Bisbee Grand Hotel

13 May 2013 15 Comments

Bisbee Grand Hotel

Image by Dr. John Persico Jr.

St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church Stained Glass Window

13 May 2013 Leave a comment

St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church Stained Glass Window

Image by Dr. John Persico Jr.

St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Bisbee

13 May 2013 2 Comments

St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Bisbee

Image by Dr. John Persico Jr.

St. Patricks Catholic Church Stained Glass Window

13 May 2013 Leave a comment

St. Patricks Catholic Church Stained Glass Window

Image by Dr. John Persico Jr.

The 4th of Gandhi’s Seven Social Sins: Commerce without Morality.

09 May 2013 1 Comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , ,

Several years ago, a movie was made called “The Corporation.”   It is a documentary film written by Joel Bakan, and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. The film examines the modern-day corporation.   It considers its legal status as a class of person and evaluates its behavior towards society and the world at large as a psychiatrist might evaluate an ordinary person. The films thesis is explored through numerous examples and interviews.  Bakan wrote the book, “The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power,” during the filming of the documentary.  I highly recommend this film.  I have shown it in many of my classes and used numerous excerpts from the film to illustrate key points about corporate behavior and the history of the corporate concept.  If you are interested in watching the film, you can do so on YouTube at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y888wVY5hzw

Most people do not realize it but the modern corporation and rules governing its behavior were not developed until the middle of the 19th century.  True, there were charters and rules governing businesses since the middle ages, but corporate law as we know it today is only about 150 or so years old.  The main point of the film is that despite not being human beings, corporations, as far as the law is concerned, have many of the same rights and responsibilities as people do.  Corporations can exercise human rights against individuals and the state,and they can themselves be responsible for human rights violations. 

However, while people have hearts, emotions, feelings and consciences, corporations do not.  While human behavior and codes of conduct have been developing since the Stone Age, the codes of conduct for corporations are practically non-existent.  Witness how Enron subverted their entire ethics process to allow the company to pursue almost unlimited degrees of immoral and unethical behavior.  In most corporations, the ethics statements are followed only when convenient and never if they conflict with the prime directive: “Make Money.”   Business schools may teach one class on ethics but seldom do students come away with any true sense that there must be an underlying morality to commerce.  Most students yawn their way through ethics since experience has already shown them that business ethics are expendable.  Noted economist Milton Friedman is famous for his criticism of business ethics and social responsibility for corporations.  According to Christine Travis, Friedman makes two key points in favor of his theory.  The first is that there is no uncontroversial morality.   Business owners are not ethicists and thus are not equipped to make ethical decisions.  Secondly, Friedman argues that maximizing long term self-interests will actually bring out the greater good.  (See Travis’s paper Philosophy: Summary and Explanation of Milton Friedman’s Stockholder Theory” for more depth on Friedman’s perspective.)

It is easy to see that Friedman’s theory has nuances which are valid but that there are gaps in his reasoning that allow too wide latitude of behavior.   If we argue that entrepreneurs, managers and business owners are not ethicists, we may as well allow that most people are not ethicists.  True, there is wide interpretation of what is moral and what is immoral but the same can be said for any system of morality and standards. Nevertheless, we would not want our children to grow up believing that because they were not ethicists they could discard any standards of behavior.  The proof of any theory may be in the pudding.  In this case, we can see the results of 100 years of corporate behavior and I suspect that the results do not portray business people in a very favorable light.  In fact, in terms of most admired and least admired professions, business people usually find themselves ranked among the “sleaziest professions.

20 Sleaziest Ways To Make a Living (http://scientificmarketingandadvertising.com/marketing-articles-least-admired-professions.html)

  1. Drug Dealer (0.61)
  2. Crime Boss (0.99)
  3. TV Evangelist (1.19)
  4. Prostitute (1.24)
  5. Street Peddler (1.45)
  6. Local Politician (1.52)
  7. Congressman (1.58)
  8. Car Salesman (1.59)
  9. Rock Star (1.72)
  10. Insurance Salesman (1.76)
  11. Union Leader (1.89)
  12. Wall Street Executive (1.92)
  13. Real Estate Agent (1.92)
  14. TV Executive (1.94)
  15. Oil Company Executive (1.94)
  16. Lawyer (1.97)
  17. Soap Opera Star (2.00)
  18. Movie Star (2.00)
  19. Broker (2.00)
  20. Prison Guard (2.02)

Real Estate Agent, Wall Street Executive, TV Executive and Oil Company Executive all rank in the list of twenty least admired professions.   If you go to the link above you can also find the 20 most admired professions. There is not one business occupation in the list of 20 most admired.  The article that this list is drawn from explores the question of “What can we learn from this list?”  The answers seems to support the thesis developed by Bakan that businesses do not have an incentive for morality and thus giving them “rights” as human beings poses a threat to our society. 

