Month: September 2013

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Square Wheels Vs Square Watermelons

Once upon a time, someone had an idea.  Complaints raged of sore arms and backs as people tried to move things solely by carrying them, no matter how heavy or awkwardly bulky they were.  There had to be a better way!  What if a platform could rest on a framework suspended off the ground on rotating circles?  And the wheel was invented.  The wheel has been around for a long time.  But not all wheels are the same.  The wheel has evolved and transformed and takes many forms.  There is even a new evolution of wheel that does not go flat.  The wheel is not going away anytime soon. 

Enter the watermelon.  Watermelons are round.  They are water balloons with a hard shell.  They roll and when set on a counter without perfect balance, find out that kitchen floors are quite unforgiving.  This is your brain.  This is your brain when you roll off the counter.  There had to be a better design! 
A few years back, Japanese watermelon farmers decided the answer was to make some square watermelons.  They could be packed and stacked, virtually eliminating wasted space in storage bins and on grocer’s shelves and they would not roll off and crack their noggins on the floor!  So a process was devised where juvenile watermelons were placed inside square glass or acrylic containers to grow.  As they grew, they assumed the square shape of the container.  It was important to choose the right size box because if it was too big, the watermelon would not fill it up and take its shape. On the other hand, if it was too small, the watermelon would not have room to grow and could start to wither.

square watermelon history

To acquire the right functionality of the wheel, or to acquire the desired shape of the watermelon requires a few steps:

1.  Figure out that what you presently have is not exactly what you need.
2.  Decide exactly what you actually do need.
3.  Figure out how to get from what you have to what you need.
4.  Obtain the necessary tools to achieve your goal.
5.  Apply the tools to change what you have to what you need.
6.  Utilize your final product to accomplish what you needed it for.
7.  If this final product is no longer exactly what you need, repeat these steps.

Even the greatest, most useful processes, objects, tools we use should be subjected to review and change sometimes.  If you can say, “there must be a better way!” or “there must be a better design!”, go through this process.  It is likely the wheel didn’t start off square…who would have ever thought that would have been a good idea?  But, what if it was the prototype?  Then today’s wheel would be proof positive that someone knew there was a better design and changed it!

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Hooray for Type B Personalities!

I admit it.  I’m not a Type A personality.  I’m not an alpha dog.  I don’t command a conversation, don’t lead the charge, don’t dominate anything I’m involved in.  Being a Type B personality is an extra challenge as an officer in the military that I have on top of everything else.  I have been an officer for two and a half years, and I have to share what realizations I have come to, some of them fairly recently.
I bet you never thought about what a Type B personality does when they are in a leadership position and have to manage some Type A’s.  I am blessed with at least 4 Type A’s on my team right now, not to mention just about every medical provider is a Type A.  The first instinct for me is PURE PANIC–throw hot coffee in their faces and RUN!!!  My instinctual response includes feelings of inadequacy, unpreparedness, and a resolution of failure.  So, how in the world do I survive this??
Everyone, no matter what your personality type, has a talent for something…a relevant contribution for the team.  I care deeply about the team and team building.  I believe that if people know how to work together, they can accomplish anything.  When I first arrived at Incirlik, my initial focus was to get my face out there, associated with my role in the clinic.  For this Type B, I knew that if I started with establishing a good report with people, it would make teamwork cooperation a little bit easier.  This way, I get to know what motivates people, learn their unique communication styles and better yet, what causes them to withdraw.  These are key elements for Type B’s if they hope to make any kind of impact in a leadership position.  Of course, it is important to be genuine.  A Type B’s most compelling asset is authentic sincerity.
The second thing I had to do, and quickly, I might add, was engage with the Type A’s by clearly communicating that I must be in the loop on all matters in my purview.   If this is clear, it frees up the Type A’s to charge ahead, unfettered, and allow the Type B leader to maintain a semblance of order and the ability to direct.  It shows respect for another’s abilities.  It makes me feel like a 10-year old flying an F16.  It puts me on top of the world!
I still struggle with trying to find my voice in a world where Type A personalities rule.  It seems so effortless for them to command, control, conquer.  It would seem like an option to just learn how to be a Type A and walk away from the woes of Type B leadership.  My response to that is NO.  It really does take all kinds.  Imagine a world where you only have one personality type.  At best, we would all be going around in circles really fast!
I enjoy working with different personalities…even when it is a challenge.  It grows me as a leader, a team member, a human being.  I celebrate my own personality…hooray for Type B’s!

