THE ENTERPRISE--I WONDER WHY?
WHY DO WE SO OFTEN IGNORE TIMELESS TRUTHS?
The material below were the notes I made for the opening of the 13th Annual Reunion Conference that was held this past week.
http://www.shape-shifters.com/reunion.shtml for those who desire more information.
IN TIMES OF "UNPRECEDENTED UNCERTAINTY" (the conference theme), I wonder why we don't heed some wise advice?
- STEPHEN COVEY: "BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND."
- MATTHEW KELLY: "WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE? TO DO?"
- WHEN?
- DECIDE!
- WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU HAD MORE OF? TIME? ENERGY? HELP?
- ENERGY—GET IN SHAPE—ACTUALLY AND METAPHORICALLY.
- TIME—CHOOSE PRIORITIES WISELY—PLAN, TAKE ACTION, ASSESS & ADJUST.
- HELP—TAKE TIMES OF SILENCE TO THINK, AND ASK FOR HELP.
- BAN UNPRODUCTIVE THOUGHTS
DON’T ASK “WHY CAN’T WE?”
ASK “HOW CAN WE? HOW ELSE? WHAT ELSE?
- BAN UNPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIORS
DON’T SIT MINDLESSLY IN FRONT OF THE “BOOB TUBE”
READ, LEARN, INTERACT, THINK, (EVEN PRAY!)
From each of these Reunion Conferences, a few conclusions arise above the many worthy ideas discussed, and these few are both memorable and worth sharing here--I will only list four of them. (The context within which these emerged is part of the richness of an interactive roundtable discussion conference.)
We should concentrate on the "PRACTICE of ASSET-BASED THINKING," (not liability or deficit based thinking) in other words, think positively not negatively--build on strengths.
We should give great thought to our Purpose, and then, once decided "PRACTICE CONSTANCY OF PURPOSE," using it to guide our priorities, actions and decisions.
TWO OF THE MOST MEMORABLE LINES CAME FROM STORIES:
An old Indian story involved a young brave and an old chief, discussing the internal struggle between good and bad thoughts and behaviors. The young brave asked the old chief if he had this internal struggle, and the old chief characterized it this way. "It is like two dogs are inside me fighting; a good dog and a bad dog." To this, the young brave asked, "which dog wins?" The chief's answer was one of the most memorable "lines" that came out of the conference: "It depends on which dog you feed." The line therefore was, "FEED THE GOOD DOG!"
The second story had to so with a challenge of selling in a retail setting. The challenge was a regular contest, asking sales people to choose a hard to sell, "ugly" item and feature it in the front of the store. If they could "sell the ugly item, " then they could certainly excel at selling the other, more desirable items. It was in finding the skill and the appeal to sell the "ugly item" that the learning occurred. Thus the second line was, "SELL THE UGLY ITEM."
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ANOTHER INTERESTING POINT IS THAT WE ARE VICTIMS OF WHAT WE BELIEVE, EVEN WHEN IT IS WRONG
Many decisions are made after great thought and deliberation. However, if the information upon which those decisions were based was wrong, then the decisions will likely be wrong too. This happens every day, in nearly every walk of life--and certainly in business (where most employees are afraid to give the boss the "bad news," thus they "filter" the information going up the organization). The result is decision making using flawed information--and thus resulting in flawed decisions.
WHY DOES THE GOVERNMENT "RIG THE DATA"—e.g., THE DIFFERENCE IN UNEMPLOYMENT RATES:
We somehow expect unemployment to decrease when new job openings just recently hit a new all-time low at 2.4 million, at 1/2 the peak during 2007 of 4.8 million? We keep publicizing the more favorable U-3 unemployment rate (now at 9.7%) when the real pain of job loss and desperation to find any kind of job leads to a much larger number, known as the U-6 unemployment rate (now at 16.8%) Wonder why few employers are going to start hiring after just laying off people and while the uncertainty about what new government regulations, taxes and rules are on the horizon?
The BLS calculates the official unemployment rate, U-3, as the number of unemployed as a percentage of the civilian labor force. The civilian labor force consists of employed workers plus the officially unemployed, those without jobs who are available to work and have looked for a job in the last 4 weeks. Applying the data found in Table 2 yields an official unemployment rate of 9.1%, or a seasonally adjusted rate 9.4% for April 2009. Accounting for the large number of marginally attached workers and those working part-time for economic reasons raises the count of unemployed to 24.0 million workers for May 2009. Those numbers push up the U-6 unemployment rate to 15.9% or a seasonally adjusted rate of 16.4%.
