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Say When

What do Michael Scott, my Mom and Curt Schilling have in common? Other than being on my mind this week that is. Let’s see if you can figure it out (with a little help from me along the way).

Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell, is the manager of the Scranton, PA division of Dunder Mifflin on the hit show, “The Office”. As portrayed by Carell, Scott is over-matched by every predicament and relentlessly driven by those twin devils, hubris and fear.

The recent episode, “Money”, found the character in serious financial trouble because of the overspending of his girlfriend, Jan, and his own low impulse control when it comes to buying magic supplies. He takes on a second job as a telemarketer and slowly caves under the pressure. As the failures and humiliations pile on he finally comes clean to his employees (“I-declare-bankruptcy!”). Oscar from Accounting comes to the rescue and helps Michael with his monthly budget, as well as the bigger issue of admitting to his girlfriend (and former boss) that he’s in trouble.

Michael cracks. Big. He literally runs away, hopping a train in a desperate attempt to avoid his problems. Naturally, as soon as he hops on, the train comes to a complete stop. He sits in an empty boxcar sobbing until Jan catches up to him.

And then an amazing thing happens. Michael tells the truth, confesses his failures and Jan doesn’t run away. Doesn’t hate him. Just the opposite occurs, as she admits that she loves him and that they’ll get though it together.

My Mom, portraying herself in the long running series I call “My Life”, recently ran into computer problems. As my brother and I have cleverly worked out our areas of expertise (he’s the handy man, I’m the gadget guy), she called me when unable to print, browse the web or forward funny emails. No problem, I thought. I’ll pop over and have her back on track in a minute. It’s a Mac, how bad can it be?

Pretty bad. The quick pop-in turned into a frustrating hour without any success. I had to run, but returned later in the week (my inbox was empty!) to figure it out.

My Mom is a clever lady, and felt that she could figure it out on her own before calling and “bothering” me. She had managed to log into her wireless network, reset some key preferences, and uninstall the printer. Whoops. But she kept plugging (and unplugging) along over a couple of weeks. Eventually the need to use the computer overcame her concern and she had to call for help.

What started as a small problem (a simple email preference) cascaded into a larger problem. Since I didn’t know the extent of the trouble the fix took more time. Eventually we figured it out and my inbox is again bulging with chain letters and talking cats.

And that brings us to Curt Schilling. THRIVE! HQ is in the heart of Red Sox nation so it should be no surprise that we’ve been up late watching the team roll into the World Series (I’ve got the red-rimmed eyes to prove it). Last night Schilling took the mound for game two. He started a little shaky, but soon got it under control. In fact, until the middle of the 6th inning he was pretty much untouchable.

The Sox were clinging to a 2-1 lead when Schilling walked Rockie Todd Helton and manager Terry “Tito” Francona looked to the bullpen. Francona walked to the mound and spoke with Schilling who surrendered the game ball to Hideki Okajima. Schilling left the field to a well-deserved standing ovation in what may have been his last appearance as a Red Sox player at Fenway. The Sox went on to victory and a two-zip lead in the Series.

By listening to his coach, and trusting his bullpen, Schilling left the field a winner. Someone that Sox fans will always remember with awe for his self-sacrifice in 2004 and his wisdom in 2007.

OK, back to the question at hand. Just what do these three disparate figures have in common? Got it yet? That’s right, they needed help, but didn’t necessarily know how to get it. However, when they did get it, positive life changes occurred. Sure, Michael Scott is fictitious and sending email may seem less important than the World Series but needing help to achieve a goal is universal.

Michael Scott found out that he had loving support in the face of turmoil. My Mom learned that looking for help sooner is better than later. Curt Schilling displayed the maturity to trust his coach and his teammates over his own drive to succeed.

Learning to say when and ask for help is crucial to your success and happiness in life. Now if you’ll excuse me I have an inbox to empty.

Related Links

Quote of the Week

"There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
Anais Nin

Coaching Quickie: Say When

Check back next week for results!

Last Week's Results

Coaching Quickie: Life in the Fast Lane
If your goal pursuits were a Disney attraction, which would best describe them?

(13%) Space Mountain. I'm on a rocket ship to the top.
(50%) Everest. I'm climbing high, and I'm just hoping the Yeti doesn't catch me.
(13%) It's a Small World. I don't want much out of life other than a catchy theme song.
(25%) Tower of Terror. I'm afraid I'm not going to achieve my most important goals at my current pace.

If you missed it, you can read last week's newsletter online here.