tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45842759264054182812024-03-08T08:13:56.846-08:00The Accidental EntrepreneurThe box is always going to be the box; creativity is what happens inside it. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-32898988438779378602014-10-17T11:07:00.003-07:002014-10-17T11:07:21.750-07:00Three Keys to Unlocking Answers<div class="entry-content">
No one has ever discovered the answer to anything without first
asking a question. Self-evident, maybe, but not necessarily simple.
There is a difference between asking good questions and bad, between
nodding your head responses and actually hearing the answers, and in
going down a list of questions and engaging the subject. Here are three
steps to peeling the layers of the onion:<br />
<br />
<strong>The only dumb question is the one that is not asked </strong><br />
People avoid asking questions for fear of looking stupid, but no one
knows everything about everything. Asking questions is not ignorance,
it is empowerment. You will miss every shot that you do <em>not </em>take
and chances are, if you have a question, someone else has that same
question in mind, too. So ask. Asking questions makes you curious,
inquisitive, and interested in learning new things. Asking questions is
the antidote to ignorance, to confusion, and to uncertainty.<br />
<br />
Asking questions also stops others from perceiving you as <em>that guy. </em>You
know the one – the self-professed smartest person in the room, the
person who not only knows how to do your job better than you do but is
also too happy to say so to anyone within earshot. Where do you go when
you believe that you know everything? To the no-growth zone and when
things stop growing, they die.<br />
When you ask probing questions, good information tends to reveal itself if you deploy….<br />
<br />
<strong>A laser, not a shotgun </strong><br />
Don’t blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. Questions are an
attempt to elicit information, specific information, so they have to be
thought out. Ask questions that cannot be answered in yes/no fashion,
ask questions based on the five Ws, and <em>don’t </em>ask questions
that presume the answer. If you know the answer, there is no point in
asking the question. if you are simply looking for confirmation, ask
directly, don’t fish for the answer you want. And if the answer
violates your expectations, ask another question.<br />
<br />
In addition, learn to be comfortable with silence. Silence makes
most people nervous; they can’t break it fast enough. Embrace it;
silence is often the mark of a good question that has caused the other
person to pause and think before responding which means you should get a
useful answer. Silence also shows interest in the conversation because
it shows that you…..<br />
<br />
<strong>Listen to the answers that are elicited </strong><br />
Listening is grossly under-valued; you don’t learn anything by
talking. Just ask any beleaguered spouse about the value of listening.
Or any frazzled parent. Good questions tend to elicit thoughtful
answers, and thoughtful answers almost always contain a nugget that begs
for a follow-up question. If you’re not listening with purpose, then
you are missing the opportunity to follow-up.<br />
<br />
There is also an important tangential benefit in listening – it tells
the other person that you value that individual’s wisdom, experience,
and perhaps most important, the person’s time. By asking for the time,
you have already said “I believe you know things that are important,
things that I should know about X.” Don’t waste the opportunity by
tossing softballs or looking to confirm your biases.<br />
<br />
If you are unclear on an answer, repeat it back. Not only does this
ensure understanding, it also reiterates that you are attentive. And if
a person makes a good point but then veers into an unrelated ramble,
don’t be afraid to interject. Interject, not interrupt, with a question
that says “you brought up something interesting a moment ago, let’s go
back to that.”<br />
<br />
This is not rocket surgery but life is in the details. Have a conversation, not an interrogation.<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-30135801411562018732014-09-30T06:54:00.000-07:002014-09-30T06:59:24.061-07:00The 5:06 email. That's 5:06 AM<br />
Nothing good happens after midnight. Everyone's mother said so. And there is evidence to back up the claim: If someone knocks on the door at four in the morning, it will not be to
deliver good news; one time, the person knocking returned mom, who wandered off when her illness was really taking root. A 3:18 phone call is never social, either, unless your friends include bail bondsmen. But what to do with a 24/7 technology-driven communication environment that bends conventional notions of time? Particularly when it's your name on the shingle? <br />
<br />
Time is much more fluid when you are your own boss. This is called <a href="http://alexlekas.blogspot.com/">The Accidental Entrepreneur</a>
for a reason. Like anything new, working for yourself has a learning
curve and one aspect of that is realizing that time is the thing over
which you have the greatest control. Think about it - in a corporate
setting, the day starts at a set time and usually ends in the same
fashion. Yes, I know there the exceptions of flex time or telecommuting
but, again, they are exceptions. The rule for most of the workforce is
that butts are expected in chairs at an appointed hour.<br />
<br />
If you have an
idea or a thought at five in the morning, you are far more likely to act
on it - to contact a vendor, to send out an email or tweet, or to
research something that clearly cannot wait till morning. I saw this
from customers in a previous professional life, when I worked a pre-set
schedule. Emails with unusual time stamps were not uncommon and invariably, they were came from people who ran their
own shops. <br />
For many of us, there is a familiar tone to late night work, whether it evokes memories of an all-nighter in college or facing a
professional deadline. The dawn patrol, meanwhile, is largely learned
behavior.<br />
<br />
Like many of you, I found the concept of 8 a-m classes in college
practically inhuman, a barbaric ritual concocted by university staff and
faculty in conjunction with distant parents to be sure their progeny
was productive, or something like it, at a "respectable" hour. Then we
graduated. My professional life began with a brief stint working
evenings, followed by an abrupt change. The new duty time was 4:30.
No, the <i>other </i>one, the one where some folks are wandering home
after those un-good things mom warned about. It was an experience that
turned 8 a-m into lunchtime. By the way, people will look at you twice
when you're eating spaghetti or the previous night's leftovers while
they're getting their first cup of coffee.<br />
<br />
So, as you sift through that overnight mail, somewhere between learning that a Russian bride has found you and the unexpected deposit to your account that is only a click away, there may be some actionable items. While not overnight, this line came came right after Jamaal Charles scored his second touchdown for the Chiefs during the Monday night game but before Shane Vereen carried for the Patriots. Is Shane related to Ben? Turns out he is, in a distance way, not quite as distant as Tom Brady to a fictional Mike Brady, but distant nonetheless. Would someone doing this on a 9-to-5 schedule regale you with equally useless nuggets?<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-15673860705228349402014-09-22T05:30:00.000-07:002014-09-25T14:22:40.702-07:00The four groups of people in your lifeHow do you suppose "People Collector" would look on a business card?
It's a process with which I am getting very familiar as the new guy in a
new town with a new business. The more people you know, the more new people you can meet and get to
know, and the cycle repeats. It's not just a good business practice, it
is something most of us do in life to some extent. Thus far, my
collection has grown to include a wide range of industries and
personalities.<br />
<br />
Like any other collection, there will be
the people you keep forever and guard zealously, the ones you will trade
for others as circumstances dictate, the ones who can be bundled as
introductions to still more people, and the ones who will be discarded
at some point. Unlike most other collections, people may move among the
four primary groups that each of us has: <br />
<ul>
<li>people who can help you and will </li>
<li>people who could help you but shouldn't or won't</li>
<li>people not in a position to help who are worth keeping </li>
<li>people who, for whatever reason, have reached their shelf life </li>
</ul>
The
first group is obviously the most important and the one to spend most
of your time cultivating. There is the story of a baseball pitching
coach explaining to one of his charges that the player's practice <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=U4chLFIiDkIC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=jim+kaat+practice+best+pitch&source=bl&ots=Y_WKxvQjBL&sig=jJBNzGjSZ0mvO91uQX6tH03Y37E&hl=en&sa=X&ei=CV0cVMCUBcHEggTkroKAAg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=jim%20kaat%20practice%20best%20pitch&f=false">time would be better spent </a>on
perfecting his best pitch than improving his weaker ones. The player
was perplexed; this sounded counter-intuitive: why spend time on what
you already do well when there are other things that need improvement?
Because when faced with a challenge, people tend to go with their
strength. When faced with a dilemma, you're likely to turn to the
people most likely to have the right advice. <br />
<br />
This group
is the most likely to have a positive impact on you - it's the
been-there-done-that group, the people you are most likely to ask for
counsel or bounce ideas with, the ones you will likely turn to when
dealing with challenges. This is the part of the collection that you
nurture, the names that roll from your tongue when asked about
influential people in your life, the ones you will thank after good
things happen. This group also has the potential to grow over time; art
collectors don't stop with one masterpiece and classic car people don't
stop with one T-bird or one Mustang. <br />
<br />
How you handle the second group is a conundrum and there are differing schools of thought: some believe this is a <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/24334">resource worth using</a>; others say it's the <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228050">worst idea imaginable</a>. This group will have members whose assistance could be valuable, but access to that financial or intellectual capital can come at a price.
It's not that they don't like you or don't want to succeed; in fact,
people in this group likely want very much for you to succeed. But they
keep out of it for two primary reasons: 1) they think you'll be better
off in figuring out the answers for yourself and 2) they worry that if
they offer advice and it ends badly, it will harm the relationship. <br />
<br />
The
third group is necessary for your sanity. For the most part, these are
your friends - they mostly want the pleasure of your company - a night
out, a ballgame, non-work things. They share your outside interests and
outside interests are important. Not even the most committed person
can work 25 hours a day, eight days a week; put enough tension in any
system and it will eventually fail, often with catastrophic results.
