James, project manager for a large building company in southern Oregon, told Session 10A, the graduation of his Leadership Development Lab:

"The leadership principles and ideals we have learned during the 10-week Leadership Development Lab have helped our design/build team through a very difficult problem associated with the design and cost of the Armory Phase II project.

Last November, about the time the Leadership Development Lab sessions began, we were struggling with a design that was significantly over budget. We began immediately to apply LDL principles and ideals to our problem:

• Brainstorming: We had several meetings with the architect/owner to come up with ways to reduce the cost of the building. Many great ideas were brought forth, resulting in over $1 million in savings, even though that wasn’t enough.
• 5x Enthusiasm: It was important to maintain my energy level and positive attitude, as well as all team members if we were to solve this problem. By doing so, our team remained focused on the problems at hand with a positive belief that solutions were in sight.
• When you blow it, show it: Finally, when it became apparent that we could not “fix” the problem through brainstorming and cost-cutting measures, we acknowledged this design would have to be discarded, and a new, simpler building would need to be designed to fit into the owners’ budget.

The skills learned through this Lab have certainly played a big part in overcoming our serious budget problems on this project. We now have a new design underway that appears, at this time, to have an estimated cost that is well within our budget.

The lesson I have learned from this experience is regardless of the circumstances or situation, no matter how desperate to keep my eye on the desired end state, to believe there is a positive answer even when I can’t see one; to remain positive and flexible regardless of the circumstances.

The action I call you to take is to employ these Turbo techniques with your toughest problems. Just before a difficult meeting, review the 15 Leadership Principles and make sure to use them during the meeting. By doing so, virtually any big problem can be resolved."

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself to do the thing you have to do when it ought to be done whether you like it or not. It is the first lesson that ought to be learned and however early a person’s training begins, it is probably the last lesson a person learns thoroughly."

- Thomas Huxley, British biologist

Let’s remember that all true, authentic learning comes from experiment and analysis, a continuous series of steps taken, analysis of results to explore even better ways to achieve our desired results.