Getting a New Knee

I have not done a lot of posting lately and may not be doing so for a while.  I’m getting a new knee next week.  Everyone I know who has had a knee replacement seems to be very happy with the results.  Having gone under the knife a few times, I have to admit that I’m a bit apprehensive about it.  Who knows, I may be so happy with the results I’ll go back for another one.

My daughter, who is a personal trainer, has been preparing me with pre-surgery workouts to build the leg and hip related muscles. The truth is those workouts may be worse than the surgery. I have always said, she could write a book, How I Got Even with My Daddy.

I have been doing a lot of research for my next mystery/adventure. I finally put words on paper—just one sentence:

“Before you read or listen to my story, I ask one thing of you -- pray for all the men, women, and children I have killed.”

If that gets your attention, stay tuned!

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. Audio versions of The Claret Murders and Diversion are available from iTunes, Audibles and Amazon. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Heroes of Vietnam

Growing older one tends to think back upon the past.  From time to time in the last few years my thoughts wondered back to my school years and to my roommates and close buddies in college.  I lost track of all of them.  Recently, I located my one of my old college roommates and best friend sixty years ago. I discovered that he was a Vietnam hero. There are a couple of books and two documentaries covering the battles his unit, the 4th infantry, fought during the war: Nine Days in May, which I have yet to see, and Honor in the Valley of Tears that I just finished watching.

 I called him a hero, not only because of his on service, but because every one of the guys the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry of the 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam were heroes. The battalion was one of the most highly decorated of the Vietnam War. Four members were recognized with Medals of Honor within a sixty-day period.

Because of their action in the Valley of Tears as the men of Company A fought an attacking force that vastly outnumber them, two men were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, seven received the Silver Star, twenty-five received the Bronze Star, and sixty-five received a Purple Heart, and First Sergeant David H. McNerney was awarded the Medal of Honor. In addition, helicopter pilot Donald Rawlinson who repeatedly returned to the company's position despite heavy enemy small-arms fire was recognized with the Distinguished Flying Cross and was adopted as a member of A Company by its troops.

They like many others in Vietnam they paid a terrible price, physically and emotionally.  Of the 108 troops in the Battalion’s A Company, twenty-two men were killed and more than twice that many were wounded. The life of every survivor was changed forever.  Memories of the battle remain fresh in their minds. Tears flow freely when they think of their lost comrades.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For Amazon go to amazon.com/author/tomcollins. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com. For the newest adventure novel on Amazon go to Diversion: a Mark Rollins Adventure.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Business Etiquette

Etiquette not only sells, it is an essential building block in the pursue of business excellence.  Only through people who truly care about customers can you achieve excellence in the eyes of those who judge you. 

Lydia Ramsey is a business etiquette speaker and trainer and the founder of Lydia Ramsey, Inc. a firm offering keynotes, seminars, and workshops to corporations, professional associations, government agencies, and colleges and universities. She is also the author of Manners That Sell.  As Lydia explains it, “My business etiquette presentations are designed for organizations that want their people to be at ease in any business situation and to represent them well in the marketplace.” She explains that etiquette is not just about introductions and table manners. Manners sell. People want to do business with people they like, and people like nice people. Etiquette is about being nice and, we might even say, kind.

There is that word again, “kind or kindness.” Look up kind or kindness and you will discover that four words are always closely linked—kindness, courtesy, polite, and etiquette. Each is an aspect of the other and they all represent behavior that shows respect for other people. You cannot achieve them without a genuine concern or “care” about others. The best salesperson delivers value; the best conversationalist is a good listener; the best king desires to put subjects at ease.

It is a standard of behavior. You cannot compartmentalize it or limit it to just one category of people. That is why we say that Common Courtesy is a job requirement. Customer care first requires caring about people in general. It is the leader’s job to insist that nothing short of common courtesy is acceptable. Kindness, politeness, and etiquette (putting others at ease) are job requirements of the excellence company.

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

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Look for “Diversion!”
DOJ: Almost 60,000 overdose Deaths in 2016; 'Largest Annual Increase in American History'
Coming Later This year.

Get All Five Books FREE!

From now through the end of July, digital editions of all five of my published books are FREE on Smashwords.  The Smashwords digital editions include all four currently published Mark Rollins adventure mysteries listed below, and my book on leadership, The Language of Excellence.

