I've been working in the construction industry for more than 20 years now. It's a traditional sector, very much male-dominated. But that has never deterred me from it. I also went to engineering school, and the majority of the students were male (I think less than 15% were female).

I'm using an outdated binary classification here, I know. If women are considered a minority in construction, wait until you look at non-binary gender data. It's bad.

What inspired me to write about this was a meeting I attended the other day at my company. It was a senior management meetup between my company and a major subtrade we frequently do business with. It was basically for introductions and discussions on future opportunities. I entered the boardroom, and after I introduced myself to everybody and everyone had arrived, I looked around and realized I was the only woman in there!

There were 18 people in total in that room, giving us a 5.5% diversity representation.

I'm not saying there are no women in my company. There are! In my department, there are 17 of us in total, of which 6 are women, so about 35%. I've heard that women make up close to 15% of the total construction workforce across Canada. That's low!

My company is not the worst out there. We have inclusive diversity groups and initiatives, with regular webinars, events, and celebrations (like Pride Month, the Indigenous Employee Circle, and Black History Month, among others) to foster an inclusive workplace.

But I am always surprised when I look at the senior leadership and find it hard to spot a woman.

Anyway, this is a bit of a rant, I guess.

I don't exactly feel excluded, but... do I?

I don't have experience with how other industries are doing in terms of diversity in senior roles and high-level management (or anywhere else, to be honest). But I think we still have a long way to go!

Post 07 of #Blaugust #NoisyMusings #diversity

Starcraft Co. 9- Defense

This was the first mission where Starcraft Co. forces had to hold out against wave after wave of invaders. You have a base, but ironically, the command center has been destroyed and you lack the resources to build another. Its more about conserving resources, repairing, and avoiding attrition. Don't worry, a proper base will be coming... in a few missions.

---

Until then, the Zerg had been dangerous in the way a wildfire was dangerous. They spread, consumed and killed, but nobody had seen evidence that the outbreaks appearing across Terran space were being directed toward any larger objective. The zerglings in Varga's basement had attacked whatever was nearby. The infestations aboard the Horizons Beyond had nested wherever food and shelter were available. The ultralisks on Ardea had behaved like enormous invasive predators. Even the unprecedented swarm at Cressida had appeared more interested in feeding from the orbital city's power infrastructure than accomplishing anything strategically meaningful. The UIC's classified investigation had revealed that someone was breeding and experimenting on Zerg, but that was human strategy imposed upon animals. The Zerg themselves remained creatures following instincts they barely seemed to understand. Then they attacked Kestral Battery.

The installation occupied a barren plateau on a UIC perimeter world that had been strategically important enough to fortify and peaceful enough to neglect. Kestral's enormous energy complex supplied the primary power for the orbital defense network protecting the planet. Take the battery offline and the defense platforms above would retain emergency power for a time, but their heavy weapons, shields and long-range detection systems would rapidly degrade. Anyone wanting to attack the planet would therefore have an obvious first target. Unfortunately, the UIC garrison assigned to defend it existed more impressively in procurement reports than reality. Years without a serious attack had hollowed the base out. Personnel had been reassigned without replacement. Equipment disappeared into warehouses or onto black markets. Maintenance schedules became suggestions. Funds allocated for defensive expansion somehow produced neither defensive expansion nor funds. The Zerg had found it anyway. They had not wandered into Kestral. They had attacked it repeatedly. Wave after wave had come from the wasteland beyond the installation, withdrawing or dying before another arrived hours later. The garrison had already lost its command center, several barracks and most of its heavy equipment. The surviving SCVs could repair existing structures, but the destruction of the command center had taken the logistical systems and resource stockpiles required to construct replacements. The base was consuming ammunition faster than supply transports could safely land it. Intelligence estimated that another two or three serious attacks would finish the garrison.

The call to StarCraft Co. contained no negotiation. A UIC colonel appeared on the commander's screen and said, “We need you at Kestral immediately.” The commander asked what the government was offering. “Whatever it costs.” There was no time to argue over numbers. StarCraft Co. loaded two elite infantry teams aboard transports, added every weapon and crate of ammunition they could fit, and launched. They landed north of the main installation because the southern approaches were already contested. The first surprise came almost immediately. A secondary UIC supply post appeared on their tactical map less than five kilometers from the landing zone, but nobody at Kestral had mentioned it. The reason became obvious when StarCraft Co. reached the compound. Its long-range communications array had been destroyed during the opening attacks, leaving the personnel there isolated from the rest of the battlefield. Several marines remained alive alongside a handful of Goliath combat walkers, all of them waiting for orders that hadn't come. The officer commanding the post initially demanded to know under whose authority a private military company was giving instructions to UIC personnel. The commander forwarded the emergency authorization from planetary command. That ended the discussion. Ten minutes later, StarCraft Co. had acquired reinforcements.

They reached Kestral just as the next wave arrived. Zerglings came first, pouring across the southern approaches in a mass large enough to look almost liquid from the bunker cameras. Hydralisks followed behind them, stopping beyond the first defensive line to launch spines into firing ports and exposed infantry. The defenders barely had time to recognize the arriving StarCraft Co. transports before the mercenaries joined the line. Marines filled damaged bunkers. Goliaths moved between defensive positions and began firing over them. StarCraft Co.'s elite infantry established overlapping fields of fire across the approaches while medics dragged wounded government troops away from the firing line. The attack lasted nineteen minutes. When it ended, hundreds of Zerg corpses covered the ground outside the installation. Kestral was still standing. Barely. The commander toured the defenses immediately afterward and discovered exactly how bad the situation was. Two bunkers had partially collapsed. Another had no functioning ventilation system. Ammunition stores were dangerously low. Automated turrets existed on the base schematic but had apparently never been installed. The surviving SCVs could repair damage, but without the command center there was no practical way to rebuild the base. So they stopped thinking about rebuilding it. They fortified what remained.

The SCVs reinforced damaged bunkers with whatever metal could be stripped from destroyed structures. Wrecked vehicles became barricades. Engineers dismantled sections of the ruined command center and welded the armor plating onto firing positions. Narrow approaches between buildings were deliberately obstructed to funnel zerglings into kill zones. Marines drove metal stakes into the ground and stretched industrial cable between them at heights intended to catch charging creatures. Fuel from destroyed vehicles was transferred into drums and buried along likely attack routes. Explosives intended for demolition work became command-detonated mines. Ammunition caches were distributed throughout the base so a destroyed storage building could not eliminate their entire supply. The commander imposed one rule on every defensive plan: nothing depended on stopping the Zerg. Anything strong enough to physically stop an ultralisk did not exist at Kestral. The defenses were designed to slow, divide and redirect. Every second a zergling spent climbing over wreckage was another second a marine could shoot it. Every hydralisk forced into a narrow approach became a target for three bunkers instead of one. Every obstacle existed to buy seconds.

