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Visit Jack Selway's Blog on The Denver Post www.selwayblog.com

1 March 2008

In the spring of 1990, after a bold and egocentric effort that landed me with the opportunity to sing the National Anthem for the International Convention in Portland, I quickly set out to impress others, or perhaps only me. I’ve since learned that when you realty “try” to impress others, you’re going to be lucky if you impress only yourself.

I attended the noon meeting of Rotary Club Danville, D5160, California, USA and more than casually announced to the president that I was to be the singer for the convention. And, by the way, would he like to have me sing today? “We don’t have a piano,” said the president. “Not a problem, I don’t need one,” was my reply. So he introduced me: “Folks today we have Jack Selway, who will be singing for the International Convention in Portland, and today Jack will sing without accomplishment.” http://www.selway.org/selway/singing/index.htm

Born in St. Patrick's Hospital on St. Patrick's Day of 1944, a “war orphan” of three weeks whose mother was not yet aware of the death of his father... What a way to begin, and how did this help this helpless fellow to gain any wisdom?

I begin with “what is wisdom.” My favorite quote is found on Google. I queried “Knowledge without Wisdom,” and found the following.

"Knowledge without wisdom is a load of books on the back of an ass." Japanese Proverb

Wikipedia: Wisdom, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is defined as the "1 a: Accumulated philosophic or scientific learning-knowledge; b: Ability to discern inner qualities and relationships-insight; c: Good sense-judgment d: Generally accepted belief <challenges what has become accepted wisdom among many historians — Robert Darnton>. 2: A wise attitude, belief, or course of action. 3: The teachings of the ancient wise men"

Most psychologists regard wisdom as distinct from the cognitive abilities measured by standardized intelligence tests. (Huh?) Wisdom is often considered to be a trait that can be developed by experience, but not taught. When applied to practical matters, the term wisdom is synonymous with prudence. Some see wisdom as a quality that even a child, otherwise immature, may possess independent of experience or complete knowledge. The status of wisdom or prudence as a virtue is recognized in cultural, philosophical and religious sources. Some define wisdom in a utilitarian sense, as foreseeing consequences and acting to maximize the long-term common good.

As such, in general, wisdom is looked at his/her ideals and principles that govern all actions and decisions. Applications of personal wisdom include one's ethical and social guidelines in life that determines one’s unique style of personality, the particular nature of short and long-term goal(s) pursued in life (spiritual or materialistic for example), perspective on life, social attitudes, etc. 

Well, I’m learning a bit in the process of writing this... this “Wisdom?” Only history will tell for sure, but given the definition above and the comments from president Albert and business teacher Sheldon, I would agree that what I now think of as my wisdom is what I have gathered from proper perspective on experiences.

To apply wisdom to an old body one must, I believe, prepare the surface to be “painted” with a coat of wisdom. Surface preparation is similar to painting a car: first strip off all of the old paint and start fresh with nothing but bare metal, dull, and uninteresting. Get rid of the rust, the nicks and dings of life.

Trust me on this, none of your present “coat” of paint (unless it is wisdom gained of great effort), is worth keeping for the sake of appearance. Wisdom is something of worth to show the world and yourself. Don’t be too concerned about anything else.

For much of my life, I was so busy patching, sealing, and repairing my image that I missed the value of wisdom. Through a lucky chance, I had my entire paint removed and discovered that as long as this had happened to me, I was going to find a better coating. What ever your faith or none at all, belief in something greater than yourself will offer opportunities for wisdom.

1 February 2008

You never know how much a kind word of encouragement may help another.

I remember that the manager of Bank of America’s media department took an interest in me. Never gave me a bit of work, but kept my hopes up for almost two years. That was 1973. I can almost remember his name today even. Started with a “D.”  Yes, Drummond, that was his name. Larry…  I have no idea what ever happened to him, but he’s still part of me today. In Pueblo it was Jerry Carleo. Never got me a nickel but kept my hopes up.

Next time you see a chance to support someone, do it! You'll not likely ever see the results, but they will happen.