This group is your pressure valve release - you have cookouts, you watch
ballgames, your kids and theirs may be friends, you share some war
stories associated with work without any anticipated business outcome.<br />
<br />
Then,
there is the final group. No one's life is static: priorities change,
there could be a falling out, or someone becomes too toxic to keep
around. There is nothing you can do about this and there is nothing
wrong with it, either; it's just part of life. When you graduate high
school, you will not see 95% of your graduating class before your
ten-year reunion. When you graduate college, you will never see 95% of
that class the rest of your life. When you're young and single, most of
your friends are young and single. When you are involved or married,
so are most of the people around you. When you leave a company, you
will also leave many of your colleagues behind except for the rare
instances where certain people were part of the third group.<br />
<br />
The
status of your collection is a also a good barometer of where you. Is
one group predominant? Has another been volatile or is it relatively
stable? No collector ignores the occasional taking of inventory. Now
if you'll excuse me, there are some potential new people I have to
consider adding to my collection. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-88703965519139168532014-09-15T09:04:00.002-07:002014-09-15T09:04:25.097-07:00The New Entrepreneurs<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">One of my new neighbors is an
attorney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who is bent on doing something
else for a living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sooner rather than
later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her sentiment <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2014/06/18/u-s-workers-cant-get-no-job-satisfaction/">has
a lot of company</a> with one distinct exception <a href="http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/09/small-business-owners-survey-happy.html">–
those who own</a> their business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A big
part of the reason is the autonomy; people like having ownership of the decisions
that impact their lives, even if those decisions involve the periodic
stereotype of the business owner of someone who is never truly off the
clock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.inc.com/ilya-pozin/10-best-reasons-to-be-entrepreneur.html">Opportunity,
control, and freedom</a> are also on the list. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The growth in entrepreneurship
is at <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/career-thats-growing-popularity-entrepreneurship-102358579.html">its
highest level</a> in 15 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
still-sluggish economy is part of the reason; for a large chunk of the
workforce, spinning one’s wheels has become the new norm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The average <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/09/18/how-much-of-a-pay-raise-can-you-expect-in-2014/2832791/">anticipated
pay raise</a> for employees this year is about 3%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Weigh that against the increase in <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-01-16/cost-of-living-in-u-dot-s-dot-increases-by-most-in-six-months-2">your
cost of living;</a> for the most part, it’s a wash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That sameness is the impetus for wondering
what else is out there, particularly among more seasoned workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">And that’s just the population
still in the workforce; the labor participation rate is at its lowest since the
late 70’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think about that for a
second.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Millions of people who are no
longer counted in unemployment figures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It defies reason to believe that each of those individuals has simply
given up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">My attorney friend couldn’t
help but notice that her previous firm had a definite preference for people
barely removed from law school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My own
experience as I was finishing graduate school was not much different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are few things more unusual than being
interviewed by someone who, literally, is the same age as your children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In an earlier time, experience carried an
implied value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, the primary
implication seems to be “he’s going to want a lot of money” even if he doesn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The secondary one is “he’s after my job” even
when he is not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">You have not truly lived until
you have actually said to an interviewer “I’m not here for your job; I’m here
for the one being advertised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had
your job and it has headaches I do not particularly want again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, I can help you in coping
with those headaches and I will not add to them.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, evidently, is not convincing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A cursory Google search of why
people become entrepreneurs yields more than 24-million responses, many of them
<a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234916">like this</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of this is to say that the process is all
rainbows and unicorns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Small business owners
face a lot of worries that the typical employee does not – making payroll,
coping with new government mandates and their costs, and the day-to-day of
keeping a business humming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it seems
those worries are the fuel that drives the decision in the first place –
determining how to conquer uncertainty, controlling the calendar, and being
accountable to that person looking at you in the mirror.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-83808804300968133522014-09-10T11:26:00.003-07:002014-09-10T11:26:25.400-07:00When does yes mean yes? <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
The English language is a marvelous
instrument, where even the simplest words either need legislation action <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/california-passes-yes-means-yes-campus-sexual-assault-092512755.html">to
codify their meaning</a> or become the topic <a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/06/13/321677110/a-campus-dilemma-sure-no-means-no-but-exactly-what-means-yes">of
deep-thinker navel-gazing.</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
that’s just in personal relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Business dealings are a different bear to wrestle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
No tends to mean no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except when it means ‘not now’, which is
still a no of sorts but one with the potential to change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That sort of no rears its head with things
like auditions for movies or commercials, and sometimes with resumes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s directed at a person or idea that does
not answer the question of the moment but holds promise for the future, i.e. “you’re
not what is needed for this role/job, but I like your background and there
could be something down the road that works”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
A bit more baffling is the maybe;
it can mean no but the person is too polite to actually say so, or it can a
bridge to yes by implying ‘tell me more’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The latter version of maybe is all around the sales process; you have a
prospect whose business has a need for something that you offer but the
specifics need to be nailed down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
have likely heard how <a href="https://www.salesgravy.com/sales-articles/sales-methodology/people-love-to-buy-but-hate-to-be-sold.html">people
hate to be sold</a> but love to buy; this fits in the maybe category, in the
section where you differentiate between process and thinking. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
While process has its place, no one
likes dealing with a process-driven person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s like the news interviewer who has a ready list of questions and
simply moves to the next one, never listening to any of the answers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One customer asked me, “So, do you have the
answer for me?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My response was, “I tend
to ask a lot of questions and the answers have a habit of revealing themselves.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it’s because I used to be one of those news
interviewers; if you are listening to the answers, what you hear should be
spawning the next question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the interviewee
notices this, too; people can tell when you’re paying attention or when you’re
waiting for them to take a breath so you can ask the next question on the
list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Which brings us to yes, which sometimes
means maybe, which as previously mentioned, can mean just about anything
depending on a person’s mood, the tides, that morning’s commute, or an argument
from last night that is unrelated to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are times when saying <a href="http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15855/1/Disadvantages-of-Being-a-People-Pleaser.html">yes
can be a problem</a> but that is usually confined to thinking emotionally
instead of logically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We often say yes
when no would have been the better answer because we don’t want to be perceived
as jerks or the person asking is someone we value or it seemed like a good idea
at the time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
In graduate school, I did a project
involving a book that highlighted <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12666451-the-lazy-winner">the
importance of saying no</a> and how saying yes too often could be
counter-productive because it chewed up time better delegated toward greater
priorities. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book put a premium on
thought before action, on weighing the consequences that an immediate answer
would have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The word yes became a mirror twin of one
aspect of the word no, as in “Yes, that sounds interesting and I would like to,
but this is a bad time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When might be
better?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is far less harsh than a
clear-cut no, it is tempered by having seen some value in the request, but it
also preserves the pecking order of things in front of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Salespeople love yes, of course; it
usually means the cash register is ringing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just <a href="http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2014/06/16/some-customers-arent-worth-it">be
sure that yes is</a> the answer you want to hear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most
people are familiar with the corporate version of <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/davelavinsky/2014/01/20/pareto-principle-how-to-use-it-to-dramatically-grow-your-business/">the
80/20 rule</a>; the key is differentiating whether the next person saying yes
to you will be among the 80% or the 20%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many in the 80% will be little more than break-even customers; others
will actually cost you money or created unnecessary heartburn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
So to sum up, no usually means
no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except when it means not now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yes tends to mean yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless it’s a guilty yes that may later turn
into a no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And maybe means whatever you want
it to mean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All clear? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-70397262155936607692014-09-05T10:16:00.002-07:002014-09-05T10:16:38.302-07:00Six Months to Genius<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">One of the first things I was told in moving down this road was "set your genius aside for six months." In other words, the wheel for this venture has already been invented and it has also been refined, so no need to try and re-create it. It's good advice; one of the curiosities of people is our desire to stamp something as our own, no matter what it is. It may work in decorating a home or office, or in mapping out an exercise plan - a bit of personalization here, some customization there - but it is seldom a good idea when inside a larger framework that includes other people. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Systems exist to guide activity and communication among the components of any organization. They have been the subject of a great deal of academic inquiry,<a href="http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Communication%20Processes/System_Theory/"> this being one example. </a> </span>S<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">ystem theory began as a biological application but has since spread to multiple disciplines. I am not going to belabor the particulars (though if you really want to get in the weeds, <a href="http://archive.syntonyquest.org/elcTree/resourcesPDFs/SystemsTheory.pdf">this is a good start)</a>; suffice it to say that most aspects of your life - work, home, play - involve some sort of system. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ironically, the concept of systems and advice like "set your genius aside for six months" are treated <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/drewhendricks/2014/09/04/10-companies-revolutionizing-entrepreneurship/">as anathema to entrepreneurs</a>. In a sense, the very act of entrepreneurship stems from the belief that an existing system could use some re-engineering. And when the tweaking is done, what's left? A new system. That the next guy will want to tweak a bit further. There is a "lather, rinse, repeat" nature to it, isn't there. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Since Russ (he's the guy behind "set your genius aside...") has been doing this much longer than I have, I'll work with the plan. In many ways, it makes life easier by eliminating any guesswork, providing a sort of road map for the ramp up process. And you ladies know that guys tend to like maps; they certainly don't like asking for directions, so that is one dilemma already avoided. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For the most part, I am a systems guy with perhaps one quirk - I like for things to make sense. "Because we've always done it this way" is a horrible rationale. "Because it works" is not hard to understand. Things that work are less likely to inspire attempted fixes. You know how the wheel analogy keeps coming up? It's with good reason. The wheel has been round for a long time. Oh, sure; there are new alloys and new materials used in building wheels and a lot of new uses, but the basic concept is the same. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Six months. I'm on the clock. I think Russ' advice came with two implied parts: everyone is going to do some juggling within the system to reflect who they are but changing "happy" to "glad" is not a big deal. Second, he has nothing to gain by setting me up for failure. And with genius in storage,<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXx6sk6YqZ0"> the game is on.</a> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-84722839734823416632014-08-18T17:53:00.000-07:002014-08-18T17:37:58.808-07:00What. Was. I. Thinking? <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12307" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12306" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12305" style="font-size: small;">“Doing the same thing will bring you the same results” is a cliché
