Friday, March 29, 2013

The Long View of Management from Pesach

This week it is Pesach or Passover and we do not read the regular weekly parsha. In this case i opted to post about Pesach and business.

While I have taken the week off for the holiday, naturally many of my work related friends have not and this has led to interesting conversations.

In one example, someone used a hash tag which had zero meaning to me. Since I could only read the newspaper during the holiday, and this was not a newsworthy event unless you are heavy into social media and maybe the 1st Amendment, I had no idea what she was referring.

The differences between what we see in our daily life of work, materialism and physical aspects when compared in contrast to Pesach prove this out.

Pesach is when we remind ourselves of not just being freed from the Egyptian slavery but also from the mindset of idolatry and a general lack of spirituality. There is nothing new in this, but the example with my friend raises this to a modern view. If one is so tied to their work and being connected all the time, they lose track of how the world around us exists and lives. Living in a bubble, you only hear echoes, never anything new.

So get out of your bubble and recognize what is important is not the day to day, but the long haul and spiritual side. I may opt out to follow everything going on, and that is fine, because if it was really important, it would be for me and sent to me. As we answer the not so nice son on Pesach, this is what Hashem did and does for me. My trust is better than my email reliance.

While I have been out, my team has, I hope and trust, been taking care of things and when I return anything that is important will no doubt be told to me. My long view of management works for me as well because I want them to become managers and grow in their roles and this gives them the freedom to experience it for a week.


Friday, March 22, 2013

Keep the Fire Burning

You want to keep the midnight oil running, but you can't always do it yourself. You need your team to work with you and be there so you are not a one man show.

Except when you want to be a one man show.

Even the one man, needs time to relax, sleep, get over being sick, watch something on TV or even eat once in a while. Unless you have planned for all of this, you will not get very far in business. If you have a 24 hour business, you need someone, somewhere, getting work done all day and all night.

And so it is in this week's parsha. A Cohen's work is never done and there are always sacrifices and offerings going on, back then. These days there are more and more ways to do business 24x7x365. We see this from 6:6 where it says:



6. A continuous fire shall burn upon the altar; it shall not go out.   ו. אֵשׁ תָּמִיד תּוּקַד עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ לֹא תִכְבֶּה:

This fire was always on because there were always transactions getting completed. As long as the fire was still alight, business could run it's course. If the fire were to stop, then there would be nothing left. The parallel to the business world is everywhere and it all started back then.

If you have enough sales leads, you will keep your business afloat. If you have enough clients in need of help, the fire keeps burning. Once you get big enough, then your fire takes on a different form, one that is much harder to squelch but also harder to maintain unless you have planned accordingly.
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Parsha Tzav in the book of Vayikra 6:1 - 8:36
It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom

Friday, March 15, 2013

Magic Pixie Dust

Ever wish you could sacrifice your SOW to the marketing or sales God? Whenever you need to fix something, you just sprinkle some pixie dust and poof, all is better.

Life doesn't work that way. But wouldn't that be a great job in your office, Chief Sacrifice Officer.

We should be so lucky to do some magic and be redeemed, or so you think.

What makes this different from what is found in this week's parsha is the spiritual aspects that were implied from the mistakes people made that could be absolved. Every religion has a way, maybe because it is easier on Earth to accept this.

In business it would help if one could back out of mistakes, but then we would not learn from them if we knew thy would just get magically resolved.

Instead we focus our efforts on not having the same outcomes. The Torah recognizes people are not perfect and provides an out for their inner feelings of regret and mistaken actions.

The chance to think about what we did, on purpose or by accident, in order to make a better tomorrow is what make us all unique. The ability as an organization or a community to admit mistakes, to clients, each other, or God, is the message which we can take from this week's parsha.

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Parsha Vayikra in the book of Vayikra 1:1 - 5:26

It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom

Friday, March 8, 2013

Impressions are so Fleeting

Ever wonder where the idea of sugar coating something came from? Possibly the term came from this week's parsha. Throughout the entire parsha which explains in immense detail how the Mishkan or Tabenacle, The Ark of the Covenant, menorah, altar and curtains and other instruments were created, in almost every case the Torah also says the items were overlaid in copper, silver or gold. Before you ask where did these nomads in the desert have all these jewels, metals and more, remember when they left Egypt they asked for their wages and personal belongings back from the Egyptians.

Why should everything be covered by these metals? And what is the Torah telling us for our needs and future?

In some cases, for the altar as one example, it makes sense as gold and silver would melt under the heat but copper, which was used to cover the altar has a much higher melting point. Science aside, we learn that in people's eyes, appearance is important.

When we go on interviews or meet someone for the first time, many decisions about the person met are decided unconsciously in under a minute. Appearance must be important and the grandeur which is alluded to for some of the items is even more pronounced when dripping in gold and jewels.

In time of course all of these items would disappear, through battles or lost in time or hidden as some speculate, but they were built to be temporary housing for Israel while they were in the desert. In time the Temples would be built, and destroyed, which would have greater items.

When you look at business methods and the choices which are made, there is so much effort put into the opening meetings and documents with the expectation we will "fill in the blanks" later. There is also the belief that as the project grows and strengthens we will produce better documentation and representation of ourselves.

That is the plan, but is not always the outcome. Just like in time all of the items designed in this parsha disappeared, so to will the desire to impress and eventually have us revert to a stronger foundation with less excitement. We should strive to maintain the magic of the early days of the project and keep up the appearances that remind our customers why they work with us.
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Parsha Vayakhel in the book of Shemot Exodus 35:1 - 38:20

It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom

Friday, March 1, 2013

How do You Introduce Yourself?

Did you ever write your own introduction to give to someone before you were presented with an award or as a guest speaker so they could describe you to the audience or have you ever "just" been introduced? Presumably at one time we all have been in this situation. But what have we learned from it?

The first time you hear someone else introduce you in a way you feel did not properly express you or your role, your natural instinct is to not have that happen again. You sculpt a brief introduction of yourself for the next time.

We know that the first impression is the lasting one. Your introduction should be the best foot forward. Likewise when you introduce your team, do you portray them in the best light or just, Jack from Development?

When Moshe is tasked with building the Tabernacle for God, he is pitched, by God, to use Bezalel. As seen below:

Chapter 31

1. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:א. וַיְדַבֵּר יְהֹוָה אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר:
2. "See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,ב. רְאֵה קָרָאתִי בְשֵׁם בְּצַלְאֵל בֶּן אוּרִי בֶן חוּר לְמַטֵּה יְהוּדָה:
3. and I have imbued him with the spirit of God, with wisdom, with insight, with knowledge, and with [talent for] all manner of craftsmanshipג. וָאֲמַלֵּא אֹתוֹ רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים בְּחָכְמָה וּבִתְבוּנָה וּבְדַעַת וּבְכָל מְלָאכָה:
4. to do master weaving, to work with gold, with silver, and with copper,ד. לַחְשֹׁב מַחֲשָׁבֹת לַעֲשׂוֹת בַּזָּהָב וּבַכֶּסֶף וּבַנְּחשֶׁת:
5. with the craft of stones for setting and with the craft of wood, to do every [manner of] work.ה. וּבַחֲרשֶׁת אֶבֶן לְמַלֹּאת וּבַחֲרשֶׁת עֵץ לַעֲשׂוֹת בְּכָל מְלָאכָה:


This is a pretty strong introduction for Bezalel to get the work done. We should all be introduced this way, especially our staff who make us look better always.
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Parsha Ki Tisa in the book of Shemot Exodus 30:11 - 34:35

It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom