When I was a kid we never had children’s sermons in church. The only sermons we got as kids was “Keep quiet and stop wiggling.” Perhaps that is why I accept the challenge to deliver a children’s sermon a few times each year. I work harder on those little sermons than anything else I do. I have always felt this need to speak to everyone in a room so that they get a personal message. In business situations I wanted to reach the workers and also management and somehow get them closer to one another. I guess that I still feel that way in church and I want my message to be received by the children but I guess that subconsciously, I am trying to deliver a message to the entire congregation. Last Sunday I talked about my list of ten reasons that I was thankful. It went OK but now as I look back at it I realize that there was a third audience I was trying to reach and that was myself. I too needed reminding what a wonderful life I live here in America with so many freedoms to enjoy. May God bless America and keep our troops from harm. 1
Art Fettig’s Monday Morning Memo November 16, 2009 800-441-7676 or 919-732-6994 artfettig@aol.com
In This Issue o Books o Say Something Good o Visit Our Website o Points To Ponder o A Little Humor o Quote of the Week o To Subscribe
Books
I’m in here at my computer early this morning so that I can send it off and get over to the library book sale in Chapel Hill. I had to promise my wife that for every book I brought home today I would get rid of at least one book from my office. Books are my addiction. I don’t think I had a half a dozen books around other than school books for the first twenty years of my life. When I was twenty two I was wounded in Korea and we moved on to Hokkaido, Japan and I hurt my leg taking ski training and as my leg was healing I would stumble across the street from my barracks and spend my time in the library across the way. Mostly I enjoyed the biography section. When I was learning to become a claim agent with the railroad I began to read books about behavior; why people bought things and how the creative mind works. I discovered Alex Osborne and the topic of creative thinking. For many, many years I have gone through a book a week and the topics are as varied at those wet leaves that have piled up all around our home in the woods.
I’m sure you have heard the expression “Readers are leaders.” Well all I can say is that most of what I have learned has come from the books I bought or borrowed. I’ve done my learning my way and it has been a joyous venture.
This week I learned that my new novel, The Old May and the CD won the NABE 2009 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for best book in the category of Novel for which I am most grateful. I might truly be a slow learner but I keep on striving. .
Say Something Good Veterans Day. President Obama spoke to the troops in Alaska this week and he said something to the effect that he would not send our troops into action without the support of our people. Sounds great in a speech but for far too long here in America we have been doing just that. When I was in Korea the war did not have the support of the American people. In fact, most of them didn’t even know it was going on. Same with Viet Nam. For a number of years that war did not have the support of the American people. This current mess in Iraq and in Afghanistan has lost the support of many Americans and I have this sad feeling that we are sending troops who do not want to go to a place where they are not welcome at great expense to the American taxpayer with money we do not have backing up corrupt leaders there for only God knows why. Oops, I am supposed to say something good in this column and I got sidetracked. I took my Almost Andy character to the Durham Veterans Hospital this week and gave a show for patients there. They were great and they laughed and they applauded in all of the right places and then they thanked me personally for visiting them. Everyone of them said “Thank you.” Of course, I thanked them from the bottom of my heart for everything. It is hell fighting in a war that is not supported by the American people. I pray that God will bless America and bring our troops home safely.
Visit Our Website Learn about our sensational new 101 Kit that allows you to save thousands on speaker and travel fees and implement our fantastic employee positive interaction 101 program yourself. It is an instant behavior modification commitment program that gets everyone in your organization involved in safety. Remember, you have a ten day money back guarantee too. Act now! and we will include my comprehensive 420 page book Winning the Safety Commitment as a bonus. Go directly to www.artfettig.com and get your safety program cranked up to a whole new level of performance. If you have questions just call me at 800 441 7676 or e-mail me at artfettig@aol.com.
Points To Ponder The reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first. Robert K. McKain
A Little Humor Why do tug boats push their barges? For the same reason that we sing “Take me out to the ball game” when were already there.