They received forty-seven minutes before the next attack. This wave came from two directions. Zerglings hit the western perimeter while hydralisks approached from the south. The defenders allowed the zerglings through the first barricade before detonating buried fuel behind them. Fire severed the leading creatures from the rest of the swarm. Goliaths and marines destroyed the trapped group while the remaining Zerg tried forcing their way around the burning ground. On the southern line, StarCraft Co. snipers and heavy rifle teams concentrated on hydralisks as soon as they entered range. The attack collapsed before reaching the bunkers. The third wave came before repairs were finished. Then the fourth. The Zerg never attacked exactly the same way twice. That bothered the commander. One wave sent hydralisks first, forcing the defenders into cover before zerglings charged. Another divided around the main barricades and attacked the eastern maintenance sector that had previously seen little fighting. When the defenders shifted Goliaths east, the next attack concentrated on the west. The behavior wasn't brilliant. It didn't need to be. Something was testing them.

By nightfall, mutalisks appeared. The first group came low over the southern ridge while zerglings attacked the perimeter. The Goliaths immediately redirected their weapons skyward, leaving the ground troops without their heaviest support. That seemed intentional too. Mutalisks swept across the base, their glaive wurms ricocheting between clustered defenders. One pass killed four marines and wounded seven. StarCraft Co. responded by spreading infantry positions farther apart and relocating the Goliaths so no single ground attack could pin all of them simultaneously. The next mutalisk wave encountered overlapping missile fire before reaching the bunkers. Nobody slept for more than twenty minutes at a time. The SCVs became as important as the soldiers. The instant an attack ended, they moved onto the battlefield. Armor was welded. Bunker walls were patched. Firing ports were rebuilt. Wreckage was dragged into new barricades. Several SCVs worked while medics were still collecting casualties around them. One crew repaired the same bunker four times in eleven hours. The men started calling it Lazarus.

The next morning, the ground began shaking. The commander knew what that meant before reconnaissance confirmed it. Ultralisks. Three accompanied the next wave. The soldiers who had fought on Ardea understood exactly what was coming. Everyone else learned quickly. The first ultralisk hit an outer barricade and went through it without noticeably slowing. The second struck a bunker. Its kaiser blades penetrated the reinforced wall and ripped half the structure open. Marines escaped through the rear while Goliaths concentrated fire on the creature's legs. The third charged directly through a minefield. Two explosions tore chunks from its underside. It kept coming. StarCraft Co. used the same principle that had worked on Ardea. Nobody tried to stand against them. Positions abandoned the moment an ultralisk committed to attacking them. Goliaths and marines fired from the flanks, concentrating on joints while the creatures chased retreating targets. The problem was everything around them. Zerglings followed in the ultralisks' wake. Hydralisks fired between them. Mutalisks swept overhead whenever the Goliaths became occupied. The first ultralisk died twenty meters inside the perimeter. The second reached the ruined command center before concentrated fire shattered one of its forelegs. The third killed eleven people before it went down. Kestral held.

Another attack came six hours later. Then another. The battlefield surrounding the base became unrecognizable. Zerg corpses accumulated in heaps until SCVs had to push them aside to restore fields of fire. The air smelled of burned flesh, propellant and industrial coolant. Rifles failed from continuous use. Marines took weapons from the dead. Medics stopped distinguishing between StarCraft Co. personnel and government troops because there was no longer any practical reason to. The commander watched the numbers decline. Every attack cost the Zerg hundreds. Every attack cost Kestral people it could not replace. Eventually reconnaissance detected something different: movement across the entire southern horizon.

The final wave was enormous. Hundreds of zerglings formed the bulk of it, spreading across the wasteland around clusters of hydralisks. Several ultralisks moved at the front. Mutalisks circled overhead. There were enough organisms that the tactical computer stopped trying to display individual contacts and replaced them with a single red mass. Nobody needed to be told that Kestral could not survive a direct engagement, so the commander ordered everyone to abandon the outer perimeter. The defenders withdrew into the installation's inner structures. SCVs completed the last preparations and retreated with them. The Zerg advanced without resistance. That was the point. The outer approaches had been transformed during the previous hours. Every remaining demolition charge had been buried there. Fuel drums sat beneath wreckage. Damaged ammunition that could no longer be safely fired had been packed into improvised explosive caches. Mines overlapped with mines.

The ultralisks entered first. The commander waited. Zerglings flooded behind them. Hydralisks reached the perimeter. Still he waited. One government officer finally asked whether the detonators had failed. “Not yet.” More Zerg entered. The red mass filled the outer base. “Now.” Kestral disappeared behind fire. The first explosions triggered the second line of charges. Those detonated fuel stores. Burning wreckage ignited ammunition caches. Mines erupted beneath the swarm. One ultralisk vanished inside an explosion powerful enough to throw pieces of its armor across the installation. Another staggered forward missing half a leg. Hundreds of zerglings died in seconds.

The survivors kept coming. Every remaining weapon at Kestral opened fire. The wounded ultralisk reached the inner barricade and smashed through it. Goliaths fired until their autocannons glowed. Marines poured rounds into the breach. Hydralisk spines struck the bunkers like artillery. Mutalisks dove through missile fire and attacked the defenders from above. Lazarus finally died. An ultralisk struck the bunker broadside and collapsed the entire front wall. The marines inside kept firing through the opening until zerglings reached them. The defensive line folded inward. One position fell, then another. The commander committed the reserve. There were barely enough people left to call it one. They counterattacked through the maintenance yard, retaking a firing position that had been overrun minutes earlier. Medics carried rifles. Wounded marines fired from the ground. An SCV with a damaged manipulator arm charged a hydralisk and crushed it against a wall.

The last ultralisk reached the power installation. Every Goliath still functioning turned toward it. Missiles and autocannon fire struck the creature from three directions. It continued forward. Marines joined in. One leg failed. It dragged itself onward. The commander ordered the explosives beneath the access road detonated. The ground disappeared beneath the ultralisk. It fell into the crater. The defenders fired downward until it stopped moving. Then they turned around. There were still zerglings inside the base. The fighting became close and ugly. Squads no longer existed in any meaningful sense. Whoever remained alive formed groups around whatever weapons still worked. Marines cleared buildings room by room. Goliaths stomped through courtyards firing at anything moving. The last mutalisk was killed by a missile from a Goliath whose other weapon system had already been destroyed.

Eventually the gunfire became sporadic, then stopped. The Zerg were dead. For nearly ten minutes, nobody moved beyond what was necessary to treat the wounded. The commander began counting. Fewer than half of StarCraft Co.'s deployed personnel remained combat capable. Some of the missing were wounded. Many weren't. Of the UIC troops who had occupied Kestral when the attacks began, fewer than one in four were still alive. Two Goliaths remained operational. Most of the bunkers were destroyed. The base's command center was already gone. Nearly everything else was burning. But the power installation was intact. The orbital defense network remained online. They had held.