WE HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO WANT TO COME HERE FROM MEXICO--DON'T YOU WONDER WHY?
Subject: Moving to Mexico
Dear President Obama:
I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my health, and I would like to ask you to assist me. We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico , and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements. We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I'm on my way over?
Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:
1. Free medical care for my entire family.
2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.
3. Please print all Mexican government forms in English.
4. I want my grandkids to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bilingual) teachers.
5. Tell their schools they need to include classes on American culture and history.
6. I want my grandkids to see the American flag on one of the flag poles at their school.
7. Please plan to feed my grandkids at school for both breakfast and lunch.
8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.
9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico , but, I don't plan to purchase car insurance, and I probably won't make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.
10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol car has at least one English-speaking officer.
11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put U S. flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.
12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.
13. Please have the president tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say critical things about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.
14. I want to receive free food stamps.
15. Naturally, I'll expect free rent subsidies.
16. I'll need Income tax credits so although I don't pay Mexican Taxes, I'll receive money from the government.
17. Please arrange it so that the Mexican Gov't pays $ 4,500 to help me buy a new car to replace my "junker."
18. Oh yes, I almost forgot, please enroll me free into the Mexican Social Security program so that I'll get a monthly income in retirement.
I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all his people who walk over to the U.S. from Mexico.
I am sure that President Calderon won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely. Thank you so much for your kind help. You're the man!!!
An American Citizen
WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE EXPECT SOMEONE TO PROVIDE FOR THEM?
A modern (partisan) version of an old parable explains the dangers of dependency being created by benevolent, but misguided government policies.
THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER
A modern adaptation of an old parable
OLD VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself or suffer the consequences!
MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. It is simply UNFAIR!
The NY Times, CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide coverage of the shivering grasshopper next to pictures of the ant in his warm, comfortable home, with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this inequity exist, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'
ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Rev. Jeremiah Wright then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
President Obama holds a news conference and makes an inspiring speech on the importance of "fairness."
Finally, at the direction of the President and Congress, the government passes the Economic Fairness & Grasshopper Protection Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to support a proportionate number of GREEN bugs (e.g., grasshoppers)s and, having insufficient supplies left to pay his retroactive taxes and fine, his home is confiscated by the Government GREEN Czar.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he hasn't maintained it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, perhaps gone forever. The grasshopper is later found dead in a suspected drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful who you vote for in 2010—YOU MIGHT BE THE "ANT!"
PS: Party designations can be misleading too. Know what the person stands for too!
I WONDER HOW WE CAN TURN THINGS POSITIVE?
During the Bush administration, we wondered why the Democrats were always obstructing what was being proposed. Now we know the feeling from the other perspective. Opposition is necessary, important and appropriate--but only until it gets in the way of coming up with better solutions. It is time for us to spend more energy finding solutions that a large majority of Americans can embrace--not those that are passed by a narrow margin of people who all share one political ideology and party affiliation. That is not American democracy.
I WONDER HOW WE GET BACK TO THE FINE ART OF COMPROMISE
Thus my challenge for everyone is: What is the best, the optimum, the compromise and the solution that a majority of Americans will find reasonable and right. It is not government totalitarian control. Nor is it complete freedom of individuals or the private sector to do whatever they wants and/or can get away with. Both extremes lead to bad places. It is time to synthesize new solutions. To settle for "half a loaf" if the "whole loaf" simply cannot be accepted by the large majority of Americans. Whether it is health care, economic policy, immigration, energy, taxes, social welfare, education or a huge array of other issues--the majority of Americans are (in my opinion, and in the results of many polls) "centrists" or "moderates."
Both the extreme left and the extreme right are too far over to satisfy the majority of Americans. Now is the time to come up with "moderate" and "reasonable" compromise solutions that most of us can embrace willingly.
I WONDER WHY OUR LEADERS IN WASHINGTON ARE NOT DOING THAT?
Best, John
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"Government is supposed to work for the people; not vice versa."
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John L. Mariotti, President & CEO, The Enterprise Group, Phone 614-840-0959 http://www.mariotti.net http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/
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