to be sure, but clichés are almost always grounded in some truth.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12312" style="font-size: small;">A recent poll found more than </span></span><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2014/06/18/u-s-workers-cant-get-no-job-satisfaction/" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12315" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12314" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">half
of the workforce</span></a><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12318" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;"> is unsatisfied, but much of this</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12317" style="font-size: small;"> cohort chooses to stay mired in sameness, because sameness brings consistency and people would rather have predictability than mystery, even when that predictability is dull or toxic. But w</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12320" style="font-size: small;">hile you know what you’re
getting at such jobs, you also know what you’re <b>not</b> getting.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12328" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12327" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">After years of working for one version or another of “The
Man,” I left the cocoon of sameness and predictability.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12326" style="font-size: small;">It was no small step walking away from a
guaranteed paycheck every other Friday (plus benefits) and into the uncertain. </span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;">But the anxiety is laced with exhilaration, the fear tempered by anticipation, and success or failure based on what I do. Or don't do.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> No; n</span><span style="font-size: small;">o pressure at all. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12333" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12332" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12331" style="font-size: small;">Ironically, the poll cited above is the polar opposite of what you find among entrepreneurs.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">I have yet to run across someone running his/her
own business who would trade that for a return to the corporate arena.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">I know one professional who said no to an
offer that would at least doubled, and possibly tripled, his income.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12335" style="font-size: small;">It would have also come with many of the
strings that he is not bound by in running his own shop.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12337" style="font-size: small;">Even people who have experienced serious
turbulence on their own - realtors in the wake the housing bubble collapse are a
good example - have told me they would not have it any other way.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12342" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12341" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12340" style="font-size: small;">The biggest adjustment, of course, is not having the daily camaraderie
that comes with an office full of other people.</span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">On the other hand, there is none of the drama that seeks company, either.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12344" style="font-size: small;">Like everything else
associated with being on your own, you will have to generate interaction with
others.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12442" style="font-size: small;">As a bonus, the interaction will
be almost exclusively positive. You’re not going to call people, setup
appointments or lunches, or join networking groups in order to have gripe
sessions.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12444" style="font-size: small;">And that early morning time in
your home office will be far more productive than the first couple of hours in
the typical cubicle farm.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Plus, think of
all those meeting you </span><i><span style="font-size: small;">won’t </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">have to
attend.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12342" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1405555991451_12341" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">Will it work? Don't know. But the present is not going to appreciably change; there is as much chance that, left as is, conditions will worsen rather than improve. That sort of predictability is highly over-rated. One of my go-to sayings is "first show up, then see what happens." I'll keep you posted. </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-6185138281222523382014-08-14T09:20:00.000-07:002014-08-14T09:20:32.446-07:00Summer vacation. In Waco. What? Waco, TX. Population, just north of 127-thousand. Located along the Brazos River halfway between Dallas and Austin. Probably not on the list of hot-spot vacation destinations but it is where I spent mine. Because that is where the company that is my new business partner is headquartered. And so goes the life of an entrepreneur. <br />
<br />
Before I go further, let me say Waco was not what I expected, though it's a bit fuzzy what I did expect. The impression you get is of a place that is kind of out there, a spot where no one goes on purpose. Which would be incorrect. I went on purpose. It was a pleasant drive down I-35 from Dallas (because Southwest has not yet discovered Waco), the highway bracketed by the vast Texas countryside. <br />
<br />
I know "everything's bigger" is a cliché but all clichés are grounded in some truth. Everything about the state is massive, from the space for access roads along most of the Interstate to the vast plains beyond it. Not many trees, though; at least not many tall ones, which the nature gods must have done on purpose. If there were tall trees, they would obscure the view and the mass of land would be minimized, at least from the point of view of a driver. The sense of bigness would be missing.<br />
<br />
In the city itself, far more water than I anticipated. My daily route from the hotel to the training site took me along expansive Lake Waco and the usual homes ones sees along a lakefront. Someone has made a lot of money there, which brings me to the central point of the trip. <br />
<br />
I had a week's worth of training on the products that will make up my business, and a week's worth of interaction with a half-dozen or so other souls like me. A couple were also new to entrepreneurship, a couple were branching into a new area, and one couple was planning for the next phase of life. Good people. You get to know a bit about folks when you spend eight hours a day or so with them. I hope the result is some new friendships or some resources to bounce ideas with, maybe both. <br />
<br />
The key lesson that was stressed was an echo of what the guy who recruited me emphasized - set aside your genius for six months. A company with hundreds of millions of dollars in sales say do that and a smart guy heeds the advice. I figure people with that sort of track record have probably learned something, that the ideas they're sharing are the result of trial and error, and the value behind the ideas have been confirmed through practical application. Something about reinventing wheels and things not being broken comes to mind. Besides, genius is hard work. <br />
<br />
In a word, the week was exhilarating. With each passing day, the sense of "I can do this" became more pronounced. As I was driving back to Dallas to catch the return flight, it had moved to "of course, I can do this; how could I fail?" Any entrepreneur knows that failure is a possibility; it's a risk you take in doing anything, though the risk is a bit larger when you don't have regular paychecks on the 1st and 15th on which to rely. But there is no reward without risk and not much fun without it, either. <br />
<br />
The remaining ducks are lining up, though Bernice is a little stubborn. Probably her genius not wanting to be set aside which, when you think about it, is a bit odd for an animal that relies on the flock. A rebel duck, probably the side of my personality that gets a bit restless and wonders "what if I tried this" on occasion. For now, though, the company's system makes total sense and it is my system to execute. Which will begin in a few weeks. Which has me very excited. And a bit terrified, too. Just not as terrified as not taking the plunge. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-9124601837173809042014-08-05T16:10:00.004-07:002014-08-05T16:10:42.595-07:00Leaving the nest <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29479" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29478" style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes, you jump out of the nest; other times, you have
to be pushed out.<span> </span>My experience includes
a little bit of both.<span> </span>It wasn’t a bad
job nor was it a bad company.<span> </span>But, it
wasn’t a great one, either, and nothing about it was going to change.<span> </span>The outlook was for sameness, mind-numbing
sameness.<span> </span>And then, my boss did me a
favor.<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29536" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29535" style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The company has an intranet site that shows who is in the
office or out, if people were traveling on business, when they’ll return, etc.<span> </span>Beside the boss’ name was “PTO.” Nothing unusual
there.<span> </span>“Honeymoon.” Or there; newlyweds
should be able to celebrate, right?<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29538"> </span>Then
came the kicker:<span> </span>“Bora-Bora.” In one
sense, good for him.<span> </span>In another, it
smacked of waiving your wallet in your employees’ faces, a message that explicitly
said “because I can” and implicitly stated “and you can’t.”<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29552" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He was right; working for him meant that Bora-Bora or some
similarly exotic destination was out of reach. <span> </span>It was that final nudge I needed to jump from
the nest. <span> </span><span> </span>Into an entirely new world.<span> </span>One that entails working without a net.<span> </span>One that puts the onus of success or failure
squarely on me.<span> </span>One that is equal parts exhilaration
and abject terror. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29554" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29553" style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In all fairness, it was not a rash decision prompted by one
man’s actions.<span> </span>The idea of making such a
move marinated over time, spiced by conversations with others who work for themselves,
some for most of their careers and others who faced the same decision point
that I did.<span> </span>The common denominator among
these entrepreneurs was that not a one yearned to return a past professional
life.<span> </span>One did so over lunch, where
lifted a mug of beer and said, “It’s a lot easier to do this when working for
yourself; sure, I’m only going to have one, but it’s one more than I would have
dared have before.”<span> </span>Another, a
commercial real estate broker who survived the downturn, told me “If that’s the
worst thing that can happen to me, it still beats working for someone else.”<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29555" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29556" style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You wait for life to happen or you can make it happen.<span> </span>For years, I was the regular workaday guy –
earned my degree, went into my chosen field, had a couple of steps up the
ladder, changed professions, lather/rinse/repeat. Each job had a ceiling, the
ones closest to it are scarce by definition, and then came the economic
downturn.<span> </span>Getting an advanced degree
just made me a more educated workaday guy returning, ironically, to the same
company for whom I had worked prior to returning to school.<span> </span>And given the overall outlook, I was grateful
for the opportunity.<span> </span>Until I started to
get restless. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29558" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29557" style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Everyone invokes some sort of spirit at some point; I asked
my deceased dad for a little help in plotting the future.<span> </span>Within a few days, I had an interview with a
local company for a job directly in line with my education, another with a
company that focuses on job postings within my field, and a third that was
totally unexpected – an offer to work with a multi-million dollar firm but as
my own boss.<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29560" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29559" style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The first interview sounded very much like moving the
existing limitations to a different address.<span>
</span>The second was with someone who sounded no older than any of my
children; seriously?<span> </span>The third became
two, three, and four interviews with my initial question of “why” gradually
becoming “why not?”<span> </span>What was there to