Let’s take a second to see what the Gandhi Institute says about Commerce without Morality: 

As in wealth without work we indulge in commerce without morality to make more money by any means possible. Price gouging, palming off inferior products, cheating and making false claims are a few of the obvious ways in which we indulge in commerce without morality. There are also thousands of other ways in which we do immoral or unethical business. When profit-making becomes the most important aspect of business, morals and ethics usually go overboard. We cut benefits and even salaries of employees. If possible we employ “slave” labor, like the sweat shops and migrant farm workers in New York and California where workers are thoroughly exploited. Profit supersedes the needs of people. When business is unable to deal with labor it begins to mechanize. Mechanization, it is claimed, increases efficiency, but in reality it is instituted simply to make more money. Alternate jobs may be created for a few. Others will fall by the wayside and languish. Who cares? People don’t matter, profits do. In more sophisticated language what we are really saying is that those who cannot keep up with the technological changes and exigencies of the times do not deserve to live–a concept on which Hitler built the Nazi Party. If society does not care for such people, can we blame them if they become criminals?

One of the key points that I glean from the Gandhi Institute is that Gandhi was against “Profit superseding the needs of people.”  Friedman would argue from the enlightened self-interest perspective that they are the same.  If the corporation takes care of profit, it takes care of people by creating jobs and value for the society.  The proof of value creation is evidenced by the fact that only corporations that make a profit survive.  People are free to choose where and what they spend their money on.  Thus if they support Corporation X over Corporation Y, it is because they perceive more value for their money in doing so.  This argument would have more merit if people had access to perfect information and were perfectly rationale.  However, since people are often deceived and given erroneous information and since Madison Avenue has built up numerous ways to convince people to spend money against their best interests, Friedman’s argument is perpetually, inevitable and indubitably doomed to failure. 

The primary force that protects human existence and all of humankind has been and always will be moral behavior. No amount of police, regulations, lawyers, prisons or inspectors will ever be enough to replace the moral force of human conscience and caring for other human beings.  Corporations have no incentives or mechanism to be kind to anyone unless it somehow provides a path to increased profits.  On the numerous occasions when this is not possible, profit trumps concern for employees, concern for the country, concern for the environment and concern the future of humanity.  The proof of what I am saying has been demonstrated time and time again.  You have only to pick up the morning paper to see yet another example of short-term corporate thinking and focus on greed above the well-being of any other factor.

Just to test my own hypothesis, I turned to CNN Money.  What did the headlines show today?  A list of The Top Twenty Most Profitable corporations in the world!  Would it surprise anyone to find that out of the top ten, there were four oil companies?   The price of gas keeps going up, but our dependency on the gasoline engine driven by the greed of the oil companies insures that there is still a steady stream of profits to the largest oil companies.  Whose well-being is being served by the outlandish incentives that continue to drive the oil industry?  Is the oil industry an example of “corporate morality?”  I doubt few would say yes to this question. 

To conclude, Gandhi believes that Commerce without Morality is a sin or social blunder.  I think it has shown itself to be an unmitigated social evil.  Our present laws do not provide an adequate solution to this problem.  A corporation is not a human being and should not be treated as a human being.  It is time we rethink the laws developed in the 19th century to govern corporate behavior.  It is time to put human well-being as the primary directive for all corporations and not the making of profit.  We cannot be blamed for putting the cart before the horse because we have never really attached the horse to the cart.  There is no mandate for a corporation to be either moral or ethical.  Any statements to the contrary are simply straws in the wind. When the accountants look at the ledgers, profit trumps every other card in the corporation.   Can you imagine if we simply judged people by the same standard?  Those people who made the most money were rated as the most well-adjusted and socially responsible people.  Is this what we want our culture and society to be remembered for?  Simply how much money we made!  I think our Founding Fathers would roll over in their graves at the thought. 

Ok, time for questions:

Do you think the Oil Industry is guided by a set of moral or ethical codes? Should it be?  Do you think corporations have an incentive for ethical behavior?  If so, I would love to hear your comments on this question either way.  Do you think we can change our corporate law to make them more responsible? Should we?  Why or why not?  Would you want the caption on your grave stone “I made a lot of money?”

Life is just beginning.

 

Jesus Starts a Facebook Page

02 May 2013 5 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , ,

Hi, I need to apologize.  I should be doing Gandhi’s third Social Sin but I got sidetracked by two recent news reports which have taken me down a different path for this blog.  I decided to do this blog on the subject of Jesus and Facebook.  I wonder what Jesus would do with Facebook if he were alive today?  I want to speculate a bit on what the current emphasis on social media would or could possibly do to enhance Jesus’s message and mission.  I will return to Gandhi next week. 

