“All Things Intriguing”

Dr. Raymond L. Newkirk, Psy.D., Ph.D., Ph.D.

Raymond L. Newkirk, Psy.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Th.C. is a strategic systems pioneer. He is an award winning and credentialed executive having earned advanced degrees and certifications in several disciplines including the Ph.D. with Distinction in Systems Science under Bela Banathy.  Dr. Newkirk is a specialist in Insider Threat Prevention for Cyber Security Excellence focusing on the Design of Strategic Enterprise Architectures for Cyber Security and Strategic Value Based Management. His professional background in innovation and technology includes a distinguished career in leadership, consulting, speaking, performance coaching, and writing. He has presented the Keynote Address to audiences around the world.  Upon his visits to Europe, the press frequently interviewed Ray about management issues and technology innovation.

Dr. Newkirk is an experienced executive having served successfully in diverse industries. He also enjoys an extensive entrepreneurial background.  He is the Founder and CEO of Systems Management Institute and served as COO of Mindmaker, a leading A/I development company winning “Best of Comdex” two years consecutively. He was a Senior Fellow of the Monterey Bay Management Group.  Among other appointments, Ray earlier served as President and Chief Operating Officer of P.Q. Information Group, b.v. the Netherlands and as President of the International Association of Information Management.

Working at the highest levels of business and government, Dr. Newkirk led significant initiatives in the Middle East, for the Kingdom of Saudi and in the Far East, for the office of the President, Republic of the Philippines. He has completed significant engagements for Bank of America and Dell Computers where his projects introduced the C.O.R.E. banking paradigm and contributed to Dell’s revenue growth from one billion dollars to more than eighteen billion dollars in three years. In 1992, the Chairman of the CNN World Business Development Congress in Washington D.C. invited Dr. Newkirk as a VIP Priority Guest to discuss solutions associated with emerging technology in the Third World. In 1991, the Scientific Advisor of the National Academy of Sciences invited Dr. Newkirk to participate as a visiting Ambassador in Business Development and Technology Transfer to the Soviet Union. Dr. Newkirk has been invited to participate in other important international development conferences in Cairo, Egypt and Oxford, England. He is the author of ten books.

The Ray Newkirk Podcast Program

Series One:  Virtuality in this World

My idea of Virtuality emerged from a lifetime of experience assisting organizations, teams, and individuals with finding inventive ways to solve problems more rapidly. As you move among countries and cultures in search of inventive solutions to problems that are more common than one would ever imagine, you begin to notice several patterns emerge that reduce some of the mystery that shrouds the nature and character of human relationships including: How we form relationships; how we manage relationships; how we end relationships, and how we overcome relationships.  This is the stuff of life. Life is relationship living. As the Theologians among us say: “God is Relationship”.

If you ask how I describe human life, I would answer you this way: Life is Relationship. For good or bad, from hope to hopelessness, from self-doubt to confidence, from Ego to Self-Esteem, and from life to death, I would tell you that human life is formed, nourished, developed, enjoyed, and even made miserable through relationship, from birth to death. From the day you meet your mother to the day you meet your undertaker, you pass through life in relationship. How you manage your relationships says everything about how you will become a fully human person imbued with the capacity for living a life of significance. We are creatures with the capacity to reason well, true; but human life is considerably more emotional than rational. Rationality is a power we possess to navigate life on a material planet. However, we feel more than we think. We use reason occasionally to assist in decision-making, but use our emotions most often to navigate the experiences of our lives. 

Think about this: Reason concerns the rules of logic, but emotion flows from the values we hold dear. Emotions represent value judgments, and reason represents logical conclusions, if-then-else. The decisions we make based on value judgements we render often conflict with the decisions we conclude from deduction or induction. This is how we live human life on planet earth. Other places, I am not so sure.

All my life, wiser people have told me that the power of reason makes us human. We are the “rational animal”. I guess, then, some people are more human than others. Does this make the artist less human than the scientist? Or, are we speaking about the human potential for rational thought so that the scientist is actually a human being and the artist is potentially a human being? Moreover, the claim that human beings are “rational animals” is rather simplistic because human beings are more than animals, as Aristotle suggested. Although we do have the powers that animals share such as reproduction, self-mobility, growth, and so forth, we enjoy powers beyond those of brute animals like spiritual development, cultivation of virtue, and creative powers of the imagination.

An animal has body, like a rock has material volume occupying space, but an animal is not a rock. A rock requires transitive motion through an external agent to move it, while an animal enjoys imminent motion from within to move itself. So an animal enjoys the powers of a rock in having existence and a body, but exceeds rocks with its own many powers not enjoyed by rocks. In like manner, human beings possess powers not enjoyed by animals. Human beings are, in fact, beings governed by conscience and the Cardinal Virtues. While we do not call animals “self-moving rocks”, we really ought not to call human beings “rational animals”.  We are considerable more than that.

The problem for human beings here is one of reconciling our emotional powers with our rational powers. It is more than a matter of being “rational animals” or “emotional animals”. Being more than rational animals who enjoy the power of emotional judgment, the question persists: What kind of creature are we if not a rational animal? What is the influence of virtue in all of this?

