Denise Brinkmeyer

Immigration Reform is Good for All of Us

I understand that some people view immigration reform as not only an undeserved free pass, but an invitation to countless others to stream over our border for a golden or (in this case) red, white, and blue ticket.

In these days when there are areas of high unemployment across the nation, fear is a natural response.

If I were unemployed, or underemployed, I may feel threatened by competition from people who would appear to work for lower wages would make our situation worse, not better.  That reaction is understandable, but it is not logical.

It's time to get past cries of unfairness or injustice.  We're people living in glass houses throwing stones.  Let's talk to the Native Americans about injustice.

If you can't embrace the human spirit that drives someone towards a better life, at least embrace the economics of the situation.

People who are living here in the United States but not contributing already place a great burden on all of us.  We need them working and paying taxes like the rest of us.

They cost us in other ways, too.

Several years ago, my car was struck by another car at an intersection.  The other drive had failed to yield, plowing into the left side of my car.  When the police arrived, we discovered that the other driver not only was not insured, she was unlicensed.  According to the police officer, she was not documented so she couldn't get a driver's license.  Without a driver's license she couldn't get insurance.

My collision insurance covered the damage to my vehicle, but only after I paid the $500 deductible.  I was a young mother with 5 children at home.   I was incensed but powerless to do anything about it.

Another great price we are paying is the steady loss of our intellectual property.  I don't think we've even begun to pay the cost for this mistake.

We allow students from other nations to study at our universities and work for a time at our great companies, then we tell them they must leave.  They take all of that precious knowledge with them back to other countries to build companies that compete with U.S. companies. It's not only illogical, it's outrageous.

I've seen posts where people claim that employers want H1B employees because it allows them to hire cheap labor.  That is simply untrue.  H1B visa applicants must be paid the same wages as U.S. citizens and the process is onerous and expensive for the employer.  I don't know a single employer that prefers H1B recipients to a qualified, loyal, hard working U.S. citizen.

Americans, at our core, are hard working people in pursuit of the best life we can provide for our families.  When we are at our best we are selfless and courageous with countless examples of heroics every day.

I'd prefer to think we can bring reform as a great gesture and selfless act, but if we can't let's look at self interest.  Even if we were to be selfish in dealing with the immigration problems, the economics of our current policies are not working for our benefit.  We can't afford to send everyone back, nor can we afford to continue paying the deductibles from someone else's "free ride." There are plenty of United States citizens already on the gravy train.

What about amnesty?  In my opinion it's the last thing we need to do.  You have rules for a reason, so enforce them or remove them.  Just like when you are parenting a two year old.  We're running after toddlers saying "you come back here, you come back here."  The toddler knows we aren't going to do anything about the misbehavior.

I think the solution we design has to provide a path to citizenship. We should grant everyone who applies a temporary work visa.  Get them working and paying taxes.  There is unemployment in this country but there are also unfilled jobs.  Everyone should be working, in school, or both.  Anyone who doesn't want to participate with a work or education visa should not be allowed to stay in the United States.

Throughout our history, Americans have faced adversity with determination.  When jobs and opportunities weren't available locally, families packed up and relocated to greener pastures.

Many of us trace our heritage back to other nations left behind by our families in pursuit of a better life.

Today's immigrants are no different.  People still come to the United States to seek those greener pastures.  We should welcome them as long as they were willing to join us in working hard, paying taxes, and defending us from those who terrorize us yet enter our country legally.

There will be consequences for any action we take, but I have to believe that the outcome of every system that encourages work and productivity is reward.

They Won't Forget You

Today is one of the rare moments that I have slept past 4:30 am, and I'm feeling slightly guilty about it.  I'm up drinking my coffee and preparing my list of to-dos and goals before the activities of the day take over my schedule.  I am behind in several tasks this week because I have given the allocated time slots to people who needed my assistance.  Despite my slightly overwhelming task list, I think I have made a great investment this week. Even though I don't know the payoff, I am betting the return will be better than 1:1.

