History and Life

It’s all there: the story of mankind’s life on the planet. From many sources we have learned what early man did as he encountered his life, her life, this planet, and time. Our life. What is it? What should it be? How do we understand it? What do we do with it now?


Let’s see. The Dead Sea Scrolls. Hieroglyphics, Bible, Koran, literature of record through millennia, all have reported what mankind thought at many points in the unfolding story of man on this planet.

What we could not read, we dug up in rock, soil and artifact. Bones. Cave drawings. Rock drawings in somewhat protected spaces. Archeology, biology, art, physics, social sciences, linguistics, anthropology, and so many other academic disciplines have told the tale of yesteryear.


Some sources are metaphorical. Some fact; some event; some inferred meaning; some lesson to learn drawn from the presentation. What is actual historical fact? What is artistic freedom of expression?


One thing we learned – change is ever-present. It is the variable that challenges social understanding and order. Order motivated governance systems. It created the need for economic systems. It evolved schools, worship of gods and idols, communication tools, tools to make things, ways to adapt the ‘things’ to fit more purposes, and how to change both the purpose and thing all at the same time.


Mankind did not sit still and let life happen. He/she stood up, thought about ‘things’ and acted. Those actions tell a story. Our story.


The story is diverse by region, weather, topography, bio-ecology and raw minerals. Water, soil quality, timber and rock. Resources to use in adapting to life on this planet.


Pandemic is yet another cause for change. Not of taste or style this time! No, a cause of ill health and death to avoid. We dodge a bullet of disease so we have time to learn more on how to solve it for good; or at least learn how to get along with it.


So, where does this leave us? You, and I, and our neighbors, family members and work companions? Will our jobs be there when we return? Or will those jobs be different? Can we do the new job description? Will the employer even still be in business? Will we need to find a new job, a new employer, and even a new career. Or a new community?


How will I know what is available and if I can fit the bill? You won’t. You will learn along with the rest of us as we navigate a new world of work and social interaction. Think about an entrepreneur who comes up with an idea for a service or product, and then figures out how to produce that for the open market. What does she or he do to make all of that happen? Logic is part of this. Knowing the situation, what needs are obvious, and what needs are hidden; having an idea of what can be provided to fill the need. Creating the ‘thing’ that will be marketed and used by paying customers. That is what the economy does. That is what each of us does in the multitude of actions that have to be done to make the economy work. And life itself.


We must invent the new, including our new career, our new self!


It may help to talk all of this over with people you trust. List the things that interest you the most. What passions are stirred within you as you scan the possibilities? Those will be the most likely careers to follow. Product design? Product production? Sales? Accounting? Forecast markets? Market research and measurement? Human resource management? Training and development of others in the organization? Information technology, space management, risk management and planning? All these and more beckon you and I to the new economy as it assembles for work. Whatever it is, and however it will appear.


This is history happening now. How we respond is the outcome. Cause, effect, result. Something happened to cause us to change. What effects in our lives did that produce? And what did we do to create a fresh outcome or result?


That is the story line. That is our history. Take it up and give it life!


While we are at this, it would help to remind ourselves we are in this together. Whatever our diversity, we are resource to one another; not foe.


May 31, 2020

Bloody Times Again

News is frustrating. Good and bad items are reported. People helping people warm our hearts. Crime and violence chill us. Politics often disgust. So many voices plying differing points of view. Facts shared. Arts touted. Marriages and births announced. Graduation from 8^th grade, 12^th grade, college and graduate school. Achievements shared so we can see the good that is happening.


In other reports analysis is reported. What do some numbers mean? What is the trend of events and what does that mean? Do we understand these data? Are we convinced we are making our own conclusions with this information?


The mood of the people shifts as it encounters realities they don’t understand. Some things are readily understood; the challenge, however, is absorbing what’s happening so it informs us and doesn’t defeat us.


Pandemic is real. Over 100,000 Americans have died. Most experts believe this number is under reported; the complexity of the disease, its widespread presence, and the isolation of so many ill people in their homes afraid to seek treatment; they die because of the fear, and from a health condition that leads to death. Is this death COVID? Or something else? We will never know.


People are affected by the pandemic directly or indirectly. We are affected by the living conditions we adopt in order to slow or halt the spread of the disease. It is what we have been asked to do. It is what we obediently do. And the trajectory of the disease has been altered, by what we each have done.


Still, there are those who do not believe this or any of the pandemic. They see threats to their way of life, their finances, their hopes and dreams. And their ideology. They see someone telling them what to do and they react as though this is a usurpation of their American rights. Nonsense, of course, but I understand their frustration and their fear. I don’t feel the same thing; I don’t know the same thing as they. But I do have faith and trust in our form of government, society and our joint hopes for the future.


Fifty two years ago I felt differently. 1968 was a pinnacle year of assassinations, riots, violence, and so much more. Racism was real. Killings were real. Many killings. Much violence. Black Americans having it done to them, doing it to their others, and feeling the injustice amassing more each day. It is their reality. It is insidious and demoralizing.


White supremacy within America seems to be a thing. I thought it was finished, but I was wrong. I had hoped racism had waned, but I was wrong.


We have a problem in 2020 America. It is racism pure and simple. It is violent and disrespectful of people of color. It is not just African Americans feeling this. It is also our Hispanic friends, families and neighbors. It is our Asian friends, families and colleagues. it is, in fact, anyone who is different.

Arab? Middle Eastern? You must be a Muslim and a terrorist. White? You are the privileged who has power and influence. White is the enemy. Black is the enemy.

Different is the enemy.


Throughout the pandemic public servants do their jobs with honor, great effort, and under difficult circumstances to protect us, the public. They protect us from the disease and from ourselves. They acted even when they didn’t have all the facts, but they did so in good faith. They were mostly correct and their decisions were life-saving. As time went on the pandemic ebbed. Public policy in Illinois has been excellent; difficult and frustrating, but spot on. Policy made a difference. Lives were saved. And we will see society come back to some form of normal soon.


But in Minneapolis, Louisville, Georgia, Florida, Washington DC, Texas and so many other states, people of diversity are discriminated against and injured, maimed, and killed. They are robbed and stripped of their dignity, their assets, and their peace of mind.


The ugly American lives among us. During the pandemic as obstructionist citizens. Racism always delivers a continuing onslaught of violence and death. Terrorism is on the mind of many when they see someone of middle eastern descent. The ideologues in elected positions, people of power beleaguering good people with bad government. A president who is self-centered, a bully, and totally out of tune with the large majority of our people. Stirring up violence, rudeness, disrespect and disorder.


The White House is in shambles. It no longer is trusted by the American people. The drums of violence grow louder just as they did in 1968. If anyone doubts assassinations and more violence is on our doorstep, just wait. The tempo of ugly is a constant in our lives.


Can we avoid the inevitable chaos? No one knows. We are getting through the horror and disruption of the pandemic. We maintained social order enough to get us through. There is still a chance for a second or third wave of the pandemic. But we know more now. We have discipline. We should beat this virus. So many good people have done the right things and followed the right directions from dedicated professional public servants, we can continue the fight successfully.


This progress is stained by foolish fearmongers. The rotten apples in the barrel once again make their presence known. But a heavy majority did the right thing and we are better for it.


Will the same be said of our racism and war against diversity?


I’m not holding my breath.


May 30, 2020

  

Daring to Envision the Future

When things are fine, the weather perfect, health A-OK, finances pumped and the family happy, we can think of pleasant things in the future. Maybe it’s a trip to an idyllic place, island or forested mountain cabin. Perhaps it is a new home with features dreamed of before. Or it may be a new car with a retractable top and some gurgling horsepower waiting under the hood for an adventure.


In good times future pleasantness beckons. It is easy to conjure such thoughts.


In bad times, though, we see our hopes and dreams fade. We blanch at the turn of events. We feel fear and loss. The future has escaped us. But that wasn’t the future was it? That was a dreamworld we wanted to taste sometime in the future.


No; in bad times we face life’s negatives. The challenge isn’t yet known. Only the loss and subsequent frustration.


Envisioning the future, however, is an intellectual exercise we need to master throughout life. Why? Because it tests our adaptability to changing conditions, and yes, even disaster.


There is an entire industry entitled ‘disaster recovery.’ It comprises teams of people schooled in minimizing current damage from a storm, fire, flood or other disaster, then restoring the facilities to original functioning. Disasters, you see, occur with surprising frequency and no organization is without the need for planning how to handle such events if they happen. The faster the recovery, the healthier the organization will be after the disaster.


