Team of Rivals

You have found my Twitter landing page for a book I am currently reading: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Here you will find my thoughts expressed in various tweets that have been birthed from this book. Eventually, this post will

Supercapitalism Got Me Thinking

I must admit I strayed outside my typical reading boundaries when I picked up Robert B. Reich’s Supercapitalism. I am the richer for it.

Instead of casting blame for the economic maladies of the United States, Reich defines and clarifies the issues that have merged to create the gross inequality of wealth in America. He plainly displays the logical consequences that flow from our everyday decisions to increase profit, ROI, and save a dollar on T-shirts. His concern is that capitalism has triumphed as the expense of

Who is Defining What it Means to Be Pro-life?

What does it mean to be pro-life in the current health care debate? From my observation, most pro-lifers get the answer to this question wrong. We get it wrong because we are letting the wrong people tell us what it means to be pro-life.

For many, interjecting a pro-life stance into the American health care debate means refusing funding for abortions. Therefore, it is this one issue that propels many pro-lifers to reject any health care reform proposal. Yet, are these same pro-lifers taking the time to consider how health care reform intersects with fundamental tenets of what it means to be pro-life?

T. R. Reid, in his book, “The Healing of America,” shares a disturbing fact: “The American health care system ranks dead last [out of 23 countries in 2006 Commonwealth Fund study] when it comes to keeping newborns alive. Our rate of infant mortality is more than twice as high as

Say What You Need to Say

Could it be that your organization is prevented from moving forward because of a lack of communication? If so, could it be that the lack of communication is born out of a desire to respect authority? Like many young Americans, I was taught that we are to respect those in authority. I still believe this. However, I now know “showing respect” doesn’t mean I idly keep silent and allow someone to blindly fail. For example, take the 1982 Air Florida plane crash outside Washington, DC.

The cold January crash provides a poignant illustration of how the errors of teamwork and communication can have devastating results. On takeoff, the 737 came down directly on top of the 14^th Street Bridge, crushing four cars and killing 5 people. Of the 79 people on board, only four passengers and one Flight Attendant were pulled alive from the frigid waters of the Potomac River. These are the horrid facts, but why did this accident happen?

Roll Tide Roll! Why Does It Matter?

It is now just days away from the BCS Championship Game for the 2009 NCAA College football season. The Crimson Tide of Alabama will be entering the game on a quest for their 13^th national championship. I hope BAMA wins. Hope is too mild of a word. Honestly, I think about it constantly. To me, it matters. But why? Why does it matter if my team wins the game…the championship game?  Why is football so important to me? I am almost fifty years of age; shouldn’t my focus display more maturity?

This post is all about the struggle I face with warped priorities. This is my attempt to think out loud and perhaps discover why I long for something so trivial as my football team winning.

My disproportionate love for Alabama football affects my life well beyond what I want to admit. It disturbs me that this warped value system permeates

To Validate

I never had the aspiration to be a parking attendant, yet I do want to be more like a fictitious parking attendant I was introduced to recently. I shared his story with our staff.

I am responsible for leading the staff meetings at our office.  A short time ago I turned to YouTube for the short film, Validation, to begin one of our monthly meetings. This 16 minute film is about a parking attendant who goes well beyond validating parking tickets—he validates the individual. This fable accurately tells the story of how our encouraging words can not only brighten someone’s day, but change their life.

The day after I showed the film to our staff, one of our employees shared with me how she had successfully applied the lesson

Why Blog?

Why blog? This is a question I have asked myself recently.  Researching the topic of blogging, I came across an Atlanta blogger who is becoming increasingly well known for his online presence. He made it very clear why we should blog, “It’s all about money,” he said.  “That is why we do it, to make more money.”  Really? Is that the only reason? Is it even the primary reason?

Sure blogging can be a way to make money if your blogging causes others to view you as their trusted advisor and then eventually as someone they can trust to provide a quality level of goods or services. Blogging can increase SEO which can turn into new customers. Or, blogging can reinforce your expertise, knowledge and value in minds of your current customers leading to increased retention.

Yet, again, why do I blog?  Conceivably, my purpose in blogging is that I have an insatiable desire to be heard. I have something I want to say and since nobody in my live world will listen, surely somebody online will. Perhaps it is because I secretly hope that some publisher will stumble upon my writings and discover their next New York Times bestselling author; Blogging will make me discoverable….and rich! Or maybe it’s because I know there are thousands of people in cyber land just waiting for Jack Bruce to keyboard his words of wisdom to the world. 

No wishful thinking here. Rather, for me, I can think of 3 great reasons to blog: