Phillip Berry | Orient Yourself

Our fifth grandchild was born yesterday. He came to the world in the usual way, but there were planes to catch, and bills to pay….forgive me while I channel some melancholic Harry Chapin. We met our third grandson, Arthur Thomas, in the aftermath of a robust labor. Our son and daughter-in-law were in that blissful […]

Last week, I wrote of patience and the seasons we find ourselves in. This week, I'll continue that thread by exploring some of the side effects of impatience and the feelings it can foster. Bad Days Do you ever have “bad” days? Of course you do, we all do. I had one the other day. […]

Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is “timing,” it waits on the right time to act, for the right principles, and in the right way. Fulton Sheen A Quest for Action We spend so much time in action. As leaders, managers, and working professionals, we are measured in what […]

What constitutes a wonderful life? I find myself contemplating this question today as I think of my friend who was put into hospice care yesterday. The wonder of life takes on new dimensions when considered against the sharp edge of life's end. Of course, hospice is not the end, but it is acknowledgement of the […]

This day we share, in the warmth of our home, Together we pray, as our hearts lightly roam; Toward the grateful, the plenty, the smells, and the cheer, Across the miles we've walked, making our way here. Beyond the sullen, the empty, the broken, the lost; Traveled we have, knowing sacrifice and cost. For the […]

Focus on everything better todayAll that I needed I never could sayHold on to people, they're slipping awayHold on to this while it's slipping away Moby, Slipping Away The cold has arrived and, with it, that quiet introspection which always seems to accompany the gray moodiness of a blustery winter storm. For those who appreciate […]

Shilo, when I was youngI used to call your nameWhen no one else would comeShilo, you always cameAnd we'd play Neil Diamond Toward the end of a recent breakfast meeting, I glanced at my phone and noticed numerous missed calls and texts from Sally. Uh oh. It seems that her morning had been interrupted by […]

The home is not the one tame place in a world of adventure; it is the one wild place in a world of rules and set tasks. G.K. Chesterton A few weeks ago, Sally shared the quotation above with me. Before I was even able to contemplate the wisdom of Chesterton's thinking, I was struck […]

One of the beautifully profound aspects of the arrival of a new baby, is the event's effect on baby's siblings. Now adjusting to the myriad impacts of grandchild number four, I've been blessed to watch the evolving reactions of her brothers and sister. The natural fascination of children comes fully alive when intersecting with the […]

The search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions. Dwight D. Eisenhower “Come on, Pop, read us a book!” said Cooper as he patted the seat beside him on the couch. There are some voices, requests, and moments to which there is no denial. Taking the seat offered, I was immediately compressed […]

A few years ago, Sally and I took a trip to Los Angeles. The City of Angels. A friend played tour guide and showed us around the city. One of our stops was in Griffith Park, home of the famous H O L L Y W O O D sign that we so often see […]

Life in man is the glory of God; the life of man is the vision of God. St. Irenaeus of Lyons Our fourth grandchild was born a few weeks ago. The birth of a child is a gloriously joyful event: loaded with the manifest risks of the birthing process and simultaneously permeated with the infinite […]

And give me something to believe inIf there's a Lord aboveAnd give me something to believe inOh, Lord arise Poison, Something to Believe In Like most organizations, ours has a Powerpoint presentation that we use to introduce our company and its products/services to potential partners and clients. A few years ago, I created a slide […]

The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness. Pope Benedict XVI In 1979, I won the Boston Marathon. I was 10 years old. Nevermind the fact that the race was held in Boston, Indiana and totaled just over 600 yards. In that moment, jockeying among those […]

‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.' Luke 16:2 The Face of Ruthlessness The bottom line. The end result. The point of it all. The truth of the matter. At the end of the day. Ultimately. When we net it […]

“Nobody does amazing anymore,” he said as we stood talking. Conference attendees milled about, grabbing coffee and chatting with exhibitors and peers. The scene could have been cut from this conference space and pasted into a thousand other conference spaces seamlessly. The booths. The continental breakfast. The vendors. The carpet. The scene was so familiar […]

The line it is drawnThe curse it is castThe slow one nowWill later be fastAs the present nowWill later be pastThe order is rapidly fadin'And the first one nowWill later be lastFor the times they are a-changin' Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin' Driving home this week, I noticed a single leaf floating down […]

