Yesterday, I watched a TED presentation by Rory Sutherland. He is an ad man from Great Britain, but more to the point of this presentation, he is an innovative thinker who doesn't allow the obvious to escape him even when it is hidden behind the assumptions of all the large institutional entities in the world.
What I love about hearing him, other than his great sense of humor, is how cleanly he presents these obvious facts. When he does so, it becomes almost impossible to imagine how the government or the national charitable group could possibly have been blind to it.
Of course, they are blind to such things for the same reason we are sometimes blind to aspects of our own lives which our friends can see clearly. Yet, when they try to help us, we deflect and deny. There is no resistance stronger than the resistance to changes in our own story, the one we have lovingly crafted of our own lives. Stress and tension are the signs which warn us that the story doesn't fit with the facts. If you are feeling stressed out, consider how you may need to allow your story's arc to gradually bend toward the one which everyone else has communally agreed to.
In the case of the institution, it sees every problem as, first, being large enough to require their action. Then it chooses, always, the 30lb sledge hammer as the tool for the job. As you will hear from Rory, small changes made for little or no cost can be hugely effective where the large, expensive answer failed. But institutions don't exist for that reason! Their raison d'être is to spend all the resources at their disposal. Inexpensive, innovative answers are not on their radar.
Please watch and listen to Rory. You will have a great time!
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Harbinger of hope
I had lunch with a good friend yesterday, a man who proves by exception the rule of senior executives being, well, not very nice (keeping this from turning into an R-rated blog, dontcha know).
From the very first day I helped this senior exec (about ten years ago), he was kind, engaging me in conversation as I helped him with his laptop, and just so pleasant to be around that I would often grab any trouble reports from his area just so I could spend a few minutes with him.
As we were eating lunch and discussing the state of the economy, my friend described his theory on turning things around.
"We need to start with small steps," he said.
"First, we need to find Rick Hamrick a job, and then everything else will just fall into place and the economy will be completely turned around in no time at all!"
I laughed along with my friend.
Later, as I considered what he said, I wondered if I'm not exactly what we need. We need a harbinger of hope, and I'm willing to volunteer. Heck, it even has a great alliteration thing going on:
Hamrick, the Harbinger of Hope
In conclusion, my fellow Americans (and readers outside America who know that American economic health serves the entire planet), I offer up my services. Employ me, and save the world economy!
From the very first day I helped this senior exec (about ten years ago), he was kind, engaging me in conversation as I helped him with his laptop, and just so pleasant to be around that I would often grab any trouble reports from his area just so I could spend a few minutes with him.
As we were eating lunch and discussing the state of the economy, my friend described his theory on turning things around.
"We need to start with small steps," he said.
"First, we need to find Rick Hamrick a job, and then everything else will just fall into place and the economy will be completely turned around in no time at all!"
I laughed along with my friend.
Later, as I considered what he said, I wondered if I'm not exactly what we need. We need a harbinger of hope, and I'm willing to volunteer. Heck, it even has a great alliteration thing going on:
Hamrick, the Harbinger of Hope
In conclusion, my fellow Americans (and readers outside America who know that American economic health serves the entire planet), I offer up my services. Employ me, and save the world economy!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sitting idly by...NOT (My Sacred Life, Sunday)
I learned a few days ago that a good friend had been laid off. She was working for the same company which had laid me off in November.
When I heard about it, it made me more angry than I ever felt over my own loss of a job. Her life circumstances are much different than mine, and her length of service to the company was considerably shorter--this means that she was probably offered a pathetic separation package.
It is easy to blame my former employer, but I know that's not where the blame belongs. Just as any corporation which sees falling sales and rising expenses is doing these days, the people who run that company are trying to survive. Keeping their own jobs, of course, is the highest priority.
The sorrow I feel for the millions who have suffered the same fate as I did but were nowhere near as prepared for it, is intense and deep. And, it is really no consolation to know that the people who benefited the most from the crazy, uncontrolled financial markets of the last decade have lost more than they ever gained. The insanity which was the derivative-instrument market made up of subprime mortgages which, when piled all together, were supposed to suddenly merit a lower risk categorization than the mortgages did when originated brought down the high and mighty, but it also has brought all of us, all over the world, to a very difficult and tenuous position.
