Have you noticed how our passions determine what we do and how we respond.
Spurs’ fans will react violently to when talking about the Mavericks. Mavs’ fans (me) will get upset when others talk trash about the Mavs. Rockets’ fans react with general indifference and hatred that the NBA even has playoffs without them.
Astros’ fans hate the Cardinals. Red Sox’ fans hate the Yankees.
Mac’ fans hate Windows, and Microsoft’ fans hate Macs.
What causes the initial passion, and what causes the hatred of the opposing side? In all of the cases mentioned above, neither of the two parties are intrinsically better (except, of course, if you ask a fan of one of those entities) or worse. Right now, I would tell you that I simply like the Mavs better than the Suns because I’m a Mavericks’ fan. Now if you asked me why I’m a fan, I would reply, “Because I grew up in Dallas.” And we would all probably understand my reasons for being a fan.
But what about other passions in life? I’m a fan of computers and design, so most of my decisions and thoughts are grounded in those passions. I see everything in the world revolving around those two areas, and I choose facts to prove that my passions are universally helpful. But others have different passions: maybe it’s music, video, accounting, engineering, finance, or something else. All of the professions above are helpful and good, but I simply don’t see as much value in them as I do in my passions.
Of course, if these other professions disappeared, my life would change drastically, and I would realize how important these jobs are.
I was reminded of how easy it is to forget the importance of other roles by only seeing how important your job is. You minimize the effectiveness of others because you do not intuitively understand the passions that drive others in different roles. But the key to the success of an organization is when each person understands the importance of that particular job while comprehending how each job fits within the whole to accomplish the purpose of that company.
Problems arise when each group is segmented from the rest, leading to a myopia that makes working together very difficult. And this is where leadership comes in: a strong leader sets the vision and ensures that everyone sees the big picture and how the pieces fit together.
Monthly Archives: May 2006
This Can’t Be Good
I went riding with Brad today and in spite of the burning in my legs (causes by not riding in a few weeks), I thought it would be a good ride… Except one hill gone awry. Brad rode down a valley and up a hill in the middle and down the other side. I couldn’t see anything after he went over the hill, but afterwards he yelled out something like, “Hey Andrew, I need you over here.” (Who knows what the exact wording was).
I rode over there and found this:
Now, I knew this wasn’t a good sign, so we went over the basics: what happened, if he could walk, should I call an ambulance, etc…. We decided that he wasn’t going to die, so I grabbed the bikes and walked up out of the valley with him following behind. He was okay, but a bit disoriented… Luckily, we were close to the road, so he sat down by the tree, and I rode back to the car as fast as I could. The ride back was a little over a mile (probably 1.2 miles).
I got back to the car, loaded up my bike, and sped down to pick up Brad. He was still awake, but bleeding, so he got in the car, I loaded up his bike, and we drove off toward the hospital. I grabbed my biking towel (the one I bring everytime but never use) and gave it to him to wipe off some blood. He called his folks and they were off to ER as well. The trip to the hospital was filled with small-talk (you know what tv shows and movies tell you: don’t go to sleep after head injuries) and was uneventful, except I had to stop and tighten the bike-rack on I-45.
We pulled into the ER and his folks were waiting for him. I stayed for a little while until they told me, “You don’t have to stay.” So I dropped his bike off at his house, picked up Heather (his sister), and took her back to his truck. So she took his truck back home, and I went home after a very unusual 3 hour span.
His bike didn’t make it out so well:
But it seems as though he will be fine. The update is that he fractured his orbital-bone (eye-socket) a couple places, gashed his nose pretty well, and the swelling is causing double vision. But I’ll let you talk to him for the rest of the details.
At any rate, it was a heart-pounding, stressful day, but it seems everything will be okay. And I’m glad that I was in a position to help.
And make no mistake, this is the year of the hospital.
Binging
Have you ever eaten so much that you got sick from it?
Have you ever eaten something so often that you got sick of eating it?
Have you ever heard a joke so many times that it no longer was funny?
Have you ever done something for so long that you hated doing it?
It seems like over-experiencing something leads to burn-out. But at the point of burn-out, you have to wonder: is the burn-out caused by something bad or just too much of something good. And you have to make an effort not to declare the causes to be bad, just because of burn-out.
American Idol: The Winner
Did anyone see this picture of the two American Idol finalists?
It reminds me of an embrace between a father and his daughter. Surely this isn’t the image that AI wants to go for: “Taylor Hicks, 56, wins American Idol, making him the oldest pop star without massive facial reconstructive surgery.”
cheers.
Go Mavs, Go
I’m taking a play from Vernon’s playbook: I love sports, I hate sports, I really hate sports, I really really love sports. That was my persona tonight as I watched game seven between the Mavericks and the Spurs. After we jumped out to the huge lead, I was elated and felt like we would win. Then the Spurs came back, took the lead with 30 seconds left, and my heart sank.
Of course, we tied the game and won it in overtime, thus making me love sports again.