Then a sentry reported movement. Six contacts. Everyone still capable of carrying a weapon took a position. Six hydralisks emerged from the smoke. There were no zerglings with them. No mutalisks. No ultralisks. Just six hydralisks walking toward the ruined base. A few soldiers laughed. After what they had just survived, six hydralisks seemed almost insulting.

The first one fired. A marine's chest exploded. The spine crossed the distance faster than anyone expected. “COVER!” The second volley struck the barricades. These weren't normal hydralisks. They moved faster. Much faster. Their carapaces were thicker and darker, layered in ways the veterans had never seen. Gauss rounds struck them and shattered pieces of armor without penetrating deeply enough to stop them. Their spines hit with velocities that turned cover designed to withstand ordinary hydralisk fire into shrapnel. The defenders concentrated on one. It went down, then stood back up. Wounds were closing across its body. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE THINGS?” Nobody knew.

The six creatures spread out. That was worse. Hydralisks normally attacked with aggression and crude coordination. These used cover. One fired while another repositioned. Two deliberately targeted a Goliath's damaged leg until the machine collapsed, then shifted fire toward the crew escaping it. The exhausted defenders suddenly found themselves in another battle, and people started dying again. One creature reached the interior of the base and killed three wounded marines before a medic emptied an entire magazine into its head at point-blank range. Another absorbed concentrated fire from seven rifles and continued advancing until a Goliath autocannon tore it nearly in half. Four remained, then three. The defenders learned. Head shots worked better. Destroying limbs worked better. Overwhelming damage worked best. One hydralisk took a grenade beneath its body and lost both legs on one side. It continued firing from the ground until a marine walked around the barricade and emptied his rifle into its skull.

Two remained. They almost reached the power station. The last Goliath stopped one. The other killed its pilot. Rourke's surviving infantry surrounded the final creature from three directions. It fired at one group. The others fired back. Its wounds began closing. They kept shooting. Armor broke. Tissue ruptured. The creature tried to retreat. That was something else nobody had ever seen. Mercer followed. The hydralisk turned and fired. A round struck Mercer in the shoulder and spun him around. Rourke's squad opened fire. The creature collapsed. They didn't stop when it stopped moving, when its head came apart, or until there was almost nothing left to regenerate.

Silence returned to Kestral. This time it stayed. One of the surviving government marines eventually walked toward the corpse. He nudged it with his boot and looked at the other five scattered across the ruins. “Hunter killers,” he muttered. Someone nearby heard him. The name stuck.

The UIC response fleet arrived fourteen hours later. It found a battlefield. Thousands of Zerg corpses surrounded the installation. The base itself looked almost indistinguishable from them. Fires still burned among collapsed structures. SCVs crawled through the ruins searching for survivors. Medics had converted the remains of a supply warehouse into a field hospital. The power installation was still operating. The UIC investigators were less interested in the thousands of dead Zerg than they were in six particular corpses. The commander watched them seal the remains inside biological containment units. “You've seen these before?” he asked. The intelligence officer from the clandestine briefing looked at him. “No.” That answer worried the commander more than yes would have.

The attack on Kestral changed the UIC's assessment of the crisis overnight. Zerg had not wandered onto the planet. They had identified a strategically significant target and attacked it repeatedly. They had varied their tactics. They had escalated when earlier attacks failed. Then, after the main swarm was destroyed, six organisms unlike anything previously documented had arrived. Someone—or something—was directing them. The UIC no longer treated StarCraft Co. as merely a preferred contractor. The retainer they offered was unprecedented. StarCraft Co. would receive guaranteed funding sufficient to maintain and expand its forces regardless of individual contracts. In return, the UIC received priority access to the company for operations related to the expanding Zerg crisis. The agreement included procurement privileges, access to restricted military technology and intelligence sharing that would previously have been unthinkable for a private organization.

The commander signed. Then the UIC handed him the target list. It was thick. Colonies. Research facilities. Missing ships. Suspected nests. Pirate stations dealing in biological material. Unexplained attacks. Coordinates where reconnaissance had simply stopped returning. The commander turned page after page. Kestral had answered one question. The Zerg outbreaks weren't random anymore. Unfortunately, it had replaced that question with a much worse one.

Who was giving the orders?

This is an update to the petition that was posted here:

https://www.change.org/p/demand-forensic-audit-and-transparency-for-kwantlen-student-association/u/35151837

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When this petition was launched in October 2025, we called for something very specific: an independent forensic audit of the Kwantlen Student Association and greater accountability for the millions of dollars in mandatory fees collected from KPU students.

That demand is no longer hypothetical.

On March 13, 2026, the B.C. Minister of Finance formally launched an investigation into the Kwantlen Student Association under the Societies Act. The investigation is intended to determine whether there has been misuse of funds or other problematic conduct. While it is underway, a ministerial order prohibits the KSA from disposing of, dealing with, or diminishing the value of its assets except as authorized by the order, while permitting reasonable spending on proper operational expenses.

Then, in May, another major development occurred: Finance Minister Brenda Bailey confirmed that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) would conduct the forensic audit, with PwC's forensic services team appointed to lead the investigation.

This represents a major step toward the accountability this petition has been calling for.

But an investigation is not a finding of wrongdoing. Allegations remain allegations unless and until the investigation establishes otherwise. What matters now is that these questions are finally being examined independently.

And the work is not finished.

This petition was never solely about discovering what happened at one student association. From the beginning, it also raised a larger structural question: what safeguards should exist when organizations collecting millions of dollars in compulsory student fees fail to govern themselves effectively?

Our petition therefore called not only for a forensic audit of the KSA, but also for stronger transparency and accountability requirements for student unions under B.C.'s legislative framework.

Following the announcement of the provincial investigation, the British Columbia Federation of Students (BCFS) issued a statement supporting the investigation but arguing that situations involving alleged financial mismanagement such as this are “extremely rare in British Columbia.” The BCFS emphasized the democratic processes and financial safeguards that exist within most student unions and argued that government intervention should remain rare.

We agree on an important point: students' unions perform valuable work, and it would be wrong to suggest that every students' union is poorly governed or financially mismanaged.

But it would be equally wrong to treat the problems at the KSA as though serious failures of student-union governance are without precedent.

The KSA is not an isolated Canadian example.

Ryerson University / Toronto Metropolitan University

At Toronto Metropolitan University — formerly Ryerson University — the student union has experienced serious financial controversies on more than one occasion.

In 2019, the university's independent student newspaper, The Eyeopener, obtained financial statements showing substantial expenditures on Ryerson Students' Union credit cards. A student-union director said the statements totalled approximately $250,000, with reported purchases including nightclubs, entertainment venues, Airbnb, clothing and other expenditures.