1 January 2008

How do we balance the need to follow rules that protect all of us and ensure moral, ethical, and legal behavior and still think outside the box?

That's it, it's just a question to ponder in this new year. If you have thoughts, let me know.

1 December 2007

Or, your could set out to serve others! Rotary has two mottos, "Service above Self," and "He Profit most who Serves Best." The second on, writing in about 1909 was a simple concept born of watching businesses fail and determining that those which offered the most service got the most profit. Give that some thought. Help others, put service to others ahead of self service. It's not the only thing you need to do, but it's one to carefully consider.

1 November 2007

May 1, 2007

Not long after we were born, most of us found that we were responsible for our actions and their consequences.

However, since the "Garden" we have been tempted by what others tell us. "Eat this, it's good for you."

Today's society, at least in technologically developed nations, there is tremendous pressure to "do as others do." Sex is offered on billboards, TV, the internet, and print. Not to mention that lack of modesty shown by so many people. Food is promoted at all the same places. Greed is openly promoted.

So, are we led astray? Police cast their lines for those tempted, by tempting them further. Governments determine that deception is okay in the pursuit of "freedom." Executives steal with impunity and rarely get caught. Many are condemned for following the orders of others.

Comedian Flip Wilson declared that "The Devil Made Me Do It!"

We must be responsible for our own actions, and we also must be responsible for the lack of moral structure in our society. The "we" collectively and individually are responsible.

1 March 2007

Think about bumper stickers. Here are my thoughts on our bumper sticker habits and what that might say about us. My wife and I both share the belief (she brought it up first) that you rarely see "one" bumper sticker on the car. It just seems that if they put one on, there are inevitably two are more. To continue my notes from February: Here's my simple minded thought. If a person will knowingly break "one" rule in life or in the law, is that the only "one" they will break? My thought is that if a person will break one rule, they'll likely break two or more. So the person then can "pick and chose" which rules they will obey, and if everyone is doing this, catastrophes are bound to happen. So my simple suggestion is to follow "all" the rules all the time. It will make for a much more satisfying journey in this life and a much better shot at getting to the next one.

 

1 February 2007 Following the rules... The Ten Commandments are pretty straightforward. Christ event told us that there were two that carried the strength of all the laws. They require "following the rules." We just returned from a trip to visit friends and relatives in the West and Southwest of the USA. After driving over 4,000 miles on busy interstate highways and rustic byways, I observed that many people do not follow rules. They are simple rules and rather straightforward. The sign might say "55." The risk of not following the rules can result in death. What is it about us "free will" humans that following rules is so hard to do? Does death of a spiritual kind occur when God's Rules are not followed? Something to consider.

 

1 January 2007

My friend Joe, an artist in Texas found that his back pain was aggravated by visit the "YMCA"* and doctor suggested less strenuous exercise. I wrote to Joe: "The YMCA is not all it’s cracked up to be. First they are no longer “young”, you don’t have to be a “man”, it’s no longer necessary to be a “Christian” but they are an association." Joe: "I asked one of the Directors of a YMCA, stating the three things that you mentioned: not young, not Christian and not just men. He did not have a satisfactory answer but he did say: 'We looked into it and decided to retain YMCA.' I think that tradition (like NAACP) won out over current reality and logic. If you notice, in their advertisement they just, at times, have the 'Y'." I replied to my friend: "I first brought that to the attention of the president of our 'Y' during a radio interview I did with him in 1997. The fellow hasn't thought well of me since. While I'm no longer young, I am Christian, a man, but he won't 'associate' with me. I thought it might invoke a discussion of history and transition. It did not. Your contact at the 'Y' still has something to defend. I’m finding less and less that needs defending. I'm working toward understanding which never involves a defense. Leave that to the football teams." I then wondered if my idea had merit. It would be interesting to find two football teams who could reach an understanding. That could be translated into world peace." What if we sought agreement and understanding instead of "defense" and "offence." Is that not what Jesus taught?

