Change in regime — I am no longer embarrassed to be an American.

Change in politics — The end of the conservative government that has reigned since 1980.

Change in culture — The united states just elected an African American president.

Most importantly, we have unseated the worst president in history.

Fret not Mr. McCain. All is not lost. Even though the current tally from elections.yahoo.com shows that Barack Obama has 355 electoral votes to your paltry 156, I have some advice for you that can turn things around.

It’s pretty simple really, just do what George W. Bush did to win the 2000 and 2004 elections. Here are the steps:

1. Swing the borderline red states in your favor by taking a fake stance on a popular moral issue. Learn from George W. Bush. Right before the 2004 election, he introduced a proposition for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. This is a great way to rally the "red" states in your favor. Devout religious folks will gladly support such an anti-gay measure, and many of them will elect you based on this issue alone. Don’t worry, after the election, you won’t have to do anything about it. It can be completely forgotten. It’s just an election time game. George Bush never mentioned it again after he won the election — yet this undoubtedly helped him win some red states!
2. Find bad man, and link him to the September 11th attacks. Take credit for it all. Don’t worry if it’s not true — the less educated people in America won’t bother to research the details. It just needs to be a face, preferably someone with a long beard and a turban, but even that’s optional. Following Bush’s example, Saddam Hussein was captured before the 2004 election. George W. Bush’s propaganda machine did an outstanding good job of linking Iraq to September 11th attacks. According to this CNN poll in 2006, 43% of the people in this country thought that Saddam Hussein was directly responsible for the September 11th attacks! Directly responsible!
   
    
   McCain, follow in George W. Bush’s footsteps, and take advantage of the uneducated voters! They are ripe for manipulation. Capture a random person of Middle Eastern decent, and build a case for linking him to September 11th. The droves of lemmings in America will scream "We got him" in a triumphant glory, and associate the capture and victory with you. Here is a Bonus: - Have your bad guy be a GAY.
3. Rig the election. Call up your friends at Diebold. Their CEO promised to deliver Ohio to the Republican party, and that wound up winning the election for George W. Bush! Pick a few key battleground states with a lot of electoral votes, such as Florida and Ohio. A little rigging of the system is all it will take to have everything go your way. Democracy is great, but remember, it’s only as good as the voting system! Letting Obama win legitimately would go against the trend of the last two elections. Bend the rules a bit and make it go in your favor.

In case it wasn’t clear: Yes, this was a joke — a jab at the worst president in U.S. History, George W. Bush. I’m angry that he turned a prospering U.S. Economy into the worst in 80 years, debilitated international relations, made us less safe from terrorists by painting a giant bulls-eye on America. I’m angry that he spent hundreds of billions of dollars flexing our war muscle in Iraq because it was profitable — not because of a legitimate threat.

I’m angry at President Bush, but I’m even angrier at the American people for electing him for the wrong reasons. America, I don’t care if you vote for McCain or Obama, they are both good candidates. But please:

1. Go educate yourselves
2. Vote
3. Make sure it gets counted correctly

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The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

Overall I think democracy is on the right track, and I wouldn’t have anything else. However, my confidence in our voting system has eroded over the last few years.

In looking back at the last two presidential elections, both times the voting system system let us down. The popular vote electing the better man, but instead we got a war hungry moron that has put our company into the worst economy since the depression.

I voted for the right candidate, goddammit, and so did the majority of the country. But because of the electoral system, our country has suffered.

Throughout both of the last two elections, the Diebold voting machines have f!#$ed the american people by helping the wrong man to be elected.

Did you know that the CEO of Diebold is an outspoken George W. Bush supporter? Did you know that he held a Republican fundraiser before the 2004 election, where in writing, he promised to "Deliver the state of Ohio to the republican party". It was printed on the invitations for God sake.

And then remember just how pivotal Ohio was in the 2004 election? and it was won by a very small margin. Guess where the other place there has been Diebold controversy? Yep. Florida. Makes you wonder how the 2000 election would have gone if Diebold voting machines had been banned.

I’m incensed. I’ve lost faith in our current voting system, and I want it fixed.

I live in a state where a body builder/movie star is the governor.

That’s quite a statement to live up to. Beyond overstating my own abilities, there is the subject matter that I am writing about. Could what I have to say really be that interesting?

