Sliding, turning, drifting

Yesterday I went paddling on the river and it’s been almost 9 months since the last time I paddled. It was beautiful. The water was smooth. The air was a crisp 40 degrees with some hazy clouds high in the sky. I was the only paddler on the water for as far as I could see. The paddles were quietly entering and exiting the water and my stroke was feeling strong as I pushed the kayak forward and I felt it gently separate the water and push forward.

I was propelled by the rhythmic cadence of the strokes and my mind was free to wander as I noticed the changing colors of the trees that dotted the bank. My goal was to circle the island and slow enough to notice the small details as I passed through the water.

When I arrived at the far end of the island, I stopped paddling and I allowed the kayak to drift while I peered through the shallow water and I watched the rippled sand move beneath my arms. I noticed footprints in the sand below that were left by the gulls. I noticed shiny pieces of sand that reflected up and sent narrow rays of light bouncing to the surface. The experience was just what I needed to reconnect and steady my mind.

on culture adjustment

Today I stayed home sick with a terrible cough and sore body. It’s been awhile since I’ve stayed home and it’s been more than ten years since I’ve been to a doctor’s office in the U.S.

I was reminded about how long I’ve been gone when I didn’t know how to schedule a doctor’s appointment or what my co-pay was going to be. I never had to worry about that stuff in Mexico because we just paid the doctor in cash as needed.

At one point the office assistant today asked me who I wanted for my primary care physcian and I remembered back to when I was a child and we had a family doctor. But I didn’t know that she would direct me to a wall of photos and I would pick out a face that pleased me. It just seemed strange since I was used to recieiving medical attention and prescriptoin receipts from the nearest community doctor located inside the back of the pharmacy in Mexico. I never had a choice about who I would see and it didn’t seem to matter since they were all doctors.

Then came the multiple steps required for me to leave the office with a prescription. This same process took 15 minutes in Mexico from appointment time to prescription in hand.

And even at the pharmacy here in the U.S. I was reminded of my tendency to “not fit” when the clerk recieved my papers and simply stated, “you wanted two…. there is only one” and I began silently grasping to undertand what she meant by that comment and I said that I was only given those papers and she responded, “ok and are you in the system? I replied with embarrassment, “No, I’m not in your system”. And she reponded, “Did you have them send the paperwork to me?” I responded, “I didn’t know I needed to have them send you anything since I had these papers”. She replied with a sigh, “Ok… I’ll look for you in the system”. After many clicks and punches on her keyboard she was able to find something from the doctor and then she looked at me as if I was doing something wrong again and then she said, “You can go now… it won’t be ready for another 30 minutes or more”. And I responded with a confused look, “Ok… thanks I’ll come back later”. I don’t remember waiting 30 minutes for prescriptions to be filled in Mexico.

The only familiar thing I encountered today was the exam room. I recognized the same instruments and exam tables from Mexico. But other than that I felt out of place in every other step of the process today. I’m tired of feeling lost at times. I’m tired of wondering what people mean by their inside jokes and references to politics and government. It’s in those moments that I’m reminded how I completely missed my “young adult” experience in the U.S. and at times it’s overwhelming to bridge that gap.

I learned to be an adult in a different place with different systems, different values, and different expectations. It’s like I’m going back to school to learn how to be a 35 year old adult in a new culture. Yet this culture is my culture and I feel as though these systems should be imprinted on me but somehow they are not. It’s just different that’s all. Not wrong. Just different.

dad and gramps on kid duty

This week my wife is gone at a conference and it’s up to me and my dad to take care of the two boys in preschool and 1st grade. We are both a little nervous and excited at the same time. The hardest part by far is the morning wake up and eat routine. Such a struggle to get the clothes on, food in the mouth, hair to the side, and toothbrush on the teeth. I know we are going to make it but change in routine is hard for us all. Here is a photo of the lunches that mommy packs and we have been using these photos as reference to put together their lunches this week.