The controversy became serious enough that Ryerson requested that the student union undertake a forensic audit. The union subsequently retained PwC to conduct a financial review into allegations of financial mismanagement and later filed a police report. No systemic change occured.

Yet the problems did not end there.

In 2023, the renamed Toronto Metropolitan Students' Union filed a $900,000 lawsuit against five former executives from the 2021-22 academic year. The lawsuit alleged fraud, financial mismanagement, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and civil conspiracy, claiming approximately $250,000 in financial losses. Among the allegations were nearly $75,000 withdrawn for Toronto Raptors tickets, payments to third-party vendors without board approval and numerous transactions allegedly lacking appropriate documentation or justification.

Those allegations have not been proven in court.

There is also a noteworthy connection to Kwantlen: current KSA Executive Director Timothii Ragavan is himself a Ryerson alumnus, having graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in business/managerial economics. There is no suggestion that Ragavan had any involvement whatsoever in the Ryerson Students' Union controversies; the point is simply that the problems now being debated at Kwantlen are not unique to one institution or one student-union environment.

University of Regina

More recently, serious financial and governance concerns emerged at the University of Regina Students' Union (URSU).

After reviewing URSU's 2024 audited financial statements, the University of Regina raised significant concerns about the organization's financial position. The university said it attempted to work with URSU leadership and offered financial and governance assistance, but that recommended steps were not taken.

The university ultimately stated that it had “lost confidence in URSU's ability to serve and represent the University's students” and terminated the agreement under which it collected student-union fees on URSU's behalf, effective August 31, 2025.

Reporting on URSU's finances indicated that its 2024 financial statements showed a $1.25-million deficit, while separate legal disputes involved allegations that hundreds of thousands of dollars in student fees collected for campus organizations had been withheld.

The situation escalated further in September 2025, when the Regina Police Service confirmed that URSU was under investigation regarding the possible misappropriation of funds.

And this is not unprecedented in British Columbia We do not even need to leave British Columbia to find another example.

In 2017, the UBC Students' Union Okanagan (UBCSUO) dismissed its general manager and began an external accounting review after two consecutive annual deficits exceeding $300,000.

Reporting by The Ubyssey had previously uncovered evidence of financial mismanagement and potential conflicts of interest. The deficits were particularly significant because the union's own bylaws prohibited it from operating at a deficit, and the union had an annual budget of approximately $1.4 million.

These organizations are independent of one another. Their circumstances are different, the allegations involved are different, and it would be irresponsible to suggest that every students' union suffers from the same problems.

But when similar governance failures repeatedly emerge at independent student unions in different provinces, at different universities and under different leadership, we should at least be willing to ask whether the problem is entirely individual — or whether there is also a structural weakness in the system intended to prevent and address these failures.

That distinction matters.

The argument for stronger oversight does not depend on proving that most student unions are mismanaged. Regulation exists precisely for the circumstances in which ordinary internal controls fail. As they have, time and time again. 

Students' unions can administer millions of dollars collected through compulsory student fees. They are independent organizations with their own elected leadership, bylaws and internal accountability mechanisms. But when these lax and easily-manipulated mechanisms fail, the examples above demonstrate how serious a situation can become before an external institution, court, police service or provincial government becomes involved.

That is why this campaign has always been about more than the particular individuals currently running the KSA. The issues have been systemic for decades.

Independent financial oversight, accessible financial information, enforceable conflict-of-interest requirements, meaningful consequences for breaches of fiduciary obligations, and effective mechanisms for intervention when internal governance fails do not undermine well-run students' unions.

They protect them.

They protect students from misuse of compulsory fees, and they protect responsible students' unions from having public confidence in the entire sector damaged by organizations that fail to meet those standards.

The question is therefore not whether every students' union is mismanaged.

Clearly, they are not.

The question is whether the regulatory framework is strong enough when one is.

And that brings us back to Kwantlen.

The forensic audit we asked for is now underway. But the next questions are just as important:

1. What will PwC find?

2. Will the findings be made public?

3. What corrective action will follow if wrongdoing or governance failures are identified?

4. And, perhaps most importantly, will the Province use what it learns to consider reforms that could prevent another student association from reaching the point where extraordinary government intervention becomes necessary?

To Everyone Involved, Thank You.

To everyone who signed this petition, shared it, spoke publicly, contacted government officials, reported concerns, or simply refused to accept that compulsory student fees should be collected without meaningful accountability: thank you.

This investigation is an important milestone.

But accountability does not end when an audit begins.

Now we need transparency about what it finds... and meaningful reform from whatever lessons emerge.

Mi semana administra mi atención

El sistema semanal de dirección no existe para llenar mi calendario ni para crear reuniones alrededor de cada tema importante.

Su función es asegurar que, durante una semana normal, mi atención esté distribuida entre las responsabilidades que corresponden a mi nivel de Dirección.

Antes de definir reuniones, días u horarios, necesito entender las cadencias que ya existen en la organización, qué información circula, qué decisiones se toman en cada espacio y dónde existen vacíos reales de coordinación.

Mi objetivo no debe ser imponer un sistema nuevo sobre el existente.

Debo primero comprenderlo y luego complementar, simplificar o corregir donde sea necesario.

Mi sistema semanal no administra solamente mi equipo. Administra mi atención.

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1. Las siete dimensiones de mi atención

Una semana equilibrada debería contener, en distinta proporción, atención sobre siete dimensiones.

Dirección del equipo

Necesito asegurar claridad sobre prioridades, resultados, riesgos, decisiones y compromisos de mi equipo directo.

Mi función no es conocer todas sus tareas, sino asegurar que cada líder esté conduciendo correctamente su ámbito de responsabilidad y que los asuntos que requieren Dirección sean visibles a tiempo.

Aquí pueden entrar posteriormente:

• reunión de equipo;
• revisión de prioridades;
• seguimiento por excepción;
• compromisos;
• decisiones pendientes.

La cadencia concreta se definirá después de conocer cómo trabaja actualmente el equipo.

---

Alineamiento hacia arriba

Necesito mantener alineamiento con la Vicepresidencia de Postventa.

Esto implica comprender sus prioridades y mantenerlo informado sobre aquello que necesita conocer para dirigir correctamente el negocio.

La comunicación hacia arriba debe concentrarse principalmente en:

• resultados relevantes;
• riesgos;
• decisiones que requieren su intervención;
• cambios importantes;
• asuntos organizacionales;
• oportunidades;
• temas que podrían escalar.

Mi jefe no necesita conocer cada detalle de mi gestión, pero tampoco debería recibir sorpresas importantes sobre asuntos que ya estaban bajo mi responsabilidad.

Escalar no significa trasladar el problema. Significa entregar contexto, alternativas y una recomendación.