Furthermore, I don’t have any way of knowing what else you have read. You may have already read the best blog post ever, in which case I’m doomed.

So why on earth would I set your expectations so high right from the start? I have already set you up for disappointment. If this isn’t really the best post you have ever read, I have let you down. I have not met your expectations. Everyone can see how foolish this is.

Yet people do it every day.

Don’t follow this example — set expectations properly with everyone around you. Seek to make people happy with what you do, not what you say. It’s easy to promise and take front end-glory (getting credit for something by talking about it before you do it). Superstars consistently exceed expectations.

My four rules of managing expectations:

1. Understand what expectations you have set — The first step in properly managing expectations is to be aware of the ones you are setting. Every time you speak, chances are you are setting an expectation. You are establishing a guideline for how well you will do something, and giving an indication when you will be done. If either one is not done, you have not met the other persons expectations.
2. Set expectations correctly from the start — The second rule for properly managing expectations is to set them correctly. Duh!. I’m continually amazed at how people mess this part up. Most people don’t understand that in almost every situation, they have the power to set expectations — so that they will be set for your success. Yet they ignore this opportunity. Sometimes out of immaturity, or the desire for front-end glory.
3. Communicate along the way ; reset expectations as needed — The third rule in properly managing expectations is to monitor expectations and progress along the way, and communicate (reset) expectations if necessary. If new circumstances are going to prevent you from meeting the original expectations you set, you need to proactively reset expectations. This must be done before the original expectation passes.
4. Strive to exceed all expectations — The fourth rule in properly managing expectations is to perform. Do what you committed to, and more. This doesn’t necessarily mean being an over-acheiver. Remember, you set the expectations in the first place, so it should be easy to exceed them, right? ;-).

Let’s walk through an example. First, we will follow Joe through a normal work week. Joe doesn’t understand how to set expectations, and we will see that things don’t work out so well for him. Then we will use some of the rules above to retool the situation, flex our universe a bit, and see how things could have turned out better.

Scenario #1 - Joe works with Mike, his boss, on a new project. See if you can identify the mistakes Joe has made. 5 bonus points for each of these mistakes you have made yourself.

Monday morning - Joe is sitting with his boss, Mike, in a meeting to discuss a new project. Mike outlines what needs to be done, and asks Joe for an estimate on how long it will take. Joe doesn’t have a clear understanding of what needs to be done, but is eager to show his boss that he "gets it". He also wants to impress his boss with his ability to work quickly.
"This looks pretty straightforward," Joe says "I think this is about two days worth of work".

Mike seems skeptical. "Really? Two days? You sure?".

"Yeah, I think so." Joe, in his immaturity, aims to preserve ego instead of obtain clarity.

Mike responds, "Ok, go ahead and get started. Let me know how it goes."

Joe, still not thinking, "Yeah sure, will do."

Joe goes back to his desk. He’s ready to get started on the work for Mike, but he remembers that before he can get started, he needs to finish up some work from last week that he started for Angela from Accounting. Shoot. Well, Mike’s work will have to wait.

At about noon, Joe finishes the work for Angela and gets started on Mike’s work. As he gets his mind focused on the project, some of the details start to surface. Joe realizes that his original estimate of 2 days is off, there is a lot of work to do. Joe tells himself, "Better stay focused and work hard."

Tuesday - Joe continues working. He is a hard worker, so he stays late on Tuesday to try to make up for being behind. He gets stalled because he needs access to the servers from the Operations team. They take more than 5 hours to complete something that should have been very easy for them to do. But they are busy, and can’t be nudged any faster.

Wednesday - Joe is about 25% done. There is more work than he thought, and the progress has been slow because of some unforseeable obstacles beyond his control (the Operations team). At the end of the day, Mike is wondering what’s going on. He thinks to himself, "Didn’t I ask Joe to keep me informed along the way?". He drops by Joe’s desk.

"Hey Joe. How is that project going?"

"Um. It’s kind of….Well. I’ve run into a problem with the flux capacitor." - Joe stammers.

"Uh oh. So are we still on track for it to be done today?" - Mike asks.

Joe is surprised, "I didn’t tell you it would be done today. What do you mean? I’m not even half done."

