Kendall Card 2.0

Today mid-day I ran into my buddy Walt who I had been meaning to climb with for some time and asked him when were going to get out climbing?

“I’ve got my gear in my car,” he replied to which I quickly followed, “And so do I“.

With the mid day temperatures in the upper 60’s in Kamas, there was no better time than the present. We headed up the Mirror Lake Highway and passed “The Recess” which is a spot at mile marker 14. It’s a fantastic little grotto of a climbing area but with the recent snow I figured it would be wet and damp so we drove on.

The area I had in mind to head to was the Jax Cliff. It’s a west facing wall at mile marker 20 which requires a river crossing and a steep scamper up a boulder field.

Neither of us had been there so we were anxious to check out something new.

With the low water we didn’t have to head up stream like the guidebook says but rather hopped boulders across the stream right at mile marker 20 where we parked.

Then up the other side of the stream gully to a flat we saw a cairn. We should have turned there. The book said go down stream 300 yards and then head up hill. We eventually figured it out and after a scramble found the crag.

The rock at Jax Cliff is beautiful and the views were just as good. With the leaves on the aspens mostly gone and the warm autumn sun I knew we had scored.

Although there are some trad offerings here we stuck to clipping bolts for today. We warmed upon Jax Rabbit (5.8 two star) which had some nice holds and fun moves. Next we grabbed New Jax City (5.9 one star) which has a bouldery start to a ledge where the real climbing begins and continues with cruising moves.

Lastly we jumped over to Jax in the Box (5.10b two star) which is all fingers with no real resting spot, particularly at the chains where the slopers got the best of me. After a couple of pumpy attempts we warmed down on Jax Rabbit again and called it a day.

Hiking down the sun was beginning to set behind the mountains and Walt snapped the photo on the header of the site as I left the crag. There’s nothing like having a crag to yourself when the weather is perfect.

When you’re starting a new company in a sea of 40+ year old companies and a handful of scrappy upstarts, you’ve got to go about things a bit different. Then again, you could likely pick up a 40 year old textbook on business and realize that different is primarily in the application, not the concept. Different doesn’t always mean extravagant, wild, extreme. Different could be focusing on the customer when your competition isn’t. That is indeed different.

One of the age old concepts of business is customer service. According to Seth Godin, customer service is an arm of marketing and quite likely it’s your least expensive way of going about it. If you’re looking at customer service as an expense then it’s time to be different.

Bluehouse Skis, who I recently wrote about, is going about customer service different when it comes to getting skis out to their customers. Be certain, if you order some skis, they are out the door pronto. But the opportunity arose the other day to be different and I think it will pay off.

BluehouseSkis.com

I love skiing. Surprisingly, to some, I also love the ski industry. Yes they are two separate things.

I’ve heard some tell me that they have enjoyed skiing more once they left the ski industry than while they were working in the ski industry. Perhaps that’s because they, along with most who live to work in the industry, don’t realize that there is a difference. Trust me, there is a difference.

Knowing that, I was very intrigued when Jared Richards from Bluehouse Skis called me up and wanted to chat. He and a partner Adam Hepworth had spent two years and a pile of cash developing and building a new ski brand and were going “live” with 2 different models – the MR and the District

After a couple of chats with Jared, Adam and Shane I wanted in and knew it was time to once again work in the ski industry. I’m stoked to be a part of the Bluehouse team helping to push the brand forward and embrace existing and future customers.  Most of all I am looking forward to pushing a quality home grown Utah ski company forward and enjoying the ride.

This is one of the cooler things I’ve seen in a while. It comes from The Edge which is a newsletter from Adobe.

While the 360 Flex Conference was going on in Seattle a group of guys who were attending the conference got together and donated their time to create a new flex application for Northwest Harvest. Northwest Harvest is a non-profit food program that provides food for nearly 300 food banks. The application will help them have a virtual food drive where anyone, anywhere can donate and will dramatically change the way they can operate.

I see some really cool results of this effort that are worth mentioning.

1. The code is open source and is available for any other food bank to use. It never ceases to amaze me how the “pay it forward” idea can snowball when you work within an open source platform
2. When people think of donating the first thing that comes to mind is opening the wallet. What’s more unique about this effort is that they donated a skill set that is finely tuned and hone.
3. As you watch the video, more than once it is said that the programmers who donated their time came away with more skills, new knowledge, new associations and expanded horizons. Time and time again I’m reminded of this in life – the more you give the more you receive. It’s a timeless law of humanity, one I believe in and one I hope to embrace more often.

Be sure to watch this video – click the image below

Thanks to my friend Jason Mitchell for passing this along.

While growing up my mom worked for the local newspaper, a small town weekly.  Typeset and old school printing machines in that little brick building.  I still remember visiting her there and the floor black with ink.

From the age of 10 to 13 I delivered a daily newspaper.  The newspapers would arrive on my front porch each day, bundled together with a plastic band.  My hands would be black from folding them and wrapping each with a rubber band.  I’d then load them in a carrying bag and ride my bicycle around the neighborhood accurately (most of the time) tossing them onto the front porches of my customers.