The sad thing is how devoted I was to the game. And how I was so passionate about a thing that mattered so little. Of course, I don’t plan to do away with the Mavs, but maybe draw back my enthusiasm..
Selective Fact Usage
We pick the facts that represent our side of the story and obscure the ones that don’t line agree.
Last Saturday, I talked to a girl about the Mavs / Spurs series. She was a Spurs fan (sadly) and was pointing out all of the injustices that had hampered the Spurs. The evidence was spurious, at best, but to her, it was perfect proof that Mark Cuban had swayed the refs. I pointed out some alternate facts, but she didn’t want any part of them because she was predisposed to believing something else.
The facts that didn’t fit within her worldview were eliminated; they didn’t seem to be facts because they didn’t line up with her a priori beliefs.
I think the same is true with Al Gore and many climate scientists: they are predisposed to believing that global warming is an imminent threat to our world. They grab onto every piece of evidence that supports their thesis while suppressing all of the other facts. It is possible that it is true of the Climate Scientists that don’t believe in the theory of global warming.
The problem with most of us is that we rarely consider information that doesn’t fit within our worldview. This makes change difficult because we don’t ever look at opposing facts. I’m not proposing that we should accept any and all facts, but I do know that we miss so much because we refuse to interpret all of the facts. We should definitely try to examine all of the evidence before we make our conclusions.
Sports, Playoffs, and Winning
The best team always wins the playoff game/series.
Possible refutations:
1. The refs interfered and caused the other team to win. (Commonly known as the “refs sucked” excuse.)
2. The other team got hot and stole the win.
3. The other team got lucky.
1. The refs never decide a game/series.
a. You may rebut–but they called 40 fouls on my team and 10 on the other. This statement means nothing because it’s a comparison of two disparate items: the teams did not do the same things over the course of the game. So this line of reasoning is absurd.
b. They bailed out player-X from the other team, giving him free throws / foul shots / penalty yards, when the defender was in perfect position. This may seem reasonable but firstly you weren’t there and secondly your biased. Thirdly, you may be right because the referees aren’t perfect, but they do their very best to call a close and honest game, regardless of the external factors. I would bet that you could talk to fans on the other side and they would point out all of the calls that were controversial but helpful to you.
c. Losing teams (and fans) always blame the refs. They are the most visible and easiest to complain about. Good teams play within the flow of the game and win in spite of environmental factors going against them.
2. The other team got lucky and stole the win.
My first question would be: why did your team put themselves in a position to lose if they’re really so good? Better teams beat worse teams. Period. If your team allowed the other team to stay close, then they deserved to lose. In the end, they simply were not the best team on the court that night.
3. The other team got hot and made their shots.
Well, that’s partial observation and partial commentary. You would be correct in saying they made their shots, but this concept of “getting hot” has more basis in commentary. The fact of the matter is that the other team scored more points than your team did, and resorting to some mythological concept of hotness to explain your defeat only indicates how desperate you are to find a reason for losing.
Conclusions
Good teams win. Bad teams don’t. If your team loses the 7-game series, it’s because you didn’t play as well as the other team. There are external factors like refs, but great teams never lose because of the refs. Great teams play through the controversias calls and make the plays to win the game.
Mainly though, fans make excuses and put the blame on something other than their beloved team, when, in the end, it’s their team that lost….not anyone else.
Dead, Dead, Dead…
At approximately 3:15pm this afternoon, my laptop had a massive stroke. It’s death was fast and painless, but watching it croak was like watching hours of my life twirl down the toilet. It seems as though the power supply felt strikingly close to a french fry, and it decided to fry my notebook. Instantly.
So Monday we get to try to save the data from my old hard drive while working with Dell to get another one. The good news is that I had finished my next big project only minutes before. Whew! I always knew that getting things done early was good and this confirms it…
It Burns, It Burns…
I fired up the grill this evening to prepare a little grilled chicken for dinner. Little did I know what would transpire (start creepy music). I dropped the chicken on the grill, went back inside for a bit, only to be greeted by a strange sound; curious as to what this sound was, I decided to check the grill. Much to my chagrin, I found that my chicken breast along with the drop pan were aflame and smoking quite heavily.
I proceeded to turn of the propane, close the lid and let the fire go out. Of course, I can’t completely block the airflow in my little grill, so I had to wait about six minutes for the flame to go out. In the end, I was able to save the chicken, but a piece of fat had to be doused because it wouldn’t stop burning. Fun, huh? Although blackened, the chicken was quite moist and very tasty. And yes, I cleaned my grill following dinner.
Happy Birthday, Blog
My blog turns one today… And in honor of this momentous occasion, I thought I would give you some stats and list my most favorite entries of the past year. Cheers.
Entries: 203
Comments: 177
Favorite Posts:
On Christmas
A Boy Named Pin
A Visit to Lakewood
Andrew’s Modern Dictionary
A Guide to Careers
Rita Evacuation Plans