Mark Rollins’ New Career & the Women’s Health Club
Mark Rollins and the Rainmaker
Mark Rollins and the Puppeteer
The Claret Murders
The Language of Excellence

Don’t forget to look for my new Mark Rollins adventure, Diversion.  This new mystery will be available later this year. The problem of opioid/drug abuse in the U. S. is very serious.  I see something in the news about it almost every day.  Nevertheless, there are legitimate needs for opioids to treat chronic pain.  I for one benefit from prescribed opioid pain relievers.  However, there is a dark side and it is called Diversion.  It occurs when drugs that are legal when properly prescribed are diverted to the streets and recreational use.  

Diversion—illegal drugs, murder, a missing girl, and a plot to shut down American military drones.  Look for it later this year!

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

What Employers Look For

An area university recently ask me for my input regarding their MBA program.  They were trying to answer the question what do employers want when hiring a graduating MBA.

They had already done an excellent job identifying and building into the curriculum the tool box of skills that will be expected of the MBA graduate.  That means every single graduate will have the tools to do the job.

Does he or she have the tools to do the job?  It is first question and easiest question an employer will want to answer before hiring.  Unfortunately, it is the other questions that are harder to answer that will determine success or failure on the job.  Those questions are:

Will he or she do the job?
In this environment?
With these people?

In the end, the individual tool box of skills only qualifies an individual as candidate for the job. It is his or her apparent traits that will get them the job and their traits on the job will determine his or her success in that environment with those people.  Successful people tend to be those whose behavior reflects a commitment to the following qualities (traits):

Integrity
Common Curtesy
Responsibility
Emphasis on Quality
Discipline
Sense of Teamwork

The all women blog, Literally, Darling, has an insightful post: “How to be Human 101: Basic Common Courtesy.”  Go to www.literallydarling.com/blog/2017/07/17/how-to-human-101-basic-common-courtesy/.  Also another blog you might want to check out is the post by Erin Schreiner,  “Five Characteristics of a Good Work Ethic.” Go to http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-characteristics-good-work-ethic-10382.html.

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Look for “Diversion!”
A new Mark Rollins Adventure Mystery
Coming Later This year.

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Get Ready for The Wild Ride Ahead-i.e.-Trump!

This nation is in great peril. How can we expect the great and talented to step forward and offer to shoulder the burden of leadership when the price we ask them to pay becomes so great?  Even those who despise Trump must marvel at the price he and his family are being ask to pay. As a collective population, we are our own enemy engaged in the destruction of the institutions and the fibers that have long held us together. If we succeed in our destructive efforts, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Yet, in spite of the pain inflicted on him and his family, I’m on the side of those who expect “huge” things to happen under the Trump umbrella. I don’t, however, expect the ride to be a smooth one. There will be no soaring to new heights without some brutally damaging, downward bumps especially in the early days of his administration. We are about to experience BIG changes and that doesn’t happen without initial and painful downward spikes in virtually every aspect of government’s impact on us. If you are a proponent of the book, The Language of Excellence, you understand the change curve.

We change to make things better -- to move to a higher level of benefit or performance. That is why Trump won the Presidency. Unfortunately, we know that progress toward those goals is never achieved in a straight-line fashion. Change, especially big change, results in an immediate decline in performance or delivered benefit counter to our expectation of improvement. It is only over time that that the change curve can be turn upward and the goal eventually reached.

For the downward spike in performance to be reversed, incoming members of the new administration must reacquire the job knowledge “that walked out the door” with the change in the administration. Knowledge alone, however, is not enough. Like an athlete building muscle memory, the newcomers have to become fully competent incumbents for whom making sound decisions becomes almost habit.

In business, we explain the change curve’s performance this way. To reverse the downward spike and reach the goal of higher performance requires KASH—new knowledge which combined with the right attitude leads to building new skills which over time become habit.

During favorable circumstances, we benefit from push and pull forces that shorten the downward spike. Today, we don’t have many forces encouraging success. Rather than a favorable press for example, it is pushing down—a negative force deepening the likely downward plunge in an almost “I told you so” effort to prove that the voters made the wrong choice. Luckily, we do have an incoming president, who like the god Atlas, is trying to push up on the curve with all his might. But he does so without a lot of help. His fellow Republicans are not carrying an honest share of the load. For them, it is his burden. They “put in an appearance” but only to share the glory of success, and they act with enough caution to avoid blame if Atlas falters. It has been said a thousand ways —victory is claimed by all, failure to one alone. 

I’m pulling for Atlas. I want “huge” changes. I only hope his (Trump’s) shoulders are strong enough to keep this shaky nation aloft. 

