Where Did he Go?

Yesterday, September 23, was the first time there was no post on a weekday since we started on January 21. All of the September posts up until then were written in July and August and were automatically being posted as I was in Italy and Croatia until just a few days before. Since returning I have been making major format changes (and some content upgrades) to Leadership Skills, Managing People and Participative Management. These changes were implemented in the last few days for week 1 of each program. Yesterday, the day of the missing post, I left RI at 6:00 AM and put 250 miles on the car visiting facilities of a new consulting client.

Considering the time required to post daily versus all the other things I need to do including program updates, client service and business promotion, as of today I will no longer commit to a daily post. There are several drafts posts in backlog, and I'll start getting them out to you soon. But I also realize that checking a blog daily and not finding something new can be a drag.

Luckily, the Blogspot programs include a mechanism whereby I can send you an e-mail each time a new post appears on the blog. Unfortunately the capacity of that feature is limited to only 10 e-mail addresses. If you would like to be one of those 10, please click here to send me an e-mail to let me know or give me a call. If you are a current or former participant in my programs you should have my telephone number. Beyond the first 10 e-mail addresses, I will try to find an alternate way of letting you know.

For all others, I hope to post relevant information as it becomes available. If you've enjoyed the blog so far, I recommend you check in from time to time to see what's new.

About Pelleyblog. This blog covers topics of interest to managers, particularly those at the first-line supervisor level. Topics include handling difficult employees, leadership, counseling, coaching, problem solving, lean thinking, motivation and time management. We welcome your comments on this post.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

A Dark Day

I've started to write this post many times. Then I get angry, frustrated and upset about how we have responded to this day. And how little we have accomplished. Osama Bin Laden -- still out there. The Freedom Tower (now renamed 1 World Trade Center for some politically correct reason) -- still not done. The War on Terror (oh right, we can't call it that anymore; as if that makes the terrorism stop) -- ineffective; innocent people still die at the hands of uncivilized barbarians. See my problem? This paragraph was to be two sentences, and already it is building momentum and turning into a rant. And taking away from today.

On September 11, 2001 nearly 3,000 innocent people were slaughtered going about their daily lives. That's what we need to remember today. The children without parents. In some cases the parents now without a child. The first responders fallen in the line of duty. The wasted talents and skills of so many people. The hopes and dreams snuffed out. The weddings, graduations, birthdays, christenings, retirement parties and other celebrations that will never be. From the highly successful to just plain folks, innocent people blasted into eternity without even the possibility of a common mass grave. That's what we need to remember today. In prayer if you are so inclined (and many Americans are). Or in other ways of recognition if you are not (as this country allows you to -- unlike so many other countries).

December 7, 1941 was a day of infamy. September 11, 2001 will always be a dark day for me.

About me: Dan Pelley is an educator specializing in management training and development programs for supervisors and other first-line managers in Connecticut (CT), Massachusetts (MA) and Rhode Island (RI).

About my logo

My first job out of high school was in a machine shop. Being paid piecework, we hustled all day. But the work was routine, repetitious and boring. As factory workers we lived by the time clock, and were pretty much faceless entities, a pair of hands to feed a machine. My primary job required 15 different hand movements every 17 seconds. (See "The Room" for a more profound description of factory life).

I like to be recognized. I like to be a little different. Hard to do wearing a uniform and being known by a clock number.

We had a time card for each job worked. We wrote in our name, job number, checked off boxes for department, operation and so forth, posted quantities, and punched in and out on a time clock. It wasn't long before I stopped writing my name as "Daniel Pelley." I combined the D and the P into the one symbol you see centered in my logo, and I used that symbol while working in that shop three years full time and then four years part time while I was in college.

I don't know if anyone else in the company ever really noticed my symbol or cared, but it mattered to me. Because I wanted to be somebody other than a pair of hands, a faceless clock number in a uniform.

The years went by, and the road of life took me far away from the factory. To being a manager. An executive. To the boardroom. And the speaking platform. But I've never forgotten where I came from. And that's why my blue collar time card symbol with the addition of a diamond as a border became my professional logo.

My logo reminds me where I came from. I've never forgotten that. I attribute a large part of my success as an executive, a consultant and an educator to having as much respect for people who come to work and do routine repetitious work every day as I do for the most innovative professional or the most successful executive.

Oh, in case you were wondering: Why a diamond instead of a circle, square or rectangle? I chose the diamond simply because isn't as common as the others. I wanted to be a little different.

