The geographers at Kansas State have put their considerable talent to good use. This is pretty stunning:
Where’s the map for hypocrisy?
More fun here >>
Michael Moore Meets Peter Drucker
I wonder what the late Peter Drucker would have said about Michael Moore‘s Capitalism: A Love Story?
I think he’d be very sympathetic. Drucker’s disillusionment with the level of executive greed he saw and we see today makes it very likely that he’d be a supportive fan.
And here’s an interesting quote from the man himself:
The leader cannot act in his own interests.It must be the in the interests of the customer and the worker. This is the great weakness of American management today.
[from A Class with Drucker: The Lost Lessons of the World’s Greatest Management Teacher, William A. Cohen, AMACOM 2008]
When results are poor, executives don’t deserve bonuses, right Peter?
What Global Warming?
Corporate fascism? What’s that?
Listen to this Henry Wallace quote from 1944:
“The dangerous American fascist is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power…
Still another danger is represented by those who, paying lip service to democracy and the common welfare, in their insatiable greed for money and the power which money gives, do not hesitate surreptitiously to evade the laws designed to safeguard the public from monopolistic extortion…
The American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact. Their newspapers and propaganda carefully cultivate every fissure of disunity, every crack in the common front against fascism… They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.“
Hard to believe? Not.
Here’s an example of the latest garbage: CO2isgreen.org. What global warming?
Go Michael Moore!
Michael Moore: Time for Capitalism 2.0?
Michael Moore is serious, and most of all, he’s right.
It’s time for Capitalism 2.0. Let’s get some True Democracy
Umberto Eco on Handwriting
Maybe he just likes the taste of ink on his fingers, or maybe he’s concerned that we won’t be seeing too many works like Jung’s Red Book any more, but Umberto Eco tells us that handwriting is good for the soul:
Why should we regret the passing of good handwriting? The capacity to write well and quickly on a keyboard encourages rapid thought, and often (not always) the spell-checker will underline a misspelling.
Eco’s own handwriting seems a little less than soulful, if we are to judge by this specimen:
His concern, however, is real: most kids – what with computers (when they use them) and text messages – can no longer write by hand, except in laboured capital letters.
And of course, we do know that computers don’t help you think. That’s best done w/ a sheet of blank paper and a fountain pen. My own love for ink pens stems from a different sort of “creativity” – I enjoy creating doodles out of the ink I spill.
But unlike Eco, I think ballpoint pens do have a purpose, especially during those endless business meetings:
Republican Hypocrisy: Public Option OK for Property, Not People
The Republicans are all for the public option when it comes to property, says David Cay Johnston in this insightful article at HuffPost.
Crooks.
Breaking The Cycle of Failure
Why do companies behave like Hyatt Hotels and Circuit City?
By treating employees as costs they minimize their investments in employee training. The result is poor employee morale, substandard performance, and customer dissatisfaction. [Once again, here’s Drucker >>]
I first met this idea in an article I read in the Bechtel library in Houston. I was new to the corporate world, and I was trying to figure out what companies should be doing to be the “employer of choice” in their particular industry.
Of course, now I know this as an example of a vicious circle. The opposite of this approach, a virtuous circle – seems far more rare – in business, non-profits, and learning institutions as well.
I now see this as Management 101. In fact, it seems so obvious, you wonder why anyone would choose to destroy their company this way.
My guess: the culprit is executive pay. And in government? It’s the lobbyists.
Nerd 2 Nerd: Arrington’s Laws of Networking
Michael Arrington‘s tips on how to network are basic, but sorely needed by the nerd community:
1. Never underestimate the power of an introduction. A mutual friend who introduces you by email or in person is far more effective than a cold self-introduction at a crowded event. Approaching someone randomly should be your last option.
2. Don’t approach someone when they are clearly in the middle of something. If I’m throwing a conference, there likely isn’t any time at all that is appropriate to approach me. But there are 2,000 other people there you can hit up who aren’t as busy as I am at that time. Hit me up at the event that I’m attending but not running.
3. Don’t approach someone when they are in the middle of a mob trying to get their attention. This is usually after a speaker has just left a stage, and everyone hits them at once. If you must grab them then because you have no other way of meeting them, make it very, very quick and aim for nothing more than their business card so you can email them later.