lose in striking out on my own?<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29565" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1407279595698_29567" style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It helped greatly, and I cannot stress this enough, to have
a supportive spouse.<span> </span>When the person who
will be as impacted by your decision as you will is on board, finding reasons
to say no becomes increasingly difficult. <span> </span>And so, we said yes.<span> </span>Which meant spending my vacation week in a
place where I daresay few people go just for the fun of it.<span> </span>But that’s a story for another time.<span> </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-5417725224300000262013-03-03T05:57:00.001-08:002013-03-03T05:57:37.677-08:00Sequestration Derp <div class="yiv353233822MsoNormal" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2069" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2068" style="font-family: Calibri;">Only in Washington can the specter of reducing federal
spending by 1% - or perhaps, more accurately, reducing the <i>rate of growth by 1-2% -</i> be treated as the end of days and only
with a grossly uninformed public can this type of deception work. <span> </span>Politicians shifting facts in order to shape
their agendas is hardly news but sequestration has ratcheted the derp level to
weapons grade.<span> </span><span> </span></span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="yiv353233822MsoNormal" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2115" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2114" style="font-family: Calibri;">The same president who initially suggested and, later signed,
the sequester agreement is now busily campaigning against it, largely because
campaigning is all he knows.<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2141"> </span>Predictably
on cue, the alleged cuts are branded as “devastating”, “extreme”, and a host of
other scare words that include dire warnings of children eating old people in
the streets, week-long waits at airport security lines, and no new cheetahs as
the National Zoo.<span> </span>(The last is </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/at-national-zoo-sequester-could-threaten-exhibits-but-not-animal-care/2013/02/21/2daad4ba-7b7a-11e2-a044-676856536b40_print.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">actually
part of the discussion</span></a><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2142" style="font-family: Calibri;">.)<span> </span>Who knew
that when Hillary raised the “phone call at 3 AM” question that time of day
would be the independent variable?<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="yiv353233822MsoNormal" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2117" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the other side, the same House Speaker who proclaimed
that </span><a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/174925-boehner-i-got-98-percent-of-what-i-wanted-in-debt-deal" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362319030_0">he
“got 98% of what I wanted”</span></span></a><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2116" style="font-family: Calibri;"> in the sequester agreement is now couching it terms
that make one think its impact on defense will mean North Korea taking over
Hawaii by next week with the rest of the republic to be ravaged by Islamic
hordes a few days after that.<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2144"> </span>But this
is what political gamesmanship will get you.<span>
</span>Boehner and the Repubs surprised Obama by agreeing to the sequester because
they thought Romney would win and the deal could effectively be scuttled.<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="yiv353233822MsoNormal" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2147" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2146" style="font-family: Calibri;">Let’s put the whole thing in context – federal spending is
guided by an evil called baseline budgeting which presumes an annual increase in
spending regardless of circumstances.<span> </span>So
when the planned 8% rate of growth is held to 6%, the political class claims a
2% cut.<span> </span>It’s like your boss deciding
that your 5% raise will only be 3% and you complaining of a salary
reduction.<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="yiv353233822MsoNormal" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2168" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2167" style="font-family: Calibri;">Sequester or not, the feds are going to spend more this year
than last; no one outside of DC confuses this with an actual cut.<span> </span>Ergo, the president’s perpetual campaign
remains in motion, spreading its message of fear that the very thing he once
championed will now usher in a parade of horribles.<span> </span>Meanwhile, the Obama dogwashing committee is impervious
to fact, even turning on one-time </span><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/173129/legend-laughing-stock-bob-woodward-cites-threat-calls-obama-nixonian" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362319030_1">favored
son Bob Woodward</span></span></a><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2169" style="font-family: Calibri;">. <span> </span>In our modern
politics-as-religion world, the only thing worse than a heretic is an apostate;
how dare Woodward act like a reporter instead of a stenographer.<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="yiv353233822MsoNormal" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2171" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2170" style="font-family: Calibri;">When federal spending is close to 4-<b>trillion </b>dollars a year, close to half of it with borrowed money,
and the prospect of reducing that rate of growth by 85-<b>billion </b>causes heads to spin, one conclusion is that tinfoil has
become the nation’s default headgear.<span> </span><span> </span>And even if spending were being cut by 1-2%,
pretending that it signals the collapse of empire is delusion at an exponential
level.<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="yiv353233822MsoNormal" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2174" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2173" style="font-family: Calibri;">Consider how many Americans have managed to trudge on
despite income stagnation if not outright reduction over the past several years.<span> </span>Yet, govt pretends that it is sacrosanct in
that regard. <span> </span>Even its unholy trinity of
waste, fraud, and abuse is absent from this discussion as if talk of
controlling spending renders all three of those concerns moot, that not a
single nickel of federal spending is unnecessary and that to believe otherwise
is unpatriotic and probably insane.<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="yiv353233822MsoNormal" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2176" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2175" style="font-family: Calibri;">Predictably, the partisans have circled their respective
wagons and are dutifully blaming each other for something both sides agreed to
do, something neither side spent much time discussing during the 2012 campaign.<span> </span>Then again, neither Team Red nor Team Blue
has much of an interest in actually cutting spending; the Reds like to <i id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2180">talk about </i>cuts and the Blues have never
met a dollar of someone else’s money that could not be spent.<span> </span>And the debt marches on.<span> </span></span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="yiv353233822MsoNormal" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2178" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2177" style="font-family: Calibri;">Perhaps just as predictably, this too shall pass, much like
the fiscal cliff before it.<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1362319020611_2179"> </span>The problem,
of course, will not be solved largely because both sides refuse to meaningfully
acknowledge that it exists and that resolving it means there can be no sacred
cows.<span> </span>Instead, look for a continuation
of the sacred bull that always surfaces when the topic of spending comes up,
because DC knows it can get away with that.<span>
</span>How else do you explain a proposed $2-million dollar cut from the
proposed $20-million dollar budget of an </span><a href="http://reason.com/blog/2013/02/25/white-house-report-claims-sequestration" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">agency
<b>that no longer exists? </b><span> </span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span> </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-73300589604668952402013-02-23T10:31:00.003-08:002013-02-23T10:31:56.826-08:00Self-indulgent pricks: Meet the new AmericaHarsh? Maybe. Untrue? Hardly. What the 2012 election made clear, and what subsequent events have confirmed, is that a special kind of cognitive dissonance has infected the body politic on two fronts: 1) the notion that the players can stay the same, but somehow, magical change will occur and 2) that cutting is well and good so long as it does not affect me. <br />
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The dissonance is augmented by confirmation bias, where people tune in to news and information sources that will confirm their pre-existing beliefs. It's what allows Obama supporters to cheerlead when the President in 2011 vowed to veto efforts to block sequestration and also cheerlead today when he proclaims the sequester as equivalent to the end of days. On the other side, the same Repubs whose majority through 2006 ushered in all manner of new and higher spending suddenly found fiscal religion when the next POTUS, not a Repub, continued that trend. <br />
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The nation is mired in debt, the economy is stagnant at best, dependency keeps growing, but the pretense out of DC is that cutting a single dime of federal spending will mean children in the streets eating old people and the nation being taken over by radical jihadists. And this is being said by people whom we elected. Makes you wonder who is more stupid, them or us. <br />
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The intellectual dishonesty in this argument is that no one is really discussing cuts as you, me, and the dictionary would define them; no, in DC cuts mean reductions in the rate of growth. Therefore, if your employer planned to give you a ten-thousand dollars raise but because of some circumstance was only able to give you eight-thousand, in DC-speak your salary was actually cut. Yup, that's what I said; when the increase is less than anticipated, that amounts to a cut among the elected class. <br />
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We have a system that is unsustainable. Gimmicks like the payroll tax holiday are just that, gimmicks, and should be called that. In a normal free society, a watchdog press would do that. But we don't have a watchdog media,we have an activist media more intent on propagating its point of view than in calling bullshit on stupidity. And so, here we are. <br />
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In the abstract, people love the concept of change but in the concrete, they want it to only apply to other people. No one is willing to give up their free pony, not even if they subconsciously realize that the pony will be taken away by necessity at some point. We have benefits with built-in disincentives to regaining self-sufficiency, we have people who will get more out of certain programs than they ever put in but they see no problem with that, and we have an increasingly lazy populace that believes govt always knows best, despite ample evidence to the contrary. <br />
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Self-indulgent pricks. It's who we have become. It's who we shown every sign of remaining for a long time. It's not the mark of a republic that values liberty, self-reliance, or limited govt. It's embarrassing. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-55155332365494173232013-02-12T16:35:00.000-08:002013-02-12T16:35:06.024-08:00A middle schooler? Really?Every now and then, someone who you think would know better says something so ridiculous that it's all you can do to keep the car between the lines. Especially when what is said is coming through your car radio during afternoon rush traffic. On a North Carolina radio station today, and which one or who said it immaterial, a guest remarked that business leaders looking for the next big thing would do well to talk to a middle-schooler since, apparently, that age group is filled with sages of the future.<br />
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The guest's rationale was that young people are marinated in technology from such a young age that surely any new development would be somehow related to the wired world. Maybe, but we're also the country that is graduating an alarming number of high school students who spend their first year of college taking remedial work. They did so well in math and English the first time that they are paying for the privilege of doing it again. I'm not so sure my company's next great path is going to be outlined by someone who can barely conjugate a verb, or knows what conjugate even means, let alone by a person whose next great challenge is going to be dealing with teenage skin. <br />
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Look, I am fascinated by the young's comfort around new gadgets and widgets, but let's be honest: gadgets and widgets are all they know. It's like previous generations being able to manage hand tools. And before this sounds like one of those old fart rants about the yoots, it's not. Kids are products of their environment and part of that environment is a school system that is largely failing them, a system that, curiously enough, is run by us, people who should know better. <br />
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Earlier this month, Ben Carson spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast about how his mother instilled in him and his brother a love of reading. What kid reads anymore? At least, what kid reads an actual book that has to do with something other than vampires, witches, or romantic fantasies? JK Rowling had a great idea in creating the Harry Potter series of books as a means for encouraging children to, well, pick up books. Then came the Twilight series. But is anyone reading anything of substance? A history book? A biography? Even a non-fiction book that does not involve the supernatural? <br />
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The biggest hole of all in the radio guest's summation was ignoring how critical thinking is missing from much of society, the adults included, to be sure. People talk to each other, in large part, with talking points they don't always understand themselves, gathered from news outlets that confirm their existing biases. If the parents can't be bothered to have their dogma challenged, it's a bit presumptuous to think a 12-year old is going to. <br />