About me: Dan Pelley's career experiences range from the production floor to the boardroom and the college classroom. He has worked in companies as diverse as metal stamping, foundries, pharmaceuticals, computers and electronic components, hospitals, nursing homes, motor carriers, distribution, retailers, social services, government, quasi-government agencies, a major art museum and an airline. He shares his experiences through programs and seminars for companies in New England and through this blog.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

Oh My My My

Aren't these talking devices just wonderful. My car talks to me. One of my pc printers talks to me. And the other day, after avoiding it for some time, I finally got on my electronic scale. It said just four words: "Get off of me."

Hmmmm. Just what we need - electronic nags.

Seriously, my visit to the scale prompted me to visit another long lost friend, the treadmill. Amazing how dusty its become since I last visited. Fortunately it doesn't talk. If it did, I'd probably hear a lot of sarcasm: "Well, the prodigal son returns." "Forgot where I live did you?" "You better get started - this is going to take awhile."

So here I am, working off those indulgences that tasted so good. Exercising those muscles that rest while I work with my mind. (Posting to a blog burns very minimal calories.) And taking a moment to write this post to remind all of you that we need to constantly attend to body and soul as well as to our mind.

Now if you'll excuse me. The scale just called to tell me the treadmill needs to see me.

About Pelleyblog. This blog covers topics of interest to managers, particularly those at the first-line supervisor level. Occasionally we include topics of general interest, topics about Dan Pelley's background and experiences, and a rare occasional rant. We welcome your comments on this or any other post.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

She Retired

On May 10 I blogged about some of the recognition I've received and cherished in the past. ( Click here if you would like to read that blog post titled "Long Distance Participants.") Today's post deals with a quite unique form of personal recognition.

I did a program on "Work Team Participation Skills" for a company in Milford, NH. The program involved several sections of employees with each section meeting for two hours per week for eight weeks. All told about 80 people attended the program.

When a program ends, it's common for some participants to thank or compliment an instructor before they go. This company was no exception, and I was pleased to chat with several participants at the close of each section. But one situation nearly floored me. After one participant shook my hand, said a few kind words to me and then said goodbye, another took her place. Before a handshake and a few kind words she said: "You see that person you just talked to? Well she liked the program so much that she decided to keep attending, even though she actually retired after the third class! She asked for and got permission to come back to our classes each week."

I think I can safely speak for many educators, and certainly for myself, when I tell you that people like that make it all worthwhile. Many thanks to the more than 8,000 people who have attended my programs over the years and the more than 600 companies that supported their continuing education efforts.

Dan Pelley offers "Work Team Participation Skills," a 16 hour program designed to introduce team concepts to non-management employees. He also offers Team Facilitation Skills, a 16 hour program for managers and other team leaders. Click here to learn more about these programs.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

It Shouldn't Be That Hard

Over the past many months I've been making changes to the way I do things here at Dan Pelley Educational Services. I've discontinued my rarely used in-bound toll free number and expanded my on line presence. I parted company with my primary e-mail provider and added a more user friendly one. I've begun to accept ACH transfers as payments from customers. I'm also re-evaluating our use of fax, email and other tools as well.

Because of this, I found myself needing new business cards. Ordinarily I would go to Image Printing, a company I have been pleased to work with for many years. However, since I've already changed my primary email address twice in the last three months, and because I'm still not convinced which email system is best suited to my primary email needs, I didn't want the expense of professional printing for cards that may become obsolete very soon.

After seeing business card blank forms in a catalog, I decided to try them. They are made by an office supply company that is well recognized. I've used many of their other products over the years. They offered free on line templates compatible with my word processor, plus three other ways to design and print business cards. So I bought a pack of 200 cards to try it.

I then spent many, many miserable hours trying to do a simple layout and print job that ended up ranking among the top ten aggravating frustrating computer experiences I've had over the years (and I've had a lot of them). I should have known I was in for trouble when most user evaluations of the template I needed were 1 star or less. "Trash, junk, garbage, useless" is what most of them said. Except for one who talked about successfully using the tools and conventions for tables.

Okay. That made sense. After all I thought, five rows and two columns of business cards is most likely organized as a table. Besides, I've successfully used this company's templates for mailing labels in the past, how hard can this be? I downloaded the template. The download process wasn't seamless, but it wasn't all that bad to get through. And of course it included the obligatory collection of my email address as well as a routing through a page of other products, just in case I wanted to buy more things while I was in the process of learning how to use what I just bought.

Yes, I got a table. And a very strange one indeed. When I clicked on select table I got one cell. Some table functions seemed to work. Other table functions did not. Adding graphics was extremely difficult (but I find adding graphics in my word processor often tends to be difficult). Cut and paste gave me very strange results. Hours had gone by. I actually had one cell complete with a business card the way I wanted it (including my logo graphics), but just couldn't get all 10 cells of the table to replicate perfectly.

