My good friend needed someone to lay down tracks for a Halloween party
at his restaurant.

This particular party is promising to be a little nuts. Hopefully I
can keep the karaoke flowing smooth. I'm pretty sure the dance session
will go off alright.

If you can't MC a good costume contest wearing a nun's habit, you need
to hang up your mic and phones.

Have a great Halloween everyone!

After screwing up the date of the show, I had a chance to see the
Kooks with my buddy Josh at the ShowBox SoDo.

The opener put us both to sleep but gave us time to put away some
drinks and catch up.

The Kooks are pretty rockin' even if their lyrics are infantile from
time to time.

Bottom line: good night out and a fun show.

If you want to get things started make sure you have a Philly boy and
some west coast kids.

Add 3 chicks from Kansas and and 3 from L.A. add several fifths of
vodka, two bottles of Jagger and a ridiculous amount of tequila. Chill
for while in the room then hit an empty club and take it over.

When the music starts and margaritas are disappearing, you'll get to
watch the a Jrock on a Nordic track and an Evan swinging from the A
tree.

The stories on the night after are worth any embarassment and mayhem
from the night before.

After a crazy weekend involving things way to personal and
unbelievable to put in such a public forum, I was able to attend
another great show at The Triple Door.

I was very honored to have the always immaculate Lolly as my escort
this particular evening. She is fantastic company and a remarkably
articulate comversationalist. If you have the pleasure, steep long in
it. If not, find a way to know this amazing individual.

Afterwards, as I was looking forward to a good night early to bed, I
was happily surprised to find out I finally had a chance to see
Michael Harper live. He played a late show at Tost in Fremont and his
loyal and significant fan base was in force.

I waded through the crowd and managed to find a seat by Angela who
insisted on buying me drinks. Who knew a Hemingway Daquiri was so
popular?

As I lost myself in the muse that is Michael Harper, I realized I
needed to let those of you who've been trying to get a hold of him
know you missed a great show.

Well done Michael.

An underrated band I really enjoy, they opened really high energy and
haven't slowed.

Tonight I was lucky enough to have my good friend Danny with me.

He's not emo like I tend to be, but he's a Weezer fan and all around
good company. I'll miss him when he moves.

Check this tour out when they come to your town!

The past couple weeks I've been having many conversations with employees about career planning and their future growth. As I was thinking back and reflecting I noticed a recurring thing that was worth discussing.

Generally speaking, people tended to focus on the specific skills (or in this case technologies) as a means to differentiate and advance themselves. They pick an area of their behavior they want to work on and create a plan for how they might get better at such a thing. For instance, they might desire to work with a particular product, or in a particular industry. The more time they've spent and the more competent in their technical skills, they more they tend to look at the softer side. For instance, they might want to focus on leadership positions, or managing teams of a particular size. Regardless of their intent, they generally try to find a behavior or a skill that they can practice and demonstrate proficiency with. This is all well and good.

The slant I've been thinking about are those who are the more successful. Especially those of indeterminate specialty and generic capability. How do the mediocre continue to be successful and advance? How can they progress without ever refining specific behaviors and skills to a level superior of those around them? Simply put, they don't work on the skills, they work on their environment.

Inherently, the successful team leaders have demonstrated through their successes that it is less about personal ability, and more about the abilities of those they work with. By matching themselves with like-minded people, they increase their productivity, compensate for weaknesses, and enjoy more consistent performance. In the marketplace today, consistency is often worth more than risky potential regardless of promised returns.

To be clear, this isn't about delegation, or choosing team members or the usual obvious tripe. It is much less about how you manage downward and instead about how you manage your peers, customers, and those above you. Recognizing when an environment doesn't match your working style is certainly one part of a successful career path. Being aware when an organizational structural supports your ideals is another. The oldest tigers are the ones that don't just hunt well. They know how to avoid the traps as well as the over-populated areas of the jungle. They know how to back down from a fight, and when a territory no longer supports their needs.

None of us are perfect. But given a supportive organization structure, a means of interaction that supports our style, and responsibility that matches our accountability, even those with mediocre ability can be very successful.

Just look at McDonalds. Lowest skilled worker, a smooth organizational machine, and they deliver a consistent product.

So the next time you're thinking about which behavior of yours that you would like to perfect, spare a moment and look around at your environment. Consider if changing who you work for, or who you work with, might not unlock more of your potential and let the skills you do have, really shine.

I've been fighting a bit of a cold but tonight I tossed it all to the
wind to go out with my friend and catch a show.

Maybe it was just in honor of my brothers birthday, but I wanted to
feel a little social and alive tonight.

Have you ever just felt that need to get out and be a real person for
a while?

I recommend a show at the ShowBox to restore your spirits and sense of
being alive.

Anyone volunteer to help me pull myself together again tomorrow?

Our gang wanted to try something new last night. So we go someplace
we've never been. A place with culture and fun people. And drinks. And
hookah. And dancing. Can't forget the dancing.

It started with Danny and I at happy hour at Umi. The G&T's put me
under so I ended up napping at 8pm while Jereme and Josh snuck out for
gyros. 3 hours and two hookahs later everyone has arrived and the
place is blowing up.

Net result? Two friends get kicked out of bars, Josh insults a random
lady who comes home with us, we lose 3 credit cards and a drivers
license.

Our house looks like we got robbed, I awake to Danny yelling for Lolly
to make breakfast and Josh is playing guitar on my bed. Beautiful.

Oh and we won the dance competition.

Just another Friday night. Keeping things mellow.