World Peace?

This cartoon was drawn 112 years ago. The clothes we wear has changed more than national behaviors, and the cartoon is missing the new Goliath on the world stage—the Middle East and radical Islam.

   

World peace seems as illusive today as it did 1904 when the cartoonist depicted a helpless Uncle Sam that did little more than sat on the side lines watching the squabbles between nations, while he wished for world peace. Back then, we enjoyed the isolation- of oceans protecting the USA from nationalistic ambitions of adversaries. We could take sides and go to war, but war couldn’t effectively reach the U.S. homeland.

   

No more! Wishing for world peace won’t cut it. Nuclear and space age weapons, global communications, air travel, cross boarder commerce, and porous borders have bridged our ocean moats.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Big Government 2500 Years Ago and Today!

The more things change the more things remain fundamentally the same with respect to the human condition as evidenced by Socrates’s comments defending himself from charges of corrupting the young:

"The State is like a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am that gadfly which God has given the State and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you."

Socrates’s quote appears in Plato’s Apology retelling Socrates’s unsuccessful efforts to defend himself from charges brought by the state.

I was reminded of Socrates’s comments by a November 8, 2015 article in The Tennessean newspaper reporting on the misguided attempts of the City of Franklin Tennessee to intimidate what the city called environmental gadflies.

Present 2015 political currents evidence that the problems inherent with big government continue to this day. Big government (in Socrates’s time it was Athens) is not only “tardy in its motions”; the untended negative consequences of its actions often far outnumber its accomplishments.

Our country was created to be different—to be a country of the people and for the people. But, given time Jerry Pournell’s The Iron Law of Bureaucracy proves inviolable. The fact that the inmates have taken control is the only explanation for the chaos in our policies, lack of policies, actions and inactions.

Is government broken? Yep! How do we fix it?  The only effective treatment for “tardy motions” is a smaller more agile and attentive government. It was true almost 2500 years ago and it is true today.

Rather than “more,”- the preservation of the American Way requires “less.”- Great leaders diligently simplify and eliminate.  It is that trait, to constantly simplify and eliminate, that we sorely need in the next President of the United States of America.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

The Machines are Here

Is the future a future of the “Machines” and are the machines 3D printers?

While 3D printing is not a kitchen table topic in American homes, it is evolving to change the world as we know it. 3D printing is creating a new horizon of possibilities. But, will it prepare us for an exploding population or necessitate a smaller, but more leisurely one?

What happens when anything we want or can dream up is printed for us? Think I am exaggerating? The industrial military complex has successfully printed an eighty-six foot rocket complete with an engine that can put a 250 satellite into orbit. Amsterdam is using massive 3D printers to build a bridge in place that seems to defy gravity.

3D printing is being used to build replacement

organs for humans, and with continued innovation, we are going to routinely use 3D printers used for the production of virtually all good and products.

3D printing will undoubtedly lead to the development of things never dreamed possible. However, when food, apparel, appliances, vehicles, and structures can be printed what happens to the people who grew and prepared the food, tailored the apparel, manufactured appliances, or built bridges and other structures. What do humans do, when the machines do everything?

Wait, you say -- humans will build the machines.

Somewhere, some young engineer is already working on a machine that will print its own off springs—the Mother Machine.

Now what? 

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Every once a while, someone really comes through!  These are the Good people and Good products. The Good people do what they promised when they promised to do it, and they do it at the price they promised. Likewise, you occasionally get your hands on Good products.  They are priced right, built right, and do exactly what you expected them to.
 
Unfortunately, Good no longer seems to be the norm. More likely than not, you will not get what you paid for. I am really getting tired of poor service, shoddy products or poor workmanship, and failures to deliver (or show up) on time as promised. Those are the Bad people and products.  And it can only get worse from there. The Ugly are those situations where you feel you were cheated, intentionally mislead, or the product or service causes more harm than good. Since the Good is so rare today, I want to start sharing the identity of services and products that really stand out as Good—at least in my experience. I hope this list grows, because it is disappointingly short.
 

My List of Good Products and Services

• Mosquito Squad: For years we had to retreat to our screened in porch. Not anymore! To find out more go to their website at www.mosquitosquad.com.

• Closets by Design: The installer arrived when promised. The installation was professional and the finished product was exactly what we expected—Good quality, fair price, nice people. Go to www.closetsbydesgn.com.