In frustration I went back to the company website from whence the template came. A second option was to use their "wizard" which (they said) would work with all their products and would be compatible with my word processor as well as several other programs. I could easily add logos and graphics to all their products. Download was free. So I did it. More routing through pages where I could get distracted by other offerings. the obligatory email address again, another not quite seamless download and nearly 100 Mb later, there I was .

And there I dropped. Turns out their easy-to-use system was a stripped down version of my word processor that lacked such tools as edit text box or edit picture. Complete waste of time.

Well, I then reasoned, I think I can just use my word processor tools to create a table to the specifications I needed. And I did. With much frustration and aggravation due to the exactness I needed and the tendency of software systems do things (by default) that that you really didn't want. But I did it. I printed the first sheet of business cards six hours after throwing away the "wizard" and going it alone.

My friends it just shouldn't be that hard to create a business card.

One last thought here. This situation is an example of how a good brand name gets tarnished. I have known and trusted this brand name for years. In the past I would purchase their products without question. I trusted them on the quality of their products and services. Today I look at them somewhat differently. And that's the lesson for today. Too many companies are so busy gathering your email address, routing you through product offerings, and trying so hard to get you to buy more that they fail to properly deliver the product or service you paid them for. ( Click here to see a related post).

About Pelleyblog. This blog covers topics of interest to managers, particularly those at the first-line supervisor level. Occasionally we include topics of general interest, topics about Dan Pelley's background and experiences, and a rare occasional rant. We welcome your comments on this or any other post.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

He Hit the Keys But Couldn't Continue

I think you'll get more out of this post if you read yesterday's post "Hit Any Key to Continue."

After reading my rant yesterday embodying some of my strong frustrations with aggravating computer systems, maybe you wonder why I didn't hit the damn thing with a mallet. Yes, I know my wife locked them up. But that's a solvable problem. Worst case, the hammer and mallet stores were open.

Many, many, many years ago (before I had distinguished gray in my hair), I was in the computer business. We had a service bureau (look it up if you are not sure what those were), sold minicomputers and also provided software services including programming.

One day, one of my best software technicians, a person who could write in many languages including BAL (Basic assembly language), got completely aggravated with a balky computer system. "Damn it," he said, as he jumped up and swung his fist, just missing the keyboard and hitting the desk hard. To his amazement, all of the characters on his screen split in half. We needed to place a service call so the hardware folks could fix the problem.

I sympathized with my software technician. I think most of you can understand his frustration as well. And that's why, as much as I want to, I don't hit the aggravating computer with my fist, a mallet, or anything else for that matter.

G'Day!

About me: Dan Pelley's career experiences range from the shipping room to the boardroom and the college classroom. He has worked in companies as diverse as metal stamping, foundries, pharmaceuticals, computers and electronic components, hospitals, nursing homes, motor carriers, distribution, retailers, social services, government, quasi-government agencies, a major art museum and an airline. He shares his experiences through programs and seminars for companies in New England and through this blog.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

Hit Any Key to Continue

Have you seen that cartoon? The version I saw had a duck standing in front of a computer with a grimace on his face and a rather large mallet raised over his head. The tag line said "Hit any key to continue." That's how I felt yesterday and why I am way behind today.

Saturday night I got a message from Microsoft asking me to download their newest version of Explorer. Seems like I get these update notices at least two or three times a week from this software company or that. Some companies have very smooth updates, such as Avast anti-virus. Others are a horror show. Take Adobe Software for example. I try not to update their programs as I generally find substantial problems afterward. With Microsoft it's a mixed bag. Sometimes good. Sometimes not so good.

Because updates often require a restart, I try to do them during off hours. Saturday night seemed to be a good time to get the Explorer 8 update done. Since then I've had a devil of a time using the copy and paste function in Blogger. When I am in Blogger using Explorer 8 I can't copy any text within the blog post using the blog editor, nor can I copy and paste anything from my Microsoft word files to blog posts. Since I started blogging, I've never had a problem with this although I've read many complaints from people who have had the problem in the past. Looking at some of the solutions given for past complaints, some people suggest using a plain text editor. So I copied from Word to Notepad, then from Notepad to Blogger; no luck.

I wasted hours on this yesterday. It's frustrating and time consuming. Worse, I have reprint permission for several posts written by others that I want to scan in to Word, edit them, and copy and paste to the blog. Obviously all of this is on hold. And, with me in a very busy month program-wise, time is limited.