---

Coordinación lateral

Una parte importante de mis resultados dependerá de áreas que no me reportan directamente.

Servicio será una relación especialmente importante, pero también podrán existir dependencias con Finanzas, Comercial, Mercadeo, Compras, Logística, Tecnología, Recursos Humanos y otras funciones.

Mi responsabilidad es identificar qué interdependencias necesitan mecanismos permanentes de coordinación y cuáles pueden manejarse solamente cuando aparece un asunto concreto.

No debo crear reuniones únicamente porque dos áreas estén relacionadas.

Una cadencia estable debe existir cuando la coordinación frecuente realmente mejora decisiones o resultados.

---

Contacto con el negocio

No debo dirigir la región únicamente desde reportes, tableros y reuniones internas.

Necesito mantener contacto directo con la realidad del negocio.

Esto puede incluir:

• países;
• sucursales;
• operaciones;
• talleres;
• clientes;
• fabricantes;
• proveedores;
• socios comerciales.

El propósito no es sustituir a los responsables locales.

Es conservar suficiente exposición directa para comprender el mercado, detectar patrones, contrastar la información que recibo y mantener criterio propio sobre lo que está ocurriendo.

Un Director Regional no debe conocer el negocio únicamente a través de presentaciones.

---

Trabajo estratégico

La operación genera suficiente presión como para consumir toda la agenda si se lo permito.

Por eso necesito proteger atención para temas cuyo resultado no necesariamente aparece en la semana actual:

• estrategia;
• rentabilidad;
• inventario;
• modelos comerciales;
• procesos;
• regionalización;
• tecnología;
• datos;
• transformación;
• capacidades futuras.

Estos asuntos deben tener espacio propio y no depender únicamente del tiempo que quede libre después de atender lo urgente.

---

Desarrollo de líderes

Una parte de mi agenda debe estar dedicada a mejorar la capacidad de quienes dirigen conmigo.

Aquí entran:

• conversaciones uno a uno;
• feedback;
• acompañamiento;
• desarrollo de criterio;
• desempeño;
• delegación;
• sucesión;
• conversaciones difíciles;
• crecimiento profesional.

El seguimiento de tareas no sustituye el desarrollo de personas.

Una organización más capaz reduce progresivamente la necesidad de intervención del Director.

---

Pensamiento

Pensar forma parte del trabajo.

Necesito espacios donde pueda detener la ejecución inmediata y analizar:

• qué está cambiando;
• qué patrones estoy observando;
• qué decisiones requieren mayor profundidad;
• dónde estoy utilizando mal mi tiempo;
• qué problemas se repiten;
• qué podría convertirse en un estándar regional;
• qué riesgos todavía no son urgentes, pero podrían serlo.

Si toda mi semana está fragmentada en reuniones, termino respondiendo a la agenda de otros y pierdo capacidad de dirigir con perspectiva.

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2. Dirigir en cuatro direcciones

Mi agenda debe recordarme que la Dirección Regional ocurre simultáneamente en cuatro direcciones.

Hacia abajo

Desarrollar y dirigir a mi equipo.

Hacia arriba

Mantener alineamiento con mi jefe y con las prioridades de la organización.

Hacia los lados

Coordinar con otros líderes y funciones de las que dependen los resultados.

Hacia afuera

Mantener conexión con países, clientes, fabricantes, proveedores y mercado.

Una semana dedicada exclusivamente a cualquiera de estas direcciones termina generando desequilibrio.

El sistema semanal debe ayudarme a reconocer cuándo una dimensión está absorbiendo demasiada atención.

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3. La frecuencia debe responder a la necesidad

No todo lo importante necesita una reunión semanal.

La frecuencia de seguimiento debe depender de:

• velocidad con la que cambia el tema;
• nivel de riesgo;
• cantidad de dependencias;
• necesidad de decisiones;
• madurez del responsable;
• relevancia estratégica.

Un asunto estable puede necesitar revisión mensual.

Un proyecto crítico puede requerir seguimiento semanal.

Una crisis puede necesitar coordinación diaria durante un período limitado.

La cadencia debe adaptarse al trabajo y no al revés.

La frecuencia de una reunión no demuestra la importancia del tema. Debe responder a la necesidad de coordinación.

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4. Primero entender, después diseñar

Al incorporarme debo evitar crear inmediatamente una arquitectura completa de reuniones.

Primero necesito observar:

• qué reuniones ya existen;
• quién participa;
• qué propósito tienen;
• qué información se revisa;
• qué decisiones producen;
• qué se duplica;
• qué falta;
• qué reuniones agregan valor;
• cuáles existen solamente por costumbre.

Durante las primeras semanas debo aprender el sistema antes de modificarlo.

Después podré decidir qué mantener, eliminar, combinar o crear.

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5. Toda reunión debe justificar su existencia

Cuando evalúe una reunión recurrente debo preguntarme:

¿Qué problema de coordinación resuelve este espacio?

Una reunión debería producir al menos uno de estos resultados:

• claridad;
• decisión;
• coordinación;
• resolución de bloqueos;
• aprendizaje;
• desarrollo.

Si consiste principalmente en transmitir información que podría consultarse previamente, debo cuestionar si la reunión es necesaria.

La información puede ser asincrónica.

La conversación debe utilizarse para aquello que necesita interacción.

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6. La semana debe proteger distintos horizontes

No todos los temas tienen el mismo horizonte.

Una semana saludable debe contener atención sobre:

Hoy

Problemas y decisiones que afectan la operación inmediata.

Próximas semanas

Compromisos, proyectos, riesgos e iniciativas en ejecución.

Próximos meses

Cambios, capacidades y decisiones estructurales.

Futuro

Estrategia, transformación y evolución de la organización.

Si toda mi agenda pertenece a “hoy”, probablemente estoy administrando urgencias más que dirigiendo.

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7. Mi calendario como señal de diagnóstico

El calendario puede mostrarme rápidamente cómo estoy ejerciendo el puesto.

Debo revisar periódicamente:

• cuánto tiempo consume la operación;
• cuánto dedico al equipo;
• cuánto dedico a otras áreas;
• cuánto contacto tengo con el mercado;
• cuánto espacio existe para estrategia;
• cuánto tiempo dedico al desarrollo;
• cuánto tiempo realmente tengo para pensar.

No necesito buscar una distribución perfecta.

Necesito detectar desequilibrios persistentes.

Mi agenda revela mis prioridades reales mejor que mis intenciones.

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8. Lo que todavía no debo definir

Hasta conocer la organización, este sistema no debe fijar todavía:

• qué día ocurre cada reunión;
• cuántas reuniones semanales existen;
• duración exacta;
• frecuencia definitiva de los 1:1;
• reuniones específicas con Servicio;
• cadencia con Vicepresidencia;
• frecuencia con fabricantes;
• estructura de comités;
• herramientas o tableros obligatorios.