A few years ago, I remember seeing a science fiction movie wherein the value of a person in the future was directly related to how popular they were.  I cannot remember the name of the movie, so if you are familiar with it, I would appreciate your sending me a comment or email. I vaguely remember it being a Stallone movie but the only sci-fi movies I remember him in were Demolition Man and Judge Dredd and I do not think that either of these were the right movies.   In this future time, each citizen was given some sort of a number or code that showed how popular they were. The more popular they were the more successful and wealthy they were. Your value as a human being rested in your popularity regardless of how you may have achieved this popularity.  I have thought about this issue many times since then.  What once seemed like science-fiction now seems like daily reality.

Today we actually do value the worth of a person or their endeavors by how popular they are. Their popularity rating is based on a variety of measures.  How many followers do they have on Facebook?  How many hits do they get on their Blog?  How many calls do they get to be on game shows or other Hollywood Media?  How many books have they sold?  How many downloads did they get?  How many people did they kill?  Popularity sells newspapers, movie rights, stories, advertisements and TV space.  We have an entire set of people who are called celebrities who owe their lifestyles to some bizarre excuse for fame that the public has latched on.  Donald Trump, Lady Gaga, Psi, Kate Middleton, and dozens others routinely grace our newsstands and command maximum space in the media.  Wikipedia defines celebrity as:

A celebrity is a person who has a prominent profile and commands some degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media. The term is often synonymous with wealth (commonly denoted as a person with fame and fortune), implied with great popular appeal, prominence in a particular field, and is easily recognized by the general public.

Celebrities are the superstars of today’s world. Celebrities ban together at parties, galas, shindigs and anywhere the rich, successful or famous go to hang out. I noticed that during President Obama’s most recent White House Correspondents Dinner on April 27th that the audience was filled with not only news reporters but many of the rich and famous referred to as Hollywood’s A-List.  This A-List also included many of the politicians in this country since they were well represented at this dinner. It did not matter whether or not they supported Obama.  Right Wing, Left Wing, Conservative, Republican, Democrat, Liberal were all conspicuous at this dinner.  One can see Conan O’Brien, at the podium sharing some jokes at Bill O’Reilly’s expense on some of the videos posted on You-Tube.  For one brief night, Obama and O’Reilly had more in common than any of the common people (Are we B or C list?) on the face of the earth.  Regardless if the event is a Superbowl, Wimbledon Championship. PGA Major Event, or a funeral of some important dignitary, the “Celebrities” will all be invited.  Popularity is the coin of the realm today and the holy graile that we all seek. Today, it is more important to be famous and well known that it is to be kind, decent or good at least if you want to be a celebrity.

I noticed a Facebook posting on my web site from George Takei (AKA Sulu) of Star Trek fame.  He is now being hailed as a social media expert since his Facebook site has over four million followers and is one of the most popular sites on the Internet.  I had to admit to some curiosity so I went to check out his site to see what is behind his popularity. It seems his new found recognition is now translating into a renewed interest in his career and endeavors.  I will say that I was a big Star Trek fan and read most if not all of the bios of the lead actors from the series. I even went to the very first Star Trek convention in New York City.  I declined an invitation though to attend the second one.  I can only take nostalgia so far. I was most struck by the reported animosity between Takei and Captain Kirk.  It seems they did not get along too well off set although several other characters also found Shatner overbearing and egotistical. But then this seems to go with stardom.  Takei stuck to his guns though and was well liked by all members of the cast. 

Looking at Takei’s website, I was struck by the randomness of his site. Humor, short human interest stories, lots of pictures alluding to Star Trek and many liberal causes which Takei supports. I found it a fun and interesting site, but still left amazed that 4,000,000 people a week go to this site. To give you some perspective, when I started my www.timeparables.blogspot.com website it took me almost three years to go from 50 hits per month to nearly 3000 hits per month.  I confess, I routinely scrutinized the figures and sometimes felt obsessed with my “numbers.”  I did not want to fall into the trap of equating the value of what I had to say with the numbers of people who hit my site, but I found it hard not to feel bad on those days when I would publish what I thought was a very thought provoking blog and hardly anyone would logon.  Many times I felt disillusioned at the interest in my writings and was on the verge of stopping. Almost every time I got to this point, I would receive a comment or email indicating how much my blog meant to someone and how it had really made a difference in their life. I determined to keep writing as long as I had even one reader out there. I did not and still do not want to measure my value by my popularity but it’s not an easy task. 

