Choosing gratitude

Original post:  Nov 23, 2015

Life continually presents us with moments that can cause serious uncertainty. All around us, there are reports of chaos and mayhem. It seems that there are threats and disruptions everywhere. It sometimes feels as if there is a global conspiracy to put everyone on edge at all times.

As we were driving home, I had the radio on and there were reports on the attacks in Paris. My son asked me why it always seemed as if there were only reports on bad things happening. I struggled with a response about how it's easier for people to pay attention to the one bad thing that happens as opposed to the 99 good things that happen. Still, it felt unsatisfying.

One mantra that I try to live by is that you find what you are looking for. I suppose it's another version of the "glass half full" view of life. Instead of allowing the negativity of the moment to overwhelm me, I'm hoping to place the emphasis on the many bountiful blessings in my life.

In Sunday's New York Times, there was an op-ed entitled "Choose To Be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier." I thought I would share that as we prepare in the United States to celebrate Thanksgiving. The author points to some scientific evidence behind this type of an approach.

But we are more than slaves to our feelings, circumstances and genes. Evidence suggests that we can actively choose to practice gratitude — and that doing so raises our happiness.

This is not just self-improvement hokum. For example, researchers in one 2003 study randomly assigned one group of study participants to keep a short weekly list of the things they were grateful for, while other groups listed hassles or neutral events. Ten weeks later, the first group enjoyed significantly greater life satisfaction than the others. Other studies have shown the same pattern and lead to the same conclusion. If you want a truly happy holiday, choose to keep the “thanks” in Thanksgiving, whether you feel like it or not.

How does all this work? One explanation is that acting happy, regardless of feelings, coaxes one’s brain into processing positive emotions. In one famous 1993 experiment, researchers asked human subjects to smile forcibly for 20 seconds while tensing facial muscles, notably the muscles around the eyes called the orbicularis oculi (which create “crow’s feet”). They found that this action stimulated brain activity associated with positive emotions.

There are other positive benefits that can accrue as well:

In addition to building our own happiness, choosing gratitude can also bring out the best in those around us. Researchers at the University of Southern California showed this in a 2011 study of people with high power but low emotional security (think of the worst boss you’ve ever had). The research demonstrated that when their competence was questioned, the subjects tended to lash out with aggression and personal denigration. When shown gratitude, however, they reduced the bad behavior. That is, the best way to disarm an angry interlocutor is with a warm “thank you.”

The article goes on to include some ways to incorporate this spirit into your daily routine.

I'm sure that there are co-workers and family that deserve your thanks. Over the course of this week, take a moment to let them know that you are grateful. I'm sure they will appreciate it.

Here is another link to the full article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/opinion/sunday/choose-to-be-grateful-it-will-make-you-happier.html

Side effects of consumerism

Original post:  Dec 1, 2014

Here in the US, we just followed up the annual celebration of Thanksgiving with a new American tradition. Black Friday was given that name because it's estimated that some stores can do 20% of their annual sales over the weekend following the Thanksgiving holiday.

Ironically, the roots of this decision go back almost eighty years. Thanksgiving was traditionally celebrated on the fifth Thursday of the month until FDR officially made it the fourth Thursday to help extend the Christmas shopping season for retailers.

Mondays are trash pickup days on my street. It's quite easy to tell who recently acquired a major purchase by watching the types of empty boxes that land on the curb. Unless you take the time to recycle, 50" flat screen TV boxes are pretty hard to hide!

As more corporations strengthen their environmental programs, they are beginning to find that reducing the amount of waste materials is not only good citizenship, it can also help the bottom line. One way to help control costs without affecting product quality is to streamline packaging. That can result in fewer raw materials used which can help lower transportation and storage costs. This article in the New York Times quotes a director at Cisco:

“It’s good for Cisco, it’s good for our customers and it’s good for the environment,” said Kathleen Shaver, director of sustainability, risk and compliance at Cisco Systems, which says it has eliminated 1.9 million pounds of packaging this year. “Costs are reduced, not just with material you’re not buying, but with the material you’re not shipping and the material you’re not disposing of.”

All of this push to generate higher consumer sales does add up:

The volume of packaging is still vast and growing. Globally, consumer goods are encased in about 207 million tons of packaging each year, worth $384 billion, estimated a 2013 report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, using analysis by McKinsey & Co. consultants. Packaging could increase 47 percent by 2025, driven by increasingly wasteful practices and the worldwide growth of middle classes with rising purchasing power, the report predicted.

In the United States, packaging makes up about 30 percent of all municipal solid waste, down from 36 percent in 1970, said Susan Selke, interim director of Michigan State University’s School of Packaging. The overall amount of municipal waste, though, has more than doubled in that time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says. “Industry is paying attention, but not enough attention yet,” Ms. Selke said.

To learn more about how companies are helping to reduce this waste through innovative efforts, follow the link below:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/business/energy-environment/packaging-environment.html?ref=energy-environment&_r=1

I can't do your job, but I can learn about it

Original post:  November 23, 2011

I am in a cross-functional meeting with our distribution partners. I enjoy listening to the presentations from other areas of the company. It is even more interesting to hear the feedback from our customers.

We all have our own perceptions and understanding of our own jobs. We might evenhave some understanding of our overall role in the larger organization. One area that is hard to comprehend is how we are perceived by others. This particular group was particularly vocal and candid. If you can take constructive criticism, it is actually an excellent way to make improvements.

I find that this type of meeting really helps me to put all sorts of seemingly disconnected information together. It's fascinating to gain visibility into how products are picked and the reasons why it doesn't necessarily reach the customer on time or in optimal condition. I did not realize the full impact of ordering product by pallets or truckloads on operational efficiency. It's also important to understand that some of the practices that are convenient or economical for us are not always beneficial for our partners.

I am amazed at the diversity of different tasks that are deployed across our enterprise. I had no idea that there was so much skill required in picking our products out of the warehouses and transforming them into shrink-wrapped units that are sent to customers. Similarly, there are many unseen back-office applications that are just as critical to the smooth flow of commerce as the initial sales and marketing efforts. All of these units have to work in tandem in order to keep product moving from our plants and warehouses to our customers.

I have gained a new level of respect for my fellow colleagues. Please accept my humble thanks for all that you do!