Quote of the Week There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Niccolo Machiavelli
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In This Issue o A Whole New Look o Say Something Good o Visit Our Website o Points To Ponder o A Little Humor o Quote of the Week
A Whole New Look Did you ever go to describe something to somebody and as you did so you got a whole new look at what you were describing? That happened to me the other day when I had breakfast with a booking agent. We were discussing my new character “Almost Andy” and he asked me what I had been up to before this. I was describing what I had been doing for the past thirty plus years in the Safety field. I said this, “Through the mixture of humor, enthusiasm, pathos, logic, a smattering of patriotism, plus just good common sense I had learned how to go into an organization and in the span of a one hour presentation to win a personal signed commitment to positive interaction from everyone in that organization and with the demonstration of my 101 hand signal I make it possible for everyone to interact in a positive manner by just bending their index finger.
“Does it do any good?” He asked. And I explained how it had turned whole organizations around including those in the automotive, petrol, power, construction and at some locations, even our armed forces. And further I told him that many organizations had done this simply using a video of this presentation.
Then something else happened this week. I talked with a lady with a firm I had made a presentation for in 1991. They taped my presentation and each year they show that video to every employee and make a recommitment to safety and each year they distribute two of my booklets to each worker. With my permission, this year they translated the booklets into Spanish and they are distributing booklets to every employee.
You know how sometimes two or three things happen at once and they all seem to fit together? Well, I was looking for a particular video among my CD’s and I came upon a Declaration of Interdependence video we had created for a client some time ago. It was the same as that presentation I’d made for that client I just told you about.and it is a DVD. I look like a young kid in it. Well, I watched it and I thought it was pretty good. In fact, I believe that if someone showed it to their entire work force and then had them sign this Declaration of Interdependence for Safety document and then followed up with the booklets they just might realize a dramatic change in the attitude and performance of their entire organization towards safety. Every now and then I hear from someone who says that they too use my video every year and start out the new year with a recommitment to safety. It is kind of a good feeling to know that my work goes on and on and on. .
Say Something Good Mayberry. It isn’t a real place but an army of loyal fans visit Mayberry on a daily basis. Mayberry existed only in the minds of the creators of The Andy Griffith Show which made its debut some forty nine years ago on TV and it has been showing continuously since then. Mayberry is a place where people love one another and who try to understand and help out with one another’s daily problems. Otis, the town drunk locks himself up when he has had too much to drink instead of driving down their roads endangering others. Deputy Barney has just one silver bullet and he carried it in his shirt pocket. Andy, the sheriff does not carry a gun. He can solve most any problem with some understanding and a kind word. There are no wars, no terrorists, no drugs, no crime, no unemployment, just good guys and good times. Wouldn’t it be nice, oh, wouldn’t it be loverly? No, there is no real Mayberry where we can hide out from the world’s problems and challenges. I guess it is up to us to provide the love and happiness and goodness we might find there in our own actions towards one another each day in the here and now. May God bless America and keep our troops from harm.
Visit Our Website Learn about our sensational new 101 Kit that allows you to save thousands on speaker and travel fees and implement our fantastic employee positive interaction 101 program yourself. It is an instant behavior modification commitment program that gets everyone in your organization involved in safety. Remember, you have a ten day money back guarantee too. Act now! and we will include my comprehensive 420 page book Winning the Safety Commitment as a bonus.
Points To Ponder The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you lived, and lived well. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A Little Humor Bumper snickers. “I’m out of estrogen and I have a gun.” “I’ve got ‘er floored. Pass on left.” *I’ll die for my right to carry a gun and fire it on the Expressway.”