Using both Google and Microsoft products extensively, I get the very real impression they don't like each other and work very hard to avoid cooperating. When people send me Word attachments in gmail, Google suggests I open them with Google docs. Yet Google docs has very little by way of capabilities. When I try to open them in Word, Microsoft tells me it can't deal with them without an upgrade? How come I don't have that problem with other email providers.

So why do I think the problem is Explorer 8? Because I write this post today using Mozilla Firefox instead of Explorer 8. And I can copy and paste back and forth between Blogger and Word quite nicely. Ah ha, you say. Problem solved. Unfortunately not. When I try to publish a post with copy and paste, I get all kinds of errors. I finally found a crude way around them so I can use copy and paste but at the moment it's difficult and time-consuming.

So here's today's post to let you know why you don't have a good solid business issue or interesting article from me. I don't usually rant here, but I had to vent somewhere. Now I've got to get going on other things.

Oh ya, my wife doesn't like my ranting either. As this process worsened yesterday she disappeared to somewhere quiet. Later I discovered she locked up all my hammers and mallets.

About me: Dan Pelley's career experiences range from the shipping room to the boardroom and the college classroom. He has worked in companies as diverse as metal stamping, foundries, pharmaceuticals, computers and electronic components, hospitals, nursing homes, motor carriers, distribution, retailers, social services, government, quasi-government agencies, a major art museum and an airline. He shares his experiences through programs and seminars for companies in New England and through this blog.

The above was a copy and paste. I had to edit out a lot Html stuff to get it work using Firefox.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

The Carnival Guy

I've written a fair number of case studies over the years. Although I do my very best to make them perfect when first published, they sometimes have errors or omissions or little glitches that cause difficulty for users. Thankfully people alert me to the defects so I can correct them. Over time then, the cases become "tried and true."

Still, some people argue about a "tried and true" case. That it doesn't mean what it says. That my conclusions at the end of the case are wrong. Or there's some other difficulty. Obviously, if it's a valid error, I can make a further correction; but with a "tried and true" case that would be rare. In other instances, I can usually show the critic the portion of the case they are misreading or overlooking, or I can present the underlying logic we are working with and how certain aspects of the case have been structured to focus on the issue at hand rather than allowing stretched logic and off-the-wall assumptions to enter the case discussion. The vast majority of people understand my approach, but sometimes a person will argue a point to death. That's when I have to tell them the story of the carnival guy.

It's possible to rig a carnival game to get a desired outcome, just as it is possible to write a case in such a way as to lead the discussion to the desired outcome (which may be one solid conclusion or a range of opinions). For instance, I once heard of a carnival game where one had to roll balls down a ramp into numbered chutes at the end. If the numbers added up to a certain value, I think it was "21," you won a prize. My understanding was that a game operator could construct the game in such a way that it was impossible to hit the required score. Yet people were winning prizes. How could that be? The game operator simply awarded prizes at random to stimulate interest in the game and to manage the outflow of prizes against the income from contestants.

"Wait a minute," you might be thinking. "Wouldn't we know we didn't roll '21'?" No you wouldn't if the game operator grabbed the balls quickly and shouted "Here goes another winner!" Besides, if you thought you didn't win the prize and the operator thought you did, would you really argue about it?

The concept I'm talking about here was stated so well by one carnival game operator. He said "It's my game. It's my prizes. It's my rules. It's my trailer. Do you really think you're going to win?"

In a similar manner, I always smile when someone tells me "how they beat the auto dealer when negotiating to buy a car." I just say something like "good for you." I don't have the heart to tell them they don't even understand the game much less how its really played.

About me: Dan Pelley's career experiences range from the shipping room to the boardroom and the college classroom. He has worked in companies as diverse as metal stamping, foundries, pharmaceuticals, computers and electronic components, hospitals, nursing homes, motor carriers, distribution, retailers, social services, government, quasi-government agencies, a major art museum and an airline. He shares his experiences through programs and seminars for companies in New England and through this blog.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

Man Plans, God Laughs

I took a day off recently to catch up on some things around the house. Yard work mostly. I had the day all planned out. Exactly what I was going to do and the order in which I was going to do it. I scheduled the late morning to power vac the heavy accumulation of lawn clippings resulting from finally mowing the overgrown lawn the day before. As soon as the morning dew dried I would get to it. Then I heard the weather forecast. Rain heading here. Arriving soon.

As I furiously raked up the wet (dewy) grass (the power vac doesn't like wet grass), I remembered an old Yiddish saying: "Man Plans, God laughs." Or, if you wish, "the best laid plans of mice and men and women are always subject to the unknown."

