Growing up, it is not uncommon for many of your childhood friends to be the children of your parents' friends.  The parents would get together for dinner and drinks and, inevitably, the kids would be thrown into the mix.

A couple of years ago, we had a holiday gathering with some of those long-time family friends.  We were reminiscing on the many memories we shared, and the question arose from one of our parents, "What do you feel was the worst thing we did as parents?"  The grown-up kids went around the room sharing what they felt was the biggest transgression they experienced.  Looking around the room, jaws were agape, as the parents were not expecting the answer that was given.

So, we turned it around and put the burden on the parents; "What do you feel most guilty about as a parent?"  Again, stories were told, and, much to their dismay, we had little no recollection of the things that haunted them. 

With that in mind, you may want to ask your employees or boss similar questions.  You just might be as surprised as we were with the answer you get.

Last week, even in my perch some 2 hours away,  I was named by Milwaukee IndyFest as "One of the 26 Most Influential Social Media Users in Milwaukee."  I am part of the IndyFest 26 who will be assisting in the marketing and promotion of these three day event June 14-16 in Milwaukee, with the goal to make the event the most connected race event on the IZOD IndyCar Series tour.

To capture the flavor of the event, the group of 26 were invited to the Marcus Majestic Theater for a screening of "Super Speedway," an IMAX film starring Mario and Michael Andretti.  The film documents the trials and tribulations as the Newman-Haas team prepares for the upcoming racing season.  A few notes on the 50 minute film from 1997:

1. It was touching to see the relationship between father (Mario) and son (Michael), as skills and knowledge was passed from father to son (and to grandson Marco, who races as well).  It was also interesting to see the reaction to the film by Michael Andretti, who attended the film, sat next to me, and answered questions after the film.
2. There is never a "finished" product.  Modifications are continually going on...before, during, and after the race.  Chaos rules.
3. Communication between the driver and his team is absolutely crucial.  Andretti has to convey the problems he is experiencing on the track in clear, concise language to his team, so they can respond quickly.
4. Luck is huge.  The most telling moment in the film was when Mario Andretti said (paraphrasing) that you could pair the most sophisticated car with the most talented driver, and you still could lose.  What doesn't work in one race brings great success in another.  Think about that when teambuilding at work.

The real action begins on Thursday, June 14 with the Milwaukee IndyFest Street Party, featuring live music from The Toys, a Kids Zone featuring face painting, giant slide, hot slots racing and a bounce house, IndyCar Driver appearances from Mario and Michael Andretti, among others, and a judged car show with a range of categories of competition

On Friday, June 15, attendees can watch IndyCar practice and qualifying, the 100-lap Firestone Indy Lights race

Saturday,  June 16 is the day of the big race.  The IndyFest 225 will be televised live by ABC-TV, and shown around the world by ESPN International.  After the race will be a free Smash Mouth concert inside turn one.

Once again, full details about the event can be found here.

You can follow the IndyFest 26 and the IndyFest IndyCar Stars on Twitter!

One of my favorite concepts in management is salience - an event or a sign that readily attracts attention and makes the receiver react to it.  As a professor, I always noticed it at the beginning of each semester.  I meet a student for the first(?) time, and I suddenly see him or her 3 or 4 times around campus over the next few days.  I may have seen that student before, but it had no resonance to me, so I ignored that information.  Given we are bombarded with information, what gets our attention?  What is signal and what is noise?

A different sort of salience occurs (and I am not sure it has a name) when I travel - on six out of ten trips, I randomly run into people I know.  A couple of examples:

1.  Several years ago, I was visiting my sister in Austin, TX.  We decided to make a day trip to San Antonio and stop for some barbecue at Kreuz Market in Lockhart.  Ten minutes into eating, in walks a former student.   I've been teaching for 10 years at my current job, and have had a little more than 1600 students register for my classes in that time, with some registering for more than one (since I teach a variety of courses).  What are the odds that I would run into someone I know in this tiny Texas town at that particular time?  Oddly enough, I randomly ran into this same student at the Sweet 16 in Minneapolis a couple years earlier.

2.  This Memorial Day weekend, Mrs. True Faith HR and I were in Minneapolis decided to grab a Juicy Lucy at the 5-8 Club.  A couple bites in, a friend of Appleton walks in with a group of his friends.  Again, what are the odds?

Is it a large social network?  Is it a function of simply growing old, and the number of people you've encountered or impacted has grown so large that these random encounters are simply inevitable?

Louis C.K. has an old joke that goes, "Have you ever seen someone you don't know? Again? It's like God ran out of extras in the movie of your life"

What is capturing your interest right now?  What are you paying attention to? 

Yesterday, the 6th largest amount of snow in history fell into our area.   Given the sheer volume involved poses unique strains on the organization.  Do we have the personnel to clear the sidewalks and parking lots?  Are the streets safe enough for faculty, staff, and students to trek from their homes and start their regular routine, or should work be closed or delayed?  How do we communicate to everyone if the decision is made to close the school?

Yesterday, at 5:45, we received an e-mail from the President indicated work was delayed until 11:00 a.m.  Given that classes don't start until 8:00, it seemed like a reasonable timetable.  In addition, I did notice a few employees had posted a similar notice on Twitter shortly thereafter.  I still decided to make the trip onto campus, and found that 3 of my colleagues  did the same.  However, they were unaware of the change.  They did not check their e-mail in the morning (the horror!!!).

Later that afternoon, given worsening conditions, the decision was made to cancel the rest of the work day so that people could return home safely.  However, the communication method had changed.  The emergency notification system was activated and I received the message in a number of media - text, phone call, e-mail, message on the organization's web page, and on my Twitter feed.  Perhaps, a lesson was learned in the intervening hours about getting the message across.

How are you assuring your employees are getting the news of an impending change in the routine?