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The future will hold things you and I can only imagine, and probably some things that we can't. A few of those will be developed and designed by someone who is 12 today. But before then, a good deal of other innovation is going to come by people who see a problem in search of an answer and a market niche in search of filling. And not to be too hard on the guest, but there really is more to life than technology. The tools make many things more convenient, but they are not the alpha and omega of life. Instead of worrying about how to appeal to middle-school children, entrepreneurs might want to focus on people who have disposable income, people whose businesses could benefit from whatever new comes along, and people whose lives will be somehow improved from innovation. Let the middle-school kids be middle-school kids. And encourage them to think. Preferably for themselves. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-35560118348590244642013-02-10T06:56:00.001-08:002013-02-10T06:56:17.030-08:00Complicating the simpleModern-day political discourse very closely resembles religion: each side is so firmly rooted its dogma that, by definition, it must treat all other belief systems are heresy. Just look at what happens - whenever someone with an R or D next to his/her name lays out an idea, someone else from the other side predictably comes forth to tells not just how horrible the idea is, but to also question the motives and character of the person making it. As a result, substantive discussion or debate is neutered before it can even start.<br />
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It's easy, and perhaps satisfying, to pretend that "the other side" is responsible for all that it wrong with the country but that misses a larger point. There may a difference in degrees of responsibility but the malicious truth is that both sides have built a system that caters to the excesses of each. Consider this thing called sequestration - the two parties both have their sacred cows and each treats that cutting either defense or the social welfare system by a nickel will wreak untold havoc on the populace. In simplest terms, that's bullshit. <br />
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We have a systemic problem, rooted in something very few folks - and this probably includes me - fully understand: baseline budgeting. This gimmick, and that's it is, automatically raises the federal budget for no greater reason than the turn of the calendar. Doesn't matter what inflation is, doesn't matter if a program is great or useless, doesn't matter if the world has started spinning in the opposite direction. It is THE commandment of Washington - thou shalt increase the budget of each and every federal agency each and every year. Usually, by somewhere between four and eight percent. <br />
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Does your salary go up by that amount every year? Do you even expect your expenses to go up by that figure every year? So, we have one more example of one set of rules for the elected class and a second set for the rest of us. Only problem is, we get to pay for the rules of the elected. Baseline budgeting is the reason why one party accuses the other of "draconian cuts" whenever it is suggested that instead of an 8% increase, perhaps Program X should only be raised by 3%. Lost in the discussion is that either methodology increases spending.<br />
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One of my favorite savings is foreseeable consequences are not unintended. Read it again. In simpler terms, when you know what the outcome is going to be, it is reasonable to conclude that outcome was intentional. And it is now fair to say that our current fiscal predicament is, in fact, intentional. Spending at the federal level has ALWAYS gone up but the strength of the US economy has usually been able to sustain it. The economy's steady, if not predictable, growth has absolved the Congress and most presidents of any sense of ownership or responsibility. Why set priorities and why maintain some semblance of budgetary balance when there are no repercussions for failing to do so? <br />
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A debt of 16 trillion dollars does not differentiate between Red and Blue; it makes no distinction between conservative and liberal; it sees no difference between gender, race, ethnicity, or orientation. At some point, it might be worthwhile to notice the elephant - this monstrosity of a debt affects us all. So, what is the elected class going to do about it? To date, not a hell of a lot beyond the usual finger-pointing, selective use of numbers, and gamesmanship that has led so many to drop out of the voting public. When you think about it, it is a crime of sorts that barely half the population participates in presidential elections and far less takes part in state and local races. <br />
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Folks, there is a problem out there and its name is the political class that claims to want to work on our behalf. If these folks worked in our companies, we would long ago have fired them. And yet, these people ARE on our payroll and we keep re-electing the vast majority. It is we the people who have created this cluster, in large part because we have found it very comfortable to let govt take care of so many details we should be taking care of individually, in our communities, and through civic groups. Ironically, we have a govt that exactly mirrors those who elect it - massive debt, little tolerance for innovation, and the desire to blame someone else rather than to be accountable. Want to see the problem? Look in the mirror. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-72684561147959466502013-02-08T18:23:00.001-08:002013-02-08T18:23:13.750-08:00If you can't laugh at this.....Seems the nation has lost its collective sense of humor judging by a couple of incidents in the news recently. First, Senator John McCain drew charges of racism for a quip regarding Iran's claim of having sent a monkey into space. McCain wondered if the monkey was not, in fact, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Cue the church of the aggrieved and offended - even a fellow member of Congress called McCain's remark racist. <br />
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When it is beyond the pale to make a joke about a man who has repeatedly denied the Holocaust, routinely refers to Jews in the most vile terms, and fantasizes about Israel's destruction, then nothing can ever be said about anyone, no matter who true or appropriate, no matter how loathsome the subject, nothing. Have we become so pecksniffian as to take offense at everything, even those things that should be offended from time to time? <br />
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The second example comes from the education system, whose self-righteousness meter is calibrated at a nuclear level. A second grader in Colorado was suspended for pretending to throw a grenade at imaginary monsters on the playground. Pretending. On the playground. At imaginary monsters. And these are the people many of you trust your children to on a daily basis. If pretending is now tantamount to terrorism, the theater arts are in for a rude awakening. Unless, of course, their targets are white males, particularly of the Southern variety, and the point is to paint said targets as wife-beater-wearing, gun-totin, gap-toothed hayseeds. <br />
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We are beyond political correctness at this point; we have moved into social paralysis, where anything said about anyone at anytime is subject to purposeful misinterpretation. This week, CNN's Don Lemon opined in almost sympathetic terms about the wanted killer and how the suspect's actions, at least prior to his killing people, are practically acceptable given the black community's experience with cops. That a cartoon style gaffer's hook did not come from off-set and yank Lemon out of sight is hardly unbelievable. <br />
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A commentator opined that perhaps Lemon's new boss, Jeff Zucker, had that bit of broadcast stupidity and would have a chat with his anchor. Not likely and for two reasons: 1) it is entirely possible that Zucker believes the same thing Lemon does, that cops always have it in for minorities and that any skepticism of law enforcement on their part is justified. But I think 2) is more likely: Zucker, a balding, middle-aged white man, would not dare challenge Lemon as the former knows nothing of "the black experience" and to call out obvious stupidity would be akin to a racist remark in itself. <br />
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This is where we have come people, from PC police to thought police, a near-Orwellian experience where offense is taken whether intended or not, where apologies are demanded, where the victim industry rides herd over everything from Tweeter feeds to Victoria's Secret advertisements. You heard about the Vicky's Secrets flap, right? Oh, yeah; a model wore an Indian headdress and the pious lost their minds. Because every company uses its models to purposely insult entire groups. It's madness and it is not going to slow down. And when you have lost the ability to laugh at yourself or anything else, no matter how much truth lies behind a joke or quip, an important part of the social fabric has unraveled, and people withdraw from one another a little bit more. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-26505052900727741512012-07-28T07:40:00.001-07:002012-07-28T07:40:15.434-07:00Chicken Sandwiches and JackbootsThe recent dust-up over comments by the CEO of Chick-fil-A on gay marriage have provided a good test case regarding the type society we are vs. the type society some would wish us to be. Liberals constantly crow about "tolerance" and "diversity", but their walk almost never keeps pace with their talk. After Truett Cathy surprised absolutely no one who knows anything about him by saying he believes marriage to be defined as one man/one woman, the left went into high hysteria with a few mayors suggested that Chick-fil-A not even look at their cities for possible expansion. That those mayors can be supported by anyone should be frightening, but in this age of speech codes, it isn't. <br />
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Last I checked, Cathy had a Constitutional right to his opinion. There is no corresponding right that forces me to agree with him, nor is there one that inoculates him from potential backlash. In this case, 'backlash' means anyone offended by his remarks can stop buying Chick-fil-A's products. In a free society, it does not - or should not - mean that elected officials get to use veiled threats of govt action in order to force businesses into ideological compliance. If a city has the legal authority to stop a business from building because its CEO opposes gay marriage, then nothing can stop another city from similar sanctions against a CEO who, say, opposes abortion or favors gun control. And, that's the thing about the left. <br />
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Liberals believe that diversity is a group of folks who look different but march in ideological lockstep, and tolerance is everyone agreeing with even the stupidest ideas. Wrong on both counts. Diversity means accepting that individuals are different and and will have varying opinions on a range of topics. Tolerance means understanding that not everyone has to agree with you and that a person having a different viewpoint is not inherently evil or motivated by sinister forces. It just means that person has his/her own opinion. <br />
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We get into (potentially) serious trouble when govt believes that its role is mandating thought and what the mayors of Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco, among others, are doing is exactly that. Each has said that Chick-fil-A may not be allowed to build in their cities because some elected official - that would be a person who works for us - does not like what a CEO believes. To call this a slippery slope insults the term; it is a steep precipice that can only produce bad results. <br />
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There are some in this country, okay there are many, who hate the concept of individual liberty or of individual anything, for that matter. They would prefer that we become a Borg-like collective where everyone is assigned a specific set of thoughts and then does what our betters dictate. That sort of approach has been tried in numerous places, always with bad outcomes. Liberty means the freedom to think and act for yourself, and to understate that statements can have consequences. Some folks may boycott Chick-fil-A just as surely as folks who agree with Cathy may double down on doing business with the chain. That is how a free society works. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-17854930154871796372012-07-13T11:14:00.001-07:002012-07-13T11:14:48.978-07:00This is how you beat age discriminationIn this current state of normal - and sorry, I refuse to call it the new normal because nothing lasts forever - there are some economic realities to be faced. One of them is, seasoned workers stand a very good chance of being screwed, sometimes because of self-defeating reasons and sometimes because of misperception. <br />
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The biggest self-defeating reason is the most obvious - economics. Less experienced people command lower salaries. Why self-defeating? If you run an organization, new hires are essentially learning on your watch, quite possibly learning enough so that they can shop themselves to a higher bidder. There is nothing wrong with inexperienced people; I used to be one. But, you can't run a place on their backs. They need people to learn from, people whose roles they can move into at some point. Conversely, the older worker will also learn from younger counterparts, but that is another topic. <br />
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Areas of misperception are going to be more common and they are infinitely more maddening:<br />
<ul>
<li>"You are overqualified." While that may be true, you are not applying for such a job in order to show off. It may be that you've been in your boss' shoes and you found the view unpleasant. Or, it could be that you want to dial down your level of responsibility. Or, you want to focus on a specific task(s) without also having to supervise/internalize the drama of subordinates. But your best means of overcoming that objection is this: "I have had your position and I understand the demands and pressures you face. I can help you with some of them and you can be certain I will not add to them." </li>
<li>"Are you sure you won't be bored?" The plain fact is that not every job
is a thrill a minute, but jobs exist for one purpose - there is work to
be done. Presumably, you will be busy. Focus on the skills required
for the job and the tasks that are entailed in it. "The mark of a
well-run organization is when the routine things are done routinely.
