I recently read an old Seth Godin post in which he made a distinction between capitalists and industrialists. Among other things, he said “Industrialists are not capitalists. Capitalists take risks. They see an opportunity, an unmet need, and then they bring resources to bear to solve the problem and make a profit. Industrialists seek stability instead. Industrialists work to take working systems and polish them, insulate them from risk, maximize productivity and extract the maximum amount of profit.” He went on to say “Industrialists don’t mind government regulations if they write them, don’t particularly like competition or creativity or…
Jello Biafra says the funniest things
I was doing a little research on Jello Biafra, the frontman for the punk group, Dead Kennedys, and I came across a quote that I think is all too typical these days. During one of his political runs, Biafra was quoted as saying, “I’m very pro tax, if it goes for the right things.” Unfortunately, this mindset is growing in the United States: this idea that one person can or should decide what’s right for everyone, and there’s no debate to be had. What Biafra, and people like him, are essentially saying is that most people are too stupid…
If you want something, ask for it
It sounds so simple. If you want something, ask for it. But so often, it never occurs to people. Or they’re afraid to ask. I learned this lesson just out of college. I was working at a company with an amazing manager. One day, I arrived at work telling her about a movie poster I saw at a bus stop on the way in to work that I really wanted. Her response? “Well, call and ask for a copy.” “Call who?” “The movie studio. Who’s the studio?” “Disney. I can’t call Disney. Who would I even talk to? They’d…
Make sure you vote (like me)
I recently saw David Byrne in concert, and before the show started, I was routinely accosted by people trying to get me to register to vote. Later, in the middle of the show, he stopped to ask that we all vote. An hour ago, I was looking at a friend’s Facebook page, and she was reminding everyone of the upcoming primary voting deadline and advocating we vote. This whole “get out the vote” thing has always vexed me. When you tell everyone to go vote, are you assuming they’re all going to vote the way you want? If not,…
Hire outside your industry
Earlier in my career, I was working as a manager in a declining industry, and I developed an informal rule of not hiring anyone from within my organization. Our industry was already facing some challenges for the Internet changed the nature of our business. Our only chance was to change the way we did business. It was a time for new ideas, and I didn’t think I was ever going to find the combination of talent and fresh perspective it was going to take to make the kind of difference I thought needed to be made. So I decided…
Solving the evolution/creation debate
Evolution theorists will tell you that science says Charles Darwin ideas are proven and exactly correct. Creationists will tell you that God created the earth in six days, and Adam and Eve were the first people. Evolution theorists say Creationists (and Christians, in general) are anti-science. Creationists claim evolution theorists don’t believe in the existence of God. People… people… Why don’t we just accept that God created evolution. Now we all get to be right.
Flaunt the imperfection
Many seek to delegitimize our system of government and the Constitution by obsessing over the flaws of the Founding Fathers. Christopher Columbus didn’t really discover America. Thomas Jefferson had an affair with one of his slaves. George Washington was a slaveowner. Andrew Jackson persecuted Indians. And on, and on… The interesting thing is that one of the core premises upon which our Constitution, written by the Founding Fathers, was based is the idea that men are not angels. All people are able to be corrupted, act selfishly, or simply make mistakes born out of greed or poor judgment. The…
Who doesn’t want to solve traffic problems?
Complaining about traffic is a national pastime. Especially during construction season (otherwise known as “Summer”) or for if you live in a high-density urban area. There are engineers who study the situation and try and create band-aid solutions which usually just create different versions of the same problem. Here’s a different approach: Driving is not a right, so let’s put people through some rigorous testing before we give them a license. There are a lot of drivers out there who’s inabilities are causing many of the messes. Why not just screen more aggressively and really make sure they’re up…
You say you want a revolution
This weekend, I came across yet another article from a wealthy woman in the tech field complaining about being a woman in tech. In this case, it was mutli-millionaire Amy Bohutinsky, COO of Zillow, talking about how different women with kids are treated compared to men with kids. All with the normal Harvard research studies to back it up. LinkedIn is becoming a parade of wealthy or otherwise successful women in tech complaining about how mistreated women in tech are. Sure they are. No doubt. I’m not doubting the bias. But there are at least 100 other biases also…
Why are the stars always so far away?
So, I was sitting there pondering why, no matter how far our telescopes travel, stars are always so far away in the distance. It doesn’t appear that we’re every really getting noticeably closer. Similarly, in space movies, the stars are always off in the distance. In pondering this, I learned that we landed on the moon not once… not twice… but six times. Who knew? How do we have all these “never landed on the moon” conspiracy theorists when we not only did it once, but six times in total. Huh… a thing like that. (Incidentally, the best answer…