Commander's Time

I used to laugh at people who would buy technology all from the same brand. They would say that it’s all about the ecosystem. Things just work well together. The different pieces communicate with each other, and their individual roles, along with strengths and weaknesses, are harnessed to make this work.

That’s the kind of ecosystem I want to build at the Post. In that pursuit, I recently called a staff meeting, comprising our employees on both the Legion and the Theater side. Once in the room, the tensions between the two groups seemed to dissipate. There was no rehashing history or focusing on the blame game. There was a genuine discussion or remedies for the problem without being fixated on the problem existing in the first place. There was also a reluctance to spend much time on perceived problems that either didn’t really exist or were minor one-off issues. 

It was a classic two progressive steps forward experience. 

Next on the to-do list is to get our leadership to work together better. That’s a taller task. We spend way too much time on blame and just being angry about things. I call it the Outrage Olympiad, a competition to see who can muster up the most anger about whatever the most recent issue is. I’m sure that it must make the individual feel some sort of virtue in that they see themselves caring more than people who don’t insta-rage. The reality is that this is not a path toward solvency or even working together toward a goal of solvency. What it creates are parts of an ecosystem that aren’t functioning properly within that ecosystem. In any meeting, whether it be the Executive Committee, other committees, or even the business, we need to do better, and we need to collectively call out the non-productive behavior. Help me cure the toxicity that is ailing our membership body.

Please don’t get me wrong; I love the passionate debate that illuminates the real issues and lays a path for remedy. I loathe insults, bringing up old and irrelevant issues, and going 0 to 100 with misplaced frustration, instead of opening dialogue to figure out what the root of the issue is. From the frustration I hear from members, many of you loathe that toxic presence in the algorithm of our ecosystem.

If I could make a Post 43 resolution for 2023, it would be just to be better to one another and work toward our collective mission. Don’t get triggered by the past into a rote rant that doesn’t help to solve the challenge in front of us. Give up petty grudges and let’s learn how to disagree, and let’s learn how to agree, and let’s learn how to compromise to find the best-fit solution for the good of the Legion and not just for the good of the individual ego. 

The good news is that we are making progress. I was proud of the staff in that “all hands” meeting, and I hope that they can set the example for the rest of us, including myself and the entirety of our leadership. The Post/member events team is delivering entertainment to bring us together. We have a blood drive coming up. I have some plans for us that I hope many of you will participate in. We need to nurture the ecosystem to function productively with more solutions than drama. 

Deescalate.
Communicate.
Ideate. 

That’s the ecosystem that I wish for Hollywood Post 43, and I thank you, in advance, for your help in making it happen.

Jeff Daly, Commander