Saturday, November 20, 2010

Beautiful Loser: What We Learn From Risking Failure

Beautiful Loser:  What We Learn From Risking Failure
I drafted this blog entry, longhand, in my deer blind on November 15, 2010.  My only consuming thought at the time was: “What a miserable failure I am.”
I had just missed one of the larger bucks ever seen on my Dad’s 160 acre farm.  I’m killing myself because it’s embarrassing (not to mention not very macho) to watch a trophy buck gallop past you at 60 yards while you unload your gun and watch him prance away into the neighbor’s woods.  You have to face friends and family and answer this question repeatedly:  “Did you get anything?”  And your only response can be:  “I missed him.  I failed.”
I quickly moved to pick myself up by the process of positive reinforcement.  The thrill of success in hunting cannot be accompanied without the chance of missing.  And I am now suddenly struck with the importance of failing as a means to being successful.
I’m reflective these days about chances taken, roads less traveled and some Y’s in the road that I avoided – some wisely and some in cowardly fear.  I’m thinking a lot about mistakes and failures – something we who have crossed the “halfway” point in our lives must ponder.  I am on the brink of having more to look back on than I may have to look forward to.  And failure comes alongside me as a friend and an enemy.
Failure is an American hallmark.  The Founding Fathers failed in their attempt to broker some type of reasonable peace agreement with a pigheaded king an ocean away.  The result of this cataclysmic failure spawned a revolution that resulted in the formation of the greatest triumph of the modern world – America.
Success is a recipe with multiple ingredients (skill, bravery, planning, resources, luck, etc).  Failure is a simple recipe.  It requires one part trying.  Without trying there is no failure.  It is a miserable existence to live without experiencing failure, but sadly, many people starve themselves on a diet of being comfortable when the feast of failure lies around the corner.
Twice in my professional life I have attempted magnanimous undertakings which moved me to fear, tears and trembling.  Failure, it seemed, had a better than 50 percent chance.  I now share these experiences with you not to boast, but to inspire you to take calculated risks which may very well result in failure.
My first look at failure happened in my twenties, when I had a decent job but aspired for more (more challenge, and yes, more money).   Having met “minimum requirements” for the job, I bluffed my way into an interview and did surprisingly well.  Then, through sheer moxie I suppose, I got that fated phone call:  “We think you’re the best candidate and would like to offer you the job.”   Prior to this call, the fun was in the hunt and I had no reasonable expectations that I would be offered a job that I was likely not emotionally ready to tackle.
Upon acceptance I went into a small-scale panic attack that included (private) tears, trembling and anxious whispers of “My God, do these people even know what they’re doing?”  (In these moments, we must consider failure as a real option.  Then we must face it down and accept the reality that it won’t kill us).
That job ended up being one of the greatest experiences of my professional life, stretching me a thousand miles and presenting dozens of more chances for new failure.  I probably failed in about half of those opportunities, but the other half resulted in small and large victories which prepared me for greater opportunities down the road.
The second opportunity for failure came in my thirties and revolved around getting an advanced degree in an accelerated MBA program.  Admission required retaking college math courses, taking the GMAT exam, getting accepted into the program, and securing a highly sought-after scholarship (all chances for failure).  I passed the courses, barely made GMAT minimums and got admitted.  Unfortunately, after making it as one of two finalists, I was rejected for the scholarship in lieu of a “more qualified candidate.”  Failure had won this time.  The rejection and disappointment hurt deeply.
Months later, a new opportunity afforded itself which provided access to the needed funds to enroll in the program.  Once I began this program, I quickly realized I was the 90th smartest person out of 90 total students, comprised mostly of engineers and CPAs (I was the only English major in the entire program, which the corporate finance professor loved to remind everyone of).  Failure seemed imminent again.  This time, my fear of flying was resolved thanks to the help of four newfound friends within the program (an engineer, a  CPA, a physician and a TV anchor) whose superior intelligence was also peppered with generosity (and perhaps a dash of pity!)  Risking failure produced four excellent friends who I am still close with today.  It also produced an MBA at the age of 38.
Now in my 40s, I can point to many other failures, some of which had benefits, and others which taught me what not to do in the future.  (Running a sub-4 hour marathon took me two tries and had residual benefits. Investing in real estate at the apex of a historic bubble has been more painful and the jury is still deliberating.   Making my own stock picks?  Total failure.)  And yet, even in the losing there is excitement and a sense of growth.
Back to my deer story.  Metaphorically speaking, every missed deer is an opportunity to rethink how you might have done better.  It makes you that much more prepared for the next opportunity.
I don’t mind thinking of myself as a beautiful loser.  When I lose, I tend to lose big, and even when I win, the victories are relatively small.   But there’s a lot of satisfaction in trying, and to some degree we can measure our lives in the kind of risks we have taken (or not taken).  They say failure is an orphan, and success has a thousand fathers, but I disagree.  Failure is a foster-child looking for a home.  Invite him in every now and then and you’ll be surprised at how much you enjoy the company.
Talk to you Afterwords….
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Saturday, November 13, 2010