Disaster planning helps see the ‘other’ condition we don’t want to happen. The failure of the business. The loss of key facilities. Loss of key individuals in leadership or specialty fields critical to the organization’s success. How do we prepare for such? Can we do anything that avoids the event? Or at least minimizes its impact were it to occur?


Good questions. All the more reason to plan responses so we can move quickly when called upon to do so.


Pandemic is such an event. The workforce is home. Barebones operations can be maintained maybe with work from home arrangements for some employees. But the whole of the organization remains paralyzed. Cash flow ceases. Liabilities and expenses beg attention. Worse yet, we fear that our markets will be unable to support our products and services when we return to operation. This is now our real world. What to do?


Leaders worth their high salaries will have been prepared for some of this. They will use the quarantine time to lay plans for the organization to return to whatever becomes the new normal. Yes; everything is being renamed and changed to unknown standards. We don’t know what the normal will be but we still have hopes and dreams. How do we navigate the uncharted?


Frankly, we envision what we hope outcomes will be. That’s the hardest part. What ‘ought’ to be happening a year from now, or six months? In two years what and how will we be doing? Thinking realistically, are our visions possible and probable. How much so? What is the range of probability?

Knowing what assets and expertise we possess, how can we marshal them to get back to work and make the vision a viable possibility? What steps do we need to make? Who will do this within the organization, what teams can do this work? What partners outside the organization will be available to help us?


This exercise recognizes we are not in control of our future. But we can be to a degree via planning and practiced envisioning. This is not our purpose for being; that is our mission. No, we are speaking here of vision, how the surroundings will be when we are able to maximize our mission over time.

That is a different challenge. One worth doing. After all, our future depends on it.


May 29, 2020

Getting Along with Others

Walking into my place of work was pleasant. I’m retired now, but then I was convivial, friendly and outgoing. I came to know many of the people in the building. They serviced my clients in the field. I worked mainly with client organizations scattered throughout Illinois, Missouri and Minnesota. I hit a few other states, too, but for only one or two clients (Michigan, South Carolina, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin).


I drove a lot of miles doing this work. Stayed in many small and medium-sized towns, too. Lots of motels, small hotels, ate in countless restaurants, and bought gas at so many service stations I couldn’t hazard a guess. But each stop provided interaction with others, strangers, mostly.


I got to know clients fairly well. Their organizations reflected their personalities and skill levels. It was my job to analyze what was working well and what wasn’t. We discussed the findings. We noodled and doodled our way to solutions. The intellectual challenge was heady – understanding organizational development issues, business conditions, operating issues, and again, personalities. The latter was the key touchstone in all my work.


Personalities pervade organizations. They represent a layer of behavior and fact that must be understood if solutions are to work in the real world, that’s if the suggested solutions are even accepted.


I got along with people pretty well. I enjoyed the challenge of knowing each person, and understanding how they interacted with others to present a whole scenario of the client situation. The same understanding paid dividends back home in the office with co-workers. They had to believe what I was telling them was happening in the field, and then cooperate with implementing solutions for the client. Mostly that worked.


In any organization – the PTA, doctor’s office, church, HOA or neighborhood gathering – formal or not, interaction of people is key to knowing what’s real. Hearing, listening and being clear in communications is central to knowing what the real world truly is.


Having said all that, turn on Facebook and behold the interactions! I’ll wait while you do that.

Still waiting……


Now, what impressed you right off? The bile and miserable relationships a lot of people were presenting in public? I know; that’s not the totality of the experience. Many people do right and are lovely, caring persons. They are the ones we like anyway and the reason we interact with them on Facebook. But my point remains – look how awful a lot of people are in their public face?


This situation is not the result of the pandemic. That is only situational. No; the problem started a long way off. It is what led to the disastrous election results in 2016. We need to learn the lesson so it is not repeated.


Being kind is an outcome. But what is the method by which we manage the outcome to be what we hope it to be? Logic and persuasion have not worked. Unfollowing someone has not worked (it only builds isolated siloes). Being kind is a behavior, but is it enough to also be the outcome?


Help! I need advice here. Do you have any to spare?

Anyone?

May 28, 2020

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Hair: I kind of like how my hair is growing out. It is more brown than grey, and the few flecks of grey focus on the temples. Looks kind of nice, mature. Sides are long and swept back. Top lies well. Back is shaggy but reminiscent of the 70’s. I liked that look. Carefree and blown. I’m in no hurry to have a hair cut.


Gas prices: at $35 a barrel that’s half of what crude was priced at several months ago. Then gas was $3.20 a gallon. Now it is $2.35. Seems to me it ought to be $1.60. Oil people set the price and get what they want. But then, the oil standard is old school and ought to be phased out entirely. Electric cars or hydrogen. Let’s get with this development sooner than later.


Wearing a Face Mask: this is a no brainer. A mask keeps me safer from you, and you from me. Mutual caring gets us through the pandemic safely. The opposite is a nightmare and tragedy easily avoided.


Church Going: our church is very active electronically. We weren’t before the pandemic, but now we are. Church services are live-streamed over Facebook and available anytime after as a recorded video, again on Facebook. Our webpage will get a makeover and be more interactive. Our communications will continue electronically over email, phone text and twitter. Whatever our members use will be on our radar. A coordinated communications scheme is being considered to make our communications both accurate and effective in this new age. So we are connected and ‘see’ each other quite well, Thank You! And we are safe and healthy!!


Auto Insurance: I have an electronic monitor on my car issued by the insurance company. It gives me weekly reports on fast starts, fast stops, idle time and miles driven. It also peers into my nighttime driving habits. The latter are none. Mileage is between 29 and 68 per week. I should get more than a measly $50 rebate, don’t you think?


Driving: short trips to the drug store drive-up window, drive-up fast food restaurants, and curbside pick up of other food orders online. Other than that we don’t drive much. Dropped off some books at my daughter’s home in St. Charles. That was the longest trip (22 miles round trip). Am seeing much more traffic than I expected. Also, driving styles are nutty. Some drive too fast and aggressively. Others are slow and pokey, in the way. Accidents are still happening, some pretty wild. I thought the world would have slowed down in the epidemic. Guess not!


News Programming: I’m burned out over the news. Other than local and state officials doing the right thing, the national pulse is opposite of what I expected. I can only tsk-tsk so much before the tongue and lips give out. So, I avoid news programming entirely now. This may last until after the fall election. Meanwhile, I read extensively online sources and feel well informed. Different points of view help me understand the issues better. At least I think so.


Online Humor: with no printed news material entering the household, humor is either on TV or on the internet. I must admit my age is creating a problem. Some jokes I simply do not get. I have learned that my social education is not keeping up with the popular moods. Hmm. When did that happen?


Weather: when it rains and clouds over I feel sad and gloomy. I don’t have to go out into the weather, or even drive in it, so why does this bother me? All I know is the sun lifts my spirits. Blue skies abutting green horizons brighten my day.

I hope the same for you.


May 27, 2020

Economics, Theology, Philosophy, Psychiatry

The title is a mouthful. Four major fields of education and research. All based on social science as opposed to empirical science. But all of these are focused on mankind struggling to find purpose in life. The age-old question – Why am I here? Asked in many languages, by many people, learned and not. The common quest is ‘What is the purpose of life?’


I am starting a binge watch of “Genius of the Modern World“, a British TV docu-series. The first program covered Karl Marx and his impact on economics, social philosophy and history. The second program devoted a serious look at Friedrich Nietzsche, the philosopher and theologian. Next is Sigmund Freud.


I have often questioned the meaning of life. Religion was the deepest well I visited in younger years. Over time I distanced from that, searched other resources. Eventually I came back to religion. In fact, several times. I think the difficulty was all the baggage associated with religion. Too many rules and regs. So much reading and preaching. Maybe not enough thinking for myself?


Again, over time, I came to settle on a few things that work for me: God is real; the Bible helps understand the world in a broad context; the Bible is not a factual representation, but a metaphorical one; it is a teaching and learning tool providing much perspective. Ritual is often gobble-de-gook that gets in the way of understanding. Music is a major gateway for me to meditate and know my spiritual self. I prefer the intricacies of classical music hundreds of years old. Also the lyrics for much of that music comforts and teaches me things about myself. And my God.


So, Nietzsche had it mostly right, I think. Religion gets in its own way. God is present and good. He/she is not dead. Accepting that point generally eliminates all the other soul throbbing angst Nietzsche goes through. After all, his concern was what happens to mankind when God is pronounced dead? Well, what follows that makes no sense IF the reader concludes God is alive and well. Simple. To me at least.