Every place has its things that, while maybe not exciting, are
nonetheless critical to the overall function. I like contributing to
success and a big part of success is so-called little things; this is
where my experience really comes to the fore. I have seen what happens
when details are addressed and when they are not." </li>
<li>"The workplace has changed." Pardon the expression, but no shit. If you are a Boomer, your entire existence has been about change. You remember when research meant going to the library, using the Dewey Decimal System to track down reference material, and then typing the finished work. Maybe even on a manual typewriter. If you know the words "pica" and "elite", you know what I am talking about. The tools have been changing your entire career and each time, you acclimated. Here's the bottom line answer to that objection: "Communicating with people is about ideas, not about the means through which ideas are transmitted. People can learn gadgets quickly; it takes a lot longer to learn to think. (Besides, all of these tools that your generation takes for granted? My generation invented most of them.") </li>
</ul>
The part in parentheses is simple: Mark Zuckerberg came up with Facebook, but that's just an application. It was the prior generation that invented the operating system on which the app runs. Of course, that last part goes down a lot better if said with a smile on your face; you are applying for a job, after all, not seeking to make enemies. There is nothing wrong being firm about the fact that every convenience that your kids take for granted was invented by the generation or two that came before it. <br />
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Tough economic times have made for a much competitive workplace. Graduate schools have enrolled a goodly number of older students who find that their experience alone is not enough. And, it is difficult to blame organizations. When hundreds of people apply for an opening, there is no way a human is going to sift through every resume. So, screening parameters are designed to cull the resume herd; "Masters" is one of the words used to narrow the field of prospects. <br />
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You cannot change your age but you don't have to run away from it either. Experience matters, perhaps more so today than in fatter times. But be aware; you are going to face one or more of the bullet items if you are of a certain age and on the job hunt. Be ready with answers. <br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-71540320086344329202012-07-01T11:20:00.000-07:002012-07-01T11:20:12.135-07:00America is NOT other countries, part IIWhenever you hear someone use "but other countries do it" as the rationalization for why the US should do anything, that is a red flag. What will follow is a false argument based on emotion rather than logic, numbers that are virtually meaningless, and policy desires focused on intentions rather than outcomes. <br />
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The most obvious example is health care. Set aside the Supreme Court's decisions to a key argument surrounding support for govt running the health care delivery system: "other democratic nations do it and they spend much less than America does." On its face, that claims is absolutely true; the US spends far more on a per-capita basis on health care than does any other country. What is left out of the argument is a key reason behind that fact - all of those other countries say NO to spending that the US routinely approves. <br />
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I can use my own parents as examples. My father died from leukemia at age 83. One of his last medical statements included a $12,000 bill, and insurance payment, for chemotherapy. In his native Europe, that would have been 12K saved because a govt-run system would not spend that sort of money on a person of his age. And there is my mother, whose coverage repeatedly paid for $500 prescriptions refills for a drug that, as best I can tell, did nothing to either extend her life or improve its quality. Again, in her native land, this expense would have been a no-go. <br />
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That is an unpleasant truth too many Americans refuse to acknowledge. Those dastardly death panels that Sarah Palin mentioned, the ones that liberals used as a cudgel with which to beat her, exist. No, they are not actually called death panels but they are the functional equivalent. When a bureaucracy decides that it will NOT pay for a particular course of treatment, the outcome is no different. And Obamacare includes a panel that will be making such decisions.<br />
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Whether these panels are good or not is immaterial; the point is that they exist in all the other democracies that advocates of govt-run health care point to as the example we follow. As it is, no one disputes that health care dollars are disproportionately spent in the last few years of an individual's life. In actuarial terms, this makes no sense. The taxpayer is forced to spend hundreds, if not thousands and tens of thousands, so that grandpa can have an additional three weeks, often three weeks that are going to be miserable. That spending comes at the expense of people who are much younger and whose potential for quality life is much greater. Fair? Maybe, maybe not, but few things in life are. <br />
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The argument that the US should do something because someone else does - without explaining all of what someone else does - is sure as hell unfair. But, it strikes at emotion, a powerful weapon. Few things are easier than using emotion as the basis for spending someone else's money; it gets a bit harder when folks eventually realize that "someone else" is them. In her lucid moments, my mother repeatedly asked for a pill, but it was one that would have ended her life, not added several months of dubious quality where she was unable to do something as simple as brush her own teeth. Keep that in mind next time someone suggests that you should participate in something "because everyone else is doing it." Ironic, isn't it? We tell our kids to NOT do things based on that logic; why is it okay to use public funds to do the opposite? <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-49485177672084087042012-06-29T09:52:00.002-07:002012-06-29T09:52:33.644-07:00A tax on inactivityNext time someone tells you that nothing is new, that any idea, book or movie title, marketing approach, etc. is simply a rehash of previous thought, point them to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. For the first time in American history, you can be taxed for NOT doing something. Take a break from your partisan thoughts about health care and let that proposition roll around in your brain for a moment. <br />
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In upholding the constitutionality of Obamacare, Roberts argued what the administration did not - that the mandate is really a tax, and that govt has the power to tax people. Usually, taxation is done in conjunction with an activity: income tax is paid on what you earn while working, sales tax is tacked onto purchases you make, property taxes come from having bought real estate. With this tax, however, money will be confiscated from you because of what you do not do. If you opt out of health insurance, govt will forcibly take some of your money. If your employer decides against offering health coverage as a benefit, govt will forcibly take some of the company's money. If you already thought that taxation was a de facto form of theft, this ruling puts that theft on steroids. <br />
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A host of self-appointed deep thinkers is working overtime to think deep thoughts about Roberts' decision: He did not want the Court to appear political; He did not want to be perceived as activist; He has helped Romney with his ruling. I am calling BS on each of those pronouncements. The Court already is deemed as political by whichever side loses on a particular vote. The Court would have been perceived as activist regardless of the outcome. And, if the Chief Justice fancies himself a political kingmaker, then he should resign his post and run for the post of RNC Chairman. <br />
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Where Roberts' decision strains credulity is that, all along, the President and his Congressional allies had done rhetorical back-flips and pirouettes insisting that the mandate was NOT a tax, mostly because they knew the bill would have never passed had the word "tax" actually been in the text. It barely passed as it was, owing its passage largely to last-minute bribes to a handful of Senators. Had the Court simply upheld the mandate as constitutional, there would still be heartburn and hand-wringing, but the measure would have passed on its own merit. Instead, Roberts chose to re-write it, to recast the proposition as some warped version of Solomon saying "this is what I think you meant to put in the bill." <br />
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Taxation for inactivity is truly a plumbing of new depths and like all SCOTUS rulings, it sets a precedent. What else can govt now tax you for NOT doing? How about a non-exercise tax - unless you can show a receipt for a gym membership or large piece of home equipment, you may be taxed; and no, simply being a jogger will not do. For politicians who love to use the tax code for social engineering, this opens up a new avenue of approach. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg was easy to laugh at when he tried to ban the sale of large-size soft drinks; how silly will you think him when he takes a different tack, say taxing you if you order water in a restaurant since it's free and if you have a soda or tea, at least the state gets some sales tax revenue. <br />
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There is no end to how stupid such an application can become. Meanwhile, never let it be said again that there are no new ideas, that everything is a rehash of something previously thought up by someone else. No, the Chief Justice has cemented his status in the deep thinking brigade forever. That he has made himself look utterly foolish in the process apparently does not matter. <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-6442841859896352382012-06-21T13:27:00.000-07:002012-06-21T13:27:35.692-07:00They have to believe you will hurt themBy now, you have likely heard about the New York school monitored hassled by a sorry assemblage of today's youth. The woman has decided against pressing charges and what do you want to be that none of the kids' parents are going to take action, either? Maybe I will be wrong but I doubt it, and it is doubt based on simple observation - bad behavior, particularly involving youths, is hardly ever punished. <br />
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Adults have willfully ceded not just control, but authority, over the young through well-intentioned (and aren't bad outcomes usually associated with good intentions?) but misguided attempts to police behavior through time-outs, talking, and other benign measures. You want to make your kid, or someone else's, stays in line? To quote a character from an episode of the "House" television series some time back, "They have to believe you will hurt them." <br />
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Now, this does not imply that physical punishment should be used exclusively or even often as a means of discipline. But either it or some similarly harsh measure has to be on the table and those in your charge have to know that this measure is most certainly an option. My two boys, now 28 and 25, collectively got about five spankings while growing up. However, <b>and this is the key point, </b>they knew that a spanking was a potential outcome if they acted stupidly. I did not waste their time or mine with meaningless three-counts to convince them to stop whatever they were doing, we did not engage in corner-sitting or in losing television privileges. <br />
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No, the consequences for the worst offenses were swift and they were unpleasant. <b>That </b>is why they were effective. You cannot spank a child for every silly thing that occurs; all that does is make spanking meaningless and, when really bad things occur and a parent has to escalate punishment, well, the next step up from spanking is abuse. Not good. Because harsh sanctions existed and because they were harsh, really bad behavior happened so seldom I cannot even recall why the boys ever got one of the few spankings either ever received. <br />
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On a broader point, some have characterized the actions of the NY monsters as bullying, a term seen almost continuously in the news. Want to know the best means of stopping a bully? Smack him in the mouth. Period. The bully's target does not have to actually win a fight; he/she only has to show willingness to engage in one. Ironically, bullies are generally cowards and the first sign of pushback is usually enough to make them go away. Unfortunately, the people who many expect to know better actually <b>do not </b>know better. <br />
