Pails in Comparison

Turnaround Time: Uniting an Airline and Its Employees in the Friendly Skies

PIC No. 42: 
• Title: Turnaround Time: Uniting an Airline and Its Employees in the Friendly Skies
• Authors: Oscar Munoz with Brian DeSplinter
• Publisher: Harper Business (May 2, 2023, 240 pages)
• Management Bucket #8 of 20: The Culture Bucket
 


Welcome to Issue No. 42 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

Your First 37 Days as CEO

“Already a crisis, the incident was now spiraling out of control,” writes Oscar Munoz, who served as CEO of United Airlines from 2015 to 2020. “This is when the loneliness of the CEO becomes most acute. Even your closest colleagues are beginning to back away from you.”

Munoz—even today—regrets how he handled the PR disaster days after the April 9, 2017, incident. Smartphone videos went viral of a passenger (randomly chosen) who had refused all offers to rebook this sold-out flight. The videos (on TV and Twitter) broadcast “a violent incident showing airport law enforcement wrestling Dr. Dao out of his seat in the aisle and then dragging him off the plane, his glasses knocked from his eyes to below his nose, blood gushing from his face.”

Imagine! A few months earlier, Oscar Munoz had been named PR magazine’s “Communicator of the Year,” yet his initial response—“cold and clinical”—turned a crisis into a PR disaster, according to one news report.

That’s just one of 43 specific leadership lessons and insights I noted in this transparent, poignant, and powerful autobiography, Turnaround Time: Uniting an Airline and Its Employees in the Friendly Skies, by Oscar Munoz with Brian DeSplinter.

Really, John—43 leadership lessons? Really! Some leadership books give you 90 days to make a difference in a new position, but Oscar Munoz, United’s new CEO, received only 37 days initially. After a 5:30 a.m. five-mile run in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, he suffered a heart attack and endured a medically-induced coma at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. His wife was still at their home in Florida—and his unexplained absence from critical meetings at United that morning deeply troubled his team. Amazingly, Munoz is now a heart transplant survivor.

Michael Watkins, author of The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, uses an acronym, “STARS,” to describes the four kinds of situations you’ll likely find when you accept a new position: Start-up, Turn-Around, Realignment, and Sustaining Success. He warns that a successful CEO of a Realignment may fail at a Turn-Around—and vice versa. When the United Airlines board asked one of their board members, Oscar Munoz, to become their CEO—his marching orders were clear: Turnaround. (Hence, his book’s title: Turnaround Time.)

Who should read this book?
• All leaders tasked with turnarounds.
• New CEOs and veteran CEOs who need a leadership refresher master class.
• Board members and senior team members.

What about those 43 leadership lessons? Honest—there are over 100 valuable lessons in this book, but I made notes on just 43. Similar to my review of Becoming Trader Joe (another fascinating CEO inside look), this book also delivers an uncanny breadth of leadership and management savvy across all 20 management buckets (core competencies). Examples:

THE MEETINGS BUCKET: Munoz instituted weekly meetings—with metrics. “I was also dismayed to learn that the most senior members of the company didn’t have a standing weekly meeting to discuss business results and metrics, progress on key strategic initiatives, and importantly, coordinate their efforts toward a common aim.”

(This reminded me of Alan Mulally’s early days at Ford. He introduced a “traffic light” system to weekly business performance reviews (BPRs) in which executives indicated progress on key initiatives with a “green, yellow, and red color-coding system.”)

THE CUSTOMER BUCKET: On his first United flight as CEO, he started a list, “The Top Ten Dumbest Things.” Talking obsessively with gate agents and flight attendants on his first 30 days of a “listening tour,” one response was a watershed moment. A teary-eyed flight attendant told him, “Oscar, I’m just tired of always having to say, ‘I’m sorry.’” (He built his motivational talks around that moment.)

THE STRATEGY BUCKET: An executive team (“E-Team”) offsite retreat hammered out competing strategy priorities (customers, operations, employees, Wall Street, etc.). Guided by a strategic advisory firm, Munoz wanted 100% buy-in from his team on where they would land.

COMMUNICATIONS: His PR firm created a 90-day plan and helped them launch “United Airtime,” a digital platform for both passengers and employees to “air” their criticisms. One stunner response: “I felt like an inconvenience, not a customer.”

CULTURE: Whew! Continental merged with United in 2010, but it took eight years to integrate the union contracts and cultures. (United folks referred to their new associates as “ex-Cons.”) Yikes!

BUDGET: In the fascinating chapter, “New Flight Plan,” Munoz delivers “a short primer on how airlines actually make money.” Using a hypothetical flight of 100 passengers, at the time it required 29 people just to pay for the gas. During the turnaround days, the margins were thin: just the 100th passenger “would represent pure profit for the airline.” (Can you explain your organization's expense side in simple terms?)

Gratefully, this autobiography skips the frequent page-filler traps of less humble CEOs. At times, the book reads like a James Bond novel. Will he survive? What happens next? Wow—why would anyone want to be an airline CEO? In between the crisis moments, Munoz artfully weaves in fascinating doses of his background and formative years, including his grandmother, Mama Josefina, who raised him in Mexico until he met his mother at age 10 in Los Angeles. Mama Josefina, his role model, then worked as a housekeeper at a Las Vegas hotel chain until she retired at age 86! She modeled for him, “To lead is to serve.”

Maybe because I’ve lived near two United Airlines hubs (Chicago and L.A.), I was a loyal fan of the friendly skies. According to my MileagePlus account, I’ve flown 730,000 miles on United. I’ve prayed for every pilot on take-offs and landings! Ironically, my wife and I were on United when we arrived back in the U.S. from a South American vacation on March 10, 2020 (thanks to frequent flier miles). The next day, March 11, 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Whew! Just made it back!

In his riveting chapter on COVID, Munoz—then just two months before his baton handoff to his successor in May 2020—shares the fascinating inside info (White House meetings and more) on those rare moments when airline CEOs (aka competitors) worked together to keep planes flying during COVID. Oh, my.

You’ll also appreciate learning what you should do when you feel “weird,” and why you should call 911 immediately. A doctor’s earlier counsel saved Oscar Munoz's life. His story (and his physical pain) reminded me of university president Mark Smith’s story, Oh God, I’m Dying!

THE BOARD BUCKET: There are ample board governance insights. Today, Munoz serves on USC's board and other boards. (His story as an unlikely USC student is inspirational. He was the first college grad in his family. His experience also informs his heart for workplace diversity.)

THE CRISIS BUCKET: With apologies to Oscar Munoz, I can’t resist mentioning another PR disaster (2009, prior to Munoz’s CEO stint) when another unfortunate customer service story went viral and became an MBA case study! “United Breaks Guitars” is described in Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s book, Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World. (Read my review and view the video!) And click here for the guitar player’s commentary on the 2017 incident.