4. If you get someone’s business card, never call them. That mobile phone number isn’t for you, the person who just met them. A random call to their cell phone is never welcome. Send an email. (I kinda messed up on this one. Larry Hagman gave me his card once, but it didn’t have his email… so I never called! Ha.)
5. When you approach someone, don’t assume they know you even if they do. You see them across the room, note them, approach them and say hello. You’ve had a few moments to think about it, but all they see is a face in front of them, a thrust out hand and a “hello!” It’s not reasonable for them to decide if they know you, remember your name and where you work in a half-moment.
Instead, say “Hey Bob, It’s Mike from TechCrunch, good to see you again” slowly and clearly. You’ve just told them your name, where you work, and the fact that you’ve previously met. Trust me, they are thankful for all that information, and everything will go smoothly from there.
6. If you forget to tell them who you are, don’t get offended if they don’t know. There will likely be a few sentences of very unspecific conversation as they try to remember any detail about you, or even if they’ve met you before. If they start off with “how are you?” or “what do you think about the event?” then things are going badly. They should be asking “how’d that financing with Sequoia go?” or something much more specific.
7. If you’ve blown it to this point, for the love of God fix it. Drop in something like “yeah, since I met you at the whatever event we’ve been rocking at TechCrunch. We finally launched that new blog on bicycles.” Bam, you’ve saved the situation. Notice how much better the conversation goes from there.
8. Look for body language. If you pay attention you can tell how engaged they are. If they aren’t engaged (looking away, never talking, etc.) don’t try too hard to get them to focus. Instead, move on to what you want. Get their card, see if a meeting or a call is possible and ask for the best way to make that happen. Some people think the more time they spend with a person the more likely they’ll get what they want. In reality, it’s the opposite. Don’t take time just because they are too polite to end the conversation.
By this time, you’re probably asking: am I a geek, dweeb, dork or nerd?
Thanks to John Hagel for clarifying:
Global Healthcare Benchmarks: US, UK, France, SIngapore
More from the BBC >>
Healthcare for All: Obama Explains his Plan
What’s wrong with this? Nothing.
The insurance companies have spent over 375 million dollars blocking this with their Republican friends and their blue lap-dogs. At 300 million Americans, they could have given us each over one million dollars!
Here’s Matt Taibbi via Dr. Andrew Weil:
Heading into the health care debate, there was only ever one genuinely dangerous idea out there, and that was a single-payer system. Used by every single developed country outside the United States (with the partial exceptions of Holland and Switzerland, which offer limited and highly regulated private-insurance options), single-payer allows doctors and hospitals to bill and be reimbursed by a single government entity. In America, the system would eliminate private insurance, while allowing doctors to continue operating privately.
In the real world, nothing except a single-payer system makes any sense. There are currently more than 1,300 private insurers in this country, forcing doctors to fill out different forms and follow different reimbursement procedures for each and every one. This drowns medical facilities in idiotic paperwork and jacks up prices: Nearly a third of all health care costs in America are associated with wasteful administration. Fully $350 billion a year could be saved on paperwork alone if the U.S. went to a single-payer system – more than enough to pay for the whole goddamned thing, if anyone had the balls to stand up and say so.
The time is now, America: Healthcare for all.
Jung’s Red Book: Do You Have a Book of Dreams?
I have to say the story of Jung’s Red Book is fascinating.
But what really stunned me was what the book actually looks like:
A work of art, surely, but we are about to learn a lot more about dreams. And reality.
Do you have a book of dreams?
Vijay Govindarajan’s Innovation Quarterly
Vijay Govindarajan’s Innovation Quarterly is now open to subscribers.
It’s free, and it’s going to be good.
Sign up if you’re interested in how innovation works.
Disclosure: VG truly is one of the sharpest minds in the business world, and I’m privileged to work on his newsletter!
The kids launch Planet Green
After talking about it for several years, my daughters have finally launched Planet Green. I wonder how long they’ll demonstrate “constancy of purpose”?
Thanks to their activism, we have now been vegetarians for several years, we worry about water, and try to stop wasting natural resources. In many ways they have helped shape my green thinking, by opening my eyes to the news and to our stunning inaction as the planet dies around us. The Silk Milk boycott was their idea, as was their insistence that we should minimize the use of paper towels, etc. etc.