*About the YMCA Together, the nation's 2,617 YMCAs are the largest not-for-profit community service organization in America, working to meet the health and human service needs of 20.2 million men, women and children in 10,000 communities in the United States. YMCAs are at the heart of community life across the country: 42 million families and 72 million households are located within three miles of a YMCA. YMCA stands for Young Men's Christian Association, but don't misinterpret this to mean that YMCAs are only for "young, Christian men." From its start more than 150 years ago, when George Williams founded the YMCA as a substitute Bible study and prayer for life on the streets, the YMCA was unusual because it crossed the rigid lines that separated all the different churches and social classes in England in those days. This openness was a trait that would lead YMCAs to recognize their strength is in the people they bring together -- Ys are for all people of all faiths, races, ages, abilities and incomes. YMCAs' financial assistance policies ensure that no one is turned away for

 

25 December 2006 Holidays are tough times for many people. Many factors come into play. Finances, relationships, and health. While Dr. Viktor Frankl advised us to "find the purpose and meaning in our lives" that is not always easy when we are so often disappointed by those in whom we rely. It's sad that we are "let down" so many times, often by those closest to us. Knowing that we are all "children of God" might help tremendously. But this "so called" "family of man" can be a crushing blow when we are most in need. Prayer helps, but being excluded from our very families is hard to overcome. If we already know that we are all children of God, then are we not all members of God's family? Isn't that the answer? This is the family to which we truly belong, now and for all time. This is a family that has never let us down. A family that will always welcome us and love us unconditionally. This is the answer to our prayers and it was here before time began and will last forever. Amen.

1 December 2006 When do I pray the most? When everything is going great! When things get really tough, it may be too late. For the person to say “I have my faith” would be like a swimmer who says, “I am a champion swimmer” but this person has not practiced in years. This is the swimmer who may drown. That is way I practice most when I’m healthy and strong, when everything is going great. I want to be ready for the challenges ahead.

 

1 November 2006 (from www.catholicdigitalcommunity.org)

"Whenever we find ourselves bombarded with accusations over past sins, with demeaning reminders of our weakness, unworthiness, or uselessness, we can turn to the blood of Jesus for protection and Satan must flee! His temptations, his accusations lose their grip, and we are restored to the truth once more of who we are in Christ. Deliverance is ours, even as Jesus rejoices over us all because we have called upon the power of his blood!" (from the Word Among Us) How recently has this happened to you? It's my hope that this meditation will do for you what it did for me. The Mass readings are an important daily learning experience. The one I quoted is perhaps the most powerful I've yet read, but that was how it affected me and my situation. Regardless of your personal beliefs, I hope that my comments will be of some use to you. Turning for protection is there anything we cannot try to do?

To my friends,

1 October 2006

On the issue of unwanted mail, sent via your websites:  By creating a special code, only readable by the eye, with 30 websites (having email forms on them) I have received one (1) single unwanted piece of mail this last month. All of my clients websites are not protected in this manner. If you have questions or wish to know what simple tool I used, just contact me. It’s working! 

This was posted at Rotary Global History Fellowship and Rotary eClub of The Southwest and is based on a seminar/event featuring GE’s retired chairman Jack Welsh and ideas for creating success in business and other enterprises. The article is about a 5 minute read, but worth weeks of management study.

As an endorsement of Joe Kagle's "THE MESSENGER IS THE MEDIA OF THE MESSAGE"

http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/historians/joekagle/essays/thirdannual.htm  

Joe Kagle, through his fifty years of artistic, and management experience, has gathered critical knowledge and a compelling strategy for Rotary eClub of The Southwest, USA; Rotary Global History Fellowship, and any enterprise that needs to gain acceptance to further its mission. As Paul Harris wrote, "There is nothing new under the sun." Nothing about this is "new" but Joe's synthesis of these ideas have immediate application for, as GE's Jack Welsh pointed out, both commercial and non-profit enterprises. I strongly recommend this treatise for an "organizational meditation." Jack Selway, Founder, former Secretary, and Managing Webmaster: RGHF and former member of Rotary eClub of The Southwest, USA 

Archives of these efforts may be found at www.selwayconsulting.com and click on “Archives”

To my friends,

1 September 2006

First: A technical note, but one which may be a source of irritation for some of you... "Unwanted and often highly inappropriate mail sent via your websites. I have found a simple method that has, so far, eliminated all of these "messages." If this is an area of concern, let me know.