YIKES! Think your job is challenging? Try navigating the daily perils of an airline CEO’s role: unions, weather delays, and more. And on any given day, the possibility of emails from more than 90,000 employees! Oh…and a YouTube video that goes viral and now has more than 22 million views. Did I mention, “Yikes?”

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Culture Bucket and the Crisis Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. If you love CEO autobiographies, you'll appreciate these niche books:

[  ] Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys, by Joe Coulombe with Patty Civalleri. (Read my review.)
[  ] Made From Scratch: The Legendary Success Story of Texas Roadhouse, by Kent Taylor. (Read my review.)
[  ] Oh God, I’m Dying! How God Redeems Pain for Our Good and for His Glory, by Terry Powell and Mark Smith. (Read my review.)

BONUS! Here are three more leadership/management books, also with Chicago connections. (United's offices are in Chicago, the city where I endured 21 winters!)

[  ] The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse, by Tom Verducci (Read my review.)
[  ] Culture Is the Way: How Leaders at Every Level Build an Organization for Speed, Impact, and Excellence, by Matt Mayberry. (Read my review.)
[  ] A Game Maker's Life: A Hall of Fame Game Inventor and Executive Tells the Inside Story of the Toy Industry, by Jeffrey Breslow with Cynthia Beebe. (Read my review.)

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Turnaround Time: Uniting an Airline and Its Employees in the Friendly Skies, by Oscar Munoz with Brian DeSplinter. Listen on Libro (9 hours, 7 minutes). And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. 

© 2023 John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

An Admirable Point: A Brief History of the Exclamation Mark!

PIC No. 41: 
• Title: An Admirable Point: A Brief History of the Exclamation Mark!
• Author: Florence Hazrat
• Publisher: GODINE (March 28, 2023, 176 pages)
• Management Bucket #19 of 20: The Printing Bucket (aka The Communication Bucket)
 


Welcome to Issue No. 41 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

Stop Laughing at Your Own Jokes!!!!!

First, let’s get one thing straight. Florence Hazrat’s short book on the exclamation point (I mean, the exclamation “mark”—as it’s known in the UK) is so well written that I hesitated. Full stop. (That’s another UK oddity to my American ears.) Dare I write a review and expose my feeble, sophomoric vocabulary—coupled with the likely inappropriate sequencing of the King’s English?

Second, I pray this review won’t deter you from reading this exquisite book, An Admirable Point: A Brief History of the Exclamation Mark! I can think of dozens of friends and colleagues who will devour this history book.

Wait a minute! It’s not really a history book! It’s more like an everything bagel (or scone?) with your favorite Starbucks drink, enjoyed with amiable friends—who are ready to stop whatever they’re doing while you read paragraph after paragraph after paragraph to them, with feeling, including all appropriate verbal exclamation points and marks!

If you loved Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss, you’ll champion this book. (By the way, Truss dedicates Eats, Shoots & Leaves “to the memory of the striking Bolshevik printers of St. Petersburg who, in 1905, demanded to be paid the same rate for punctuation marks as for letters, and thereby directly precipitated the first Russian Revolution.”)

You gotta read this! The history journey in An Admirable Point is fascinating—but there’s more. Did you know that it was not until the middle of the 18th century when ! became an accepted member of the punctuation family? And it took a while before all the foundries across Europe would sell the ! to printers? Did you know the first typewriter in 1867 did not include an exclamation point?

“In fact, a dedicated ! typewriter key continued to be so rare that the 1973 Secretary’s Manual still explained how to create one by performing the dot-apostrophe manoeuvre.”

Writers of books, articles, essays, reports, websites, emails, texts, and Amazon reviews—will all appreciate the therapeutic comfort from reading An Admirable Point. I’ve been jabbed frequently for my injudicious use of the exclamation point. The author piles on with her laundry lists from the naysayers who describe our types with such venom. Forget the sticks and stones—these killing words (!!!) actually do hurt some of us. When we use !, we’ve been labeled:
   • “excitable, screechy, and frenetic”
   • “the sure sign of a diseased mind”
   • “too noisy, too attention-grabbing, too powerful, too present.”
   • “the selfie of grammar”
   • And if we use five exclamation points in a row? That’s “a sign of someone wearing his underpants on his head.”

And there’s this:
   • “F. Scott Fitzgerald declared that exclamation marks are like laughing at your own jokes.”
   • Creative writing adviser Noah Lukeman writes that perhaps “the bright green dress” or “the flaming pink scarf” may require an !, on occasion, but only “…every five years, when it is needed, until then, like those clothes, it is best left in the closet.”

Exclamation points have torpedoed their way into pop culture:
• LL Cool J raps punctuation rules on the children’s TV show, The Electric Company. (View here!)
• The lack of an exclamation point prompts Elaine’s breakup with then-boyfriend Jake on Seinfeld. (View here!)
• Classical pianist/comedian Victor Borge delights with a LOL five-minute tutorial on “Phonetic Punctuation.” The ! finally gets it due! (View here!)

The exclamation point has been called “the prince of punctuation.” According to the author, women tend to use ! more than men. I’m guessing, however, that if you compared the four social styles (Analyticals, Drivers, Amiables, and Expressives), both genders in the Expressive category use far more !!! than the rest of us.

This pointy trip through the lands of literature, poetry, art, politics, religion and more—reveals fascinating side trips through the eyes of punctuation. Example: How many exclamation points were in the original languages of the Bible? (Google it!)

The chapter on politics was my favorite side show. I now have permission to critique any and all political campaign fonts and punctuation! Read more on the “Jeb!” logo from Jeb Bush’s campaign. Why did the Obama re-election team tussle over “Forward” vs. “Forward.” with a full stop? Fascinating! And the ubiquitous “KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON” signs—those Ministry of Information’s posters for wartime Britain? “A bit of a flop at the time.”

Spoiler Alert!!! Florence Hazrat’s head-turning phrases are frosting (or icing) on the cake. Enjoy a cuppa and drink deeply from her creativity. Describing one of many attempts at early and late innovations in punctuation, the author describes one unique proposal: “a sort of full stop with a comma or apostrophe hovering to its right. A cheeky little textual earring dangling from the top of the line.”

On today’s emojis: “…it’s hard to imagine the likes of Luther or Erasmus sending prayerhands. Instead, writers harnessed punctuation to capture and evoke emotion, well aware that the naked content of words without the dress of feelings would have a hard time convincing anyone.”

You will love this wonderful book!!!!! (Yikes! I may have exceeded my allotment of exclamation marks—and now I’m absolutely knackered.) Note: No surprise for a book on !!!, you will find a few adult words on a few pages. (Full stop.)

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Printing Bucket (aka the Communications Bucket), plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[  ] Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss. (Order from Amazon. This book is referenced in the Printing Bucket in Mastering the Management Buckets.)

