What does Insanity, Einstein, Rats and a Squirrel Have in Common?

I have a bad case of rats.

Which isn’t surprising considering we are on the Roseville annex line and back up to miles and miles of open fields.

And, 2019, has become the year of the rat.

Three years ago, it was the year of the locust.
Two years ago, it was the year of the spider (the size of small children)
Last year, it was the year of the raccoon and opossum.

The rats are a problem because they get in the chicken food, rabbit food and scare the bejesus out of you when you walk up to put the animals up each night.

So, I asked my husband to solve the rat problem and gave him some specific guidelines:
1)      No poison (because of the hawks and owls)
2)      No sticky traps (because of the blue belly lizards and king snakes)
3)      No death traps (because of the birds and squirrels)

This left us with live traps.  Eight live traps to be exact distributed in the back yard.

Monday morning (as in 7/29), I went up to let the chickens out and I noticed something rather large in the live trap in their pen.  Didn’t look like a rat, so decided to investigate.

An adorable young ground squirrel.

Fearing what my husband would do if he found it, I quickly got the trap, moved it to the top of the chicken food table and opened the trap.  The squirrel bolted.  I reset the trap and put it back in its place.

After a very hard lunch hour call, I decided to finish my lunch up on “the hill” (i.e. the farthest part of the backyard where the chickens, tortoise, rabbits and lizards live).

Approaching the hill, I notice the trap was sprung again.  Yep, the adorable young ground squirrel had been caught again.

Like last time, I got the trap, moved it to the top of the chicken food table and hit release.  Again, the squirrel bolted.  I didn’t think twice, but reset the trap and put it back in its place.

I think you all know what happens next, right?

Working away, it dawned on me that maybe – just maybe – I shouldn’t have reset the trap.  It was a hot day, nearing the hottest part of the day and God forbid the squirrel get trapped again.

Luckily that call ended early and I was able to run up the hill and found the trap sprung again with the ground squirrel.

Apologizing to the squirrel for not thinking, I grab the trap, moved it to the chicken food table and hit release.

This time, the squirrel does not bolt.  Instead, he walks out of the trap and sits down (literally, like a foot from me) on the table and just stares at me.

Not sure if he is angry with me or attempting to negotiate or saying thank you, I reach in my pocket and grab a rabbit snack and put it in front of him (or her).

I take the trap, close it, and put it at the end of the table.   All the while, holding a lively conversation with the squirrel (Did I mention I talk to animals?).

With my next conference call looming, I said goodbye to the squirrel and went back to work.

I kept reflecting on the squirrel for the rest of the day.  It probably would make you laugh to think of some of the thoughts, but where I landed was what matters.

Why do I keep doing the same things over and over expecting different results?   Seriously, after two times, why didn’t my brain click?

Was I just going through the motion?
Was I on autopilot?
Was I in a hurry?
Or, was I simply not thinking?

Whether or not Einstein actually said it, there is truth in “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

To get a different result, I just need to pause, think, adjust and alter the course.  If it doesn’t render what I want, I can just do it again.

That squirrel reminded me that we all have the ability to alter our future, just by altering our course.  So simple!

And, that is what insanity, Einstein, rats and a squirrel have in common.

Happy Thursday!

Conference Calls Should Be Simple, Right?

Create an agenda, invite the appropriate individuals and for the duration have a thoughtful conversation, make all the right decisions and walk away with a plan of action. But, nowhere in that plan, does it mention the technological glitches, individuals not fully paying attention or barking dogs.

The past two weeks, I have been on many conference calls that felt disorganized and to be frank, were not capitalizing on the invitee’s time.  One meeting took 10 minutes to begin as we waited for participants to join and then the facilitator spent another 10 getting the late arrivals up to date.  Another, the facilitator was late leaving us in musical purgatory.  The final straw was a meeting where everything that could go wrong, went wrong.  Children, dogs, cats, Darth Vader, and someone typing (using a hammer?).  No one was surprised when I cried out BLACKOUT and reported I had filled up my conference call BINGO card.   Not really, but you can picture it can’t you?

Over the weekend, I started to write down conference call behaviors that I want to hold myself accountable to and model in an attempt to change my engagement in conference calls.

My first draft was a tad verbose (see bottom of thread), but through the editing process I was able to create one liners:

How do I integrate these behaviors?
 · If I aspire to live these behaviors, I need to make them a habit.
 · In making them a habit, I need to model them in every meeting I attend.
 · In modeling them, I need your help to tell when I am NOT modeling them.

And, as a team challenge, what if we agreed to these conference call commitments for meetings we schedule and meetings we are invited to attend? Fast forward two years out, would these changes today raise our street credibility? I believe they would. Anyone up to the Conference Call Commitment challenge?

Happy Thursday!


