Margie's Mad: Loblaws Has Dumped Too Much Labour on Her Shoulders

After paying $80.00 at the Loblaws Superstore checkout, Margie had to bag her own groceries. She was not in the 1 to 8 item so-called fast checkout line. Just a regular line where she expected regular service.


When Margie objected, she was told it was for efficiency’s sake, to get more customers through. Margie was downright enraged. First, she objected to doing work for Loblaws so that it could be more efficient after having handed over $80.00. Secondly, she suggested that having roving packers would be very efficient while customers are otherwise engaged keeping the process moving and paying the bill.

With other customers glaring at her for making such a fuss, she asked to see the manager. But she answered her demand at the same time as the cashier said out loud: “the manager is in a meeting”. Thought so. The stand-off ended with Margie being given a contact number for head office.

The customer service representative showed no sympathy. That’s the policy and that’s that! When Margie suggested that the Galen Weston Sr. and Mrs. Weston would never have to pack their own bags, the representative went bureaucratic chiding Margie for mentioning their names. No sense of humor there.

The only exception, Margie was told, was for seniors and the disabled. Now that really sent Margie into another tailspin as she feels quite strongly that neither of those groups should be singled out as “victims”.

Margie, as with the cashier, got nowhere with the customer service rep. Even when she said that will be the last time she will shop at the Superstore, it mattered not at all. The rep did not ask for her name or telephone number.

Over the years, Margie has likely spent tens of thousands of dollars at Loblaws in its various incarnations. No more. She has willingly supported the Loblaws’ labour force by being a loyal customer day in and day out. No more.

Margie is 83 years old and sharp as a tack. She may have another ten or so years to go. A lot of money walked out of Loblaws' door a few days ago. If you also count the people she talked to and who are equally unhappy about the downloading of labour to customers, that adds up to a considerable amount of money.

Avoiding the Slippery Slope of Negativity: Rebounding from What Life Throws at Us

During the Olympics, we lived in a surreal world. There were so many moments of joy and lots of disappointments too. Overall, the experience was uplifting as we celebrated the efforts of athletes to better their best. We were on a high, especially when Canada beat the US for hockey gold.


It was a welcome relief from the downbeat news that dominates our media. Positive experiences and messages have a hard time surviving among the weeds of travail and suffering. According to Tal Ben-Shahar, who lectures on positive psychology, articles about anger, anxiety and depression outnumber those on joy, happiness and satisfaction by a factor of 21:1!

Yet, to be creative and push the edges of our minds, inspiration partners better with perspiration than negativity. Inspiration opens us up to generating possibilities and seeing opportunities despite difficult circumstances. In evolutionary terms, it’s the only way to go for individual and group survival.

Imagine if each one of us were a little bit better at fending off the negative and cultivating the positive. It’s not easy as the reality of life is that failure, frustration and suffering abound. Nevertheless, if more of us can improve how we rebound, then maybe we will have more shared Olympic moments.

One way is to alter how we think about or evaluate our thoughts in response to an event. Cognitive scientists tell us that our thoughts drive emotions and emotions drive motion. It follows then that we have the power to change the meaning we attach to the event and thus our actions. We can cope up or down. Our choice.

The “3Ms” serve as a mirror for our unrealistic or realistic reactions to the unfolding of life’s events:

# 1: Magnifying the Failure. Avoid over-generalizing (“No one liked my idea therefore they won’t like any of my ideas.”)

# 2: Minimizing the Success: Avoid tunnel vision, focusing on the one thing that went wrong rather than the nine that went well (Giving undue attention to the one bored or disengaged person rather than the nine excited people).

# 3: Making Up Meanings: Avoid personalizing or blaming (beating yourself up instead of problem-solving your way out, taking charge).

The Olympic athletes are proof positive of the power of thoughts driving emotions and emotions driving motion. No reason why we can’t practice that too.

Cut Tiger Some Slack: He's Not a Preacher or a Politician

Scratch a man or a woman and you’ll find a child.

