Movember - raising the awareness of a fundamental flaw.

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

I will put it out there and say that there is a fundamental flaw with human nature and most definitely with being a man ...it goes something like this : "that won't happen to me", "I don't have time for being sick so it won't happen", "cancer happens to other people not me", "I don't want to know", "I don't need a map... I know the way" ... "deep down I'm strong; I'm a white knight who will not be knocked off his horse".

Mish-mash this together in any combination you want but men just don't think it will happen to them or if it does... "my super human strength will beat it".

Understand the fundamentals of Cancer.

News "fucking" flash for my brethren... cancer will touch you either directly or indirectly in your lifetime!!! You can not sidestep it,  IT IS A PROBLEM.

Up front I will say my sister, as  my well as my oldest friend passed away from cancer recently and way before their time -  so this is a sensitive topic for me. This is what I know from the experience - it is a disease that is relentless and will take everything away from you without mercy... I also know that the more you know about cancer (see video), its prevention and early detection the more you will be in a position to deal with it if it comes knocking.

So now we get to Movember - here's some quick facts for future dinner party chit chat.

In 2003, two guys from Melbourne, Australia, Travis Garone and Luke Slattery, were having a beer (or two) at the Gypsy Bar when their conversation turned to fashion trends and where the moustache had gone - they joked about bringing it back. As with guys and beer, the conversation led to a "thing", and the "thing" led to a "lets do it", which then manifested itself into growing facial hair and formally supporting prostate cancer as a cause. (I was not there but I am familiar with where two guys and some beer can lead)

• About 1 man in 7 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.
• In North America 256,000 men will be diagnosed with prostrate cancer in 2014
• In North America 34,500 men will die from prostrate cancer in 2014

The Movember message has moved away from just Prostrate Cancer to a broader Men's Health message and in the grander scheme of things it is heightening awareness about cancer in general, because as we know, cancer pays little mind to gender, race, creed, religion, political stripes as well as if you are good or bad. It is very equal opportunity that way.

So cancer is a Big Problem - and with all problems, it needs to be understood so it can be dealt with it... here we are back at the fundamental flaw I speak of. 

So Gentlemen, spend a little time understanding what cancer is (and what it isn't), have regular physicals (particularly the Canadians, with our socialized medicine and all), consider donating to cancer research (the cost of a weeks worth of coffee) and know as a community we can keep beating cancer back.

Ladies, if you happened to know any "flawed gentlemen" please pass this on.

gpe

Graduating Corporate University — Why I blog

Prelude — On October 29, 2014 I wrote my very first blog entitled Graduating Corporate University. What follows is not that blog but a re-write as I wish I had written it. Don't get me wrong, I am not rewriting the spirit or intent of what I had written two and a half years ago, but rather cleaning up some of the sentence structure, spelling, typos and all those little mistakes that come with something you are starting for the first time...

If you were to ask me how I feel right now I would say I feel like I just graduated university — Let me explain.

My very exciting and very fulfilling corporate career of 22 years has come to an end as the result of a large merger and/or acquisition, and when that kind of event occurs the question becomes what is a person to do after all those meetings, all those projects, and all those presentations... all that "corporate learning" if you will.

Travel of course, and figure out what to do with one's life. 

And that is what I did... as well as exercised, ate better, reconnected with friends, and made new ones; I also attempted the art of mindfulness which I will admit is very much a work in progress. I should mention it is true what they say about taking a six month personal sabbatical — Take it if you can because it rejuvenates the body, mind and soul. 

Now I find myself all educated, all rested, and have the whole world in front of me. What next... back into corporate? "Wait, wait.... WAIT! Let's think about that for a minute". 

Connect all 9 dots using four straight lines, without lifting your pen and without tracing the same line more than once. As you can see, "out of the box thinking"

One of the aspects about having a long "corporate education" is it does afford you some luxuries to evaluate the situation and determine what you REALLY want to do — It also offers a much different perspective as figure out what exactly that is. What I mean by that is when you are 24, right out of university with an eye on marrying the love of your life, it's fair to say the drivers are a little different than after you've graduated with a degree from "Corporate U". 

My skills and competencies are in sales and marketing leadership, management, operations and project management — I'm very much a sales and marketing guy (for better or for worse). As I objectively looked at myself and what I wanted to do I found myself looking at all my skills, my achievements and aligning them with some sort of job. Ultimately each time I did this it just came across flat because I just kept thinking, "Is this the best way to use my Corporate U education and take advantage of this wonderful opportunity in front of me". 

Then one day I took a different tack and asked myself, "What did I enjoy most in my 22 years? Was there a passion that simply gave me energy and true enjoyment... something where I was not working but simply having a wonderful time?"  

And with that my business passion simply appeared — Creative Problem Solving... and not just the thrill of solving a problem (the harder the better), why sometimes we just can't figure it out, and how do we go about "thinking out of the box"? Conceptional to practical, I loved it all. There it was, follow a PASSION of creative problem solving and align it to sales and marketing (which unto itself can be an addictive adrenaline rush). 

But in a practical sense what does it mean?

Well right now I want to understand it, talk about it, get other people's thoughts regarding how it works, and why it doesn't works. And like most PASSIONS, I am just going to follow it and see where it takes me.

As a final note, I will tell you I bite my tongue a little every time I say "out of the box thinking" as it just seems to be so trite and conjures up visions of a rather angry leader pounding on the table saying, "This is unacceptable people! We need some out of the box thinking here!" 

By the way did you know the term was derived from a puzzle that consisted of 9 dots and 4 consecutive straight lines back in the early 80's? All you have to do is connect all 9 dots using four straight lines without lifting your pen and without tracing the same line more than once. As you can see, "out of the box thinking".

Who knew?

Postlude — I have found myself rewriting many of my blogs to repost, use for the reasons, consolidate my thoughts, or simply to become better at writing and communicating. 

It is humbling to say the least when you look back at something you have written and realize that if not for all those typos, meandering sentences, poor grammar, and non sequiturs, it would be a really good blog post. In turn, it is also exciting to recognize that there is a need to improve what I have written in the past, and that more often than not when I am finished the rewrite it is better than the original. 

There is no doubt I blog as part of a professional agenda but the other reason (and really the most important) is blogging is a tangible symbol of development, expression of thought, and the desire to grow into something bigger than I am today.

So I shall continue to blog.

iamgpe