I read a piece this week that illustrates the importance of building diversity into our teams. In the waning days of NASA’s Apollo program, the money was running out. Not to go deep into the why or politics, Apollo 18 was canceled, and NASA had to make decisions on what projects to include in our […]
“Not Invented Here.” This is a popular corporate syndrome that was often mentioned as part of Microsoft’s organizational culture back in the late 90s/early 2000s. Being that it was org culture, it kept popping up in different ways. For example, in the early days of the Internet, Microsoft chose to keep the ‘Net at arm’s […]
June 10, 2019 Last week I severed my final tie to the Tulsa Area United Way, my wonderful employer for 8+ years. I maintain the highest respect for their mission and the great folks who work there, doing so much for our 5-county service area. My first volunteer activity for them was the very first […]
Lots going on lately — at the office we’ve been working on replacing staff vacancies, retool with new positions, etc. I’ve also been cleaning out and consolidating boxes, which means I find notes and documents from previous gigs. One folder contained info on an employee I had to let go. These things together make one […]
Have you ever gone to a new stylist for that first appointment, and you can just sense the silent (or not so silent) judging about your hair? The subtle looks and clucking that subtly declare: “Who came up with this hot mess? Why did they do it this way? I would never have done THAT,” […]
I’ve written before about my “Marcel Proust madeleine moments,” and I had another one yesterday…coming back from getting new air filters and I’m bored with all my usual Sirius/XM channels. So I wander over to the Opera/Classical station, and they’re playing Maurice Durufle’s “Requiem.” I sang it in University Chorale for Laven Sowell, and it […]
The quote above, sans “Campaign,” is from F. Scott Fitzgerald. It always excites me when things get going again in late August. While the weather in Oklahoma is nowhere near crisp, you can begin to detect the days changing, as the northern earth starts its’ drunken swing away from the Sun. Those of us who […]
Welcome back…to Me! Wow…who knew that it’d been three months? Three months of Me not subjecting you to my thoughts. (You’re welcome) I’ve been busy at work (more on that in a later post) and doing a lot of pleasure reading. It’s something that I’ve written about before — my rebirth towards TAKING TIME to […]
Dear Teachers, Friends of Teachers, and Champions of Education: I don’t have to tell you that the road to getting the State of Oklahoma to single out your issue for funding is going to be hard. But I almost pity the poor legislators, who drive low-mileage, late-model cars, who think they’ll be able to make […]
April 4, 2018 Today Karen, Miss P and I drove down to Oklahoma City, adding our voice to the thousands of educators who, for almost all of my daughter’s life, have that their salary buying power reduced by over 10%, and per-pupil funding reduced by near 20%. Putting Oklahoma last in overall education funding. I’m […]