Herding Squirrels
Late in my Ford career, one of my direct reports told me that talking to me was like talking to the dog in “Madagascar.” My direct report would hold my attention, but then there’d be a squirrel moment, when I would start down a path of out-loud thinking. A colleague once said that, talking to me, you had to have patience: Where was this man going? But I would come around, after chasing squirrels all around the playground, and make my point.
That’s a bad place to be in business. Especially these days, when you make the point first, because that’s all the time you have.
My problem was, and always has been, that I am constantly writing. If, as said elsewhere, to write is to think and to think is to write (remember, this is Toni Morrison & Co.: — I have no original thoughts), then writing is what I do, and writing is what I have always done.
Writing is a lot like chasing squirrels. We know, if we’ve ever tried to outsmart them at the birdfeeder, how clever those little rascals can be.
Thoughts are like that. Elusive, contrary, sometimes leading you smack into a dead end. And sometimes (rarely it would seem, but if you’re careful, more often than you realize) thoughts transform into insights. Whether those insights are valuable (they certainly were to you, at the moment they arrived) — well, that’s where the audience (you, dear reader) come in.
My goal these days (yes, I am in my latter years, though it hardly feels like it) is to chase those squirrels, catch them, corral them, organize them, feed them, let some of them go and retain others — and in so doing, maybe, just maybe, reach that bar of value that makes it worth your time to read what I write.
The Squirrel Guide
I don’t know if they self-organized like an Agile team or not (I’m no Scrummer), but over time the squirrels have scrambled into these buckets:
PERSONAL - Need I explain? Observations on life, living, relationships, what have you.
PROFESSIONAL - Well, I did have a side job for many years, in Information Technology and IT Security and Strategy and all that - see my CV if you’re morbidly curious. These squirrels tend to be a little better dressed, and possibly more punctual, though I wouldn’t bet on it.
CREATIVE - We all are, at heart, creative squirrels. Whether we yield to that creativity or attempt to corral it because of its defiance of all that is orderly, pragmatic and money-making (same thing), is a personal choice. Creative squirrels, well, best you can do is watch them. They’re really hard to catch, and just when you think you have them, you find they’re somewhere else. So - musings on poetry, piano, fiction writing, thoughts and information, woodcraft, rug hooking, design. Much more goes here.
CITIZEN - These squirrels have commanded more and more attention, as we all struggle through the challenges inherent in sustaining a democratic republic against inevitable forces (within and without) seeking its demise. These squirrels have much in common with another creature, that famous possum Pogo (Walt Kelly’s timeless creation), generally hanging by his tail and surviving. It’s here where the most controversy, sadly, lurks — because here is where squirrels try to do what humans have never done well: live well together - which is my definition of freedom.