Marx was another keen thinker. Although associated with economics, his real issue was social justice, dealing with the well-being of the common man. Earning a living in capitalism was demeaning, he thought. However, he never was able to solve the problem of ownership and governance or management of that capital. He was not a communist, but rather a socialist. His conclusions supported majority ownership of capital by the state. Coupled with government regulations and management, working class folk would be protected and achieve higher standards of living. He was wrong on many facets.


Marx was correct on how capitalism injures workers when greed and bad management is present. Not all capitalists are greedy or evil. Regulations are needed to protect workers and owners. Those share the benefits of capitalism while protecting it as well. Not a perfect system, but one that is manageable. The important thing is not the how, but the fact that Marx brought attention to the plight of the poor, working class public. That and his insistence that the end-all of society is not the enrichment of the rich. Society must be focused on what is best for all people – the common good.


I await the program on Freud to re-learn his importance to world history. I know he upended medicine with his expansion into psychiatry and methods to diagnose and treat mental health issues.  Freud’s contribution will likely focus on quality of life through better understanding of the self and how that affects interrelations. I’ll report on what I learn from that chapter of the docu-series when I have seen it.


For now, this has been a helpful review of things long forgotten!


May 26, 2020

Memorial Day

Today is for memories. Memories of people now gone from our lives. Gone, but not forgotten.


This day is set aside in America to remind us that hundreds of thousands of men and women died fighting for our nation. My liberty. Your liberty. They stood up to serve a greater cause. We are the beneficiaries of their action.


This does not mean that each military death was faced without fear; no, most likely they, like you and I, trembled before acting. Courage is not blind, nor is it without emotion and fear. Courage is the act of doing despite the fear. Maybe even because of it?


Liberty means different things to different people. For most, I suppose, liberty is the freedom to move about, work or laze, shop or sleep, and think and speak whatever they wish. That definition would be narrow and cheap. Yes, liberty is freedom to think, speak and act in ways we want to, but there is always the silent restraint that keeps us from harming others. The yin and yang of freedom is deeply important.


What I do or say is ingested by others. They may or may not feel affected, but if they act differently, they are affected. Another aspect – if they have an affect placed on them because of me, then my freedom has impacted them. Is the affect good or harmful? Who is to say? And when to say it? Doesn’t it take time to register harm from a causal action?


Our current pandemic is a prime example of this transaction of freedom. If I mix freely with other people at this time without wearing a mask, I chance giving the virus to someone, or getting it from someone. They don’t know. I don’t know. We don’t know at the time that the virus is spread. We do know how the virus is spread, and thus protective measures have been provided to follow.


Not following safety measures is a decision by the individual. The impact of the action raises the threat level for spreading illness and possible death.


Liberty indeed has limits. Commonsense tells that story. It is up to each of us to heed or not. What happens thereafter is on us.


Best be safe rather than sorry.


This is not about freedom or liberty. It is about responsibility.


I am certain those we honor today understood the responsibility.


May 25, 2020

Commercial Real Estate Future?

Before the pandemic commercial real estate was shifting away from department stores and the usual retail spaces. The life-changing retail apocalypse came at the behest of Amazon, Walmart, Target and other retailers who saw the future of on-line shopping. Thanks to Peapod, a business model for on-line grocery shopping was launched.


With the pandemic we all learned how to buy groceries, clothing and personal items on-line. Simple and competitively priced. Free shipping helped assuage other doubts. We were hooked as a nation.


That’s game changing for retail business and its use of space. It will be much different in coming years as retailers dump brick and mortar stores. Amazon taught us how to adapt to e-commerce years ago when it sold books on-line.


With the pandemic, social distancing and face masks – along with the fear of contracting a virus – pushed us into the on-line shopping experience.


So did working from home. Employers learned staff could work from home and not suffer lower productivity. In fact, new team behaviors developed unbidden and collaborative work skills strengthened. Employers next saw their physical plant maintenance bills shrink. Next they wondered about capital costs of maintaining and owning facilities, the debt, overhead costs, and all the rest.


Physical plant also involves site selection, downtown versus suburban, or commercial versus industrial. Suddenly they saw a future without huge investments in buildings. With it they envisioned staff happy to avoid long commutes and related costs.


With continued worries over health and safety of staff, work from home protocols are likely to be extended and many made permanent. And with those decisions, Bang! goes the demand for commercial real estate.


The next question will become: what will become of central city downtown commercial districts? Will people still want to locate in city downtowns convenient to restaurants, theaters, museums, and so much more? Jobs? Maybe not.


And with social distancing, restaurants, theaters, libraries and museums are likely to rethink their locations as well. So, maybe people won’t be attracted to downtown housing after all.


The next question is: How will the vacant spaces be absorbed in the real estate market? Will these buildings become a drag on the market? Will they be repurposed? And if so, when will these new uses be found and implemented?


Change. Lots of change. Not just because of the pandemic, either. Change because it is a constant in our lives. Those who anticipate it, adapt to it easier. And healthier!


We will be watching developments in this arena.


May 24, 2020

Impermanence of Temporary

Drafting an army during war seems severe public policy. A person’s freedom and career choices are stripped from his personhood. This seems especially true for a war with unclear value and political suspicion. Yet, during wartime our nation has relied on the power of the draft many times.


The length of involuntary service is usually spelled out – two years, four years – with added powers to extend service periods for extenuating circumstances. This, too, has been employed by our nation in the past.


For the conscripted this is hard to understand. The public, however, gets it. In time of national emergency, a nation is called on to do extraordinary things and make necessary sacrifices. Authority for such actions are covered by existing laws.


A pandemic is such an emergency – a war against a disease still unknown and unmapped yet causing death and lasting illness and disability for many. To contain it, extraordinary sacrifices are asked of us.


Most of us get this and cooperate. Others, a minority, chafes against restrictions and complains. A smaller minority of this group protests vigorously even stepping over boundaries of law. They become loud and obnoxious. That is their right; but it is the right of the rest of us to preserve order and public safety.


Current handling of the pandemic has been mostly orderly and commonsense. The disease has been studied for its cause, its course, and its treatment. Still we learn more, even catch glimpses of what we don’t know still. But we gain on the disease and hope to move beyond it. Slowly we re-open society and its institutions and economy. The temporary orders are ebbing as they ought. Watchful eyes and experts analyze results. Authorities are hopeful a return of restrictions will not be needed. But that question remains open until data is available.


In this manner we edge back to whatever will become normal following the COVID-19 pandemic.


Temporary actions based on law, science, reason and dedication safeguards public health and safety. Nothing in this battle is permanent other than the scars and future course of the disease. Those outcomes will be known over time as we learn about them.


Until then, we learn more about impermanence. Our very lives are such. It takes work to maintain them.


Thank you to authorities who keep their wits about them and do not yield to the frightened demands for freedom. Thanks also to the first responders in the police, fire and medical fields who answer the call of those in need regardless of their political point of view.

Temporary or permanent, this pandemic will pass.


May 23, 2020

Future of Small Business

Yes, small businesses have a future. It is NOT an oxymoron.


Why? Because entrepreneurial spirit is a strong human characteristic. People take chances to gain something of value. You and I worked hard to buy a house, have a family, buy a car, build a career and believe in the future. We have hope for the better, the bigger, and the more powerful.


We take a chance on a career choice. We take a risk in choosing a house or neighborhood. We benefit from those choices, or maybe we don’t. If the latter, we take further risk and make changes for a better future.


An entrepreneur risks money, effort and time to build a small business. If successful, it makes enough money to pay all expenses of the business and yield a livable income for the risk taker. Meanwhile, the business may accumulate asset value for later expansion or sale. Risk is compensated in many forms.


The small scale is important. Small means a low cost entry to the ‘market’ and agility to change to meet market demands as they change. Starting small allows faster competitive responses. Over time the business settles into the marketplace and is likely to grow.


Americans embrace a social system of risk-taking. The system is biased to support business startups. Other entrepreneurs build businesses to help small businesses, and the system grows. Job opportunities grow as a result. Other competitors see related opportunities and open their own businesses. More growth of jobs and commerce.

This is also invention of new products and services. Innovation is the hallmark of small businesses.


Given more time, the smalls become intermediate businesses. More time and they either grow into modest corporations, or they are bought and sold to merge into ever larger corporations. Jobs expand exponentially. Products and services expand. Commerce develops in new and exciting dimensions.

All from the small business startup.


