer loyalty, diversify into new market sectors, or all of the above and more, having a culture of innovation will help position you for success.

Innovation, while not straight forward, is next to impossible if you do not have the right culture.

Dan MacDonald

Dan MacDonald is the president and CEO of InNOVAcorp based in Halifax. www.innovacorp.ca

Fighter

I am a big fan of Barack Obama.
I respect Hilary Clinton.

I am torn between wishing Clinton would quit and gaining a new respect for her drive and toughness. The calls for her to quit only seem to make her stronger. West Virginia on Tuesday will only serve to embolden her. She is clearly a fighter.

A fighter...hmm...

I strongly believe we need a leader, a uniter, a mender, a communicator, a visionary, a president for all not some, ... NOT a fighter.

Go Obama !

Dan MacDonald

Palooka's Boxing Club ~ You will be inspired.

Today, I was truly inspired.

I attended the grand opening of Palooka's Boxing Club here in Halifax.

This very special place, the brainchild of local entrepreneur and community hero Mickey MacDonald (no relation), has been built to make a difference.

This state of the art boxing club is designed to serve many, but is specifically targeting inner city youth. Palooka's will be a place that is welcoming, safe, respectful, clean, motivating, and challenging. Palooka's will be a positive and accessible alternative to substance abuse, crime, and violence. Palooka's through the sport of boxing will instill discipline in the mind, body, and soul.

Located in on Gottingen Street, in a renovated theatre, in an area with loads of potential but which has been in a slump for the last 20 years, Palooka's is sure to spark many great things to come.

Today’s opening was very inspiring. The people who spoke represented the amazing diversity of the community. They spoke sincerely about the potential positive impact the gym. They were amazingly consistent in their vision of what this could mean to the youth of Halifax.

The people behind this initiative, lead by Mickey MacDonald, stepped up big time to make a difference in their community. They are all examples of people who worked very hard to get where they are, and are now giving back again and again.

The work Mickey is doing is more than writing checks. His vision, drive, and ability to rally stakeholders to turn an old theatre into such a fantastic place is truly inspiring.

The website is just a place holder so far, but just wait till you see this place. Check it out for yourself by dropping in.

You will be inspired.

Dan MacDonald






http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1049187.html

It is obvious, right ?

Ever been involved in a situation where the path forward seems obvious to everyone, except you ? Everyone in the discussion is leaning toward a certain direction, they are feeding off one another building a strong contentious….but you are listening and thinking “what the - - - -?”

You listen, you genuinely look for the logic in their thinking, you wonder whether you should just go along for the ride, or…..

You finally have the courage to say; “Guys what am I missing here ? Why does everyone believe that this is the obvious direction to take when there are several other options to consider ?.....

Then it happens. Several of the folks that were only moments ago driving confidently toward a direction, are considering options, even aligning with your thinking. Why does this scenario play out so many times ?

I think people generally like to follow not lead. Further people generally migrate toward proposed decisions rather than debate.

As accountable and responsible professionals tasked with doing the right thing, we need to be aware of this phenomenon and interject logic in otherwise illogical debates.

This is not about dragging on debates for the fun of it, nor about being contrary, it is about recognizing that “what is obvious to a group of people who are feeding off each other…” may be anything but obvious.

Don’t be scared to ask the tough question(s) when the group is heading toward the obvious.

It is obvious, right ?

Dan MacDonald

Think it through

Those of us who are caught up in the fast pace of life, have less and less time to think.

I am not talking about going to the top of the mountain alone for days on end, nor am I talking about procrastination. I am talking about the concept of "thinking through a situation" so as to find the best path forward. Thinking something through may take five minutes or it may take a weekend.

Some of us think out load and need to talk it out with others, while others are silent thinkers.

When you look back at the things you have done well vs. the things you wish you could "do over", I wonder how many of the latter you could have avoided. Not them all I am sure, but I'll bet there are a few notables.

Reacting to a situation on instinct, especially a tough situation, can be impressive but it can also be disastrous. We obviously do not always have the opportunity to think it through, as professionals we are expected to think on our feet, but when we have the time do doesn't it make sense to.

Think it through.

Dan MacDonald

Speaking of Paris

Speaking of Paris, that's where I am now.

What a truly amazing city.
Any description I could provide would never do justice to Paris.

Some observations:
- very clean
- amazing architecture, history, and character every where you look
- museums are wonderful (this coming from a guy who went just because he thought he should)
- streets go in every direction making map reading a challenge
- excellent coffee, bread, cheese, wine, …all foods taste great
- fashion…say no more
- people park bumper to bumper. Not exactly sure how they get in or out. Will make sure I figure that out before we leave ;)
- tiny grocery stores with one of everything in a 150 sq ft
- huge double doors leading to garden court yards in the middle of apartment blocks

- baguette for 1 Euro, good red wine for 5 Euro, excellent cheese....=)

Paris is clearly the most unique place on earth.

Dan MacDonald

There is just something about it

Having traveled back to Silicon Valley this past week, it was fascinating to re-experience the pace, the confidence, and the overall activity.

