Remembering 9/11: 2026-Teaching the Children...

Where were you on the morning of September 11th, 2001? Everyone seems to remember...

On a cool sky blue morning, 25 years ago in Northern Virginia, we are sitting in a Reston Town Center Hyatt hotel restaurant having breakfast around 8:00AM with a business colleague. A little over 40 minutes into our discussion, we heard some people talking quite loud in the bar next to us as they were then watching CNN to see the World Trade Center Twin Towers attack. As cell phones rang around us, they were all loved ones checking in and urging us to hurry home.

Walking to the parking lot, the proximity of our kids elementary school and middle school to the CIA campus created a feeling of great internal anxiety and it soon turned to fear.

Unknown to us at that moment, five terrorists were also onboard American Airlines Flight 77 that had already departed from Dulles (IAD) at 8:20AM headed to Los Angeles (LAX).

Little did we know that the AAL77 hijackers onboard that Boeing 757 flight had slept the night before a half mile from us in a Herndon, VA motel.  30 or so minutes into the flight over Ohio, with the terrorists now in control and the aircraft transponder off, it would make its turn back to Washington, DC to attack the West side of the Pentagon at 9:37AM.

We could now see the smoke rising in the distance on the Eastern horizon.

What this September 11th day is about every year beyond these memories, is the renewed vow of vigilance. A time to revisit all the reasons why you have made the decisions you have since that Tuesday morning twenty-five years ago. Never Forget that day. Never Forget why you wake each morning.

9/11 vigilance is about being adaptive. It is about resilience.

For those of us who have never paid the same price as those who have served, supported and are the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters or relatives of those who have, we can never know or really feel what they have. We can only pledge our vigilance in continuing our respective missions.

Most of all. The mission is not America's alone and the entire planet understands this. As they teach the history of 9/11 in the schools of New York City, Haiti, Chile, Pakistan, India and even Saudi Arabia, what do you think the lesson is about?

If it is not about vigilance and resilience, then we are doing our children a disservice. We must be preparing them for the future threats that this globe will be facing in the years and decades before us.

Whether it is the wrath of "Mother Nature" or the evil planning of AI or ordinary people does not matter. We can never predict exactly the day the hour or when and where the next attack will occur. Whether it will impact our buildings, bridges, rivers, schools or the Internet is unknown.

If all of us on this 3rd rock from the sun, have done our job teaching our kids about “Vigilance and “Resilience”, then we should all be able to have a peaceful nights sleep. Devoid of nightmares.

Remember that Tuesday in September across the globe, for the lessons we have all learned since that infamous day in New York City, Washington, DC and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

For the children, teach them the truth…

USA 250: Trusted Decisions…

 Over the course of the past week navigating new neighborhoods in Virginia and old hiking trails near Great Falls on the Potomac River, the thoughts of 250 years as the United States of America (USA) was evident.

When you are watching the grand display of Fire Works on July 4th…what do you think about?

Our country remains increasingly resilient and our continuous mission remains so relevant.

We have supported the foundation of our “Founding Fathers” hopes and prayers for the past (250 x 365) 91,250 days.

Each day the sun rises across our 50 states of America, we know we have made the rest of the world curious about our history.

When you are old enough, you must read about our history.  You must have the true context of our days before the document was created and agreed upon.

The “Declaration Of Independence” has been studied for 250 years.  It remains our mission forever.

Watching the flowing water of the Potomac River in Great Falls, VA and thinking about all that has been created, discovered and protected as a result of one document, is simply faithful.

You and your life here, is all up to you.

The decisions you make everyday in the USA will provide you with all that you were destined to become here.

Looking back on your particular journey so far, have your life “Trusted Decisions”provided you with all that you have ever dreamed of…

Why?

On July 5th, as you enter your own particular place of Worship somewhere across your town in the United States of America, look up…

Godspeed!

Starfish: A Community of Resilience...

When is the last time you were in an environment where trust was implicit?  A place where the people you were working along side, shared a unity of purpose and a single mission.

Once you experience this, it is forever engraved in your mind and felt deep in your soul.  A “Starfish Community”, walking together with such a high degree of mutual trust, it will endure and remain resilient against all "Operational Risks" that may be encountered.

