Technology consisted of a stapler and a phone...

I remember walking into meeting rooms and thinking to myself, I'm the youngest one in the room. Now I walk into the room and think, My goodness, look at all these youngsters.

Time passes by, and for most of us who've been around for several decades, the changes are almost incomprehensible. Technology has completely changed our lives; computers, smart phones, drones, video-conferencing, and on and on....

I graduated from college forty-three years ago and after a few interviews with different companies, started work for a major oil company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My first office consisted of a corner in the file room that had been divided off by several file cabinets. My technology consisted of a desk, a stapler, and a phone. Across the hall was a Xerox machine capable of making legal sized copies of the contracts we prepared. If you needed letter size copies, there was a commercial duty paper cutter on the table.

We had a bevy of typists who churned out the mounds of paperwork we created.....all of it on the latest IBM Selectric typewriters. No word processing machines existed, and mistakes meant starting the whole page over. Typos and grammatical errors were unacceptable. Those gals were good!

To a small-town boy from Kansas it seemed to be a constant whirlwind of activity. We had access to a Telex machine, a secretarial pool, dictation machines, and all the paper and postage we needed. Contracts were generated and mailed to the other parties for review......weeks would go by before responses would be received, and negotiations could proceed. We thought we were being efficient if we could complete the process in a month or two. 

I remember the first IBM word processing machines we installed.....they were as large as a desk. I remember the first desk top computers....given to engineers and geologists only. I remember the first internal emails, the first video conferences, and when it was a big decision to allow access to the internet. Wow, the changes I've seen.

While the technological changes have been dramatic, there have been other changes as well. Corporations have become more demanding of their employees. The workplace has become less genial, and more impersonal. It seems as though people have lost the ability to communicate on a one-on-one basis, and everything is driven by the current task at hand. Personnel departments don't even accept hand-delivered applications and resumes anymore. It all has to be submitted electronically so the computer programs can screen the application for "key words".

So while I embrace much of the change that the last fifty years has brought to bear, I truly miss the folks who knew how to manage and lead people, which is much different than the management of technology.

But, let's face it, I'm no longer the youngest one in the room, and those times have passed us by. Will they ever return? I doubt it, but after all, What do I know!

Effective leadership is a lost art....

I recently travelled to North Dakota with a colleague to deliver a workshop that he developed. One of the things that both he and I have discovered in our work, is that there is a significant lack of leadership skills throughout our great land, and it's especially true in rural America. It's not because we lack people who want to make things better in the communities where they work and live, but in many cases, they lack the knowledge of how to be an effective leader.

I've worked in rural Kansas for many years helping rural businesses and communities become more entrepreneurial in how they approach the problems they face. It's been challenging to institute a change of the culture, especially at the community level, but the results have been nothing short of amazing.

So, back to North Dakota where we met with a group of ranchers who comprise the board of directors of a non-profit organization to assist their members to become more productive and profitable. Again, all of them were well intentioned, but the organization was struggling to be an effective force in what they were trying to do. We were called in to help.

We delivered our Board Excellence Workshop to a group of sixteen board members, and at the end of the day, every one of them had a different perspective as to their roles in becoming effective leaders and board members.

How many of us have been members of boards, committees, or organizations where we became frustrated with the lack of direction, or progress, toward what we thought we were supposed to accomplish? It happens all the time.

If I might be so bold, I suggest that if you are a member of such a group, that it might be time for you to step up and be the "leader" who institutes a change in the culture of the organization. Make it clear to the group that without a vision, and without a plan, we are all just wasting our time. You don't have to be the elected "leader" to make a difference, so go for it....

I certainly don't know everything, but if you need some help in making a difference, let us help.

2016 = The Beginning

January 10, 2016. It's a crystal clear morning with a slight north breeze and a temperature of 9 degrees Fahrenheit. At least the ground is frozen solid so there's no need to be wading in the mud when I feed the cattle.


I sold three unbred cows last Thursday. Hated to get rid of them, but it makes no sense to carry them through the winter when no income will be generated from having  a calf this spring. So now I have 23 cows that will start calving sometime in February....hoping all goes well and we end up with 23 healthy calves. We also have six young heifers that will be bred this spring for calves next year, and we'll replace several of the older cows in the fall.


I'm going to try to write a weekly update of the events of 2016, and create a diary to capture the daily activities. It should be an interesting year as Miss Elizabeth and I both hit that milestone of turning 65 years old and begin to deal with Medicare, and related insurance options. Not sure where the time has gone, but I'm grateful to still be around to experience all that life has to give.


Until next week.....