While researching the origin of the saying, I ran across an interesting article you may want to read. Click here to see the article at jewishmag.com.

About Pelleyblog. This blog covers topics of interest to managers, particularly those at the first-line supervisor level. Occasionally we include topics of general interest, topics about Dan Pelley's background and experiences, and a rare occasional rant. We welcome your comments on this or any other post.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

Thanks Ray

During the energy crisis of the 80's, our manufacturing company had our maintenance person put together a program of how to save energy and thus help save money. Ray had many suggestions, but one in particular stuck with me. Ray suggested we simply learn to turn off the water while shaving and brushing our teeth. I've long forgotten the average savings figures Ray told us, and I'm sure the savings were modest at best. But I'm also sure the waste of water (and heat for the shaving water) were pure wastes, money down the drain, and a waste that could be cured without any inconvenience if we would only remember to do it.

We've been away for several days visiting the New Jersey shore. I came home and wrote this post because I thought about Ray one morning at the hotel. Yes I was shaving. And brushing my teeth. And yes, I did turn off the water. And I remembered Ray and his energy saving meeting. How it was probably a chore for him to put together the presentation. How he may have been nervous giving it. How perhaps he may have wondered if it was really worth it.

Well thanks Ray. For me it was. I've used your tip for many, many years. And I've told others about it too. And perhaps today through this blog a few more faucets will be turned off when the water is simply being wasted down the drain.

Sometimes the little things we do have far reaching and long term impacts. Because of them we may occasionally receive great reward and profound recognition. More likely however the resulting impact will go unseen and unnoticed by the originator. But even though the originators like Ray may never know the result of their efforts, the change of behavior that others make and the fond memories of the originator are real.

About me: Before becoming a full time educator, my career experiences included being vice president of a consulting firm, vice president - finance of a publishing company, vice president - sales support services for a manufacturing company and vice president - operations for a distribution company. As a full time educator working principally in Rhode Island (RI), Connecticut (CT) and Massachusetts (MA). I am pleased to share my experiences and business philosophies with managers at all levels.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

A Tale of Two Suppliers

The nature of my business has changed somewhat over the years and recently I’ve been busy making some long overdue changes. One change was to eliminate my toll-free number as it was rarely used. I was however always pleased with the cost, functionality and service of that supplier, formerly called GOTVMAIL and now called Grasshopper. Best of all, when it came time to part they were most helpful. Termination was quick, easy to do and acknowledged by e-mail along with, surprise, an unexpected refund for unused time. Even though I left just before it became Grasshopper, I expect that the same fine level of service I enjoyed for many years will continue. I recommend them.

Another change I must sadly make is to part ways with my long time primary e-mail provider, NetZero. Even though they do offer a very limited free service, I’ve always paid for a better level of service and was reasonably pleased for many years. Sadly things are quite different now. I use three other services for e-mail, all of which are free. The paid version of NetZero has far more advertising associated with it than any of the free ones. Until I discovered it and found out how to stop it, NetZero was attaching advertisements to my e-mails without my knowledge. Replying to some e-mails became tedious as some are placed into attached files (limiting your ability to read what you are replying to). The service has a low limit on attached file size that has prevented me from sending some attachments. Even though I paid for the service and didn’t like any of the above issues, I tended to live with it. With the most recent change, I no longer can.

NetZero now places ads in the area where you compose your e-mail. Most are animated. Some are obnoxious. Have you ever tried to compose an e-mail with a red background ad blinking away next to your text? I found that I couldn’t think straight. I started to use other services to answer e-mails received from NetZero. I contacted their customer service group to complain that the service was “unusable.” The response is that they are working on a way to eliminate such ads for paying customers. Working on it? Would any programmer out there disagree when I say it shouldn’t take a day to make that change?

The came the biggest frustration of all. Trying to copy my address files to the other services. Do think NetZero makes that easy for you to do? Do you think NetZero even talks about it? Guess again. And while Gmail recently announced an ability to help you copy your contact files from selected other services, NetZero wasn’t one of them.

So goodbye NetZero. You’ve already become secondary to other services. I’ll continue to pay for your useless service as I get the word out to everyone. But unlike Grasshopper, which I wouldn’t hesitate to use again, my termination will be permanent. And obviously I can’t recommend you.

For those who would like my new primary e-mail address, click here.