Enabled by the wisdom and thinking from Rod Beckstrom and Ori Brafman's book "Starfish and the Spider:  The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations, https://a.co/d/02sW1By3 the "Starfish Community" is growing rapidly across the globe.

A group of decentralized networks that are able to work without hesitancy and with moral courage.  It does not matter if the model is used on the battlefield or in business, the desired outcomes are the same.

The ability for the Starfish Community to evolve, adapt and to consistently execute against its agreed upon mission manifests itself in terrorist acts and simultaneously in humanitarian and disaster response.

The ability for the human race to at one moment be so evil and at the same moment so forgiving and good, will continue to amaze us all.

The business world evolves around us with mergers and acquisitions, incidents of fraud and corruption while a silent and clandestine army of cyber warriors wage conflict on our critical infrastructure and copy or steal our intellectual assets.

The ability for the "Starfish Community" to survive in the virtual environment of the AI Internet is no different than the cities who have encountered natural disasters such as Earthquakes or Typhoons.

This is why Wikipedia and other “Open Source” projects are able to continuously adapt, grow and survive the threats or vulnerabilities to this resilient and self-healing network.

A crisis appears in your business only when you are unable to adapt and withstand the impact of the virtual or physical forces thrust upon you.

"Whether it is the economic well being of the U.S. or the privacy laws in Europe.  The shock wave of a VBIED or insider threat."

Your organization could reach an Operational Risk crisis state, if you have not embraced the architecture of the "Starfish Community”.

Learn from the best on how to withstand the test of time and and all that humanity has in store for us.

And to all of those who are on the front lines of crisis everyday.  God Speed.  You know who you are…

Life Journey: Mission Accomplished...

  Remember that particular time and place when you were sitting with family having a coffee or “Hugo Spritz” enjoying the new mission view?

Then it comes over you and that feeling of peace and joy is joined by a few small tear drops…as you lift your sun glasses to wipe them away, and you say a short silent prayer.

Your current happiness and thankfulness is what this life is all about.  After so many years of hard work, challenges at home and in your career it all seems unreal.

You are now on a new mission with your long loved spouse to live your life dreams and explore new experiential learning.

Whether it is in the cities along the rivers in foreign countries or in the mountains in your own USA state does not matter.  Get out there!

"If you are exploring new places, new cultures and establishing new Relationships on your journeys  you are well on your way to continued Results and new Rewards (R3)."

Think back on all the hours you worked and were clocking out after the sun went down in another city.

What about all the quiet hours on airplanes or hotel rooms on weekly travel all alone.

It is now time to focus on what and who you truly love.  To enjoy your new found life experiences and to be so grateful each day.

Think about how you got here and who was by your side each time you were challenged or celebrated.

The older you get in life the more you realize that someone is watching over you.

Experiential learning begins to develop new disciplines and skills that will forever assist you in your life.

What will you learn and who will you learn with?

Surround yourself with all the right people that already have the skills you are pursuing and you will soon achieve the results you are after.

REPEAT.

After enough exercises, evolutions, classes, hops, billets, missions or sessions the rewards will start to appear.

LEARN.

Utilize these rewards in such ways that you are continuously investing them for the future.

REPEAT.

Now look out at your view today and take another sip on that drink.  Raise your cup and look up…

Team Mission: Trusted Community...

Just when you think you know it all, you realize that your graduation or promotion is nothing more than a stepping stone in your next phase of your life.

You begin to realize that the experience and the education is vital, yet you only have a glimpse at the value of the entire community.

How will you know your wing man or your class mates even better than you do today?

Your mission now is to continuously grow your relationships within your latest trusted community.

You might begin with a regular monthly meeting online and then add Face-to-Face gatherings every other month.

In both cases you learn your community members names, you begin to know their real expertise and you start the process of building your growing trust.

Imagine for a moment that some in your trusted community will ask you curious questions about your upbringing, where you grew up or what your focus is currently.

Over the course of your time with your community you start to become more genuine, more open to sharing your true thoughts and bold ideas.

