Lessons from a Bad Haircut

I got a bad haircut this weekend. It was partially my fault. I went to the barber shop with a hat on my head I'd been wearing all morning since I had not taken a shower before taking Claire for her ACT sitting. It was a spur of the moment thing. I got the first available barber so I could get in and out quickly. 

The barber seem to be struggling a bit. It took him two or three tries to get it more or less right. The hat head made it a little hard to tell. I thanked him and went on my way.

When I got home and took a shower to get ready to go to a neighborhood cookout on Saturday night, I realized how bad things were. It was sort of a of normal look and one side and Billy Bob Thorton Sling Blade on the other side. Jenny noticed it right away.

So Sunday after church I went back to the barbershop. I told the lady at the front desk I had been there yesterday and made a brief gesture to the left side of my head. She said, and I’m not making this up, “say no more, we'll fix it“. She stepped back to one of the other barbers and explained what was going on. She got me into the back very quickly and another one of the barbers fixed me right up. If you see me at work later today you can let me know if it turned out ok.

As I was leaving, the receptionist apologized and said the barber was new. I figured that was the case since I saw him observing other barbers when I walked back in on Sunday. I told the receptionist that I was a regular customer and that I would continue to be a regular customer. That it was no big deal that it was only hair. 

They got me thinking about apprentices. We have all at some point or another either been an apprentice. And many of us have or will become a "master craftsman" in our trade, or we might be a leader who is responsible for both. On any given day, I might be all three at different points. 

Or you might be a customer with a bad haircut.  

Going back to the middle ages, apprentices would sign on with "master craftsmen" for anywhere from two to seven years to learn to "master" a trade. The craftsman received low cost labor in exchange for room, board, and formal training in a craft. The system still formally exists in many countries today, including Austria, France, Germany and India. 

When mistakes (or happy little accidents) happen, it's an opportunity to show some good humor, grace, and humility. We've all been there. Hopefully the stakes are low, like hair, but sometimes they won't be. 

Whatever your role and the circumstances, apprentices need a chance to do, screw up, repeat, and get better. They need coaching from their "master craftsman" and some personal humility, recognizing they still have to learn. 

Stuff happens, it's only hair, and it will grow back.   

The Power of the Shared Why

Agree or disagree with them, the kids that got the March For Our Lives (MFOL) marches going in Washington and around the country and world this weekend knew their "why". I was in the middle of hundreds of thousands of them of them on Saturday afternoon. I listened to three hours of speakers, none of them over 18, who were crystal clear on their why.

Starting with our why is a common calling at my job. If you can stay focused on that, it makes defining the what and how clearer, if not always easier. 

These kids knew their why, and across the country they may have gotten a million or more people of all ages to SHOW UP and share their why. And while this march may have started with Parkland, Florida and the kids of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, they knew they had a shared why and a shared experience with kids from other shootings at Columbine, Newtown, and earlier last week in Great Mills, MD. They also engaged kids of color from Chicago, Washington DC and Los Angeles who deal with less publicized and more regular gun violence as an everyday fact of life.

We have yet to see where this all goes, but I doubt it's going away anytime soon. All these young people will be voting and running for office soon and I am sure we haven't seen the last of them. And this may be the end of the low turnout among young people we've heard about for years. Watch out. 

And  there's a broader question for all of us who are leaders. Do we know our why and can we turn it into a compelling vision to get people to follow us. MFOL is certainly not something we see every day and most of us aren't dealing with life or death issues in our day to day work. But there's still a lesson here. Whatever it is we are trying to do, leaders have to craft a why that's compelling and resonates with the people we want to follow us. And followership is not not guaranteed. And once you get it, you have to continue to earn it. 

For now, these kids have it figured out they leave me inspired and hopeful and excited about what they will do next. And as a leader, they challenge me to always work on the why. 

Amen

The Toxic NRA Brand

It's taken far too long and cost far too much blood and tears, but the NRA brand is finally becoming toxic. A growing list of airlines (United and Delta), rental car companies (Enterprise, Hertz, pretty much all of them), insurance companies (Chubb, Met) and Symantec virus protection are cutting corporate ties with the NRA. Pressure is coming down on Apple, Google, and Amazon to drop NRA TV from streaming services.

So they can't fly, rent a car or get insurance and we'll be able to hack their computers before long. And they won't be able to watch TV or use a cell phone when they start boycotting all these companies.

I can see the day rapidly coming when even some Republican politicians will be running from that NRA "A" ranking, returning or rejecting campaign cash and declining their support.

It's a long overdue and welcome change to the discussion.

And a child shall lead us.

Amen.

Tipping Point and 3 Questions

Have we reached a tipping point in the gun debate? It’s been a week since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida. I am sensing something different in the tone.

It’s a combination of things. This is a major, nationally publicized shooting at a high school in the social media age. These kids are angry, they know how to communicate and they don’t give a damn about protocol and politeness. Politicians have done nothing to address the problem of gun violence and the kids are calling them out for it.

Second, it feels like the NRA brand is getting toxic. The NRA crowd is attacking survivors and other kids who are speaking out against gun violence and demanding action. It’s ugly.

Which brings me to three questions for local political leaders, in several parts:

1.     US Congressman Rob Woodall took $2,000 in NRA cash. Will he return it? He voted for concealed carry reciprocity which would allow people from states with little or no licensing required to carry weapons license free in Georgia. Any regrets on this vote?