In the Bay Area of California, AKA Silicon Valley, you will find people from every corner of the globe converging together to “build”. Build new business models, new products, new services, new everything. You’ll find the worlds largest concentration of early and later stage venture capital and investment banking firms who specialize in high technology. You will find some of the worlds finest universities, attracting the brightest minds from around the globe.

Come to think of it. Silicon Valley is made up of very driven people from around the world. The collective experiences and perspectives of these people propel the area faster than any other place.

Whether you are at work, the pub, the grocery store, the soccer pitch or the gym discussion centers around building business. Silicon Valley is all about networking. In every discussion about building business, people are connecting people of common interest or expertise. “Oh, you really need to connect with _____, she is an expert in _______, also you must connect with _______, he built then sold _________ which was in a very familiar space.” And so it goes.

I lived and worked in Silicon Valley from 1999 trough 2005. Through the boom, the bust, and recovery I and 10,000’s of others worked at a pace and style unlike any other place on earth.

The buzz you get from the above, combined with the amazing weather, food, access to the great outdoors (desert, mountains, snow, beach all within 20 minutes to 3 hours) and wine makes Silicon Valley a fantastic.

Yes the traffic can be ugly, the house prices are #@$%^&*! but what place in the world doesn’t have a issue or two ?

Jurisdictions all over the world have tried to mirror Silicon Valley’s recipe for success.
In my opinion, it would be like setting out to create Paris. While very different in almost every way, Paris is uniquely Paris, and Silicon Valley is uniquely Silicon Valley.

That being said, jurisdictions can take some great lessons from the history of Silicon Valley and look to upgrade/tune their own relevant economic and social ecosystem.

Silicon Valley. Hmm…Boy do I miss it.

There is just something about it.

Dan MacDonald

Advice ~ Both giving and receiving take practice.

Advice is both hard to give and to receive.

Giving advice:
I know what you're thinking. “Advice is easy to give.”
No it is not.

Good advice only comes after understanding the situation. Understanding the situation always includes genuine listening and clarification. It is a big challenge to learn about a complex situation and immediately provide solid advice.

“Ok, I believe I understand the situation and ideally I would need to give it some thought before I give thoughtful advice.” is what we all should say ~ but we rarely do.

Because we care and want to add value to the conversation immediately we tend to jump right in. That’s ok, as long as we first share that we are affectively going to “think out loud as we work the situation real time.”

We need to be mindful that the act of asking for advice is a huge deal for many of us.

To be a good advice giver, we must; assume its confidential, listen, clarify, think about it and get back to the person or ask for permission to think out load as we work through it.

Receiving advice:

Everyone needs advice from time to time. Even the people who end up giving advice need advice. That being said, we often have a sort of “asking for advice remorse” about 10 seconds after asking, especially if the person we asked goes off on a tangent with out taking the time to understand the situation.

Beyond the obvious goodness in advice, asking for advice can be a very powerful relationship building approach. In situations where you have a new partner, customer, supplier, employee and somehow things have not gotten off to a good start, asking the persons advice is often the kind of ice breaker you need.

“Hey Mike, I have been thinking a lot about our first month on this project. I would be really interested in your views on what we might do to improve going forward. I would just like to give you the floor and let you share with me what you think. I am listening.”

The above approach works amazingly well. Listen and clarify by playing back key points. The person you are asking is often first surprised, then intrigued, and even impressed if he/she feels that there has been an over due breakthrough in communications.

But what if the advice is totally off base ?
The cool thing about advice is that it is not binding in any way. I listen to lots of advice, take the best parts and implement, and put the rest in file 13.

In a situation where the “asking for advice remorse” sets in quickly and the advice is totally off base, take the best advice you probably have ever been given ~ from your parents. “If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t both saying anything at all.” Except for of course saying; “thank you, I haven’t heard that perspective before, I’ll think about what you said.”

We all should ask for advice more often.

Giving and receiving advice both take practice.

Dan MacDonald

Leadership Envy

If only we Canadians could vote in the current US primaries and ultimate election in November 2008.

Seems that Canadians are watching the US political scene more than usual these days. It is very easy to find someone who wants to share their opinion on who has the edge currently , how their favorite would reestablish America in the eyes of the world, etc.

The keen interest in the US political scene intrigues me. Why are Canadians so interested ?
I believe the answer is very straight forward. Envy.

Don’t get me wrong, the envy I am talking about here is relatively narrow. Canadians are very aware of their current strengths economically, relating to universal healthcare, having not gone to war in Iraq, etc, etc.

The envy here related specifically to leadership. We envy the Americans because they have high quality leaders in the race who people can not only relate to, but actually look forward to being lead by. Further it seems that people are participating in democratic process (voting) in record levels.

Wow ! How good it must be to be excited about an election and the candidates running. We in Canada can only dream in the short and medium term.

Unlike our neighbors to the south, we observe the now monthly games of "if you do not support this or that, we will be forced to call an election" chicken between the overly confident minority federal government and a very weak opposition.

I can only hope that the leaders in Canada are also intrigued with the US political scene. Further, I hope they can see the unprecedented engagement of the electorate.

I believe we will, in the next 5 to 10 years, have the opportunity to fully engage in the democratic process and cheer on our favorite top quality charismatic candidate.

Until then, when it comes to political leadership, we will live vicariously through our neighbors to the south.

Dan MacDonald