...desk swap...

You can tell a lot about a person by their desk. It’s like in “Wife Swap” (the TV show which is one of my many guilty pleasures) when the swapped wives get to visit their new home , alone, before the swap begins. The wives always verbalize what they think the home says about the people that live there.

I wonder what people think when they walk by my desk at Good Shepherd. I’ve ended up swapping some things out from what I had on my desk at the McDonald’s Innovation Center last year. Not that I had anything bad…it’s just that an award for the fastest drive-thru, best trained crew of 1973 or Destination 10 design criteria just doesn’t seem relevant anymore.

Here’s 16 items (was shooting for 15 but had to add #16, the mug) you will find on my desk at 1310 Shepherd Drive. I wonder what it says about me today??

1. Rubber hamburger – At the McDonald’s Worldwide Operators’ Convention a few years ago, my department showcased an “automated beef patty” grill. When the Big Mac button was hit on the cash register, 2 all beef patties (you know the jingle) were cooked. We had a company make the rubber ones for display purposes and I think they ended-up costing about $100.00 per patty. How can you throw that away? Please, no jokes about rubber hamburgers.

2. Stack of “The Shack” – This fiction by William P Young paints a picture of the Trinity in an unusual, impactful way. After reading it I felt driven to buy copies at CostCo (after a quick stop for the $1.50 dog & soda) and give them to the Good Shepherd staff. I keep a few on hand and pass them out when someone might be in a place that could benefit from the experience (or if they ask for a copy). Can’t explain it!

3. Button maker – Jodi has a button maker at the Innovation Center and it was always put to good use. Heck, for 7 cents you can put anything on a button. Imagine the possibilities. So I had to have one of my very own. I might even let you use it.

4. Delegation sheet – at a recent Director meeting we discussed the 5 levels of delegation. I first heard this at McD B.O.C. (Basic Operation Course) in 1977. Effective delegation is a foundational element of any successful organization. Hey, Jesus, Ray Kroc, Moses, Jack Welch, etc…all had writings modeling delegation, so there must be something to it.

5. McD Japan 25 anniversary clock – Narumi san, worked on one of my teams when I was in Operations Development. He gave me a 25^th anniversary clock that was distributed to the Japanese company’s employees. Narumi often talked about the “Eye of the Tiger”. Glancing at it reminds me that it may be “time” to be courageous.

6. Food supply – Ok…it should be of no surprise that I like a good meal. Working at McDonald’s meant never being far from a warm snack. In fact at the Lab, you couldn’t walk the floor without being confronted with a giant pile of cooked foods that were being served from many corners of the world. Now, oatmeal and soup seem to agree a bit more with my waistline.

7. Vision pens – I love a good customized pen…and yes I do take my fair share of abuse over it. I can’t help myself. I love to put a reusable item with an important message in the hands of the teams I’m on. The 3 most recent ads were for CRHP, Becoming a Contagious Christian, and Good Shepherd Vision. Has anyone seen my misplaced “Fastest Drive-thru” pen?

8. Horizontal thinking button - (related to # 3) – The staff is really focusing on the overall vision of Good Shepherd (Reach and transform spiritually distracted families in our local community so they come to know and love God). The button “THINK HORIZONTAL” reminds us to think past our own ministries (vertical silos) and act for the benefit of the whole. This might explain why most of my shirts have 2 pin holes in them.

9. Killing Cockroaches - is a great book I’ve read recently by Tony Morgan which shows how we often get hung-up in the mundane instead of moving toward significance. It’s filled with top 10 lists, humor, stories and even a picture or 2. Quick read!!

10. Drawer of cookbooks – these cookbooks found the bottom drawer of the desk as temporary storage a few years ago (I think). They are slowly disappearing (not exactly sure how) and at the current rate should be gone by 2012.

11. SPARKS manuals – My Men’s CRHP (Christ Renews His Perish) group wanted to look for a way to support our youth. So we volunteered to lead a SPARKS (Sunday School) large group class. Every Sunday at 11am we have an opportunity to impart our “wisdom” to the eager minds of 9 & 10 year olds. Thank goodness we have a well scripted series of lesson plans to make sure our “wisdom” is focused and succinct.

12. Contagious Christian PINK container – Sue & I have been facilitating a “Becoming a Contagious Christian” class for the last couple of years with Pat Gillis. It’s a DVD series by Mark Mittelberg & Lee Strobel that pretty much runs itself. The pink container was half price at Wal-Mart. Since I’m comfortable with my masculinity, I opted for the savings versus buying a dark blue one at full price.

