Henry's Web Log

A buddy from ILE sent me four of the Army's books from the Center for Army Lessons Learned" CALL. These unclassified publications have the Best Practices carefully compiled from the experiences of soldiers who have gone to Iraq before me. The first 100 days are when you're too stupid to know what's really going on, so these manuals, aimed at different levels, educate you. A little. I've read about the commander and staff, battle NCO, Supply Logistics, and basic soldier skills: each in it's own book, while I run on the eliptical trainer or exercise bike. I'll get this again: in class and in field exercises, at Ft Jackson, then more in Logistics school, some more with my unit, and a little more as we arrive in Iraq. Finally, we'll get a 10 day transition with our predecessor unit, 5 with me observing, 5 with me "driving". That's Army training.

The NewVa Corridor Technology Council found a great way to help promote technology in our region! The technology showcase on September 5th put all of us in a room and made us geeks talk to each other. Many companies brought their marketing folks, but for ACI and many others, everyone is front-line infantry! Proving that we can actually interact with other humans when you turn the voltage up high enough, I got to walk through the exhibits and saw that Dan Smith is establishing the Valley Business Front. He mentioned a PC problem with his email, and I must say I was reluctant to try to diagnose the issue. But I lucked out, fixed the problem and walked away with a virtual medal: he blogged about me. Cool!

Since 2004, we've practiced something called Open Book Management. Our financials are prepared monthly, and we sit down first at a leaders' meeting, then with the whole company, to pour through the results. It's not unlike an Army AAR (after action review): everyone has an equal say, anyone can ask questions, and it's not a blame-storm event. We honestly look at ways to improve ACI's bottom line. So that's a perfect way to inject our advisory board, plus keep everyone flowing on our regular rhythm. "Battle Rhythm" is a popular Army term now. It's not that I run my company like a military operation-- far from it. But I think the Army runs its military with a great deal of business best-practices. Or maybe business best-practices come from the disciplined look at process improvement brought about by military training.
Anyway... For two hours, we met with the board and went through the description of each division's revenue models, employees, current activity, and the past financials. And some great questions came out, plus some very positive feedback. This was an opportunity for me to help transition the team, while I was still available.
Our next advisory meeting will be in mid-September, after we've got the August results.
Thank goodness for the 8 week notice! John Phillips told me that one of his notifications went along the lines of blunt phone call, "Why aren't you here yet?!" It seems the orders had been lost in the shuffle.
I took an 11-page estate planning document prepared by the good folks at LeClair Ryan, and reduced it to this management diagram. Click to see the full picture.

Last weekend, we told the boys about the deployment. Why the wait? Well, school started Wednesday, and we wanted to let them adjust a little. Eric, our new teenager, took the news quietly and thought on it a while. It wasn't until Monday that he started asking me some questions, as I walked him up to his bus stop. That in itself was a big deal: it's not cool to be seen at the bus with your parents. So we talked.
Ethan took the news to heart immediately. He's more emotional than his brother. In fact, they're pretty close to polar opposites. It was a big help to assure him that I'd be in touch with email, phone calls, maybe even a webcam. And especially that this was an important mission for our country. Ethan's a big fan of the Military Channel, so his view of war is certainly dramatic, if not a little too premature for a 9 year old. I recommend an adult be with anyone under 13 who watches the Military Channel.
Lisa has had some trouble sleeping, and her mind is full of gotta-do events. She's a fantastic organizer (yet the military wants me for Logistics!). Lisa can't go to church without a small notebook: she makes great plans in the form of 20 to 30 item to-do lists, and juggles it all with a smile: Cub Scouts, Pool Manager, Red Cross Instructor, Reflections chairperson (fine arts contest), Lego team coach, substitute teacher, recreation center child-fitness instructor, and the lists go on...

The tweaked Dilbert cartoon from Friday's post was inspired by one of my favorite Dilberts: I've had it on my office door forever. PHB walks in and says, "What happened while I was in jail?" So the funny thing was, this was from my old 2005 Dilbert desk calendar, and was dated November 5th. Spooky, that it's approximately the date I'll return from this assignment. Well, that was just too cool to leave alone. A quick photoshop tweak, and PHB is just coming back from a 13 month Iraq deployment, and completely clueless that his office works so much better when he's away.