[  ] Keys to Great Writing, by Stephen Wilbers (Read my review.)

[  ] 15 Minutes Including Q&A: A Plan to Save the World From Lousy Presentations, by Joey Asher (Read my review.)

[  ] Doesn't Hurt to Ask: Using the Power of Questions to Communicate, Connect, and Persuade, by Trey Gowdy (2020 Book-of-the-Year! Read my review.)

To order from Amazon, click on the title for An Admirable Point: A Brief History of the Exclamation Mark!, by Florence Hazrat. And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. 

© 2023 John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

Special Tribute to Olan Hendrix (1931-2023)

PIC No. 40: 
• Title: Three Dimensions of Leadership: Practical Insight on Management, Finance, and Boards of Churches and Christian Organizations
• Author: Olan Hendrix
• Publisher: Churchsmart Resources (March 16, 2000, 154 pages)
• Management Bucket #14 of 20: The Board Bucket


   Olan Hendrix
   (1931-2023)

Welcome to Issue No. 40 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

Leadership Generosity: Olan Hendrix

Olan Hendrix, the founding executive director of ECFA, passed away on April 13, 2023, at age 91. According to an email from his son, Richard, “My dad went home to be with the Lord . . . following 25 days of hospice care in his own home in Sun Lakes, Ariz. He was at peace and ready to go to heaven. He was longing to be with Jesus and to see Libby again.” Olan’s wife, Libby, passed away in February 2022. 

I was saddened to receive this news, but gladdened to reflect on the powerful influence that Olan had on thousands of Christian leaders and ministries. I was also the grateful recipient of his leadership generosity. In the introduction to Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit (2008), I wrote the following:

The workshop room was crowded with Christian camp directors. Oozing in passion and enthusiasm, these leaders had traveled from around the world to Christian Camping International's 1971 annual convention at Green Lake Conference Center.

The workshop topic was counselor training and I was writing notes as fast as I could (no laptops back then), when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned to see my wife, Joanne, motioning for me to exit the meeting. Expecting bad news, I followed her outside.

"I don't know what workshop you're attending, John," she began, "but it doesn't matter. Olan Hendrix is teaching an all-day seminar on Management 101, and he just described you to a T. You've been through college and seminary, but you've never read a management book, never taken a management course—and you could be the poster boy for everything managers and camp directors are doing badly. Just follow me back to Olan's session. Someday you'll thank me!"

That day-long crash course in Management 101 changed my life. I have thanked Joanne a zillion times—and Olan Hendrix dozens of times. The truth is, I was unprepared for leadership. I didn't know what I didn't know. But over the years, patient bosses, boards and mentors guided me in my lifelong-learning journey. I'm still learning.

According to Olan’s family, he had a remarkable life. Olan Hendrix was brought up in an alcoholic home, lost his mother at age six, and joined the U.S. Navy in 1944 as WWII was ending.

“After discharge from the Navy in Mobile, Ala., he rented a room from a widow lady who shared with him, and other sailors renting rooms from her, the Good News of Jesus and his life was transformed.”

Olan’s ministry years were stunning! “In the decades that followed, he served as pastor in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, and served in leadership ministries with Far Eastern Gospel Crusade (later renamed SEND International), American Sunday School Union (later renamed American Missionary Fellowship), World Vision International, and Gospel Light Publishers.” [Note: AMF is now InFaith.]

Hendrix was the founding Executive Director of Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability from 1979 to 1981. Through his consulting ministry, Leadership Resource Group, he served nonprofit Christian organizations with a strategic focus on development, board governance, plus management and leadership development. According to Richard Hendrix, Olan “worked—preaching, teaching and consulting—in more than 60 countries over a period of nearly 60 years.” He and his wife, Libby, were married for 72 years.

Olan wrote four books:
• Three Dimensions of Leadership: Practical Insight on Management, Finance, and Boards of Churches and Christian Organizations (2000) – Foreword by Ted Engstrom and John Maxwell (Order from Amazon)
• Management for the Christian Leader (1982)
• Management for the Christian Worker (1976)
• Management and the Christian Worker (1973)

Insights from Olan’s books and articles are leveraged and quoted widely. I referenced his common sense principles in three of the 20 buckets in Mastering the Management Buckets:

THE MEETINGS BUCKET. John Maxwell, writing in Leadership Gold: Lessons I’ve Learned from a Lifetime of Leading, credits his meeting management wisdom to Olan Hendrix, one of his mentors. I so appreciate Maxwell’s chapter, “The Secret to a Good Meeting Is the Meeting Before the Meeting.”

In 10 quick-reading pages, Maxwell builds the case for turning routine meetings into productive action-oriented gatherings. Olan Hendrix introduced him to the brilliant concept of “the meeting before the meeting.” Maxwell writes that the meeting before the meeting: 1) helps you receive buy-in, 2) helps followers to gain perspective, 3) increases your influence, 4) helps you develop trust, and 5) avoids your being blindsided.

THE OPERATIONS BUCKET. On this webpage, and in my buckets book, I quote Olan Hendrix: "Leaders must learn to manage, and managers must learn to lead. When we see the two as interdependent we are more apt to improve at the work of getting work done through other people. When we see the two as totally separate we more easily excuse our deficiencies in one or the other and thereby deny ourselves the potential for learning." (Read the two-page article here.)

THE DONOR BUCKET. I quoted this pithy wisdom from Olan: “Where there is no vision, the people perish. Where there is no plan, the vision perishes. Where there is no money, the plan perishes.” (From: Three Dimensions of Leadership, by Olan Hendrix)

Dan Busby (1941-2022) served as ECFA’s sixth president from 2008 to 2020. It was my privilege to co-author four governance books with Dan, including More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. The book features 40 lessons—and my two favorite lessons came from our friend, Olan Hendrix. You can read Olan's lessons on the ECFA website.
• "Lesson 32: There Are Two Things You Should Never Joke About—#1: Prayer." (Read the lesson here and read Cameron Doolittle’s guest blog here.)
• "Lesson 33: There Are Two Things You Should Never Joke About—#2: Fundraising." (Read the lesson here and read Joe Snoep’s guest blog here.)

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Olan Hendrix dispensed wisdom that fills all 20 management buckets/core competencies—especially the Results Bucket, the Book Bucket, and the Board Bucket. Olan was a prolific writer and author. Google his name, along with numerous organization names, and you’ll have dozens and dozens of helpful articles on Christian leadership. (And he doesn’t hold back!) Examples:

[ ] “Living Without Regrets,” by Olan Hendrix. (Read the article from Christian Leadership Alliance’s Outcomes magazine and learn why he wrote, “If I could start over, I would have become a better student sooner.”)