Why Do Hunters Hunt? And Other FAQs About Hunting

 11-14-10
Why Do Hunters Hunt?  And Other FAQs About Hunting

I was travelling to a meeting with a business acquaintance earlier this week and the topic turned to hunting.   My friend wanted to know what all these “…little buildings in the middle of farm fields” were, and I chuckled as I explained they were deer shanties.  He and I represented the two types of people in the world – those who hunt, and those who don’t.
Anyway, what followed was about one hour of questions about hunting.  As my friend admitted later, he was not raised in a hunting family, although he had no objections to it per say.  His questions struck me as comical, only because the answers I gave were as second nature to me as a discussion about accounting methods might be to a CPA.
Therefore, on this most hallowed of hunting season eves – the opening of Michigan’s firearm season for deer – I offer the following, ubiquitous Frequently Asked Questions About Deer Hunting:
Why do you hunt ?   This is difficult to answer if you were not raised as a hunter.  Fortunately, I was raised in the Thumb of Michigan, where hunting is as common to Thumbers  as commuting is to city folk.  Simply put, we hunt for food (venison); for crop damage control (a few dozen deer can strip a bean field clean in a matter of days); and for sport (more on that later).  We also hunt in the Catholic sense – because it’s tradition and it fits our Orthodoxy.
Why do hunter’s grow beards?  Growing a beard is a rite of passage for hunters.  The beard itself provides shelter from wind and snow.  It also provides natural camouflage (if you’re manly enough!).  The conventional wisdom is that a hunter should cease shaving from November on until he has successfully tagged a deer.  Also, having a beard makes you feel like a Viking.  And being a Viking is really cool.
Why does the season open November 15?  Deer are nocturnal, and also pretty skittish around humans.  Except during mating season.  A male deer, or “buck”, enters into a fairly high hormonal stage in the late fall.  Around mid October, bucks enter the “rut”, a term which describes a basic sexual frenzy which causes male deer to become focused  on one thing only – finding a suitable sexual mate (picture the woods as a giant singles bar, with plenty of eligible doe, and bucks trolling day and night for a partner).  This increased activity gives hunters a chance to play policeman and crash the party, so to speak.
For those deer that mate, when are the fawns born?  The deer’s gestation period is about 200 days.  Hence, most does give birth in May.  Those “yearlings” are normally not large enough come November, and normally survive to become next fall’s potential crop of deer to hunt from.
What about bow hunters and black powder hunters?  In Michigan, the dedicated deer hunter (such as this author) can be treated to three solid months of deer hunting.  Bow hunting season starts October 1 and runs through November 14.  Firearm (shotgun and rifle) season runs November 15 through November 30.  December 1, bow hunting resumes and black powder/muzzle loader season begins.  All in all, any hunter who wants a deer and commits the time should be able to bag a deer in 90 days.
What are all these terms I hear about, like “scraping,” “rubbing,” and “rattling”?  Positioning oneself to come within range of the elusive whitetail is not a matter of chance.  To the avid hunter, there are clear signs of buck activity in all fields and woods.  Bucks create “scrapes” along tree lines, where they paw the ground and urinate to attract does in heat (note to novice readers, this does not work for humans).  They also rub the velvet of their antlers on small trees, creating noticeable “rub” marks.  Hunters position themselves in these areas.  Furthermore, hunters use doe “bleats” (a rubber instrument which replicates the sound of a bleating doe in heat).  Finally, they attract other dominant bucks by “rattling” old antlers together.  The sound of other bucks fighting attracts dominant bucks – similar to a schoolyard fight which attracts a crowd.
Do you really “field dress” a deer in the woods?  This was a question my non-hunting friend was afraid to ask and somewhat shocked to hear about.  It’s true.  Shortly after downing a buck or doe, the hunter must complete that most gruesome of tasks – to make an incision from sternum to abdomen and more or less empty the body cavity of the major entrails.  I’ll not go into detail here.  All I can say is make sure your knife is sharp, and invest in some shoulder length gloves. 
How do you “process” a deer?  Another good question.  Many hunters (my brother for example) are skilled processors who can skin and butcher a deer in matter of hours.  Myself?  I’ve not yet invested the time for this chore, so I simply drop it off to any one of a number of local “processors” who specialize in taking a corn-fed deer and turning it into steaks, chops, jerky, sausage, hamburger and roasts.  Average costs of processing a deer range from $50 to $100.
Is this really a sport?  Don’t you feel sorry for the deer?  This is a fair question and one I struggle with, especially with the non-hunting crowd.   First, most hunters (at least the good ones) understand that hunting is a form of conservation.  Michigan’s deer population is estimated at 1.5 million, with around 400-500,000 deer annually taken by hunters.  This activity adds about $500 million into the annual state coffers.  Another 60,000 deer are hit by Michigan drivers each year.  Finally, Michigan’s winters are tough, and thousands of deer perish each year due to starvation, disease and over population.  Responsible hunters think of the fall deer hunt as a harvest –removing a select number of deer each year.  If you’ve ever seen a starving group of deer in the winter, you might agree that the herd control provided by hunters is much more humane than letting them starve.

