jeff pruett's blog

Sportsmanship

pruett32 — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:56:31 +0000

I stumbled upon this article today: an incredible example of good sportsmanship displayed by high school players and their coaches. If only our professional and olympic athletes showed such character. I know there are a few examples of good character at the heights of sports, but so many seem to be so fixated on winning that they blur lines that should never be blurred. This article is an example of honoring the correct lines.

http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/basketball/boys/news/story?id=3914375

My hope is that our generation can embrace examples like these and strive to live lives of deep character. I firmly believe that performance will follow, and be sustainable if we put character first in our decision making and day to day behavior.

Email Traffic Report

pruett32 — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:59:20 +0000

For the third year in a row, I’ve decided to track the number of emails I send and recieve at work. For context, I rarely delete emails, get very little spam, and commit to reading almost every email I receive (in 2008, I left about 60 emails unread).

Here are the final numbers for 2008:

Number of Emails Received in 2008: 12,517
Number of Emails Written in 2008: 3,383

Given an average of 200 workdays per year, this works out to about 63 messages received each day, and 17 messages written…

Here’s my stats from 2007 and 2006:

Number of Emails Received in 2007: 15,649
Number of Emails Written in 2007: 3,428

Number of Emails Received in 2006: 13,759
Number of Emails Written in 2006: 4,352

It will be interesting to watch as the data changes the next couple of years. Is the decline in emails sent each year a product of my learning to only send email when it is the best medium for the task? Or am I crafting emails in such a way that follow-up emails are required less frequently? Or is there some other environmental factor at play?

Regardless of the reasons that may have driven my email traffic down last year, I’m still reading and writing email as the primary tool in my day to day work.

Washington Trip

pruett32 — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:29:28 +0000

We spent the last several days in Washington state. We came up to see my wife’s cousin get married, which she did successfully, and we watched successfully. The wedding was outdoors and the setting was very pretty. The ground was still wet, so after a while things got a little muddy.

Isaac was hilarious. He was dancing and spinning and running around the whole time. Which means Kristen and I were too as we tried to keep up with him! He loved playing with all of his cousins throughout the weekend - and it was fun to see him interact with everyone.

We fly home today, and I’m certainly ready to be home. Family visits are fun, and this one was very nice, but home is still home.

Quote on Loyalty

pruett32 — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:09:17 +0000

People respond with loyalty to those who invest in them.
–John Maxwell

Quote on Effective Leadership

pruett32 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:28:37 +0000

Demonstrate your confidence in your people by giving them the freedom to do the job you hired them to do. Be like jockey Willie Shoemaker. He’s the best in the business because he has the lightest touch on the reins. They say the horse never knows he’s there - unless he’s needed.
H. Mackay, Swim With the Sharks

Habits

pruett32 — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:38:06 +0000

It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them
Benjamin Franklin

Email Traffic Report

pruett32 — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:34:46 +0000

I started a tradition last year of assessing the amount of email traffic I had read and created at work over the past year. I’ve always rotated my email at the end of the year to archive the previous year’s significant and insignificant messages… but last year was the first time I’d really taken stock of the sheer volume of messages.

The numbers aren’t perfect - I delete a lot of email, and don’t keep junk mail. However, as I reviewed the results this year, I was amazed I had reduced the number of messages I sent while receiving significantly more email than the prior year.

Here’s my stats from 2007:

Number of Emails Received in 2007: 15,649
Number of Emails Written in 2007: 3,428

Given an average of 200 workdays per year, this works out to 78 messages received each day, and 17 messages written…

Compare this to my stats from 2006:

Number of Emails Received in 2006: 13,759
Number of Emails Written in 2006: 4,352

No wonder I’m tired at the end of the day!

Reading Resolution

pruett32 — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:32:03 +0000

As far as resolutions go for the new year, I like to assess my reading from the previous year, and set new goals for the next year. Other than that, my New Year’s resolutions tend to be limited and short term/measurable.

Last year, I read the following books. As usual, about 5 books I planned to read fell off my list, and were replaced by others that were more timely.

Next Generation Leadership - Stanley, Andy
Sudden Impact at the Top - Quandt, Susan
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Covey, Stephen
Death by Meeting - Lencioni, Patrick
A Guide to Christian Ambition - Hewitt, Hugh
A Testimony of Devotion - Thomas Kelly
The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable - Lencioni, Patrick
Velvet Elvis - Bell, Rob
StrengthsFinder 2.0 - Rath, Tom
Grace Walk - McVey, Steve
About My Father’s Business - Campbell, Regi
Kite Runner - Hosseini, Khaled
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Rawlings, J.K.

My goal was 12 books, and I completed 13! Woohoo!

In 2008, I plan to read at least 15 books. Currently, my reading plan looks like this:

First, Break All the Rules, Buckingham
Stone Cold, Baldacci
Swim with the Sharks, Mackay
Wooden on Leadership, Wooden
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe
Life @ Work, Maxwell
Next, Crichton
Bringing Up Boys, Dobson
Principle Centered Leadership, Covey
Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, Lencioni
Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Tripp
Team of Rivals, Goodwin
The Practice of Management, Drucker
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Maxwell
The Bible, God

I’m excited about every book on the list - so I think there’s a strong chance I’ll complete the list this year.

Patton on Planning

pruett32 — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:50:12 +0000

A good plan executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.
General George S. Patton, Jr.

Hmmm

pruett32 — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 05:30:21 +0000

It has been waaay too long since I last posted. Life has hit the accelerator and blogging has been the last thing on my mind. Family is good - Isaac and Kristen keep me busy. Isaac’s been learning new words practically daily, and amazing us with how smart he is. I know every parent thinks their child is exceptional - and I’m no different.

Work is good. I’ve been taking on some new responsibilities that are a stretch for me - so I’m glad for the challenge. Morale is hit and miss. With our contract wrapping up, there’s some natural uncertainty for folks as to the stability of their jobs. I think the company is doing the best we can to take care of folks, but there are also areas where we could do better.

Church has been keeping me busy as well. I’m leading the high school class on Sunday mornings and coordinating all of the small groups and their leaders during the week. I keep getting asked to help in other areas, but realize my plate is very full at the moment.

Anyway. Drop me an email if you want to catch up. No promises I’ll publish with great frequency here - but I’d like to get a picture or two up soon.

Later,
~J