[ ] “The Board: Bane or Blessing? How to decide whether a board is functioning well.” (Read the article from Christianity Today.)

[ ] “Development and the Local Church,” by Olan Hendrix. (Read the article on the Prosper Leadership website—and learn why a pastor was upset with a major giver!)

[ ] “Hope for Boards,” by Olan Hendrix. (Read the article on the Prosper Leadership website—and learn why Hendrix wrote, “…I went to my files and threw away everything I had collected on the subject of boards.”)

[ ] ECFA has curated 21 short articles, “From the Pen of Olan Hendrix,” and posted them on the ECFA website. You’ll appreciate Olan’s wisdom on “Four Effects of Unclear Objectives.” The first effect:

“Unclear objectives lead to unclear methods of operation. The absence of a goal justifies almost any activity espoused by an individual under the guise of, ‘This is my burden,’ or ‘This is my calling,’ or ‘This is the Lord’s leading.’ I do not mean to minimize this nor speak lightly of holy things. But I think there is more evasiveness in these pronouncements than most of us in Christian work are willing to admit, and it is tragic. If you do not have a goal, then any road will get you there.”

To order Olan's most recent book from Amazon, click on the title for Three Dimensions of Leadership: Practical Insight on Management, Finance, and Boards of Churches and Christian Organizations, by Olan Hendrix, with the foreword by Ted Engstrom and John Maxwell. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. 



© 2023 John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

Michelangelo's Sacred Art of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling: A Coloring Book Exploration

PIC No. 39: 
• Title: Michelangelo's Sacred Art of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling: A Coloring Book Exploration
• Author: Jason Pearson
• Publisher: Pearpod Books (Jan. 5, 2020, 68 pages)
• Management Bucket #10 of 20: The Hoopla! Bucket 
 


Welcome to Issue No. 39 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

Paint the Sistine Chapel Ceiling!

This is the perfect gift for both kids and adults who enjoy coloring books! Each page includes a Sistine Chapel Ceiling graphic to color—including classics like “The Creation of Adam” and “The Fall of Man and Expulsion from Paradise.”

Across the page from each graphic is a memorable insight from Michelangelo. Some of my favorites:

• “Perfection is no small thing, but it is made up of small things.”

• “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.”

• “Many believe and I believe—that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him.”

• “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

• “And still I am learning.”

My son, Jason Pearson, created this little gem—so you’ll excuse me if I add my joyful endorsement to this wonderful book. Jason’s creativity has amazed me over the years and you’ll enjoy and appreciate this special coloring book.

If you’re short of crayons or colored pencils, visit Amazon’s ready supply here. (And don’t miss the book’s challenge to find seven secrets of the Sistine Chapel in the soon-to-be colorful pages!)

ENJOY!

P.S. Pick up your coloring tools when the mood strikes you—and remember what Michelangelo also said: “No great work of art is ever finished.”

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Hoopla! Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[ ] Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney, by Paul Johnson. (Read my review.)

[ ] In the Shadow of the Moon (DVD) - Ron Howard’s documentary of the 12 American astronauts who walked on the moon between 1968 and 1972. (Read my review.)

[ ] My Ideal Bookshelf, by Thessaly La Force (editor) and Jane Mount (illustrator). (Read my review.)

[ ] Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols, by Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez. (Read my review.)

[ ] Experiential Intelligence: Harness the Power of Experience for Personal and Business Breakthroughs, by Soren Kaplan. (Read my review.)

[ ] StrategyMan vs. the Anti-Strategy Squad: Using Strategic Thinking to Defeat Bad Strategy and Save Your Plan, by Rich Horwath. (Read my review.)

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Michelangelo's Sacred Art of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling: A Coloring Book Exploration, by Jason Pearson. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. 

© 2023 John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce

PIC No. 38: 
• Title: The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce
• Authors: Heather E. McGowan and Chris Shipley
• Publisher: Wiley (March 8, 2023, 240 pages)
• Management Bucket #8 of 20: The Culture Bucket
 


Welcome to Issue No. 38 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

“You only need to empathize with the people you want to keep.”

The authors of The Empathy Advantage share a memorable story told by a university psychology prof and author:

“I once asked a dentist friend of mine how important flossing really is. ‘Not that important,’ he replied. ‘You only need to floss the teeth you want to keep.’

“Leaders often ask me how important empathy really is during the Great Resignation.

“‘Not that important,’ I’m going to start telling them, ‘You only need to empathize with the people you want to keep.’”

LOL! There is so much to appreciate about this new book, The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce, by Heather E. McGowan and Chris Shipley. Looking at “trend lines that are shaping the complexion of the global workforce,” the authors write, “…let’s be perfectly clear: as business leaders wrestle with ‘return to office’ policies, where work happens is not their biggest problem. Even if every worker went back to the office, they would still be burned out and disengaged. The pandemic merely brought burnout and high rates of mental distress to light.”

What I appreciate about this book:
• The emphasis, of course, on why empathy matters. We can all do this better by reading, listening, caring, and—sometimes—trusting in the help of a gifted coach.
• The very detailed table of contents (five pages!). I check-marked 23 must-read topics, such as “The Rise of Bleisure” and “Creating the Conditions to Learn at Scale.”
• The tempting notes at the end of every chapter (not hidden in the back of the book—why don’t all authors do this?). You’ll find numerous discoveries (HBR articles and more) among the 200+ notes and weblinks.
• A wide array of fascinating stats, charts, graphics, and one-page articles—generously populated throughout the book. Nicely done!

I especially appreciated these insights:
• “Figure 1.1 – Managing the Multigenerational Workforce.” Boomers (born 1946-1964) value “status and achievement.” Gen Z team members want to “improve the world.”
• “Hire for culture, train for specific skills.”
• Reflecting on Tom Brady’s performance (diet, discipline, and more)—clearly a star employee, the authors ask, “…what if businesses, generally, began treating their employees with the care and concern that performance athletes receive?”

And I need to think about these ideas:
• Fire the job description! “…it’s time to end the practice of hiring people to fill jobs and begin the discipline of creating roles around outstanding people.”
• Leave meetings behind. The authors quote Allan Chochinov’s idea to cut down on meetings and, instead, call them “reviews”—not “meetings.” They add, “Imagine that rather than scheduling meetings, you hold a ‘briefing’ to start a project or a ‘review’ to assess the progress of a project.” Interesting!
• The 5 R’s. “The Great Reset” (“Figure 9.1 – The Cumulative Shifts Between Individuals and Organizations”) is worth studying. It’s the summary title for five R’s: “The Great Resignation, The Great Retirement, the Great Reshuffle, The Great Refusal, and The Great Relocation.”
• “The Gratitude Lunch” event (just two pages), I’m guessing, will be replicated in dozens—if not hundreds—of companies and organizations across the globe.