~common saying

Most would agree that when Tiger gave his 13 minute “forgive me” speech on February 19, 2010, he looked haggard and nervous, his emotions close to the surface. The commentary afterwards ranged from understanding to downright nasty: empathetic versus unforgiving. In the unfolding Tiger story, we are all actors struggling with “learning to become more conscious, competent human beings”. We’re not in the habit of cutting our superstars much slack, often because we hold them to a higher standard than ourselves or an equal standard. The Tiger Woods of the world though are engaged in the same melodramatic journey of life as we are. It’s a perilous journey fraught with unexpected twists and turns that call our character into question frequently.

We don’t dispute Tiger’s competency. Groomed from the age of 2 or so to be the greatest golfer in all time, he’s well on the way. On the deeper “who am I?” human question. It appears not.

Think about it. Did he have much time to ponder his inner life beyond what it takes to put a little white ball into a hole in the middle of a “lawn” faster than competitors? Deep grooves there in his brain on that one. A bit mixed up on the more general: “What’s the right thing to do in life?”

Adults have a cognitive life cycle just as children do. Debate rages in academia about how to characterize the evolution of an adult mind, in general. For simplicity’s sake, Erik Erikson’s typology offers some insight into Tiger’s struggle.

Erikson poses three interconnected, evolutionary stages in adulthood each with its own identity and life satisfaction dilemmas:

Love: Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young Adults, 20 to 34 years):

“Am I loved and wanted?” “Shall I share my life with someone or live alone?”

The challenge at this stage is to develop a mature sense of the meaning of love and how to love. How to form long-term commitments to others. How to be "in relationship" at work, in the community, with family, to contribute.

Care: Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle Adulthood, 35 to 65 years)

“Will I produce something of value?”

The virtue to be developed during this period is to “care”. To put energy into guiding the next generation, contributing to society.

Wisdom: Ego Integrity vs. Despair (Seniors 65 years and onwards)

“Have I lived a full life?”

Starting with our 30s, the virtue to be fully developed by our "golden years" is deep self-understanding. Combined with contemplating accomplishments and looking back on the people in our lives, we have the opportunity to achieve great satisfaction with our efforts over many decades.

Applying Erikson’s view of adult development to Tiger, he’s still grappling with commitment. He’s only 34 years old!!

No excuse though for leading a double life. But, in the context of the bubble he grew up in and the fame and fortune that ensued, we can understand how he veered away from the ethical, healthy path. We recognize from his words that he’s learning how to accept help from others. He has activated a part of himself that likely has been under utilized: “life-reflection” in which he develops self-insight and a self-critical perspective. He’s just a newbie at this!

Although he wasn’t as smooth or emotionally demonstrative as a preacher or a politician typically is, Tiger made it clear that prior to the Thanksgiving 2009 incident that blew his cover, he was only thinking about himself. He was “at effect” of impulses. He was not thinking about the impact of his behaviour on his family, his golf buddies, young people who look up to him, his sponsors, etc. He was, in his mind, above the fray, “invisible” and was free to play by social rules different from the mainstream.

Tiger is now consciously trekking through a mind-jungle. When he clears a new path, he will be somewhere he’s never been before. He will see himself in the world differently. He will see others anew. It’s taxing. It’s painful. And, it is courageous.

Many adults don’t reflect enough. Consequently, their “geniuses within” never reach their full potential. For Tiger, this may not be the case. He’s working on it, probably as hard as he does his golf game.

Tiger asked us to look into our hearts and support him in his journey. Let’s do that especially if you are older than 35 years. It’s what we are supposed to do: care for the generations behind us. Support them to succeed because we should know: the only way to success is through failure.

Unless we recognize the extent to which our present is determined by our past, we make the same mistakes over and over again.

~Manfred Kets de Vries, Leader on the Couch.

No shortcuts with Mindwork, Tending to the Genius Within

Like any lifestyle habit, keeping our minds in good running order is a work in progress. Self-confidence, emotional resilience, happiness and calmness all come and go. They must be renewed daily and moment by moment. If we don’t work at it, our minds deteriorate. We can become mind wrecks as easily as coach potatoes.
Trouble is it takes time to freshen up our minds and time is one resource we never seem to have enough of. Weekend long meditation retreats are not in the cards for most of us. Family and work demands consume us. “Stayin’ alive” is a full time occupation.