Throughout our lifetimes, human beings experience multiple environments concurrently.  As self-directed evolutionary beings, we share many of these environments in common with people around the world. We also experience these environments uniquely in ways that reflect our personal interests, commitments, beliefs, and aspirations as social beings. The core challenge for us as we experience our lives is the Problem of Virtuality. Today, the desire to engage Virtuality in our jobs, our duties and tasks, and even our relationships, has re-ordered the way society engages the world and the way the individual person lives his or her life. Success in a world of Virtuality will flow from the success humanity experiences in mastering the three environments that most impact the evolutionary unfolding of human life. These three environment include the: (1) Via Virtutis, the Way of Virtue; (2) Via Inventiōnis, the Way of Invention, Creativity, or Problem Solving, and (3) Via Rationis, the Way of Reason, Structured Thinking, and Logic. This series will discuss Virtuality in the light of it can enhance or degrade human development and progress. Virtuality is, after all, a Human Systems design challenge,

Don’t Stand Still.

PODCAST LINKS

VIRTUAITY IN THE WORLD 

Systems Thinking Episode One: Virtuality is Systems Thinking in Action Jan 31 • 35:11

Vituality™ releases an emerging paradigm of 21st Century Problem-Solving technology. Dr. Newkirk discusses the challenge of problem-solving as an artifact of the 15th Century and how he employs the new technologies to harvest a universe of evidence-based solutions and deliver these in rapid real-time to your mobile device as an Intelligent Assistant.  https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/Q7aqkpOhntb 

Systems Thinking Episode Two: Virtuality is Not Virtual Reality Jan 31 • 19:23

Through Virtuality, we assists real people with solving real problems in the real world using real intelligence and real technology in Rapid Real Time to deliver real solutions that really make a positive difference. Really. https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/mgjbDYXhntb

Don’t Stand Still.

PODCAST LINKS

Ray L. Newkirk, Your Host

Introduction to the Life of the Podcaster Dr. Raymond L. Newkirk, Psy.D., Ph.D., Ph.D. Jan 26 • 17:21

This Episode discussess the biography of the Podcaster. He discusses his early interest in compute technology and how this led to a life of global experience. Dr. Newkirk speaks of his fascination with the beauty and majesty of the Cosmos and the wonder of life and the experience that make life intriguing. He invites listeners to join him as he launches the first series about his new platform for Rapid Problem Solving using: Applied Intuitive Solutions™ and the lure of Virtuality™, his vision of Intelligent Human Relationships.

All Things Intriguing

The Podcasts of Dr. Raymond L. Newkirk, Psy.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Th.C.

Welcome to my Podcasts Page. I update my Podcasts on a frequent basis. Stay tuned and enjoy the insights gained during my global career spanning more than 6 decades. (I don’t believe it either). I invite you to join in and I look forward to your feedback. We encourage the Socratic Rule of Participation: “Honesty Without Kindness is Cruelty.” - Socrates. Thank you for your interest. To listen to my Podcasts, please click on the menu item of your interest.

Jan 20 • 12:24

This 12 minute Episode announces the Podcast All Things Intriguing hosted by Dr. Raymond L. Newkirk.  Over the years, we will explore topics such as Virtuality™, Applied Moral Wisdom, Evidence-Based Problem-Solving, Human Wisdom, Systems Thinking, Workplace Relationships, Deep Spirituality, the Cosmos, Trends and Fads,  UFO's & UAPs, Human Psychology,  Artificial Intelligence, and many other intriguing topics. Our mission is to inform the mind, entertain the heart, ignite curiosity, expand the horizon of the possible, create a sense of wonder, share insights, clarify the ambiguous, simplify the complex, and introduce new paradigms of problem-solving along the way.  Our vision is an ambitious one. Why not? Otherwise it would not be worth doing.

I invite you to follow our Podcasts as we move forward with our adventure of uncovering All Things Intriguing.

Ray Newkirk

Your Host

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/9fyoqvkintb

The Ray Newkirk Podcast Program

Series Two:  Applied Moral Wisdom

Human Beings live in a universe of Relationships. Think about it. At the micro level of reality, Relationships are central to everything. Protons and electrons are related to the nucleus to form atoms. Atoms are related to one another to form matter. Beyond this the subatomic relationships exist. Moreover, everything is in motion. Nothing stands still.

At the macro level of reality Relationships are central to everything. The planets are related to the Sun and one another. The stars are related to their galaxies. The galaxies are related to one another in their clusters.  Moreover, everything is in motion.  Nothing stands still. And so it goes.  There is an order to the motion of the cosmos.

At the human level of existence, Relationships are central to everything.  Children are related to their parents and one another. Families are related to other families. Sisters are related to brothers, aunts are related to uncles, grandparents to everyone, cultures to cultures, state to country, and so on producing the human family. Beyond this, human beings have thoughts and ideas that are related to concepts and concepts that are related to visions and visions that are related to knowledge and knowledge that is related to wisdom.  

