Greetings

It's been pretty Anthony heavy round here so here's some Lorraine cheer for you. I signed her birthday card the other day and peeped at what people were writing in there.

Paul signed it twice by accident. Yvonne signed it after she took her happy pills.

Paul #1: Happy B-day Lorraine! Do something special for yourself

Paul #2: Dear Lorraine, Here is to a birthday and New Year bringing all your dreams coming true.

(wha?)

Yvonne: Lorraine, No words can express the happiness, joy, hope, fun and excitement that I wish for you on your special day! You deserve ALL of it. Here's looking to another wonderful year lead by you. Happy Birthday

Randoms:

"Happy Birthday to a very bright, dynamic, and sassy take charge woman. Keep wearing those caps and hats, and please keep leading us on."

"Oh! To be 39 again. Happy Birthday."

"I would have guessed 29. Have a great bday"

Dynamic Communication

I told you there would be more this week. Anthony is the gift that keeps giving. To provide some context before showing you the prize that is his latest email, I'll tell you where this came from. The other day he came to me to run an idea by me. I want to state for the record, that in response to his idea of taking our clients shopping at Costco I was very supportive. I do actually think it's a good idea. My only remarks were that it would be a lot of work to get together in a short period of time and that I wanted to hear more about what other people thought of it. I also told him that I did not want to be responsible for the actual field trips to the store, or organizing of clients because I don't have the time right now. I did say that I would be very willing to help plan the logistics. So here's his email explaining his idea. Make sure you click on the chart link to get the full impact of his message.

From: Anthony
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 5:23 PM
To: Management

Subject: Food Banks

Hello _________,

You may be reading this message after your vacation. Welcome back!

So you may be aware that as a result of the current economic crisis food banks are having a really hard time providing food for people in need – specially during the holidays. There was a really interesting broadcast on this the other day on NPR.

So I was thinking about the impact that this situation may have on our client population, and I wanted to throw out the following brainstorming idea:

Our agency has a Costco card, which enables us to purchase products (food and otherwise) by bulk at a reduced price (due to large volume).

Our clients may 1. Not have the ability to purchase at costo, and 2. Need the large amounts of products that Costco sells.

So I was wondering if we could act as a facilitator for the bulk/communal purchasing of products at costco that may help clients in need for food who may not be able to access this help elsewhere.

I don’t know if this is something you would want to help facilitate, or if we can get a client to lead the process, or maybe our OT staff, a volunteer, I don’t know, I ran it by [Quietly Malcontent] and she didn’t sound super excited, but it may be something that falls under your guys’ realm, and that may be more beneficial for clients if we act quickly before the holidays.

The idea is (attempted to be) explained in the chart below:

- Clients gather and put a shopping list together, and come up with a budget.

- Our agency helps with the purchasing at costco

- Bulk items get spread apart and distributed in smaller quantities among clients participating

- That’s it.

Let me know what you think,

-Anthony

His chart

So yeah. This is another example of his dynamic communication that includes visual elements. It seems we should all expect charts, graphs, or tables with every email and meeting from here on out. It's the new way.

He has also taken it upon himself to use every interaction as a "teaching moment" (also a phrase he has been throwing around a lot lately). Without this email I would never have known we were in the middle of an economic crisis. I'm so grateful that because Anthony listens to public radio and keeps informed about things, that he can pass that information on to a peon like me who has absolutely no grasp on current events in my own country.

The other thing I learned, and again, I am so incredibly appreciative of this, is what Costco is all about. These last few years I've been hearing about it, and even going there sometimes, but I didn't get why people shop there. I mean, now with this concise definition of what Costco enables us to do and why it is sometimes cheaper, it has blown open so many doors for me. Someone I showed this email to said "I used to just go there for the free samples. But now I totally get it." I couldn't agree more! Teaching moment indeed.

And then there's the chart. I don't even know what to say about it. The word "nonsense" comes to mind. And.... that's about it. If you're going to sit around and play with Microsoft Paint, great, have fun, I like it too. But when you're trying to actually make something useful, that conveys a specific idea, you might want to think it through. What does this chart even mean?

Once again Anthony, you have just hit it out of the park with your total fucking absurdity. Keep it coming. We all love the laughs.

It didn't stop there though. Because that person he addressed in his email as not being "super excited" was ME! So naturally I was, again, annoyed at his shoddy way of calling someone out in a group email. And not only calling someone out, but being completely inaccurate! I mean, were we not in the same conversation together the day before he wrote this?

So I emailed him.

From: Q.M.
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 11:43 AM
To: Anthony
Subject: RE: Food Banks

Anthony,

As I said yesterday, I think this is a great idea and I would be happy to help you plan the logistics of it. I'm a little bit confused and mildly insulted at your comment about me not being "super excited." I don't understand why you felt the need to make such a comment. I was only being honest with you about the fact that at this time, with about a million things to do before the end of this year, that I don't have the time or energy to actually take the clients out on a trip. I'm sorry if that did not translate correctly to you, but I do think your idea is good. Hopefully this clarifies my opinion on the matter.

Thanks.

So of course it can't just stop there. Like every other time anyone expresses annoyance or even just plain honesty to him he writes it off as a misunderstanding.

From: Anthony
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 12:04 PM
To: Q.M.
Subject: RE: Food Banks

I’m sorry my comment translated this way to you. We’re obviously reading it differently.

Since this situation relates to ‘e-mail’ communication, I rather talk about this in person to prevent further miscommunications, if you don’t mind.

I’ll come by your desk to see if you’re available when I have a quick breath.

Thanks,

- Anthony

So it's my fault that I took Anthony's shitty comment in a shitty way. How many times does he need to hear that he should work on his communication?! How many ways can it be said and by how many different people? So I tried to just ignore this email, because frankly, I just want to let it go. But now he's making me meet with him today to talk about this. I smell another blog right around the corner. I will keep you all posted.

This is a doozy

Friends,

It has been a wicked awesome week around here. Let me just tell you (and show you with visual elements!)

So we're doing this thing here now where we get to evaluate our supervisor. You basically fill out a survey and turn it in and your supervisor has to show it to their boss, and then also discuss the survey with you directly.

Guess who was recently evaluated?! Anthony! And guess what I have to show you?! His responses, neatly contained in a chart that he created in order to directly address some points that were made in the survey.

Page 1

Page 2

When you click on those, if they're too small, you should be able to click on the image and zoom in. I don't have a whole lot to add about these works of art. I just really really hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did!