Randy Gross, co-owner of the County Line restaurants.
(Hattip: Mom. Oddly, I’m not finding anything about this in the Statesman.)
Edited to add: Statesman coverage, which doesn’t add anything new.
Obit watch.
February 5th, 2010Leadership Secrets of Fictional Characters (part 3 of a series).
February 4th, 2010Today’s example is also taken from Clear and Present Danger.
Jack Ryan is visiting his dying mentor, Admiral Greer, in the hospital for the last time.
“But what about—”
“Politics? All that shit?” Greer almost laughed. “Jack, you know, when you lay here like this, you know what you think about? You think about all the things you’d like another chance at, all the mistakes, all the people you might have treated better, and you thank God that it wasn’t worse. Jack, you will never regret honesty, even if it hurts people. When they made you a Marine lieutenant you swore an oath before God. I understand why we do that now. It’s a help, not a threat. It’s something to remind you how important words are. Ideas are important. Principles are important. Words are important. Your word is the most important of all. Your word is who you are.”
That quote’s heavy-handed enough that I think the lesson is obvious. But I find the simplicity of those last few words deeply moving.
Ideas are important. Principles are important. Words are important. Your word is the most important of all. Your word is who you are.
I think American business would be vastly improved if everyone, before they took on any sort of leadership position, was required to swear an oath before God. Maybe something like this:
Random notes: February 4th, 2010.
February 4th, 2010The Columbus Blue Jackets (that’s the NHL, for all you non-hockey fans out there) fired coach Ken Hitchcock.
The NYT got around to running an obit for Lt. Colonel Archer. Their obit is interesting:
Mr. Archer ultimately maintained that he shot down five German planes — two on separate days in July 1944 in addition to the three in October 1944 — but said he had not been properly credited with one of those downings in July. Shooting down five planes would have brought him official designation as an ace, making him the only one among the Tuskegee Airmen.
In a 2008 review of wartime military records, Daniel L. Haulman of the Air Force Historical Research Agency found that Mr. Archer, while officially credited with four downings, was among the three leading Tuskegee pilots in shooting down enemy planes. His total was matched by Capt. Joseph D. Elsberry and Capt. Edward L. Toppins.
As you may recall, this directly contradicts the WP obit, which states he was credited with five victories by the Air Force.
Edited to add: The WP published a correction to their obit on February 2nd, which agrees with the NYT obit. However, the WP correction is not noted in the original article; I thought this was against WP policy.
From the “Thank you, Captain Obvious” department: Scotland has a drinking problem. The NYT sees Buckfast Tonic Wine as a symbol.
The drink is 15 percent alcohol by volume, a bit stronger than most wines. Also, each 750 milliliter bottle contains as much caffeine as eight cans of Coke.
From the “Art, damn it! Art!” department: I think I appreciate a good bit of art as much as the next guy, but this Giacometti bronze just seems to me to be really ugly. Maybe the photos are bad.
The “Hello Kitty” chainsaw. I want. (And Hello Kitty Hell gets added to the blogroll. Thanks to my great and good friend Commvault Bryan.)
James Arthur Ray, the Arizona sweat lodge guy, has been charged with three counts of manslaughter.
Did you know that Men at Work’s “Down Under” sampled a children’s tune called “Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree”? Have you even heard “Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree”?
Edited to add: I’m sure this will be blogged elsewhere, but it is too good to pass up. Sun CEO resigns. By Twitter. In haiku. (Hattip: Lawrence.)
Edited to add 2: Also from the “Thank you, Captain Obvious” department is this actual headline from the LAT home page: “Stew is better without jimsonweed hallucinogen“. (Link goes to actual article which has a different headline.)
Leadership Secrets of Fictional Characters (part 2 of a series).
February 3rd, 2010I’m drawing my text today from Tom Clancy’s Clear and Present Danger.
I know that it’s trendy to sneer at Clancy. I haven’t read any of his fiction except Clear and Present Danger and The Hunt for Red October, both of which I thought were pretty spiffy thrillers. For all I know, his more recent works of fiction could be steaming piles. I have read a fair amount of his recent non-fiction military history interview books (Shadow Warriors, Every Man a Tiger, and Into the Storm) and I admire what I think Clancy is trying to do with those books; basically, he wants to be the S.L.A. Marshall of our generation.
This is getting slightly off-topic. What I’m getting at is, I’m not a blind admirer of Clancy, but Clear and Present Danger is a book that made a strong impression on me.