About me: Before becoming a full time educator, my career experiences included being vice president of a consulting firm, vice president - finance of a publishing company, vice president - sales support services for a manufacturing company and vice president - operations for a distribution company. As a full time educator working principally in Rhode Island (RI), Connecticut (CT) and Massachusetts (MA). I am pleased to share my experiences and business philosophies through this blog, along with an occasional rant such as today.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

Lest We Forget

Ah! A Holiday. Celebrated in many ways. A cookout. Beach day. Day trip. Sports event. Shopping the sales. Visiting the family plot at the cemetery. Perhaps a parade, but those are getting fewer and smaller. As are the realities of what this holiday was meant to be.

Originally called "Decoration Day," the holiday was designed to commemorate and remember the ultimate sacrifice of those who fought to preserve our way of life. Families of fallen soldiers would decorate their graves with flowers, remembering them as people who once walked among us, and honoring them for their service.

We are the greatest nation in the world. People go to great lengths to come here. I'll bet if you could survey the entire world population, most would love to live here. And yet there are so many who live here who trash this country and our way of life. Talk about our consumerism. Talk about our greed. Talk about how we don't do this and don't do that. Talk about how we should be like those very same countries that people flee from to come here. And at the extreme talk about how we should protest, revolt, ignore the law and engage in civil disobedience. Most people who talk this way disdain our military muscle and might. The very muscle and might that creates a society where they can say what they please due to those very people they disdain and disrespect who sacrificed so they would have the freedom to say what they wish in this great country. Say and do things they know in other countries would bring them sanctions, punishment and even death.

With the elimination of the draft fewer families are concerned with the military. Fewer families watch what is happening on the world stage and worry that one of their own might be called to serve. Many families no longer relate to the sacrifices made even by those who were drafted and gave up two years of their lives, even if only to serve in a non-combat environment.

I'm having difficulty writing this as I have some personal experiences in this area. And I find that I could vent and rant about this all day. But that is not my intention. So let me close today by saying thank you to those I knew who never came back. And thank you to those I knew who did their duty and returned home. And thank you to all who served in the past, and to all who serve now. But especially on this day, a special thank you, remembrance and prayer for all who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our way of life.

What I'm Doing Today

It's the holiday weekend and I wish you a pleasant one. May was thankfully a busier than expected month for Dan Pelley Educational Services (DPES) and with June nearly fully booked, I need to split my time this weekend between DPES, things to do around the home, and some holiday time as well.

I began in March upgrading the supervision series books and four of the five have been completed. These four now require double-sided printing in order to fit comfortably in our standard binder spline size. Double-sided printing is of course ecologically friendly and I'm glad to do it. The books for the June programs are here now and I may even bind a few today to see what they look like.

As many of you know, I am a do-it-yourselfer so this weekend also involves installing a new valving system on the the swimming pool. The grandchildren love it, as do their mommies and my wife (who the grandchildren call "Gigi)". Although not a big enthusiast, I do like the pool at the end of a hot day when the crowd has gone. I set two cold ones (never more, never less) at the edge of the pool where I can stand with water up to my shoulders and stay cool in-between dives off the board.

Just to keep you posted, "Managing for Results" will be running in Lincoln, RI starting Thursday June 4. The class limit is twenty people and there are five seats left if you are interested. At last check, "Building High Performance Teams" at QVCC in Danielson, CT starting Tuesday June 2 in the morning is full. "Leadership Skills" at QVCC starting on the same day in the afternoon may have seats available. You can register on-line for "Managing For Results" or "Leadership Skills" by clicking here to visit my website. "Proactive Leadership" in Lincoln starting Tuesday July 21 also has two people registered although the program is not yet "officially" open for registrations.

Well it is Saturday so off I go. Hope you and yours enjoy whatever you are doing on this holiday weekend.

About me: Dan Pelley's career experiences range from the shipping room to the boardroom and the college classroom. He has worked in companies as diverse as metal stamping, foundries, pharmaceuticals, computers and electronic components, hospitals, nursing homes, motor carriers, distribution, retailers, social services, government, quasi-government agencies, a major art museum and an airline. He shares his experiences through programs and seminars for companies in New England and through this blog.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

Long Distance Participants

I'm thankful to be an educator, and I am honored to receive much recognition for my work. Not just the formal awards such as the Continuous Quality Instruction Award from Bryant College, the Distinguished Service Award from Quinebaug Valley Community College, and the 2004 Richard Fontaine Award for Teaching Excellence, but the informal tokens of appreciation as well. Such as the song written for me by Barbara Royea, the plaques from class participants, the sweatshirt autographed by an entire class, the miniature chalkboard crafted by a graduate, and the numerous t-shirts and small gifts. While I never look for or seek out such things, they are always appreciated and valued. Indeed, I tend to cherish the small homemade things more than the fancy formal awards.