I ran across a quote by Maya Angelou yesterday:

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

What a remarkably simple insight that reveals our common need, the need to be valued.  While I do believe that some need more reinforcement of their value than others,  I don't know a single person who doesn't smile or warm to genuine kindness.

Sometimes it is very difficult to do, especially when the other person is being rude or disrespectful.  Yet how I respond to it is about me and not him or her.  I don't have to be disrespectful in return.

I remember that once I was very angry with my brother in law.  I unleashed all of my hurt and anger on him for something that, ultimately, he did not do.  He could have responded with anger but he responded with a gentleness that completely disarmed me.  He acknowledged that I was very unhappy  and that he understood why.  It was really the only thing I wanted to hear.  I saw instantly that he was not to blame and that how I was feeling was all about what was happening with me, not him.  I will never, ever forget that moment.  I will never, ever forget how he made me feel.  I was valued.  My feelings, my needs are important.

As I sit here looking at the task list that I hope to accomplish today, my larger goal is to make people feel valued.  After all, business for me can be just "busy ness" if I don't take time to celebrate what it is that we do and who it is that we do it with.

The Amazing Mr. Lincoln

As portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis and as directed by Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln" is more than a good movie.  I rarely pay to see a movie twice in a theater (actually I haven't ever done that), but I would go see Lincoln again. This time I'd skip the concession stand.  The movie was so captivating that I didn't want to go the ladies room even after consuming a large diet coke.

I went to school in Springfield, Illinois and later moved to another town not far from "New Salem" where he lived as a boy. From the age of 5 to the age of 10 I had many opportunities to tour buildings where the great man walked and learn about the things he did.  Yet I still found myself spending two hours last year at Ford's Theater devouring every detail of Lincoln's presidency and the end of the Civil War.  When we went upstairs and stood just feet from where he was shot, I felt a grim appreciation for the travesty of his life cut short.

And because of my recent trip to D.C. I really had no desire to see the movie when it first came out.  The brilliant Mr. Brinkmeyer suggested it and I went along to appease him.  I've always known he was a smart man!  Tommy Lee Jones and James Spader,  what fun!  The characters and the dialogue made the time pass too quickly.  There are just some experiences that you don't want to end.  

Take the movie at face value and don't question the accuracy.  The magic of the movie is the gentleness of the man juxtaposed by his determination to overcome great opposition. This portrayal of the tenacious and gentle giant placed my view of our current lack of leadership and dismal economy in proper perspective compared to the devastation of the Civil War.

This is not a tale of Lincoln's life.  It is a delightfully detailed look at a significant event in his life.  If you like stories about people with great determination, a talented ensemble of actors, and clever dialogue you cannot miss this movie.

Success, Failure, and the Mediocrity in Between

"Failure is not an option," the tag line of the Apollo 13 movie was a fictionalized version of what Apollo 13 FDO Flight Controller Jerry Bostick actually said.  

According to Bostick, "when bad things happened, we just calmly laid out all the options, and failure was not one of them."

I've spent a lot of time this year pondering success, failure, and mediocrity.  Success takes an exhaustive commitment.  A little slip of mediocrity has the potential to tank the entire mission.  

I read Addicted to Mediocrity by Franky Schaeffer in college.  While I don't remember much, I do remember the gist of the book and it has always affected my views about secular art and music.

The word, mediocre, leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  Who wants to be mediocre?  Yet so often we are just that, because mediocrity is comfortable.  

Reaching for success stretches us beyond our comfort. 

I think about the contestants on Extreme Makeover: Weightloss Edition.

They have a year to make a radical change in their health (which personally I believe is much better than The Biggest Loser).  

Most often the contestants are highly motivated during the first part of the program, but because it is such a long period of time, some fall off, ready to pull back to the comfortable living that wrecked their health.  Only those that commit to success go on to achieve the dramatic results.

To my great disappointment, 2012 has been a difficult year for our company.  Difficult in the amount of work we are trying to tackle with such a small staff.  Difficult in the hours that I'm keeping having thought I would never have to work like a startup again.

