YCDBSOYA

George Hees was something else.

Known as something of a playboy in his youth, “Gorgeous George” had it all – looks, charm, wit, and amazing prowess, on the playing field and off. An officer in the Canadian Army during WWII, he was noted for his courage, but near the end of the war he was seriously wounded by a sniper and sent home.

The charming war hero soon enough found his way into politics and was appointed Minister of Transport, then Minister of Trade in the Diefenbaker government, and later served as Minister of Veterans’ Affairs in the Mulroney government.

Hees was nothing if not a man of action. He had little patience for long meetings that didn’t get to the point, and had a unique way of moving things along. He had a lapel pin.

Not just any lapel pin, but one he had made up for him, large and easy to read. It contained only the letters YCDBSOYA.

When visitors would sit across from him in his office, or at lengthy cabinet meetings, George would begin to fiddle with his lapel pin, giving it his full attention to the detriment of the conversation. Finally, the party opposite would bite.

“Excuse me, but what does YCDBSOYA stand for?”

George, obviously pleased by this turn of events, would look the other directly and purposefully in the eye and say, “YCDBSOYA means you can’t do business sitting on your ass!” His point had been made.

We need the spirit of George Hees in our governance and in our businesses. We have lots of plans, strategic and otherwise, lots of contingencies, lots of studies and white papers, lots of discussions and lots of studies, but more often than not we come to realize that a year, or two years, or five years later nothing has actually been accomplished.

Stuff only happens when you stop planning and start doing.

YCDBSOYA

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