A friend started a conversation over on Google+ about standardized testing in education. What prompted her to do so was a Washington Post Local blog post about when an adult took the standardized tests and failed miserably. Her point is that nobody should be surprised at this – on several fronts. To me, the most important of the four points she delineated was that “Teaching methods have changed dramatically in the last decades, and it’s entirely possible he [the adult who took the test] was NEVER previously exposed to questions such as those on this test.”
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Education Accountability
I’ve done my own unofficial and totally unscientific survey and have become “firmly convinced” that if you are selling you are failing. This is a recurring theme and with the downturn in confidence in the economy, it seems as though this will not go away any time soon. Yet, people keep “pushing information” on customers (that means advertising, selling, trying to convince). They are frantically trying to do more of what they used to do, back in the long gone, never to return economy. That dog don’t hunt!
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pull technology, push technology, Sales
The sun makes my point. What point? I have been known to make the statement that “the universe is indifferent and knowable.” I usually am prompted to make that little observation when someone is complaining about how things aren’t “fair,” or how they have been “mistreated.” Generally, I shrub, make my statement and suggest that the only way to get out of their situation might be to learn what they need to learn and take action, because the universe doesn’t give a hoot about whether you survive or die. It just doesn’t care!
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heat, Leadership, life on earth, Management, Sun
It seems that manufactoring in the U.S.A. may not be such a bad thing after all. The Economist, Moving back to America, pulled together some interesting data that indicates all countries may well be looking to build factories to meet market demands, not to re-import “back home.”
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Economist, Leadership, Made in USA, Management, Manufacturing, offshoring
Those who want the government to provide healthcare are right – and wrong. Those who want to turn things over to private markets are right – and wrong. And each “camp” is wrong to excoriate the other camp. Further, each camp is wrong for the same reason – they do not understand and do not practice systems thinking. They do not have their “minds wrapped around this problem” properly. Screaming at each other, sticking to tired old dogma and ideological positions is not helpful.
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Christiansen, Healthcare, Management, Opinion
So I have made my decision, finally. After much deliberation, observation and contemplation I’ve decided an 1873 invention by Latham Sholes is too important for me to ignore. Now 1873 is just a bit before I was born, and here we are some 137 years later and Mr. Latham Sholes is causing me to pick, one kind of PC over another. It’s a long story but those of you who follow the history of technology already know where this is going.
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Decision, Netbook, Opinion, Tablet PC, Technology
I’ve been in the Nashville, TN area since the 29th and leaving for home tomorrow the 9th. The trip is centered around visiting with my father and attempting to square away some “elder-care issues” to help my sister who normally handles that work. While I’m the oldest of the four children, Debbi is the oldest daughter and when Mom died Dad moved from Florida to Tennessee to be closer to Debbi. That was a very smart move on his part and my sister is delighted (most of the time) to be able to help him. This trip has put some things in perspective and while I’m sure many of you have already been through this process, I’ll share anyway and perhaps it will be useful for some who have not yet gone through the elder-care process. And, as is my want, I will stretch things to find a few analogies about leadership from my observations. So here’s some “lessons learned” from this trip.
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Elder-care, Growing Edges, Opinion, Personal
Antony Ladd was recently referred to me by a trusted colleague. So Antony and I got together and came to know each other a bit. He’s got a unique view of what’s going on here in the U.S. He is from the UK. As we discussed his situation, it became clear that he is a very senior executive with a great deal of operational experience. He is amused by the “deer in the headlight” look of many American business executives these days.
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Economy, Leadership, Management, Markets, New Normal, Opinion
WARNING: Geek-speak is about to happen in this blog and it’s not really about leadership (at least not directly). I think this is more about catharsis than it is about anything else, yet some of you may be amused by the trials and tribulations of a died-in-the-wool technologist, suffering at the hands of technology.
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Growing Edges, Opinion, Technology, Time Management
A colleague was complaining that “Obama is bashing business” and it wasn’t fair. He plans on punishing those who don’t support business by “voting the %^$*#&’s out of office.” I don’t see it that way. What I see is that business owners and C-suite folks need to think about this a bit more. Here’s why. Successful politicians are successful because they READ (as opposed to LEAD) the public. Rarely will a politician last if s/he gets too far out in front of the people.
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Communications, Leadership, Management, Opinion
