Day 22 - Jack of All Trades

I read an interesting post yesterday from Seth Godin (here) about the value of being sharp rather than "well rounded."  Today's conventional wisdom teaches our kids that they need to excel at academics, athletics, some form of art and socially to gain acceptance into a top college and have success in life.  Seth's point is that no one cares if a heart surgeon is well rounded, the patient simply wants him to be the best heart surgeon in the world.

I understand the point and offer two considerations.  First, being the best in the world at anything requires a world view that only comes from foray's into other fields.  A heart surgeon vying for the title of "greatest"  needs technical skills and know-how and a deep reservoir of understanding of what it means to be a human being.  The latter isn't taught in medical school and I would personally love it if my heart surgeon was an accomplished watchmaker in his spare time.  A watch is a fine place to practice.

Second, excellence in activities tends to cross-pollinate.  Creative writing has little in common with being a lawyer, but precision in language is imperative in both.  Sailing and flying are thoroughly intertwined even though they occur in completely different media.  Each activity becomes a story of pattern recognition as similarities and differences emerge.

Jack of all trades can mean master of none or might lead to a level of mastery of many and nuance that can not be developed over 10,000 hours in a practice room.
 

Day 21 - Its a Wrap

The Medicine Ball Sessions wrapped today.

I feel privileged to have been a participant.

We will return to our regularly scheduled program tomorrow.

Day 20 - Day 2 of The Medicine Ball

One great quote from the day:

"Are you a wandering generality or a meaningful specific?"  paraphrase from Zig Ziglar.

Day 19 - Day One of The Medicine Ball Sessions

I am off to Seth Godin's Medicine Ball Sessions for the next three days.  The link for the sessions is here.  From the participant list, it looks like an amazingly talented group of people.  Depending on how you look at it, it is either the best or the worst crowd in which to practice authenticity.  These guys look like they will smell b.s. from a mile away.

Someone once told me it is easier to tell the truth than a lie 'cause you only have to remember one story ;-)

P.S.  I am betting on the best!

Day 18 - Polishing

"A gem can not be polished without friction, nor a man without trials" - Chinese proverb

I used to fly competitive aerobatics in a Pitts Special, a tiny biplane with a big motor.  After every flight, I would grab a rag and a bottle of spray polish and clean the airplane.  One of the airport mechanics would consistently tease me "you are going to polish the paint off the machine."  I would poke back with a comment about being "vain."  My airplane was always clean and most of the time spotlessly so.

Pitts Specials generally have beautiful finishes.  Until recently, they were painted with a product known as butyrate dope, relatively ancient technology that with lots of preparation and effort, will produce a deep, glossy finish.  It takes twenty or thirty coats of paint, with careful sanding in between each coat, to obtain the desired effect.  The result is spectacular.

I love the look of a well-polished Pitts.  A part of my motivation for polishing was aesthetic.  My main motivation, though, was that a careful polish required that I touch every part of the airplane.  I would start methodically from the right side of the engine and proceed around the entire machine.  By the time I was finished, I would have found and replaced a few missing screws.  Sometimes, I noticed and fixed other problems as well.  When I then placed the airplane back in its hangar, I knew that every part on the exterior of the machine, from paint to tires, was as it is should be.  My next flight would be a little safer as a result of these efforts and the airplane looked beautiful to boot!

I still prefer flying a polished Pitts.

Day 17 - The Doldrums

The "doldrums" or "stuck in the doldrums" is an old sailing term or expression that refers to sailing where there is little to no wind.  With no wind to whip up waves, seas in the doldrums are calm to glass smooth and sailing ships stop dead in the water.  In parts of the Pacific, the doldrums can last for days or even weeks.  In the days before ships had engines, the doldrums were a dreaded condition.

Most of us still dread the doldrums, although we aren't plying the seas in sail only powered vessels.  The modern doldrums are periods in our lives where there is no forward motion.  I imagine the frustration of a ship captain and his men, as supplies began to dwindle and day after day brought clear skies and no winds.  It must have been a helpless feeling.  Modern day doldrums can inspire similar feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.  Like the sailors of old, we must remember that the winds will pick up again.  In the meantime, there are ropes to braid and sails to mend.

Day 16 - Flexibility

Yesterday, I awoke as usual, around 5:15 am.  Usually, I am free at that hour to feed the dog, eat breakfast and write.  Yesterday, though, my wife got up early with me because she is the chairman of an annual event at our children's school and needed to be at school by 6:30 to ensure that the program ran as planned.  We enjoyed breakfast and a lovely conversation together and by the time she left at 6:10, my daughter had come downstairs as well.  So much for writing.

The day had been planned and was to be a crazy one.  My daughter attends music school on the weekends in NYC and being 11, needs a ride and a chaperone every Saturday.  My wife and I tend to alternate weekends.  At first, we thought the trip would be a chore, but it has turned into a coveted Saturday activity because our daughter is great company for the two plus hour roundtrip and the adult gets a six hour block of unconnected time to read, write or contemplate one's navel, a rare period of stillness in an otherwise hectic life.

With my wife busy with the kids' school event, I was the designated chaperone yesterday.  Problem was, I am also on the Board of Directors (and Treasurer) of a not-for-profit and we had our annual meeting yesterday as well.  My wife and I exhausted our list of babysitters and friends and finally decided that I would drop my daughter off in Manhattan early, return to my Board meeting and then return to Manhattan to pick her up by 4.  The timing was tight, there was lots of driving and the potential for horrible holiday traffic, but this was the best of the available options.

We had discussed the plan briefly with my daughter the night before and she was apprehensive about being left in NYC by herself, even within the safe confines of her school.  When she awoke yesterday morning, she was upset by the prospect and asking to skip school.  What to do?  I had responsibilities to my family and to an organization that relies on me for guidance.  Given my daughter's age and distress, it became quickly apparent what needed to be done. 

My daughter and I got ready for school, dropped my slightly later sleeping son off with my wife around 8 am and headed to Manhattan.  Our Board president was fantastic and I was able to participate in the meeting via phone.  My daughter and I had a great visit into NYC and I was able to help her review music theory for a midterm.  Technology worked and I was able to participate and contribute well to the Board meeting.  I supported my wife, via texts, as she pulled off a very successful fundraising event for the school.  My son had a great day too with just a scrape on his chin as evidence of a slightly unsupervised, appropriately rambunctious day with his best buddies.

My family went to bed last night exhausted but happy.  Each of us had a very productive day with only a modicum of stress.  At 6:45 am, it was hard to conceive of such a wonderful outcome.  I am always amazed that when I choose to do the right thing in the face of chaos, I usually find a paved path.