Large corporate structures do not start large. Apple began life in a residential garage. Microsoft was formed by ideas hatched in a college dorm room. Look at them now. Look at what they spawned!

Fresh business ideas have caused a tidal wave of small business formations over the past 2 decades. Technology continues to birth amazing changes in society and business. Jobs are created and expand in due course.


The future of small business? Enormous. As it always has been. They may be delicate and fragile in early days of startup, but they gain a foothold and hang on through thick and thin.


If the coronavirus deals a death throw to a small business, its successor comes to life soon after to take its place in meeting the demands of the market. You see, the demand doesn’t go away. It remains. As long as that is true, someone must open a door to satisfy demand. When that happens, supply is created.


Supply and demand. Poetry in action. An American ideal, too. With hope and determination great futures are made. And there’s that ‘future’ again. Hard to put down; impossible to destroy.


May 22, 2020

Pandemic Politics

An elected official who disagrees with another elected official that outranks him, needs to keep his criticisms private unless he is certain of his legal claims. Case in point: DuPage County Sheriff has openly disagreed with the governor about when DuPage County can reopen following the pandemic. Trouble is, the governor has the authority he has exercised, the courts are in agreement, the US and Illinois Constitutions are in agreement, and the governor did not act alone. He has transparently involved the experts, policy experts, attorneys, and aides who can properly protect the safety of the public following science and the law.


Critics who do not cite legal and scientific authority are playing a political game for votes in future elections. Pretty simple logic. Also pretty stupid ploy.


I supported this sheriff in his first election bid. Not again. I want public servants in elected positions who I trust will do the hard work in the public’s interest. Break that trust and show your own self interest and you won’t get my vote again.


Same goes for the mayor of Elmhurst, a republican who aims to give a democrat governor trouble for political gain. The mayor needs to do his homework. The reopening plan established for the state does so carefully to protect the public. That would be the same public as the mayor. The four regions identified were not done so for this pandemic or the now hoped-for reopening. The regions have been in play for decades. They focus on regional abilities to field medical capability within that specific region. They were not selected or gerrymandered for political purpose.


Public business ought to serve the public’s interests and values. That is what the governor is doing in plain sight for everyone to see. He has no bone to pick or interest group to massage.


The White House does not embrace the same transparency. It is obvious that decisions are made to serve narrow, personal interests. Not so in Illinois. Those days are hopefully in our past forever.

Going forward, let us build a house of trust in our state and local governments.


To do otherwise would destroy trust and hope for a very long time.


Power mongers are not welcome in a public emergency. They make bad decisions for all the wrong reasons.


May 21, 2020

Recovery: Economy, Morals and Purpose

Recovery from what? And to what are we returning? Definition, please! While we’re at it, let’s define economy, morals and purpose in relation to this title.


Hmmm. Well, starting with recovery, I’d define that as coming out of our stay-at-home status to a broader social gathering behavior. How broad is another matter to define but I’ll include commuting to job sites or meetings with limited contact with the public. That means no mass transit; will settle with car, bike or walking. Job sites include office spaces or activity site such as a manufacturing machine position, or a construction site where contact with others is limited to small numbers.

Protective devices would include face masks, hand sanitizers and gloves where necessary.


Meal breaks would be a bag lunch from home. Possibly a dining room facility where wrapped/covered menu items are handed to you on a tray or plate with social distancing maintained by others in the same space.


Meeting spaces would include conference rooms or customer work sites. Again social distancing and personal protective items would be employed.


As medical testing expands exponentially, full social interaction can be broadened, but only then or after. With more research findings, perhaps total social interaction will be accepted once a vaccine is available and administered. Only the vaccinated will be allowed freedom to fully interact.


Products and services that require close personal contact will recover when the medical treatments and testing protocols are well worked out. Until then affected products and services will require replacement or re-invention. The old normal will be unacceptable. It will be in our past and remain there.


All of these taken together will define recovery of the economy. Technology will provide the means to rapidly replace many processes to maintain health and safety. As the pace of re-invention speeds up, the economy will speed up as well.


As to recovering morals, that’s more difficult. Defining morals has always been difficult once we try to move past ‘doing the right thing.’ Once the exceptions begin, complexity swallows morality. We humans will wiggle our way into rarified spaces to allow freedom of thought and action.


Morality in 2020 requires a strict return to not only doing the right thing but stating factual realities and provable truths in our conversations.  Being accountable is another way of saying this. Lesser is not acceptable. Innuendo is blocked. Repercussions for dealing in unproven gossip and reporting of non-fact will be fast and effective.


Does morality end here? I don’t think so. Being moral is one thing, but then how we live must change as a result. Processes, governance, policy setting, elections, contracts and so much more need to change to meet the moral standard. Yes, much more needs discussion here. Not ready to do that now. Later?


Recovery of purpose is another matter, but related to the first two elements – economy and morals.

Purpose is subjective. What I/you like, is interested in, has the talent for, and can provide fresh new insight on, are all involved in understanding purpose. Who am I? What do I want to become? What activities will I perform and be accomplished at? What outcomes from such efforts can be expected, and are they of value to others? Is the outcome moral? Are the means of achieving the outcomes moral? Of what economic value are all of these things?


From an acorn grows an oak tree. The oak tree provides shade, beauty and strong lumber. The lumber is turned into products, some of immediate end use, others as tools to make yet other products. Services are created to bring the oak lumber from the felling site to the sawmill. Distribution services move the lumber to other manufacturing sites. Design, engineering and further processing services are added to the lumber to create more value. Selling and distributing the products to society is yet another service. Brokering products to end users adds to the service array.


Purpose abounds at every turn in what the acorn creates. And like the acorn we humans live through complex steps to be whole. The acorn and its progeny are not moral. They are what they are. It is we who add the moral component.


Will we do it right?


May 20, 2020

Pandemic and Small Businesses

SCORE mentors help entrepreneurs start small businesses. We also help existing small businesses survive challenges that otherwise would sink the enterprise. So, it is no wonder that clients – new and old – are beating down our door for help.


The pandemic has effectively shut down the economy. Food continues to be grown, processed, distributed and sold. Americans continue to eat, not starve. Commercial enterprise continues in many markets – food, essential household supplies, utilities, barebones transportation, energy, medical services, writing, music, and clothing. Gadgets, too, are selling. Just scan Facebook and see wondrous products offered for sale.


And cooking services. Full color photos of magical dishes and concoctions to tempt every taste bud! Zowie! Is it just me, or does all food look delicious during the pandemic?


The point I make here: where there is a will, there is a way – to create, to sell, to deliver, to buy.


Pandemics force us to confront time and its dimensions. It doesn’t suffocate; it is there to use. To think, feel and wonder about things. This leads to exploration and discovery of self and fresh ideas.

What does the world need? What do people want in this situation? What will we want when the pandemic is over? How will life change then? What norms will be established? What will we all feel safe with?


Challenges with unclear answers. Or answers that can only be implemented with huge effort.


It is OK. The challenge pricks our creativity. Time gives us the room to stretch and create. To test concepts. Feel realism and see if the new will work. Our solving problems is heady stuff. We feel a boost of energy. Satisfaction. Accomplishment.


The entrepreneur may be disconsolate seeing the business drain away. But addressing new possibilities pushes fear and sadness away. New possibilities and potential appear.


We invent the new because it is needed.


And that is the answer to our small business clients. You invented your current business; is it time to re-invent it or replace it entirely? Do not be afraid. Draw on that energy and fearlessness from before and create a new future. You have the understanding now that you did not before. You have the bones of the current failing business to build upon with the new.


You are not starting from scratch. You have much to build with. Now is the time to do just that.


May 19, 2020

Double Check Charlie

Once I worked as an auditor. I was tasked to determine that routine transactions were done properly so as not to cheat the customer, a supplier, or the reputation of the company. Most transactions were denominated in cash. Some were not: process, timing, accuracy, etc. Errors could easily cost the company money in lost sales, reputation and credibility.


Back in the mid-60’s computer systems grew in sophistication and functional reach. Developing the systems were highly complicated. The auditing staff was asked to monitor information technology development in order to uncover fraud, attempts to subvert the systems, or just plain catch errors. That meant we had to learn a lot about technical things, include software languages.


Of course, auditing is a double check to thwart fraud, and errors.


Government has an active auditing function, too. And when the function under scrutiny is mainly complex policy formation and application, Inspector Generals are deployed to monitor government units. Oversight committees are another tool Congress employs to double check entire departmental functions of the Executive Branch.


