Aviation of Business

posted by Andrew Hartley - Business Consultant & Entrepreneur on Jul 23

I went up to Michigan (Traverse City, to be exact) this past weekend to attend the wedding of a close friend with whom I have been terrible about keeping in touch since college (and even during our last two years in college, now that I think about it).

We have sporadically kept in touch since graduating from Eastern Michigan University - mostly through another mutual friend who stayed in Michigan for a few years after graduation and only recently moved back to Central Ohio. He comes down and stays once in awhile, and sometimes I’m even able to get out to our mutual friend’s place and visit with everyone - but not always.

So on Thursday night, four of us piled in my car and we drove to Traverse City, Michigan for his wedding. We barely made it. After a couple of stops and several slowdowns due to construction, we made it to the hotel at about 4:15pm on Friday - the wedding was at 5pm - and we hadn’t even changed into our wedding clothes! We made it into some seats just before our friend the groom walked down the aisle to seat his grandmother. Whew.

The location was beautiful (Frog Pond Village), as was the ceremony - non-denominational readings and poems and vow exchange… funny and light, and meaningful, somehow, all at the same time. My favorite (and least favorite - this weekend was full of conundrums, it seems) part was near the end, with a statement along the lines of “we hope that you can reconnect with old friends and kindle relationships with new friends as well…” I wasn’t recording, but it was something like that.

It was my favorite part because it worked - I feel like I reconnected with at least a few of my old friends - the couple we drove up with certainly, as well as the bride and groom (in the short amount of time we could steal from their busy wedding schedule). We also connected (I think) with a new couple that we knew, but not well - we did wine tastings and climbed Sleeping Bear Dunes on Saturday; those six of us spent all day together.

It was my least favorite part because, to me, it felt like a direct chastisement of my inability to keep in touch with people who are not in my direct vicinity. The statement “Out of sight, out of mind” is generally used to comfort people who are reminded of a bad experience by some trinket or item they own - getting rid of it can help them forget. In my case, “out of sight, out of mind” is more accurately a statement of how I correspond with people - or not. I know the newlyweds didn’t mean it that way (it would be the epitome of vanity to think they put that statement in their vows to make ME realize that I haven’t been a good friend), but it did strike a chord with me, and I’m going to use it to get back in touch with people who have been - and still are - important to me. So if you’re reading, newlyweds: I’d like to thank you for that.

And if you’re reading this, old and new friends: don’t be surprised to hear from me! And if I don’t contact you, you better contact me…

Fair Winds,
Andrew

posted by Andrew Hartley - Business Consultant & Entrepreneur on May 29

I haven’t done this in several months (though I did post on the first one ever - in the comments sections of the post itself), but I think it’s a good idea and a great way to reflect on what one has learned in the past month (and if you can’t say that you’ve learned at least five things in a month, no matter how trivial it seems to you, there’s something wrong with you!).

 So, in the manner laid out by the Joyful, Jubilant Learning Blog, here are my top five “learnings” for the month of May:

1. No matter where you are, no matter what you think, you have friends near you.  My wife and I were at a beautiful wedding over Memorial Day weekend in Clearwater (Dunedin), Florida.  It was the wedding of a very good friend of ours who Jill met while working in Theatre in Columbus, Ohio (and who now lives in New York City, NY, but whose family is still in Florida).  We didn’t expect to know anyone at the wedding or the reception except the bride and groom themselves (whom we expected to be rather busy, for some reason); however, once we got to the reception, we were almost immediately approached by two other couples who knew us (though we didn’t know them immediately).  It turned out that Jill had met the women while they were the bride’s roomates in college!  And at the end of the reception, one of the bridesmaids was another friend of the bride’s whom Jill had met previously!  Another of the joys of networking… in Florida, we ran into people who we knew from Columbus, Cincinnati, and Kentucky!
2. A business can survive through almost any length of “down season” if the “busy season” is busy enough!  A small shop in Clearwater, FL makes 1/2-pound cookies and homemade ice-cream - and was pretty much empty except for while we were in it (eating a chocolate-chip cookie with two scoops of vanilla ice-cream and hot-fudge on top… whoa!).  The man behind the counter said that spring break is always his best time.  Planning ahead for the rest of the year is of utmost importance!
3. Related to the above, a business can survive without a business plan or without good leadership if it’s in the right location.  If you serve alcohol and pizza, and are located on a beach where college students frolic during spring, you could leave your business i the hands of a monkey and still survive.
4. Love bug season in Florida SUCKS.  Those damn bugs were EVERYWHERE and they were ANNOYING!  Jill and I took to calling them “Fuck Bugs” for two reasons - 1) they were fucking, and 2) we were constantly saying “Fuck, bugs! Get away from me!” I buried as many as possible in the sand, alive. 
5. Business is just breaking down a large “problem” into small, actionable parts.  The “problem” is your business and the small, actionable parts are your goals and plans to reach where you want the business to go.  This is basic - but I constantly need a reminder of it.  I’m reading Robert Allen’s Multiple Streams of Internet Income, which breaks down internet business quite well.  I’ve already taken 13 pages of notes and I’m not even halfway through it.  I’ll buy a copy for myself (I’m reading a library copy) so I can highlight and underline and take notes in the margins…