A few of those vile, greedy monsters will go to jail, and many people who were blameless in the schemes but were foolish enough to invest in them will lose their shirts. When you roll the dice, don't ever pretend to know what's going to happen. If you forget it is a wager and come to believe it is a sure thing, you will lose. It is only a matter of time.
I'm a student of history, and it is hilarious (or would be if it were not so sad) to see people make the very same mistakes that their parents or grandparents made about 80 years ago. People are easily lulled to sleep and often difficult to rouse. How else can one explain the fact that we in America re-elected in 2004 the worst president in the history of our nation? We simply weren't yet awake, as a nation, to how much damage a truly incompetent person driven only by self-interest can wreak in as short a period as four years.
Now, we know.
America has done the right thing in bringing to the presidency a man who has all the gumption and backbone so vitally needed right now. He needs all of us behind him now, because this is going to be a really tough task, this 'turn things around' challenge. No worries, those of you who don't like him. Feel free to rant all you want as the rest of us fix this mess.
My own situation is hardly dire, but it is discomfiting. I continue to do my best to honor my family through my service to them, to honor my country through my efforts in support of those who have the best shot at turning this thing around, and to honor anyone who shows up here with the words my heart sends.
I feel closer to my wife than ever, thanks in part to the greater amount of time we are able to spend with each other. I'm very grateful for her unyielding support of me as I waver some days on the brink of depression.
In the months since I was laid off, I have made some new friends thanks to the internet. Who knows if I would have found the time or lucked into their electronic worlds if I had a job?
It was a person I used to work with who got me off of dead stop when he sent me a job lead. That lead didn't pan out, but it did inspire me to get my resume all shined up and to get my butt over to the offices of the outplacement company to learn how they can help. Since then, I have only found a couple of leads which merited emailing my resume, but I am actively looking now.
While the pickings are slim, the simple act of proving I am willing to work by looking for work will be the magic key. The universe responds by giving us what we ask for as indicated by our own energy and actions. At this point, I have no idea how I will find a steady income, but I know I am telling the world that I am ready, willing, and able.
It is impossible to describe in a fashion which will allow you to fully grok what the value of the past two months has been to me. I learned that I am not my job. I learned that I can come back from what was a devastating blow--even knowing it was coming, I had no idea how hard it would hit me to separate from a job I had held for more than twenty years. I learned who my friends are--the people I used to work with who made the effort to stay in touch are just the people I would have guessed would do so.
Most importantly, I got to know myself better as I worked through the grief. My appreciation and valuation of myself is sweeter today than it ever has been because it is real and honest, not a false front put on to fool the people I meet and work with.
Some employer out there is going to get really lucky at some point soon. They will have the chance to hire me.
When I heard about it, it made me more angry than I ever felt over my own loss of a job. Her life circumstances are much different than mine, and her length of service to the company was considerably shorter--this means that she was probably offered a pathetic separation package.
It is easy to blame my former employer, but I know that's not where the blame belongs. Just as any corporation which sees falling sales and rising expenses is doing these days, the people who run that company are trying to survive. Keeping their own jobs, of course, is the highest priority.
The sorrow I feel for the millions who have suffered the same fate as I did but were nowhere near as prepared for it, is intense and deep. And, it is really no consolation to know that the people who benefited the most from the crazy, uncontrolled financial markets of the last decade have lost more than they ever gained. The insanity which was the derivative-instrument market made up of subprime mortgages which, when piled all together, were supposed to suddenly merit a lower risk categorization than the mortgages did when originated brought down the high and mighty, but it also has brought all of us, all over the world, to a very difficult and tenuous position.
A few of those vile, greedy monsters will go to jail, and many people who were blameless in the schemes but were foolish enough to invest in them will lose their shirts. When you roll the dice, don't ever pretend to know what's going to happen. If you forget it is a wager and come to believe it is a sure thing, you will lose. It is only a matter of time.
I'm a student of history, and it is hilarious (or would be if it were not so sad) to see people make the very same mistakes that their parents or grandparents made about 80 years ago. People are easily lulled to sleep and often difficult to rouse. How else can one explain the fact that we in America re-elected in 2004 the worst president in the history of our nation? We simply weren't yet awake, as a nation, to how much damage a truly incompetent person driven only by self-interest can wreak in as short a period as four years.