Here’s the background for this exchange. It comes from Chapter 1 of the book, “The King of SAR”. Clancy is drawing a character portrait of his heroic Coast Guard commander, “Red” Wegener. He’s already given us some of the character’s background, and how he came to command the Panache. The Panache is a pretty screwed-up new ship; the shipyard workers are on strike, the shipyard is bankrupt, and the process of commissioning the ship was badly botched. One of the first things Wegener’s told after taking command is that they can’t get more than 50% power out of the ship’s engines without them overheating.
Wegener manages to sneak the ship out of dock and out to sea, and puts his men to work fixing what’s been screwed up.
Wegener had been on the bridge, napping in his leather chair during the forenoon watch when the growler phone rang, and Chief Owens invited him to the engine room. Wegener arrived to find the only worktable covered with plans, and an engineman-apprentice hovering over them, with his engineering officer standing behind him.
“You ain’t gonna believe it,” Owens announced. “Tell him, sonny.”
“Seaman Obrecki, sir. The engine isn’t installed right,” the youngster said.
“What makes you think that?” Wegener asked.
The big marine diesels were of a new sort, perversely designed to be very easy to operate and maintain. To aid in this, small how-to manuals were provided for each engine-room crewman, and in each manual was a plastic-coated diagram that was far easier to use than the builder’s plans. A blow-up of the manual schematic, also plastic-coated, had been provided by the drafting company, and was the laminated top of the worktable.
“Sir, this engine is a lot like the one on my dad’s tractor, bigger, but-”
“I’ll take your word for it, Obrecki.”
“The turbocharger ain’t installed right. It matches with these plans here, but the oil pump pushes the oil through the turbo-charger backwards. The plans are wrong, sir. Some draftsman screwed up. See here, sir? The oil line’s supposed to come in here, but the draftsman put it on the wrong side of this fitting, and nobody caught it, and-”
Wegener just laughed. He looked at Chief Owens: “How long to fix?”
“Obrecki says he can have it up and running this time tomorrow, Cap’n.”
“Sir.” It was Lieutenant Michelson, the engineering officer. “This is all my fault. I should have-” The lieutenant was waiting for the sky to fall.
“The lesson from this, Mr. Michelson, is that you can’t even trust the manual. Have you learned that lesson, Mister?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Fair enough. Obrecki, you’re a seaman-first, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Wrong. You’re a machinist-mate third.”
“Sir, I have to pass a written exam…”
“You think Obrecki’s passed that exam, Mr. Michelson?”
“You bet, sir.”
“Well done, people. This time tomorrow I want to do twenty-three knots.”
And it had all been downhill from there. The engines are the mechanical heart of any ship, and there is no seaman in the world who prefers a slow ship to a fast one. When Panache had made twenty-five knots and held that speed for three hours, the painters painted better, the cooks took a little more time with the meals, and the technicians tightened their bolts just a little more. Their ship was no longer a cripple, and pride broke out in the crew like a rainbow after a summer shower – all the more so because one of their own had figured it out.
Here’s what I take away from this:
- Wegener’s interaction with the engineering officer. The guy screwed up; he knows he screwed up, and he knows how he screwed up. Wegener knows he knows and doesn’t dwell on it. “Have you learned that lesson, Mister?” “Yes, sir!” “Fair enough.” End of discussion. (At least at that time; we don’t know if Wegener and Michelson had another conversation later, but if they did, you can bet it was in private, not in front of Michelson’s subordinates.)
- This isn’t really a leadership lesson, but it is one worth remembering: “You can’t even trust the manual.” I’ve learned that lesson myself the hard way.
- Wegener’s interaction with Obrecki. Obrecki figures out the problem and the solution; Wegener rewards him on the spot, in public, and in front of his superiors (the engineering officer and chief). Cause and effect; you’re rewarded for good work, and Wegener makes that clear early in his command. Plus; praise in public, criticize in private.
- “…all the more so because one of their own had figured it out.” There’s nothing better than doing it yourself, with your own people. When your own people figure out, or build it themselves, it improves morale. Even the people who weren’t directly involved can feel proud, and it gives them an incentive to step up.
(Side note: I have at least one, and possibly two, more posts in this series planned out, plus one post that doesn’t involve a fictional character. If any of my loyal readers has suggestions for additional works of fiction that illuminate good points about leadership, I’d welcome hearing from you; either in comments or via email to stainles [at] mac.com.)
Updates from the gun show front.
February 3rd, 2010Texas Gun Shows says their next show will be the 20th and 21st at the “Old Target Building” (6405 S. IH-35: Google map.)
As I recall, this is where the TGS shows were before Saxet left Austin and TGS took over the North Austin space. The TGS website does not state (as of right now) that only licensed dealers will be able to sell at the February show.
