“My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.”

– Indira Gandhi

So simple, yet so difficult.  In fact, management and workplace guru  Bob Sutton has some smart commentary regarding this wisdom as it relates to organizations and organizational behavior:

I had a meeting today with my colleague Huggy Rao where we were batting around various ideas about systems that are effective versus ineffective at scaling good ideas. Huggy brought up this cool quote from Indira Gandhi: [...]

He then went on to argue that systems that bring-in, develop, and reward people in the first group  — and that expel, reform, and punish people in the second group — are likely to be more effective at spreading and implementing constructive action. Sounds right to me.

Spot-on. (Italics mine.)

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“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

– Classically attributed to Johann Wolfgan von Goethe

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About this blog.

“Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.” – Susan Sontag

(Via swissmiss)

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About this blog.

It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.

It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideal, but it is a disaster to have no ideal to capture.

It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no starts to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin.

- Benjamin Elijah Mays

(Via swissmiss)

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About this blog.

Ric Elias was a passenger aboard Flight 1549, which crash-landed in the frigid Hudson River in New York in January 2009.  As his plane went down, he learned a few things about himself and his life.  Here’s his story. [5 minutes, 3 seconds]

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Mitch Albom did a story recently that really hit home for me personally and I imagine it will for others as well.  It’s entitled, The College That Rejects You May Do You a Favor.

Our second daughter is going through the college application/decision process.  While our first daughter pretty much knew where she wanted to go, applied and got accepted, our second daughter’s process has been more involved.

Of the eleven schools she applied to, she was accepted to five and wait-listed at two.  She has received the acceptances and polite rejections with maturity way beyond her years.  She is now focused on narrowing the field so she can commit to a school by May 1^st.

Her mother and I, however, are enraged.  Why wouldn’t every school accept our daughter?  She is intelligent, hard working and dedicated to giving to others in addition to going to a great high school, getting fantastic grades, notable standardized test scores and has a list of extracurricular activities that exhausts me just to read.  Any school would be lucky to have her.

This year more than any other, a lower percentage of students are being accepted to colleges nationwide.  And with the common application process (filling out a single college application that can be sent to as many schools as you’d like) the universities are filled to the brim with qualified candidates.  So while our daughter stands out from the view point of anyone who knows her, not all of the school admission personnel are able to see what we see.  From a biased parent’s point of view, that is not easy to accept.

We’ve been there for her through the years.  Putting bandages on the cuts.  Picking her up when she falls.  Opening doors when we can.  We’ve been needed less and less as she has grown through her high school years and she is handling the first step in her transition, selecting a college, just fine.

As a parent, however, it can be very hard to watch, overcoming the desire to jump in with an Elmo band-aid or a phone call to the dean of a college.  With that said, she has some great schools to choose from and I know she will have a magnificent college experience.  And as Mitch Albom reminds us, “When you get older, you realize college doesn’t make you, you make college.”

Well said, Mitch.

Just because we’re frustrated and may not understand a college’s opaque reasoning doesn’t mean we’re right or we know better – despite what our hardwiring and years of parenting experience have instilled in us.

We’re learning something, even now. Even through this.

Come to think of it, maybe it’s already doing us a favor.

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About this blog.

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction.”

– Albert Einstein

(via SvN)

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About this blog.

“Don’t worry too much about security. You will eventually have a deep security when you begin to do what you want.”

— Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

(Via Merlin)

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MIPRO Consulting is a nationally-recognized consulting firm specializing inPeopleSoft Enterprise (particularly Enterprise Asset Management) andBusiness Intelligence. You’re reading MIPRO Unfiltered, its blog. If you’d like to contact MIPRO, email is a great place to start, or you can easily jump over to its main website. If you’d like to see what MIPRO offers via Twitteror Facebook, we’d love to have you.

More quotes to read.

“You do get to a certain point in life where you have to realistically, I think, understand that the days are getting shorter, and you can’t put things off thinking you’ll get to them someday. If you really want to do them, you better do them. There are simply too many people getting sick, and sooner or later you will. So I’m very much a believer in knowing what it is that you love doing so you can do a great deal of it.”

Nora Ephron
Film Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Novelist

(Via swissmiss)

(Ed. note: Jeff Micallef is a Managing Partner of MIPRO Consulting.)

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.  ~ Newt Gingrich

Perseverance eventually pays off.

As we look back at this past year I am reminded of the childhood story of the race between the tortoise and the hare, particularly its theme:  Slow and steady wins the race.  In a business world that often looks at how fast something is achieved, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that perseverance wins more than pure acceleration.

Over the past year, we had two races where our determination paid dividends.

Five years ago we entered into a relationship with Bart & Associates, a firm who has tremendous expertise in the government sector.  We brought our extensive PeopleSoft experience to the relationship.  Together we were going to rule the world.  Quickly.

Things didn’t work out that way.  Right away.

Three years later, not one battle had been won.  Alas, another crusade presented itself.  The United States Senate needed to implement PeopleSoft HR and Payroll.  So we began our quest.

Many months later, after dozens of meetings, midnight phone calls and fending off almost twenty other competitors – including Deloitte and Oracle Consulting – our resolve and experience paid off with the U.S. Senate selecting our team, MIPRO/Bart/ IBM, over all others for their PeopleSoft project.

This accomplishment is one we worked very hard to earn and are extremely proud of looking back at 2010.  And for a while there, it looked like we were getting nowhere, not unlike the race against the hare must have seemed to the tortoise.

In a similar tale, two years ago we joined forces with Jetco Solutions, a firm in western Michigan, in order to uncover opportunities at the state level.  We jointly responded to many Request for Proposals (RFPs) – which most readers of this blog know is a time-consuming effort – with not one win to show for our efforts.  Again, after thinking we would move quickly and bag some quick wins, we found ourselves running without covering the expected ground.

Fast forward several long months.

As the numbers game continued, we finally found an opportunity that was perfect for our expertise.  The State of Michigan was looking to improve their reporting and analytic capabilities.  This will be of tremendous value to the state, helping them uncover areas to eliminate waste and at the same time providing additional insight enabling improved decision making.

The RFP was substantial but we put a team together to respond.  We shared our past successes as well as the unique advantages we bring to our customers.  We responded during follow-up rounds with additional information.

And then the wait.

Silence.  And more silence.

Before long we concluded that we must have lost.  Just about to throw in the towel, we received notice that we were one of the vendors selected for the project.  Triumph! And here we were, perfectly cognizant that perseverance pays off, and we were about to chalk this endeavor up as lost.

Lesson reinforced.  It happens again and again.

So in 2010, we added the U.S. Senate and State of Michigan to our family of customers.  Long hours, email blizzards and a dedicated team diligently working toward the finish line eventually outpaced the subconscious expectations for quick accomplishment (the metaphorical hare).

Me?  I hope the hare gets his rest this holiday season, because it looks like 2011 will provide even more race opportunities and we’re up the challenge.

Do you have similar stories of perseverance and determination paying off for you this year?  We’d love to hear them in the comments.

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MIPRO Consulting is a nationally-recognized consulting firm specializing in PeopleSoft Enterprise (particularly Enterprise Asset Management) and Business Intelligence. You’re reading MIPRO Unfiltered, its blog. If you’d like to contact MIPRO, email is a great place to start, or you can easily jump over to its main website. If you’d like to see what MIPRO offers via Twitter or Facebook, we’d love to have you.

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