Fast forward to today.  I was working in the garage and asked my 6 year old son Koven if he’d run inside and grab some newspaper for me from the recycling bin.  While we don’t subscribe to a newspaper it’s common that the grocery store advertisements come as newspapers in the mail.

A few moments later he emerged from the house holding a single 8.5 x 11 white piece of paper.  He said, showing the paper to me, “Dad, it’s got writing on one side but the other side is blank.” He was smiling, obviously pleased with having brought me a great useful piece of “newspaper”.

“Oh buddy, that’s not newspaper” I replied.  As I headed into the house to grab some newspaper he looked at me and sincerely asked, “Dad, what is newspaper?”

Then it struck me.  Here’s a 6 year old who knows the difference between Internet Explorer and Mozilla, has his own e-mail address (which he proudly reminds me – even though I opened the account for him) and knows how to find a Line Rider post I put on the Backcountry.com Blog over a year ago but he doesn’t know what a newspaper is.

It’s a whole new world than it was 21 years ago when I delivered my last newspaper.

My oldest son McKinley leaned over during church today and said, “Dad, will you scratch my back?”  Of course I couldn’t say anything but “Sure thing buddy”.

It feels so good when someone scratches your back, literally or figuratively.  When I was young and my dad also scratched my back while in church.  I still remember how good it felt, nearly 30 years later.

As I was scratching McKinley’s back he looked up at me and said, “Dad, it feels so good.  I like it when you scratch my back.”  I told him that my dad did it for me as well but that sometimes when I asked he wouldn’t (he was obviously better at focusing in church than I).

Looking away for a moment McKinley started to think. He then glanced up at me saying, “Maybe when I have kids I’ll scratch their back too and perhaps they will do it for their kids.”

I was surprised.  Here was my eight year old son contemplating the possible action of his future kids and their kids – his grandchildren and my great-grandchildren.  I had never really considered my grand or great-grand children let alone considered how my actions today will impact their lives 60 some odd years from now.

It’s likely I may never know these my posterity but perhaps McKinley is correct – one day my great-grandchildren may look up to McKinley’s kids and say, “Dad, will you scratch my back?”  Kind of cool to imagine it.

Holy social tag jungle batman! (If at this point you’re wondering what the links below are hit the back button on your browser – which I’m assuming is Internet Explorer – and pick another result from the Google search)  But in all fairness, I didn’t score too well on the Social Scorecard.

Here is a collection of tags that I found on a recent blog post at HighSnobiety.com

Of the 38 social tags below (don’t mouse-over them and cheat), how many can you recognize and name? I recognized 8. I suck.

social bookmark now:

In the spirit of social status I present the Social Scorecard:

1-5 : You are still in the 1980’s.  It’s time to awake

6-12: You’re a wannabe.  You really think you are on top of your game.  News flash – you aren’t.

13-20: Take a bow.  Although school work wasn’t your deal you’ve been paying attention elsewhere

21-29: The FORCE is strong with this one.

30-38:  You are a social tag master.   All others must bow and worship your internet prowess.

If you dare to share, comment below with the number of tags you recognize.

Remember the movie Pretty Woman? (yea, I can’t believe I’m blogging about this either) Richard Gere, Julia Roberts. OK, remember the part where Richard Gere’s character says to his right hand man played by George Castanza from Seinfeld, “We don’t build anything” and then proceeds to change the deal he had put together which would have scrapped a company for the sake of profits?

So it’s a stretch but the following e-mail from a former co-worker of mine got me thinking about the type of work I do as a blogger and a marketer. Essentially, most of my work is tied to helping companies highlight unique elements of their businesses or products so consumers (we once called them customers) will consume more. It’s really an insidious cycle if you think about it.

But before you conclude I’ve lost my mind, I whole heartedly admit that I enjoy my work as a marketer because the focus I’m dedicating myself to – that of creating relationships with customers who have embraced a product or service.  It’s amazing when a product impacts your life enough that you’ll tell others, at will, about it as often as you can.

This is the type of conversation I look to engage in with others and in this sense I know I’m building something of worth rather than just turning a buck to turn one.

With that, here is the riff that got me thinking – thanks Emily for stirring the mind. (I’ve removed a bit of the text to shorten the read without missing the point she was trying to make.)

Anyone who knows me, knows that I can’t – just can’t – leave without a little note of goodbye and my two cents (yes, that’s what I got from overtime pay so you better read on). I love ‘closing times’…because they give you a time to reflect and take in what you’ve just experienced. I adore romanticizing about old times and, more accurately, love laughing for a second time round at how completely absurd, hilarious, and juxtaposed life truly is – and working for this company has been no different.

From arriving here to snowboard for the Christmas season …I began my work  during the busy Q4. Since then this company has provided me with many laughs – from my paycheck amount to the so-called ‘benefits’ to the lack of natural light, and food smells that emanate from the neighbors cubicle – I never missed a chance to laugh. What was confusing, however, for me was the seriousness that people took this job – the screaming, the passive emails, being told by short guy in man clogs that you’re an idiot – I could never quite understand.