Estas decisiones deben tomarse después de comprender la dinámica actual.

El sistema debe darme primero un criterio para observar.

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9. Pregunta de control semanal

Al revisar mi agenda debo preguntarme:

¿Esta semana estoy dedicando mi atención a aquello que solamente Dirección puede aportar?

Y además:

• ¿Estoy demasiado dentro de la operación?
• ¿Hay alguien importante con quien no estoy hablando?
• ¿Estoy evitando alguna decisión?
• ¿Estoy dedicando suficiente tiempo al futuro?
• ¿Estoy desarrollando líderes o solamente resolviendo problemas?
• ¿Estoy viendo directamente el negocio o solamente recibiendo información?
• ¿Tengo espacio para pensar?

El propósito del sistema semanal no es lograr una semana perfectamente ordenada.

Es evitar que la urgencia decida permanentemente dónde pongo mi atención.

In Summary: * Well, well. I've found another MLB game to keep me company during this Monday evening. The Baltimore Orioles are playing the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Pete and the game is just about ready to start.

In other news, as it's Monday I did get half my weekly laundry done. Time was restricted this morning as I had a business meeting at my bank to prepare for and attend. Meeting went well, btw, and I'll finish the other half of my laundry tomorrow.

Now, I've got the Rays / O's game to get to. I expect it to end at a perfect time for me to get to bed.

Prayers, etc.: * I have a daily prayer regimen I try to follow throughout the day from early morning, as soon as I roll out of bed, until head hits pillow at night.

Health Metrics: * bw= 229.94 lbs. * bp= 152/86 (63)

Exercise: * morning stretches, balance exercises, kegel pelvic floor exercises, half squats, calf raises, wall push-ups, BP breathing exercises, pilates

Diet: * 05:40 – 1 banana, 1 peanut butter sandwich * 09:30 – sweet potato with butter, two boiled eggs * 14:00 – garden salad * 15:40 – dish of ice cream

Activities, Chores, etc.: * 04:00 – wake * 04:50 – bank accounts activity monitored. * 05:15 – read, write, pray, follow news reports from various sources, surf the socials, nap * 08:00 – start a load of laundry * 10:30 – listening to relaxing music while folding laundry * 11:15 – go to the bank, took care of business * 13:10 – listening to the Cardinals / Reds MLB game * 15:25 – and the Cardinals win, 2 to 1. * 17:10 – now listening to the Orioles / Rays MLB game.

Chess: * 08:30 – moved in all pending CC games.

Looking at STRANGE DAYS again. The seminal anthology miniseries by Peter Milligan, Brendan McCarthy, and Brett Ewins. Each issue containing 3 unrelated comics series.

Picture a 4-issue miniseries kind of along the same line. Each issue containing 3 completely unrelated comix stories of different genres. Say a science fiction bit, a thriller, and a historical or romance thing, I dunno. Completely unrelated, each with its own tone and depicted in a completely different style. Until the 4th issue where it is revealed that all 3 stories were connected all along.

It would kind of be the comicbook equivelant of Quentin Tarentino's PULP FICTION, but taken up a notch.

#ComixEngine

PART 1: THE LIFE THAT EXISTED

CHAPTER ONE: THE COUCH

“The couch wasn’t my home. But it was the place I learned I could survive.”

I wake up on a couch that isn’t mine.

The blanket smells like someone else’s detergent. The ceiling fan hums a rhythm I didn’t choose.

My phone buzzes; a text from Harlow: Love you, Mom.

I stare at the screen longer than I should have. The heart I send back does not feel like enough.

Finn is at Grandma’s. Harlow is staying with a friend. And I; I am here. In someone else’s living room. In someone else’s life.

The woman who once held her family together now floats between borrowed spaces, trying not to sink.

I used to have a home. A rhythm. A man who said forever.

Twenty years of love, laughter, fights, forgiveness. Twenty years of building something I thought was real.

And then, he vanished. No goodbye. No explanation. Just silence.

I scroll through old messages. The last one was- I love you with a heart emoji. Then nothing. Just confusion and unanswered questions.

He found someone new, and now I am alone.

What happened? How could I have missed the signs? What do I do now?

The coffee cools quickly in my hands. I stare into the mug as if the steam could spell out the answers I’ve been searching for. But it only swirls, disappears, and leaves nothing behind.

My thumb hovers over his name in my phone. I scroll past it fast, as if touching it might burn.

Instead, I tap open old photos. Our faces are frozen mid-laugh, our arms looped around each other.

The house we lived in is still standing in the background. Sunlight through a window; a kitchen full of noise. I can almost hear it if I let myself, the scrape of chairs on hardwood, the slap of cards during family games, his voice steady and familiar.

Now, I wake to quietness. The hum of a stranger’s ceiling fan is the only sound that keeps me company.

The phone buzzes again. A message from Finn: You good, Mom?

Three words. No fluff, no cushion. Twenty-one and already learning to talk like a man who doesn’t waste syllables.

I type back, Yes, because that’s our rhythm now. His questions are short; my answers are shorter. He doesn’t press. He has his own life tugging him forward, but the check-in is enough to remind me that he still sees me. Still cares.

Later, Harlow calls. I press the phone to my ear and close my eyes.

“Hi, baby.” “Hi, Mom.”

Harlow’s voice is bright, but there’s something underneath it, a hesitation I wish I could smooth away.

“Are you okay?” I swallow. Tell the truth, something inside me begs.

Instead, I smile into the phone. “Of course, I am. How was your night?”

Harlow chatters about movies and popcorn, about laughing with her friend until their sides hurt. I listen, every word a stitch holding me together. For a few minutes, I almost feel whole again.

“Love you, Mom.” “Love you more,” I whisper, even after the call ends. I keep whispering it into the silence, as if Harlow might still hear me.

I set the phone down and lean back. The couch sags in the middle, pulling me down with it.

It isn’t my couch. Not my space. But somehow it has become my mirror.

Worn. Borrowed. Holding more weight than it was built to carry.

I trace a seam in the fabric with my finger, imagining it unraveling thread by thread. That’s how my life feels now, stitched together by other people’s generosity, barely holding. I wonder if anyone else can see the fraying.

I reach into my bag and pull out a notebook. The cover is bent, the edges curling. I flip to a blank page and stare at the lines until my eyes blur.

Then I write, my hand shaking:

I don’t know where I belong anymore . The words look foreign on the paper. I press the pen harder, as if the ink could pin me there and keep me from slipping away.

Then I straighten. I breathe. I remind myself of something simple: I am still here. My children are still here. The world has not ended, even if the one I knew has collapsed.

The couch may cradle my grief, but it cannot define my future. The couch is not my home, but it is not my end.