To be clear—I appreciated this book. Someone on your team should read and report on the big ideas in this book at your next staff meeting (I mean…at your next staff briefing!). However, just over the last 10 days, I read numerous articles in The Wall Street Journal that reminded me, once again, of Peter Drucker’s wisdom, “What everyone knows is usually wrong.” (Read my review of The Practical Drucker.)

The authors are pretty sure that the workplace is dramatically changing after COVID. Is it? Many business gurus and CEOs aren’t so sure.

Is there a documented connection between empathy and diversity? I’d say—not so fast. The jury is still out in my humble opinion—as are the predictions of many opinion pieces and thoughtful letters to the editor. I did appreciate Sally Helgesen's insights on diversity in her recent book, Rising Together: How We Can Bridge Divides and Create a More Inclusive Workplace.

One more. Can we still discuss gender and so-called “equity” issues? There’s still a wide diversity of views. It’s not settled like many “experts” believe.

I think what we need today is more conversation, more dialogue, and wider reading and thoughtful listening. That’s why I’m recommending you read this book—even if you might disagree with some of the authors’ conclusions.

And…I hope I will continue to have the spirit and heart of a friend of mine who would often say when his wife pushed back on something: “I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong before. Do you want to talk about it?”

Note: This book is very, very comprehensive and in your first read of The Empathy Advantage—if you’re at the front end of your career in HR or management—you may be tempted to say, “Way too much stuff.” If so, make this a team project and delegate your reading. Start small and plan to leverage the helpful sections over many quarters. You won't plumb the depths in a week or a month.

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Culture Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[  ] The Burnout Challenge: Managing People’s Relationships with Their Jobs, by Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter. (Read my review.)

[ ] Blind Spot: The Global Rise of Unhappiness and How Leaders Missed It, by Jon Clifton. (Read my review.)

[ ] Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade, by Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason. (Read my review.)

[ ] Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy, and Understanding at Work, by Michael Lee Stallard, Jason Pankau, and Katharine P. Stallard. (Read my review.)

[ ] A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Management Effectiveness, by Roger L. Martin. (Read my review.) 

To order from Amazon, click on the title for The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce, by Heather E. McGowan and Chris Shipley. Listen on Libro (pre-order for May 9, 2023 availability).  And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. 

© 2023 John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

The Fourth Cup: Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Supper and the Cross

PIC No. 37: 
• Title: The Fourth Cup: Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Supper and the Cross 
• Author: Scott Hahn
• Publisher: Image (Feb. 20, 2018, 192 pages)
• Management Bucket #5 of 20: The Book Bucket
 


Welcome to Issue No. 37 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

Columbo Investigates the Last Supper!

Here’s my challenge to you: listen to the first five minutes of this book—and then convince yourself you don’t need to read or listen to The Fourth Cup. (By the way, the first five minutes are free here on Libro.)

Scott Hahn, author of nearly 40 books, including The Fourth Cup, became a Christ-follower in high school through the ministry of YoungLife. He graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and was an ordained Presbyterian pastor. Until…he wasn’t.

After a multi-year study of the Scriptures and more, this confirmed Calvinist converted to Catholicism in 1986. (View his story here.) A Catholic theologian since 1990, he teaches at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, a Catholic university in Steubenville, Ohio, and is the founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.

It took his wife, the daughter of a Presbyterian pastor, four more years of discernment before she became Catholic. In 1993, Kimberly Hahn co-authored a book with her husband, Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism.

So why should you read or listen to The Fourth Cup: Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Supper and the Cross? Read the foreword by Brant Pitre who writes, “I’ll never forget the first time I heard one of Dr. Hahn’s presentations on the fourth cup. I was completely blown away. It was like reading the Passion of Christ again for the first time.” He describes the book as the “pieces of a puzzle that I didn’t even realize were there…”

Scott Hahn gave his first talk on “The Fourth Cup” in 1989 in Chicago. He notes that “Word spread, and other groups invited me to tell the tale of my ‘Hunt for the Fourth Cup,’ which I cast as a detective story, starring myself as the hapless investigator, which I am. (Peter Falk’s Columbo was my role model.)”

After giving hundreds of versions of this talk over the years (“part memoir, part detective story, and part biblical study”), a friend suggested he write this book on the “often obscure and misunderstood rituals of Passover and their importance in foreshadowing salvation in Jesus Christ.”

That’s all I’m going to share! (No spoiler alert to this detective story.) But, be assured, the narrative is rich, deep (very deep), and—for an evangelical (non-Catholic) like me looking in—quite enjoyable. It touched my soul.

And if you can believe it—you’ll find dozens of laugh-out-loud subtitles and puns from the wisdom and wit of Dr. Scott Hahn:
   • Ready, Willing Abel
   • Along Comes Mary
   • Heard of Lambs
   • Marquette Value
   • Justin Case

Really…you’ll love this book. (And thanks to my neighbor, who also made the trek to Catholicism, for sharing this wonderful book with me—the perfect book to read during Lent.)

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Book Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[  ] The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, by Timothy Keller. (Read my review.)

[  ] 30 Days Unplugged: How a Catholic Priest Turned Off His iPhone and Took a Call From God (Full Color Edition), by Father Darrin Merlino, CMF. (Read my review.)

[  ] Evangelical Exodus: Evangelical Seminarians and Their Paths to Rome, by Douglas M. Beaumont (Editor). (Read my review.)

[  ] Why Can't Church Be More Like an AA Meeting? And Other Questions Christians Ask About Recovery, by Stephen R. Haynes. (Read my review.)

[  ] Knowing God, by J.I. Packer. (Read my review.)

To order from Amazon, click on the title for The Fourth Cup: Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Supper and the Cross, by Scott Hahn. Listen on Libro (4 hours, 17 minutes). For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. 

© 2023 John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America's Most Dangerous Female Spy―and the Sister She Betrayed

PIC No. 36: 
• Title: Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America's Most Dangerous Female Spy
• Author: Jim Popkin
• Publisher: Hanover Square Press (Jan. 3, 2023, 352 pages)
• Management Bucket #17 of 20: The Operations Bucket
 


Welcome to Issue No. 36 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

America’s Most Dangerous Female Spy!

For my sixth grade class graduation keepsake program, every student was required to go on the record with their career plans. Easy! I had just read a book about the FBI. I wanted to be a G-Man and go after all the bad guys.

Little did I know back then that there were also bad girls! Yikes! You must read this alarming true story (that few know about) of Ana Montes. I’ll give you three options for this remarkable book:

[ ] OPTION #1: Read this page-turning “True Story of America's Most Dangerous Female Spy.”
[ ] OPTION #2. View the video interviews with Jim Popkin, the author and Emmy-winning former senior investigative producer at NBC News.
[ ] OPTION #3. Wait for the movie! (We hope.)