2.     Georgia State Representative Todd Jones (R-25), bragged in his campaign literature here (http://jonesfor.us/dont-believe-the-last-minute-smears/) that he achieved the “highest ranking…from the NRA.” Is he still proud of this “honor?” Any regrets on the vote for Campus Carry?

3.     Greg Dolezal, running to replace Michael William as our state senator, has removed Michael from his “steering committee” on his website. He was there last fall. Was it the protest outside the high school in Cherokee county, the bump stock giveaway after the Las Vegas shooting or something else? Also, on his website he promises to “support and expand 2^nd amendment rights.” In the last few years Georgia Republicans have expanded the presence of guns into bars, churches, parks, areas of the airport and most recently college campuses. Where else would he like to expand them to? Under the Gold Dome possibly?

These kids are holding their leaders accountable in a way the grown ups never have. We need to stand behind them.

And a child shall lead them.

Amen. 

Day 4. Knowledge is power.

I am obsessed with this picture. If you’ve read my stuff before, you know I love seeing how people present information in very understandable ways. Credit goes to Dennis Bratland and you can see more detail, including the data behind the chart, on Wikipedia.

The chart shows five variables (vehicle deaths/billion miles driven, per million people, total deaths, miles driven, and population), the passage of time, and three major historical events (WW II, the 70’s energy crisis, and the Great Recession).

The first noteworthy item is simply the availability of the data. We have vehicle death data going back to 1900 (36 deaths). By the 1920’s all the data is available.

The second is all the groups who research these trends. The Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the manufacturers and more, I am sure. It’s all very easy to access if you are interested.

Next, note the overall trends. Almost every year since this has been tracked, the rate of deaths has decreased as a function of miles driven, and with the exception of the post WW II years, as a function of population. Since the early 70’s the total number of deaths has trended downward, even as the US population has grown roughly 50%. My guess on the recent upticks is the end of the recession combined with the distracted driving issue.

Why is that?

Many reasons, I am sure. Safety advances (better vehicle design, seat belts, airbags, car seats), new laws (speed limits, cracking down on drunk driving), public awareness (most of us consider safety ratings when buying a new car and manufacturers work hard to get good ratings), and yes, a few class action suits.

So what’s the point.

Here’s a graph showing vehicle deaths and firearm deaths since 1979. Big difference. First, there is very limited data for firearm deaths. Just getting the total number was not easy and some of it had to be taken from Australian research. Generally, there is less data available on firearm deaths due to federal restrictions on funding research and sharing data. Second, the overall trend, particularly since 2000, is not good. Finally, for the last 4 years, the number of firearm deaths exceeded vehicle deaths, by an increasing number each year.

It’s also worth noting that one thing has not brought the vehicle fatality rate down. It’s many actions (key word) focused on different aspects of the issue. Similarly, there is no single fix (silver bullet) to our embarrassingly and uniquely (among developed countries) high number of gun deaths. It’s legislation, regulation, registration, restriction, limitation, mental health care, information sharing and on and on.

But to do all these things we need to fully understand the problem and causes. And we can’t do that when we’re not collecting the data and doing the scientific research.

Knowledge is power. Ignorance is not bliss, and to borrow words from a great blog I read this week, “Kids are dying, and it’s time to stop fucking around.”

Amen

What. Now?

Day 3. What now?

The purpose of this is supposed to be discernment (the ability to judge well). A new friend pointed me to Psalm 130 this week. “I wait for the Lord” (v5).

It occurs to me I am waiting for something big and impactful and simple that doesn’t require too much in the way of risk or sacrifice. And I want it all to happen quickly because I am not good at waiting.

When you put it that way…

I will discern on, but with a new realization. It’s supposed to be hard. If it was easy, anyone would do it. It will require sacrifice. Maybe redefining who I am. It’s my 50^th year, so maybe it’s a good time for that. I’ll wait a little longer, but not too long. The clock is ticking.

Amen. 

Day 2

Day 2 of my Lenten fast begins. The thing on my mind this morning is impact fees. I saw on the news last night that Go Fund Me accounts have been set up for the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Because medical care is not a basic right in this country, and I am sure many of the victims' parents were not responsible enough to have money set aside to bury their teenagers.

An estimate a few years back pegged the annual cost of gun violence in the US at $229 billion. That's direct costs for healthcare and funeral expenses, plus other costs such as incarcerating the perpetrators and lost wages for the victims. 

How about an impact fee, on every gun, bullet, scope, and associated gear. I don't mean to boil this notional tragedy and embarrassment down to dollars and cents, but at a minimum it seems that people who choose not to play have to bear the cost of all the hobbyist, patriots, etc out there who want to be heavily armed.

And while we are at it, let’s make sure it covers the cost of metal detectors and armed security in every school. And the cost of training teachers and administrators to carry guns. And we also need to cover the cost of a national mental health program. Actually, I’d be happy to kick in for that one.
This is not an uncommon thing. Impact fees are often charged on new development projects and the cost of guns and ammunition are in some ways artificially underpriced because manufacturers and distributors are protected from the normal products liability exposures on other consumer goods. When you buy a can of Coke, or a hammer or a baseball bat, their is products liability insurance covering these items in cases anyone is harmed by them. Not the case with firearms, since there is no exposure.

On one hand, a financial approach feels less satisfying than more direct attacks on the problem of gun violence. On the other hand, tax evasion put Capone away.

Whatever it takes.

Amen.