Spout

This site is full of ideas. Some of them might make you cringe. They may not align with your worldview, perspectives, or experiences. That’s a great thing.

Is the U.S. worth fighting for?

There’s an idea growing in the United States that our founding was illegitimate. The idea goes that we were established by evil white men who selfishly built this country for their own gain, on the backs of slaves imported from Africa. And because of that slavery, everything that has been built, and the traditions that have evolved are born of sin and need to be eradicated. Basically, whether they know they are saying this or not, their idea is we need to wipe the slate clean and start over. And doing that will make us pure because they believe,…

Read More

You can lead a software engineer to water…

I recently visited a former colleague at his work place. There, they have a true love for technology and take pride in the technologically advanced and cutting edge nature of their workforce and workplace. They scour the world and find the most advanced tech for nearly every aspect of the business. And so it was when I was asked if I wanted anything to drink. He was proud to show of their Scanomat drink selection system. Scanomat is a Danish company that has developed an app-controlled coffee machine. The way it works is there’s a server under the counter,…

Read More

Gays get woke – a Pride month summary

Another Pride month is in the books, and I think America did a great job showing gays how much we love them. We love them even more than the straight people. We certainly love them more than black people. It’s possible we love gays even more than women. But, unfortunately, there’s no metrics for measuring who we love the most. If only we had a dashboard… Our national, identity politics depend on us figuring this out. Until then, I think we may have crossed the line of gay love. We had it just right, until that exploitative Taylor Swift…

Read More

The fault line

Walking down the sidewalk this morning, I overheard a construction worker speaking on the phone and telling the person on the other end that it isn’t going to be his fault when the furniture doesn’t arrive on time. I imagine with construction, where there are so many different companies with so many different employees doing such wildly different tasks, that the phrase, “It’s not my fault,” is heard quite a bit. Is it human nature to work, first, to avoid fault? Do we just approach work this way naturally? Or is it the management we’ve experienced who think in…

Read More

I’d like to connect with you

“I’d like to connect with you on LinkedIn” is the standard default message the site sends when you want to connect with another on the site. It’s one thing when people I know use the default message and send their connection invitation along. (Though, I always write a personalized message.) It’s another when someone you don’t know and have never heard of uses it. If you’ve never met or even heard of a person you’re trying to connect with, I would first ask, “why are you even trying to connect with them?” But then I would ask, “Why, if…

Read More

A love for thinking

I love debate. I think when you get people to engage in debate you get them to start thinking and you get them to start participating (it’s especially fun when its about things they’d not given much thought to already). Plus, I like to know what people think and get to know them beyond any obvious commonalities we might share. (Perhaps this is why Facebook and social media in general has never interested me much beyond the marketing implications for each. I’d rather have five very good and reliable friends than 200 acquaintances. This is why I don’t accept…

Read More

Breakfast at work

One question that pops into my mind at least a minute of every work day is why people come to work in the morning and then eat breakfast at their desks. Unlike lunch, which is bookended by work on both sides, breakfast and dinner are both meals you can eat at home before and after work, respectively. I don’t understand why you’d wake up, get ready for work, make your commute and then make cereal, toast or hot oatmeal at the office and then sit at your desk to eat. Depending on how particular and observant you are, the idiosyncrasies…

Read More

What could possibly go wrong?

Former Secretary of State, John Kerry, once asked, “What’s the worst that could happen if we’re wrong about global warming?” How about regulating the drive and initiative out of American businesses and stifling growth and employment. Prohibiting, or severely limiting, new business startups – restraining innovators from developing new technologies, jobs and growth. Dominating American homeowners and property-owners, reducing their ability to use their own land and forcing them to buy only certain products, appliances, foods, building materials – all because of ‘environmental’ concerns. Emptying our breadbasket, American agriculture, by layering on unreasonable rules, requirements and restrictions for merely…

Read More

What kind of person…?

Brand managers love to develop a persona for their product audiences. It’s helpful to marketers, in general, to have some idea of who uses your product or service. If you know what drives them, what they like, what they don’t like and what kinds of messages are meaningful and relevant to them, you stand a better chance of reaching them with a relevant message, at the right time, to get them to act. While visiting one of my clients last week, I ventured into their restroom to find a guy standing at the right-most of the three urinals. He…

Read More

Eastern seaboard

I’ve always loved the phrase “Eastern seaboard.” It sounds so official… so military… yet, so nuclear attack. You only really ever hear the phrase in movies or television shows, and when you do, it’s usually because something big is going down on the Eastern seaboard. But I can’t help but wonder why nothing ever happens on the Western seaboard. You never hear anything at all about the Western seaboard. It’s like our country’s overlooked seaboard. I know there are always earthquake threats, along with the occasional tsunami. I thought of this today because as I was sitting in the…

Read More

Subscribe to The Bubbler

Avoid the wait and get yourself the freshest stream.