Malcolm Gladwell whetted my interest in this true spy story in his chapter, “The Queen of Cuba,” in the 2019 book, Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know. He writes, “The issue with spies is not that there is something brilliant about them. It is that there is something wrong with us.” Then I read this Wall Street Journal piece.

Code Name Blue Wren (the FBI named the case) is 352 robust pages. I was stunned, but saddened, when I read the last page. I even devoured the fascinating “Author’s Note” at the end (seven pages). Stunned—to read how the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the NSA, the FBI, and the CIA did not realize that the DIA’s “Queen of Cuba” (a senior analyst) was a double agent—and a woman! She worked nights and weekends for Cuba—using her remarkable memory to avoid any missteps.

Saddened, frankly, that the book ended. I could have read another 300 pages—it’s that gripping and (did I mention?) page-turning. (Ask my wife—I read dozens and dozens of pages to her.) But I was also saddened to reflect on the loneliness, anxiety, and misappropriated loyalties of one of our top government employees—who had also received numerous awards for meritorious service to our nation. Really?

You can read your own spoiler alerts—or view the videos. For now, just take my TRUE OR FALSE test:

True or False #1. “Ana and Marta were enrolled in a master class in spycraft taught by some of the best in the business [Cuban intelligence], who in turn had been trained by the Soviets.”

True or False #2. “In just a few short years after deciding to spy for Cuba, Ana now had four close relatives in the storied FBI.” (Her brother and his wife, and her sister and her husband—all worked for the FBI! They had no clue about Ana—or her stunning ability to memorize top secret intelligence info.)

T or F #3. “Ana had access to an almost unlimited smorgasbord of secrets prepared by the US Intelligence Community.” Plus, “She is estimated to have read tens of thousands, or perhaps even hundreds of thousands, of classified intelligence memos in her nearly seventeen-year career.”

T or F #4. “As Ana fed ever-more valuable intelligence to Cuba, America’s spymasters could not have been more oblivious. Or appreciative of her cover work.”

T or F #5. “The congratulations reached an absurd peak in 1997, when the Director of Central Intelligence awarded Ana with the National Intelligence Certificate of Distinction. Within the spy community, there are few higher honors…”

T or F #6. According to the author’s research:
• “From 1947 to 1979, only 5 percent of all American spies caught in the U.S. were women…”
• “That figure increased in the 1980s to 12 percent.”
• “From 1990 to 2015, just 9 percent of all American spies were women.”

T or F #7. When Ana was debriefed following her arrest in 2001, just 10 days after 9/11, the CIA analysts concluded that she “had narcissistic and antisocial personality traits that are commonly found in spies.”

T or F #8. On Jan. 8, 2023, Ana Montes was released from prison. She “spent 21 years, three months, and 19 days behind bars. That’s a generous reduction of her 25-year sentence, nearly four years off for good behavior.” (Note: Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who was also arrested for espionage in 2001, received a life sentence.)

T or F #9. One NSA employee, in particular, pushed and pushed for other agencies to investigate Ana Montes—with little result, until this NSA employee did a workaround that could have landed her in jail. Her view of the FBI? “She thought the Bureau was just a bunch of dweebs. She was not impressed.”

T or F #10. How did Ana Montes get hired? “DIA’s security failings were remarkable.” The author adds, “Even more disturbing, DIA’s investigators missed two blatant lies that Ana told during her application process.” (Note: Technically, at the time, she did not have a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies—due to unpaid tuition—but the DIA never checked. Stunning!)

ANSWERS: TRUE OR FALSE? Las diez declaraciones, lamentablemente, son ciertas.

VIDEO (30 minutes): Author Jim Popkin is interviewed on Washington Post Live on Jan. 5, 2023. View here.

VIDEO (59 minutes): Pete Williams, the former NBC News journalist interviews Jim Popkin, author of Code Name Blue Wren, on Jan. 9, 2023, at the Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C. (includes audience Q&A). View here.

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Operations Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[  ]  Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Read my review.)

[ ] Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory, by Ben Macintyre. (Read my review.)

[ ] Dead in the Water: A True Story of Hijacking, Murder, and a Global Maritime Conspiracy, by Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel. (Read my review.)

[ ] Your Memory: How It Works and How to Improve It, by Kenneth L. Higbee. (Order from Amazon.) Note: After Ana Montes’ arrest, the FBI found this book in her personal library. (Read Code Name Blue Wren to learn why that is so relevant.)

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America's Most Dangerous Female Spy, by Jim Popkin. Listen on Libro (10 hours, 24 minutes). For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.

© 2023 John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade

PIC No. 35: 
• Title: The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade 
• Authors: Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason
• Publisher: Ideapress Publishing (March 7, 2023, 336 pages)
• Management Bucket #3 of 20: The Strategy Bucket
 


Welcome to Issue No. 35 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

Artificial Intelligence Wrote 6 Verses in 3 Seconds!

First, let me be clear. I did not ask AI to write this review. I was tempted, however, because my limited forays into artificial intelligence have been quite impressive. (Prompt: “Create a nonprofit organization committee charter template.”) Anyway…I wrote this review the old-fashioned way.

But speaking of AI, let’s jump over to Chapter 11, “Augmented Creativity,” where co-authors Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason ask, “What if artificial intelligence could make humans more creative?” They asked OpenAI’s ChatGPT artificial content creation tool a single prompt, “Rewrite the song ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ to be about AI.”

AI wrote six verses, including this opening:
     “In the midst of the digital age,
      AI rose to the stage,
      A new kind of star was born,
      And the old ways were gone.”

They note, “The lyrics above came back in three seconds. No human, not even the world’s best songwriters, could produce something this quickly. And most people would agree that the lyrics are distinctly passable.”

The Future Normal also mentions IBM. (And speaking of IBM, see my review of Good Power, by Ginni Rometty, former Chairman and CEO of IBM from 2012 to 2020). “Several years ago, IBM’s Watson helped create a ‘cognitive movie trailer’ for Morgan, a suspense-filled horror movie about an artificially enhanced human.” The result: “This combination of human and AI-powered machine reduced the time required to produce a movie trailer from the typical two to three weeks to around 24 hours.”

But…I should back up (like AI would have done) and give you a proper introduction to The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade. Co-author Rohit Bhargava is also the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Non-Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future (read my review). So, I could hardly wait to read his latest thinking.

To write this book, the authors approach the future as contrarians—as “now-ists”—and that’s intriguing. They write, “We both felt that we took a different approach than many futurists. Instead of asking what could change the future, we routinely found ourselves asking, ‘What already has?’ and ‘Do we want this change to be a part of humanity’s future?’”

They note, “Indeed, neither of us spends much time looking at futurist scenarios at all. Our energy is focused on the present. As now-ists rather than futurists, we stay on top of business innovations because they so often spark insights into what our future normal will look like. Any new business innovation—whether an entirely new brand or startup, or a new product, service, or initiative from an existing brand—is a bet on the future.