Hope you enjoyed this, and I encourage you to do the same thing on your own blog… (what?  You don’t have a blog?  Leave a comment on this one or on JJL’s!)  or at least in your own head so you reap the benefit of reflecting on the month behind you!

Next post will be back to our regularly scheduled programming (the sacred six flight instruments & how they relate to business)!

Fair Winds,
Andrew

posted by Andrew Hartley - Business Consultant & Entrepreneur on Apr 12

This past weekend, my grandmother, Mimi, passed away.  She was 86.  We buried her yesterday, April 11th, 2007.  It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, and I was kind of surprised by it.

I was surprised not because it is ever easy when someone passes away, but because I firmly believe in reincarnation and the idea that family and good friends tend to “cluster” in groups no matter what life they are living (read Many Lives, Many Masters, by Brian Weiss - buy it here [aff]).  In this way, I know that my father is still with us.  I know that my grandfather is still with us.  I know that my other grandfather (though he passed before I was born) is still somehow in my life.  I know that Mimi will never be gone completely; that she will always be with us in our memories and in our children and grandchildren and friends and cousins and everyone we meet and know and love.

I know all of this, but I also know that I cried when I had to say goodbye for the last time.  After the service, I placed a handkerchief in Mimi’s pocket.  She had saved it for about twenty-five years.  It was the same handkerchief that I had cried into as a baby once.  As Mimi told the story, I cried and cried and wiped my eyes on the handkerchief until it was soaked with my tears… she gave it to me when her husband, Gran, died.  I thought she would want it back - she saved it for so long it obviously meant a lot to her.  Once I placed it in the casket, I cried.  It was the first time since I found out she had passed away that I cried.  And I hated it.  And I loved it.  And it felt right.

But the universe works in mysterious ways - my friend whom I have never met, Verna Wilder, wrote in her blog - Out of the Cube - that there are so many things we don’t know.  And that it is okay - perhaps even good. And that life is, maybe, a lesson to teach us how to accept not knowing, and that death, possibly, is knowing (after all those years of ignorance).  And Verna posted a beautiful poem, which reminded me of the poem that Mimi loved because it was so reminiscent of HER family (Mimi was the only sister of seven siblings):

We are Seven by William Wordsworth 

A simple child, dear brother Jim,
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?

I met a little cottage girl,
She was eight years old, she said;
Her hair was thick with many a curl
That cluster’d round her head.

She had a rustic, woodland air,
And she was wildly clad;
Her eyes were fair, and very fair,
–Her beauty made me glad.

“Sisters and brothers, little maid,
How many may you be?”
“How many? seven in all,” she said,
And wondering looked at me.

“And where are they, I pray you tell?”
She answered, “Seven are we,
And two of us at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea.”

“Two of us in the church-yard lie,
My sister and my brother,
And in the church-yard cottage, I
Dwell near them with my mother.”

“You say that two at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea,
Yet you are seven; I pray you tell
Sweet Maid, how this may be?”