One day a good friend of mine and I were in a coffee shop in Stillwater, Minnesota. We had both set down with our coffees and suddenly a man about our age appeared at the counter.  I could not help but think I knew him but I could not place where I knew him from.  I decided to go up to ask him.  I inquired whether we had met in the motorcycle club I belonged to and he said “No.”  I started to return to my seat but out of curiosity I persisted.  I said “Dam, you look very familiar, have we met someplace before?”  He again replied “No.”  I tried again.  “Are you in the movies or papers?”  “Yes”, he replied.  May I ask your name?  He answered “Sam Shepard.”   Suddenly, I was rather embarrassed and tongue tied. I admired many of his movies, writings and plays but did not know what to say.  I did not want him to think I was a celebrity seeker or one of the people who hound celebrities just to get their autograph or a piece of them.  I quickly ended the one-sided conversation with “Well, I like your movies, have a great day.”  That was the end of it. No further reply and Sam just walked off.

I realize there are many celebrity hunters out there. In fact, what would a celebrity be without a celebrity hunter? I also realize that many people who have achieved fame and recognition would rather not be celebrities. I suspect Sam was one of them.  An extremely accomplished actor, playwright and film director, he could stand on his own without “fame” or fortune.  However, fortune and fame does follow people who are very successful.  This is one of the payments for being able to do things that other people envy, admire or want to associate with.  Probably that is part of the reason we associate celebrity status with something desirable.  To become a celebrity means to become rich, famous and liked by millions.  We average people seldom see the downsides of celebrity status.  Thus, I am left to reflect on the curious juxtaposition of Jesus and Facebook.

If we can fast forward to Jesus of Nazareth to the 21st Century and imagine him having a Facebook site, how many followers would Jesus have today?  Let us assume for the sake of this hypothesis that Jesus was just starting out his ministry and was relatively unknown except for 12 rather flighty and fickle followers (AKA Disciples).  So Jesus puts up his Facebook site and starts posting parables and stories.  One story Jesus tells is as follows:  Matthew 18:23-34 — Unmerciful Servant

Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything.’  The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.”

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.  His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’  But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.  Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.” 

What is the moral of this story?  There are many that could be derived from this parable.  Love others as you are loved?  Do unto others as you would have done unto you?  What goes around comes around?  Share kindness not unkindness.  Jesus taught with the use of such parables and today he is the most famous person in history with more followers than even Donald Trump.  However, if Jesus were alive today would he get hits on his website by posting such parables?  Or would Jesus have to “get” with the times and become more contemporary?   Would he get himself executed again by the civil authorities for preaching discontent and unrest?  Would Jesus be a Republican or a Democrat?  Would he be a Liberal or a Conservative?  My mind reels with all the questions that this fantasy of a 21st Century Jesus holds for me.

I suppose I am losing you at this point.  My good friend Carrie Classon keeps her postings to 600 words and I am almost at 2000.  I am not sure I have made my point yet.  The moral I have been trying to explore here is “When does celebrity become hollow and mindless?”  There is fame that comes from accomplishing something of worth and value to the human race. There is also fame that comes from trivial meaningless endeavors or worse destroying lives and ideas that hold value for others.  One type of fame should be admired but the other type should be denigrated. Unfortunately, it looks like the media and too many people today do not distinguish between the two types of fame.  I see many news pundits who make their living preaching hate and intolerance and not love and kindness.  I see talk shows, radio and TV with mindless sycophants talking much but saying little.  I see a vast wasteland of entertainment with putdowns and innuendos making fun of other people.  I see millions of watchers who feel they must live their lives vicariously through others because they don’t have the ability or opportunity to do otherwise. Is this the value of Fame?

I conclude with a poem by Emily Dickenson: 

Fame is a Fickle Food

Fame is a fickle food

Upon a shifting plate

Whose table once a

Guest but not

The second time is set.

Whose crumbs the crows inspect

And with ironic caw

Flap past it to the Farmer’s Corn –

Men eat of it and die.

Ok, time for questions:

Are we too concerned with being popular?  Do you think more people should look inward or worry more about what others think?  Do you worry too much about what others think?  What if you cared less?  What would your life be like?  Can someone be too popular?  Should popularity be a goal for anyone?  Why or Why not?

 Life is just beginning.

 

 

Blundering Through Life

22 Apr 2013 10 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , ,

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to “fall” off the wagon but how hard to get back on again? Using myself as an example, I have fallen way off.  My goal is to write two blogs a week.  After getting the flu and then my recent tooth problems, I have not written a single blog in three or more weeks.  I kept trying to get back on but did not quite have the energy.  So today, I am going to get back on the wagon.  I feel mentally alert, healthier than I have in a month and anxious to put some of my thoughts into words.  I want to sally forth again spewing concepts and ideas that will have a profound impact on the world.  I can make the world a better place to live and I will start again today trying to accomplish that objective. 