Quote of the Week Unhappy is the man, though he rule the world, who doesn’t consider himself supremely blessed. Marcus Annaeus Seneca
o Sue, the Environmentalist o Say Something Good o Visit Our Website o Points To Ponder o A Little Humor o Quote of the Week o To Subscribe
Sue, the Environmentalist
I told you about Sue Satterfield in a previous newsletter but she has been on my mind recently when I was thinking about changing the environment. Many years ago, my first wife, Ruthie and I were with Sue Satterfield and her husband Richard and after doing a safety meeting for Georgia Power in Atlanta, we decided to spend a few days with our hosts touring the beautiful foothills of Northern Georgia.
We visited the Hiawassee fairgrounds and then in the evening we attended a Country Music Festival. We guessed there were some five thousand people in the auditorium which was packed. Luckily, we found four seats together in the rear of the giant hall. As we walked into the auditorium I was hit by the hot, stale air. A group was on-stage singing their hearts out and the audience response was really flat.
Sue sat down, sniffed a bit and said out loud for all to hear, “This air is foul.” And, of course, we all agreed. “I’ll take care of that!” She said confidently. Sue stood up and went to the rear of the hall where the fellow from the Lion’s Club, the program sponsor, sat at a table. “This air is foul in here.” She said to the man.
He explained that he was alone at the desk and there was simply nothing he could do about the situation. “We’ve got to open up some of those side doors,” Sue said, and again the man said there was nothing he could do.
“I’ll take care of that!” Sue said and she walked to the rear of the hall and over to the front where they had these big doors that slid up like a garage door. She walked over to a fellow standing there and she said to him, “This air is foul in here. We’ve got to get some fresh air in here, will you hep me?” Actually she said “Will you help me,” but Sue had her own charming way of saying things. The man agreed and together they managed to swing this big door up and open it. Then he walked with her around the back on up front on the other side of the hall and together they opened up a door on that side.
Now she had a great system of cross ventilation going. It was heavenly.
Five thousand people had been sitting there suffering with the lack of oxygen and whatever elements people had sucked out of an air supply in the two days and nights of band competitions that had preceded this event: those five thousand people now began to inhale deeply.
It was like magic. The musicians on-stage began to perform better. The crowd really got into the music now and their survival was no longer in jeopardy. They all started clapping and stomping their feet and that turned out to be one of the most wonderful Country Music shows that we had attended in a long, long time.
Can you imagine five thousand people were willing to just sit there and put up with really stale air and not one of them made an effort to do anything about it. It took a :real Southern woman” named Sue.
Oh how the world needs more people like her…just one woman with some know-how and determination made the world a better place for five thousand people and she saved the concert that night.
Say Something Good
Americans…want an instant shot of pride and patriotism? Listen to The Star Spangled Banner the way it should be sung. May God bless our troops and keep them from harm, and may God Bless America.
What makes a safety program great?
I’d say, “Fresh ideas and passion.” I had two phone calls recently that reminded me of the importance of ideas. One was an idea I came up with years ago in connection with having employees sign a personal commitment to safety and to agree to positively interact with other employees if they see an unsafe act or an unsafe situation. A client had called me and said, “Art, your program worked great, now what do you have for me new this year. I suggested that he do it again and so he got out the video, showed it again to every employee and got them to sign a new commitment. This approach brought everyone new online and renewed the commitment of those already in the program. Well, the phone call was from that same client sixteen years later and he is doing the same thing each year and it works so well that he will be distributing the same booklets again this year and they now have over 2,000 employees. The other call was from a fellow in the U.K. and he bought our 101 Kit for the ideas that he might modify for his own national culture. I told him I was sending him a hundred thousand dollars worth of ideas in this Kit and, actually it proved to be worth over a half a million dollars for another client. That is what they saved in not going with another safety firms approach and what’s more, that other firm wanted a hundred thousand dollars a year just for maintenance of their program. And yes, that firm using our program does it again and again and again. Signed personal commitments by everyone in your organization can produce instant results, provided you include the commitment to positively interact with others when you witness unsafe practices. We are talking about putting every employee, including your CEO, on your safety team. Of course, perhaps it is not really worth $595 plus shipping to change your safety commitment. Act now! and we will include my comprehensive 420 page book Winning the Safety Commitment as a bonus. It is crammed full of great ideas to make your meetings better and to improve your presentation skills too. The kit includes 3 DVD’s taped at my live presentations. 3 CD’s of songs and posters you can use to create your own power point motivational tools, 3 great safety booklets and more. THIS KIT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.