 Conference Call Commitments
 I will be present and actively engaged in the meetings I accept.
 I will invite individuals who have a role to play. 
 I will make sure everyone invited is really necessary to the conversation and stop inviting folks as “optional”. 
 I will remember, the more people on the line, the more it costs the bank. Not to mention, the more people on the line means the less everyone pays attention.
I will start on time. And, if someone joins late, I will not catch him or her up. It wastes everyone else's time. I will encourage him or her to catch up with someone at the end of call to see what was missed or follow back up with the organizer after minutes have been distributed.
I will give the meeting agenda / goal within the first 120 seconds of the call. 
I will put intentions in my meeting invites as the other people on the call should know why I called a meeting and want I need from them right away.
As the call organizer, I will ensure everyone is engaged. This means calling on participants if they are not speaking.
When using a screen sharing, I will make sure it works before the call starts. And, I will make sure I am sharing only the presentation, not your whole computer.
I will keep my sentences “shortish” and remember to pause regularly. If I do, I believe this will allow people to jump in or ask questions. 
I will remember that unless I am giving a lecture, I should not speak for more than 75% of the call.
Five minutes before the end of the call, I will warn everyone that it's wrapping up, and ask if there are any questions. I will not let it run over if at all possible because I know it's disrespectful of other people's time.
I will have someone act as scribe and pass to them at the five minute marker to share next steps and action items. I will ask the scribe to send the minutes directly after the call so they remain top of mind to participants.
If I am joining a conference call, I will – at the first pause - introduce yourself.
I will plan my calls so that I am in a location where I can listen and engage. In the rare case that I am caught in a noisy location, I will let people know right away that I’ll be on mute unless I am speaking.
I will use the mute button strategically. And, if I am muted for 90% of the call, I will ask myself if I need to be on the call.
I will not be “that” person. You know the one that is not engaged, is checking emails, is responding to IMs and needs to ask for questions to be repeated. Instead, if I am not engaged – I will ask myself I need to be on the call. If I need to be on the call and am being distracted by a fire drill, I will consider one of the following: (1) Can a team member fill in for me? (2) Can the meeting be rescheduled? (3) Can I tell the fire drill originator that I need xx minutes before I can assist (4) Can I tell meeting coordinator, I need 5 – 10 minutes to address fire drill and return promptly.

Gratitude Challenge – Day Seven

Well, here I am on Day Seven….I did not do this this traditional way, but more my own interpretive version. Less stress that way and more time for reflection.

1) I am so grateful for Love

I truly believe all roads have led me here and for that reason I have a three folks I would like to thank: ...

My Grey Flannel man (yep, going to use a code name if only to make him smile and to make me feel 15 again). In one of my more serious conversations with my eldest, I told him that I wished him a first love that was worthy of him. Your first love not only builds the foundation by which all others will rest upon. They set the standard for respect, connectness, intimacy, trust, honesty and so much more. I was so lucky - to have had someone simply amazing in my life. I am a better person for having been loved by him and he did set the standard by which every other was evaluated. Thank you GFM. Xo - MG

Yikes!! It’s hard to follow that, but I did say he set the standard. The other two that I want to thank are Curt and Chris – but not going to say anything except I am grateful for both (they know why) and so glad they are still in my life.

2) I am so grateful to Shelly and Brooke

For those of you who don’t know the “love story”, my sister (Shelly) is responsible for introducing me to my partner of 20+ years. She along with his father (Brooke), schemed - a picture of me passed hands - resulting in a phone call. But, I was not looking for love, and again my sister intervened…this time calling 9-1-1 (yep, it’s a crazy story to be shared over wine or whiskey) to jump start what she had started. And jump start she did. Whirlwind romance ensued. First house, got married, first baby, second baby, another house, third baby…whew!

Marriage isn’t easy (not that I thought it would be) and our love story has had its share of peaks and valleys, but tremendously grateful I am for both.

So thankful to be deeply loved by someone who is strong, passionate, funny, compassionate, stubborn, smart, courageous and, oh! has a higher credit rating than I do.

So grateful that I found someone who… • Eats all the meat out of the Chinese food, leaving the veggies for me. Joy!! • Gave me a card and a plant on the second date (I still think that is soooo cute!). • Ordered a fireman license plate ‘cause I am his "ReaGrl". • Puts Pride and Prejudice on for me • Dislikes cats, but bought me cat after cat because I love cats (and dogs, and chickens and ….). • Fills my stocking every Christmas with red vines, yogurt raisins and spearmint gum because he knows me. • Makes lists of “dream projects” so that one by one we can cross them off together. • Endures Lost with me (actually I am not grateful for this) • Shares the joys, pains, loves, losses of life with me. I could go on and on…

When the aliens haven’t kidnapped him and the Gemini hasn’t taken possession of me, we make for a great couple – or maybe we make a great couple because we persevere? In any event, thank you Shelly and Brooke for introducing me to Bruce. I am eternally grateful.