13. Old records – 35 years at Mickey Ds instilled in me the importance of doing travel paths. That’s when you do a complete walk around the facility and “note” things that might be displeasing to a customer. Well on a few of my travel paths at Good Shepherd I noticed a couple of unattractive long term storage boxes at Sue’s desk that were visible from the guest at the reception desk. I offered to put them in my office for a couple of weeks about a year ago. (are you sensing a bit of sarcasm?)

14. Thumbs-up Jar – At the Innovation Center we had “Thumbs-Up” cards. The idea was to have these small cards that you would complete when you wanted to recognize someone for doing something especially positive toward bringing the vision to life. At the end of the month we throw them into a jar and have a raffle for some small, semi-fabulous prize (the gift is really just receiving them) At Good Shepherd they are titled “Matthew 25:21” card…hey, might make a good button.

15. Wireless mouse – Don’t you just love a mouse that doesn’t use wires. My wireless mouse waits for my Dell ever morning. I can’t help myself! I did buy it at Ecost for half the going price and it’s been pointing strong for the last year.

16. Mugs (CRHP Bros) – The late entry. My Men’s group gets together every 2 weeks just to talk about stuff. We do manly things (and that’s the story I’m sticking to) and are always looking for ways to impact our community (see #11). There was a dodge ball tournament in January (Dodgn’ 4 Dough) raising money to send kids on a work trip to Iowa to help the flood victims. Our team got killed. This coffee mug reminds me of the need to be humble. Note that the picture of me “holding” the ball was the only time that I didn’t drop it the entire weekend.

Just going through this list put my mind in a strange place. The thought “what a freak” bubbled-up more than a couple of times. And to think I didn’t even mention the weird stuff. Psychologist’s (only) remarks to geneserveshim@gmail.com

...Almighty & Sons...

I've mentioned before that I retired from McDonald's in May '08, after 35 years of learning, growing and leading some great teams.  My last 6 years I was the Operations Director at the Innovation Center.  It may not be as "out there" as the Google headquarters, but it's pretty close.  Since I left McDonald's I've been working (volunteer) half-time at Good Shepherd as the Vision Coordinator.  Actually, Pastor Greg & I kinda made-up the position based on what I might be good at and what the church might need.  I guess you could say that I work for "Almighty & Sons".

There's an old joke that goes "the pay is bad, but the benefits are out of this world".  That says it all.  Once you get past the point that the vision is placed on our hearts from the Highest source (instead of your Mcdepartment VP...Ken Koziol in my case) I find the organizations function in very similar ways.  Both organizations are staffed with real people, with real needs and real issues and real strengths.  Though the outcome or design criteria or balanced scorecard might be different, creating and growing a strong team with a shared vision is the same.  Same relationships, same budgets, same goals setting, same change management, same......... 

So, my focus at Good Shepherd is pretty much what it was when I was at the Innovation Center

1. Seat the VISION - communicate, remind, restate, state a different way, relevant examples, vision casting.
   
   
2. Create a ROADMAP - know next steps, unfreeze the team, build on existing momentum, stop doing non-value added activities, redirect as needed, deal with unplanned, Faith in Action.
   
   
3. Align MINISTRIES - Establish director team, director mtgs, create "horizontal" thinking, 1 + 1 = 3, ministry objectives, shared initiatives.
   
   
4. Celebrate SUCCESSES - Matthew 25 cards (church version of thumbs-up), fast / little recognitions, build on successes.
   
   

The last year at Good Shepherd has been awesome.  At times I wonder if God had me in training at the Golden Arches for this exact moment in time.  Don't know why I waited so long.  My Great Lakes Division President, Kevin Dunn, used to say.  "If not now ...when?  If not me...who?"

...face it...

I couldn't stand on the sidelines any longer, so I got on Facebook in January.  Too many of my friends were getting pages and it's a great connection point for a newly retired, old guy.  I try not to have worlds collide with the younger generation since it was their's first.

I was recently "tagged" and was asked to write "25 random things about me".  It's harder than you think.  Here's mine

1. My legal name is Gene (my mom didn't like Eugene). It was tough growing up with a "girls" name. I've been assigned to girls' gym classes more than once and I won't go into one of my assigned room mates at a McDs convention..

2. My daughter Tammy , got her Masters in Occupational Therapy from USC (GO Trojans) and is currently an OT at a private clinic in Pasadena.

3. I was an atheist until May, 2005. I'm pumped to be a Christ-follower and try not to weird people out.

4. I lived in Hawaii twice and was a resident of Oahu when it became a state.

5. I have a 1965 Red Mustang convertible with an 8 track player with a collection of over 400 tapes (yes..there is a Barry Manilow somewhere in there.

6. Sue and I lived on the same street (about 7 houses away) in high school. We started dating when she was 15 & I was 17. We got engaged at her Senior prom and were married when I was 20.