Finally, regarding the sport aspect, I DO think it is a sport when the rules are followed.  There is a strategy to scouting, locating, and ultimately taking a deer.  It’s not the killing that most of us enjoy, but rather the strategy, the good times spent with friends and family, enjoying nature and rehashing the stories of the previous day and the previous year’s hunts.  And, as most hunters age, they increasingly become less obsessed with bagging an animal and more enthused about just being in deer camp.
I hope if you’re a non-hunter, you’ve learned a thing or two.  And if you’re a hunter, I wish you well Monday morning.  Be safe, and hunt responsibly!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

What Obama Can Learn From Sports

What Obama Can Learn From Sports
11-3-10
(Blogging from the road in Tennessee, somewhere between Nashville and Knoxville)
Crossville (TN) –The landslide that was Tuesday’s election gives us a moment to catch our breath, then turn both forward and backward to reflect on the most recent Obama Drama.
In looking backward, we can still see Barack Obama, his Superman “S” clearly visible from his blue-like-jazz necktie.  The Barack Obama of 2008 was the student body president and homecoming queen rolled into one.  Popular, Poetic, and Pretty.   
Back then, the Student Body President was someone who was worthy of our admiration and optimism.  Perhaps not worthy to lead us into war or through a major financial crisis; but just because you haven’t done something before doesn’t mean you can’t do it.
All of which got me thinking.  Barack Obama could learn a thing or two from the sports world.
Sports Analogy No.1 about the Obama Experiment.  Obama in 2008 was like Buster Posey in this year’s World Series.   Posey – the fresh-faced, 23-year old catcher of the now-World Series champ San Francisco Giants – was unaware that rookie catchers don’t hit homeruns, gun down base runners, and lead their team to World Championships.  Whispers of Yogi Berra and Johnny Bench followed him into the post-season, and Posey didn’t disappoint.
Just because you haven’t done something before, doesn’t mean you can’t do it. 
Barack Obama entered 2009 as one of the most heralded political saviors of our time.  He didn’t know that 40-something, African Americans with nary a full US Senate term aren’t supposed to be President of the United States.   Whispers of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King followed him into a convincing Presidential landslide in 2008.
Just because you haven’t done something before, doesn’t mean you can’t do it. 
Or does it?  Looking back, it’s hard to know if Obama was a new solar system or just another shooting star. 
Sports Analogy No. 2.  Not everyone can handle the stage.  It’s 1998 and there’s a tale of two quarterbacks.  Peyton Manning was the cerebral, legacy son-of-an-NFL-quarterback from University of Tennessee.  Ryan Leaf was a rock-star, missile throwing quarterback from Washington State University who could sling the ball from end zone to end zone.  After much due diligence, the experts determined that their talent was virtually equal.  Manning became the No. 1 overall pick of the Indianapolis Colts, while Leaf was taken second by the San Diego Chargers. 