Leadership Secrets of Fictional Characters (part 1 of a series).
February 2nd, 2010Some of the best lessons in leadership I’ve learned have come from works of fiction. I’ve been thinking a lot more about leadership recently, for various reasons, and decided it was time to kick off this irregular series of posts.
My mind was made up by something a person (who shall remain nameless for the moment) said to me yesterday in conversation (in case it isn’t clear, they were being sarcastic):
Management is a priestly caste. You can’t possibly expect them to soil their hands doing the same work as their underlings. That would make them unclean. That would be like expecting Pelosi’s brood to fly commercial rather than take Air Force planes.
I thought for my first post I’d draw from one of my favorite books and movies, Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs.
Here’s the background for this exchange: Jack Crawford, head of the FBI Behavioral Science Section, took Clarice Starling, the trainee agent, with him to West Virgina to do forensics on one of Buffalo Bill’s (the serial killer Crawford and Starling are hunting) victims. While they were there, Crawford did a sort of shuck and jive routine about “giving the little woman some privacy” to clear the room so Starling could work. Now they’re coming home from the trip; Crawford is being dropped off at FBI headquarters for the night.
She realized then that he’d gotten her out of the car so he could speak with her privately.
“When I told that deputy he and I shouldn’t talk in front of a woman, that burned you, didn’t it?”
“Sure.”
“It was just smoke. I wanted to get him by himself.”
“I know that.”
“Okay.” Crawford slammed the trunk and turned away.
Starling couldn’t let it go.
“It matters, Mr. Crawford.”
He was turning back to her, laden with his fax machine and briefcase, and she had his full attention.
“Those cops know who you are,” she said, “They look at you to see how to act.” She stood steady, shrugged her shoulders, opened her palms. There it was, it was true.
Crawford performed a measurement on his cold scales.
“Duly noted, Starling. Now get on with the bug.”
“Yes sir.”
She watched him walk away, a middle-aged man laden with cases and rumpled from flying, his cuffs muddy from the riverbank, going home to what he did at home.
She would have killed for him then. That was one of Crawford’s great talents.
What do I take away from this?
- Being a leader means you’re being watched. Every day, people are watching you; not just your superiors, but the people under you, and even people you don’t know. The people under you are watching how you act, and how you behave; they are going to model their behavior after yours, for good or bad. What you do matters.
- “…she had his full attention.” Full attention. Not distracted by the cell phone, or email, or IM. Clarice has Jack’s full attention.
- The best leaders have the ability to chew your ass out, or take an ass-chewing, and still make you want to go out and kill for them.
The movie does include this exchange; Demme’s direction of it is pitch-perfect. If I could find it on YouTube, I’d link to it.
Random notes: February 2, 2010.
February 2nd, 2010Michael Gill owns a mortgage brokerage and a string of paloponies racehorses. Unfortunately, Mr. Gill’s racehorses have a problem. Specifically, they tend to die on the track at Penn National Race Course. Gill blames the track; the jockeys that don’t ride Gill’s horses blame him, and are boycotting races involving Gill’s horses.
This is sad and awful, but I also like saying “Swedish rapper?”: Swedish rapper convicted in road rage killing of jazz pianist.
I can’t come up with anything more clever than the headline: Fung shui master loses bid for ex-lover’s fortune.
G-8 and his battle aces.
January 31st, 2010Speaking of fighter aces, someone needs to do a full-blown biography of Brigadier General Robin Olds (USAF, ret.).
The first chapter of John Darrell Sherwood’s Fast Movers
Two quotes from Sherwood’s book stand out for me:
Olds’ tremendous success as a combat leader stemmed from three elements in his personality; his loyalty to his men, his desire to share danger with his men, and his willingness to socialize and interact casually with his troops. Olds never asked someone else to do something that he wouldn’t do himself. He also did his utmost to shield his men from policies and orders that he considered nonsensical or downright dangerous.
and
Unlike many other leaders during the war, Robin Olds’ loyalty extended down to the lowest-ranking man in his outfit. Even if one were only a slick-wing captain, if one had a hot idea Olds would listen, and if one could sell him on that idea, Robin Olds would put his career on the line to see it implemented. Moreover, Olds did not come into the outfit thinking he knew everything. He was willing to learn from others. More significantly, he was willing to share danger with others. That he occasionally made mistakes is evident in this narrative. That his men forgave him when he did had everything to do with his willingness to share risk. Not once in his entire career did Robin Olds ever ask a pilot to do something that he would not do himself.
No class.