• Turfcare Landscapes: We use them to maintain our current landscape including mowing, rose care, mulching, debris removal, roundup and insecticide treatment as needed, aeration, reseeding, trimming and pruning.  It is like our lawn and landscaped areas are on autopilot. They just take care of things—we don’t have to tell them what to do. They see what is needed and they take care of it—that’s all folks and it is great! Go to http://www.turfcareofnashville.com.

• Chris Doubler, Art Handler & Designer: We had some really large paintings that needed to be hung in high and difficult locations.  Finding the names of people who do that work wasn’t easy, but I finally came up with three recommendations. Two never returned my calls.  The third finally did, but he explained that what I needed was beyond his job grade; however, he gave me the name of someone who could do what I wanted. That someone was Chris Doubler. Chris called me back almost immediately. He quoted a fair hourly rate, and we agreed on the day and time for the work. He arrived as promised with all the equipment, tools, and helpers needed for the job.  He installed eight large pieces in a little less than two hours. The workmanship was first rate. You can reach Chris by phone at 615/423-5763. Services include installation, packing, consultations, and transportation of art. 

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Opportunity Wedge

Change made in pursuit of opportunities can also eliminate other opportunities.  But the same can be said for the lack purposeful change.  While decisions and change are not the same, they are closely related.  Indecisions and inaction has consequences on a level equal to purposeful decisions and change.  Remember, change happens.  You either change to prosper and survive or natural forces change you and your environment and for the worse.  The Opportunity Wedge conveys that each decision and indecision, each change (purposeful or not) impacts future options and opportunities for a company.  In business, management should consider the impact of changes on future opportunities.  They fight against the normal narrowing of the wedge.  The company that moves from Lifecycle to Lifecycle, and carefully considers the impact of their action and inaction on the future, will have an Opportunity Wedge that is more like an elongated open ended box—the upper line represents maximum opportunities and the lower line represents no alternative (or new) opportunities will be more parallel—avoiding the normal linear narrowing of the wedge.  They keep their options open.  Using the example of Underwood—the fact that they decided they were a typewriter company rather than a document production company narrowed the wedge to a sharp point and that led to their eventual disappearance as a company and then as a brand.  On the other hand, Steve Jobs at Apple would not limit that business to a “computer company.” 

You are invited to an Eligant Evening of Mystery

 

 

 

If you are going to be around Nashville or Franklin on November 15,  make reservations for "An Evening of Mystery" at Lillie Belles restaurant in historic downtown Franklin.  Call 615-595-9557 for reservations or 615-327-0100 for more information. The evening with author Tom Collins includes a gourmet multiple-course dinner, a copy of The Claret Murders plus a live performance as the audience tries to solve the mystery--who killed Mr. Boddy, where was he killed and with what weapon?  The Claret Murders, a new mystery novel by Tom Collins. is available in paperback from Amazon and e-book editions are available for the Kindle, Nook, and Apple’s iPad— or go to i65north.com for a signed copy

Authority Triangle

When sales goals aren’t being achieved, when customers are complaining about the availability of support, when production is falling behind demand, the standard answers are always the same—add personnel.  The new resources are brought online and sales decline, customer service worsens, and production falls further behind.  What is going on?  It is the downward spike of the Change Curve and it can be explained by the Authority Triangle.  There are three kinds of decisions and actions that can be made by an individual on the job. 

1. Do it
2. Do it and then report it
3. Recommend and ask before acting

The fully competent incumbent operates in category 1, Do it, 80% of the time.  15% of the time they act in category 2, but then report the action taken in time to reverse or modify the step taken.  Only 5% of the time do they delay action until authorized to act. 

For the new addition the authority triangle is reversed.  80% of the time the new addition is asking permission before acting.   That consumes productive resources and thus reduces the total output of the unit.

 

Over time the Authority Triangle is rotated and eventually the new edition begins to add to capacity rather than consume it.

 

One of the things managers have to be concerned with is the rate of that rotation.  If it is too slow, the new resource continues to be a burden rather than an asset.  If the rotation is too fast, the new addition subjects the organization to undue risk—acting before they have the competence to do so.

 

The Authority Triangle is an important concept in evaluating new additions to the organization.  Those turning the triangle too slowly or too quickly need to be weeded out, making room for the organization to try again to bring in a long-term productive member of the team.

 

PS:  If you have read my latest novel, The Claret Murders, and enjoyed it, e-mail me at tom.collins@markrollinsadventures.com to be added to the e-mail list. If you haven't, you can purchase a print or digital edition on Amazon.com.  

http://amzn.com/0982589859