Now, we know.
America has done the right thing in bringing to the presidency a man who has all the gumption and backbone so vitally needed right now. He needs all of us behind him now, because this is going to be a really tough task, this 'turn things around' challenge. No worries, those of you who don't like him. Feel free to rant all you want as the rest of us fix this mess.
My own situation is hardly dire, but it is discomfiting. I continue to do my best to honor my family through my service to them, to honor my country through my efforts in support of those who have the best shot at turning this thing around, and to honor anyone who shows up here with the words my heart sends.
I feel closer to my wife than ever, thanks in part to the greater amount of time we are able to spend with each other. I'm very grateful for her unyielding support of me as I waver some days on the brink of depression.
In the months since I was laid off, I have made some new friends thanks to the internet. Who knows if I would have found the time or lucked into their electronic worlds if I had a job?
It was a person I used to work with who got me off of dead stop when he sent me a job lead. That lead didn't pan out, but it did inspire me to get my resume all shined up and to get my butt over to the offices of the outplacement company to learn how they can help. Since then, I have only found a couple of leads which merited emailing my resume, but I am actively looking now.
While the pickings are slim, the simple act of proving I am willing to work by looking for work will be the magic key. The universe responds by giving us what we ask for as indicated by our own energy and actions. At this point, I have no idea how I will find a steady income, but I know I am telling the world that I am ready, willing, and able.
It is impossible to describe in a fashion which will allow you to fully grok what the value of the past two months has been to me. I learned that I am not my job. I learned that I can come back from what was a devastating blow--even knowing it was coming, I had no idea how hard it would hit me to separate from a job I had held for more than twenty years. I learned who my friends are--the people I used to work with who made the effort to stay in touch are just the people I would have guessed would do so.
Most importantly, I got to know myself better as I worked through the grief. My appreciation and valuation of myself is sweeter today than it ever has been because it is real and honest, not a false front put on to fool the people I meet and work with.
Some employer out there is going to get really lucky at some point soon. They will have the chance to hire me.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Turning back the darkness
I have a waited a few days, quite on purpose, before writing something about the elections this week in the United States. Tuesday night, there were no words. Lots of tears, high fives, laughter, and disbelieving joy, but no words. Tuesday, early in the day, I had told my wife that it was a magical time. I knew that much already, but I had no idea how amazingly powerful the feelings would be when the magic was made real that night.
In 1960, we entered Camelot, all of us as one. I was almost seven years old when JFK was inaugurated. It seemed, then, to my mind, that America did magic as a matter of course. That simple illusion was shattered in November, less than three years after, with his assassination. That seven-year-old boy who took magic for granted became a ten-year-old, disillusioned and disheartened child.
For decades, in the back of my mind each time we approached another opportunity to find the next great inspirational leader, I wondered if this would be the time when the magic was reborn. Over and over, the answer was not just no, but not even close.
Finally, it took the anti-magic of eight years, eight very long years, of government by deceit, election by fraudulent means and fear-based tactics, to force the magic out of hiding.
When Dubya was elected the first time, November of 2000, I told my wife that we would probably see someone better in the White House in four years, but if we didn't, it would mean that huge, tidal-wave-like change would be coming in 2008. I don't pretend to understand the universe, but I do know that it craves balance. The natural order of things is for one aspect to be featured, then to fall back as another aspect comes to the fore. And, when any one aspect so overruns the rest for a short period, its retreat is rapid and stunningly complete.
We are seeing the dénouement play out in our country right now, as the fall of the ideologues takes place even as inspirational leadership emerges from dormancy in the form of Barack Obama.
As Obama himself noted in his speech acknowledging his victory Tuesday night, it's not going to be sunshine and lollipops all the way through. There will be challenges met and challenges barely survived, joys in success and sadness in falling short as the Obama pages are writ in history. That's not the point right now, though; today, we feel a lightness in our souls, a refreshing new breath of sweet hope and honest willingness to leap in and help in whatever way we can.