Points To Ponder
Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. Winston Churchill
A Little Humor
Many years ago when we first installed an answering machine in my office I discovered that most people were just like me, they hesitated to leave a message because they felt uncomfortable talking to a machine. I did a bit of experimenting and finally left the following message. “Hi there, this is Art Fettig’s chair. His answering machine is busy right now and Art is out giving speeches and writing books, but your call is really important to us. Sooo…when you here the beep start talking. Now…HERE’S THE BEEP!
People would call our office from all over the country just to hear that message and from then on most callers left a message. Use a little humor in all of your contacts with others and watch your results improve. NOW Here;s a bumper snicker. I need someone really bad…Are you really bad?
Quote of the Week
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. John Homer Miller
o Not Dancing in the Dark
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Never underestimate the ability of man to find a new way to do something in a little stupider manner.
Not Dancing in the Dark
Shin: device for finding furniture in the dark. I did better than that the other night. I turned off the lights in reverse order ending up in my office and then I proceeded to head back to our bedroom. I fell on my face and my glasses made a little cut on the bridge of my nose. I didn’t jump up to my feet as if nothing had happened. I lie there a minute or two reflecting on what I had just done. I wasn’t real proud of myself. After all, I have worked somehow in the safety field or on the fringes since 1948 and you would think I should know how to get to bed safely by now. Oh yeah? Never underestimate the ability of man to find a new way to do something in a little stupider manner. Why am I making this confession to you? Just to remind you that whenever you think you can predict the behavior of another fellow human being, LOOK OUT! They will fool you every time. Whenever you introduce changes be certain to stick around and see what happens.
Say Something Good
Discount coupons. Man, we have been livin’ high on the hog lately dining out with discount coupons. We had a terrific lunch at a Mexican Restaurant and the bill was just $7 for the two of us. Then we went in for a snack at Hardy’s and had two jumbo chili dogs and two double cheeseburgers plus two senior drinks for less than even I could believe. Without a coupon we dined at a cafeteria for lunch the other day and even with a big fat slice of delicious apple pie that we split we came out with most of our loot in our pocket. (The money we didn’t spend that is, not food.) There are some wonderful buys out there if you just watch for the coupons and shop wisely. Try eating like that abroad. May God bless our troops and bring them home safely and soon and may God Bless America.
Visit Our Website
I’ve been thriving since 1972 using my creativity and my speaking skills. I learned to use my creative imagination and then to implement my unique ideas creating my own corporation. My book new E-book titled Beyond Duh-Creativity in Action is now available at our website artfettig.com It might be just what you need to get started in a new era of your working life.
Check out our website at www.artfettig.com Learn about our sensational new 101 Kit that allows you to save thousands on speaker and travel fees and implement our fantastic employee positive interaction 101 program yourself. It is an instant behavior modification commitment program that gets everyone in your organization involved in safety. Remember, you have a ten day money back guarantee too. Act now. Go directly to www.artfettig.com And get your safety program cranked up to a whole new level of performance. If you have questions just call me at 800 441 7676 or e-mail me at artfettig@aol.com.
Points To Ponder
You can’t solve a problem with the same level of consciousness that created the problem in the first place. Albert Einstein
A Little Humor
Since my GPS conked out I solve my getting lost by just changing my destination.
Quote of the Week
Every single life only becomes great when the individual sets upon a goal or goals which they really believe in, which they can really commit themselves to, which they can put their whole heart and soul into. Brian Tracy