I close my eyes, clutching my phone like it might anchor me to solid ground. But even with Finn’s quiet check-ins and Harlow’s laughter, there is still a hollow space no text or call can fill.

His absence has a sound. A heavy, aching stillness I can’t outrun.

I want to believe he’ll call, explain, and unravel the mystery of his absence. But somewhere deep down, I already know the truth.

He’s gone. Not just absent. Not just away. Gone.

And the cruelest part isn’t the leaving. It’s the silence.

Cómo entiendo mi trabajo

Mi trabajo como Director no consiste en conocer, controlar o resolver personalmente todos los temas de la operación.

Mi responsabilidad es construir un sistema en el que las prioridades estén claras, los líderes sepan qué se espera de ellos, las decisiones ocurran en el nivel correcto, los problemas importantes sean visibles y la organización pueda ejecutar sin depender permanentemente de mi intervención.

La Dirección debe dar claridad, capacidad de decisión y ritmo.

Cuando sienta que existen demasiados temas, mi primera reacción no debería ser trabajar más horas ni entrar en cada detalle. Debería preguntarme si estoy mirando los asuntos correctos y si cada problema está siendo atendido en el nivel adecuado.

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1. Mi función como Director

Mi trabajo se puede resumir en siete acciones:

Mirar

Entender qué está ocurriendo realmente en el negocio.

No necesito conocer cada movimiento de la operación, pero sí identificar resultados, tendencias, desviaciones, riesgos y cambios relevantes.

Priorizar

Distinguir lo importante de lo simplemente urgente.

La organización siempre puede producir más temas de los que una persona puede atender. Mi responsabilidad es decidir dónde debe concentrarse la atención.

Alinear

Conectar personas, áreas, países y prioridades.

Muchos problemas no existen por falta de capacidad individual, sino porque dos partes de la organización están trabajando con objetivos, información o criterios diferentes.

Decidir

Tomar las decisiones que corresponden a mi nivel y asegurar que las demás se tomen donde deben tomarse.

No debo acumular decisiones innecesariamente.

Desbloquear

Remover obstáculos que el equipo no puede resolver por sí mismo.

Puede tratarse de recursos, prioridades contradictorias, dependencias, políticas, conflictos entre áreas o decisiones pendientes.

Desarrollar

Construir líderes capaces de operar con criterio y autonomía.

Resolver un problema puede mejorar el resultado de esta semana. Desarrollar a la persona que debe resolverlo mejora el sistema permanentemente.

Aprender

Convertir experiencias locales en conocimiento útil para la organización.

Cuando un problema, una solución o una práctica aparece repetidamente, debo preguntarme si existe un aprendizaje que pueda convertirse en estándar.

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2. No debo convertirme en el gerente de toda la región

Uno de mis principales riesgos será intervenir demasiado porque conozco la operación y sé cómo resolver muchos de sus problemas.

Antes de involucrarme directamente debo preguntarme:

¿Necesito resolver esto yo?

Después:

¿Quién debería ser capaz de resolverlo?

Y finalmente:

¿Qué necesita esa persona para poder resolverlo correctamente sin depender de mí?

Mi experiencia operativa debe ayudarme a hacer mejores preguntas y tomar mejores decisiones, no a sustituir a mis gerentes.

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3. Visibilidad no significa control

Necesito tener visibilidad suficiente para saber:

• cómo está funcionando el negocio;
• dónde existen desviaciones;
• qué riesgos están apareciendo;
• qué iniciativas importantes están avanzando;
• qué decisiones están pendientes;
• dónde necesita intervenir Dirección.

No necesito conocer todas las tareas de todas las personas.

Mi sistema de gestión debe hacer visibles las excepciones, no reproducir toda la operación frente a mí.

Un negocio sano no depende de que el Director pregunte constantemente qué está ocurriendo.

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4. Cada decisión debe ocurrir en el nivel correcto

Una organización lenta suele acumular decisiones arriba.

Por eso debo distinguir constantemente:

Decisiones operativas Deben resolverse cerca de la operación.

Decisiones tácticas Coordinan recursos, prioridades y resultados dentro de un área o país.

Decisiones estratégicas Definen dirección, estándares, inversiones, capacidades o cambios estructurales.

Mi objetivo no es participar en más decisiones.

Mi objetivo es asegurar que las decisiones correctas ocurran en el nivel correcto, con suficiente información y a tiempo.

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5. Mi unidad de análisis ya no es solamente un país

Ante un problema importante debo preguntarme:

¿Esto es particular de un país o representa un patrón regional?

Puedo clasificar los asuntos en cuatro niveles:

Local

La realidad del mercado, la marca o la operación justifica una solución propia.

Compartido

El problema aparece en varios países y conviene intercambiar experiencias.

Regionalizable

Existe suficiente similitud para diseñar un proceso, herramienta o práctica común.

Estándar regional

La consistencia genera suficiente valor como para definir una misma forma de operar.

Regionalizar no significa uniformar todo.

Debo estandarizar donde la escala genera valor y permitir diferencias donde el contexto las justifica.

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6. Debo proteger cuatro dimensiones del negocio

La operación diaria siempre hará más ruido, pero Dirección debe proteger simultáneamente cuatro capas.

Operar el negocio

Mantener resultados, disponibilidad, servicio, inventario, ventas y rentabilidad.

Mejorar el negocio

Eliminar ineficiencias, mejorar procesos, productividad y prácticas existentes.

Transformar el negocio

Construir capacidades, sistemas o modelos que cambien estructuralmente la forma de operar.

Construir la organización

Desarrollar personas, estructura, liderazgo, sucesión y capacidades.

Si toda mi agenda está dedicada a operar el negocio, estoy administrando el presente pero descuidando el futuro.

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7. El contexto también es una herramienta de dirección

Parte de mi responsabilidad consiste en compartir información que permita a mis líderes tomar mejores decisiones.

Debo preguntarme regularmente:

¿Qué sé yo que mi equipo necesita saber para interpretar correctamente el negocio?

Dar contexto no significa trasladar cada conversación de Dirección.

Significa explicar lo suficiente para que las personas entiendan:

• hacia dónde vamos;
• por qué ciertas prioridades existen;
• qué restricciones tenemos;
• qué está cambiando;
• qué criterios deberían utilizar para decidir.

Un equipo con contexto necesita menos instrucciones.

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8. Mi agenda refleja mi verdadero sistema de prioridades

No importa lo que diga que es importante si mi calendario demuestra otra cosa.

Mi tiempo debe reservar espacio para:

• revisar el negocio;
• tomar decisiones;
• conversar con mis líderes;
• coordinar con otras áreas;
• pensar;
• analizar;
• visitar operaciones;
• desarrollar personas;
• trabajar en asuntos estratégicos.

También debo proteger tiempo sin reuniones.

