Getting and Staying Focused

Getting and Staying Focused was Originally Posted on April 30, 2006 by lavarock

Deciding to move to Hawaii was a big decision for me. I knew that my life would be quite different. On the mainland I would often attend trade shows and events such as Hamfests and computer shows. When traffic would back up on the Interstate (which it did daily), I would zip around it by using back streets and I could tell you which lanes of a 6-lane road moved faster than others. Many of us drivers were focused on traffic patterns so we could shave minutes off our trip for each specific lane change we made at the appropriate time.

I am knee-deep so to speak, in the coffee industry. My dictionary defines a “beverage” as “Any one of various liquids for drinking, usually excluding water“, so you would think that a trade magazine calling itself “Beverage World” would cover the roasted coffee industry. However, it does not fit the focus of their magazine.

Perhaps they don’t because the coffee we produce is not “RTD” or what they call “Ready to Drink”. Oh, they cover liquids like bottles of tea and of course, bottles of soda, but not coffee itself. I KNOW they will cover the new Coke with coffee mixture. Many of the articles cover refrigerated trucks and GPS units and RFID tags to track shipments. I guess burlap bags of roasted beans are just not sexy! J

As you may know, many of us coffee farmers have joined a new group called the Kona Coffee Farmers Association after a number of big processors and blenders took over the previous group. They paid for hundreds of new memberships and rubber-stamped ballots to put their own people in charge. They wanted to own the council and they do. However, they were so focused on controlling the reigns of the organization that they overlooked a few facts. The people that they were pushing out of the way were the same ones who were doing all of the work!

They pushed aside the webmaster, the person writing the grants for funding, the people creating and managing the events and promotions… the list goes on. It only took a few days for these people to leave and the new board to realize that they were in knee-deep trouble. Many of us were encouraged (actually pleaded with) to remain and help.

They lost the vision that we were doing these jobs because we agreed with the goals and direction of the group. This is the very reason I moved to Hawaii. My previous company, Hewlett Packard, decided to hire a new CEO who proceeded to cut 1/3 of their workforce. Getting rid of 30,000 or more employees was NOT the best way to cut costs. Oh, they had a vision, but it was one-sided. Take for example the purchase of COMPAQ, which most employees were against. The CEO sends out an email to employees asking them to reply with their name, number of years with the company and what they think of the merger. Well let me tell you, replying to an internal email gives the person your first and last name. One good way to cut costs is by ridding the company of people who make the most money. Oftentimes they are the ones who have been there the longest and thus are also older than the average employee too.

So, when asked, we either did not reply or we lied. We were not going to raise a flag and add our names to the 30,000 or more who would be shown the door. Management did not think about how best to question the employees. Had they farmed out a survey to a 3rd party company, they might have gotten a more accurate answer to their question.

I know tow people who were recently offered the door rather than allowed to accumulate more time in their job. In both cases these people were let go without higher-ups knowing what they did on a day-to-day basis, or by having someone trained to take over the responsibilities of these exiting employees. It appears that oftentimes the idea of a takeover is more glorious than knowing the ramifications. Getting rid of the people who have the knowledge and getting rid of the people doing all of the work, is not in anyone’s best interest.

On another topic, I have a visitor headed to the islands for a visit. Actually, he too was a Hewlett Packard employee who was told he was no longer needed. Actually “needed” is not quite correct. I believe the company actually told the employees that they were no longer “wanted” rather than needed. At least that is what it seemed like to the exiting employees.

I wanted to move here, knowing full well that I needed to get rid of most of the things I had accumulated over my lifetime. Most of my hobbies and projects had been long neglected and I opted to stop worrying about finishing them knowing that if I had not yet had time for them, that fact would not change after my move J

Even so, I still shipped too many things and am continuing to sort and toss many things in the trash. With an impending visit, it is another reason to revisit the cleaning project. I am also painting the rest of the house. I had painted the two bedrooms a while back. I chose a brown but when mixed, turned out to be more green than brown. Still, the color makes the bedrooms look more formal. The color I chose for the living room was to be a bit brighter. I decided to bring a bit of orange into the paint to make the house a bit more tropical. The first choice of color turned out nice, but you could barely see any orange tint n the paint, except at sunset and the outside light diminished. However, it now appears as though the final shade I decided on is a bit brighter than I wanted. You really have to test paint walls to get a better idea of the result.

I continue to throw things out and finish the painting. It is boring and tedious but I know that I have yet another opportunity to get some things done. Knowing I have a deadline helps because my friend gets here Wednesday. The title and topic of this blog is foremost in my mind.

Get and stay focused!