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School officials usually respond to confrontations by treating instigation and retaliation as the same thing, which anyone with two working brain cells, let alone an advanced degree, knows is untrue. When instigation draws no response and, more important, no sanction, what do you suppose happens? A gold star if you said "more instigation." If nothing of substance happens to the kids in the NY case - and by substance, I mean the system bans them from riding the bus, from extra-curriculars for a year, their parents do something like suspend the little darlings' cell phone service - then you can expect the same kids to harass someone else until they run across the proverbial wrong person. <br />
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At that point, the response will be wholly disproportionate to its trigger and a lot of grownups will engage in ritual hand-wringing and navel-gazing about the need for expanding conflict-resolutions methods that are already ineffective. Frankly, I am tremendously disappointed that the bus monitor is not filing charges. That makes her an accomplice and an enabler in what will likely be more bad behavior from this group of miscreants. <br />
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Look for a lot of editorials tut-tutting the state of youth and decorum, and a lot of television pundits bloviating about the same. The one thing you will <b>not </b>see is someone suggesting that sometimes, an old-fashioned ass-whipping goes a long way toward sending a message that certain behavior is simply not going to be tolerated if we are to have a civil society. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-16694447769843802752012-06-18T14:35:00.001-07:002012-06-18T14:35:29.267-07:00False comparisons and straw menOne of the biggest intellectual frauds some try to perpetuate is comparing the US to other nations. Usually, it's done as a means of suggesting one more area where govt can infiltrate your life. Well, just one small problem with comparing America to European or Asian societies, and it is a problem so obvious one has to wonder why it is missed. Then again, because it is so obvious, the greater likelihood is that the issue is not simply overlooked, it is purposely ignored. <br />
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That problem/issue/factor is culture. What the cultural relativists among us refuse to accept is that, culturally speaking, the US is light years apart from other societies. Here is the simplest test - go to Europe, Asia, or Africa and I guarantee that you will look out of place in at least one of those continents, if not all three. By contrast, <i>no one </i>looks out of place here. At first glance, it is impossible to tell whether the guy in the convenience store or the girl at the counter has been here for five generations or five minutes.<br />
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There is a secondary aspect to culture. The govt programs in place overseas, the type of social welfare initiatives many here want to see implemented, work because of universal buy-in among those populations. In fact, one big problem in Greece is that, for too long, a large segment has shirked its responsibility to contribute toward benefit programs by either being paid under the table and avoiding taxes or not paying them altogether. But in places like Germany, Denmark, and Japan, where the system works relatively well, everyone understands that s/he has a responsibility to put money into the kitty. <br />
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There is no politically-perpetuated permanent underclass in those societies. There are no 3rd or 4th generation welfare recipients. There are no programs that incentivize bad behavior as there are here. But, it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge this malicious truth. As it is, nearly half the American population has zero federal income tax liability; a high percentage of folks get back more in benefits than they ever kick into the system. Does anyone believe that such a system can work forever? Please. <br />
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Of course, facing this reality makes some people uncomfortable. They hope you won't recognize that a govt which takes from Peter to give to Paul can always count on Paul's support, and we are reaching the tipping point where the number of Pauls outnumbers the Peters. As a wise man once said, democracy works just fine until people figure out that they can vote themselves the money of others. In the book <i>Atlas Shrugged, </i>the Peter class eventually went on strike. In reality, the creative class is not likely to up and quit and political opportunists know that. By the same token, you should know many of them are being intellectually dishonest, which is hardly a novel concept, but it bears remembering when you are faced with a round of intellectual dishonesty. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-74375925184379964282012-05-30T17:03:00.002-07:002012-05-30T17:03:59.759-07:00The box is the box; standing outside of it gets you nowhereHigh on any list of shopworn phrases is the demand to <i>think outside the box. </i>It passes for high-level thinking in marketing and communication circles, and it is absolutely wrong-headed. The box is what it is and no matter what anyone tells you, we all live and work inside of one. Let's look at it from a business standpoint - consider your industry; <b>that </b>is the box in which you operate. What you do inside that box, not outside, is what will separate you from the pack. <br />
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Here's a simple illustration: give 100 interior decorators identical 10 x 10 rooms; in other words, identical boxes. Chances are extremely high that the end products will be 100 unique styles of design. <b>That </b>is redesigning the box to fit your goals. <b>That </b>is creativity. Any artist can put something on a blank canvas; a more true test comes when a person is given limits within which to work. <br />
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A former colleague of mine encapsulated the notion of creativity in a simple phrase: it's not art, it's work. And that is so true. The notion of thinking "outside the box" emerged as a means of encouraging folks to think beyond their usual bounds. Maybe it was a case of being too clever by half; perhaps more plain-spoken terminology could have led to something other than a cliche. <br />
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As it is, the thought process is hardly revolutionary; so-called lateral thinking is about considering ideas and methods that are not immediately obvious and has been around for some time. The trick is not what to call it but to actually do it. This is where the box comes into play. Consider the box to be the industry in which you are employed. It's okay; every industry has parameters. <br />
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Every widget does specific things and is used by specific people, often for specific functions. But, inside the box is where you can change the perception of the widget and perhaps spark new markets. Here's an example: chocolate milk is being re-positioned as perhaps <i>the </i>ideal post-workout drink because of its protein-to-carb ratio. Now, chocolate milk is hardly new but who thought of it as a drink for adults, especially for health-conscious adults? The people behind the choco campaign are the same ones who came up with the "Got Milk?" messaging for the white stuff. <br />
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It's thinking differently within the box. Same applies to social media in a sense. It is one more tool for professional communicators to use. It's still communication; the message still has to be appealing and meaningful, but the idea remains to impart a message onto a prospect. A slight difference is that social channels allow for interactivity, something lacking in legacy media. Without a strong message, however, social media is simply one more lost opportunity. <br />
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So, stop worrying about the box itself and start focusing on how to rearrange what is in it. Two decades ago, no home had the open floor plan concept. Today, it is practically the industry standard. The box, that would be the house, is largely unchanged. What has happened inside it, however, is markedly different. What are you doing to reshape your box? <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-41810655039935399552012-05-29T10:19:00.000-07:002012-05-29T10:19:01.515-07:00The company you keepFriends are the people in your life who can call bullshit on you and make you laugh while they are doing it. Everyone else is expendable. I am on week 4 of the great FaceBook experiment, the one in which I have unsubscribed from people whose postings make you wonder why they were friended in the first place. <br />
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I love a vigorous debate, a healthy exercise in point/counter-point; I cannot stand attempts to dismiss someone's argument by attacking them personally or by relying on talking points. Folks whose value judgments are based on whether something comes from an R or a D are not people with whom one can debate anything. Ideas are either beneficial or harmful; they either promote liberty or diminish it; they either cost you money or they don't. Yes, that is a black and white view of things but much in life is black and white. <br />
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Nuance is another way of avoiding a decision or (gasp!) making a judgment, as if that is a bad thing. Please. People make judgments every day - in where they choose to live, with whom they associate, who they let their kids play with, the stores/restaurants they patronize, and so forth. While all men may be <i>created </i>equal, they do not all remain that way. Pretending otherwise is delusional but, at the same time, one should be able to explain the rationale for a judgment using something more than partisan affiliation as the calculus. <br />
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For instance, the noise involving the Catholics and birth control. The White House wants to require every employer who provides health insurance to cover the cost of birth control, of abortion, and of things like in-vitro fertilization. Set aside for a moment that this is not govt's business at all; the extent of benefits are a private contract between employer and employee. The interesting part is how the religious folks see this as a "war" on them. They conveniently forget that, for the past several presidential elections, Catholics have voted Democrat. Obama is a Democrat; Catholics supported him by a fair margin in ' 08. Elections have consequences and not always the consequences you hope for. When some of the most pro-life people on the planet vote the party that is <i>not </i>pro-life, it is difficult to take their protestations seriously. But, I digress. <br />
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FaceBook and other social media tools have the same effect on behavior as do tough times - they tend to reveal character. People will post or tweet things that they would never say directly to another person. That's not moral courage; it is a profile in cowardice. These tools offer the opportunity to vent about anything anytime; they do not include a self-censoring button or a cooling off device that suggests you actually think about the words you just typed before making them public. I am obviously right; how often has someone been forced to backtrack or apologize over a Twitter comment or FB post? Makes you wonder how many friendships have been ruined over opinions that were best left unshared. <br />
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I am headed to a multi-class high school reunion next month. Attendees will include people with whom I chat regularly and people whose opinions are no longer viewable. The former will be just as fun in person; I am less sure about the latter but am reasonably sure that my diminishing tolerance for weapons-grade levels of stupid will not reverse course. It could mean that some folks stop being even FB friends and that's okay. Remember, your friends are the ones who make you laugh at yourself when calling you out, who do not get offended or take personally even your most foolish moments. The other folks belong in the discard pile, just like that pair of pants from ten years ago that fits neither you nor the time. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-41686616849614070132012-05-10T07:49:00.001-07:002012-05-10T07:49:55.441-07:00SimplifyingIt is quite likely the single best component of Facebook and utilizing it can have a profound effect on your blood pressure, if not your life. It is the "unsubscribe" button. Clicking on it means you no longer to tolerate the aimless meanderings and musings of some of your friends. The epiphany for me came after an election in my former home state. While I do not begrudge people their opinions or their political leanings, I cannot abide slavish devotion to party, gullibility if not ignorance, or posts that have zero grounding in fact. <br />
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I love a good debate as much as anyone and, with some friends, it is actually possible. We present our points of view without rancor, without personal attacks, without resorting to talking points. Unfortunately, this approach is not universal. In fact, it may be the opposite of universal. Maybe I have reached an age where the tolerance level on my stupid meter need recalibration, but I refuse to suffer fools, gladly or otherwise. If you believe the problem with rising college tuition rates is the interest rate on student loans, we are unable to have a sensible discussion. If you believe that a politician doing a 180 on a long-held view the day <i>after </i>a state votes on that issue is a profile in courage, there is nothing for us to say. And if you are unable to breathe in and out without seeking divine assistance, wow. <br />