I could stop working as long and as hard as I am with the excuse that I've worked hard enough and long enough in my life.  I just know that if I do, we will not achieve the success we are shooting for.  All that will be left is mediocrity.

Could you imagine starting off on a marathon and then giving up after 20 miles?  Sure you could say "Wow, 20 miles is great."  The truth is, however, that running only 20 miles is less than a successful attempt at running a marathon.

I have a vision of the life that I want to have, and I have received many blessings.  Doing nothing with all that has been given would be like "burying a talent."  Giving less than my best is equally shameful.

Gratitude requires that I keep the vision before me and surround myself with people who also have a passion for success and a commitment to the vision.

Options: Intelligence, focus, challenge, excitement, passion...

Double checking....

Nope, mediocrity isn't there.

Why Wonderful Restaurants Fail

At least one of the reasons...

I heard last week that a wonderful little restaurant in Tulsa is closing, The Brasserie.  I'm sorry that this is happening, but I'm not surprised.  The Brasserie was only open for dinner.

This is problem. 

As a business owner, I face several situations where I must invite people to lunch and dinner.  Being an extremely busy person I LOVE having a "go to" place, where they have a great menu, great pour, and they KNOW who I am, and what I like.

Restaurants that aren't open for lunch can't be my "go to."  Even if they are wonderful at dinner, once I have established a relationship with a restaurant I tend to be a loyal customer.

I would wager that people like me spend more money at restaurants than the average person.

I think Mahogany isn't open at lunch.  I have only been there once, several years ago. 

I rest my case.

A Simple "No Cost" Action can Save Money and Heartache for Surviving Spouses

As most of you know, my father in law recently passed away.  Although his death was sudden and unexpected, he and my mother in law had taken many steps to prepare themselves for this situation. All of their legal documents and financial matters were in order.  Funeral services and decisions had been pre-arranged and documented.

Even still, here's the situation my mother in law faced last Monday.

We were at her house setting up her wireless router (so that we can use it when we visit) and needed access to the DSL account information.  After searching through paperwork we found the service provider phone number and began the process of explaining that we needed the information and the reason.

Problem, Mom's name was not on the account.

The gentleman was kind but did explain that their policy is to terminate the account once they receive word that the account holder has passed.  That simple phone call meant that she only had a couple of days to go to the retail store for the service provider with a copy of the death certificate or some other proof that enabled the account to be transferred to her.

The news is worse for the surviving spouse who doesn't have a credit history.

I mentioned this discussion to my friend and colleague Becky McGowan with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services Adult Protective Services and learned that this is a frequent occurrence.

In addition, not only does the surviving spouse have to jump through hoops to establish the account, if there is no credit history, he or she may be facing a deposit with the utility company regardless of how many years the account has been open previously and how faithfully it has been paid.

I have had this experience myself in calling Cox to report problems.  I've been told they cannot help me because my name is not on the account.

Once upon a time it meant something to say I'm Mrs. Alan Brinkmeyer, but in these days of heightened security and identify theft, that title is no longer recognized by our service providers.

We are now in the process of reviewing our accounts and adding my name to the account.  It's a little extra work now, but the frustration it prevents is worth the effort.

I hope my married friends and family take the same action.

Moving Big Rocks in 2012

I've lost some of the most important people in my life during the last two years.  It's made me keenly aware of how brief our lives are.  The moments of our lives are precious resources not to be wasted.

Standing in the kitchen before sunrise, your sleepy headed daughter stumbles her way in for a cup of coffee.  This is a moment. 

"Good morning.  How is my precious daughter today?" delivered with smile and a hug.  What a wonderful moment.

It's these wonderful moments that also tease us with fantasies about giving up "the rat race" and staying here in this moment forever.

But this role of mother is just one of my roles and I am committed to my responsibilities in the others as well.  If I can just learn to seize all of the moments of my day, in all of my roles what kind of impact could I make?

A few years ago, Alan and I read The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber and it changed our lives.  We were at a place with the business where we weren't surewe could ever have our weekends to spend with our families without suffering late nights playing catch up.  The business ran us and we had no control.