The Supreme Court functions as a double check against both Congress and the Executive Branch. All three branches of the federal government check on each other.


That is the design. The US Constitution provides the framework for the ‘double check Charlie’ system. That is why it is disturbing that many double check mechanisms are being silenced. How? The President has fired many Inspector Generals that keep watch over the Executive Branch departments – Commerce, State, Treasury, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Justice, Defense and many more operating units.


The president doesn’t seem to like prying eyes to be watching his every move. But those eyes serve the American public’s interests and maintain trust in our form of government. The president doesn’t get to decide these matters; we, the people, do. He evidently doesn’t know this. So many things he doesn’t know or understand in our government.

Thus, it is alarming that stacking the courts, including the Supreme Court, undercutting the ranks of inspector generals, and even reducing the credibility of oversight committees based merely on political allegiance, is all being done on a daily and weekly basis. Nearly four years of such actions has weakened double checks on government operations.


Trust and confidence in our government is wavering. Without those, government falls.


None of this is secret. The press has reported it. The public doesn’t appear to be paying much attention. But when complaints are aired, the messenger is pooh poohed and humiliated in public.

When any politician says up is actually down, we need to pay attention and hold him/her accountable. Seems to me a lot of accountability is being ignored these days.


Even the public health response to COVID-19 has been flawed and oversight derailed. Where do you suppose this will likely lead us over the next 12 months?

Has the concept of  'clear and present danger' come alive for you yet?


May 18, 2020

Wall of Fear

Disease runs rampant among us. People fall ill. Worst cases transported to hospital emergency facilities. Pandemic cases separated from other medical emergencies to stem transmission of the virus. People die. People survive but often without clear expectations of happy circumstance. Some patients are scarred with aftereffects. Some patients are weakened for the remainder of their lives.

Family members await news of their loved ones’ fate. They are afraid. The patient is afraid. We are afraid, for them and ourselves.


Fear. Of the unknown. Fear. Of change uncontrolled by us. Raw fear. So raw it has an odor.


During times of fear we take precautions. We protect ourselves and our families. Our homes. Our way of life. During the current pandemic, many have lost their jobs. When normal resumes – by whatever standard or definition – the jobs we left may not be there. Jobs may change their function and shape. We may be OK or not. We do not know. That is another fear.


We wait impatiently for life to restart. College studies to resume. High school classes and degree work to come back to life. Shopping for needed goods and some only for pleasure. We ache for the freedom to be ourselves once again. All of that is in doubt. We are not in control of it. We fear the unknown of it.


America has faced fear before. World wars. Pandemics. Huge recessions and bone crushing depressions. Over and over again history tells her story of our people making do while conditions were awful and fearful. Sacrifices were made then. We do the same today. Only now we have larger homes, greater comforts, more entertainment options, amazing technology, and the ability to walk outdoors with a mask to get exercise. While out, we can wave to friends and neighbors, just no hugging. Or touching.


We have time this time around. Time to think and collect thoughts. Time to establish a new definition and understanding of self. Of future hopes and dreams. Of talents to hone or acquire. To erect a framework to follow to make the future happen our way. We are not alone in this. Our ancestors did this. We can do this. Only now we have more resources to help. More connections to the universe. Technology.


What have I done with my life up to this day? What would I like to accomplish with the remainder of it? How do I wish to live? What are the points that define quality of life? What is no longer important to retain? What is vital and what is not? How will this shape how I live in the time left to me?


My career may be different. The focus of my work may be different. The products and services I will deal with will be different. The markets in which my work is used will be different. How we transact business, learning, and social interaction will be different.


In all of this differentness, how do we retain what is truly important to us?


We will not know the answer to that question without some serious thinking. Quiet, purposeful, private thinking. Focused on me. Focused on setting. Focused on the needs of others. The new reality waiting to be birthed.


Will my part in this be successful?  Yours? No one knows. But we will come to know it with the passing of time.


Meanwhile, there is fear to live with. But as always, it will yield to opportunity. Will we be ready for that? Will we celebrate the potential?


May 17, 2020

Dystopia

If you are having trouble defining the word, look it up. Google is great!


Utopia is the concept of perfect – day, life, society, etc. Dystopia is the opposite. Just about anything that can go wrong does. Especially social contract. It works only one way.


Read The Handmaid’s Tale. It is dystopia personified. Women are objects and only good for serving men and having babies. Men are in control of everything. Children are objects to manage in order to keep the human race going forward. Girls are trained to continue to serve men and have babies eventually. Boys are trained to be doers and leaders.

People are not trusted. Everyone is paired with at least one other person to watch over the each other to toe the line. People who disagree with the prevailing order of society are enemies and subject to death; usually by hanging. Gatherings are sponsored to dictate the latest rules and regulations. Individual thought is discouraged.


Now, switch your focus to Americans dealing with the pandemic. Most of us are following orders from government officials as advised by medical professionals to shelter at home and restrict interactions that could spread the disease. These steps are designed to protect the public’s health and safety from a disease that remains unknown in all of its particulars. Treatments are still being invented for those infected. The course of the disease in one person’s body is not always copied in another patient. No vaccine is yet ready to protect the entire population. Heck, we don’t have adequate testing for specific purposes and enough of them to test all in need.


Thus the pandemic continues.


Yet, a vocal minority expresses frustration and impatience at this sacrifice dictated by government. They clamor for opening up society and the economy. They claim they are losing their jobs, assets and freedom. Yes, they are. So are we all.


The logical conclusion, however, is we all will lose everything if we contract the disease and die. Not everyone will succumb, of course, but many will. Talk about losing everything!


To keep that Armageddon from occurring, executive orders have been designed to protect the public. These orders are a collaborative result of medical and scientific professionals, and government authorities. The State and US Constitutions are the baseline of authority exercised in these circumstances.


Logic should also be a co-determinant. If the authorities are correct in their understanding and projections, we remain mostly protected and healthy to live many more years. If the complainers' view prevails, and if those people are wrong, unnecessary death and suffering will happen. I’d rather stick with the crowd whose business it is to study and understand the science and medical realities of the disease.


I side with the Governor of Illinois to keep the state on lock down with a prescribe opening in stages by region. None of this was arbitrary. All was carefully calculated and planned using the best and latest information available. I trust their focus on detail, their transparency in seeking expert inputs, and their care and trust in us, the citizenry of the state.


I think we have the right people in the right jobs at the right moment in history. That includes Mayor Lightfoot of Chicago. Smart, caring and decisive.


For those who disagree, please do your homework and understand all elements of the problem before tossing out glaring political bon mots. You demean yourself and others.

Worse, you endanger yourself and others.


May 16, 2020

Support for Small Businesses

Recently, a Facebook rant against the Small Business Administration turned into a broadside with the conclusion that the government is going after small businesses and driving them out of business. Their proof? The chaos in stimulus loans during the first Covid-19 Cares Act. Seems that large businesses and corporations soaked up the money fast. That left the small businesses out in the cold. So much so Congress approved a second stimulus program with targeting more of the benefits specifically to small businesses.


I had pointed out to the Facebook ranters that their conclusions were incorrect, that the US Government was very supportive of small businesses. Indeed, Congress recognizes the importance of small businesses as the ‘job growth engine’ of the economy. So much so, the Congress created the Small Business Administration many decades ago to help small companies form and prosper. Then in 1962, Congress approved the formation of an SBA affiliate named SCORE – the Service Corps of Retired Executives. SCORE’s job was to mentor entrepreneurs to start small businesses, and help them grow and thrive. The service then and now is FREE.


Today, the SBA is very well established throughout the nation and hard at work with small businesses.


Also, today, SCORE is alive and well. It has 12,000+ volunteers working nationwide mentoring small businesses. Roughly 60% of SCORE’s clients are start-ups; 40% are already in business but struggling with challenges that threaten survival. The Covid-19 pandemic is one of those challenges!


How do I know that? Because I am a SCORE volunteer, have been for 6+ years. Our local chapter has 110 mentors working diligently with area small businesses. Mentors are a diverse group of men and women with skillsets brought fresh from their successful business careers. All cultures are represented in SCORE and we reach out to all who have a need for our services. The price is still FREE.


Congress continues to fund SCORE’s operation through the SBA. Those funds provide a small central staff in suburban Washington DC, and central data systems management, coordination, policy and administrative supports. Local chapters have few expenses which are supported by the national office, but operations locally are low cost and still free to clients.


SBA is called upon for lending assistance to small business owners. The funds mostly come from area banks and credit unions, but the SBA covers some of the risk for losses. Disaster lending has also been a large task of the SBA for many decades.


