Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Butterfly vs. The Mule

As always, I am trying to find ways to work with Dave. (Those of you who are new to my blog should know that Dave is my father and I work for him.) So, when I get frustrated, I often times email my friend, Kate, who has worked here and has known Dave for 20 years. Kate is funny with her advice and usually hits the problem dead-on with some hilarious analogy. As usual, she came through for me.

To set up the scene -- I've been trying to get Dave into this century. For example - getting him to use LinkedIn - remembering his password is an issue, using his cell phone besides when he’s in his car – it works at lunch too, and just changing a little bit - Dave just a little bit, please. Basically, the same old fight we've been having every year.

So as a company, we are moving out of a sole focus in the Real Estate industry and into other areas. I’m trying to drag him along but he’s kicking and screaming. So I emailed Kate and this is the response I got, “There is definitely work out there, you just have to be flexible, able to adjust on the fly and go after it. Uhhhh...well....that didn't really describe Dave at all these days, now did it? Sounds like the start of your first online blog argument with dear ol' dad! The butterfly vs. the mule! He can't actually kick you, but man he ain't goin' anywhere. He can carry a lot and you can see at the 20,000 foot level.”

So there we go. She summed it up. I’m running around at 20,000 ft. looking forward, moving forward and he’s still hanging out at the barn kickin’ and braying. Maybe we can get our mule working with the butterfly – any ideas?