Fortunately, there’s lots of advice available to show us how. Check any bookstore. Self-help books abound. Go back to the “golden oldies” in your bookshelf. Similar messages. And, now with neuroscience backing up many of the self-help claims, we’re “good to go”. Except, that a daily routine for our minds is elusive.

Olympic athletes have entire systems of support behind them to be on the cutting edge. Canada’s Olympic Committee, in partnership with the private sector, Sport Canada and the Federal government, has made significant investments in neuro-and bio-feedback equipment to boost athletes’ mind preparation. In addition, athletes have open access to sports psychologists, dietitians, biomechanical experts, exercise physiologists, massage therapists and other experts. Further, a team spirit is encouraged as part of building the “can do” spirit of helping each other to succeed.

How can we do this for ourselves so that we can be “Olympians” in our own pursuits and passions? Certainly we can make more efforts to feed the work place with positive messages and encouragement in which we focus on bringing out more “the geniuses within”. Collectively, that’s powerful. Any obstacle can be dealt with.

It all starts though with each of us tending to our own genius within. That takes works every day. Deliberate work and practice.

If we can become more physically fit with ten minutes here and there or, better still, 30 to 60 minutes daily, then so can we with mind fitness. The techniques are all around us: yoga, meditation, deep breathing, laughing, visualization, inspirational books and speakers, singing, doing good works, viewing family photos…. A silent, calm brain enables us to be mindful. A noisy brain, “mindless”.

The key is to structure mindwork into our days, a routine like many other aspects of our life, which keeps us on an even keel. Here is one way to do it.

In the morning or before going to sleep, do a combination of 30 minutes of mindwork exercises such as:

- 2 minutes of deep breathing

- 10 minutes of inspiration reading & reflecting

- 8 minutes of reviewing goals, aspirations, insights, appreciation for people in your life

- 10 minutes meditating or equivalent, such as yoga

Done more diligently, mindwork wards off the ghosts past and polishes our natural talents. In a noisy world full of the unexpected, this is one sure fire way to live more fitfully in the present.

Message to Any Leader Anywhere: Neglect Retail Leadership at Your Peril

No bond, no trust
No trust, no credit
No credit, no progress

---Andrew Romano, (January 22, 2010). The Trouble with Barack. Newsweek.

Scott Brown brought retail leadership to Massachusetts. Despite her solid track record and capabilities, it appears that Martha Coakley did not. Legions of political scientists, pollsters and pundits know this well. So do employees everywhere who wish their managers would really connect with them at the visceral level.

A few years ago, I interacted with about 400 employees engaged in a merger. My role was to help the transition, build cultural bridges, get them talking with each other to kick start relationships. At every session, the voice and presence of a president past arose to haunt us. “Dave” was most beloved by all in one of the organizations. His kind of leadership was what they valued.

“What was it about Dave that you really liked?” I asked. The answer was always the same: “He cared”.

I continued probing: “What did that look like?”

“Well”, they replied, “every morning, he walked through the office and said hello, asked us about our families and work.”

“Tell me more”, I said. I wanted to better understand how Dave ticked. Almost in unison, they recited that he was not always in meetings, as was the case now with the new leaders. Furthermore, he listened to them and took action.

I don’t think it mattered that Dave could not act on every issue, every “whim” of employees. They knew that Dave had to consider many factors. But, they gave him a fair amount of slack on “substance” because he connected with them emotionally.

Ironically, if Dave had just connected and not taken action, he would not have been revered and missed. There are limits to “retail” leadership.

The expectations are high for Scott Brown, a newly minted Republican senator. So are they for Barack Obama to take lessons from Mr. Brown. Both, however, are in the same boat. People want to see and feel progress at the every day life level. In the end, substance does matter.

The Allure of Twitter: At Least Three Reasons

Twitter has me wrapped around its little finger. I avoided venturing into its realm for at least a year and a half after one of my tech gurus urged me to do so. Twitter’s apparent silliness stopped me dead in my tracks. Who on earth would want to know what I am doing right now? So the conventional wisdom went in my circle of colleagues. No peer pressure there.

The hardest part of any new “thing” (writing the first few words of a report, trying a different technology, beginning a project…) is getting started. By chance while at a conference perusing the books for sale I discovered Twitter Power by Joel Comm. Just for me, I mused because I did not have a clue how to crack into the Twitter world. Once I delved into Twitter Power I knew “tweeting” was for me.