7. I was the 1972 All-American bun champion for San Diego McDonald's...now that's a skill that really pops on a resume.

8. Patrick (our son) played 4 years of lacrosse at Neuqua HS and played at Purdue where he will graduate this year. He did go to the University of Arizona his freshman year.

9. I attended 3 different 3rd grade classes in 3 cities during the same year. I went to 13 schools before 10th grade (I was a Navy brat and my dad was always being transferred)

10. I bought my first car, a 1971 new VW bug when I was 18. I totaled it when I feel asleep at the wheel driving home from a closing shift.

11. I am a closet Monkees fan...I know the words to most of the songs on their 4 albums

12. I suffer from over-confidence (ask Sue). I don't care if I make mistakes (whatever) and love taking risks (not reckless). I share Henry Ford's belief - "If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right."

13. I've visited 6 of the 7 continents (still have to do Antarctica).

14. Sue and I have been on 12 cruises. We save money through the year to make a vacation happen every year (don't ask me for a loan).

15. I went to San Diego State University for 3 months and left before the first semester ended. I did attend Hamburger University twice and was on the Dean's list.

16. I am an avid reader...usually do 2 books a week. I mark them up with pens and folded pages instead of a highlighter.

17. Ray Kroc fired me when I was the manager of the Clairemont Mesa McDonald's in 1981 (my Regional Manager said not to worry about it). I retired from McDonald's after 35 years last year.

18. I've been on a safari in Africa and have a picture of me straddling Tanzania & Uganda

19. I've watched every episode of Seinfeld and King of Queens at least 10 times. I can't stop and I still laugh every single time.

20. I was the 3rd grade chess champion for Virginia Beach

21. I was a catcher in Little League. I strapped on the "tools of ignorance" for 6 years

22. I laugh every day! I was a class clown in school (to help me meet people as the new kid). Work is so much more enjoyable if you have a good time while you do it. I find it difficult to be nice to negative people (I'm working on it)

23. I've been either going on or going off a diet most of my adult life. I'm on my last one right now!  I'm gonna be the biggest loser (Sue is my Jillian)

24. I just got a new ASUS 1000HE netbook.  Less than 3 lbs, 9 hour battery life and 160 GB hard drive.  My heart skipped a beat when I opened the box!!  I know it's sad...I can't help it!

25. I haven't worn a watch for 3 years...I just refuse to conform any longer!

Hope I don't get tagged with "101 jokes I've told that aren't funny".

...on purpose...

I've said many times "I did it on purpose". Usually it's a defensive mechanism used to deflect an action that seems strange or odd to others. I often think of Paul Reuben's famous line in Pee Wee's Big Adventure when he blurts..."I meant to do that"! One of my desires when I retired in May '08 was to live the second half of my life..."on purpose". I've been blessed with so much, flat-out abundance, that I get embarrassed just thinking about it. To think that over 1 BILLION (as I place my little finger to the corner of my mouth) people in the world live on less than $1 a day just floors me. So, here are some of my favorite organizations that do a really amazing job focusing on improving the lives of the under-resourced. I've seen the results first hand and feel they are great stewards.

FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN - They send nutritional food bags (like a high powered oatmeal) to those in need across the world. They take donations and you can bring a group to their warehouse to fill the bags (they are currently located in Minn. & Ill.). They literally save lives in places where parents are forced to feed their kids dirt clods to fill their stomachs with something so they can get to sleep at night.

WORLD VISION - Is a well structured organization that does lots of child sponsorship programs. For a dollar a day you can help a child (and their family) live healthy, productive lives. Our church sponsors close to 300 kids in Uganda and I had a chance to visit Buhimba a couple of years ago. WOW! The village is becoming self-sufficient, building their own infrastructures and not sitting around with their hands out.

H.I.M. (HEARTS IN MOTION) - If you ever doubt the change 1 person can make, just talk to the founder, Karen of H.I.M. (love the acronym) is the 2007 Kiwanis World Service Medal winner. She makes things happen in Guatemala and the surrounding countries with an infectious smile, willingness to make the "big asks" and a can do attitude. Her organization focuses on those living in dumps, orphans and the really poor. She has just started a child sponsorship program. There's nothing more touching than passing out sandwiches, shoes and clothing to those that call the dump their home.

KIVA - This "microfinance" group allows common people, like you and me, to partner with each other making loans to those that just need a stake to get started. And get this, you get paid back. I've made several loans and each one was reimbursed. The company was started by a few folks on the west coast and it uses a Facebook-type approach (sorry for the over-simplification)

I'm trying more and more to do it "on purpose" with a purpose. I refuse to let those that say "yeah, but how do you know it really gets to the intended people?" get in the way of what my heart says is right. I guess I'll just say..."I MEANT TO DO THAT...?