E-Myth changes our lives because it acknowledged this plight of the small business owner and suggested that there was a path to changing it.  Since that time we've made small strides in the business and even bigger strides in our health and happiness.  The book gave us hope and that is what we needed.

Now it is a few years later, and we still haven't achieved the level of confidence we want, but as I reflect on our achievements I wonder why.  We've had success, but once we achieve a goal, we set a new one and move on.  We don't take time to step back and look at what we've accomplished like we do on our home building projects.

In early November, I began changing the way I worked.  I started committing more time to my leadership role and focusing on big rocks.  If you're not familiar with the Stephen Covey concept, read this summary.  

I was worried that taking the time away from my operational responsibilities would have a devestating effect on the bottom line, but I felt I had no choice.  I have the best staff I have ever had, but the big rocks piling up kept them from being wildly successful individually.  If I don't take a leap of faith now, the big changes I want will never happen because these wonderful people will lose their motivation.  

In just eight weeks we've designed and implemented a performance and training plan that I've tried to get off the ground since 2006.  Yesterday, we announced the plan to the staff and have had very positive reviews.

Moving big rocks helps me to maximize those precious moments as a business owner, a wife, a mother, a daughter...

This year, I'm going to save my list of goals off to a special file instead of just deleting them from my planner as they are completed.   I'm going to sit around a roaring fire with our associates and toast each of our accomplishments in 2012.  I'm going to thank them for making it possible.  

A Fond Adieu to the Man with the Twinkle in His Eye

Yesterday morning, Bartlesville, Oklahoma lost a long time resident, and our family lost its patriarch, Francis M. Brinkmeyer.  Without warning, we are without Alan's dad, Pop.

Brink, as he preferred to be called, was a Phillips retiree with an active social life in the Bartlesville community.  Of his 77 years, there is a lot to say, but I will let his obituary list his many activities and achievements.  The revolving door of visitors and supporters at mom's house (including the countless casserole dishes) are a testament to how many people loved him.

And while I am aware that many, many people could line up to talk about Brink for many years before I ever knew him, I feel compelled to speak about who he was to me and my family.

 I met Brink and Carolyn in 2002 when Alan and I were dating.  Alan had described his father as a strict disciplinarian, but always a loving father.  He added that over the years his father had turned into a softie, and "definitely was not the same man who raised me."

The minute I met the two of them I was struck by how very sweet and sincere Brink and Carolyn were.  I recognized some of Alan's most endearing qualities as those inherited from each of his parents.

Alan called his dad, "Pop."  I soon adopted the name as well because I truly loved my new in-laws as parents.  Pop was clever and intelligent.  More than that, he was an advocate.

You could tell him about a goal or a project.  Of course he had advice for you, but it was always served with a smile and twinkle that said, "I believe in you."

I think that is what struck me most.  He was successful in his own right and worthy of respect.  But even more than that, he loved us and believed in us.  And that earned not only respect but our sincere devotion.

His grandchildren will miss his stories and card games.  His three sons will miss an amazing father.  I will miss the smile and simple gestures he made during every story or lecture.  

 He was taken from us very suddenly, but life is always so uncertain.  I am grateful for the decade I spent as a member of his family, and every time I think of him, I will remember to love and support my family the way he did.  Thank you, Pop, for all of the love.  I will miss you.

 

Want to Increase Productivity? Kill the Distractions.

It's been 5 1/2 years since I locked the front door at JUMP and removed the expensive, antiquated phone system that gave the outside world a direct connection to our production staff.  I took a lot of criticism from a few customers and some friends who said it wasn't good customer service to take away that human connection to customers and potential customers.

I had decided to provide my business process improvement abilities to my own company.  We had been operating too long in the mode of "this is what you are supposed to do, we hear."

So to my naysayers I pointed out that the activity we were accomodating wasn't profitable business or potential business for the company. 

My analysis showed that the majority of telephone contacts fielded by a receptionist had to do with potential vendors who wanted to use my time to find out whether or not their product fit our needs even when I wasn't shopping for their products or services.  She also spent a great deal of her time helping people who mixed our address with another building.