Much of the current pandemic legislation that funds nearly $2 trillion of aid to businesses, is assigned to the SBA for implementation. The reality is the job was too big for a small agency to operate all at once. Not only were rules and regs of the program from Congress incomplete and confusing, but no help was provided to the SBA to handle the rush of loan applications. The works gummed up in a flash.


That’s an administrative problem certain to happen in times such as these. No intention to frustrate or harm small business owners was meant.


Rather, the intent is clear: support small business formation and operations so that job creation in our economy continues unabated.


The mess is getting cleaned up. Loans are being made. Paperwork has smoothed out. If you are a small business owner and need help in this pandemic, contact the SBA or your banking institution for assistance. Patience is needed but stick to it. Help is at hand.


May 15, 2020

Moving Forward

Social distancing is likely to be with us for several months, maybe over a year? Social gatherings will be moderated to 25 or fewer? Masks likely to be worn in many settings, certainly in public spaces where shopping, milling about, or standing in lines to get into theaters, auditoriums, and the like.


In-store shopping will remain, especially at the small convenience outlets. Probably department stores will disappear. Big box stores will likely remain, but with distancing built in. maybe the big box places will slowly disappear as customers buy on-line after visiting a demo site where they can see, feel and operate an item?  


I know I have trouble getting the right fit for clothing. I pretty much have shirts down OK; but pants and shoes are much more variable. Even manufactures differ on fit: some are generous, some are tight. I hate the thought of buying something then not having it fit and returning it by mail or UPS. Not comfortable. Not quick. Not easy. The refund transaction lingers until credited to the account.


Phone traffic will rely on identified names and numbers for callers. That way when I am expecting a call from Store X or Company Z, I see their name and pick up. Otherwise I think it is spam and ignore. Identified callers will become a thing.


Car buying is a stumper. I think I would like to see and feel the car before committing to the purchase. With the decision made I don’t much care about the paper work or how the car will be delivered to me. Of course I might need help in learning how to use the newer gadgets, but I’m sure the owners manual or CD/YouTube tutor will help me with that.


A real poser are classrooms. I know kids will learn over computer connections, but they will miss the camaraderie of classmates as well as learning the social ABC’s. Home schoolers often have social problems; parents have to intentionally plan social interactions for their kids. Often these are in church, or music or dance lessons. Or some other involvement. But think again: will Boy Scouts or youth groups remain the same in a socially distanced environment?  How else can we manage transmission of diseases?


Back to the drawing board. Medical practices will change, so too, hospitals. Emergency rooms may never be the same again! Especially the waiting rooms.


Drug stores weathered the storm pretty well, but the general merchandise carried may change greatly. Cosmetics will likely be mail-order. Same with health aids, combs, hair brushes, reading glasses and a thousand other inventoried items.


In general, I will miss the personal shopping experience. I liked browsing the aisles of drugstores and general merchandisers. Once a quick errand, it often was entertainment. Remember those days? Window shopping was a thing in my kid hood. We used to walk the main streets and peer into store windows to see what they had. Specially on Sunday afternoons! We’d stroll downtown streets and see what the fashion for furniture, clothing, and even new book titles. Shopping as entertainment. It was all of that.


Oh, there were the long ago days we could barely wait for the new Sears, Roebuck catalog, or Penney’s. we’d loll on the couch for hours looking through the items and expanding our wish lists. Well, I guess that was good training for what to expect in the future. At least the future more immediate to us now. Only the catalogs are on-line and by store.


Maybe life in these United States will resume some of the old normal eventually, but for now, care is the watchword. Best we stick with it.


May 14, 2020

Vision = Power

American business claims cash is king. Cash makes businesses flexible and agile so they can change with market shifts. Technology is also claimed to be king so productivity can continue its upward march. Also education leading to research and invention.


All of these are great indicators of economic power and long-term survival. But they are not the definition of power or long-term sustainability. What is the defining element that makes power?


In my view it is vision.


Many will argue the point. Let them. They will burn much energy proving the supposition wrong when all the time they lose ground. To what? To VISION.


What is meant by this? Vision is imagining the future and how it will look, function and serve people. This entails imagining products, services, lifestyles and a bunch of social characteristics. Metrics of value will be evident. But not inevitable.


Vision is first looking at what is all around us now. Today. Inspect it critically. Become knowledgeable on what makes today good, and what makes it bad, underperforming, wasteful, problem generating for future generations to tackle. Really get to know our ‘today’ so we can properly imagine a better time in the future.

Now, envision what you want that future to look like. Don’t leap five years ahead, jump 10 or 15 years into the future. Better yet, play with images of 20 or more years in the future. Do the detail work with the 10- or 15-year images, just so we can create a bridge into the farther flung future.


Assess the realism of the vision. How much of a break with the present is required to make the vision possible? Are their resources to make it possible? What current resources will be repurposed to make the vision happen? What systems, relationships, training, education and investment in new technologies will be required?


Better yet, what mind shifts need to happen to make the future unfold your way? What is given up accomplishing this? What is the gain we all acquire with the new future?


The envisioning process is fun. It is educational. It is creative. It will lead to ‘aha’ moments that will lead to inventing exciting futures.


Those new futures will invent new industries, products and services as well. That means new jobs, careers and the means to get there. Those involved need not be geniuses to participate in this process. They just have to be open to it and have the courage to risk current stability to gain the new.


We are currently in shut down. We are not currently stable. We will not be stable in the reopening of the economy after the pandemic. We will be searching for new stability.


What a perfect time for us to stretch our brain matter and invent a new world.


Now that’s power! Let's use it!


May 13, 2020

Community

What is community?


I have had Catholic nuns in my life. One family member and two in particular among meaningful friendships. In knowing them I was exposed to the term ‘community.’ Nuns know this term intimately. They understand how special community is. And vital.


Of course, there are many meanings of the word, but the one I like best is ‘available, to one another.’ This availability is the opening to hearing and understanding the needs and meanings of other people. When two people are open to each other, truly open, they speak and hear thoughts and feelings that give dimension to the personhood of the other. That is community. A sharing of time, place and deep meaning. It become a commonality between the two people.


Now, expand that relationship by another person, or maybe 3. As long as this group maintains openness to one another, so they actually do share the core of what is each other, then they have community.


Given this definition, most people belong to more than one community at a time. There is household community, neighborhood community (on a small plane), work community, faith community, special interest community, love community, and many more.


When we reach neighborhood or town community, the glue of our commonality is much more general. We aren’t expected to be truly in community in the purest sense. What we mean by town or regional community is more like an identity of place. Over time we share more and more what that means with one another in that place, and our identity is enriched. However, it doesn’t really approach the intimacy of the purer definition of community we started with at the beginning of this posting.


Being of one mind of a subject or topic, does not make a community. It only makes for shared opinion. Being similarly educated does not make community. Sharing local cultures and wealth does not make community. Something is shared, but not to the level of community.


Why have I raised this issue?  


I have encountered people who think of themselves in community, but when other topics arise in their conversations, they demonstrate political affiliation, not community. They show their ideological roots, rather than logic and fact. They are in the ‘game’ of blaming others or finding fault in others so they feel better about themselves.


That is not community. It is Facebook.


Care is needed to build true community. Scale and depth are relative terms that will always need to be plumbed to retain honesty and true identity. Only then, I think, can a community become itself. Large or small, each community must find its own selfhood to be true to itself. And its members.


Together communicants grow in understanding the world around them. Resonance may be felt, but not necessary to be a community. Agreement is not the point. Understanding inner selves is.


May 12, 2020

Hope and Trust

What I hope for is dependent on what I trust.


This is a basic reality of life. I can only hope for things to happen in a surrounding of what I trust in. Such things as stability, availability of life sustaining elements – food, water, family, friends, shelter, clothing, transportation, social network, economic structures. Oh, and government authority providing order and structure. Yes, order and structure, like schools, courts, libraries, park districts, local authorities such as police, fire and health institutions.


As a citizen I give up some authority to public institutions. These are government entities. They develop expertise and protocols that provide the excellence and professionalism needed to serve the public well. The rank and file employees are hardworking and competent to perform their jobs. They take pride in doing that. We see this easily in local governments. Park Districts, Library, Fire Districts, and a host of others including the local town or city government with all of its operating units – police, streets and sanitation, water/sewer, public works, etc.


Trust in these entities is not automatic, of course. The public retains control of these entities by way of the ballot box. In the main, however, we get what we need because enough citizens pay attention and keep government accountable.