There is an order to the affairs of human life in which the Relationship of thoughts are related to the conduct of human behavior. This Relationship of thought to action can become extremely complex gaining a life of its own beyond the control of any single person. Or, it can become extremely simple under the control of an individual thinker. The importance of simplifying the extremely complex relationships in which thoughts are related to actions cannot be overstated.

Order exists in the motion of human life as there is order to the motion of the universe. Letters are related to words and words are related to thoughts and thoughts are related to action. Think about it. Words come together like pieces in a puzzle to build something with meaning, for good or bad.  Nothing stands still, even here. Relationships exist everywhere.  Complexity runs wild and simplicity becomes the “Golden Mean” of wise people.  Existence is a story of Relationship from the cosmic level of galaxies in motion to the human level of individual experience always in flux. Nothing stands still. And so it goes.

The conceptual stew that simplifies human life is Moral Wisdom. It is the conceptual Relationship that leads human beings to achieve the “Golden Mean” encouraged by Aristotle. Living potent decisions that simplify human life in a reasoned manner places the individual on the positive path forward to enjoy a life of enriching simplicity, a life of freedom from unnecessary complexity.  And so it goes.  Nothing stands still.  But, though applied Moral Wisdom human beings gain more power to live their lives in increasingly positive ways.  Nothing stands still.  And so it goes.

The Series is About Applied Moral Wisdom. Its purpose is to share insights that will assist people with making the smart decisions essential to simplifying human life. In this way, this series will assist you with living the “Golden Mean”.  A simple life can only be achieved through potent decisions that are informed by Moral Wisdom. You will enjoy a better life tomorrow if you make better decisions today. Moral Wisdom paves the road to such decisions. And so it goes. Nothing stands still.  Why not join us and find out how all this works.

Don’t stand still.

PODCAST LINKS

APPLIED MORAL WISDOM

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode One: Building Character through Applied Moral Wisdom Feb 4 • 1:03:03

Life moves on rapidly. It becomed complicated, confusing, and occasionally even discouraging.  Much of the time we want life to be simpler, relaxing, and sensible. People chase happiness without knowing how to be happy and they seek relationships without knowing how to actually form good ones. Through all of this, they overlook the central role that character plays in experience a joy-filled life. Character matters. This Podcast shares insights about why character matters, how to build it and how to enjoy an authentically potent life by Applying Moral Wisdom. Please join us and learn how to simplify your life through Moral Wisdom. 

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Two: Conscience, Immaturity & Childishness at Work Feb 5 • 49:54

The sentiment “Forever Forward” is a call to move forward, to grow, to forever develop oneself for Relationship. It is a sentiment ignited by the deep desire to love and be loved, to connect with other human beings, to connect and be respectfully acknowledged. Growth occurs through the development of a mature conscience that simplifies one's life while make life more meaningful. One develops a mature conscience by ever deepening and consistently applying Moral Wisdom. ht

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Three: From Applied Moral Wisdom to Union, Freedom and Truth in Life Feb 5 • 45:50

Maturity is not a matter age. It is a matter of enjoying an informed conscience through the living of a virtuous life. “Life is short.” I’ve heard this most of my life. Now I am old enough to know that it is true. Now I wonder where the years went. “When all is said and done”, I see that building character is the authentic legacy of every human life.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Four: The Conscience Continuum Feb 7 • 25:22

Conscience exists along a continuum from infantile to enlightened. Very few people live at the extremes of the Continuum. Enough do, however, to make all the difference in the world, for good or bad. What’s in your Conscience? Human beings live in an environment that supports their existence in social, economic and cultural ways. Moral Wisdom is what makes human systems function in a safe and reliable manner that safely nurtures human development. Imagine the quality of your life if the environment ignored morality, ethics, and virtue in decision-making. What kind of world would this be? h

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Five: Finding Consistency in Thought and Action Feb 11 • 37:07

Since Consistency of Thought and Action in Applied Moral Wisdom is a good thing, why are so many people inconsistent? They are not. A great number of people ARE consistent in Thought and Action. Unfortunately, they consistently make the poor decision to do the wrong actions. Life is like a box of Syllogisms. Without them, you will never know what kind of relationships you will form. Consistency in thought and action is essential to applying moral wisdom consistently. Today, reality is not clear as people assert new neo-syllogisms that expand the nature and reality of lived experience. Thus, we now see syllogisms such that A can be A and not A at the same time. Hence a new morality emerges in which reality is only an epiphenomenon of itself. Now by assertion, rather than logical discourse, reality is not what reality is. It is up to the daily observer believes. https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/v1Et5Jvfntb

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Six: From Fear to Conscience Feb 9 • 41:20

The discussion about Right Action versus conscience is historical. For example, can a person still be good if that person commonly violates an ethical rule like “telling lies is bad”? Can an Internal Moral Monitor be at odds with one’s informed conscience?  "Virtue and Conscience point to a shared destination, Right Action. They work in tandem to move the person from childhood into responsible adulthood. Lacking either virtue or conscience, Right Action becomes a fortunate accident if it occurs at all.” 

