Spin Doctors Need Not Apply

It was with great interest I watched Obama’s address to Congress the other night, and then, of course, Bobby Jindal’s rebuttal. I wanted to hear what they would say, but more interestingly, what the general buzz would be afterwards. As much as everyone says they want to hear details, they want a roadmap, they want to understand, the reality is, in a media saturated, politically polarized world, all anyone wants is grab onto a headline and hit a home run – for or against you. Recall the presidential election? Recall the policy debates? Probably little comes to mind except perhaps “pallin’ around with terrorists”, “lipstick on a pig” or “you betcha”.

We live in a world where a few catchy words influence and define our thinking – not just in politics but in everyday life. There is so much information but only so much one person can absorb, so we edit and parse ideas and sentences, hoping we don’t lose something in the translation, but knowing full well we cannot possibly have the whole picture. But then, of course, nobody has time to care. Everyone is running off to the next event, the next meeting, the next whatever. Facts flash before us day in and day out with very little registering except for the odd catchphrase.

I look at business today, my world, for example. An e-mail longer than 2 very short paragraphs risks not getting read. A proposal in anything other than Powerpoint sits on someone’s desk only to make its eventual way to the garbage can. Nobody has time to have a complete thought let alone read someone else’s. I’ve seen many a deal go south because of a lack of understanding, of “busy-ness” clouding good judgment. I cannot help but wonder why banking execs, living so long in the fast lane, could not pause for a moment to think about what they were doing. I can imagine what must have happened. Between meetings and cocktails, a quick chat with colleagues, each assuring the other they were doing ok, none of them stopping to wonder if such a declaration was even remotely true.

There is too much information and not enough time to digest thoughtfully, to debate back and forth. When time is money, it is context that gets lost. There just aren't enough resources to get to the truth. I recently had an experience where a loved one went through mediation to settle a dispute with a shady former boss. What I witnessed was a legal system brushing aside facts, all parties opting for the convenience of veneer layered conclusions and a clean wrap-up. It was a disenchanting, almost disconnecting experience – as if I was watching a movie in which the good guy lost. Movies shouldn’t end that way, nor should legal cases but here we were, watching justice go blind, if only because it didn’t have time to care.

The devil's in the details, I say. Too bad institutions, corporate or otherwise don't have the appetite for it. Communication today assumes some level of ADD. But then that's the main purpose of my blogging - to keep myself from such influence, to ensure I am thorough about being thoughtful.

Many of my work associates tell me I play devil’s advocate on EVERYTHING. They are probably right. I don’t want to live in a world where life is governed by distorted one-liners, glossy buzzwords or spin room antics. I want to live in a world where ideas are given their rightful place in the courts of peoples’ minds, to be properly dissected and vetted and only then to be accepted or discarded as the truth. I want to be a truth-seeker, a BS-eliminator, a person devoutly of her own mind. I know that it’s important to go beyond the cursory. If I cannot analyze, I cannot understand. I think I’ll make that my mantra. I’ll repeat it every time I feel the seductive pull of the forgone conclusion or untested idea. If I’m lucky, I’ll become informed - and maybe, just maybe, if I’m really lucky, I’ll finally come face-to-face with the truth.

Rant

I hate work! I hate work! I hate work! Arghhh!!!!!

My Absence Is Merely A Sign of the Times

My apologies to those visitors wondering where all the posts have gone. I have been a negligent blogger of late. Work is very demanding thanks, of course, to the deteriorating economy and clients’ tightening purse strings. That means we are all working twice as hard for the same business.

There’s a sign above the exit of one the “modules” in our office building that says “Nobody ever said on their deathbed they wish they spent more time at the office.” But here I am doing exactly that, day and night spent trying to find out where our next piece of business is going to come from. And with the vast majority of my work sent to India, my days are even longer, as I meet with colleagues half way around the world, early in the morning, late at night. All of us are scared, all of us all over the world, wondering what will come of the next year – will things bounce back or will the economy completely unravel? Will we be here, amongst other heads-down toiling workers or will we be another nameless face in a long unemployment line?