 

Inclusion conference for high school students

Inclusion: Diversity and sexual preference in the work place. This was an excellent training that involved both students and teachers. We invited three guest speakers to join us for the training day and we spent the time working in small groups and then reflecting in the large group sessions. I learned that it is important to not shy away from student questions when they are searching for understanding. Often times our students may come across as offensive but we need to remember that they are learning how to express their opinions responsibly and our role is to gently guide them during this process. 

on work and family

I often spend too much time thinking about how I could streamline a particular task at work. I often break down each click, decision, and keystroke into an if/then scenario. My goal is to finish the boring tasks in a short amount of time while still maintaining the accuracy. In general I severely under utilize the power of my computer to perform monotonous tasks. Over the past three years I’ve identified and created workflows for hundreds of things that I do at work each day. One of the best examples is using an Apple Script to recognize text in all downloaded PDF documents and then set multiple rules with Hazel to organize those files in the appropriate folder with the date and title. This workflow is triggered by a single click.

The other day I was researching and practicing the keyboard shortcuts for text editing in my Gmail messages. I decided that it was taking me too long to edit emails by using the mouse so I learned to use keyboard shortcuts to move the cursor between words, insert bullets, or delete frontwards and backwards. I’m sure that the total time spent learning these shortcuts may be more than the time it would take to edit with the mouse, but I believe that the time invested was worth it. Becoming a power user with Gmail, with Evernote, with TextExpander, and with my Mac saves me more time in the long run. I enjoy finding new ways to automate the tasks that would otherwise cause burn-out in my job. So why am I so obsessed with automation?

I believe that if we discipline ourselves to automate tasks then our minds will be ready to handle the work that requires critical thinking and soon we will find our selves breezing through challenging work in less time. This increase in productivity will provide more time for living and learning with our family and friends. I include two photos below of the boys who motivate me to work hard and work smart so I can feel successful at work and then dedicate quality time with them when the work is done.

slackline and balance training

Three weeks ago I purchased a 1 inch slackline made by a local juggling shop in Guadalajara. I had just finished reading the book Eat and Run by Scott Jurek and he wrote about how the slackline can help to improve running technique and strengthen the core. I had seen teenagers playing on slacklines before but I always considered it something for young adults with too much free-time.  I never considered it as something that a world class ultrarunner would use for training.

Despite my initial doubts I was hooked from the start. I remember as I unrolled the webbing and strung it across the 30 foot gap between a post and a palm tree in our garden area I felt young again. I felt that genuine smile of little kid glee as I maneuvered my body in search of balance while suspended two inches off the grass. The new challenge was exactly what I needed to get my mind off work and start enjoying life more.

Of course during the first two weeks I could barely stand on one foot without getting bucked off on both sides. My legs quivered and jostled back and forth as I slowly learned to breath, tighten the core, and focus my eyes on the trunk of the palm tree. The photo below shows how far I’ve come in three weeks. My legs are stable, my hands move slowly, my eyes remain fixed on the post, and my core has become notably stronger. All these skills combine to make slacklining super fun and addicting!

Learning to run better – what is CrossFit?

So I have four more days until Spring Break is over and then I’m back to work. So far the break has been a mix of everything: fun in the mountains, running in the mornings, listening to podcasts, but mostly just taking care of my two boys and my wife who injured her back muscles while lifting our youngest. I’m not sure what is more difficult, working 10 hour days with a never ending list of tasks and problems or taking care of a four year old and a one year old at home. It’s a toss up.

Anyhow… this post is not about work or spring break. It’s about the new book I’m reading titled, “Power, Speed, Endurance” by Brian MacKenzie. The first section is dedicated entirely to correct running technique and the idea that runners don’t need to injure themselves in order to run faster and longer. The author talks about CrossFit and how the best athletes are well rounded individuals who could perform well in almost any physical challenge with a little practice. I’m a complete newbie when it comes to CrossFit. Sure I’ve heard the term and seen conversations on Twitter about CrossFit challenges. But now that I’m immersed in this book and really considering the potential benefits of a holistic approach to training it all seems to fit nicely into the research and knowledge I’ve been reading for the past few years.

To begin,  I’m making it a point to learn how to use gravity to my advantage when running in a race and practice tilting my whole body forward in order to increase speed. This morning I went for a run and took my jump rope along so I could practice the tilt. It wasn’t nearly as easy as I had hoped and it was obvious that I’m not tilting my body enough when I run. I tend to overextend my leg in front to reduce the feeling of falling on my face and that places extra strain on my legs and joints.

These children run naturally with the correct forward lean. We just need to remember how we learned to run as kids.