However, where to start is a difficult question.  Heaven knows the last four weeks has seen plenty of issues to write about.  I am thinking of the politicians I would like to lambast, the crimes I would like to lament, the stupidity and greed that manifests itself daily and perhaps worst of all, the inane drivel that passes for news these days.  The media has become a ten ring circus with clowns, lawyers, politicians, private citizens, police, murderers, terrorists, reporters, Fox News people and everyone – citizen and non-citizen –  armed with a video camera anxious to have their 15 seconds of fame.  One ten ring story gets replaced by another and the media tears off on another rampage.  The airwaves will be filled with interviews ad-nauseam with past friends, current friends, future friends, relatives, lovers, teachers, and the ubiquitous “experts” from academia telling us why, when and how it happened. You will get this circus in 15 minute doses updated hourly and repeated no less than 45 times per day.  Each repetition of the media cycle will include: new hypotheses, new suppositions, new interpretations, new guesses, new conjectures and some really wild correlations that seem to come out of a twisted warped devious mind from hell.   I won’t bore you with any concrete examples since if you are reading this blog today; you have only to look at your local paper to see what I am talking about.  You want conspiracy theories?  There should be a section in the news for Conspiracy Theories based on little or no facts. 

Well, carping on the negative will only make you feel as bad as I do when I dwell on what poor Thomas Jefferson and Edward R. Morrow must be thinking about the Fourth Estate today.   The papers daily grind us with patriotism defined narrowly and of course only a characteristic of real Americans.  Almost anyone today challenging the status quo is liable to be labeled as a “Terrorist.”  It seems that most news media but particularly Fox News has forgotten that:

“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men – not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular”
― Edward R. Murrow

Anyone reading Fox News would wonder if they had ever heard of Edward R. Morrow or of due process or that the suspect is “innocent until proven guilty.” 

Well, now that I have got the media off my chest, let’s look at what the real problems in the world are and what we can do about them.  In 1925, Mohandas Gandhi published a list of seven problems that he called “social sins.”  They have also been referred to as the “Seven Blunders of the World.”  Gandhi called these blunders passive violence which he said fueled the active violence of crime, rebellion, and war.  He said, “We could work ’til doomsday to achieve peace and would get nowhere as long as we ignore passive violence in our world.”   Thus, these “blunders” or “social sins” are the underlying cause of all violence in the world.  His son Arun was given this list on their final day together.  Arun later added an eight “sin” to the list.

Here is the list of Gandhi’s seven plus one added by his son Arun:

I would like to spend my next eight blogs describing each of these sins and what we can do about them.   I realize that one could look at many other lists and perhaps make equal claim to their being the “root” of all evil. Primary among these other lists would be what some call “The Seven Cardinal Sins.”   

I certainly would not dispute the value of any of these other lists since the world can seldom be reduced to any one list whether it includes seven or seventy items.  In fact, I would love to hear any comments concerning the value of other lists or the potential contributions that other lists might make to the problems of the world.  Keep in mind we also have many lists of “positive” traits that are considered by some as essential for a peaceful world. Perhaps simply eliminating the negative will never be enough.  It is very likely that unless we work on developing positive attributes among people we will still come up short in the values that we want for a just and loving society.  However, as with all good journeys, you must start someplace and today I (Or at least in my next blog) I will start on Gandhi’s list of Seven Social Sins. 

Ok, time for questions:

What rules or principles do you have for living? What are the key mistakes that you think we make as human beings? How do you go about trying to live right ideas? What do you do when you fail? How many people do you know who practice a set of rules to live by?  How well do you follow your own rules?

Life is just beginning.

Management Secrets from the Iditarod.

19 Mar 2013 3 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Someone once said that “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”  Having been in management since 1970, I would add that “metaphors” are equally malignant when it comes to disseminating business advice.  No doubt you have read:

  • Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun,
  • Leadership Secrets of Jesus
  • Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell
  • Leadership Secrets of the Bible
  • Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham
  • Leadership Secrets of Hilary Clinton
  • Leadership Secrets of Abraham Lincoln

There are 392 books listed on Amazon.com wherein the phrase “Leadership Secrets” is part of the title.  You can even find “Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus” if you still believe in him or her.  Each of these books uses what I would phrase as a series of metaphoric devices to show you that the “Secrets” of whomever can readily be applied to modern management practice. With so many secrets extant, is it any wonder that managers are bewildered when it comes to understanding what good management practice is?  By the way, if “Secrets” are not your bag, then you should go to my next blog, which will cover the “Seven Attitudes of Killer Managers.”  No pun intended!