Then did the little Maid reply,
“Seven boys and girls are we;
Two of us in the church-yard lie,
Beneath the church-yard tree.”

“You run about, my little maid,
Your limbs they are alive;
If two are in the church-yard laid,
Then ye are only five.”

“Their graves are green, they may be seen,”
The little Maid replied,
“Twelve steps or more from my mother’s door,
And they are side by side.”

“My stockings there I often knit,
My ‘kerchief there I hem;
And there upon the ground I sit–
I sit and sing to them.”

“And often after sunset, Sir,
When it is light and fair,
I take my little porringer,
And eat my supper there.”

“The first that died was little Jane;
In bed she moaning lay,
Till God released her of her pain,
And then she went away.”

“So in the church-yard she was laid,
And all the summer dry,
Together round her grave we played,
My brother John and I.”

“And when the ground was white with snow,
And I could run and slide,
My brother John was forced to go,
And he lies by her side.”

“How many are you then,” said I,
“If they two are in Heaven?”
The little Maiden did reply,
“O Master! we are seven.”

“But they are dead; those two are dead!
Their spirits are in heaven!”
‘Twas throwing words away; for still
The little Maid would have her will,
And said, “Nay, we are seven!”

You are seven, Mimi.  You and all of your siblings.  And those of us left here in this life still count you among us, and we are many.  And we miss you already.  And we’ll all see you soon.  We love you.

Fair Winds,
Andrew

posted by Andrew Hartley - Business Consultant & Entrepreneur on Apr 3

A very close friend worked his last day at the company at which I worked for nearly six years today. He had been there for eleven years (count ‘em - 11!). It’s an aviation company, and as such it has seen its share of ups and downs. Over the past year or so, however, the company’s leadership turned to layoffs and generally bad management of its people to turn its financials around. Temporarily, I think it’ll work. Long-term, I think it’s a mistake. Regardless, I recieved the following message from my friend today. Talk about leaving with class!

This final message is to a select group of people who are particularly dear to me…

You are special to me, and I’ll miss you. [Our CEO] has said “it’s the people that make the difference” and I couldn’t agree more. [Company Name] is unbelievably volatile with change, and it has its share of corporate problems, but it’s as good as it is because of the folks who show up every day committed to doing a great job and never giving up on making things better. Each of you is one of those people and each of you has influenced me for the better.

While my career here is coming to a close and a new chapter is opening, yours continues. And like mine, your time with [Company Name] will continue to add to your skills, open up new opportunities, and give you many more chances to make that difference. Despite the setbacks, I look back fondly on almost 11 years of growth and development here, and I’m thankful that I’ve moved into the world of training through opportunities that came out of this company. I especially want to thank [Name Removed], who in 1998 took a chance and asked me to join him in training [employees] – that little effort forever changed the course of my career, and brought me into what I believe I was always meant to do: educate and develop people.

I’m also thankful for the countless projects and teams I’ve been a part of, for the learning I’ve done, and for the many areas of the business I’ve been in contact with. There was rarely a dull moment, and I don’t doubt that will continue. In that I’ve learned to seize the day, and take every chance to make the most of it. We must remain committed and determined – these are always rewarding whether in the company or somewhere else, no matter what the endeavor.

I also continue to learn not to let external factors determine my mood, attitude, or mission. It’s worthy to be true to yourself and even more so to your purpose – I believe there is a plan for every life and a benevolent God who created it. No matter what the world does or says, these things transcend it. Work is just work, and no company is perfect, nor can it provide the deepest meaning and purpose our hearts long for. So no matter how tough it gets, we can always look back and see benefit in our work and the companies that provide it. Even more so with the relationships we build.

May your career be blessed as mine has, even with the difficulties that come along the way; may they help us along as we mature and build character, all the while gaining valuable experience to contribute to our futures and the world around us. Thanks to [Company Name] for my career, and thanks again to you for being a part of it.

Best wishes,
–[Name]

We should all take a cue from my good friend and his departure message - learning to separate one’s self from one’s job and to look to many things for self-worth, mission, and attitude, as well as to use the good and the bad to build a worthwhile character and mature into who we are meant to be.

Fair Winds,
Andrew