Tweeting is like an information stock exchange: The more I participate, the richer my own learning. It’s chaotic, for sure. But, I get to pick what I want when I want.

Tweeting is perfect for avid readers: I get to share ideas from my broad array of reading resources as they inspire me. On the run so to speak. I don’t have to write a report on the ideas or a coherent blog. Eventually I will but for anyone who is interested, there they are in raw form.

Tweeting is an easy way to be part of various communities: To belong and share is a primal human driver. We know ourselves through others. The Twitter community opens up the world literally much faster than any other means I have used to date.

Twitter is a cornucopia of swirling ideas and in the field experiences. As an academic at large, who values real data from the trenches, it couldn’t get better.

Welcome to Airport Prison: Who'd have Ever Thunk?

The impact of 9-11 continues to reverberate as in the wise saying by Deng Ming-Dao centuries ago: “A deviation of a hair’s breadth at the center leads to an error of a hundred miles at the rim”. Now we are down to debating the definition of a “small purse” to get through airport security and customs and being stripped of our belongings as carry-ons.

Four hours before my daughter’s flight out of Pearson International Airport before the New Year, we were trying to figure out the new rules of air travel. What is a small purse? Could she take her guitar (it was a musical instrument)? Was her back-pack within the guidelines as it contained her computer and music system peripherals? What about books or magazines to read during the flight? No simple answers were available from the airport website. We were left in a web of confusion.

Decisions made: her Prada-like purse (about 30 by 15 cm.) was probably in line with the criteria but we decided to bring a variety of purses just in case. Sure, computers and musical instruments were allowed. We therefore reasoned that she would check her guitar and have as carry-ons her purse and back-pack. But, as a back-up, we brought along another smaller suitcase on rollers to be checked in with whatever if need be. We also made sure we had some of those grocery store recyclable bags for stuff we might have to turf from her main luggage. Doesn’t this sound exhausting?

At the airport, we found relative calm and enormous frustration. Our betting average was 50:50. The airport personnel were enormously helpful and flexible. But our stress level reached an all time high as we scrambled to fit the vague criteria for getting through security and customs.

Can’t you picture the terrorists in celebratory overdrive dancing around in glee as we ratchet up our heart-rates permanently in this post-9-11 world? Health planners take note: add terrorism and our leaders woeful inability to plan strategically to the list of heart disease factors. Until our political leaders move beyond their “knee-jerk” reactions under the heading “one size fits all until it’s proven you are not a terrorist”, we cannot relax except in the comfort of our homes. Not good for business or personal development and well-being! A more inward world view will not help us evolve and prosper, according to evolutionary biologists and economists.

So, what did we have to do? The Prada-like purse was the only item my daughter could carry on the plane. If she had had her computer and peripherals in a regular computer bag (like a business person typically does), that would have been allowed too. And books? Well, we managed to stuff one into her purse. And, the extra piece of luggage came in handy for my daughter’s back-pack items as another check-in piece for which we were not charged. Very sympathetic airline personnel.

However, that wasn’t the end—stopped at the entry to security because daughter did not have a tag on her purse labeled “carry-on”. Back to the check-in counter for a tag!

Who’d have thunk we’d ever be in “airport prison”? I had images of what it must be like for first-time prisoners as they enter prison on day one. A slow reduction of freedom as one personal belonging after another is taken away and one size fits all clothing is issued. The world is getting smaller and more difficult to navigate. The principle of freedom, proudly the foundation of democracy, is in need of a heart transplant.

Where do we go from here? Short of a revolution akin to the French one in the 1800s or that which is occurring in Iran today, we need political leaders who embrace uncertainty proactively by planning with the long-view in mind and enacting policies as a result which target the right people, not all people. A strategically smart approach like collaborative scenario-planning and the sharing and adapting of relevant best practices would begin to rebuild our trust, confidence and freedom.

Ironically, the 9-11 issues remain: silos and partisan politics still rule the day. They are the biggest barriers to our freedom and prosperity.

On an encouraging note, history has proven that progressive change is often driven locally and at the edges. Millions of people tirelessly working everywhere do collectively change the world. It’s another way to view the “deviation of a hair’s breadth”.