Friends,
I have enjoyed being an active part of My-Bo during the first part of the campaign, but as we come down to 151 days to go till election day, I am being called to join in a more active capacity. As an Obama Organizing Fellow working in Virginia I will need to stop blogging for a while and focus my energy on turning VA Blue.
With Love and Regards,
Paul
So in Baracks own words:
"If I’d lost Iowa, it would have been over. One of the other Democrats would have emerged… But because we won, we now have no choice. We have to win.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnhmByYxEIo
I think there are some interesting ideas on that subject that we may want to consider from a recent HBR Article:
When Winning Is Everything
By Deepak Malhotra, Gillian Ku, J. Keith Murnighan
Harvard Business Review, May 2008
Summary:
In the heat of competition, executives can easily become obsessed with beating their rivals. This adrenaline-fueled emotional state, which the authors call competitive arousal, often leads to bad decisions. Managers can minimize the potential for competitive arousal and the harm it can inflict by avoiding certain types of interaction and targeting the causes of a win-at-all-costs approach to decision making.
Through an examination of companies such as Boston Scientific and Paramount, and through research on auctions, the authors identified three principal drivers of competitive arousal: intense rivalry, especially in the form of one-on-one competitions; time pressure, found in auctions and other bidding situations, for example; and being in the spotlight--that is, working in the presence of an audience. Individually, these factors can seriously impair managerial decision making; together, their consequences can be dire, as evidenced by many high-profile business disasters.
It's not possible to avoid destructive competitions and bidding wars completely. But managers can help prevent competitive arousal by anticipating potentially harmful competitive dynamics and then restructuring the deal-making process. They can also stop irrational competitive behavior from escalating by addressing the causes of competitive arousal. When rivalry is intense, for instance, managers can limit the roles of those who feel it most. They can reduce time pressure by extending or eliminating arbitrary deadlines. And they can deflect the spotlight by spreading the responsibility for critical competitive decisions among team members.
Decision makers will be most successful when they focus on winning contests in which they have a real advantage--and take a step back from those in which winning exacts too high a cost..
http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=1NH5TNKAABNC2AKRGWDSELQBKE0YIISW?id=R0805E
The full article is not public domain but I would be able to share a copy with you under fair use if you ask nice. :-)
I got a call from Aveek Majumdar. He has been with the campaign for several months and did field operations in several states. He is currently working on the campaign infrastructure for Virginia in the general election.
We got to chat a bit about the things that Obama Organizing Fellows would be doing. OOF as going to be working along side with field staff, canvassing, creating visibility for Barack, phone banking and voter registration work.
He shared with me some of his thoughts about organizing. That it really comes down to the leadership and enablement of volunteers to get things done to get out the message. He told me that the key thing he has found that makes people successful in field operations in flexibility. Outreach and voter contact can be less glamorous jobs than many. But being independent and willing to do what ever tasks are needed is very important.
I think that this ties nicely into what Barack said on Friday to the HQ in Chicago.
“I’m a big believer in that the way great things happen is when people are willing to submerge their own egos, and… just focus on bringing their particular gifts and passions and energy and vision to a common task then great things can be accomplished. That’s my old organizing mindset. It’s not just a gimmick. It’s not just a schtick. I actually believe it….”
http://ruralvotes.com/thefield/?p=1338
“Now let’s go do this thing!” - Alfrado Linguini to Remy in Ratatouille (my 2 year olds favorite movie)
I know people are calling for party unity. But the cartoonists are still putting out some really cute ones. just wanted to share.
By Dan BalzWashington Post Staff WriterSunday, June 8, 2008; A01
If you are coming into town for OOF training in VA next Friday please join us for dinner:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4g2t
OOF Dinner (Organizing) If you are coming into town Friday for the Obama Organizing Fellows training weekend lets get together for happy hours and a bite for dinner. Say meet up at 6PM Lets either do: Olive Garden Italian Restaurant 1049 W Mercury Blvd Hampton, VA 23666 (757) 825-8874 olivegarden.com OR Bennigans 2029 Coliseum Dr Hampton, VA 23666 (757) 838-9261 bennigans.com They are both near the YMCA where we are all staying. Please indicate your preferrence when you sign up for the event
Having gotten the call earlier this week that I will be an Obama Organizing Fellow in Virginia, I am excited to make a difference in this campaign.
I am a political novice, and have never worked on a campaign before, so this is going to be an interesting experience for me. I look forward to keeping my MYBO blog updated with the story of how things go.
Let me begin with the fact that the Obama Organizing Fellows (OOF) program begins next week and I still am not quite sure what I have gotten myself into.
The application process seemed to be straight forward. I wrote my essays and submitted with little trouble. The second step of the phone interview was easy to schedule and the conversation with Dexter was enjoyable from my prospective.
A couple of days later I received an email, it was actually sent around midnight on Saturday of Labor Day weekend, saying I had been selected. The note went on to explain that I had about 36 hours, till Monday at 5PM CT, to decide to participate.
With the support of my wife and kids I submitted my acceptance. The website gave me a message thanking me and telling me to expect a call in the next week.
The week came and went with no call. Then on Sunday I got an email saying that regrettably I was not selected for an OOF. After several hours of concern, we were able to clarify that it was just a clerical error and that I was indeed in the program. YEA!!!
This past Wednesday I got the call from the Richmond, VA office confirming my participation as an OOF helping turn Virginia blue in the November. After covering a couple of basic questions like did I want to relocate, and how many hours I would be able to put into the program (I said 168 a week) I was told to await another email with details, but that I was to report to the Hampton, VA YMCA with a sleeping bag next weekend for my training weekend.
I still haven’t gotten that email with the details, but that really doesn’t matter. I am psyched to do my part because as Hilary said today – Together, YES WE CAN
It will take some times for the party to unify.
This primary season in my mind came down to three candidates who amounted to a choice between a nice Filet, a New York Strip, and a 100% beef dog food in a can. All are from a cow but the differences between the first two are very minor. I don’t care how nice the wine and company is the last doesn’t work for me.
The policy difference between Hillary and Barack are very minor. Lets be honest the big difference was gender and race, hence some of the passion and bitterness within our great party. McCain is on the wrong side of almost everything I believe in except for immigration.
Once passions about the arguments over Strip or Filet subside we are going to eat the Republicans up in the fall.
A couple thoughts on Hillary as VP.
I heard on the news that one of the promises that she wants to extract from Obama is that if she does not get the VP slot then no other woman would. Hillary wants to preserve her position as the political standard bearer for democratic women. Along those lines I heard that Obama wanted a promise that if offered Hillary would not accept the VP slot. I would be an odd dance, especially for who ever get's the slot in the end as the “second choice” Definitely interesting negotiations going on.
The demise of the Clinton campaign is difficult for many. Many voters who Barack will need to capture the white-house in the fall. They are in a grieving period now and there needs to be some time to allow that process to happen. I feel that this is one of the reasons that She is waiting till the weekend to suspend her campaign. While this is clearly an amazing moment of change in our country, there are many who feel that now they will never have the opportunity to see a woman US President in their lives. That is tough for people. We need to allow the natural healing process to happen and not rush it.
Obama nation is starting a stampede!!!