These two very creative “now-ists” clearly love their work! “We have engaged in rich dialogue with uncanny holograms, donned full bodysuits to ‘feel’ virtual wind, and suffered the pitying stares of passersby while wearing Google Glasses in public. We have anxiously strapped ourselves in as passengers of prototype self-driving cars and watched artificial intelligence ‘write’ a full-length article years before it was widely available.”

And this: “For every world-changing innovation we celebrated, another would fail to reach the mainstream or hit an unexpected impasse. The truth is that the future is abandoned, defunded, ignored, or ridiculed just as often as it is realized. So the real challenge isn’t predicting the future but rather predicting what will become normal.”

PLAYLISTS! I love the book’s format and the permission from the authors to jump around the 30 chapters in any order. They add, “At the end of the book in appendix A, we’ve also provided a selection of curated ‘playlists’ to help you zero in on the chapters that will have the greatest impact on your life and your career, no matter what industry you work in.”

For example, the “Government, NGOs & Nonprofits” playlist recommends you focus on 10 of the 30 short chapters, including: Certified Media, Ending Loneliness, Work Constructed, Impact Hubs, New Collectivism, Good Governing, The 15-Minute City, Reflective Cultures, Stealth Learning, and Millions of Microgrids.

The “Future Normal” content is categorized into three major sections (10 chapters per section):
• Part 1: How We Will Connect, Get Healthy, and Thrive
• Part 2: How We Will Live, Work, and Consume
• Part 3: How Humanity Will Survive

The three introductory pages for each of the three major sections include10 chapter icons and 10 one-line summaries. The authors reveal that the “chapter on augmented creativity also inspired the design of this book. We used AI tools to suggest the various icons you see on the opening page of each chapter. To learn more about how we leveraged AI for this design task, visit our online resources at thefuturenormal.com.”

In Chapter 3, “Certified Media,” the authors ask, “What if all media outlets were required to have images and videos validated before publishing, and how might this affect freedom of speech?” And note that in 2018, “MIT researchers famously reported that misinformation spreads up to 100 times further and six times faster than truth, and political falsehoods spread three times faster than other misinformation.”

Every chapter features numerous stories and at least one “instigator.” In Chapter 22, “Good Governing,” the authors ask, “What if government policies were recognized for actually making citizens’ lives better?” The Instigator: The World Government Summit, “an annual gathering of more than 20,000 government leaders and experts.” Imagine this: “The 2022 annual event featured nearly 1,000 sessions, more than 600 speakers, and over 40 participating organizations. In past years, the event has showcased programs such as Indonesia’s innovative experiment to allow bus riders in the country’s second-largest city of Surabaya to pay for their ride by collecting and submitting five plastic bottles instead of paying with cash.”

In the conclusion, “The Future Will Be Normal,” the authors predict: “The secret to seizing emerging opportunities has always been in bridging these two dimensions—embracing the new, while grounding it in what will not change.” They quote Amazon founder Jeff Bezos who once observed: “I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ … I almost never get the question—‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’—And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two.”

BONUS! Click here to a view 22-minute dialogue with the coauthors.

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Strategy Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[  ]  Non-Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future, by Rohit Bhargava (Read my review.)
[  ] The Attacker’s Advantage: Turning Uncertainty Into Breakthrough Opportunities, by Ram Charan (Read my review.)
[  ] Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen, by Dan Heath (Read my review.)
[  ] Barna Trends 2018: What's New and What's Next at the Intersection of Faith and Culture (Read my review.) – Note! As you read this, now five years later, ask “How prophetic was the Barna organization?”

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade, by Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.

© 2023 John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

Jesus Revolution (movie)

PIC No. 34: 
• Title: Jesus Revolution
• Movie Rating: PG-13 (2023)
• Featuring: Kelsey Grammer as Pastor Chuck Smith (2-min trailer)
• Management Bucket #12 of 20: The Volunteer Bucket


The Jesus Revolution movie (2023) features a reporter for Time magazine investigating the Jesus People movement in California in the early 1970s.

Welcome to Issue No. 34 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

“He is God, and I am not!”

My son, Jason, and I experienced the Jesus Revolution movie together last weekend. Two thoughts:
• If you are a Christ-follower, definitely go see it.
• If you are a seeker, definitely go see it. Experience it.

I’m not a movie critic. But here are several thoughts and impressions:

#1. Gutsy. Chuck Smith (1927-2013) was one gutsy pastor of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, Calif., when he invited the Jesus People (aka hippies) to invade his small Orange County church (300 capacity) in the early 1970s. Many church leaders and members objected. Yet Chuck Smith (played perfectly by Kelsey Grammer) caught the vision for what God was doing and there was no turning back.

#2. Generational. I was in seminary in the Chicago area when the Jesus People movement hit California. When Joanne and I were blessed with Jason’s arrival in 1970, we prayed that we would be God-honoring parents. (And back then, being grandparents of five teenagers was not on our radar! We’re blessed!) Little did we know how the culture would change so dramatically in the years ahead. So viewing this powerful movie, with Jason, was very, very special. I’m encouraging my grandkids to experience the movie also. Jason and I both gave it a thumbs up.

#3. Gifting. With 20/20 hindsight, the movie documents how God uniquely gifted Chuck Smith, Lonnie Frisbee, and Greg Laurie to leverage their spiritual giftedness to spark a new spiritual awakening. The ripple effect continues today. It reminded me of the ministries and churches today that are surviving on human effort—instead of thriving on the power of Almighty God. The movie is so, so encouraging. It doesn’t promote the main players, it points us to the Author of the Jesus Revolution—God Himself!

#4. Gritty. The movie includes both highlights and lowlights, especially the conflicts and parting of the ways between Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbee. (Wow—two leaders who don’t agree on methodology and theology? Has that ever happened before?) I especially appreciated the lengthy commentary by Pastor Greg Laurie in his blog post, “The Long Strange Trip of Lonnie Frisbee” (Oct. 21, 2022). Laurie does not attempt to explain the unexplainable, so I welcomed Laurie’s honest affirmation, “God often works through ways that surprise me, ways that I’d never choose. All I know is that He is God, and I am not.” Amen!

Note: If you’re a seeker—wondering how to have a relationship with God—click here for a one-minute video by Pastor Greg Laurie. When Laurie was a high school student, he heard Lonnie Frisbee say something that stuck: “Jesus said that ‘You are either for Me, or you are against Me.’ There’s no middle ground with Jesus. You’re either for Him or against Him . . . which side are you on?”

As of today, Jesus Revolution is still in theaters. To view a two-minute trailer, click here.