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Clicking "unsubscribe" is, in a word, liberating. Look, no one wants to be "that guy", the cranky old coot telling all the neighborhood kids to "get off my lawn", but I have reached the point where I demand certain things from people in order to consider them either friends or worthy debate partners. First, you have to be consistent, meaning your position on an issue cannot change based on which party supports or opposes your viewpoint. Partisan politics may be the single-most destructive force in American rhetoric today. It is breathtaking the number of people who wanted to try George Bush for war crimes based on a series of anti-terrorism measures put in place under his watch but do not bat an eye when Barrack Obama not only continues those policies but adds to them. <br />
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Second, you have to come to the discussion with facts. Not talking points, not bumper sticker slogans, not conspiracy theories. Facts. If technology has done nothing else, it has made it impossible for the truly interested person to be uninformed on any issue. There are countless sources to peruse, both inclined to support your viewpoint and oppose it. It is often worthwhile to look over a source that disagrees with you to see what substantive reasons, if any, are enumerated. <br />
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Third, personal attacks are a discussion killer. When you decide that the opposition is stupid, evil, motivated by sinister forces, or in any way driven by something other than a different point of view, you have not only lost the argument, you have forfeited the right to engage in it. There is nothing to be gained by talking to people who take the ad hominem route and valuable time to lose. <br />
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Today, the list of people from whom I will see thoughts, articles, opinions, or pictures is smaller than it was yesterday. And, it feels pretty good. People are entitled to their beliefs; however, they are not entitled to force others to listen to them or to agree with them. I love a <b>good </b>debate as much as anyone and tuning these folks out means maximizing the chances of good debates by limiting the possibility of being sucked into pointless ones. Many of you know what I am talking about - a friend posts something that is so out there that you can't help yourself. You have to respond and you may spend an ensuing period of time wondering how your seemingly intelligent friend can be so obtuse. It is a waste of time for you will find no answer. In addition, you will lose respect for that individual and, in some cases, may wonder why you thought him/her a friend in the first place. Simplify. You will be glad you did. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-13328815519918552402012-05-09T15:33:00.002-07:002012-05-09T15:33:52.932-07:00The Hardest ThingSome truths are so self-evident that they give the term <i>self-evident </i>a bad rap. One of those is recognizing that the hardest thing is getting started. On whatever it is you want to do. There are plenty of cliches to back that up: a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, change happens when decide to change something, and so forth. Same applies to writing, whether for a paper, a business proposal, a book, even a blog. Ideas pass through; the rustling in the writer's brain is obvious. But ideas are no good if no one puts them on paper. Or computer screen. If that necessary first step of committing thought to document is not performed. And so here we are. <br />
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Today is going to begin a more regular habit of participating with this forum. Ironically, my entire professional career has been wrapped up in writing of one sort or another: news stories, press releases, marketing and advertising copy, and most recently, communication audits as part of grad school assignments. A good bit of idle time is consumed with it, too, whether arguing or connecting with friends on FaceBook, debating the issues of the day on a couple of politically-oriented sites, or bloviating about the fortunes of my alma mater for the upcoming football season. Meanwhile this forum, which began about a year ago to coincide with my entry into graduate school, is only periodically taken out of the stall and out onto the track. How silly. I contribute thoughts to advance the aims of other people but neglect to do so regarding my own. <br />
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So, where to begin. This incarnation will go in multiple directions. The genesis of the blog was influenced by two conditions: being a decidedly non-traditional student in a very traditional setting and the discovery of my mother's path through dementia. The latter was more difficult to write about because doing so entailed a re-living of circumstances that were not always pleasant. Entries fell under the broad heading of "The Mary Tales" as my mother's name was Mary and you learn quickly that if you cannot laugh at some aspects of this disease, you will die nearly as torturous a death as the person afflicted with it. <br />
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School was a different matter, beginning with the reality that I actually was old enough to be my classmates' father. Add to that an unexpected discovery: egos in academia are especially fragile, particularly when confronted by someone with practical (as in, for pay) experience in the subject being taught. What I expected to be my greatest strength as a teaching assistant emerged as my biggest liability. At least at Auburn. Things are markedly different at Florida State. Curiously, the folks I work with at FSU are PhD's; the ones at AU had only Master's. There is probably a psychological explanation to the difference; maybe the PhD's are more secure in who they are. Or maybe it was just me. Regardless, the Auburn experiment ended with my mother's death and Florida has been home for nearly a year. I lost some credits in the transfer but gained a great deal of peace of mind, some practical new work skills, and a classroom environment filled with other professionals. Not to mention a shiny new condo near the bay and a couple of shades on my tan. <br />
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Moving ahead, this will at times resemble a journal and, at other times, reflect on issues of the day. I will strive to do less of the latter as there is no shortage of pundits already in play. One more voice in the cacophony may not change much though I like to think that, on occasion, I bring a different perspective to light. Morphing this blog requires some heavy mental lifting; do you realize how difficult it is to come to grips with the reality that while I may have an opinion, not everyone feels entitled to it? As the comedian Ron White said in a performance when confronted by his wife about a difficult turn of events, "I had the right to remain silent. And the ability." Those two things make for a tremendous combination. Actually, life is easier in <i>not </i>feeling the need to share and the holes in my tongue have almost healed. That does not mean new ones will not be created but the goal is to keep the number to a minimum. Instead, this space will become a repository for information with lasting value, lasting designed as longer than the typical news cycle. We'll see how this goes. But, the hardest thing has been done - I've started. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4584275926405418281.post-45686465934161629472012-05-07T07:46:00.000-07:002012-05-07T07:47:04.516-07:00The Death of DebateGive someone enough time during a discussion and that individual will eventually reveal him/herself. Chances are, the results will not be pretty. I had that experience on Facebook over the weekend when some from my distant past turned out to be a walking, living, breathing caricature. I have known people across the ideological spectrum, largely by necessity through my previous work in the media and, for the most part, discussions were spirited, civil, and often concluded by agreements to disagree. This weekend's person, however, was one of those. You know the type - a person who believes that if you hold an opposing point of view, you are uncultured, uneducated, and unworthy of further time. Carry on the discussion long enough and condescension begins to seep through whatever points are being made. Frankly, it is tiresome.<br />
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This discussion began with the other individual's posting of a picture that "corporations don't bleed". I started to simply call bullshit but took a more civil approach in responding that such an assertion is wrong on its face. Corporations are staffed by individuals who are impacted by the do-gooder rules govt imposes on them. For some, corporations have become a favored whipping boy but, apparently, only certain corporations. You see, this name does <b>not </b>apply to smaller, locally-owned business, regardless of the fact that the vast majority are incorporated. Corporations are much easier to villify if portrayed as nameless, faceless entities out to rape and pillage all corners of the world. <br />
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It makes no different, at least not to that sparring partner, that corporations are responsible for virtually every convenience that we enjoy. Every tool that has made our lives simpler, more efficient, and otherwise better is the result of some "corporation" that saw a market need and worked to fill it. That these corporations act as such in pursuit of profit is not evil, it is how business works. Then again, the dissenting opinion came from someone who works in a setting where job performance is immaterial, where market pressures and competition are non-existent, and where profit is a word tossed about with contempt. I don't begrudge public sector employees their role in society; my late father was a college professor, a man of science whose work resulted in outcomes that benefitted farmers. However, I do get a bit irritated with the self-righteousness of some who believe themselves entitled to criticizing the same private sector that makes their world richer, and not just in the material sense. <br />
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After a couple of parries and thrusts, the inevitable occurred: I was "instructed" to undertake certain reading, the type of which was almost as predictable as the outcome of the discussion. Three authors were recommended, all of whom dislike capitalism and one of whom is an "eco-feminist", whatever the hell that is. My response that perhaps the other person consider the likes of Friedman/Hayek/Smith went unignored. After all, what fun is an ideological position when you are unwilling to see it challenged? I can live with disagreements over issues; it is part of what makes life interesting. What I cannot stand are snide, smug assertions that anyone holding a differing view is somehow beneath the time of the person making the initial point, no matter how ridiculous that initial point is. <br />
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Over the span of a few posts and counter-posts, this one-time classmate devolved into one giant talking point, a caricature of everything you hear regarding people who dislike the private sector, who dislike business in general, and who don't seem to have much regard for the West. It takes an immense lack of self-awareness to slam the very system that allows you to live in relative comfort and happiness. I feel genuinely sorry for such people, for individuals whose default position is to blame their own culture for the sorry plight of others, for refusing to acknowledge that for all their inherent flaws, capitalism and free markets remain the single best path to individual liberty and prosperity. Facts are stubborn things in that regard; the societies which are the most prosperous tend to be the most free and the ones with the most misery tend to be the most oppressive. This malicious truth is more than some can bear, so the problem instead becomes the person uttering it. In the weekend's discussion, that was me. <br />
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Funny thing about Facebook. People believe that they can post damn near anything and no one will question it, challenge it, or otherwise disagree with it. Sorry, free speech does work that way. You have the right to say it; you do not, however, have the corresponding right to be agreed with or even heard. And, when you cannot defend your points without resorting to thinly-veiled personal attacks on the other individual's intelligence or character, you have lost. I expected better, particularly from someone in academia, where logic and reasoning are supposed to be fundamental tools. Then again, living in an ideological hothouse where your views are never challenged, never scrutinized, or never dissected leads breeds intellectual laziness that no number of fancy words, or cheap shots, can mask. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08717753130138845634noreply@blogger.com0