But the form of recognition that I find most profound is the number of people willing to travel long distances to attend my programs. Like the person traveling from New Haven, CT to New London, CT to attend programs, 57 miles each way. The persons travelling from New London, CT to Lincoln, RI (67 miles each way). The persons going to Danielson, CT from Chicopee, MA (71 miles each way) and Orange, CT (88 miles each way). The persons going from Tiverton, RI to Rocky Hill, CT (114 miles each way).

Then there's the all-time record holder. Rich Fitzgerald of Saugerties, New York found the information in my programs to be worth traveling 175 miles each way for each day he attended classes in Danielson, CT.

Many thanks to the more than 8,000 people who have attended my programs over the years and the more than 600 companies that supported their continuing education efforts.

About me: For 25 years, Dan Pelley has presented supervisory management development programs in Rhode Island (RI), Massachusetts (MA) and Connecticut (CT). Click here to visit his website.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

A Note on Comments

I welcome and encourage all readers to comment on our posts. I will always try to make sure your comment appears on the blog within 24 hours. However, on occasion when I leave for a program early in the morning and return late at night, it may take slightly longer for a comment to appear. But unless your comment is inappropriate (such as a sales pitch, spam or profanity) it will appear on the blog. It's generally my policy to pass all comments through to the blog, whether you agree with me or or other readers or not.

Please join us won't you? Feel free to comment on any article, post or comment in the blog. If you are not sure how to comment or what commenting is all about, see our post on Tuesday, February 10, 2009.


About me: Before becoming a full time educator, my career experiences included being vice president of a consulting firm, vice president - finance of a publishing company, vice president - sales support services for a manufacturing company and vice president - operations for a distribution company. As a full time educator working principally in Rhode Island (RI), Connecticut (CT) and Massachusetts (MA). I am pleased to share my experiences and business philosophies with managers at all levels, and I encourage Pelleyblog readers to share their experiences, philosophies and general thoughts as well.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

Oh The Things We Had To Do

Yesterday's post included the "Lean Thinking" idea of using idle time to make improvements. It reminded me a situation many, many years ago. Long before I became an executive and an educator. During the several years I spent between high school and college working in a machine shop.

I was trained to do a blue collar job. I did it well and, like most others in the shop, made a good pay by way of a piecework incentive system. Then business slowed down. Rumors of layoff started. Near the bottom of the seniority list, I was worried. But my boss had other ideas.

Rather than a layoff, he decided to clean and organize our facility. It was badly needed, would keep several of us employed, and would guarantee the company wouldn't lose its investment in our skills. If we were laid off, of course, we might find other employment. While the company could certainly hire someone else to do our jobs, it would still incur all the costs of recruiting, hiring and training. For our part, we welcomed the opportunity. Yes, we would make less money. But day rate was about 90% of piecework, and we still had a job.

Oh the things we did. We cleaned lighting fixtures that probably had never been cleaned since the day they were installed. We removed and sold for scrap the darnedest collection of frames, pulleys, wheels and other paraphernalia from the days the factory was powered by a central steam engine (long since removed). We cleaned out junk from back rooms and even from behind the boiler. Can you imagine the grime that collects on things placed behind a boiler? We created storage areas. Cleaned windows. Thoroughly drained and cleaned wash tanks. After many weeks the facility was "standing tall" and "looking good."

Then the bad news. Having run out of things for us to do, the boss gave us a layoff. As he did, though, he suggested we not hurry to seek other employment. He forecast that business would pickup in just a few weeks and, if so, we would be recalled. He advised patience and was sorry that he didn't have a few more weeks of "projects" to keep us busy. But he did let it be known that he wanted all of us back.

Yes we did go back. Just a few weeks later. And I don't think any of us ever forgot the unspoken message of how much he valued us as employees.

About me: Dan Pelley's career experiences range from the shipping room to the boardroom and the college classroom. He has worked in companies as diverse as metal stamping, foundries, pharmaceuticals, computers and electronic components, hospitals, nursing homes, motor carriers, distribution, retailers, social services, government, quasi-government agencies, a major art museum and an airline. He shares his experiences through programs and seminars for companies in New England and through this blog.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

On Being Perfect

I was reading a homework assignment from someone who listed "a constant focus on perfection" as their biggest deficiency. Never satisfied, they tended to do work that their subordinates should be doing because they wanted to make sure "it was done right." They worked long hours to ensure everything was just right. When they did make a mistake they apologized profusely and at length.

Their story rang a bell with me. In graduate school I had the misfortune of straight A's course after course after course. After awhile I became obsessed with the perfect record. Running harder and faster to keep up the perfect record. I almost made it to the end when I finally got a B. Obviously, I was disappointed to break the winning streak. But I was far more relieved to be rid of the burden. Straight A's are nice. Something to strive for. But not to a fault.