You see, that's what we Americans bring to the table when we are at our best: a stubborn denial of impossibility as we bend our shoulders to the task, side by side. World, here we come, seeking to replace the bad taste we have left in your mouths with the new energy of a country reborn to heal the wounds it brought about over the last eight years. We know that our responsibility as the most powerful country on the planet is to humbly raise up our fellow citizens of the planet, not to lord our power over them. We know it is ours to share what we have with those most in need, to heal with our medicines those most sick, to feed those most hungry.
Yes, there is also a responsibility to be a fearless representative of the powerless, but we can accomplish much more in diplomacy than any amount of killing can accomplish. If we learned no other lesson--a lesson humanity insists on being taught over and over and over again--as we continue two wars, it is this one. It is a huge challenge to unwind the mess we have helped create in Iraq and to offer to both the Iraqi people and those in Afghanistan their countries back. The bottom line is, they get to choose. We cannot impose democracy upon them, and there is no sign I see that either country has any growing groundswell to support it. So be it. We need to return to the recognition that a sovereign country is entitled to determine its own destiny. The people in that part of the world have been at it ten times longer than we Americans have, so we need to respect their process, as mysterious as it seems to us.
For the coming change inside our own borders, we need stout hearts and steady hands. Much gnashing of teeth will be evident over the next couple of years because the financial situation is such a disaster. I am confident, though, that the hand on the tiller is one we can trust, as he is smart enough to enlist the very best of us to help him help us. And, here's where the magic comes in: the best of us are no less inspired than the average citizen! They, that elite, 'best of us' group, are equally willing to come to work, roll up their sleeves, and get the job done.
Those of us (please make careful note that I did not say, 'them' and quite on purpose!) who are not convinced of the shining promise of the future of America are best advised to calm down and give the new administration some time to show their mettle. As little as I wanted to, this is what I did in 2000. Not that I want to offer that example as one to emulate as to results, but if I could give Dubya a fair shot to show what he could do, then I think those of us who opposed Obama can manage the same allowance today. It's their choice, though...continuing to live in fear of what life has to offer is a strange choice, but it is a choice.
It is a magical time, world. It is a magical time we have awaited for many years, and it is here now. Come, play with me in the golden light of this magical time. It is a sense of this creative, playful nature which can influence our lives and bring stress to its knees. Magic is nothing more than our playful nature allowed full bloom.
Come. Play with me.
In 1960, we entered Camelot, all of us as one. I was almost seven years old when JFK was inaugurated. It seemed, then, to my mind, that America did magic as a matter of course. That simple illusion was shattered in November, less than three years after, with his assassination. That seven-year-old boy who took magic for granted became a ten-year-old, disillusioned and disheartened child.
For decades, in the back of my mind each time we approached another opportunity to find the next great inspirational leader, I wondered if this would be the time when the magic was reborn. Over and over, the answer was not just no, but not even close.
Finally, it took the anti-magic of eight years, eight very long years, of government by deceit, election by fraudulent means and fear-based tactics, to force the magic out of hiding.
When Dubya was elected the first time, November of 2000, I told my wife that we would probably see someone better in the White House in four years, but if we didn't, it would mean that huge, tidal-wave-like change would be coming in 2008. I don't pretend to understand the universe, but I do know that it craves balance. The natural order of things is for one aspect to be featured, then to fall back as another aspect comes to the fore. And, when any one aspect so overruns the rest for a short period, its retreat is rapid and stunningly complete.
We are seeing the dénouement play out in our country right now, as the fall of the ideologues takes place even as inspirational leadership emerges from dormancy in the form of Barack Obama.
As Obama himself noted in his speech acknowledging his victory Tuesday night, it's not going to be sunshine and lollipops all the way through. There will be challenges met and challenges barely survived, joys in success and sadness in falling short as the Obama pages are writ in history. That's not the point right now, though; today, we feel a lightness in our souls, a refreshing new breath of sweet hope and honest willingness to leap in and help in whatever way we can.
You see, that's what we Americans bring to the table when we are at our best: a stubborn denial of impossibility as we bend our shoulders to the task, side by side. World, here we come, seeking to replace the bad taste we have left in your mouths with the new energy of a country reborn to heal the wounds it brought about over the last eight years. We know that our responsibility as the most powerful country on the planet is to humbly raise up our fellow citizens of the planet, not to lord our power over them. We know it is ours to share what we have with those most in need, to heal with our medicines those most sick, to feed those most hungry.