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Seven: Living the Gentle Life to Enjoy Executive Success Feb 11 • 53:33

When I speak about the Spirituality of Executives, I am speaking about the intrinsic qualities that illuminate Moral Wisdom. These qualities include the Cardinal Virtues and the derivative values such as respect, gratitude, fairness, integrity, decency, honesty, kindness, generosity, love, and gentleness. The more people can order their lives to express these spiritual attributes, the more people can live a more fulfilling and rewarding life. Gaining gentleness requires spiritual depth. We must respect others even more than we respect ourselves, to know their limits, and then love them even more.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Eight: Living the Gentle Life Feb 12 • 57:54

If you wish to enjoy the fruits of personal development, you must take action that you understand, learn to tame your restlessness, nurture an appetite for solitude, contemplate the mystery of your existence, and seek silence to foster self-renewal whenever you can so you can lover more and hate less. The love of noise and excitement in modern civilization is due in part to the fact that people are unhappy on the inside. Noise exteriorized them, distracts them, and makes them forget their worries for the moment. There is an unmistakable connection between an empty life and a hectic pace. ─ Fulton Sheen

Applied Moral Wisdom for a Deeper Human Life Episode Nine: Gentleness is not an Accident. Feb 14 • 1:05:25

Gentleness requires constant attention. For the deeply spiritual person, gentleness is the guiding attitude. Deeply spiritual people see all creatures as suffused by a Cosmologically Divine Love. For the deeply spiritual person, therefore, every person evokes a gentleness formed in love. Authentic Gentleness cannot be experienced any other way except through Love.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten Part One: Mystery of the Individual Life Feb 17 • 10:03

Think about how we live, how we move, how we learn, how we reflect, how we enjoy relationships, how we eat, drink and celebrate. Everything has an order to it. There is an order to existence on earth. Life, living, and death all follow one from the other. For human beings, Moral Wisdom makes this work well. Applied Moral Wisdom enables human beings to live a life of moral order.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary Part Two Feb 17 • 22:01

The sentiment “Forever Forward” is a call to move forward, to grow, to forever develop oneself for relationship. It is a sentiment ignited by the deep desire to love and be loved, to connect with other human beings, to connect and be respectfully acknowledged. We cannot move forward in growth if we fail to live a virtuous life. “Forever Forward” is life’s injunction to “Cultivate the virtues”. By doing so, we build our characters. https://spotifyanchor-

 Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary Part Three Feb 17 • 30:14

Maturity is not a matter age. It is a matter of enjoying an informed conscience through the living of a virtuous life.  Rather than living as a spiritual person, a person of gentleness, we become more interested in living up to the standards of a competitive world in which only winners are valued as successful.  “Life is short.” I’ve heard this most of my life. Now I am old enough to know that it is true. Now I wonder where the years went. “When all is said and done”, I see that building character is the authentic legacy of every human life. https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/CHHJWwP5mtb

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Four Feb 18 • 32:18

Conscience exists along a continuum from infantile to enlightened. Very few people live at the extremes of the Continuum. Enough do, however, to make all the difference in the world, for good or bad. What’s in your Conscience?  Earlier, we discussed the Cardinal Virtues. These are the hinges that open the way to the other virtues. Now we are concerned with the three ethical schools of Applied Moral Wisdom. Think about Ethics as your hammer designed to facilitate the use of Applied Moral Wisdom.

Applied Moral Wisdom Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Five Feb 19 • 1:00:53

Since Consistency of Thought and Action in Applied Moral Wisdom is a good thing, why are so many people inconsistent? They are not. A great number of people ARE consistent in Thought and Action. Unfortunately, they consistently make the poor decision to do the wrong actions. Life is like a box of Syllogisms. Without them, you will never know what kind of relationships you will form. Consistency in thought and action is essential to applying moral wisdom consistently.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Six Feb 20 • 1:10:51

The prerequisite for Applied Moral Wisdom is a well-formed conscience that characterizes the maturity of adulthood. The Principles of Right Action guide the application of Moral Wisdom. Conscience is never perfect. We all error and previous learning and other influences can hinder the development of an informed conscience. Fear commonly impedes the development of conscience.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Seven Feb 20 • 41:26

When I speak about the Spirituality of Executives, I am speaking about the intrinsic qualities that illuminate Moral Wisdom. These qualities include the Cardinal Virtues and the derivative values such as respect, gratitude, fairness, integrity, decency, honesty, kindness, generosity, love, and gentleness.  The more people can order their lives to express these spiritual attributes, the more people can live a more fulfilling and rewarding life.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Eight Feb 21 • 56:17

The love of noise and excitement in modern civilization is due in part to the fact that people are unhappy on the inside. Noise exteriorized them, distracts them, and makes them forget their worries for the moment. There is an unmistakable connection between an empty life and a hectic pace. ─ Fulton Sheen