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books (and must-see movies!) in the Volunteer Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[  ] 8 LEADERSHIP FLICKS: In 2020, at the start of COVID, I recommended “8 Leadership Flicks” for home-bound leaders, including “We Have a Pope.” (Read my reviews here.)

[  ] BOOK: What You Do Best in the Body of Christ: Discover Your Spiritual Gifts, Personal Style and God-Given Passion (revised and expanded—with assessment tools and discussion questions), by Bruce Bugbee. (Read my review and commentary on “The 3 Powerful S’s.)

[  ] BOOK: Overcoming Conflict: How to Deal with Difficult People and Situations, by Bob Phillips. (Read my review.)

[  ] BOOK: Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis (Order from Amazon.)

For more on the Jesus Revolution movie, click here. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. 

© 2023 John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

Tributes: Black People Whose Names Grace Seattle Sites

PIC No. 33: 
• Title: Tributes: Black People Whose Names Grace Seattle Sites
• Author: Mary T. Henry
• Publisher: HistoryLink (Nov. 1, 2022, 72 pages)
• Management Bucket #10 of 20: The Hoopla! Bucket



Welcome to Issue No. 33 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

Every Major City Needs a Mary Henry!

Prediction! Entrepreneurial authors from across the nation will soon be “borrowing” the brilliant concept and format of this wonderful book—and local residents, students, and families will soon be celebrating the people whose names grace their city’s unique sites and streets.

Author Mary T. Henry humbly credits her students at South Shore Middle School in Seattle, where she served as librarian in the 1970s and 1980s. She thanks them “…for alerting me to the fact that they were unaware of the people for whom the places they visited were named.” In Tributes, she explains why this inspired her to research and write her first book profiling 22 people and their landmarks.

I was born in Seattle and watched the city grow and mature for 21 years before leaving in 1968 for seminary in the Chicago area. So reading Mary Henry’s second book with 53 tributes to “Black People Whose Names Grace Seattle Sites” was a delight—and a trip down memory lane!

A Seattle friend sent this book to my wife and I quickly borrowed it! My “Plan A” was brilliant: read-a-page-a-day and, over 53 days, slowly savor the Seattle sites, streets, and parks—while learning why these landmarks bear the names of these amazing men and women. Impossible!

The 53 one-page profiles, enriched by the illustrations of Mary Henry’s daughter-in-law, Marilyn Hasson Henry, are so interesting—you can’t read just one. Plan B: I consumed the whole book in one sitting! You will too! I couldn’t put it down.

The fascinating tributes are arranged alphabetically—so, of course, I started in the back with Lenny Wilkens (excuse me, Dr. Lenny Wilkens now!). This Seattle SuperSonics basketball star (1960s and 1970s) also coached the Sonics and guided his team to the NBA Championship in 1979. If you’re on Thomas Street, near what was then the Seattle Coliseum, you’ll travel along “Lenny Wilkens Way”—a recent honorific by the city council. (Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell wrote the foreword to this book.)

Did you know that Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970), “the internationally acclaimed guitarist and rock star,” was born in Seattle and attended Garfield High School? The author appropriately honored Hendrix with two pages to highlight four Seattle landmarks: Jimi Hendrix Park, Jimi Hendrix Viewpoint, Jimi Hendrix Music Experience (at the Museum of Pop Culture), and the Jimi Hendrix Statue. (The library at Garfield H.S. is also graced by a bust of this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend.)

The Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center at Garfield H.S. is just one of many tributes and awards (28 Grammys!) for Quincy Jones, the “record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger and film and TV producer” who also attended Garfield H.S.

Henry notes that “of the 53 individuals honored, 10 are Seattle natives.” I was pleased to read the page for Rev. Dr. Samuel Berry McKinney (1926-2018) who pastored Mount Zion Baptist Church for 40 years. In my Seattle days, I so appreciated his ministry and his unique gifting for civil rights and community leadership roles. I did not know that “he was responsible for bringing his classmate, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Seattle in 1961.”

McKinney was the first Black president of the Church Council of Greater Seattle and was the co-author of Church Administration in the Black Perspective. Henry notes three landmarks that honor Dr. McKinney.

The spouses of pastors are rarely appreciated enough, so kudos to the author for highlighting Louise Jones McKinney (1930-2012) for her educational leadership (principal of several Seattle Public Schools), philanthropy, and partnership “with a group of minority women who operated several businesses” at SeaTac. You can visit the Louise Jones McKinney Reading Room at the Douglass-Truth Branch Library.

I could go on and on about this fascinating book—but you’ll enjoy your own journey through the sites, streets, and landmarks that feature “Black People Whose Names Grace Seattle Sites.” (I love the well-chosen word, “Grace.” See my review of Grace Ambassador.)

Read the profile of Roberta Byrd Barr, Seattle’s first Black woman who was a high school principal (Lincoln H.S.). And don’t miss the tributes to Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Medgar Evers, Walter Hundley, Thurgood Marshall, and Henrietta Mathews. The diversity of these profiles is stunning—including the sweet tribute to first grader Peppi Braxton (1963-1971) who was killed in a bicycle accident. “The students at Leschi voted to have their playground named for him”—Peppi’s Playground.

Do you agree with me? Every major city in the nation needs a Mary Henry to write 50 or more tributes to the “Black People Whose Names Grace [Our City’s] Sites.” And yes—while every major city has immense problems and challenges, Mary Henry’s book (and more books, we pray) will be epistles of grace to educate and encourage the next generation.

For more on the author, read this article and click here to enjoy her delightful Feb. 15, 2023, talk and Q&A, “History Cafe: Paying Tribute to Seattle’s Black Landmarks and Their Namesakes,” hosted by the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI).

Oh! Did I mention that Mary Henry is 99 years old? This is the second book I’ve recently reviewed by a 99-year-old author! (Check out Henry Kissinger’s latest book at 99!).

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Hoopla! Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. Why the Hoopla! Bucket? Because “we harness the power of hoopla! for celebration” and these Black people whose names grace Seattle should be celebrated!

[ ] BOOK: Leaders: Myth and Reality, by General Stanley McChrystal (US Army, Retired), Jeff Eggers, and Jason Mangone. (See the chapter, “The Heroes: Zheng He and Harriet Tubman.” Read my review.)

[ ] MOVIE: HARRIET (2019, PG-13, 2 hours, 5 minutes, Amazon Prime) - Memorable Line: “The hole in my head just made God’s voice more clear.” (Read my mini-review.)

[ ] BOOK: Before and After Jackie Robinson, A Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers Told Through the Lens of Tickets and Passes, by Dan Busby (Read my review.)

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Tributes: Black People Whose Names Grace Seattle Sites, by Mary T. Henry and illustrated by Marilyn Hasson Henry. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. And thanks to our friend, Meri Nelson, for sending us this book—and for introducing us to the Marvelous Mary Henry!

© 2023 John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
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