Twelve years later, Manning is a first ballot Hall of Famer, with numerous records and a Super Bowl ring.  Ryan Leaf is the answer to the trivia question, “Who was the biggest quarterback bust in the history of the NFL?”
With Obama, the jury has deliberated for two years, and just got a 60-day recess to see if he is our generations political Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf.   All of which brings us to the look forward.
There is no dishonor in inexperience.   Just because you haven’t done something before, doesn’t mean you can’t do it.  And just because you fail once, or even twice, doesn’t mean you can’t bounce back.   But this much we know after Tuesday’s Republican tsunami.  Barack Obama is failing, and his ability to recognize this going forward is now the most important issue.
Obama has apparently stated that securing a second term is of little consequence to him.  This might be admirable, if it weren’t so shocking.  Also, I don’t believe it for one minute.
Obama’s confession to Harry Reid in 2006 that he “had a gift” is telling.  Such prescience is not accompanied without great ego.  Obama applied his “gift” to the Presidency, not to a mayoral run or another term in the Senate. Such lust is not satisfied at the age of 49 after a single term.  Sports Analogy No. 3.  Consider Brett Favre, the old, gun-slinging quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings who has thrice wept and retired, only to return to feed the appetite of the alpha male ego.   Barack Obama is Brett Favre lying in wait.
So, with these points behind us, I now ask the following three questions of Obama and those who still believe in him:
1.        Do you really think America is wrong (or “scared” as you have said)?   Or, is it possible you need to consider the alternate and prevailing reality that maybe you were late to the party, and should gather some more info before you can become the life of it?

2.       If you still think you are right, and most of us are wrong, will you nonetheless take a leap of faith and allow the American Majority to help you in this journey?  (Sports Analogy No. 4.  Please Google “LeBron James Admits He Would Do Things Differently”).

3.       If you have been at all humbled by Tuesday’s election, hope to win a second term, and believe that there’s something YOU can learn from an angry electorate, will you tip-toe to the middle even a wee bit?  If so, you may discover that unity means not only us trusting in you, but also you learning something from us.
In closing, we consider Sports Analogy No. 5:  New York Giants football coach Tom Coughlin.  A notoriously arrogant coach, Coughlin was famous for his red-faced rants and ability to dress down even the biggest stars.  After nearly losing his job in 2005 and driving away some of the sports bigger stars, Coughlin underwent intense introspection before the 2006 season, changing his demeanor and endearing himself to his players. 
The result?  The New York Giants won the Super Bowl in 2007.
C’mon Coach Obama, we could all really use a win.