What is the second right answer?

Our house and drive in Nolalu, Ontario

 Years ago I took a course that changed my life. It was called The Phoenix Seminar and the instructor was Brian Tracy. As I recall, the course took several days. I was one of maybe a dozen enrolled in the class which was facilitated by Irby Stewart, a man whom I had worked with at Great Lakes Forest Products in Thunder Bay. Irby was a fascinating man. He was a forester and was in management at the company. He also started up his own business on the side called Positive Communications.

My introduction to Irby's talents began when Brenda and I attended one of his public events which was held in the city's largest hotel ballroom. I forget the exact title of the seminar but Irby was all about the importance of being positive so that might have been it right there. 

I think we went because I had gotten to know Irby at work and a bunch of us were interested to see what his sideline was all about.

We got there early and shook hands with Irby at the registration table.We were followed by 150 others and took seats at tables all over the ballroom.

Once the doors were closed, Irby, wearing a microphone, astonished us all by going from table to table and thanking us individually, using our full names. We weren't wearing name tags. He had remembered everyone's name from that moment when he met them at the door. A few of us he knew personally, of course, but there were probably 100 or more that he had never seen before.

"You probably wonder how I did that," he remarked. "You might think I have a photographic memory, or maybe I'm a genius of some kind. Well, I'm no smarter than you. I did this because I have learned a system for remembering names. Anybody can do it."

That was the gist of his message that night: We can change anything in our lives by being positive and by seeking out the knowledge that we lack. Want a better memory? Learn how to do it. Make learning a habit. And, most of all, beware of the pitfalls that come from being negative, things like the "victim" mentality. 

I left Great Lakes Forest Products, went back into journalism and eventually back to Bow Narrows Camp. I kept in touch with Irby and when the chance came to take The Phoenix Seminar I at first balked at the cost. I think it was $500. That was pretty much my winter's spending money at the time. 

"It's not a cost," said Irby. "It's an investment."

The course was extensive, he explained. It taught how we can use personal psychology to deal with virtually everything. It taught methods for dealing with stress, memory, grief -- all sorts of problems -- and how to get the most joy out of life. The course was taught by video with Irby stopping after each segment to ask us questions and do problems in a workbook. At the course end we would be given a set of audio tapes of the seminar and the workbook. 

In the end, it was just my faith in Irby that made me sign up. I never regretted that decision and I have probably re-taken the course through the audio tapes a dozen times since. I rank its impact on my life right up there with getting married, having kids and graduating from university.

The seminar was so extensive and thorough that it is just impossible to summarize it. One thing that I use every day is its revelations into problem solving. When looking for a solution to any difficulty it is human nature to latch onto "The Right Answer." By posing the question, "What is the Second Right Answer?" we remind ourselves there are always alternatives and to explore them before making a decision. 

We should really call it the Best Answer, not the Right Answer, and we should always be aware that any answer has a time element to it. The best answer today might not be the best tomorrow and similarly answers made yesterday might not be the best today.

A neat group problem-solving technique is to write down seven solutions to any problem. This forces the group to not seize upon the "obvious answer."  It also makes us look more closely at the problem.

A remarkable young man who worked several years at camp was Ben Godin. Ben already had a lot of skills when he came but he was also a quick learner and probably most importantly, was sensitive to why other people acted the way they did.

One time Ben was helping me pull the fishing boats out of the lake for the season. These were stored upside down on a concrete pad where the old fish house used to be. We pulled the boats out of the water using a slide and the electric golf cart, then manoeuvred them by hand into a row on the pad using rollers and a rope pulley. It was tedious work.

After a couple of boats, Ben asked, "Is this how you used to pull out all the boats, with the rope pulley, before you got the golf cart?" I answered in the affirmative.

"I guess that is why you put all the boats right here next to the lake," Ben added.

Suddenly I realized this was Ben's polite way of pointing out that since we were pulling the boats out with the golf cart, we could put them anywhere in the yard and without needing to wrestle them onto the pad with the pulley. It was a slap your forehead moment. The best answer of yesterday no longer applied.

I thought of this when listening to reaction to the federal Liberal Government's Speech from the Throne the other day. The Premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney, was apoplectic that the government isn't going to spend the necessary billions to prop up the oil industry in Alberta. The oil business is in decline around the world. Oil prices have tanked and not just because of the pandemic. There is a glut of oil on the market because the world is turning away from fossil fuels and turning toward renewable energy sources. This is largely led by the private sector. Witness Amazon's energy plan. This retail giant wants 100,000 electric vehicles and has set a schedule for total renewable energy in all of its operations 10 years faster than required by the Paris Climate Accord.

Renewable energy is today's answer and there are limitless opportunities in this field. Ironically, Alberta is already Canada's leader in wind and solar generation and this industry is booming there. Where is it getting its employees? From yesterday's oil industry.

When I hear people like Kenney moan about not spending taxpayer money on oil, I think what he might have done back in the early 1900s. Should we all have chipped in to help companies make horseshoes when everyone was buying Model Ts?

Remember: yesterday is history. Tomorrow's a mystery. Today is a gift; that's why it's called the Present.