Secondly I have been writing about changing behavior. As you work to change personal or corporate behavior a new benefit soon appears. As the German Poet Goethe wrote about "cleaning your own front porch" to make a better world, as you own "front porch" becomes consistently and noticeably more orderly, it seems to become easier to see behavior of others. In a organization that is a risk for the behavior of others i.e. safety, liability, productivity, etc., noticing behavior (different from your new behavior) may be a valuable observation. 

As you "clean up" your own act, it will be much easier to spot the employee who is just "going through the motions" or shows a lack of respect for rules. This is vital to correcting actions that might soon lead to irreversible errors.

To my clients and friends,

1 August 2006

All of our senses are for our protection, and seem to have been designed to gather information from outside. They protected us from wild animals, falling objects, and helped us find food and companionship. However, they often fail to tell us who we are. Looking inside, with filtered senses may be of little use. We will see what we want to see.

Who are we? What's right/wrong with us? "How can we change?" will be easier if we're willing to admit that there's the possibility of something that's not working. Letting go of beliefs about ourselves and allowing reflection, and learning from others may be a start, but not the whole answer. Maybe one way to learn more about yourself, is to find ways to help others and in so doing discover meaning in our own lives. Maybe there's a good reason why all of our senses look "outside" of us.

To my clients, friends with websites, and/or friends with vision:

 

July 3, 2006

 

Ah, first off, one friend thought that we have moved to Missoula so that I could attend classes. The Internet brings the entire university to my Pueblo office. I’m also studying in the most comfortable environment ever with our beautiful home, yard, and all new central air conditioning. Bring on the summer heat. Well, my re-taking of “Psych 100” is complete with the results much better than I expected and now I’m ready to take another class in the fall.

 

One assignment for “Introduction to Psychology” was a behavioral modification exercise. I decided to do something that you might also want to try. Our assignment was to pick something in our behavior that could be changed. i.e. quit smoking, drinking, etc. I have, for decades, been a victim of my own “sense of justice” in that I have always been very irritated by reckless drivers, speeders, right light runners, etc. So, that was my chosen task. Using the tools of the psychology class, I set up the “experiment” and decided to do the following: When I see such a person I decided to offer a blessing instead of a curse. Over the course of seven days, this change in behavior worked so well, that I’ve applied it to anything or anyone who might irritate me. It was easy and has given me even more freedom to do better things with my life. My method does use spiritual principals, but there’s no reason that it couldn’t work for anyone just saying “I hope they will be safe, okay…”

 

If you decide to try this, or have long done so, let me know.

1. Response from Germany...

 

To my clients, friends with websites, and/or friends with vision:

 

June 2006

 

Last month, I was re-admitted to the University of Montana, in Missoula. I was born in that city while my mother was a student. I attended the school from 1963 to 1967. Attended is an accurate description. What I did little of was study, unless the course was particularly appealing. Anything that had “radio” attached to it got my best effort, or speech, or singing. But who cares about psychology? Or, anthropology, biology or history...? 43 years later I’ve become interested in learning. Actually for the past two years, my “career” has been learning and then passing some bits of that on to my clients. Now I’m learning (studying) those subjects that I ignored “back then.”

 

Is there a message in this for my friends? Perhaps it is that “too late” is something that doesn’t exist. There’s always the next train, plane, or unfinished bit of business. It seems to track, along with “doing the next right thing”, and being a steward of your business or venture that future generations will benefit from what you’ve left behind. The German poet Goethe wrote something about “sweeping your own front porch” and perhaps that’s the message this month.