We live in a “Hurry-Up” world that struggles to move forward because influential people hold it back by feeding on the emotions of “hindsight.” Rather than nourishing themselves with the promise of the future, these people dull the hope of tomorrow by rewriting history with a poisonous ink. Abstractionism, Agnosticism, Aristotelianism, Atheism, Capitalism, Dadaism, Existentialism,, Humanism, Manichaeism, Marxism, Militarism, Realism, Socialism, and on and on; they all have passed us on the way to the future and we found lacking. “Forever Forward” my friends.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Nine Feb 22 • 1:17:09

Gentleness requires constant attention. Wherever love abounds, gentleness flows. That which connects us to the loveliness of life is treated with gentleness in that it leads us to the gift of friends and family, the Scared, the home of our spiritual life. In Living the Gentle Life, therefore, we live the spiritual life. For the deeply spiritual person, gentleness is the guiding attitude. Deeply spiritual people see all creatures as suffused by a Cosmologically Divine Love. For the deeply spiritual person, therefore, every person evokes a gentleness formed in love. Authentic Gentleness cannot be experienced any other way except through Love.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Ten Feb 26 • 1:28:58

If you write one page a day every day of the year for one full year, you will have produced one large book or two books of more than 180 pages each. A little effort goes a long way. Desire, consistency, dedication, intellect and will fortified by the Cardinal Virtues produces a great life that is strengthened by simplicity, the gift of Applied Moral Wisdom and right action. One can never regain the time lost by wrong action. Rather wrong action forces a person to life a life of “catch-up”.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary Part Eleven

Moral Wisdom can become complicated. As we move deeper into adulthood, we can begin to refine our Moral Wisdom to discern the corrective guilt that enables us to adopt morally wise behaviors from self-punishing guilt that emerges from life’s childhood interjections.  Applied Moral Wisdom is not about finding faith in things bigger than ourselves, like the deep mysteries of life’s meaning. It is about finding ways to simplify one’s life by forming and enjoying rewarding relationships with family, friends, and colleagues.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Twelve Feb 28 • 1:32:31

Justice, Fidelity, Self-Care, Prudence, the four Cardinal Virtues. These are the hinges that open the door to a life well lived. How best to nurture them, apply them, and value them is a question best answered by those who have made the decision to love one another. So, what do you think?  If you truly understand what Moral Wisdom is all about, you will recognize that it is all about forming, nurturing, maintaining, and enjoying rewarding relationship that are inspired by a deep “Love of the Sacred” that we recognize in other another. https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/svhxFZV2mtb

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Thirteen Mar 1 • 1:11:11

 “Everybody Hurts Sometime,” so the REM song reminds us. Life is like this: One day great; the next day not so great. This is when gentleness becomes less desirable and simplicity more desirable. Sadly, life does not come with a menu. We need to achieve simplicity ourselves by applying Moral Wisdom. We are approaching the end of our series. We are nearly there. This is a good time to reflect on how far we have journeyed together. When we began this Series, Ukraine and Russia were not killing one another. Life seemed simpler back then, just a short time ago. What changed? Obviously, a person made a decision to abandon Moral Wisdom, invade a country and change history through force even at the expense of innocent human lives. Chaos is not simplicity and murder is not Gentleness. You see, people indifferent to Moral Wisdom are dangerous.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Fourteen Mar 2 • 56:46

Trickery, coercion, deception, lying, injury, humiliation, mockery, isolation, theft, false witness, and even murder are the strategies commonly employed by people who are indifferent to the fruits of Moral Wisdom. These people are not guided by a well-developed conscience. Nor do people like this offer anything but painful relationships because people like this complicate life in dark ways that infringe human freedom.  Moral Wisdom is not a slogan. It is the path that simplifies life and preserves personal freedom. It enables people more potently to discern sincerity in others and form enriching relationships. A life lacking in Moral Wisdom is a life subject to the manipulations of people who prey on the best intentions of friends and colleagues. Most importantly, Moral Wisdom enables people to make informed decisions about right versus wrong actions and the conduct of their lives.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Fifteen Mar 2 • 52:06

The application of Moral Wisdom raises a person above oneself. Through the application of Moral Wisdom, a person recognizes the “Unalienable” nature of human worth, a nature that by existing transcends the malleable dictates and pronouncements of all civil authorities at whatever level of authority. The denial of the unalienable nature of Moral Wisdom is a Formula for Failure and the ascendency of tyranny.  Arrogance, Cowardice, Death-Centeredness, Deceitfulness, Faithlessness, Ignorance, Intolerance, Malevolence, Hatefulness, Ruthlessness, Selfishness, and Shallowness all characterize the absence of Moral Wisdom in daily life. The degree of absence influences the direction of decision-making and inhibits the formation of positive relationships inside and outside the workplace. As toxic as such a state of existence may be, an environment transformed by the adoption of the Cardinal Virtues becomes a place of Great Expectations. In this way, Moral Wisdom becomes so crucial to human life.