Mike is shocked. He knows that Joe told him it would be two days of work. "Has Joe been slacking off?" Mike thinks to himself. Mike isn’t happy, and his tone of voice reflects it, "Joe, I’m sure we talked about this on Monday. You said it was two days of work. I also asked you to keep me updated along the way if there were any problems. I was expecting you to have this done today, and now you are telling me that it is only halfway done? This is going to cause big problems for us. I have already told other people this would be done based on what you told me."

Mike pauses, with an angry look on his face. "I’ll need you to stay late and work on this. It needs to be done by Friday. Now I have to go tell my boss that it won’t be done on time."

Joe is frustrated too. He swears he never said it would be done by today, and it’s not his fault that he isn’t done. It’s Angela from accounting, and the Operations team for not getting him access to the servers in time. He tries to plead his case to Mike, but it just infuriates Mike even more.

"Stop making excuses. Just make sure you get it done before Friday!" Mike scolds.

Thursday Joe gets in early, and works throughout the day to get it done. "Gotta get this done by Friday" he tells himself. Joe leaves late on Thursday. "I’m almost done, should be easy to wrap up in the morning."

Mike checks his e-mail late from home. He knows that he told Joe to have this done before Friday, or else. No e-mail from Joe with the completed project. No status update on what is going on. "What in the hell is this guy doing?" He can’t believe that Joe isn’t doing his work.

Friday - Joe comes to work Friday morning to find a note from Human Resources. Mike fires Joe for not getting any work done, not communicating, and slacking off.

End result — Joe works hard, but Mike’s expectations were continually let down, so his perceived performance is in the toilet, which causes him to lose his job.

Did you identify all the mistakes that Joe made?

1. Joe didn’t have a clear idea of the amount of work to be done, but committed to a timeframe anyway.
2. Joe set an expectation that this will be done on Wednesday. He didn’t realise it when he did, he thought he was just quoting how much effort the project was. He needed to be more careful about expectations that were set.
3. Joe should have better qualified his work estimate, so that Mike would know that it was a rough estimate, and may change once he explored the details.
4. Joe just set an expectation that he will communicate his status along the way, but didn’t.
5. Joe should have let Mike know about the delay because of the work for Angela
6. Joe should have let Mike know when he saw that the work would take longer than the original estimate.
7. Joe should have understood that when Mike said "before Friday", he actually meant Thursday night. Even though this miscommunication could be attributed to Mike, in the end it wound up being Joe’s problem.

Now, let’s take a look at the above scenario again, this time with proper expectation setting.

Scenario #2 - Bill and Mike work on a project. Unlike Joe, Bill understands how to correctly set expectations.

Monday morning - Bill is sitting with his boss, Mike, in a meeting to discuss a new project. Mike outlines what needs to be done, and asks Bill for an estimate on how long it will take. Bill doesn’t have a clear understanding of what needs to be done, so he tells Mike he is going to need to spend a few minutes looking at it to get an idea.

"Sure thing." Mike agrees, happy that he is going to get an accurate estimate.

Bill knows he still has that work to finish up for Angela before he can take a look. He thinks he will be done with Angela’s work by 11:30, but pads some extra time. "Mike, I have 3 hours of work to finish up for Angela, but I’ll let you know by 1pm how long this project will take." Bill says.

Mike squirms. He needs to know sooner, because he has other people depending on his answer. "I need you to work on this now. What is it that you are working on for Angela? Nevermind, don’t explain. I’ll just go tell her that it will have to wait. Please start on this now."

Bill is relieved, he didn’t want to work on the stuff for Angela anyway. With Mike talking to Angela for him, he is able to get started right away on his project for Mike.

30 minutes later, Bill comes back to Mike with an estimate. "Mike, I think this is about 2.5 days worth of work. I’ll also need access to the servers from the Operations team. If I can get that without any obstacles, I think that I can have this ready for you by the end of the day Wednesday".

"Sounds great". Mike seems pleased.

Bill begins his work on the project. As he gets his mind focused, some of the details start to come to light. Bill realizes that his original estimate of 2.5 days is off, there is more work to do than he thought. Bill knows that he may not make the original deadline.

Bill sends a quick e-mail to Mike: "Hey Mike, just a heads up, this is harder than I thought, and it may take longer than expected. I need to revise my original estimate to Thursday instead. Also, this depends on me getting access from the Operations team."