Well, this is your lucky day.  It just so happens I have a set of management “secrets” derived from a bunch of dogs.  No, I am not kidding!  In all sincerity, if you are still looking for a metaphor for your next HR meeting, here it is:  “Management Secrets from Iditarod.”  The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is one of the most grueling and difficult races in the world.  It traverses a distance of over 1100 miles over some of the roughest most desolate terrain in the world. It is run annually in early March from Anchorage to Nome. A Musher and a team of 16 dogs, of which at least 6 must be on the towline at the finish line, cover the distance in 9–15 days or more. Teams frequently race through blizzards causing whiteout conditions, sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds which can cause the wind chill to reach −100 °F (−73 °C).

The Iditarod race requires organization, training, recruitment, resources, preparation, strategy, stamina, and leadership.  While there are no products sold, endorsements play a major role in helping the teams finance their competition. Thus, branding and image play are key to a team recruiting backers who are willing to shell out at least $20,000 dollars to support the team.

While, I think many metaphors often strain the envelope of credibility, I think the Iditarod really offers an interesting insight into how a key resource in any organization should be recruited, selected and trained.  I stumbled upon this insight while reading USA Weekend from March 8-10, 2013. On page 2 was a short article called “You Can Do It To!”  This article was about Lance Mackey who has won the Iditarod Championship 4 times since 2007.  In 2007, Lance became the first person to win both the Yukon Quest and Iditarod in the same year. This feat was considered almost impossible by many and is considered one of the most impressive feats ever by a musher and he was nominated for a 2007 ESPY Award based on his performance.

Now here is the key part.  How does Lance treat his dogs?  Well, he could use the one of the tried and true management strategies such as:

  • Kick ass and take names.

Treat your employers coolly. Stay distant so they will respect you. Make them know who the boss is early on. Never fraternize with your employees or they will take you for granted.  Surround yourself with ass lickers and people who will never threaten your position.

  •  Hire the best and smartest guys in the room.

Remember Enron and Ken Lay?  This is talent management at its best. Only recruit MBA’s and only MBA’s from Harvard or MIT or Stanford.  Be sure you adequately screen your recruits for competitiveness and a Machiavellian attitude.  Beware any who took too many courses in ethics.

  •  Reward, reward, reward and incent with bonuses, stock options and perks.

Nothing works like the carrot. If you want to get the most out of your employees, you need to reward them and shower them with performance incentives. A good performance management system is key to getting the most out of your employees. We all know that a good employee works for the financial rewards and that if you want to increase productivity, you must increase financial incentives.

  •  Fire the bottom twenty percent, promote the top 10 percent and warn the other 70 percent that their jobs are on the line.

This is the well-known GE or Jack Welch method.  Just look at how successful GE was!  Indeed Jack Welch has been called one of the most successful managers of all time.  He has also been called a few other names which I won’t mention here. Needless to say, it is results that count and not how a few slackers feel when they get their pink slips.  Just keep on promoting the top ten percent and get rid of those do-nothings in the bottom twenty percent.  Those employees who are left will work so hard to keep their jobs, productivity will go through the roof.

So, DRUM ROLL!  Which method does Lance Mackey use with his dogs?  I will use his own words to describe his method and let you decide which category his strategy fits in.

Lance has a very simple attitude and method with his dogs. Speaking about his dogs, Lance says “We live in a barn together and hang out.  They are my best friends.”  He specifically states that he does not pick his dogs for speed or strength but for a good attitude, a willing appetite and cooperation.

How many managers do your know who could say that about their employees?  How many employees were selected for cooperation and attitude versus being the best and brightest?  How many managers hang out with their employees?  Lance’s strategies go against all the best management wisdom.  Lance truly has a relationship with each dog on his team.  His concern for his dog goes well beyond simply winning the race. He has said that his relationship with his team is more important than his winning.  When winning is the “only” thing, what does that do to our relationships with our employees?

I don’t want to make too much of this simple metaphor here. I suppose I could write a book called “Leadership Secrets of the Iditarod Dog Race” but I think there are enough “secrets” out there. My goal in writing this was to challenge some conventional thinking in respect to how we think employees need to be treated.  If dogs can be treated better than people are in most organizations, what does that say about our Human Resource practices?  Maybe we should start a new practice called DR for Dog Resources and start treating our employees as well as Lance treats his dogs.  Maybe then, productivity would pick up and the floggings could stop.

Ok, time for questions:

What will it take to change our paradigms for treating employees?  Are you friends with your employees? Do you believe it would be too dangerous to fratenize? What if you hung out with your employees? Are you afraid they would take you for granted?  What if you selected employees without regard to degrees and credentials?  Do you only promote the top ten percent?  How do you decide who the “bottom” ten percent is?  What if you eliminated your “Performance Management” system and instituted the Deming System of Management?  Do you know what Deming promoted? Do you realize that your current system is probably more Taylor and less Deming.