I absolutely love the quotation above. It captures the essence of any project worth doing and has been particularly applicable in my own entrepreneurial journey. It is the edge. That place we stand, facing the possible and experiencing the discomfort of the risk in leaping toward it. Age and experience don't matter – there is an edge […]

Can you remember the last time you awoke to something new and different? A time and place where the old routines disappeared and all your expectations and habits retreated into the hazy memory reserved for all that was long ago? What about a moment when all that was to happen next was unknown and you […]

If you're reading this, it means you woke up this morning and found yourself blessed with another day. Congratulations! That, my friend, is a gift. Every breath is a small miracle. So small, we don't even notice them. If you're reading this, it's likely that you also survived COVID, a potentially deadly descent into having […]

During a recent walk, Sally and I were sharing highlights from our day. As I was describing a conversation during a recent meeting, I found myself saying in conclusion: ”I really like him. He's one of the good guys.” She said in response, ”I could tell by the way you described your conversation.” Something in […]

For years, my wife and I hosted an annual Christmas party. We would invite friends and family into our home for an evening of celebration. For many of those who participated, this event was the only time during the year that we were able to see each other. Though it was a lot of work […]

In two weeks, Sally and I will begin a journey that will take us from Indianapolis, Indiana to what was once considered the end of the earth: Finisterre, Spain. Our goal? To walk the 500 mile Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Luke 10:41-42 Life is incredibly complex but it is we who mostly complicate it. When we are faced with difficulties, we often complicate the […]

As long as human beings are imperfect, there will always be arguments for extending the power of government to deal with these imperfections. The only logical stopping place is totalitarianism — unless we realize that tolerating imperfections is the price of freedom. Thomas Sowell We had a chance to see Top Gun: Maverick the other […]

America is the only nation in the world founded on a creed. G. K. Chesterton Happy Birthday America! Two hundred and forty six years later, your amber waves of grain, purple mountain majesties, and fruited plains continue to enthrall us while your social, cultural, and political upheavals persist in frustrating those of us living through […]

A version of this post was first shared in 2014, then expanded upon in my first book, Stones Across the River: The Path to Your Best Work in Your Peak Years. Whether considering customer deals, real estate purchases, investments, or investors, the notion is as relevant as ever. One might apply some of the concepts […]

My daddy, he was somewhere between God and John Wayne. Hank Williams, Jr. A few years ago, one of our team members approached me to tell me she had met a person over the week-end who knew me. As we were connecting the dots, she smiled and told me that when they identified me as […]

If you can fill the unforgiving minute     With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,    Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,        And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son! Rudyard Kipling, If As time passes on, and I become more acquainted with death, I'm struck by the spectacle of its disruption. […]

Not so long ago, I was regaling Sally with a story from my day. Somewhere during this discourse, I described a word or action in the context of “my heart for it,” meaning that whatever I had said or did was born from good intentions. She smiled and gently reminded me that my good intentions […]

Happy Mother's Day! How about a different take today as we celebrate this wonderful holiday and the amazing moms in our lives? A favorite movie of the women in my family is the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett. (Full confession: I like it as well.) At the very […]

Does anyone go to the movies anymore? For some reason, Sally and I have been experiencing a bit of a movie renaissance, or at least a rebirth of our interest in attending them. When we were younger, we went weekly as it was one of our primary entertainments. Judging by the number and age of […]

We are obsessed with the extraordinary. Extraordinary accomplishments. Extraordinary intelligence. Extraordinary experiences. Extraordinary wealth. Extraordinary beauty. Extraordinary danger. Extraordinary behavior. Extraordinary pleasure. Extraordinary evil. We can't get enough of the extremes. If one looks at headlines, magazine and book titles, or the movies we watch, it would seem that no one is interested in the […]

As I write this post, the moon is full, illuminating the night with its reflection of the day to come. Soon, the sun will announce its appearance with the first glow on the horizon. Today is Easter, the Christian celebration of Jesus Christ's Resurrection. It seems a good time to talk about hope. But first, […]

Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed. G.K. Chesterton Sally and I recently took the time to listen to a fairy tale entitled The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. Why? Perhaps it was a twitch on […]