It will be a fun experiment, I believe.
Why Newspapers Fail
Michael Moore brings his unique perspective to the issue:
Question: why is this a unique perspective?
Because, all too often, we don’t really care about our customers.
The Mayo Clinic approves Obama’s Health Care Plan
If the Mayo Clinic supports the Obama health care plan, you should too, period.
Fleecing America: Health Care and GDP
The Republicans are busy with their one goal: “obstruct Obama.” So what else is new? They were against Social Security and Medicare as well.
But here are some real numbers. If you look at the current cost of health care as a % of GDP, the Republicans should be signing up for the public option. Of course, they don’t care about the public – we, the people, that is.
We’re being taken for a ride, as usual.
Have a nice day.
The Lion of the Senate Wanted A Public Option
Senator Kennedy wanted the public option back in 1970!
It’s time, America!
More from Ted Sorensen >>
Updates here >>
80/20 Gone Wild? The “Desi Effect” in Silicon Valley
I know we are entreprenurial geeks, but this is a staggering statistic:
Though Indians make up barely half a percent of the U.S. population, between 1995 and 2005, they founded more than 15 percent of all the startups in the greatest technological center (Silicon Valley) the world has ever known.
Read all about it >>
The Gospel of Getting Rich
Unfortunately, there are far too many believers in this Gospel of Getting Rich.
The main idea: wealth is a reward for following God.
So that makes Halliburton, Exxon and the health insurance companies all paragons of virtue. They are doing god’s work – ripping off the rest of society.
And people like Stephen Hemsley must be a saints.
Nice.
So how come Jesus was a poor carpenter? Or the Buddha had nothing but a begging bowl? Must be because they weren’t very blessed… Poor beggars.
Here Comes The Big Oil Lobby
It’s nice to see how democracy works, or not.
First the insurance lobby, now Big Oil.
Let’s allow the insurance companies to deny people health care in order to maximize profits.
Let’s look the other way while Oil companies stop alternative energy strategies from taking off…
Is this a last gasp for Capitalism 1.0?
Why is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation silent?
Where’s the Pope? Again, the silence of “the church” is deafening.
Boycott Whole Foods: John Mackey’s Branding Problem
A few weeks ago I gave up on Silk Soy.
Now, I’m done with Whole Foods.
How does the CEO of a company justify his “politics” when it goes against the brand of his company?
The short answer is: he’s not the right person for the job. I mean, you won’t see the NRA electing Howard Dean as CEO. So how does Whole Foods have a CEO so out of touch with his customers values? Or his company’s values? On Rupert Murdoch’s WSJ no less. What’s next, FOX?
Bye-bye, Whole Foods.
Additional Reading: On Value and Values by Douglas K. Smith
10 Awesome Things That Would Happen If Health Reform Passes
AlterNet‘s Joshua Holland tells us about some of the highlights of what’s really in the more progressive legislation working it’s way through Congress.
Let’s pass health care reform, and become a civilized country that’s run “for the people.”
Fact Check on Health Care Reform
The New York Times reports:
A patient in Illinois was charged $12,712 for cataract surgery. Medicare pays $675 for the same procedure. In California, a patient was charged $20,120 for a knee operation that Medicare pays $584 for. And a New Jersey patient was charged $72,000 for a spinal fusion procedure that Medicare covers for $1,629.
Whew.
Wake up everybody!
Tammy Erickson: Customer Experience is Not About Coffee
Tammy Erickson describes her banking nightmare. What should be a simple 10-minute transaction turns into a week-long disaster.
This is, all too often, the “corporate way.” We pay lip service to customers, but in fact, we don’t do anything to actually make the customer experience any better.
Customers are not our first priority. Really.
Corporate Fascism: How to Lead a Mob
The Rethuglicans are freaking out.
But what’s depressing is the way in which it’s being orchestrated.
Online, it’s troll-time.
The media has been bought off. The Republicans and the Blue Dogs have been bought off. And the masses are once again being taken for a ride.
What a business model!
Nice job, health care insurance industry.
C’mon Obama, don’t punk us.