Life is just beginning.

My 10 Favorite Quotes for Living.

14 Mar 2013 3 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Some say, you can judge a person by their goals and the vision they have for the world.  Others say, you should judge a person by their actions and not their words.  I suggest we can judge a person by the aphorisms and thoughts that govern their behavior.  Each of us from the time we were born has been told stories and parables that have left their mark on our lives. Who we are is shaped by these stories and the indelible morals they have imprinted on our lives.  Often we only remember some short phrase or memorable quote from these tales but they continue to have an important impact on our lives long after we have forgotten the actual source or story they are derived from.

For my blog today, I am going to print my TOP TEN FAVORITE QUOTES of all time.  If you want to judge me, try using these as a means of determining who I am or perhaps who I aspire to be.  It may not be an easy task since these quotes are fairly diverse.  I am going to list them in no particular order of importance, but I will “annotate” each with my own interpretation of the meaning of the quote and of course, what it means to me.

  • A triumph of intellect but a tragic failure of reason. – Max Born

We allow ourselves to be seduced by technology into developing smart bombs, drones, spy satellites, stealth missiles, bunker busters and a host of “high tech” solutions to be deployed in pursuit of egregious goals and political mandates. We are perhaps cursed rather than blessed with brilliant people who can create such weapons that can then be given to IDIOTS who may just end up destroying the planet.  I seldom see science as the savior of humanity but simply as another thought system which can be useful but should not be treated as a god.

  • Survival is not compulsory – W. E. Deming

The famous quality guru, Dr. Deming often used this quote to answer queries concerning what would happen to stalwart companies like GM and Ford if they did not change their ways.  His nonchalant blasé attitude reflects an acceptance of the rise and fall of corporations basically through their own stupidity.  I often think of this quote when I am working with clients who are resistant to change and new ideas.

  • What doth it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his own soul? – Matthew

Perhaps the most famous quote from the gospels and one I have often thought is the most forgotten. We search for fame and fortune and greatness but at what cost?  When we die, what will we be remembered for.  In the new movie: Oz, The Great and Powerful, there is a line at the end where the Good Witch says to the Wizard, “it is better to be good than great.” This reminds me of the thought that says “What knowledge is there that is greater than kindness?”  We live in a world that seems to idolize fame and fortune and the outcome has been for us to create perhaps the greediest society in the history of the world. As great as America is, its greatness once stemmed from the Goodness of its beliefs concerning life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. America’s greatness did not come from an obsessive infatuation with wealth and fortune but instead from a pursuit of justice and equality. Somewhere along the line, we have lost our way and the “heart” of Christianity has been forgotten in a nation where most people pride themselves on being Christian.  Sitting Bull once commented about Christianity: “Sounds like a great religion but I don’t see anyone practicing it.” 

  • Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. – Santayana

If only our politicians believed this quote.  History is the most reviled subject in high schools across the nation and many of our leaders eschew studying the past as a waste of time.  Countless crisis from WW II to the present Afghan-Iraq debacle could have been avoided if only we had learned the lessons that history had to teach us.  In the Fog of War, the documentary of McNamara’s fiasco with Vietnam, there is a scene where the North Vietnam war leader Vo Nguyen Giap asks McNamara if he is stupid.  McNamara appears astounded at the question and Giap explains that if any American Leaders ever read the history of Vietnam they would have realized that the Vietnamese hated the Chinese more than they hated us.  There was little recognition that we faced a nationalistic insurgency and not a domino type take over by the Chinese. We continue to compound our mistakes today in the Mideast by failing to learn from the past.

  • I killed you because it’s my nature. – Panchatantra

This quote is from a famous fable that tells the story of a scorpion who hitches a ride from a skeptical frog across a small pond.  The frog at first will not give a ride to the scorpion for fear of being stung. But the scorpion assuages the fears of the frog by asking what good would it do to kill the frog when the scorpion would then drown.  The frog relents to this reasoning but is subsequently stung by the scorpion. When with his dying breath, the frog asks “Why?”; the scorpion replies because “It’s my nature.”

Sometimes we want to see things as we think they are or should be but life dictates character and choices to a far greater extent than our puny influences and efforts. It is wise to consider that as individuals we can have only so much impact on others and that people will act according to their own volitions and instincts and not our own fatuous expectations.

  • The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance when we are in the majority. — Ralph W. Sockman

When to be bold and when not to? The above quote provides a good guideline for action.  It is easy to be bold when in the majority but much more difficult when we appear surrounded on all sides by enemies or naysayers.  This is the time for courage. If you want to be a hero/heroine, then you should act when others around you are all against you.  It is much more difficult to be courageous when you are alone then when you are surrounded by a likeminded crowd.  Major General Smedley Butler, put his career and fame on the line when he came out against war.  All of the military were arrayed against his courageous anti-war position but it did not stop General Butler from condemning the war industry in the USA.