Here's my comment to the person with the issue: "No one is perfect. And being obsessive about it can result in burnout or worse. Always try to do your best. But also be realistic and human in your approach to your work. p.s., I've been very successful in my career. But you should see some of the huge blunders, errors and mistakes I've made along the way."


About me: Dan Pelley is an educator specializing in management training and development programs for supervisors and other first-line managers in Connecticut (CT), Massachusetts (MA) and Rhode Island (RI). The issue recited above came from a participant in his "Leadership Skills" program.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

The Hurrier I Go

"The Hurrier I go, the behinder I get." That's what my Dad used to say. And that's what I'm going to say today in this short post. To say I've been busy over the past several weeks would be an understatement.

So far this week I've delivered a highly customized version of "Participative Management" in Norwich, CT on Tuesday. A standard version of "Leadership Skills" in Lincoln, RI yesterday. Today I'll be eight hours "on the platform" doing "Proactive Leadership" in the morning and "Building High Performance Teams" in the afternoon in Danielson, CT. Tomorrow the newly revised "Thriving on Change" with a totally new PowerPoint presentation, totally revised materials, and three new case studies will be presented in Eastford, CT.

The balance of my time this week has been spent developing a survey for a customer, finishing "Thriving on Change," and working with the host company in Colchester, CT regarding their upcoming special programs at a special price. See the post on 3/29/09 for more information. Two of the three programs are sold out ("Interviewing Skills" and "Effective Performance Appraisals").

So off I go to Danielson. Have a great day.

About me: For 25 years, Dan Pelley has presented supervisory management development programs in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. He is the 2004 recipient of the Richard Fontaine Award for Teaching Excellence awarded by Quinebaug Valley Community College in Danielson, CT.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

You Need A License Number

It is very common for me to write a blog post and have the idea for another blog posts come into my mind. That's what happened as I wrote about government bureaucracy for the March 29 post. You may want to read that post first.

Many, many years ago when I lived in another state I needed to go to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. I had purchased a boat and a trailer from a local marina and needed to register the trailer. The dealer provided all of the necessary papers and off I went to the Registry. After a long wait in line I finally reached a clerk's window. Examining my papers, she stopped abruptly, looked up at me and said "There's no automobile dealer license number on this application."

"That's right", I said. "It's not an automobile, it's a trailer."

"Doesn't matter. You must have an automobile dealer license number on the application."

"But it's not an automobile dealer who I purchased the trailer from. It's a marina."

"Doesn't matter, she said. You must have an automobile dealer license number on the application. I can't register your trailer until you get that for me."

Off I went back to the marina. I asked junior, my salesperson and the owner's son, to give me their automobile dealer license number.

He looked at me like I was crazy. He said "I'm not an automobile dealer. This is a marina."

"I know, but you must have an automobile dealer license number in order to sell trailers."

"We don't have one" he replied. "And we've been selling boat trailers for years. Unless this is something I don't know about."

He called to his father "Dad? Do we have an automobile dealer license?"

"No," said his father, "we are a marina not an automobile dealer. We don't need an automobile dealer license. In fact, we don't even need a license to sell boats."

"See," said junior, "We don't have one."

"That's all well and good" I relied. "But I can't register the trailer unless I have one. So what do I do now?"

Meanwhile, Junior's dad was searching the files to see what they did have for licenses. Since he was talking to himself as he went through the licenses, we began to focus on what he was saying.

"License to sell fuel. License to operate a marina. Sales tax license. License to sell ice cream. Hey. Here's a license to sell ice cream. Maybe we could use that number. They'll probably never know the difference. Here Junior, write this number down on Dan's application."

I didn't believe it would work. But since they didn't have an automobile dealer license I didn't know what else to do. So I went back to the Registry and hoped for another clerk. As luck would have it I ended up with the original one.

Taking my papers, she immediately looked for the automobile dealer license number. Finding a number there she looked up at me and gave a triumphant smile. "See. I told you they had to have an automobile dealers license number."

On this April Fools' Day I thought I'd begin your day with a little smile.

About me: Dan Pelley's career experiences range from the shipping room to the boardroom and the college classroom. He has worked in companies as diverse as metal stamping, foundries, pharmaceuticals, computers and electronic components, hospitals, nursing homes, motor carriers, distribution, retailers, social services, government, quasi-government agencies, a major art museum and an airline. He shares his experiences through programs and seminars for companies in New England and through this blog.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.