LUE-42 Enterprises August 2021 Ezine

I Believe In Fairness, Fun, And Sharing What I’ve Learned With The People Who Make This Planet A Great Place To Live

Issue 127, September 2021

Hello dear readers, thank you for all your support in the last month. Since Brian's passing, my life keeps making sharp turns and I am finding myself going along for the ride because trying to steer is exhausting. That said, August brought pockets of joy and laughter to offset some of the grief.

I saw two live theatre productions, and three on-line productions. (It was so good to be part of that again). I had a road trip to Calgary and welcomed the change of scenery. I saw friends in slightly larger groups than I'd been in for several months. Gardening friends shared the bounty of their efforts. Football returned to Commonwealth Stadium and, with diligence and luck, will continue.

I moved again, home and office, and am grateful for friends at one end packing and at the other end unpacking.

I had several calls for my funeral celebrant services, which (sadly) I declined as I deal with planning Brian's celebration. The "are we in or out of the pandemic" yo-yo has frustrated our plans to celebrate his life. Yet the love continues to pour out for Brian, and this tribute by TSN during the broadcast of the first Edmonton Elks game continues to move me to tears. My thanks to Chris Edwards (no relation) and Ryan Rishaug for doing such an amazing job on the segment.

It is apparent that boards are returning from their breaks as my calendar is filling up with rewarding board work. I attended a large, in-person AGM yesterday for the first time in many months. COVID precautions were still in place, but I found it surreal to be among so many people again. I'm not sure if I'm ready to be back together fully, but it looks like our infection numbers will make that decision for us.

Some of us are relieved when a decision is made for us. In fact, a friend shared an article with me that captured the essence of what I've been hearing and feeling lately. "Defining Decision Fatigue" (Sherwood Park-Strathcona County News August 17 2021) explains why even the smallest decisions seem too much lately. We're all tired of it, and they share three tips to help us:

Aim for automation
Don't expect perfection
Honour your experience

Have a look at the article.

And here we are facing September -- back to school, back to work, back to whatever our new routines look like. I wish you an easy path as you go forward.

/lmwe

”Rest when you’re weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.”

-- Ralph Marston

Is the Answer in the Cards?

When I was packing up my office last week I got distracted by CSAE's BoardREADY Card Deck. If you haven't seen it, "The CSAE BoardREADY Card Deck is a hybrid physical/digital product designed to build your board's capacity to govern and strengthen its performance for the future." The cards, published in 2016, help boards focus on Oversight, Foresight, Insight, and Hindsight.

I was part of the group that helped build the deck, and I have enjoyed using it with certain boards and for certain problems. Before I packed it, I decided to treat it like a Tarot deck and set my intention for a specific board. Then I pulled a a couple of cards, read them, and laughed out loud. Coincidence? Perhaps, but it gave me just what I needed to get over a hump with this board. I thought I'd share the cards:

Oversight: Nurturing Personal Responsibility (Card AOT1)

"Association and non-profit boards need their directors to take full responsibility for and fully participate in every aspect of the work of governing. In contrast to the popular notion of accountability, which is reactive, internalizing personal responsibility is a proactive and generative frame of reference for governing. The thinking challenge for directors is to be clear about the motivations and aspirations that moved them to seek out a board seat. The following three questions will help directors thoughtfully reflect:

What was my original motivation for board service?
Is my board service a volunteer job or a voluntary contribution?
What important contributions do I make to the success of the organization's governing work?

Foresight: Taking the Long View (CardPFD3)

"The tendency toward short-term thinking is a serious concern for all boards, including associations, non-profits, and corporations. The duty of foresight encourages boards and their staff partners to take the long view when exploring important strategic issues and questions. The discussion challenge for boards of directors is to avoid the trap of short-term thinking by focusing first on long-term considerations. These three questions can guide boards' approach in this area:

How might this issue we are discussing play out over the next 18-36 months?
What information do we need to better understand the long-term implications?
How can we work back from our long-term perspective to get clear on short-term concerns?

I checked CSAE's website for a link and can't find the cards. Perhaps it's user error (sorry), or perhaps the tool didn't do the intended job. In any event, I enjoy my BoardREADY Card Deck and was glad to be part of building it, even if I sometimes use it like Tarot cards!

/lmwe

“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.

It is up to you to give [life] a meaning.”

― Jean-Paul Sartre

Some People Who Made My Life Better in August

MaryJane Alanko, Bil Bonar/Raindog Bar, Lori Bursey, David Cheoros, Chantelle Chevrier Painter, Patricia Darbasie, Janis Dowe, Bruce Findley, Chad Folkerson, Liz Garratt, Wanda Hackney, Marg Hartt, Helena Hill, Rhonda Hjorth, Kimberley Hunter Lee, Ali Jackson, Ian Jackson, Julia Kopala, Donna & Lyle Kuzik, Lynn MacAskill, Sherrill MacGilvray, Pat MacDonald, Jeff Mawson, Kelly McClung, John Mellec, Gina Moe, Jenny/Adesh/Aliya Narine, Andy Northrup, Hector Pothier, Paul Rechner, Bruce Romaniuk, Dr. Saghr, Joan Seeth, Michelle Sicard, Mike Smith-Knutsen, Sheila Steger, Donna Stonehocker & Jim Gwartney, Peter Tinning, Janna Tominuk, Theresa Tsoukalas, Gord West, James & Sarah West, Lil West, Chris Wood & Bobbi Fitzgerald, Jill Wood & Charlotte Hutt, and everyone who reached out about Brian's passing

Some Links I Like

If Your Grant Report Could Say What You're Thinking (An excellent op ed from Non Profit AF)

Can You Outrun an Alligator? (I didn't even know the myth)

Ten False Science Facts (I believed some of these)

Ten Wrong Sayings About Animals (I still assume bugs' ears are cute)

Amps, Watts, Volts, Ohms (Read it twice, still confused, but will do better on crosswords)

The Rock, Paper, Scissors or ESG (Interesting case of Ben & Jerry's)

RIP Charlie Watts (About legendary Rolling Stones drummer)

Collect Moments, Not Things (Brief clip about what's important)

Some Quotes I Like

“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”

-- Booker T. Washington

“We all get scared and want to turn away, but it isn't always strength that makes you stay. Strength is also making the decision to change your destiny.”

-- Zoraida Córdova

“Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.”

-- Coreta Kent

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

― Albert Einstein