When Lies Become the Truth
The sad truth is that 30% of Americans are so out of touch with reality that they won’t see the truth, preferring instead to chant their prepared slogans and lies – prepared for them by those bastions of morality: Rush Limbaugh, FOX News, and the good old GOP.
There is no reasoning with them. They are fascists.
The saddest part is that they are hurting themselves to help the very companies which would deny them care at the drop of a hat.
WATCH: Dying for Dollars
Any questions? This is the business model for the Health Insurance industry. Time to disrupt it – once and for all.
Fake Protests: Teabaggers Unite!
Disgusting.
GOP Gone Wild
What happens when the right-wing runs out of ideas. They turn to stupidity, lies, fear, hate, and hypocrisy – the five cardinal virtues of the Republican right.
The Bureaucrat between the Doctor and the Patient
An example of how the current system of death-care maximizes shareholder value >>
Keith Olbermann: Republicans, Blue Dogs are Prostitutes
I agree.
The Church of The Evil God
Morons.
How are these christians taken seriously by anyone?
They are information terrorists.
Health Care Reform: Shameless Lies
Have they no shame?
No.
The answer is simply, no.
No shame. No conscience. No decency.
Health Care Reform: Is Bill Moyers the Last Journalist?
Nice quote from Dante.
This is what we’re up against. Is this the America we want? Bad news: we already have it. Well done, CIGNA. Thank you, Blue-Dog Dems. And of course, this edition of American Reality is brought to you by the Republican party, or as they call it now, the GOP.
Cartoon: Health Care Reform – What Would Jesus Do?
Funny how the church goes silent when anything important happens… whatever happened to the “least of my brethren”?
Maybe the Pope got bought off by the insurance lobby…
Health Care: Who do you Trust?
Do you trust your doctor or the paper pushers at your insurance company?
Another way to look at the issue: is it bribing or lobbying?
When the Republicans and the blue dog Democrats are both in the pockets of the drug and insurance companies, what do you expect? This is why we have lost our way, and why specifically, we need campaign finance reform.
Here’s some background reading:
– Health Care Realities
– Gang of Sickos: Six US Senators Sell Out Constituents for $11 Million from Health Industry
– How Pharma and Insurance Intend to Kill the Public Option, And What Obama and the Rest of Us Must Do
– Sicko by Michael Moore (watch the whole thing)
– Industry Cash Flowed To Drafters of Reform
– Obamacare Is At War With Itself Over Future Costs
– The cost of no public option
– Crazy Wingnut Healthcare Attacks Exposed
– Nearly 2,000 Americans Seek Treatment in Fairgrounds Barn
– My Car Has Better Insurance Than I Have
– Firefighting in the 1800’s: A Corrupt, Bloated, Private For-Profit Industry
Time to throw these money-lenders out of the temple! Call and write your reps on Capitol Hill – daily! It’s your health, after all.
P.S. – Democrats, dump Baucus, now.
Here Come the Giant Jellyfish
Is this another sign of global warming?
Giant jellyfish in the Sea of Japan and two, jumbo squid off San Diego.
Just another one of those “climate-change” coincidences?
Almost forgot, presenting – the green goop that ate Alaska:
Where have all the fish gone?
The Rise of Intuitive Intelligence: An Interview with Francis Cholle
Here’s my intuitive intelligence interview with Francis Cholle at Emory Marketing Institute >>
Cholle’s main point is that businesses have lost track of how to manage holistically. They are too focused on counting beans to create sustainable business value.
He’s not saying analytics are useless. He’s just saying that Mark Hurd at HP isn’t going to come up with the products HP needs for the future by using analytical processes (that’s not in the published interview – but we did discuss it!).
Read the interview here>>
Silk Soy Milk Loses its Way: Adventures in Corporate Unsustainability
My family has been a customer of Silk Soy for well over seven years. As of today, we quit. Why? Two reasons:
1) the soy beans aren’t organic anymore
2) they’re from China
Anyone who trusts food from China is being foolish. Remember this? Not to mention the carbon costs of transporting food all that way…
Read all about how Dean Foods destroyed its brand and beat up on American organic farmers at the same time. I thought about writing them or calling them, but it’s less work to just switch. They’re obviously not going to listen to their customers anyway.
Just another example of the short-term, unsustainable mindset of the multinational company.