The Nutshell #7 - a "citizen better" journal
6 to 12 April 2024
Welcome to The Nutshell for subscribers of The Greater Good. A journal where I share my personal journey to citizen better.
What I’m Doing
It was a weird week. I blame the eclipse.
I headed to Waterloo on Tuesday morning for work. I picked up a rental car at the local Enterprise and headed down highway 7. About halfway to Peterborough, every warning light on my new Dodge Durango lit up like a Christmas tree. I immediately thought, “this is a distraction from my podcast listening!” After a few phone calls to the Enterprise teams in Stittsville and Peterborough, I had managed to organize a hot swap. I was hopeful, but not optimistic this would work and I could make my first meeting in Waterloo. Then I met the guy at Enterprise who actually gets shit done - Joel. He was not only friendly, but he understood customer service and how to think critically. When I arrived, there was nothing available until 1pm which would have made me late for my 3pm meeting in Waterloo. Joel gave me a vehicle scheduled for another customer that day and said,”I’ll solve your problem now, and that gives me a couple hours to solve the problem of replacing that vehicle.” I don’t know anything about Joel’s background, but his approach tells me he will do well in life.
I drove to Woodstock that evening for supper with a friend I had not seen in awhile. This person has worked through some challenges over the last number of years, so I was not sure how he was actually doing. I was so happy to see someone who has taken the time to figure out what’s important, do the work to get to the right balance, and maintain those priorities. It was amazing to hear about his journey and how healthy he is in all aspects of his life. As I get older, I want to surround myself with people like him.
On Wednesday morning, I met the Oracle, or at least that’s what it felt like. Over the last two years, many friends and mentors have asked me if I had spoken to a certain person for career advice during my transition. Let’s call him Knuckles. I don’t just mean one or two, but probably a dozen people had told me to speak to Knuckles. I didn’t know this person, but a friend connected us and we finally had a chance to speak. Why did I wait so long! What I thought would be a 30 min chat turned into a 90 min, wide ranging conversation on life and work. Not only did it educate and inspire, but it reminded me how many caring people are out there willing to help if you ask. Thanks for the support, Knuckles.
My first podcast recording of the week was with Sheldon Fernandez. I’m not sure how I would describe Sheldon. He has degrees in both engineering and theology. He grew up playing baseball and computer programming at a high level. He worked on Wall Street in New York and the slums of Nairobi. It was a great conversation and thanks to Communitech for providing the recording space.
Most of the companies I work with have an interest in defence and security. As I always want to respect the privacy of these companies, I won’t name who I had meetings with during the week. I will only say we have amazing Canadians that have products and services that would greatly benefit citizens in uniform and our overall national security. When you read about the challenges of the procurement system, what is often lost in the discussion is that small businesses cannot afford to wait the years it takes for these projects to unfold. The big defence companies have deep pockets, but the small companies do not. Companies should sink or swim based on their ideas, work ethic, business savvy, and creativity, not whether or not they can find clients outside of Canada to stay afloat. Sadly, this is what many need to do to stay in business.
I had time between meetings on Thursday so I visited a Waterloo institution - the St. Jacobs Farmer’s Market. It’s only open on Thursdays and Saturdays so I figured I should take advantage of timing. It’s definitely worth a visit if you are in town on one of those days. I imagine it’s a zoo a Saturday. As I was perusing the stalls I came across a mob of people far too well dressed for the donairs and donuts being consumed by the patrons…and then Doug Ford arrived. It’s fascinating to me why people get so excited about seeing well known people. I don’t know the political leanings of Waterloo, but young and old were taking pictures with him and engaging him in conversation. I will thank the Premiere for making it easier to get lunch as everyone clambered for a photo.
My final event of the week was a podcast with Mubin Shaikh. For those of you who remember the 2006 arrests of the so called Toronto 18, Mubin was the CSIS confidential informant who infiltrated the group and set the conditions for the arrests and convictions. If the facts of his story were not so well documented through the courts, you would think it was a Hollywood script.
What I’m Reading
A sample of my reading this week.
The Government of Canada released the long awaited Defence Policy Update, so I figured I should read it. What immediately struck me is the pervasive use of soft language - explore, improve, support, and continue. This is provides far too much room for interpretation which is the goal. A few of things I noticed:
“The most urgent and important task we face is asserting Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic and northern regions”, but “job one is strengthening the foundations for future growth of our military.” So which one is it?
Canada will publish a National Security Strategy every four years. This would be good to see.
Defence will undertake a strategic policy review in the same four year cycle. Also good to see.
Not a lot for the Army. The RCAF was the big winner with the RCN getting a nod for new submarines before new ships are even in the water. I’m concerned the Army has been left behind despite being the largest and the most operationally active.
I love the War on the Rocks content. It is one of the better national security websites. It was great to see an editorial from two Canadians who are trying to raise awareness on Canadian defence and security,
and Justin Massie. Give DON’T COUNT ON US: CANADA’S MILITARY UNREADINESS a read. Here are a few highlights.“The roots of this crisis are found in Canada’s strategic culture and decades-old decisions about defense. The way out of the crisis, meanwhile, is paved with seemingly insuperable obstacles, including a chronic shortage of personnel, an inability to spend funds quickly, a lack of bipartisan agreement on military requirements, and a culture of reactiveness and unpreparedness toward new geopolitical challenges.”
“To understand Canada’s current military crisis, it is important to recognize how little importance Canadians ascribe to defense. Although recent polls indicate that attitudes are changing, particularly among conservative-leaning voters, Canadians have rarely seen defense as a priority.”
“Like an out-of-shape former high school star athlete who clings to their glory days, Canadians still imagine themselves as they were back then, not as they are now, although a growing number think their country’s reputation has worsened lately.”
It’s the 25th anniversary of the war in Kosovo. There are many things Canada did to contribute to the current prosperity of that nations. The first Canadian commander was MGen Mike Ward and he captured his thoughts on the mission in a recent editorial for the National Post.
What I’m Listening to and Watching
I added The Diary of a CEO to my podcast library. On my drive to Waterloo, I listened to several excellent offering from this podcast - Quiet Quitting, A Fulfilling Life, and health with Dr. Layne Norton.
Lex Fridman recently interviewed Mark Cuban. I don’t agree with many of Mark Cuban’s ideas, but there’s a lot of great content on business, vision, and strategy.
What People are Saying - the good, the bad, and the ugly (Feedback on The Greater Good)
I get lots of feedback on what I put out into the world. Most is positive, some is critical in a good way, and very little is unhelpful. I’ll share the good, the bad, and the ugly here.
Some nice comments on a few of the past podcasts.
Great podcast, very passionate and informative, thanks for sharing
Absolutely spot on
Thank you Mr. Randy for your service and the work you are doing to educate people about self defense techniques. I hope to meet you one day.
I’ve been waiting for this one ❤️
Nice piece Chris, and thank you to Sarah for pointing it out, non committal in team situations, whether military or civilian is a poor recipe, doesn't help with cohesiveness and in most situations, whether they play out in minutes, hours or years requires commitment.
Following Randy Turner on social media and I have to tell that his practical lessons, advices and tips are useful for everyone. Great to see years of experience with JTF2 now shared with us. Thanks for your commitment Randy. Keep fit, remain humble and stay in the fight
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