NERF WARS

Many years ago when they were creating American Holidays, someone suggested, “Why don’t we get together and just eat a lot?”

“But we do that every day,” was the response.

“OK, let’s get together and eat a lot with people that annoy the hell out of us!”

That sentiment makes Christmas so stressful. Parties with in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and even neighborhood and work parties can really put Peace on Earth Good Will Toward Men to a test!

Can’t you picture this family Christmas get together? 25 people huddled around a pile of gifts and the traditional Dirty Santa game begins. Pick number 4 and 8 year old cousin #1 picks the nerf gun. Pick number 7 and 9 year old cousin #2 steals the nerf gun. The tension level moves to code yellow as Cousin #1 begins to cry. Move on to pick #12 and sister in-law #1 steals the Nerf gun back for cousin #1. Cousin #2 begins to cry and cousin #1 starts laughing and the tension level moves to code orange. Cousin #2 begins to pitch a fit and I lean in to my wife and say, “Why in the hell did you buy a Nerf gun?” My wife responds, “Well I didn’t know cousin #2 would declare Jihad!”

I swear at this time I heard my completely oblivious brother in-law #1 ask, “Where do you keep the bottle openers?”

With the tension level at code orange, pick number 24 is sister in-law #2 and she steals the gun back and baby it’s on like Donkey Kong! We are a few mullets and halter tops away from a Jerry Springer show!  “CODE RED, CODE RED – THE FAMILY IS IN CODE RED. EVERYONE PLEASE TAKE IMMEDIATE COVER” The two brother in-laws of course are oblivious looking for bottle openers and adjusting the volume during the game.

Quickly order is restored and in-laws and out-laws exit to their respective homes for the mandatory 7 day cool down period before the New Years Day Family get together!

God Bless us everyone and Peace on Earth Good Will Toward everyone but the cousins!

**Truth – This never happened. We were smart enough not to bring the Nerf Gun into the party and played this out in the car ride over. Names were withheld to enahnce the exaggeration.

Winning the Lottery

Last week was an emotional roller coaster. I was selected to serve on a jury for a child sex abuse case. I will share in a future post about the jury duty, but the week made me think about Ken Tay Lee.

I met Ken Tay Lee 10 years ago when I did a weekend prison ministry. Ken Tay Lee was who I was matched up with over the weekend. He was 15 years old and a convicted murderer. Ken T ay Lee will never get out of jail. He was sentenced at age13 to Life With-Out Parole. So when he walked into the room I was expecting a thug. I was looking for this hardened criminal but what I saw was a baby! He looked like every teenager that walked into my YMCA every day.

When he first walked over to me and we introduced ourselves, he asked me the question, “Do you think I am going to hell?” I sat silent for a few seconds and then responded, “I’m not sure. What do you think?” He looked at me and smiled, “Jeremiah 29:11. The Lord has plans for me. Maybe I am supposed to lead people to Christ while I am in here.” I just sat there in amazement. I am supposed to be here to minister to this kid and in the first 15 minutes he is witnessing to me.

Over that weekend we had a birthday party for him. He squeezed my hand and cried as he prayed because he had never had a birthday party. How do you get to 15 and never have a birthday party?

Over that weekend I figured out something. I think Warren Buffet calls it the “ovarian lottery.” Ken Tay Lee is where he is today and I am where I am today because he was born into his neighborhood and I was born into mine. He never had anyone to tell him to brush his teeth, come in for dinner, do your homework or don’t wear stripes with checks. He doesn’t even have anyone who cares he’s in prison.

Last week it became a reminder that when I was born 47 years ago, I won the lottery. In this season of thankfulness my heart aches for the children like Ken Tay Lee. My heart aches for the kids that sleep in houses that are cold. Kids that wake up to a refrigerator that is empty. Kids that go to bed without someone saying good night and I love you.  

Over the next few weeks, when I see that rough looking kid at the mall, I am not going to look away. I am going to hold the door for them, give them a smile and wish them a Merry Christmas. They might just be saying a prayer that even I can answer!

December - Where Work Goes to Die

From Thanksgiving until the Monday after January 1^st, work is sparse. People stock pile vacation so they can be off the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day and that basically lops off close to 25% efficiency for the month. Throw in those wacky Christmas Parties, the general secret Santa shopping trips (hey it’s for work) and you have a month that is pretty much inconvenienced by the work that is due in December. Oh sure budgets get finished and year end board meetings get accomplished, but all of that is just some misdirection for what has become a 35 day cruise ship.

Some of the great successful athletes and business leaders in our history have always talked about when the competition was resting they were working. That is the advantage the great ones have, they will out work you! So what would happen if we flipped the pattern of December? I am not trying to be Scrooge, I am merely asking for us to do what we are paid to do…..WORK.

I propose to make work different this December. Doing this might give you a jump start on the New Year. Instead of shopping online at your desk, try this!

1.       Get out of the office and just plan. Take your team and spend some time talking about 2012. Put away the phone, the email, and no internet. Just bring some newsprint and sharpies. The point of this is to make yourself and your team better in 2012. While everyone else is looking back on 2011 – you look forward! Think, Plan, Play and create Magic!

2.       Work on your staff evaluations for 2011. Spend some time making this the most beneficial interaction you have ever had with your team. Look at their past reviews. Get guidance from your mentors on how to best motivate people. Work on a development plan that you will partner with them in the execution. Get out of the cycle of that annual review where it’s all about “that’s good and that’s bad and here’s your merit increase. Thank you for being a loyal employee at Dunder Mifflin.” Make them walk out of the review with amazement and with that loyal feeling that you really care about their development. 

3.       Write love notes. I say that jokingly but I really mean just hand write some notes. I think I read where only 7% of the mail today is personal. The rest is junk mail and bills. Take the time to write personal notes to the people who are most important to your business. It doesn’t have to be a novel, it just needs to be a line or two where people are thanked, appreciated and even informed.

It is obvious that the work world slows down in December because it’s tradition. You can slow down too or you can take advantage of this time and make yourself, your team and your business just a little bit better for 2012! Merry Christmas and I will be out of the office from Dec 23^rd through January 2^nd.