Larger government units for county, state and nation are further removed from us, and more trust is needed because of that distance. A free press helps us know what is going on with those units of government, and when issues arise, transparency of data and accountability help us know if government is functioning as it ought. Trust is thus maintained, or not.


Trust is the foundation for hope. To have hope, means we understand not only where we are, but where we want and need to go. To get there we must have stable social institutions – whether public or private – to partner with our expectations. And hopes.


Even though we are in pandemic mode, we are also in strong government authority mode. Most of us trust our government units. We see them struggling with difficult issues and making the best of it for our safety. We understand the sacrifices we are being asked to make. Tough decisions, tough actions, high sacrifice. On all of us. We chaff at the circumstances, but we understand them. And we cooperate. We survive.


There are those who do not trust. They react to authority that is not theirs to do. They struggle to regain authority and control. They cite the constitutions – national and state – and look for the authority that gives them rights to protest and complain.


Although they survive, too, they create a barrier to common success of what needs to be done for all of us to survive long-term. They don’t see this. They don’t understand this. They feel smothered and wronged.


I wonder if they feel hope? How can they when they don’t trust?


I’ve been pondering this for some time now. I trust and am part of the solution to our common predicament. I am not a lamb following the mob to slaughter. I am an independent citizen finding and supporting community to help it survive and thrive in better times.


I believe those will come. I trust they will arrive. I hope for them.

Do you?


May 11, 2020

Topics Needing Our Attention

Much discussion, debate, and argument in the news and on social media these days. Time to cut to the basics. In my view the top attention getters for action are:

1.      Pandemic management

2.      Climate change

3.      Education reinvention

4.      Appreciation of diversity and its culture

Each of these are interdependent on each other. The economy relies on these four. Trying to fix the economy can’t be done well without addressing these four. They are not only interdependent; they are revolutionizing components of each other. Shift one element and everything else shifts, too. That’s the nature of revolutionizing.


Addressing these items will take major investment by our society. We can do that individually, by corporation, by government, whatever. It takes coordination and funding. It takes talent and ingenuity. Creativity and inventiveness, too.


Along the journey for each item we will find a host of other items that are dependent elements needing attention. Climate change requires energy generation from new technology, not old. The oil standard will eventually disappear. We will generate energy from many sources, most of them unknown at this time. technology and research is needed big time to make this happen. But oil will be a major loser.


Education is a constant in all we do. We educate our kids to get along well with others. We help them learn logic and facts so they can encounter the real world on their own eventually and make sense of it. We help them learn career oriented skills and talents so they can support themselves and their future families.


But education must change with a changing world, new discoveries, and altered realities. Some changes will be small but persistent over time. Others, like pandemics or world wars, create massive disruption and change. All change must be intelligently managed. Understanding change is the job of education; learning how to live with change is the job of education; remaining human while doing all of this is the job of education. Education is the cornerstone of all we do and become.


That’s why it is an ever-present investment we make. For our kids? Yes, but also for the future. Everyone’s future.


Educated people will be needed to manage the pandemics of the future and the huge challenges like climate change. Only education can bring the right resources to these issues to invent solutions.


Invention does not come just from white people, either. It comes from blacks, browns, and others in spectrum across the globe. Diverse peoples and their cultures must be accommodated and welcomed to work together and solve our problems. Lest we forget, these issues are global. We Americans are not alone.


I’m thinking the four issues listed above are pretty much on-the-mark. Any other suggestions for the list?


May 10, 2020

False Positives in a Pandemic

I’m not referring to false positive test results for new drugs or vaccines. I’m referring to the false hopes expressed by many investors as they continue to hype a skittish stock market. And oil prices. And food.


I understand the current concerns about the pandemic and quarantine. But that is our reality to live in for the time being. Exiting this reality will be done in phases as society tests the sustainability of leaving the quarantine behind.


All of this is expected. All of this takes time. And our patience.


Meanwhile, gas pump prices are rising on the rising price of crude oil barrel prices. But those are inflated investor numbers. The pump price for gas never fell to appropriate lows while crude was priced below $15 a barrel. The current $25 price is still low. Yet pump prices just jumped to $2.19. It is not fair or supported. The pump price should be around $1.25 or 1.30.


Thirty-three and a half million (MILLION) workers have applied for unemployment in the last seven weeks. 21% of the workforce is idle. Let those numbers sink in. Now tell me the oil glut will soon be over.


As the economy slowly comes back to work in phases once adequate virus testing is available, economic progress will be measured slowly. Five years from now we should be cooking very nicely. I get that future prices will be better than they are today, but the future still has to unfold.


The stock market, however, is zipping up and down like a whirling dervish. Weird and unsustainable. Cooler heads must prevail. Take deep breaths and invest logically with long-term visions firmly understood.


There is plenty of food available for the American public. In fact, we have an embarrassing overproduction of food. The current problem is re-scaling the distribution system so it gets to the places where demand can be satisfied. The production for entertainment and restaurant venues is closed for now. Those foodstuffs need to be directed to grocery chains and small restaurants performing curbside and drive through deliveries. And food pantries.


Farmers should be fully compensated for their produce. Start with the small, family farms before rewarding the giant food factory farms! They’ve plundered enough of our recent public safety net funding. The family farmers didn’t get much of it at all. Shame!


Yes, the economy will bounce back. Eventually. Meanwhile, normal will be redefined and it will take time to do that. Economic activity in many sectors will grow slowly because of redefined normals.

Again, take deep breaths, remain calm, and keep moving forward. Do not accept every news scrap as earth shattering and life-changing. It isn’t.


All news must be digested and understood. Then we react to it intelligently. That way false positives, or negatives, can be dealt with appropriately.


OK, then; got it? Good. Carry on!


May 9, 2020

Staying Positive in a Sea of Doubt

Moments after a press briefing on the pandemic, opposing views are heard. Pundits. Journalists for conservative publications, democrat or republican spokespeople depending on the party of the press briefing’s host. It is 2020, after all, and it’s open season on all people in leadership positions. It doesn’t matter if they are career professionals in a technical job, or an appointed director of a government department, or elected official. All are in the crosshairs of the enemy’s rifle scope.


Speaking of rifles, protesters are frequently shown walking beaches, storming state houses and capitals, and marching urban streets toting signs, flags, costumes and guns. Lots of guns, mostly rifles, some military grade assault weapons. They are visual to make a point of authority. Authority? You mean force?


Such does not define a ‘well regulated militia’ contained in the second amendment to the Constitution.


It does present a negative, however. And that seeds doubt. Questions of right and wrong, power and powerlessness, as well as authority and thwarting authority. A democracy allows questions always. So we see, hear and feel those questions daily during our life as Americans. During a pandemic, yes, there is doubt and negativity. But we witness this in all times, eras and challenge in America. Plenty of disagreement.


What’s missing is plenty of discussion time that is fairly monitored and fact-checked. Non-biased reporting and journalism relies on the publisher, the owner of the printing press, or the digital ISP service. What we get is bombast and opinion. No fact checking. Just tilt and whirl.


Even White House press briefings. Especially WH briefings!


Remaining positive in this sea of negativity is a challenge. But we do.


Most schools present positive. They build fact-based understanding of history, language, logic skills, math, and science. They study how these disciplines come together to form other disciplines and cultural substance.


Churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship, provide faith-based positivity as well. Their theologies stress ‘otherness’, humility, and authority beyond mankind’s. They provide perspectives that focus away from man’s self-serving ego.


Artists shine with positivity. They have a message to relay that engages the mind and passion for life. Whether it is literature, music, poetry, playwriting, painting, sculpture, ceramics, sewing and fashion design, or architecture, the voice of art is present in our lives. Its reality cannot be ignored. It is there and shapes our feeling, our environment, and our thinking. Mood. Outlook. Creativity.


And invention. Why bother with inventing anything if there is no hope for the future? And that’s the precise core of positivity.


Some people naturally side with challenging problems. They think on what ought to be in its place. How can the problem be fixed or turned around? What can I do about this, we do about this?


Once the question is posed, the hunt is on for solutions. Whether a singular genius or a group effort, solutions are created. Invented perhaps is a better term for this process. Whichever term you prefer, a solution is forthcoming. Trial and error testing ensues and soon enough the problem is tamed and a solution applied.


It starts with hope. Not blame. Not fault finding. It starts with fact, moves on to understanding that fact, and envisioning what ought to be in the future. The real work is figuring out how to get to that desired future from where we currently sit with the problem.