I recently had the opportunity to watch the 2018 version of A Star is Born featuring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. I was first introduced to the story with the 1976 version starring Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson and must confess to being fascinated by the plot and these movies. The 2018 version of the […]

I wrote the post below 12 months ago and was recently reminded of it as I listened to the song Never Enough from The Greatest Showman. When one can have anything he or she wants with the click of a mouse, what constitutes “enough?” Whether it's food, drink, money, security, recognition, attention, things, or even […]

We're a nation of fighters. From our very founding, we've fought for independence, individual rights, safety, influence, control, selfish interests, altruistic interests, religious freedom, and self determination. Our brawling political system remains as antagonistic as ever and our society has evolved incredibly effective tools to enable us to confront each other at pretty much every […]

Our most valuable possessions are those which can be shared without lessening: those which, when shared, multiply. Our least valuable possessions are those which, when divided, are diminished. William Danforth, I Dare You! A Lesson in Ukraine As we watch events unfolding in the Ukraine with increasing disgust, we struggle to understand “why?” Greed? Power? […]

It would take me years of reading, thought, and experience to learn again that in this world limits are not only inescapable but indispensable. Wendell Berry We actually went to a movie theater this week-end. Remember those? Though we love the convenience of our instant access world, there is still something magical about watching a […]

There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it. Simon Sinek I just re-read Simon Sinek's book, Start With Why, originally published in 2009. Good books are always able to meet you where you are and bring fresh perspective where and when you need them. Sinek […]

The thread glinted,caught in the lightand then goneThe strand, silky and ephemeral.As mysteriousas the cardinal's call.Framing this moment,there is a tearedging from my eye –holding on,glistening, not ready to fall;as temporary as that web,lost in the sunshine.It is all passingin the prevailing seconds,marching to another edge –a threshold to the next.No return, just passing.These are […]

I heard it long before I saw it. The blades of its propellers pounded the air as it moved slowly across the afternoon sky. Sitting atop Mount Fortuna at the north east edge of San Diego, I watched the V-22 Osprey come into view and fly directly overhead. This particular aircraft is a VTOL, meaning […]

To say you have no choice is to relieve yourself of responsibility. Patrick Ness, Monsters of Men The Realities of Control Control. Oh, how we want it. We want to know what to do to create specific results. We want to know the path to getting what we want. We want to know what it […]

The New Year is here. Moving into January 2022, we acutely feel the many changes of the last 24 months. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed much and tested us: as individuals, as organizations, as a society, as a nation, and as a world. We're still here. We still get up every day, get dressed, and […]

Because you're lonely in your nightmare let me in Duran Duran Consider for a moment all of the people you know. Friends. Family. Neighbors. Co-workers. Passing acquaintances. What do you know about them? Do you know their hopes? Do you know their loves? Do you know their struggles? Do you know their fears? How deep […]

Does anyone remember when the Rubik's Cube became a big thing in the early 80's? The world went wild with the challenge of solving the 3 dimensional puzzle. Well, at least it seemed like it to me. At first, it was all about solving one side. Then, the problem turned two sides and so on. […]

Today begins Advent, the season of preparation and waiting in anticipation of Christmas. Thanksgiving has passed and Black Friday promotions have formally initiated the retail sprint to the finish of 2021. The next few weeks will zip by as we lose ourselves to shopping, parties, and the dangling participles of all we've left undone for […]

In the early days of one of our operations, I asked an employee about the status of some backorders. “All good,” he replied without hesitation. “They're on their way.” A few days later, I got a call asking about the orders. When I inquired again, he told me that they had not yet shipped, and […]

Several years ago, I changed my daily routine to include an hour of meditative time each morning. It changed my life. I suppose that is a rather dramatic statement, but I believe it to be true. A conversation with a friend this week prompted me to think about it more deeply. Think, deeply. We often […]

Remember the KISS principle? Keep It Simple Stupid was a Navy design mantra in the 60's, reportedly born out of the legendary Lockheed Skunk Works. The basic idea is to avoid unnecessary complexity whenever possible and to always be looking for ways to simplify systems, processes, products, etc. Most reading this post have grown up […]