THE ENTERPRISE--HOW ARE THINGS SHAPING UP?

THE ENTERPRISE--HOW ARE THINGS SHAPING UP?

THE COMPLEXITY CRISIS--AS TIMELY AS EVER
Most readers know that my last business book THE COMPLEXITY CRISIS came out in 2008 to considerable critical acclaim.  It was chosen as one of the year's Best Business Books by Soundview Executive Book Summaries (where it was also a featured summary) and one of the year's best books for small businesses by http://smallbiztrends.com , a highly regarded resource for small businesses.  Fast Forward to 2011, and I can report that the challenges of complexity are as great, or perhaps even greater than ever.  The messages in THE COMPLEXITY CRISIS are as timely today and the day they were written.  Whether it is the travails of the US largest company Walmart, which tried to eliminate complexity by edict and the brute force method--which cost it a lot of sales and consumer goodwill, or a handful of other smaller companies I know about, complexity is still a "curse" and a "crisis."

WHY DON'T COMPANY MANAGEMENT SEE IT AND DEAL WITH IT?
That is the puzzling question.  Perhaps the answer is best arrived at by considering a quite large ($25B range) and highly profitable multi-national company I know about.  It heard my message, agreed it had a complexity problem, and then essentially said "we'll fix it ourselves."  In the process the solutions, created by some of the same folks who created the complexity problem in the first place, simply added more complexity.  Of course they will make some progress.  Their complexity was so bad, that simply agreeing that it needed to be addressed was a big step.  Their mistake is this:  The people who created a problem are seldom able to fix the problem without some kind of outside intervention.  It doesn't matter if it is GM or a smallish mid-size company.  The people who added the complexity are too invested in how it happened to tear it apart.  That is the role for an outsider, to act as a catalyst for change.

BOTTOM LINE:  THE BIGGEST COMPLEXITY MESS IS OUR GOVERNMENT
I was asked by the publisher to remove the brief chapter I had written on this topic since I could barely scratch the surface of government complexity.  It exists at all levels, Federal, State and local, but is worst at the Federal level.  The tax code is the easiest target.  Thousands of pages long, basis of countless litigations, source of billions of dollars of "expert" help to the taxpayers, and there is no sign of any attempt to fix it.  Homeland Security, the amalgamation of all kinds of agencies in the  wake of 9/11 is arguably and giant bureaucratic machine that often trips over itself en route to protecting Americans.  (Do the TSA airport screening fiascoes come to mind?)  The Defense Department is a huge, wasteful complexity trap of its own.  It recently decided to simply "dump" tens of billions of dollars of unfinished weapons projects.  I guess it was wise to remove that chapter since it could have easily doubled the size of the book.  BUT, wouldn't it be nice if someone would consolidate the 18 different, duplicated government functions reported just a few months ago that waste billions of dollars in redundant work, staffing and actions.  Just for a start?

AS BAD AS THE PROBLEMS IN THE USA SEEM TO BE, CONSIDER OTHER COUNTRIES

--EUROPE has a handful of countries, mostly in the South that are functionally bankrupt and as bad or worse in debt that the USA's ridiculous position.  They are called the PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain).

--MEXICO has a criminal drug problem of epic proportions.  In just the last five years, 40,000 people have died as a result of some of the most grisly  murders ever seen. 

--CHINA can't keep the power on to its factories all the time.  And the problem is getting worse, not better.  Chinese food is so often contaminated, that the people do not trust any of it.  Arsenic in soy sauce, bleach tainted mushrooms, duck eggs with cancer causing dyes, baby formula with deadly substances, paint still loaded with lead, and on, and on.

--INDIA has tens of thousands of graduated, educated people who cannot fill the jobs that are open.  Its infrastructure is still primitive in many places.  Transportation is clogged, slow and totally inefficient.

--JAPAN is reeling from the earthquake and tsunami. While it will recover over time, this was a crippling blow.

--NORTH AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST are boiling cauldrons of revolution and violence.  Libya, Syria, Egypt, Somalia, many other African countries, and more. Israel & Palestine will not ever come to terms over their issues.  Iraq is rebuilding, while Iran flexes its muscles. 

Maybe the USA isn't so bad after all? 

WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF PROBLEMS--AND THE OBAMA "REGIME" ISN'T FIXING ANY OF THEM!
We have a lot of problems--few of which Barack Obama has made any improvement on:
--massive unemployment and underemployment, 
--the government's uncontrollable spending problem and ballooning deficits,
--an aging population whose entitlements are simply unsustainable over the longer term,
--health care costs are too high, especially for the outcomes that result, and Obamacare will make it worse, not better
--the aging infrastructure and decay of older inner cities,
--the porous border and millions of illegal immigrants,
--education is underperforming, unions too strong (tenure, seniority), can't reward truly great teachers
--government interference and regulations are oppressive, and getting worse every day
--taxes are too high (because government spending is too high), but some loopholes could be closed
--the people leading our government are not competent to fix these, (including our Pretender in Chief, Barack Obama whose inexperience shows more and more each day.) 
Obama is good at one thing:  making speeches, especially campaign speeches filled with platitudes, half-truths and outright lies.  Beyond those speeches full of glowing rhetoric and artfully turned phrases, he, his administration and his performance is an embarrassment--and yet almost half of Americans "like him!"  What on earth are they thinking?

