Enter Blog #1 - Pragmatism

My first blog is going to be a bit all over the map and probably too long. Why? Because when you run a handful of businesses it keeps you diverse and that diversity increases

and builds your portfolio of skills…in essence, they give you perspective. For me it provides clearer direction. The purpose of this new blog series will be to share a variety of experience, journeys, anecdotes, education and more. Frankly, it’s my jumping off point to put my thoughts to paper. So, my first blog jumps in to how my mind thinks. It’s how I evaluate situations, people, outcomes and more.

Back Story: A year ago, I was visiting my parents in Reno, Nevada. It was the week leading up to Thanksgiving and I

was on a business trip in Los Angeles and used the West Coast trip to pop up to see my parents. As always it was an

awesome trip. For those close to me, they know my Dad is one of the people on this planet I respect most. He’s one of the smartest people I know and highly educated. LOL, I could write an entire book just on my Dad and his stories, this blog will be a short share. My Dad is a Veteran and retired Police Officer. When he retired he went out and got his masters and began teaching at a local college…Criminal

Justine of course. My reason for sharing some of his background is that my Dad and I often sit around talking politics, life, sports and frankly everything else under the sun. Usually, a bourbon on ice accompanies the discussion. My Mom is the other half of the equation. Although as an adult I spend most a lot of time talking with “Pops Caudill” as a child, youth and in to me teen years, I spent every day talking to my mom while my Dad was at work. She was the amazing foundation for the side of me that’s not running at 100 mph. She’s calm, collected, and well thought out. Very much like my wife Flora is today. It’s always about balance, but for this chapter, it’s about my trip to Reno last year.

On this particular trip my Dad and I got in to a discussion on politics that led down a rabbit hole on philosophy. He shared how he views life and the litmus test he puts against decisions he makes. He said, “I’m a Pragmatist,” and he then went on to describe it. It was a pivotal moment for me at 46 because in that moment I realized that my way of viewing life, decisions, outcomes were identical to his. I studied up after leaving their house on the meaning of being a pragmatist and fast forward to today, I used the word frequently in how I evaluate things happening around me. Frankly, it just makes sense.

In its most simplistic definition being pragmatic is the application of both common sense and facts. That’s it! Sounds pretty simply right, but not so fast. There are factors

that contribute to the decisions we all make that can alter how we move forward with next steps. But for a pragmatist it’s, for the most part, cut and dry with some variables, but very few of them.

I apply these basic principles to our businesses. I view everything from the standpoint of common sense + facts.

But I then I add in responsibility. So for me the math equation looks a bit like this: Common Sense + Facts + Responsibility = Action. Here’s a great example. In our small world at DRIVEN 360 we are all tasked with assignments.

They are daily assignments and we are all accountable for these assignments. If we do an update meeting and the

question comes up, “Are you done with the media program overview,” and the response is, “I’m done with the press release.” That leads me to believe there is still work to be done. Fact = Press Release being done. Common Sense says that if you noted only the press release then there are other things to work on. A cut and dry answer would be: “No, I am not done, but I am in the process of working through a few individual tasks with the project.” Neither answer is right or wrong, it’s just how I process it. So, facts would equal the project not being done. The press release is now irrelevant.

Common Sense for me is the big one though. For some reason today, people just don’t have a ton of common sense and they don’t base their thoughts on facts, they base them on popular opinion. Purpose of this first Blog isn’t to get political or align, it’s simply to suggest that we could all use a strong dose of common sense. I’m not sure how we get there, but right now we are jumping off a proverbial cliff.

So, for me, with this blog I’m going to work to be as pragmatic as possible simply pointing out facts and common sense thinking. I want it to also be fun, but at least this first one gives you a bit of insight in to how I think things through. LOL, so if you come at me with feelings and concepts not based on facts with little to no common sense, well then we’ll agree to disagree. Just kidding, we’ll talk it through :)