E+R=O (Event + Reaction = Outcome)

I spend my days with a number of very passionate, driven, perceptive and intelligent people. As Chief Information Officer it is an incredible position to be in, surrounded by a strong team, by strong leaders. One of these leaders is Rob Meikle, Rob came to the city from the private sector a number of years ago and has been a driver at the city in respect to moving the Information and Technology solutions agenda forward. Rob has one eye on the needs of the business and the other on his team, keeping both in balance, always having a pulse on what is “Happening”. Recently Rob presented the IT Leadership team with his latest observation. Within each organization there are events, events of an individual nature, events of a corporate nature. Each of us are faced with ‘events’ everyday, hey there are also events outside of work, you know in the other part of life. When an event presents itself, we react. We can react to an event in many different ways, even no reaction is a reaction. We can react positively or negatively, we can be supportive in our reaction, or we can react in a way that implies that there must be “more to the story than being reported”. Some people react in a way that causes those around them to connect the dots associated with an event pathologically, you know creating their own reality and then communicating it to others (also known as the grape vine). How we react to an event is the measure of our maturity and character. Taking the event and adding our reaction creates the “Outcome”. Outcomes can sometimes come across as not “controllable” or out of control, however our reaction is controllable. How we react in a situation, based on an event guides the outcome. We cannot control the events, we cannot always control the outcomes, but we can control our reaction to an event thus guiding the outcome. How we react in any given situation is a choice. Reacting in a way that is supportive of the people around you, supportive of the leadership is very important. Not being drawn in by a “side” is also important. As I always say, Common Sense and The Truth are powerful allies. On their own they are great, but combined

together they are powerful. So be prepared, be prepared for the people and organization around you to create events, events that will put you to the test. As they say in the railway industry, “Train time is anytime”, so be ready “Event time is anytime”. Be ready for an event, one that will put you to the test, one you are not expecting. How you react will impact the outcome. Step back, take a breath and then move forward. You own your reaction !