August 16, 2014
Vote to Have A Say
- Gun Rights
- Abortion Rights
- Civil Rights
- Social Entitlements
- International Engagement
- Strong Defense
- Low Taxes
- Etc. Etc. Etc.
But now, cities like Los Angeles that are looking to boost voter turnout want to offer cash prizes.
The cash prize "might include a prize as high as $50,000."
Nice (not!)--head to the polls like you do to buy a Powerball ticket.
Votes, like love, is not something that should be bought.
For those fortunate enough to live in a free country, voting is a special right where everyone can have a say and influence the world around them.
Instead of focusing on handing out rides or money to go and vote, maybe instead we should create awareness of what a great opportunity it is to live in a democracy and be able to chart our own course rather than live like so many around the globe under the rule of dictators and tyrants.
Voting is a great privilege for those who care to stand up and make a difference by going to the polls, voting is not an ATM machine. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 9, 2014
Robots, Who's Telling Whom What To Do
"In the future, there's potentially two types of jobs: where you tell a machine what to do, programming a computer, or a machine is going to tell you what to do. You're either the one that creates the automation or you're going to get automated."
Already, we've seen manufacturing get outsourced by the millions of job to cheaper labor oversees or automated in factories by machines and robotics.
Similarly, agriculture has seen a large decrease in small family-owned farms, in lieu of mega farms run by multinationals and run by automated farm equipment with GPS and drones.
The military is moving quickly to warfare by drones, robotics, and people geared-up in high-tech exoskeletons.
Now in the sacrosanct service sector, where it has been said that it could never be done by anyone by local people within their communities, services are moving in the direction of robots.
Perhaps we can ask if even in government, can there be a future where robots can govern better than we can--and get things done speedily and efficiently!
In one Sci fi hit after another, from Star Trek to Battlestar Galactica to Terminator, a future of humanity embattled by cyborgs predominates.
Like in the show, Lost in Space, where the robot in wont to say, "Crush, Kill, Destroy," perhaps we can understand this as not jsut a physical threat as people's lives, but also to their ability to earn a living in a world where automation challenges us with the children reframe:
"Everything you can do, I can do better. I can do everything better than you. Yes you can, no you can't..."
At this point, I am not sure it is really a debate anymore, and that Preston-Werner is predominantly right...technology is the future--whether we are end up being eaten alive by it or are its earthly masters. ;-)
Robots, Who's Telling Whom What To Do
July 13, 2014
Starbucks - BYOF
BYOF = Bring Your Own Food.
This gentleman relaxing on a Sunday has brought his ziplock bag and with some nice looking pound cake at that.
Message to Starbucks...either your food is really bad, overpriced, or perhaps a little of both.
You pride yourself on your coffee and everyone pays a premium for it, but you are slacking on the food side of the coffeehouse.
Seems like a big opportunity--fix your food (finally!) and make gazillions of dollars more off the addicted masses that flock to your coffee havens.
My consulting fee...we can discuss. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Starbucks - BYOF
February 13, 2014
Who Do You Want To Be?
Each hand, done by a student, was supposed to represent who they wanted to be as people.
In the center of each was a core saying/belief of the student written on the palm.
And then on each of the five fingers was their personal aspirations:
Emotionally
Physically
Socially
Intellectually
Spiritually
I thought this was a really cool assignment to think and focus on where we're going with our lives and what our personal goals are.
Like a mini-personal architecture, these hands are the hands of our young people who have their lives ahead of them and the energy and opportunity to shape their futures.
No, none of us has control over the future, but we can do our part to shape who we are as human beings, as this student says:
"I am who I want to be."
Of course, we have to choose wisely, work hard, and go for it!
We never know if there are any true second chances. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Who Do You Want To Be?
December 15, 2013
Driving Away With It
As it has now been widely reported, a wealthy drunken teen stole 2 cases of beer and then plowed into a stranded motorist and 3 bystanders who were trying to help--and killed them all.
The teen was 3x over the alcohol limit!
What an irony: 3 people stop to help a stranger in need and they are killed by someone who cares nothing for human life.
And the flagrant injustice of it all is that the kid was let off on 5 years probation and will attend a $450,000 a year private school rather than going to prison.
On the news this week, they interviewed the husband and father of 2 of the dead, killed by this teen. He is broken.
The defense teen argued "Affluenza" -- like a disease, the kid should be let off the hook because...he is unbelievably wealthy and therefore was not given proper parental supervision--in effect, he is a victim of having too much--too many things, too much opportunity, but too little parenting as well.
I guess I never realized that justice meant if you had too much you could murder 4 people and walk!
While others that have too little--education, jobs, money, 2-parent families, and so on--must take the rap and go away for their crimes.
Too much--you can buy your way free.
Too little--you get sent up the river without a paddle.
Wouldn't you think it should be the other way around--if you have more, then more is expected of you. While if you have less, your challenges are greater and so we take into account extenuating circumstances?
But no, money talks, and the guilty walks.
It is a shame on our society--and what we inappropriately call a justice system.