Pensar no es tiempo disponible entre reuniones. Es parte del trabajo.

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9. Principios que quiero proteger

Cuando tenga dudas sobre cómo actuar, quiero volver a estos principios:

Claridad antes que actividad.

Antes de actuar, debo entender qué problema estoy tratando de resolver, qué resultado necesito y qué merece realmente mi atención. Estar ocupado no necesariamente significa estar avanzando. Pensar primero me ayuda a evitar trabajo innecesario, reacciones impulsivas y esfuerzos dispersos.

Resultados antes que listas de tareas. Esto me vuelve práctico y ágil.

Debo dirigir hacia resultados concretos, no hacia acumulación de actividades. Una lista de tareas puede estar completamente ejecutada y aun así no producir el efecto esperado. Pensar en resultados me obliga a definir qué debe cambiar, qué evidencia demostrará que avanzamos y cuándo algo puede considerarse realmente cerrado. Esto hace la gestión más práctica y ágil.

Excepciones antes que seguimiento indiscriminado.

No necesito revisar con la misma intensidad todo lo que funciona normalmente. Mi atención debe concentrarse donde existe una desviación, un riesgo, un bloqueo o una decisión pendiente. Si un indicador está dentro de lo esperado y el responsable tiene el tema bajo control, no debería consumir demasiado tiempo de Dirección. El sistema debe ayudarme a detectar dónde algo se salió de curso para intervenir allí.

Decisiones en el nivel más bajo que pueda tomarlas responsablemente.

Una decisión debería tomarse tan cerca del problema como sea posible, siempre que la persona tenga la información, autoridad y capacidad necesarias. Subir innecesariamente las decisiones hace más lenta a la organización y crea dependencia de Dirección.

Por ejemplo, si un gerente de país puede aprobar dentro de una política definida un descuento comercial, no debería necesitar autorización regional para cada operación. Mi trabajo sería definir correctamente la política, los límites y las excepciones. En cambio, si queremos cambiar la política de descuentos para todos los países, esa sí puede ser una decisión regional.

Contexto antes que instrucciones excesivas.

Siempre que sea posible, debo explicar por qué una prioridad, una decisión o una restricción existe. Cuando el equipo comprende hacia dónde vamos y qué criterios estamos utilizando, puede tomar mejores decisiones sin necesitar instrucciones detalladas para cada situación. Dar contexto aumenta autonomía.

Desarrollar criterio antes que crear dependencia.

Mi responsabilidad no es solamente resolver los problemas que llegan a mí, sino aumentar la capacidad del equipo para resolverlos. Cuando alguien me consulte, debo evitar convertir cada situación en una respuesta mía y aprovecharla, cuando sea posible, para desarrollar su análisis, juicio y capacidad de decisión. El verdadero valor de un equipo directivo aparece cuando puede operar bien sin depender permanentemente del Director.

Estándares regionales cuando generen valor; diferencias locales cuando estén justificadas.

Debo estandarizar donde la escala, la consistencia o el aprendizaje compartido generen valor, y permitir diferencias cuando las condiciones del país, la marca, el mercado o la regulación realmente lo justifiquen. Regionalizar no significa hacer todo igual. Significa distinguir conscientemente qué debe ser común y qué necesita adaptación local.

Toda decisión importante debe tener dueño y fecha.

Una decisión sin responsable puede quedarse solamente en una conversación. Toda decisión relevante debe terminar definiendo quién hará que ocurra, qué debe suceder y para cuándo. Esto convierte las reuniones y conversaciones en ejecución y evita compromisos ambiguos o huérfanos.

Mi calendario debe contener espacio para pensar.

Pensar forma parte del trabajo de Dirección. Necesito tiempo deliberado para analizar información, conectar temas, preparar decisiones, anticipar riesgos y cuestionar prioridades. Si todo mi calendario está ocupado por reuniones y urgencias, termino reaccionando al negocio en lugar de dirigirlo.

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10. Señales de que estoy dirigiendo mal

Debo detenerme y revisar mi sistema si comienzo a observar que:

• demasiadas personas esperan mis decisiones;
• conozco muchos detalles pero pocas tendencias;
• mi agenda está llena de reuniones operativas;
• los gerentes me traen problemas sin alternativas;
• asigno tareas directamente a niveles inferiores sin pasar por sus líderes;
• tengo que recordar personalmente los compromisos;
• los mismos problemas aparecen repetidamente;
• cada país resuelve de manera independiente problemas similares;
• no tengo tiempo para pensar;
• paso semanas enteras atendiendo urgencias sin avanzar asuntos estructurales.

Estas señales no necesariamente significan que el equipo esté fallando.

Pueden significar que mi sistema de dirección necesita corregirse.

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11. La pregunta de control

Cuando sienta que todo está creciendo alrededor mío, quiero volver a una sola pregunta:

¿Cuál es el trabajo que solamente yo puedo hacer desde este nivel?

Después debo ordenar el resto:

decidir, delegar, coordinar, calendarizar o descartar.

Mi objetivo no es estar presente en todo.

Mi objetivo es construir una organización en la que pueda ver lo importante, intervenir donde agrego valor y confiar en que el resto del sistema funciona.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Pl5oa5Km-RQ?feature=share

Poema recitado por hamster.

Monday's MLB game of choice is joined in progress. In the 1st inning, the St. Louis Cardinals are leading the Cincinnatti Reds, 2 to 0. As I usually do I'll follow the game's scores and stats in real time via MLB's Gameday Service where we can also find links to the radio-call of the game provided by announcers of either team we choose.

And the adventure continues.

HOLA A TODOS.

I have a combination of cheap and good quality pencil sharpeners. The former I’ve bought from Dollar Tree and Target and the latter from the KUM brand. I also have a Bostitch hand crank version I bought for less than ten dollars from Facebook Marketplace. Despite the quality they all have one thing in common.

Whenever I sharpen my pencils the half is sharpened longer than the other. I have to fine tune to make sure the tips are even. However, the main risk was that I shave off a good chunk of graphite and it doesn’t take too long to resharpen again after writing a few sentences.

So the best solution was to buy a pocketknife and shave my pencils the good old fashioned way. I wanted a Made in the USA knife within my budget and found A.G. Russell Knives. I bought the CaseXX Sod Buster black folding knife for $44 and the CRKT Stokes sharpener for $16. The knife has a 3-5/8” blade and is 4-5/8” when closed. The sharpener is the size of a flashdrive that also has a large key ring, bottle opener, and seatbelt cutter.

After opening both packages I found the first dull pencil I could find and followed instructions from the book How to Sharpen Pencils by David Rees. Not too shabby. So instead of buying disposable pencil sharpeners buy a good quality pocketknife and take good care of it.

Just don’t bring it at school, the courthouse, or airports.

#writing #knife #pencil #pocketknife #sharpener