Applied Moral Wisdom Episode Ten: Summary of the Series Applied Moral Wisdom Part Sixteen Mar 3 • 1:15:20

Congratulations, we have reached the last Episode in this Series about Applied Moral Wisdom. If you are a committed Existentialist, you already understand that human beings possess deep, intrinsic desires that transcend earthly life. Existential Hunger manifest such desires in the perennial drive for positive relationships throughout life. Hence, human beings seek transcendence beyond themselves.  Transcendence infers a “rising above” oneself in thought and action. As a vision of meaning, it dispels the meaninglessness of existence experienced by the committed atheist who actively denies the existence of any conflict with the desire to experience a transcendent life because such a desire is, itself, not logical but is unreasonable and meaningless, if it exists at all.

The Ray Newkirk Podcast Program

Series Three: Achieving Exceptional Performance

When I hear people talk about the critical role of Exceptional Performance in team success, I often hear a lot about metrics. “It’s about managing the metrics”. I hear this frequently. One would this people who say this are referring to the Critical Success Factors. Right?  I have heard managers argue over the need to maximize performance while others argue about the need to optimize performance.  They look at this mechanically. Kind of like people are not involved in the process.  It’s all about the Key performance Indicators, the KPIs, the uniform metrics such as Customer Acquisition Cost, Labor Cost per Product or Service Component, Advertising ROI, and Outreach Conversion Rates. These sound really exciting, right?  Only to some people I suppose. Although these kinds of KPIs are vital to accountants, senior managers and a few others, employees, generally do not organize their lives around them.   They most often think about the Critical Success Factors, the CSFs, that enable them to achieve Exceptional Performance personally as  human beings  not simply employees.

When human beings challenge themselves or other people to Achieve Exceptional Performance, they begin with a commitment to the behavioral proposition: “I can is more important than I.Q.” You can enjoy the highest I.Q. in the world but if you maintain that you can’t, you won’t get the chance to demonstrate that you can. AS I like to remind people, “Life is the great leveler of performance.” Achieving Exceptional Performance is mostly about mastering the soft skills of life, especially self-mastery and the social skills.

Achieving Exceptional Performance begins when you can identify, understanding, and master not only your Critical Success Factors, but also your Critical Failure Factors, your CFFs.   I view CFFs as the great secret to Achieving Exceptional Performance because one rarely hears them mentioned. CFS and CSFs are not necessarily the same.  Those who write about Exceptional Performance are a lot like those who write about Leadership.  They conclude by identifying the many dozens of traits and characteristics that describe a person of Exceptional Performance.  For example, a person of Exceptional Performance: 1. Communicates well; 2. Manages oneself and tasks well; 3.Focuses sharply for long periods of time; 4.Behaves discreetly; 5. Manages others well; 6. Mobilizes innovation and change;

7. Accepts responsibility for their results; 8.Proactively resolves challenges and solve problems;

9. Resolves conflict rapidly and safely; 10.   Moves Forever Forward not living in their past accomplishments;

11.   Consistently works with patience by pacing oneself appropriately; 12.   Asks a lot of questions;

13. Responds flexibly in response to changing situations; 14.   Consistently deliver results above expectations.

15.   Resolves difficult situations caused by team members and colleagues;

16.   Consistently exceeds their job requirements; 17.   Authentically acknowledges their workmates and colleagues.

18.   Displays sensitivity to the feelings and accomplishments of workmates and colleagues.

Exceptional Performance is not a mechanical skill or cold habit.  It is a behavioral, moral and personality reward of outstanding personal growth. Betty Davis, the great actress, once remarked that “growing old aint for sissies.”  Truth be known, “Exceptional Performance ain’t for sissies.”

The Series is about sharing the insights that assist people with making the smart decisions essential to Achieving Exceptional Performance. In this way, this series will assist you with living the “Golden Mean”.  A simple life can only be achieved through potent decisions that unleash your capacities for Achieving Exceptional Performance by becoming an exceptional human being. You will enjoy a better life tomorrow if you make better decisions today. Making the decision to Achieve Exceptional Performance enables you to expand and deepen your skills and capabilities that deliver Exceptional Performance and a more potent life.

And so it goes. Nothing stands still.  Why not join us and find out how all this works. 

Don’t stand still.

PODCAST LINKS

ACHIEVING EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE

Achieving Exception Performance Episode One: What is EP? Mar 5 • 52:20

Since Exceptional Performance requires exceptional people doing exceptional acts consistently at exceptional times, how can I assist my organization in achieving exceptional performance? So many conditions come together at the right time so that the right person achieves exceptional results that produce exceptional performance in a consistent manner. Since people enjoy different capabilities, Exceptional Performance cannot be a subjective or qualitative assessment. For example, while one person delivers performance that is exceptional for that person, that performance may only be average performance for a different person. https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/6XYFo7irmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Two: Clarifying the Critical Success Factors for EP. Mar 9 • 50:35

Begin by designing the environment that enables the organization to function as a system that transforms the ordinary into the exceptional. The Critical Success Factors are key to Achieving Exceptional Performance.  Encourage the development of an environment that enables managers and their teams to attain the skills necessary to deliver Exceptional Performance consistently. Begin the skills development effort by build the soft-skills of the organization.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/i3oaJ7drmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Three: Establishing the Critical Success Factors for EP. Mar 13 • 53:08

