I'm always impressed that most people have thought seriously about what it takes to be successful, in business and in life. It’s terrific that there are has so many individuals who look in the mirror and …… think.

Everyone has their own list, and one criterion is usually present: In order to be really successful, you have to be pretty smart. That is, it’s hard to be a huge success if you are, you know, dumb.

Now I’m thinking that notion itself might be dumb. I see really smart people do stupid things all the time. It dumbfounds me. I’m going to suggest they do these things for one reason: They lack the courage of their beliefs, the guts to stand up. They don’t want to stand alone. They know what they think and believe, but their friendships and their status, and their desire to avoid confrontation, matter more.

I have reading and thinking about people who have inspired me. If you are a ‘boomer’, you might agree that Pierre Trudeau was really smart, but mostly he was principled and fearless. Also that Ronald Reagan wasn’t perhaps so brilliant, but was clearly both principled and courageous. Both had detractors and supporters, both were giants.

Perhaps it doesn’t take brains to be really smart. Perhaps it takes guts, the simple determination to stand up for what you believe is right, to make the tough call. Regardless of what anyone else thinks; or the short term stress.

It seems that the universe is unfolding at about 8,000 miles per hour; not only is everything changing, but the pace of change is increasing. Solid business models used to be good for years, now it’s more like months. A good, solid competitive edge now lasts, oh, maybe several weeks.

We talk a lot about change around our shop. Well, a good number of us do. Truth be told – and I have little doubt it’s the same in most ‘low tech’ companies – there are still a whole bunch of people very uncomfortable with the notion and demands of constant change, and who still believe in the traditional ways. These people are very capable, experienced, smart and sincere, and believe we can continue to be successful doing things pretty much the way we have for many years. I know of one professional firm that believes that resisting change is a smart strategy – it will help them carve out and define their niche as ‘traditionalists’ (good luck with that).

Then I read my horoscope last Friday (Virgo, and I quote): ‘You cannot force people to change their beliefs. The more you try, the more they will cling to them. But why would you want to try? The world is actually a better place for its myriad opinions.

Me, I think resisting change is futile at best, but the first two sentences got my attention. Maybe we should let the change embracers do their embracing, and the change resistors do their resisting (since both are going to do exactly that anyway) and simply wait and see who succeeds and who doesn’t. The winners will win, the losers will lose. If I’m right, the resistors will gradually retreat and fade. And if I’m wrong, I will have some apologizing to do.

I think I’ve got to start reading my horoscope more often.

Taking Life Lessons From The Astrology Pages

When I was in Calgary, a few eons ago, I hired a lot of people. When asked about EllisDon’s vacation policy, I’d sometimes say: “Well, if your client’s happy, your project is going extremely well, everyone is getting along, and it’s very profitable, there is little chance that we are going to argue about how many holiday days you’ve taken. However, if you have to be tracked down because your work is beset with problems, the project is losing money and behind schedule and the client is angry, then you better not be on a golf course in Arizona.” (The person would then smile and say “I was being serious”. I’d reply “Hey, so was I”.)

Now I am reading that more and more companies (including IBM) are moving to a policy of unstructured, ‘unlimited’ holidays’, where the company doesn’t even try to track how many holidays you have taken each year. There is a job to do, and people are measured on performance. There are ‘guidelines’, and people have to work things out with their boss, and both must make sure that the holidays are achieved. But at these companies, head office doesn’t track, measure or enforce.

Obviously, people should take all their holiday time, and be accountable to themselves and their families for that. But I’d suggest that all the time head offices spend (valiantly) measuring and recording everyone’s holidays is a waste of time: It can’t be done. Plus, more and more, companies are asking people to work and to be accessible well beyond the traditional ‘9 to 5’. Even when many people are on holidays, their blackberries are on. Week-ends are for catching up.

There is a flip side as well: Two years ago, a fellow left EllisDon and gave us a bill for four untaken holiday weeks. He was lying. He had taken plenty of time off, and everyone knew it. But because he hadn’t called Head Office and recorded them, the computer showed he hadn’t taken them. Fairness cuts both ways, and this has to end.

So we are asking our people what they would think about an unstructured, untracked approach to holidays at EllisDon. People need to get the job done. We all need to communicate with each other about where we are and who’s doing what. We need to treat each other fairly, the client excellently; we need to achieve our goals.

But for crying out loud, we need to take all of our holidays. And some extra time for the extra hours worked. If there is a family emergency, take off, just go.

Maybe it Doesn't Take Brains to be Smart

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