Your levels of "TrustDecisions" are becoming exponential.

We are embedded with our end-users listening and learning. We are testing hypotheses and working side-by-side while continuously adapting to ever changing problem-sets, to improve and become more agile.

We are developing new solutions, iteratively and incrementally with our beneficiary clients.

So what?

You now begin to realize who you can really trust and the true value of the time and resources dedicated to your community.

Now is the time to learn again and to seek that next stepping stone towards your next life milestone.

Accomplish it together, not “Alone”. Your community is growing with you and your dreams will soon become even more true…

TrustDecisions: A "New" Innovative Future...

During this “Holy Week” in the USA, what shall you have learned about your new future?

What decisions have you recently made, that will change your life forever?

Before you were mature enough to truly understand what “Trust” means in the course of your relationships, you relied on someones tone of voice, their behavior and perhaps even a smile.

As time goes on and you immerse yourself in exponential new experiences, meet new people and endure real life challenges, your definition of “Trust” will gradually change:

• Every transaction creating wealth first requires an affirmative decision to trust.
• Building trust creates new wealth.
• Sustaining trust creates recurring wealth.
• Achieving trust superior to your competition achieves market dominance.
• Leadership rises (or falls) based on trust (or the absence of trust).

Jeffrey Ritter - Page 35 - Achieving Digital Trust

“Trust Decisions” are now your focus:

Trust decisions are the most complex computations possible. Yet trust decisions have consistency, design, and structure that are possible to visualize and express with remarkable congruity, regardless of the complexity of the variables or the time during which a trust decision must be completed.

Trust decisions, properly executed, take account of the circumstances in which you are about to act; the qualities of the person, thing, or information on which you intend to rely; and the value you intend to invest, and realize, from giving your trust.

Jeffrey Ritter - Page 50 - Achieving Digital Trust

Now after your proactive actions, how will you proceed in pursuit of your latest

“TrustDecisions" ?

Your new future and true destiny shall reveal itself in the days and years ahead of you.

You shall continuously pursue it with the following innovation process:

• Map / Target
• Sketch / Solution
• Decide
• Prototype

Learn and repeat this process in order to create new innovative wealth…both personally and professionally!

Godspeed…

The Third Alternative: A Precarious Future...

"If we really believe what we say we believe- if we really think that home is elsewhere and that this life is a "wandering to find home", why should we not look forward to the arrival. There are, aren't there, only three things we can do about death: to desire it, to fear it, or to ignore it. The third alternative, which is the one the modern world calls "healthy" is surely the most uneasy and precarious of all." — C.S. Lewis (Letters to an American Lady)

How will your life change, now that she is gone and she is truly home?

Have faith in the journey ahead with the confidence she is safe, sound and secure forever.

Your mission forward shall be to explore your own course of activities and actions to continue to give back. To invest in those new people who need you most now.

You see, your mission ahead is to find ways to help others you care about who can thrive from your advice. Your love. Your experience.

Relationships. >>>>> Results. >>>>> Rewards.

Find the time to build on your relationships with others and to increase the true value of the relationship mutually.

The increased value of the relationship will take time to discover and yet the trust and sharing will produce the most favored results.

Count the results and realize what and how the results will continue forward in time. Analyze the results and determine the changes that might be necessary.

Feel and process the rewards. Cherish the time and feelings you now have earned.

Look up...

Recognize that your time and your efforts are valuable and that it all begins with the “relate.”

You know, the way you behave initially with that person each time, to further build the relationship.

Your words and your actions collaborating with others shall provide you with the ongoing satisfaction and desirable outcomes you shall always seek.

Continue to cherish those Relationships, Results and Rewards that will make her so proud of you, before you see her again…

Godspeed!

Allegiance: Show Me the Way...

 Are you working or participating with an organization where you are experiencing a high degree of discontinuity?

A lack of cohesion and communication between the top leadership and the front line management will create that feeling.

Is new leadership going to change the discontinuity experience for customers and clients?

Before the past leadership truly could understand the poor design of the systems, processes and the under qualified personnel in place, it was too late.

They were blind to what core services were so vital and to those who they served.