Yes, there is also a responsibility to be a fearless representative of the powerless, but we can accomplish much more in diplomacy than any amount of killing can accomplish. If we learned no other lesson--a lesson humanity insists on being taught over and over and over again--as we continue two wars, it is this one. It is a huge challenge to unwind the mess we have helped create in Iraq and to offer to both the Iraqi people and those in Afghanistan their countries back. The bottom line is, they get to choose. We cannot impose democracy upon them, and there is no sign I see that either country has any growing groundswell to support it. So be it. We need to return to the recognition that a sovereign country is entitled to determine its own destiny. The people in that part of the world have been at it ten times longer than we Americans have, so we need to respect their process, as mysterious as it seems to us.
For the coming change inside our own borders, we need stout hearts and steady hands. Much gnashing of teeth will be evident over the next couple of years because the financial situation is such a disaster. I am confident, though, that the hand on the tiller is one we can trust, as he is smart enough to enlist the very best of us to help him help us. And, here's where the magic comes in: the best of us are no less inspired than the average citizen! They, that elite, 'best of us' group, are equally willing to come to work, roll up their sleeves, and get the job done.
Those of us (please make careful note that I did not say, 'them' and quite on purpose!) who are not convinced of the shining promise of the future of America are best advised to calm down and give the new administration some time to show their mettle. As little as I wanted to, this is what I did in 2000. Not that I want to offer that example as one to emulate as to results, but if I could give Dubya a fair shot to show what he could do, then I think those of us who opposed Obama can manage the same allowance today. It's their choice, though...continuing to live in fear of what life has to offer is a strange choice, but it is a choice.
It is a magical time, world. It is a magical time we have awaited for many years, and it is here now. Come, play with me in the golden light of this magical time. It is a sense of this creative, playful nature which can influence our lives and bring stress to its knees. Magic is nothing more than our playful nature allowed full bloom.
Come. Play with me.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Desperation, thy name is Sarah Palin
I'm sure Sarah Palin is a nice enough lady (the photo is her official state portrait), even if she was under-qualified when the folks of Alaska, numbering roughly one-third as many people as I am within ten miles of at this moment here in Denver, decided eye candy beats corrupt politico when one is choosing who to schmooze the big oil companies who contribute, through taxes and usage fees and whatever else the state has come up with, a huge percentage of the state's budget. Denver's mayor has a far more-challenging job than does Sarah Palin, and he got there without first pre-qualifying by winning any beauty contests. That's not a cheap shot, just a fact. The lady has the following experience:
high-school point guard
two times voted Miss Wasilla
two terms on the city council, also Wasilla (population about 8,000)
two terms as mayor, Wasilla
governor for two years of the state containing Wasilla, two largest cities of which are each smaller than Omaha--heck, the two of them together don't match Omaha's population--and lots of really pretty wilderness and less-attractive oil fields and pipelines
If there were bonus points for the number of square miles over which one holds dominion, then Mrs Palin would have a big leg up over, in particular, Joe Biden. After all, Delaware would fit inside Alaska approximately eleventy-two times. That means she is at least that much better for the VP job than he would be, right? Oh, wait. He is a United States Senator, meaning he helps govern the entire country. Never mind.
My theory is simple: the Republicans are so desperate at this point that they decided to think outside the box. If necessity is the mother of invention, the folks advising McCain have proven that desperation is the daddy of insanity. There's thinking outside the box, and then there is thinking outside the brain.
If anyone has any doubt about how close the election will be, this decision by the McCain campaign surely tells us all how much they believe in their chances. They clearly believe they have no hope. I cannot come up with anything more logical than, "we have no chance at all, so let's do something that will make us seem accepting of
women." They have no issue with putting someone with literally zero national leadership experience in the job where one's chief duty is to verify that the president is still alive each day because they know there is roughly [wild calculator noises] .00001% chance of her actually becoming vice president.
I don't for a moment wish to beat up on Sarah Palin. In fact, I honor her and her husband for their efforts in raising so large a family and accepting a child with the challenges Trig will face, their baby born this year with Down Syndrome. At the same time, I don't want her having anything to do with running my country.
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