Our company recently announced their 2008 fourth quarter results and 2009 outlook. Ours was a modest performance but the stock market, so desperate for good news, rewarded the disclosure with a 300 point bump on the NY Stock Exchange! Yes, I work for a very big company, but this is still quite a feat considering Obama’s inauguration couldn’t breathe even a glimmer of hope into the markets.

These are difficult times - but I don't feel the worst of it. So many others have far greater difficulties to attend to - where to get a job, how to feed their kids. People ask me how I am these days - and I say "very busy". It used to be a comment that would elicit sympathy, as if one should be more relaxed, on a permanent vacation. But these days, it gets a much different response. "You're lucky" I'm told. Yes, indeed. I am very lucky.

So if you’re wondering where I’ve been, I’m still here, more sporadic than usual, but still here, working away, doing my best to outlast 2009. Cross your fingers for me, yourself and everyone else out there. It’s a long, tight race but I’m hoping for the best.

Rivalry Makes the Champion

If you’re a tennis fan, these last two years have been champagne seasons as mens’ tennis experiences a magnificent renaissance, thanks in no small part to the rivalry of Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal. I admit, a few years ago I had almost given up my devotion to the game; with the advancement of racquet and fitness technologies, it had become a boring robotic baseline exchange.

I thought the magic that was men’s tennis had truly passed; recall those days when Bjorn Borg would duel John McEnroe, their matches, still considered the best ever. As the years went on, tennis lost its polish, partly due to the advances mentioned above and partly due to the money that came into the sport. Players could survive on fewer tournaments, spending idle time cavorting off court.

Even those on court weren’t particularly interested in being there. Have you ever heard of “Maybe the Moon”? It was the book Jim Courier so famously pulled out on changeovers at an ATP Tour event in Frankfurt in 1993. If you are speculating whether the book contained useful nuggets of tennis inspiration, consider the plot which the New York Times summarized as follows:

"Hollywood can be a cruel place, especially for Cady Roth, an overweight dwarf who longs to escape her stereotyped role in a famous film."

At 6’1”, I doubt an athlete like Courier could have used advice from a chubby dwarf.

There were more displays of disinterest – Sampras skipping the Davis Cup, Agassi skipping grand slams, nobody interested, nobody invested. I know Sampras rang up 14 grand slams, still a record today, but considering the lethargy that was the men’s game at that time, I’m just not that impressed. The sport lost its gloss – indeed, it lost its lead status as the weekend athlete's pastime of choice - and became the bridesmaid to golf’s blooming bride.

Then came Federer, a ghost of tennis past, a smooth and effortless hero, with strokes harking back to the days when tennis was more poetry than power. The tennis world, in an instant, fell in love. He was soon baptized the saviour of the ATP as fans lined up to watch him pull out one impossible shot after another. It’s cliché that rings true when I say he had it all – grace and speed, finesse and power, the gentle demeanor of true sportsman. He was of incomparable talent, so exceptional, that when Nike aired commercials of Federer in competitive stand-off, it was not against another tennis player, but rather golfer, and fellow sports god, Tiger Woods.

Everything about Federer was soon tagged with labels of greatness – greatest forehand in the game, the greatest serve in the game, the greatest footwork in the game, the greatest volley in the game - and when he was dissected to his smallest piece parts, analysts went back to the whole and asked if he was the greatest player in the game. It was in easy agreement that all would say yes but still, it did not seem enough to describe the wonder that he was. Could he, as one writer postulated and many more later proposed, could he be the greatest player EVER? It was at this point, at the consideration of his historical significance that experts of the game started to question his credibility. The doubt lay not in his raw skills which were obvious and unparalleled, but rather in his heart, yet unchallenged: was it one of a true champion?

How could we know of his heart, if he didn’t have a rival to challenge it, to try and break him and to push him to the edge? Tennis fans began to wonder if they were going to have to watch Federer march slowly into history books, unbalanced and unchecked, his greatness never really tested for lack of a worthy opponent.