Begin your process of Achieving Exceptional Performance by establishing the Critical Success Factors of the organization as the building blocks of exceptional performance. Success with this requires you to investigate the history of your organization. It would be interesting to note the projects that have succeeded and those that have failed. For the successful projects, one can learn a lot by examining how the team managed it Critical Failure factors.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/Dc6cmh8qmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Four: Achieving Exceptional Performance Management Mar 13 • 54:50

Exceptional Organizations continuously study the organizations that move beyond the essentials as a common practice.  Exceptional organizations continuously acquire specific kinds of relevant knowledge about the essentials of exceptional performance. https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/zaW5bM2qmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Five: Right Action Accomplishes More Than Smart Speech. Mar 14 • 55:45

There are people who work hard to achieve Exceptional Performance. There are also people who could care less about achieving Exceptional Performance. If you had a choice, who would you hire? Why is that? Obvious, right?  Great things rarely happen by accident. Delivering Exceptional Performance is no exception. It emerges from deep preparation, planning and execution. Indifferent people do not deliver exceptional results because they would not know it if they did. They are that much out of touch. Exceptional performance requires serious people. Good luck.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/wuNCAXXqmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Six: Standards of Performance Are Personal Mar 17 • 1:07:39

A person can work up to the standard he set for himself or down to the standard others set for him. In either case, the person only has himself to blame whenever he achieves less than he is capable.  Life is the great arbitrator of performance. You only have a short time to deliver Exceptional Performance. Make every minute count because every minute someone in your workplace is counting on you. https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/aIYowrIqmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Seven: Virtual Solution in Achieving Exceptional Performance

Mar 25 • 52:43

Exceptional organizations understand that the old six to eight step problem solving process needs to be replaced by something that closes the gap between problem definition and solution specification.  As a competitive strategy, organizations continuously attempt to design rapid processes that accelerate problem solving.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/6f9eqHDqmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Eight: Employing Abundant Applied Intuitive Solutions™ To Rapidly Solve Performance Problems. Mar 26 • 1:08:04

Organizations spend a considerable amount of time on problem solving. Even for the same problems that reoccur yearly with the same or different colleague, problems seem to never go away.  Demands of current business competition require teams to adopt a more rapid process for problem solving based on evidence. The old six to eight step process needs to be replaced by something that closes the gap between problem definition and solution definition. To resolve this scenario, people adopt the Rapid Solutions Mobile Platform.™ https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/iGXqroyqmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Nine: You are a Critical Success Factor Mar 27 • 1:08:16

Many jobs are not lovable. They just aren’t. No matter what. No matter how many times you tell yourself that you love your job, if you know in your heart that you don’t, you really don’t, no matter what. Self-esteem matters. Don’t kid yourself. Improve yourself and move on. There is something better. Seek it.  Many of the factors that we think will cause motivation, such as fair pay and a good manager, won't make you love your job. Even if you eliminate what makes you dissatisfied, that doesn't make you motivated. It doesn't make your work rewarding. You just are less bothered by things. - Clayton Christensen https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/0IQ4SOsqmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Ten: Assisting My Organization with Building Employee Competence

Mar 31 • 45:39

For performance to become exceptional, many factors must come together at the right time and under the right circumstances with the right people using the right technology following the right plan.  Of course, our failures are a consequence of many factors, but possibly one of the most important is the fact that society operates on the theory that specialization is the key to success, not realizing that specialization precludes comprehensive thinking. - R. Buckminster Fuller https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/ZzAehemqmtb

Achieving-Exceptional-Performance Episode Eleven: Levering the Potential of Multi-Cultural Teams to Achieve Exceptional Performance Jun 22 • 31:32

Diversity, pluralism, multi-culturalism, multiracialism, ethnic inclusiveness, intercontinental, de-segregated, and on and on and on. These are words that remind us of the differences among human beings. The differences make each culture distinct. They are real. Unfortunately, we too often forget that diversity ensures the survival of a species. In this Episode, we will consider an approach that will assists teams with leveraging their diversity to accelerate innovation and change.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/LOqYZigqmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Twelve: Building the Professionalism of My Teams Means More Than Paying More. Jun 23 • 53:03

Professionalism flows from attitude. Not everything great and wonderful is about money. Actually, money flows from things that are great and wonderful and even poor and terrible. I would not consider a lousy manager as a professional nor a lousy ballerina as a professional. I would expect something more. What about you?