Mike writes back: "Bill, thanks for keeping me informed. Thursday should be fine, it’s still early and I haven’t told anyone yet. And don’t worry about the Operations team. I will talk to them right now and get you the access you need."

Tuesday - Bill continues working through the day. He had padded his original estimate by 10%, so he feels good about getting done on time.

Wednesday - Bill is about 75% done. He remembers that Mike wanted to be informed along the way, so he sends a quick status update: "Project is going well and 75% done. Thanks for getting Angela off my back and nudging the Operations guy along. We are still on track for end of the day tomorrow. (Thursday)"

Thursday Bill finishes the project Thursday morning. With some extra time, he does a little extra work on the project to have it done even better. He delivers it ahead of schedule at noon on Thursday. Mike has had his expectations exceeded with both the quality of the work and the timing, and gives bill a raise.

End result — Bill works less hard than Joe, but his perceived performance was completely different, because of effective communication and managing of expectations. Bill got the project done sooner, and with extra work done. Bill understood what expectations he set, he set expectations correctly from the start, he communicated and reset expectations as needed, and he focused on exceeding those expectations.

Correctly managing expectations can make a tremendous difference in the work place, and with everyone around you.

"Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism, and it never has been," he said. "I would not hold our military, our resources and our foreign policy hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq."

That’s the best damn thing I’ve heard any politician say about Iraq. It’s time to stop digging the hole deeper.

But as long as Diebold runs rigs the voting machines in America, I don’t see how we can elect a Democratic President.

First, a definition from dictionary.com:

1. faithful to one’s sovereign, government, or state: a loyal subject.
2. faithful to one’s oath, commitments, or obligations: to be loyal to a vow.
3. faithful to any leader, party, or cause, or to any person or thing conceived as deserving fidelity: a loyal friend.
4. characterized by or showing faithfulness to commitments, vows, allegiance, obligations, etc.: loyal conduct.

Loyalty is found at different levels: with family, friends, governments, and even companies. This emotional attachment is our way of sticking together. Presumably our ancestors who were more loyal were better suited to survive. Interdependence with those around us is a key stepping stone to success.

At it’s basic construct, loyalty is an emotional attachment that unites us.

Loyalty will have us do what is best for the group instead of what is better for us as individuals. We will blindly support the group if necessary, putting our faith in a unified effort. We will feel compelled to come to the rescue of other loyal subjects if they are in need. We will be loyal to those around us by guarding and protecting them from strangers. Loyalty is what causes us to choose sides, particularly when we don’t know which side to be on.

Loyalty and faith will also pull teams through difficult times. When the group faces challenges, loyalty forms an emotional bond that will hold a group together, making us comfortable with the sacrifice of our own needs in favor of the needs of the group. Imagine if your spouse had no loyalty. As soon as you get in a fight over how to load the dishes, the relationship would be over.

Loyalty is a critical part of civilized society, it unites us, builds strong teams of people that protect each other.

Now like other basic emotions like fear, it can hurt us if not used properly. When can loyalty hurt us? When can it cause us to act incorrectly?

1. When it causes us to choose the wrong side. Have you ever defended someone only to find out later they were wrong? Have you ever stood up for a group effort, to find out that it was the wrong group to be in? I’m sure we all have our stories to back this up, I know I do.
2. When it causes us to stay in a situation that is not healthy. Loyalty is a very powerful, compelling emotion for some. Abusive relationships, gangs, and hostile working environments are situations that should not be tolerated, but people do. Could it be that loyalty is what causes us to stick around?
3. When it impairs the judgement of what we are loyal too. In situations of strong loyalty, we will excuse the actions of what we are loyal to. We may manipulate the facts to make our subject appear in a better light. Loyalty creates a cloud that causes us to not think clearly. We may not be able to see just how bad the situation is — our judgement is compromised.

Here are some specific examples I’ve seen where loyalty overpowers a rational decision:

• Staying with a dying company (company loyalty)
• Living in a small town with no opportunity (family loyalty)
• Unjustified wars (country loyalty aka patriotism)
• Working in a hostile working environment (company loyalty)
• Abusive relationships (spouse loyalty)

Is loyalty clouding your judgement? Is it causing you to evaluate the circumstances around you in an biased manner? Is loyalty compromising your ability to make a rational decision? Something to think about.