Enter Nadal, arriving perhaps a couple of years late, on the slight back-end of the Federer cusp, but arriving nonetheless, a feisty, power baseliner; but not a player like we’ve seen before – he had more speed, more court sense and a lot more heart. He would prove to be the required nemesis for Federer – power to finesse, passion testing cool collectedness. The rivalry was fruitful and fans have since been treated to some of the most outstanding tennis in history, the Wimbledon 2008 finals now considered by many to be the best ever.

It is true that Nadal’s record against Federer is more impressive than vice versa – but he is still far behind in total wins. All records still lead to Federer - it was only ever a question of worthiness, but now, with an opponent to match the prestige, Federer’s wins started to mean something. His 2007 Wimbledon win was so much more credible in 2008 after he lost to Nadal – as if his vulnerability somehow proved that it did, indeed, take heart to win the ones he did.

Nadal has the edge now – his record has been almost spotless against Federer these last two years. He is also much younger at his physical peak of age 21. Federer who is turning 28 this year is no doubt, in the sunset of his career. Federer, however, has Nadal to thank for elevating his status in the game, if only because Nadal helped find him find his inner-gladiator. Through the long stretched rallies and impossible volleys, through the marathon matches and heartbreaking losses, Federer, finally became a true champion.

I don’t want you to think I’m closing the book here. This rivalry still has legs. As Federer comes back from his bout with mono, I expect him to throw everything he has into winning Grand Slam #14 and then #15. Nadal will be doing the same. They are impossibly talented athletes, with great respect for the one other, their contrasting styles and personalities providing the intrigue that together, make them so fascinating to watch. They have immortality on the line in each and every match – both chasing history, both destined for the record books. And I am so glad to be part of it, to witness such a rarity, the once-in-a-lifetime occurrence of two players arriving in synchronicity, just in time to lead the other to greatness.

This Is Not a Cop-out

You must read it - background for my next post on rivalries. This article was written in 2006 by the late, great, David Foster Wallace. "Roger Federer As Religious Experience". It's background because he plays soothsayer, predicting the opponent Federer would have in Nadal. It's a must read because it's sportswriting elevated to art. I cannot think of a sports article written with more eloquence and revelation than this one. DFW was an accomplished tennis player, technically astute with respect to the mechanics of the game and, of course, he was a master storyteller - both are evident in the perspective he brought here. I wouldn't want to have been on the opposite side of him - either on the court or on the page. Greatness must have its rivals (as you'll see in my next post) but where DFW is concerned, it's certainly not me!

Russell Peters On Indians and Canadians

For all my Indian buddies who have spent the last few years putting up with us Canadians, this one's for you:

Toboggan Ride

I was thrilled for a break in the weather today – this is what winter is supposed to be like – perfect packing snow and warm air. We (hubby, kids, Tucker and I) decided to go tobogganing on a nearby hill. The larger ones were congested with kids, (BIG kids) sweeping down with frightening speed, soaring over huge kid-made snow ramps. I had visions, none of them good, so off we went to another hill. It wasn’t nearly as tall but we had it all to ourselves. The girls used different sleds to test their speed, the faster, the better, of course.

They’re all getting older now. It seems like yesterday they were tots on their first toboggan ride. That first experience was not an easy one, a painful chore for all if I recall. I remember dragging child and sled together up the hill run after run, my legs tired from carrying both, the girls crying because either we went too fast or we crashed or it was just plain cold.

I like the phase they’re in now. They’re directing more, active in their own learning. I feel more like a participant in than an author of their lives. There was so much protecting before, but now it’s all coaching and encouragement. Things aren’t necessarily easier – homework and piano are growing hurdles, but here on the hill, watching them scream with delight, I can’t help but think how much I love this moment. I am soaking it in, their zeal and their smiles, their bantering and play. It’s a lovely warm day and I’m so glad we got out together.