OBAMA TAKES CREDIT FOR BUSH'S WINS, WHILE BLAMING BUSH FOR HIS OWN LOSSES
Who found Osama bin Laden?  It tracks back to the intelligence and interrogation done during the Bush years.  Who caused the current lackluster, jobless recovery?  Was that Bush's fault too?  I don't think so.  Who blabbed about all of the "treasure trove" of data recovered from Obama's compound?  The Pretender in Chief spilled the bean before the intelligence folks could even begin to use the data to find and capture or roust out many more al Qaeda cells.  It made Obama seem like a "big man" while it negated one of the most potentially powerful intelligence finds in decades.  Shame on him!

MEDICARE IS NOT THE WHOLE BUDGET PROBLEM--JUST THE BEST ONE FOR DEMAGOGUERY IN CAMPAIGNS
Just a short burst on this one, which is all over the news.  The Democratic platform is clearly "do nothing and talk about how we will save it"--but without any plans to do so--it will be gone in 20 years +/-!  That allows them to demagogue every rational plan the GOP offers.  Great politics, lousy leadership (typical Obama).

THE LAW IS SUPPOSED TO APPLY TO EVERYONE, BUT NOT EQUALLY, IT SEEMS
Over 3 million people have already been excluded from the provisions of Obamacare.   That wouldn't be news, per se, except that before a new law takes effect, that's a pretty big group of exclusions. There's more to this story.  Union members make up 12% of the US population, but somehow they manage to make up 50% of those getting Obamacare waivers.  That means the law won't treat everyone nearly equally!  Add in the Boeing-South Carolina ruling (trying to stop Boeing from building a $2 billion plant that will employ a lot of South Carolinians) by the NLRB and you can see that many laws seem to have a pro-union bias under Barack Obama's presidency.  I wonder if Obama realizes that the population in South Carolina his NL:RB is discriminating against is heavily made up of black prospective workers.  Take my word for it, I was there all week...  How's that for fixing one problem and creating another?

WE NEED A NATIONAL ID CARD--NOW!
Several states, WI, TX, KS, & OH are in the process of passing laws requiring better ID for voters.  A photo ID is needed to buy Sudafed for sinus problems, and to drive, and to fly on airplanes and to check into most hotels--but somehow requiring one to identify a voter is taking away the rights of the "underclass" who can't seem to get one.  Even when one is offered "free" to them, it is discriminatory, since this group doesn't do much of anything for themselves except collect their welfare checks and vote Democratic.  Kansas has already debunked this myth partly by showing that more people have a Kansas driver's license than were registered to vote.  This is another blatant case of nonsense.  Another valid use of such IDs would be to register and track immigrants--legal ones, that is.  Illegals immigrants--here is your chance to sign up!

I COULD GO ON--BUT IT'S MAKING ME A LITTLE CRAZY
This is the weekend we are supposed to be celebrating those brave men and women who fought to protect our country and its freedoms.  Don't let this dictatorial, big government Pretender in Chief take those freedoms away.  Vote Barack Obama out of office in 2012--get rid of him along with his crony buddies like Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank, and Sherrod Brown here in OH.

That's how to you can all help protect our freedom--and without risking your life or using a gun!

BEST, JOHN

PS: Per many requests: 2012 GOP Presidential (Realistic) Hopefuls (with my ranking: 5 stars is highest ***** at this time!)
***Mitt Romney. He should have been the candidate in 2008.  With a sharper message on overreaching bureaucrats and the economy, he can do better than in 2008. His health care baggage, his abortion flip-flops, and his Mormon religion are drawbacks.  He’s aggressively seeking support of local lawmakers in early primary states as well as social conservative groups. I liked him 4 years ago, and don’t fully understand his apparent lack of GOP primary voter appeal.He needs to take the gloves off and really fight if he gets the nod.

****Herman Cain—an experienced executive at Coke and Pillsbury, former CEO of Godfather, former Chairman of the National Restaurant Assoc., former Board Chairman of the Federal Reserve of Kansas City, a cancer survivor (which is what took him out of this public life for a period of time) and Atlanta radio talk show host.  He is the anti-Obama—a fiscal conservative, an experienced leader and manager, and an inspirational, articulate black man. Never elected to office--is that a minus or a plus?  (Lost in the one contest he ran in.)  He will take the gloves off and go after Obama.

**Tim Pawlenty. Retired as Minn.’s governor, attractive to moderates and independents but not to conservatives.The alternative to Romney. Seems to be motivated and serious about his run. A Solid guy, but so far, not enough sizzle as a speaker, no matter how hard he tries.

**Michelle Bachman—Tea Party favorite from a Northern Midwestern state.   Maybe too polarizing a figure, but she will draw from the Palin base—big time—if she stays in it.  May be running for a VP spot for the Tea Party.
*Newt Gingrich. The former House speaker will struggle with fund-raising, and though his strident rhetoric will stoke the far right, it’ll alienate others. Nope! Plenty smart, great policy wonk, but... too much old baggage & “shoots himself in the foot” too often.

***Rick Perry—Governor of Texas—not sure he’ll run--but could be formidable if he decides to run.

***Jon Huntsman—Former Gov. of Utah, a rich, popular moderate.  Just back from serving as Obama’s ambassador to China.  Also a Mormon. Too soon to tell.  Competent.  Fiscal conservative, social moderate.
*Ron Paul—Fiscally conservative but too old, too Libertarian.  Wants to influence the discussion. 

*Gary Johnson—Former NM Governor and another Libertarian masquerading as a Republican. A confusion factor.

*Rick Santorum—former Senator from PA, who lost by double digits in his last Senate race? Another pretty face.

*Sarah Palin—No thanks…stay a  celebrity and “king maker”…has a following but lacks “gravitas” to be President in these tough times.