Whether the money buys you a top-rated defense attorney, paying off some officials or jurors, or provide alternatives to the the same punishment and rehabilitation that others must face, there is no denying that money influences the outcome.
Sort of reminds me of the infamous O.J. trial--another travesty of justice. How many more?
Funny, how art imitates life and life imitates art--in Season 2 of Homeland, the son of the V.P. drinks and drives and also kills someone and gets off with nothing but a slap on the wrist.
You see it's not whether you're black or white or yellow or whatever, it's plain hard !!power!! and $$cash$$.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Driving Away With It
October 2, 2013
A Typo, Right?
Check out the title for this position (advertised in the Washington Post).
Just imagine you can be a Virtual Executive A*s--and not even get paid.
What's particularly funny is that people often complain that executives (the bad ones) are indeed the "A" word.
Some typo in the ad that is--it is a typo, right? ;-)
A Typo, Right?
August 12, 2013
Engaging and Listening
Yet another change organization--different from the two that I wrote about yesterday--this one called "Be The Change" with three national campaigns currently:
- Service Nation--encourages a year of national service "to tackle pressing social issues."
- Opportunity Nation--advocates for expanded economic mobility for all young people and to "close the opportunity gap in America."
- Got Your 6--seeks to create opportunities for veterans.
Has "change" just become cliche or are people genuinely looking for something that is missing in today's culture, values, and norms.
These smiling people certainly seem to be excited about change.
It just makes you wonder--what is it that people are desperately missing in their lives and want en masse to change? How do we help people find that missing link and achieve real enthusiasm for what we are doing and where we are going?
As leaders, it is our duty to understand and meet the genuine needs of the people...somehow doing this on the street corner by volunteers (as hardworking and noble as it is) seems to missing the larger point of government by the people for the people.
We need more politicians engaging and more people feeling they are being listened to. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Engaging and Listening
March 7, 2013
Eyes Wide Open
This is an interesting video on Plato's Allegory of The Cave.
It is long-winded, but if you watch a little I think you will get the point.
In the video prisoners who are kept in the dark, chained, and with no real view of the outside world, have a limited perception of what exists out there.
They see shadows, but what is a shadow compared with the reality of true people, places, and things.
When one prisoner is released outside into the light and the wonders of the world, he sees and experiences the greatness, the complexity, and the beauty of it all.
The world, he sees, is much more than a shadow on a darkened wall.
Watching this video, I think how fortunate I am to be able to have an education (and I am actually in a class this week).
It is wonderful to learn and grow--and have one's eyes opened to all there is out there.
True, not all the topics that I encounter and learn about are of great interest to me (sometimes, like everyone, I feel like I just want to get some Zzzzzs), but just being exposed to different topics and ways of thinking is a great opportunity in and of itself.
I think sometimes, how lucky I am to live in the 21st century in an age of globalization, opportunities for advanced education, and all the technology to bridge time and space and see more than many who came before us.
I imagine that compared to G-d, we are like the prisoners in the cave who only experience and see a minutia of reality, and G-d is out there over us, omniscient.
Someday, G-d releases us from our mortal bodies and we ascend to heaven to partake of his greatness and then our eyes are truly opened as well. ;-)
Eyes Wide Open
December 15, 2012
Walking In All Shoes
While I have heard the belief of some that reincarnation is the ultimate justice machine--if you treat others well, you come back well off, while if you treat them badly, you come back in their situation.
So the classic example, would be if you have the opportunity to give charity, and do so, genoreously, then you are rewarded in a next life with riches, but if you are miserly, then you come back poor--to learn the lessons of charitable giving.
However, I wonder if this concept goes even much further.
Does our journey ultimately takes us not just to occupy some positions if life, but rather to every role and status, illustrative of all peoples--so that we learn from the eyes of everyone.
The world is round and the number of perspectives around it are as varied as the people, races, cultures, and nations they come from.
As the saying goes, "don't judge me until you walk a mile in my shoes," perhaps we are indeed given the opportunity to walk in a large representative sample of those.
When the see the world not from where we sit today in life, but from where others are perched, we can get a whole new perspective on issues and ideas--we can learn true empathy, caring, respect, and justice.
Almost like having G-d's vantage point, we can learn to see the world from a multi-cultural perspective, where each person, tribe, and nation is infinitely valuable--where each holds the key to a perspective and lesson that we must all learn before our journey comes to a conclusion.
Live life and learn well--there is much to see, hear, and experience, and no one has all the answers or is all righteous--like a large mosaic, we all have a piece. ;-)
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Fernando Stankuns)
Walking In All Shoes
July 31, 2011
Technology Anonymous
Technology Anonymous
June 24, 2011
Feedback, Can't Live Without It
Feedback, Can't Live Without It
June 16, 2011
New Beginnings
I also greatly appreciate the opportunity to have worked and learned with such talented and dedicated professionals in the Office of Science and Technology.
New Beginnings
November 26, 2010
Raising the Bar By Aligning Expectations and Personality
I always love on the court television show Judge Hatchett, when she tells people: "I expect great things from you!"