I mean no one was dying that we could see – we weren’t doing ONE thing that was ‘serious’ like making the world a more just place – we weren’t helping to eradicate poverty, or educate people, or get adequate health care (even to our own employees) or even help kids who may not have the chance to get outside to ‘use the gear we sell’ – nope, naddda, as a company. If anything, this company exacerbated our cultural maladies that make these conditions exist in the first place….consume, consume, consume ‘cause you’ll be happy, happy, happy – I couldn’t figure it out and after a great struggle realized that my values were just in complete contradiction to this position. I wasn’t doing anything to make this world a better place, and no amount of money or gear or ‘adventure points’ was able to make up for that.

Therefore, I gave my notice, got accepted into graduate school in sustainable development and economics – yup, you heard it right, economics. Because I want to know how the hell industrialized nations can cause this massive ecological, social and spiritual crisis that we face today , all in the name of profit (and how no one really seems to care).

I know I have so much to learn about this world, but I also know a truth that is deep inside of me that will never let me ‘sell’ what I truly believe in, and that’s hope that we all find a happiness that doesn’t consist of ‘things’.

It seems I’m wearing shoes that don’t quite fit…yet. They feel a bit larger than I’m usual.

Truth be told, I was let go.

“You’re letting me go?” I asked myself. (Those are the words he used.)

Surprisingly, I didn’t feel anger or an overwhelming sense of sadness or fear. The only response I could come up with was “this is interesting”.

It is an interesting event, being let go from an employer. Particularly one where I and others felt that I was an asset to the whole.  However, I learned long ago that everyone is replaceable. To think otherwise is mere ego and naivety. Like all individuals, I too had weaknesses, points I could have improved upon.

From this vantage letting go is not the trap door immediately falling out from underneath. This letting go feels more like holding a dove you release your grasp and it takes flight.

It was a tall order to be in a role with no ruler by which to measure my success, no metric to meter my progress, little guidance or vision of the road ahead. Left to myself to conceive and achieve, I now see that I took on too much and accomplished too little from the many directions I charted.  Focus should have been my discipline.

Interestingly, I now find myself in a similar role – one where I am left to chart my future, one where I will measure my success, where I will envision the road ahead.

From my previous post this week I quoted CFO Scott Klossner of Backcountry.com when he wrote about General Robert E. Lee regarding leadership:

Lee said; “Ruminating over a decision keeps a commander from dealing most effectively on the next situation.”

As commander of Kendall Card 2.0 it seems that although these new shoes don’t quite fit right now they are the shoes I’m now wearing.  Any ruminating about what could have/should have been done, other than to glean points from which to enhance my forward motion will keep me from the greater accomplishments that lie ahead.

Adieu Backcountry.com. I too am letting go.

General Robert E Lee is likely one of the most brilliant and intelligent men to ever lead an army. The unfortunate thing for him is that he lead the wrong one, but I believe that in no way diminishes his skill for leadership or the art of war. Apparently I’m not the only one to see it this way.

The CFO where I work sent out his recent update on how the company is doing along with his typical narrative that generally includes some inspiring quote/text to motivate the troops. I find most of them very interesting and insightful. I’ve never really asked my co-workers what they think about his e-mail’s but out of interest to know if I’m alone on this one or not I believe I will do so.

Anyway, I thought this month’s insights were worthy of reprinting here if anything for my own preservation to reflect and re-read.

I was reading essays by Confederate General Robert E. Lee on leadership. He espoused the following as keys to leadership:

• • 1. Always do your duty. In any endeavor there is no substitute for tackling a challenge head-on. He said to his son; “Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less.”
  • 2. Know your strengths and weaknesses. The most common component I find in failed interviews are people who ‘do not know what they don’t know’ and are unwilling to admit it. Honesty in assessing your strengths and weaknesses is essential to long term success.
  • 3. Seek further education. Surprise…no one knows it all, regardless what they may tell you. Lee said; “The education of a man is never complete until he dies.” There is always more someone else can teach you.
  • 4. Focus on your goals. He said; “You can have anything you want – if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, have anything you desire, accomplish anything you set out to accomplish – if you will hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.”
  • 5. Exercise self-control. “I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.” He claimed self-control may be the single most important leadership trait, especially in a demanding situation. A self-composed leader inspires confidence in the ranks.
  • 6. Make a decision and move on. To me this is essential. Not all decisions are right or wrong. Some may be better than others, but indecisiveness is killer. Decision making requires confidence and a lack of conscience at times. Lee said; “Ruminating over a decision keeps a commander from dealing most effectively on the next situation.” He once said to a women lamenting over the battle damage suffered by a tree; “Cut it down, my dear madam, and forget it.” For him it was about moving on to the next challenge, not looking back and agonizing over failure or lost opportunities. This does not mean not to learn from our choices, just not to allow the agony of them diminish your decision-making capability. I tell prospective managers that they are paid much in part because of their ability to make decisions. Hopefully correct ones, but to make them non-the-less.