In reality, the constituents were already working towards the inevitable change ahead and current leadership could only watch it unfold.

On the day after the major change at the top, the discontinuity in the organization began to evaporate.

As your new leaders took over command, the change turned into a true continuum and a building progression that could be seen and felt by the customers.

Customers, clients and core followers have become a procession of support and they have felt the positive change in the wind.

Everyone can now start to see and feel the differences.

Will you use your expertise with others to solve serious problems that have plagued our employees, customers, neighbors, professionals, first responders, homeland or armed forces?

"How might you contribute and add your vast knowledge and experience to the new continuity generation, during our next era of growth, resilience and our positive change?"

You see, you are extraordinary. You have tremendous talent and knowledge to contribute to the change ahead.

Have confidence in yourself and your ability to truly make your customers, members, clients and followers satisfied and rewarded with your proven leadership.

Get out of the building. Meet with other people in small groups. Talk about your shared experiences, knowledge and capabilities. Create aspiration and deliver new solutions.

Look up. Then say to yourself on your next journey, “Show Me the Way”…

Acknowledgment: Forever Grateful...

When was the last time your true business accomplishments were being acknowledged and your personal character celebrated?

As we all watched the 20+ people assemble in the banquet suite facing the Pacific Ocean last evening, you could tell they were all so excited to see the surprise on her face, as she walked into the room at 6:00PM.

The point in your work timeline when you are transitioning from one key role to another and have proven your results is a good place to reminisce and to listen to those who admire and trust you.

Hearing others who are your peers and fellow colleagues stand up over dinner and explain why you are someone they have learned from and that they have valued your leadership, will always be a remembered milestone in your life.

Two out of Ten people in a room, are exactly who the “80/20 Rule” science and “Pareto Principle” are all about.

If you want to find and recruit 4 people to your team, then do the math on how many will not make the final cut.

It is just so refreshing to see a group of professionals all celebrating one of their own:

“The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes (the "vital few”).”

The statistics and the “Moneyball” math is what truly sets you apart as a multi-million dollar producer from those with just the fundamental skills.

As your recognition stories continued from your colleagues into the evening there were plenty of laughs and also a few tears that filled the room. Then she just smiled at us.

How might you ever become close to the 2 people out of 10?

Some might say you are just born into it, it’s all in the DNA. Others would say you have to train, repeat and train harder in order to excel at your particular chosen profession.

Coaches and researchers and professional trainers would all have various opinions on what the ratios should be, to find that next Gold Medal Winner or Scientific Scholar or Sales Leader or even a BUD/s school graduate.

Yet that alone does not make the person that others truly admire, beyond their God given skills or training outcomes.

It is something else. “Extreme Ownership” of the organizations problem-sets and the dedication to finding relevant and timely solutions.

When you finally find the right formula and you find yourself in the spotlight someday being acknowledged and celebrated by your peers and close colleagues, say it to yourself in all CAPS:

“IT WASN’T EASY AND “I REALLY EARNED IT”…It has been a good run...

Onward and Godspeed!

Always Be Ready: Follow Your Heart...

Waking up to a glorious sunrise in any new town across the USA is inspiring. Today is another one of those days.

The long journey you have been on all these years is full of hardship, yet full of faith.

“Never Forget” the Americans and true professionals that have endured our asymmetric threats and continuous vulnerabilities.

People, Processes, Systems or External events. We must continuously and “Always Be Ready”…

After all of these years of hard work, to many hours standing or waiting in airports and now seeing the finish line, or the minutes winding down on scoreboard clock.

Even just the smile this morning from a cherished loved one after hours of research and keyboard time, you know why.

Before you were old enough, the reasons for the early mornings or the significant travel did not seem worth it.

The journey was constantly in question. The competition too challenging.

"Yet in our America, most anything is possible. With hard work and dedication. With the right colleagues, coaches, mentors and instructors you too are well on your way."

You are here for a reason and all the years, days, hours and minutes devoted to your own particular journey are soon to be known.

Maybe it is that smile when she wakes up and sees you. Maybe it is that laugh when he is watching “Paw Patrol”.