The Pygmalion Effect says that when we have high expectations of performance for people, they perform better.
In other words, how you see others is how they perform.
While behavior is driven by a host of motivational factors (recognition, rewards, and so on), behavior and ultimately performance is impacted by genetic and environmental factors—“nature and nurture”—and the nurture aspect includes people’s expectations of us.
Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, people live up or down to expectations.
For example, studies by Rosenthal and Jacobson showed that if teachers expected enhanced performance from selected children, those children performed better.
When people have high or low expectations for others, they treat them differently—consciously or unconsciously—they tip off what they believe the others are capable of and will ultimately deliver. In the video, The Pygmalion Effect: Managing the power of Expectation, these show up in the following ways:
- Climate: The social and emotional mood we create, such as tone, eye contact, facial expression, body language, etc.
- Inputs: The amount and quality of instruction, assistance, or input we provide.
- Outputs: The opportunities to do the type of work that best aligns with the employee and produce that we provide.
- Feedback: The strength and duration of the feedback we provide.
In business, expect great things from people and set them to succeed by providing the following to meet those expectations:
- Inspiration
- Teaching
- Opportunity
- Encouragement
Additionally, treat others in the style that is consistent with the way that they see themselves, so that there is underlying alignment between the workplace (i.e. how we treat the employee) and who the employee fundamentally is.
Normally people think that setting high expectations means creating a situation where the individual’s high performance will take extra effort – both on their part and on the part of the manager.
However, this is not necessarily the case at all. All we have to do is align organizational expectations with the inherent knowledge, skills, and abilities of the employee, and their individual aspirations for development.
The point is we need to play to people’s strengths and help them work on their weaknesses. This, along with ongoing encouragement, can make our goals a reality, and enable the organization to set the bar meaningfully high for each and every one of us.
Raising the Bar By Aligning Expectations and Personality
December 5, 2009
Tech is Threatening to Some and A Savior To Others
As technology advances and supplants the “old ways” of doing things, some people are threatened that they are being put “out to pasture” and others find opportunity in the emerging technology—they find in it something new to learn and grow with, perhaps an opportunity to shine and become the resident subject matter expert at work or at home.
As we get older, it’s natural that some people may not be as flexible in “starting over,” learning something new, or changing the way “we’ve always done things.” It’s reminiscent of the sort of unflattering old saying that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”—a saying by the way that I don’t really believe (you should see my Dad on email, Internet, and so on—he’s great!). But at the same time, people, as do all things, have a life cycle, and our strengths and weaknesses go through peaks and valleys at various points on the cycle. For example, “with age comes wisdom.” Years ago, getting the chairman or CEO to use email was a corporate challenge. Now, young people are migrating to Social Media for communications, and email is the technology dinosaur. It’s a constant technology transformation.
In November 2009, the Wall Street Journal reviewed a new book by Sci-Fi author Cory Doctorow, called “Makers”. “This novel is set in a not-too distant future when the creative destruction of technological change has created an economy so efficient, with profit margins so thin, that traditional companies can hardly stay in business.” In this book, the inventor “uses three-dimensional printers to produce copies of machines and most anything else at close to no cost.” Now “good ideas are copied so quickly that they become commodities. Every industry that required a factory yesterday only needs a garage today.” Where this leaves us is in a time with “competition and invention getting easier and easier—it’s producing a kind of superabundance.” And the result is widespread unemployment and stress.
As we are presumably heading out of a major recession now with unemployment topping 10% (and some would say the real figures, including the underemployed and those that have stopped looking for work, at closer to 20%), we must but wonder whether the recession/unemployment is due to the financial crisis alone or is there some element that is due to our new high-tech economy, where everything in the manufacturing sector has either been tech-enabled or outsourced to Asia. And where we are left in a primary “services economy—pushing papers and flipping burgers? Is there a time coming when we become so technologically advanced, like in the Makers, that there is a very real threat of leaving hundreds of millions of people behind, while the few technology mavens “have it all”?
Interestingly enough, with the advancement of technology, the income disparity between rich and poor has grown where the top 1% of Americans own more than a third of the wealth, compared with a fifth of the wealth in the 1970s (according to Robert Reich).
I think it is critical that smarts and performance be rewarded (i.e. performance-based), but that we cannot let things get out of control and unjust. Billions cannot starve while the ultra-rich hop from rural mansion to Park Avenue condo and from private plane to recreational yacht. Technology must be used to level the playing field and not abuse it. Some like Bernie Madoff used systems developers and technology to create and issue phony financial statements to Ponzi-scheme clients showing trades that never occurred. Instead, we need to use technology to educate, communicate, share, and advance the opportunities for all and overcome the technology divide through amazing advancements here and yet to come. To do this, we must focus on continuous innovation and application of technology to the challenges we face—whether alternative energy, health care, world-hunger, global warming, and so much more. There is no shortage of issues for us to apply our minds and technology to—there is plenty for everyone to contribute to.
Tech is Threatening to Some and A Savior To Others