MAY 2006

 

To my clients, friends with websites and friends with vision:

 

May 2006 (it has been nearly a year since I began sending this monthly note to clients and a few friends. I have slightly expanded this

 

The “merry month of May” and my thoughts for your businesses and enterprises:

 

Think big!

 

Think not just “outside the box” but what size the box should be! Nothing that happens in this life, I’m learning, is about me, it is about my responsibility to something larger. Recently I met with the leader of a large business and offered to assist him with his organization's image. In discussing his position, he said he didn’t need any help there, “everyone knows that I am the president.” There’s the thinking error.

 

Think about this for a moment. Is he the “president” or the temporary steward of that position?

 

As Dr. Viktor Frankl wrote about 80 years ago, “don’t ask what life will give you, but what you can give to life.” Seeing your position in life as something much greater than you, and giving what you can to enhance that position changes how you will do business in any enterprise.

 

Think about expanding the vision of possibilities

 

Knowledge keeps trickling in and with it comes a tiny bit of wisdom. This month’s thought is about how big your position in life is, and how humble you can become in trying to fill that position.

 

APRIL 2006

This month, I have some thoughts on "ritual" and this has nothing to do with religion or secret societies.

Ritual is something that destroys communication. A client told me about a bulletin board at his place of work. It was "habit", or "ritual" to examine it every day. So, when the boss posted a $20.00 bill with "take me" on the bill, no one saw it.

It became invisible through ritualism. If you want to see where you are going, take a different route to work every week. In other words you can’t smell the roses unless you pay attention to them. This applies to employees and the messages you want them to see. I can discuss ways to increase employee, customer, or constituent communication… Just call me.

MARCH 2006

 

To all of my customers and website associates:

 

First, this month, I have a very useful communication link. One of my Rotary historians in Scotland suggested that I use an “internet phone” system. I knew that you could use your computer for long distance, world-wide, but did not know how easy it could be. It took about 10 minutes to download www.skype.com and begin to use it. The basic computer-to-computer service is free. You can restrict who can “talk” to you.

 

Secondly, I alluded to a new service in my February letter. The service falls under “marketing” and deals with business image, productivity, and human relations. I’m grateful to be applying what I’ve learned to assist in improving the lives of others. As the president of one client-company said, “There must be things that are holding me back. If you can help all of us identify those, we’ll all live better lives and improve your businesses.”

 

Another tip: Ask all of your employees to set their “home page” to your company website. This will heighten awareness of what’s on the website. If you and/or your employees find the site getting stale, or boring, then you’ll be more interested in adding new material. To set “home page” just click on “Tools” on your browser (except for AOL) the “Internet Options” and then enter the address of your website in the “home page” window.

 

Using your own websites for your computer’s home page will help this effort. It will also make you more aware of what could/should be changed on your website. If you look at it every day, you’ll be bound to see things that can be improved, removed, or added. That’s how I maintain my own websites.

 

FEBRUARY 2006

 

To all of my customers:

 

For the past 38 years, I have been working to improve the images of my clients. First with audio, then slides, then film, then eventually with video and brochures. Lately the media has included the creation of websites.

 

What I’ve been able to create, over these four decades, has always depended on the factual and qualitative substance of the clients, their projects, services and people.

 

After some time in the wilderness, I have found that I may be able to help to encourage internal improvements which then will be reflected in the “image” put forth in your marketing efforts.

 

In other words, real effort on the contents may, by itself, improve the “packaging” and image. I recently joined a Rotary Club, in Arizona, where the internal effort included “creating the energy” to attract the right people to their internet based Rotary Club. This intense effort at the “contents” seems to have worked to attract some remarkable people. I am honored to join them.

 

But, what I learned from this experience is that I am interested in looking “beyond your image” to see if there is the possibility of creating your own energy which will attract what you want in your businesses. This could be coincidence, but since I recently began to explore this work, two new prospective clients have contacted me, out of the blue.

 

There just might be something to all of this.

 

Make changes that enhance your life and the lives of those around you. Should you have questions or feel that Jack Selway might be of service email: Jack Selway

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