Pushing for change with unanswered questions

“The essence of leadership is being aware of your fear and seeing it in the people you wish to lead. Awareness is the key to making progress.” – Seth Godin, Tribes

Many times leadership requires me to push in a direction that still has unanswered questions. I’ve been given advice from other leaders who say that you must lead from your experience and if you haven’t walked the road yourself then you can’t expect others to follow. In some cases I agree but in most cases I would say that isn’t possible. I would say most of the time leadership is stepping in a new direction with unanswered questions. The change we need requires the whole team to move in the same direction at the same time. I can do my best to learn from other teams who have made similar changes but I can’t accurately predict how our team and each member of our team will react to the change. For this reason I think it’s enough to identify the needed change and then move ahead with the best available strategy. Then along the way I can listen to the team and either make small adjustments to the plan or accept that the plan is not going to work and start again from the beginning.

I am currently working with our team of high school teachers and students to practice grade level consensus meetings in which topics are generated from students and teachers and each member’s opinion is given equal importance. I’m convinced of our need for this change but my fear of the unknown makes me doubt that we will have success. The change requires a considerable amount of patience and flexibility since the meetings are scheduled for one hour and on average only two topics are addressed during the hour.  These two skills, patience and flexibility, are exceedingly difficult for me to do in my personal life and even more difficult in my professional life. I take pride in my getting things done work flow and disconnecting for an hour interrupts my fast paced day. Although I’m confident that these meetings are key to building a positive school culture, I fear the loss of time and slow progression towards change. I also fear the increased workload that will come when I need to make deep changes to our traditional school practice.

Despite these fears I cannot stand still and do nothing. Now that I’m aware of our need for student voice I must move in that direction.

Skateboard balance

“Daddy that’s a cool skateboard. Can we try it?” questioned my four-year old son as we walked down the toy aisle. I pulled down a blue skateboard from the third shelf and held his hands while he rolled back and forth testing out the smooth shiny warehouse floors. I checked the specs on the tag and I was impressed by the wheel bearing quality (abec 5’s) so we put it in the cart and headed for the checkout. That same day we went down to the skate park to start practicing.

With a determined tone I insisted, “Lean hard, push down with your toes and turn right, now push with your heels and turn left.” It wasn’t working. The skateboard continued straight ahead. Disappointed we stopped rolling and began observing the other skateboarders as they swerved in and out.

I said, “Ok let me try your skateboard and see if I can show you how to do it.” I stepped on the board, pushed off three times and leaned in hard to make a right turn, but instead of turning gracefully the skateboard went straight ahead and I went stumbling off to the side in surprise. I snatched up the board and sauntered back to my boy nodding and saying, “It wasn’t your fault. It’s because the skateboard trucks are too stiff and they won’t turn for me either.”

So we went home and parked the skateboard outside the front door. Then today, one month later, we decided to try something new with that stiff blue skateboard. We took the trucks off my old skateboard and switched them with the little blue skateboard. We thought, if the trucks are the problem then let’s put some good trucks on and see what happens.

After half an hour of loosening and tightening screws we were ready. My old skateboard trucks were fastened to his little blue board. I grasped his hands, he stepped onto the board, and with delight in his eyes we rolled down the driveway and leaned in for the first turn. But just as before the skateboard continued straight ahead. Nothing had changed. With a disappointed look I said, “Oh well I guess we need to learn more about how skateboards turn. We’ll figure it out a different day.”

Even though it didn’t work we had a great time learning to loosen, tighten, and adjust bolts while getting more and more excited about our new idea. So why not think outside the box even if the outcome is disappointing?

Student led forums

With hesitation in her voice she leaned back in her chair and said, “I want to be a generation leader, but what does it mean?”

I responded with a warm smile and said, “I’m so excited for you. You’re going to love it! Being a generation leader means that you will gather ideas and concerns from students in your grade level and then prioritize those topics in preparation for a forum style meeting. During these meetings, you and your student co-leader will facilitate and guide the group towards expressing, processing, and sometimes resolving important concerns. And when conflicts or problems arise that can’t be remedied you will communicate those problems to either the student council or the school administration and ask for support.”

I told her that the beauty of being a generation leader is promoting balanced and productive conversations about things that matter to her and her classmates.

She sat forward in her chair and smiled responding, “Ok that sounds good mister, but what if my classmates laugh and make fun of me?” Nodding I answered, “In the beginning it will take time for students to understand how a forum works, and they may be nervous about the unknown. Your teachers will be there to support you, and soon the laughing will disappear.”

I continued, “When you are not used to expressing your own concerns and being heard, it might feel unnatural at first. But, why not give it a shot and see what positive results will come?”