We're not a walk in business.  Why did we need a receptionist?  If a customer was coming by, the project manager had an appointment and would great him at the door.

What about the phones?

Well, customers who contacted programmers directly were bypassing our analysts and project managers causing cost and schedule overruns.  Again, not profitable business.

However, the single most important reason for the changes was my concern for the staff's ability to focus on their work.  Every interruption costs well beyond the time the interruption took.  For example, a 10 minute interruption to a worker who is involved in problem solving or critical thinking tasks might cause up to an hour's impact on his productivity. 

The mental shift between the task and conversation also makes it convenient for the worker to further delay for fear of other interruptions or to check on new information.

So, let's say John is working through several procedures when he is called on the telephone at 11:00.  He answers the phone and engages in a 10 minute conversation about a work related topic that is not related to his current task.  At the end of the conversation, his momentum in his work is completely  gone.  He knows it will take him approximately 10 minutes to get back to where he was in his thought process and even then he may still be in the middle of the problem. 

But now it's 11:10 and John's lunch break is at 11:45.  So he's looking at less than 25 minutes of quality output before leaving for lunch.  John may be hesitant to shift his attention back to the task for fear of how the inadequate amount of time may affect the quality of his work.  He may be tempted to catch up on email messages and spend the next 25 minutes in tasks that are not nearly as important for the satisfaction of achieving something during that time.

And all of this happened for the convenience of the person on the other end of the phone.  The information may have been important or even urgent to the other person, but for John it was a productivity killer.

It's funny that we respect a person working as a chef more than a person whose job requires thinking.  We would never dream of interrupting the chef in the middle of cooking the meal for fear of ruining the outcome.

I saw an article this morning on information-management.com which pointed to the increasing problem of information overload.  The article, "Interface - Information Overload: None Are Immune" inspired me to consider whether or not I was effectively managing information overload.

While technology can help us manage a lot of things, we have to make decisions about our own processes for managing the information and putting "first things first."

5 1/2 years later I can report that the changes I made did increase our productivity and quality several times over.

While I certainly like to accomodate and please as many people as possible (yes I am high blue), I never regret focusing on the wildly important, even if that means I have to tell someone "no", or "not right now".

Lessons We Can Learn from Border's Demise

Yesterday, I opened an email from Borders Books.

"A Fond Farewell, Thank You for Shopping at Borders."

Empathetically, I felt Mike Edwards, the CEO of Borders, sincere disappointment.  I felt genuine sadness for him.

The sinking of the great ship.  Goodbye, farewell.

As a great lover of books myself, I thought about my own experience with Borders Books.  In recent years I rarely frequented Borders for the reasons that most likely led to the demise of the company.

• I never believed I'd get the best discount from Borders
• I often found they did not have the book I wanted in stock
• I never became a customer online

I remember several years ago comparing Barnes & Noble's reward program with Borders.  I didn't really understand how Borders worked.  I would get coupons in my email which meant printing them and remembering to take them with me.  The 10% at B&N is easier to understand and calculate my savings, so B&N ususally had me when I needed the instant gratification of getting books today.

Speaking of instant gratification, I have visited both B&N and Borders in search of a book that had to be purchased online.  When I did buy online, I used B&N or Amazon.  Today, I satisfy the urgency with a Kindle download.  Amazon can thank Borders for the leg up on that one.  B&N has probably lost my online business for good.

I believe it was Border's failure to adapt that killed the company.  Not that it was incapable, but it was too busy enjoying it's success to see the warning signs.  When it did, it was too late.

It makes me think of the overlooked ice warning:

" In lat 42N to 41.25N long 49W to long 50.30W saw much heavy pack ice and great number of large icebergs also field ice. Weather good, clear."

I think the CEO of a company is the "captain of the ship" in most ways.  If you spend too much time enjoying your success, who is steering the ship?  

Information is moving at lightning speed, we can't afford to stop listening to all of the signals and warnings of what lies ahead. 

Adapt or die. 

That sounds terrible and ominous, but it has to be someone's job.  As the CEO, it's yours.