Or maybe it is walking hand-in-hand with your wife or husband on another early morning in your new neighborhood, or somewhere else in the United States of America.

On this Sunday in America, say another silent prayer looking at our flag waving in the wind, while the birds are chirping and a dog is barking with a siren in the distance.

Are you going to compete today? Will you be ready?

After you make it to your own finish line, look up…

Preface: Growing Up in the USA...

 As we approach our 248th year celebration of the country named the “United States of America”, think about it with open eyes as you look at our flag waving in the wind on the morning of July 4th.

One of 193 countries in the United Nations on our globe today, our country has become a sought after destination for so many others in the world to see and to actually experience.

Why?

Being born in the USA, our school Principal at our “Riverside Elementary” would get on the speaker system at 8:30AM sharp. Our “Pledge Allegiance” each morning was sacred as we all would stand in our classrooms:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Little did any of us truly know at that point in our lives, how precious these words would eventually become to us. Some before we were all grown adults.

It would dawn upon us all decades later, as our team was sitting around our tables with other fellow INSA members in a 2nd Floor conference room on North Stuart Street in Arlington Virginia. Our local professionals had a new important project before us.

Our Homeland Security Intelligence Council (HSIC) had started to tackle the definition of “Homeland Security Intelligence” and we would later develop 16 key recommendations in our 20 page White Paper.

It was finally published in September 2011 and ten years since so many Americans had died on 9/11 and so many others who would fight in the wars international and thereafter domestic.

“Homeland Security Intelligence is information that upon examination is determined to have value in assisting federal, state, local, tribal and private sector decision makers in identifying or mitigating threats residing principally within U.S. borders.”

Intelligence to Protect the Homeland...taking stock ten years later and looking ahead...

Now after returning to our USA once again with your own overseas travel behind you, reach into your pocket for that dark blue "US Passport" with the Eagle emblazoned on the front in Gold and read these words once again on page one:

“The Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection.”

In 2024, this Independence Day, reflect on all that you have learned and now earned, as a US Citizen protecting our country and as a true proud American.

In 2024, this Independence Day, reflect on all that you have learned and now earned, as a US Citizen protecting our country and as a true proud American.

 “Never Forget”…

Mothers: Brave & Resilient...

Growing up in a small town in the Midwest USA, our Mom was an only child.

Anne was a mother who was so devoted to her four kids in so many ways.

Being a Mom in those early days was about getting you off to the bus stop in the morning, and being there when you walked home from the bus stop in the afternoon.

We had just enough time to get home, drop our books and then head out into the neighborhood on our bike to our friends house or down to the beach on Goguac Lake.

A few hours later, it was about the home dinner routine just after 6:00PM, when Dad walked in the door from his HQ job with a regional restaurant chain.

After dinner, it was time for our homework and baths/showers before bedtime.

Sound familiar?

Moms really are so amazing. They are Gods greatest creation and over time we all witness the extraordinary capabilities of a Mother.

Our particular Mom was a proud Pi Phi at Northwestern University yet her real passion was becoming an Artist. To this day, she still has her oil paintings on our walls in our Living Room.

As young kids sitting on the floor in one of her Art Studio rooms or the corner of a basement, we would watch her paint on a large canvas with colorful oils and gluing various items to give a collage effect. Later...

• _ Mom was also there when we all swam across Goguac Lake in the "Husky Muskie" swimming event each summer, cheering us on with her fingers crossed behind her back.
• _ Mom was there to help Dad with maintaining the yard on weekends before they headed out to a Saturday night party with friends at the nearby Country Club.
• _ Mom was there to pick us up after our 6 weeks at summer camp in another state.
• _ Mom was also quite the snow skier and not to far behind us, on the challenging ski runs of Apres Vous mountain in “Jackson Hole” on our Christmas vacations.

Mothers are just so resilient. They are incredibly versatile. Mothers always want to make sure you are never hungry and when you cry, they will do what ever it takes to make you feel better.

On this Mothers Day 2024, we are thinking of you Mom…it has now been a decade since she went to heaven.

“Happy Mothers Day” to all of the other bravest Moms on our Earth…