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/LQMgnS8pmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Thirteen: Qualifying the Critical Success Factor: “Good Enough Solution”? Jun 23 • 47:28

There are unbelievably creative solutions that cost a lot. There are also “good enough” solutions that cost much less but actually solvethe problem good enough to meet requirements. What makes sense to you? This is an easy one: What’s in your wallet? Companies spend more money on problem-solving than on the Cost of Operations. This itself is a problem. One of the problems, of course, is that many problems repeat themselves. Organizations face these one day at a time. They never quite resolve these pesky problems that become so expensive, year after year.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/kaIz0xTpmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Fourteen: Qualifying the Critical Success Factor: “Authentic Solution. Jun 25 • 1:13:41

If you do not know what the problem is, how can you know that you have a problem at all? If there is a problem and you do not know that something is wrong, you have a bigger problem. At the very least, you need to discover why you do not know that a problem exists. Both problems require a solution, an Authentic Solution. A single problem can rapidly become multiple problems when people realize that they are not even sure about the cause, nature, and substance of the immediate problem. https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/XE3pTr0pmtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Fifteen: Validating the Critical Success Factor of Substance Over Form Jun 25 • 59:51

A preference for “Substance over Form” makes sense unless you have no substance to offer and pursue form because bitter emotions like disappointment are more important than results such as success.  There are so many Critical Success Factors identified by the organization that to list them all would ensure failure because the time lost thinking about them would be so great and the productivity so poor that failure would be the result.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/3FXZ8Leamtb

Achieving Exceptional Performance Episode Sixteen: Validating the Critical Success Factor: Insightful Flexibility Fitting to All Employees Jun 26 • 55:54

If you want to Achieve Exceptional Performance, learn to unify your insights with the personal power of your Intelligent Flexibility to deliver something exceptional. In this way, you will have mastered the art and skill of Insightful Flexibility.  Some people enjoy plenty of flexibility but the lack insights to leverage their flexibility. Too bad. Other people enjoy the flash of great insights more often than most, but they remain inflexible. So sad.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/dCmz7ioamtb

Achieving Exception Performance Episode Seventeen: Validating the CSF, Employee Friendly Technology, to Eliminate the Technological Barrier Jul 22 • 58:27

There are a lot of barriers to the use of technology at work and home. Complexity, Cost, and Convenience are the “3Cs” of friendly technology whether at home or on the job in the workplace.  If we wish to increase convenience, we need to decrease complexity and cost. This means that you can have less capability for less complexity and money. Technology always carries quality and anti-quality tradeoffs. You can always gain more capability if you are willing to gain more complexity at more costs. The formula is simple: More for more or less for less.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/T95IbHR9ltb

The Ray Newkirk Podcast Program

Series Four: Stranger in a Strange Land

“Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

Wisdom has been valued in every age. No rational person aspires to live an unwise life. People work hard to cultivate special disciplines that they believe will make them wise. In every age, people have honored those who they believe are known for their Wisdom. The power of Wisdom is so important to human survival that it is generally accepted in society as the pinnacles of intellectual attainment.

Who does not want to be a wise person? No doubt that Wisdom has been admired since even before the days of the great King Solomon. The problem with Wisdom, however, is that it takes time to become wise. It demands hard work, a sense of selflessness, dedication, and sacrifice to develop Wisdom. It also requires certain emotional capacities that many people lack, such as humility and courage. Why is this? Luckily for humanity, the record of history clearly demonstrates that the human species has enjoyed a legacy of Wisdom within each age and throughout the world.

There is an order to life in the attainment of this great capacity. Wisdom emerges and then blossoms from reflective experience, a special kind of knowledge flowing from Right Reason, and the capacity to form sound judgments. Lacking Wisdom, the affairs of human life become complex and troublesome. The conceptual stew that simplifies human life is Moral Wisdom. lacking this, the complexity of life increases exponentially.  And so it goes. 

Don’t stand still.

PODCAST LINKS

STRANGER IN ASTRANGE LAND

Living in a Strange Land Episode Two: The Good, The Bad and the Very Ugly

Oct 2 • 52:47

This episode has been published and can be heard everywhere your podcast is available.

Forty-Seven years ago, I wrote a book entitled Elephant Shit, the Road to Right Reason. It was a humorous book about life. “Chicken Shit” occurs when someone ask you how your new car is doing. Bullshit occurs when someone ask you who will win the next Super Bowl. Then there is Elephant Shit. This is heavy stuff. Here, someone ask you: “What is the meaning of life?”  If you really want to feel like a Stranger in a Strange Land, try answering that question. What is the meaning of life? Here is a better question: What is the meaning of your life? This is a deeply personal question. This is an important question. Mostly, this is a difficult question. Somehow, a guess is not good enough in a world where good enough is good enough.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/JVDt5r40Ntb

Living in a Strange Land Episode One: Wherever You Are That is Where You Are.

Sep 19 • 42:02

This episode has been published and can be heard everywhere your podcast is available.

Do you ever feel like a Stranger in a Strange Land? Some people feel this way most of their lives while others feel this way occasionally. Still others feel this way at times of peak experience when changes dominate their lives, both good and bad. I am not talking here about feeling out-of-touch with reality. Rather, I mean that you feel out-of-place with current social trends.  Being a Stranger in a Strange Land is nothing new. It was a great work of Science Fiction by Robert A. Heinlein back in 1962. Strangers in a Strange Land is also an excellent commentary on the modern age by Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap the former Archbishop of Philadelphia. Although one is a work of fiction, both books do an excellent job explaining the modern world. Fiction has become reality.