January 31st, 2010The University of Texas, in a cost-saving move, has announced plans to close the Cactus Cafe, and end the “informal class” program.
I’m pretty indifferent to the Cactus Cafe shutdown, not being much of a fan of live music (and thinking there’s no shortage of live music venues in Austin), but the end of the informal class program saddens me. I’ve taken probably a half-dozen of the informal classes over the years, in things like wine tasting, kendo, and photography. That program was one of the things that I thought made Austin, and the city’s relationship with UT, special. I also would have thought the program was self-supporting; apparently not.
The cuts will save about $122,000 a year, Smith said. The programs had an operating cost of about $1.3 million, he said. UT officials said the Cactus Cafe and informal classes generally draw people who are not full-time students; about 10,000 people attended informal classes last year.
In recent years, both programs have required additional money from the university’s budget, even though they were intended to be self-sufficient, said Juan Gonzalez, vice president of student affairs. “They haven’t been for a number of years,” he said.
Five down and glory.
January 29th, 2010Obit watch: Lt. Colonel Lee A. Archer (USAF, ret.).
Lt. Colonel Archer was one of the Tuskegee Airmen, and is believed to be the only black ace.
Archer was acknowledged to have shot down four planes, and he and another pilot both claimed victory for shooting down a fifth plane. An investigation revealed Archer had inflicted the damage that destroyed the plane, said Brown, and the Air Force eventually proclaimed him an ace pilot.
(Title hattip: here.
Edited to add 2/4/2010: See here for notes on an important correction.
For those expecting more thoughts on Salinger: here’s the LAT obit. Beyond that, I have nothing to say; I’ve never read The Catcher in the Rye
Edited to add: Lawrence’s thoughts on Salinger are now up.
Uncaught.
January 28th, 2010The NYT is reporting the death of J.D. Salinger. More on this as it develops.
Edited to add: Link here. I’m sure the paper has had this one in the can for a while.
Murder was the case.
January 26th, 2010And Raynella Leath has been convicted of killing her second husband.
So why do I care about a murder trial in Knoxville? Because it has some rather strange aspects; I was going to blog this NYT article on Sunday, but got distracted by shiny objects.
There was a fatal car crash, a love child, a missing will and, strangest of all, the 1992 death, officially by cattle stampede, of the Knox County prosecutor, Ed Dossett, who happened to be Ms. Dossett Leath’s first husband at the time.
Dossett’s death was ruled an “agricultural accident” by the medical examiner.
Mr. Dossett had been in the late stages of terminal cancer, and Ms. Dossett Leath told the authorities that she had helped him out to the barn to feed the cattle at his request.
The medical examiner who made that ruling
lost his medical license after being convicted of sedating and sexually molesting minors in 1995.
The current medical examiner found
Mr. Dossett’s morphine level was “so extraordinarily high it is unlikely that any human could function in an ambulatory manner or continue to live.”
Les Jones, as I recall, was covering this case for a while.
Ah, Austin.
January 26th, 2010I didn’t find out about this until 6:30 PM last night, or I would have gone and covered the event for my loyal readers (all three of them; and I’m counting the guy with the tapeworm twice).
Musical notes.
January 25th, 2010The Hindu Love Gods album is now available from iTunes. I believe exactly two of my readers will find this significant.
Also, thanks to a tip from Caleb (yes, the Caleb of tactical coffee fame) on Tam’s site, I’m enjoying Kompressor’s World Domination
Obit watch.
January 25th, 2010Pernell Roberts, star of Bonanza and Trapper John, M.D.
Interestingly, at the SDC we were discussing M*A*S*H spinoffs and Trapper John, M.D. came up. (When was the last time you thought about that show? And many people remember AfterMASH, but did you know about W*A*L*T*E*R, the bizarre failed spinoff?)
Also interestingly, Trapper John, M.D. is officially not a M*A*S*H spinoff:
Legally, the show is considered a spin-off of the original motion picture, MASH, rather than the M*A*S*H television series. This is due to a court case in which the producers of the television series sought royalty payments on the grounds that Trapper John, M.D. was a spin-off of their series. The court found, however, that the series was a spin-off of the original movie – itself an adaptation of H. Richard Hornberger’s MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (published under the nom de plume, Richard Hooker). As a result, the series producers did not receive any royalties from Trapper John, M.D.
[Citation needed.] Seriously, if anyone knows more about the court case, I’d love to hear about it.
And I want to mention one of Pernell Roberts’ lesser works; yes, it was cheesy, and, yes, I have no taste, but I enjoyed FBI: The Unheard Music The Untold Stories.
Edited to add: NYT obit. Formal LAT obit.