That’s how we invented the car. How we traveled to the moon and back. How we created the international space station. How we invented the tidal wave of technology in our lives.


Hope. Positivity. Possibility. Potential.


Focus on that. avoid the opposite. Live with purpose and thrive!


May 8, 2020





 

Change, Struggle, Solution

Feeling down? Depressed? Helpless in the face of challenges. What to do, who to see, how to handle the problems? How to make it through? Survive?

Welcome to 2020!


Life is changing. Routines will be different. So too, the economy, careers and culture. Repeat that: “Routines will be different; so too, the economy, careers and culture.”


Change is both the good and bad. Together they lead to struggle, survival and invention of the new. All of these yield to a better situation. Struggle and hardship create the better.


I watched the Governor of Illinois present his daily COVID-19 briefing Tuesday afternoon. He said there was no playbook on how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are inventing that playbook now, each day,” he said. And he and his team pledged to change it, edit it as need arises. That’s how emergency management works. We invent solutions as we live the crisis. First public safety and well-being; then the action; then dealing with the challenges that result.


With the pandemic, business operations will change. Products and services will change. Relative value of some products and services will change or likely disappear entirely. What was important before is not after the pandemic.


So, as business changes, so do social norms, institutions, and the definition of work. With work changed, careers will change to support needs and new definitions. How will people adapt to such changes, new job descriptions, new careers? Only time will answer that question.


The challenge to change leads to struggle, which leads to invention. Creativity will respond to challenges. Reaching out to others doing the same, or working in similar fields, may spark new ideas to incorporate with new solutions. Products and services soon follow.


Education is a continuing need for healthy societies. What is taught and learned is vital to the future of all societies. How it is done will change through time to meet circumstances. The pandemic teaches this lesson well! How will we proceed in the future? Will classes be ‘virtual’? Will they be congregate? If so, large or small? Spaced out or close in? Will learning be lecture, hands-on, reading and workbook, or something entirely different? How about the experiential lab work and team projects?


Who is looking into just this aspect of change? Are Colleges of Education doing this? Are they inventing new professional standards and protocols? Are they using people outside of the profession to help them visualize the reality stage of the need for change?


Reaching out and including diverse sources of input will aid the invention of solutions. We are all a part of this. It is a process. Of adaptation and realization. Of the new, the need for new, and the active creation of solutions.


Each of us is called to lend our unique hand to this process. In whatever profession, field of endeavor or business; this is our calling. Recognize it and answer the call.


Life is changing. Routines will be different. So too the economy, careers and culture.


Create an exciting future. For you and others.


The reward? You will know it when you experience it.


May 7, 2020

America’s Best Feature

Ponder what makes our nation good, even great. Ponder what made us great in the first place. Then consider what will likely make us great again?


I ask this question because I know our country to be great in many categories, and weak or sick in others. There is good and bad in our story. Always has been. However, the bad is the strain that causes the good to appear and make the best of bad situations.


The good and bad together create the better.


For the most part, that is my conclusion: America is better because it competes within itself and with itself to find better products, services, outcomes to problems. Inventiveness comes from this interaction. That’s another word for creativity, too.


If the reward for being inventive and creative is accessible to any and all, America responds to needs positively. That is our strength. Competition and creative minds.


Our worst feature is rude selfcenteredness. We bully others with opinions not matching ours. We push arguments to ridiculous ends to fracture logic and historical fact. We seem to believe that louder is better, and meaner is more powerful. The rambunctious nature of some Americans is legion. The ‘ugly American’ is a well-earned reputation to many foreigners. Acting entitled and superior to others appears to be the root cause of that reputation.


But we even do that to our own countrymen. Read Letters to Editors of any publication, and you will see what I mean. Same on Facebook or blog commentaries. Don’t agree with the author? Lambaste him. Ridicule the piece. Travel illogical paths of commentary to make your point, but actually miss it entirely.


No, competition of opinion is not an American strength. Incivility rules the newscasts. Facebook, too.

Such behavior damages creative thinking and inventiveness. We need both to prosper and find our way forward, especially during and after a pandemic. Life is changing. Routines will be different. So too the economy, careers and culture.


Rather than running the egos, let’s use our brains to solve real problems and create an exciting future.


The reward will be felt by all.


May 6, 2020

Too Many Voices

In quarantine, some regions are strict, others lax. Some are not under orders to shelter in place. As some families become stir crazy, others find a routine of purpose and activity. They keep up their spirits. They learn to enjoy each other in ways they hadn’t imagined.


Some of us are even admiring each other’s lengthening hair, curls and waves!


Other families find activity outlets in their yard, jogging trails, or nearby wooded areas. If they keep their distance from others, they may realize all is well. Or at least better than they had thought.


Of course, there are those who do badly in quarantine. They fret. They stew over being cooped up. They see others reacting to the same pressure. Protestors organize and appear in public places. Signs, banners, spontaneous parades of honking vehicles, and hooded, masked gun toting protestors raise their voices. Menacing. Loud. Disruptive. Rude.


How much of this is show? How much is organized political hooliganism?


Or, maybe, these people honestly are losing self-control? They can’t handle the threat of illness, rules that restrict their freedom of movement, or what? Why is this a thing with them? I’m trying to understand.


I listen to the pandemic reports. Scientists are doing their lab work. Health professionals are studying the data on the virus, its origins, its spread around the globe, the treatments that work, the ones that don’t. They look for changing patterns of the disease itself, and how people are acquiring it. They study, too, how many people have avoided it.


Do the restrictions work? They appear to. All the while data is collected and analyzed to determine if we are turning the corner with the disease, and when we might get back to normal.


While the serious people do the hard work, others without knowledge but plenty of emotion, question everything and everyone. Even the president is questioning whether quarantine is needed much longer. Because the economy has tanked, he wants people to get back to work and save the economy before the election in November. He wants his rallies. He wants his image to look good, untarnished.


Those are not good reasons to reopen the nation at this time. Maybe it is good reason for him and his supporters, but it is not good for the American people. The science agrees with this conclusion.

Besides, if science is right, we are safe. If it is wrong, we are still safe.


Can’t say the same for the other argument.

I wonder how much of these reactions are about trust? Trust in others that bring us order and governance?


May 5, 2020

Viral Politics

COVID-19 infections grow nationwide. The numbers reveal a spread from coast to coast and from Mexico to Canada. Each of those nations have their own pandemic story to tell. Ours continues unabated. The swell of new cases embraces the entire landmass of North America.


Infections grow in number because that is the nature of the disease, its epidemiology. But we know of more infections because we are testing more people. Before now we were counting new cases as they became known, usually by interacting with healthcare facilities and staff. Hospitalizations were another statistic, but not everyone with the virus needs to be hospitalized.


Then we learned some ‘patients’ were asymptomatic, that is, they have or had the disease but didn’t exhibit any of the symptoms of the malady. While they actively had the virus, they spread it to others unknowingly. With more testing, we are learning that more of these patients are present in our population.


Then we must consider those who have had the virus and add them to the total infected number. We also need to test them for antibodies remaining in their system and determine if they are immune from re-infection, and if so, to what degree?


As we gain experience with the virus – its emergence, its infection, its symptoms, its course of treatment, its range of in-hospital care requirements, its survival rates and carry on symptoms after recovery, re-infection possibilities, and so much more, we gain even more knowledge on how to treat the virus as well as the means to avoid it.


Testing is the answer - before, after and during infection. Even then, testing has multiple appearances, methods and results. Knowing what they each mean is needed as well.


With so much unknown, and with consequences often severe, it is no wonder that health professionals are telling us – begging us – to remain home, remain socially distanced, and defensive in our actions to avoid the disease in the first place.


So many people have been affected by this disease, we do not have the full picture yet of its statistical presence or affect. Think about that alone. The longer we encounter and deal with the virus, the more we have still to learn. And adapt to.


The general public does not know all of these things. We must rely on those who know more to guide us on our actions. We can obey or not. That is our individual choice. But the consequences of being wrong affect others well beyond our single body. That is when the ‘public good’ enters the picture and becomes subject to authorities of society and government.


In a democracy we each have a voice and free will. We can choose to use it as we see fit. The responsibility for the consequences of our actions, however, belong to each of us alone. If I choose to ignore the quarantine rules, then I alone am responsible for getting the virus and spreading it to others. Shame on me.


It is best for each of us to stay put, do our best, and sit this pandemic out.


For the life of me I do not understand why some protestors need a gun, especially military grade rifles, to make their point. That alone is a threat larger than the pandemic itself.


May 4, 2020