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A Tribute To My Dad…Ron Geheb

On the occasion of his birthday (20 Sep), I wanted to share a few things with everyone about the greatest human being I have ever known.  It has been almost 2 years since he passed away, and I miss him so much.  As you all know, my birthday is tomorrow.  My dad and I would celebrate our birthdays together since they were only a day apart.  After I moved out of the house, he and my mom would always call me up on my birthday and sing the entire “Happy Birthday” song, complete with “keep coming back” at the end.  I don’t think I can tell you about the last time he sang to me.  It is still too painful a memory and I am not ready to share it.

Rholin Augustine Geheb was born in Arkadelphia, Arkansas on September 20, 1932.  One of I think 9 children, son of a farmer.  He told me of days he would go out to the pasture early in the morning, barefoot, burying his toes in a warm pile of cow manure, singing “Don’t Fence Me In”.  He sang it occasionally when he was older, sans the cow manure.  Now, that song somehow breaks my heart and makes me smile at the same time.

I was actually 13 when my mom and Ron got married.  Furthermore, he adopted me when I was 18 as an adult consent adoption.  I became a Geheb at 18 years of age.  Yes, he was my step-dad.  Honestly, the only regret I have is that I referred to him as “my dad” to everyone else, yet never called him Dad to his face.  If I could go back, I would have called him Dad.  He never actually had kids of his own, and I was an only child, so he got to experience all of my teenage angst right out of the gate.  We had some moments, but nothing significant.  He loved me just right, as his daughter. 

He served in the Air Force, stationed at Tuley, Greenland as a heating technician.  Back then, the Air Force would allow you to get a GED while you served, and that’s what he had to do.  He was trained in his trade and later on, after a stint as a realtor and broker, he worked Ron’s Repair Service and utilized his Air Force training once again.  After I graduated high school, I attended a community college for a year and then joined the Air Force myself as an Airman (one stripe).  Ron was so proud.  I was proud to follow in his footsteps in service to my country.

Along the way, I got married and had my first child, my parents’ first grandchild, Brandon.  I’m just going to come out and say it…the unwritten rule is that grandparents aren’t supposed to play favorites, but hands down to the very end, Brandon was my dad’s favorite grandchild.  Not being blood relation meant absolutely nothing.  Brandon was his grandson from day one.  

Let it be known before I go any further, that Ron was a man of God.  No one who came in contact with him could deny that.  My parents lived in Arizona, and my dad had to go to Iowa to attend a funeral of his brother’s wife.  He stopped in St Louis and came over for a visit when we lived in Belleville.  He got to meet Katelyn for the first time.  She was still a little thing.  He never did get to see her very big.  He told Jeff that his flight was great because he got a middle seat.  Most people would think that was horrible, but not my dad.  He loved it because for the entire flight, he got to talk to not one, but TWO people about Jesus.  That is the kind of man of God he was.

I was stationed in Colorado in Aurora before coming here to Turkey, and my parents intention was to visit us in Colorado.  My dad never got to.  His health had deteriorated too much by then.  I did get to go out to Reno where they were staying at the time and see him one last time a few months before he passed.  Thank you, Jeff, for talking me into going.  To see him in such a physical state was a little hard to take, but I am so glad to have gotten to see him one last time.

My mom did make the trip and stayed with us the following summer.  We laid my dad to rest in the Denver VA Cemetery.  He would have loved the view from on top of that hill, overlooking a bit of the landscape, complete with a church steeple with a giant cross on top.  We had “Praise the Lord” engraved on his tombstone.  That’s what he said.  That’s how he lived.  Always in praise of Lord of Life.

I also wish he could have come to Turkey to visit.  I never even got to tell him I was going to come here.  He would have been so excited.  He would have loved to see the seven churches, Tarsus, the Mediterranean Sea.  All I want to do is sit here at home and shut myself off from the world because it is all too different to me.  He could have talked me out of that.  He was always the one I went to when I was “stuck”.

You can’t begin to know how difficult this all was to type.  The memories are all so bittersweet.  The loss gets relived with each word.  Yet, I know where he resides nowadays.  People say, “Well, he/she is smiling down on you from heaven.”  I apologize to everyone who draws comfort from such visions of their heavenly loved ones, but that is not true.  The Bible says they are feasting and worshiping the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords in that heavenly location.  And trust me, it is a good time.  But, if he could “look down on me”, I would hope that he is still proud of me and aware of how much he is missed and loved.  If he were still with us here on earth, I would say, “Happy Birthday, Dad.  I love you so much I can’t stand it!”