When you are in the majority, it is time to be tolerant.  When the lynch mobs are forming their nooses, when the crowd is screaming for intolerance to other religions, immigrants, minorities and other belief systems, this is the time to step out and demonstrate compassion for those in the minority.  Be brave and take the side of those who have no one to stand up for them or who are being persecuted on all sides.  Jesus spoke out against the majority when he said “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.”   

  • Life is but a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. – Shakespeare

I admit to a somewhat skeptical attitude with this quote. Nevertheless, life to me often seems senseless and unfathomable. When I think of the random crimes, stupid political decisions and incorrigible greed that surrounds us, I am left with the feeling that life is nothing more than a charade run by a few demented idiots.  I realize I can take myself too seriously and this quote often helps me to put my life into a perspective that is not all rose collared lenses. Nevertheless, I will continue to live as though life was full of meaning and purpose, if only the meaning and purpose I put on it for myself.

  • So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  – Matthew

The quote above is also attributed to Jesus from one of his famous gospel parables.  The man who tries to store up goods for the future arrives at his bed only to find he is going to die on the morrow.  Some have said “Live each day as though it will be your last but watch your money as though you would live forever.”  As with all wisdom, there is truth to both sides.  However, one who studies the major world religions will note that among all the great prophets, from Buddha, to Lao Tzu, to Jesus Christ to Osho, there is the recurring theme of the need to live in the present.  A rather less sensible version of this theme is the quote “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die.” As a guide to life, I think this quote is somewhat at the other end of the thought left us by Jesus on the need to live in the present. The prophets all want us to live the best we can each day while the latter thought is a guide to profligacy and irresponsibility.  To live in the present, is to take responsibility for our lives on a moment to moment basis and not to blame God, the President, the Pope or our parents for the life we are now choosing to live.  Only when I give up on life, will I succumb to the “eat, drink and be merry” dictum.

  • All models are wrong, some are useful. — George Box

A model is a conception or depiction of the world. We create computer models, scale models, construction models, ideological models and many other models to depict a future end state or goal we want to reach.  In all too many cases, we treat these models as though they were “perfect” depictions of reality. The opposite is the truth. No model was ever made or will ever be made, that can perfectly depict reality.  All our thoughts, belief systems and ideologies are flawed by a fundamental principle inherent in Box’s quote. Simply, that the world is more complex and multi-facted then anyone or any number of us can ever understand.  Add to these futile attempts to depict reality, the fact that the world is dynamic and constantly changing and you can understand why many of our plans go wrong.  We simply never have an accurate enough picture of the forces facing us to be 100 percent correct. Thus efforts at perfection must succumb to a simple pragmatism stated as “some are useful.”  Something can be useful without being perfect.  Most maps and guidance systems are useful even if flawed. The religions of the world may not be perfect but they serve a purpose in helping people live better more compassionate lives.

  • A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. —  Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote should form the basis of a set of new laws for all bureaucracies.  Craziness lies in doing the same thing and expecting different results.  The foolish bureaucrat thinks that if he/she follows all the rules and policies then everything will always work out fine. The bureaucrat thinks it is her job to guard all policies and procedures against changes or exceptions.  Exceptions cannot be made to the rules for anyone since this would violate the fundamental principle of all bureaucracies, namely: No exceptions under any circumstances for anyone, anywhere, anytime, anyplace or anyhow. 

The faceless bureaucrat is faceless so that she/he cannot be blamed for taking any responsibility. The bureaucrat lives in abject terror of responsibility and is relieved by the policies and procedures that enable them to avoid responsibility. “Don’t tell me your problems, don’t explain your situation, and don’t cry on my shoulder.  The law is the law.” The bureaucrat does not face any guilt or shame and can sleep peacefully at night knowing that they simply followed the rules.  The answer for me has simply been to break as many stupid idiotic rules as I can.  Too hell with rules and policies and procedures!  As Jesus said when healing on the Sabbath:  “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. – Mark.

 Ok, time for questions:

What are your favorite quotes? Why? How do these quotes influence your life?  Who are your role models? How do they influence your life? What stories do you tell your children and grandchildren? Why? If you had a different set of quotes how would your life be different?  What if you do not have any quotes? Why would this be?

Life is just beginning.

 

 

Is Youth Wasted on the Young? Or is Age Wasted on the Old?

12 Mar 2013 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Part of the title of this blog is a quote by George B. Shaw.  It is one of those simple “truths” we accept without much scrutiny.  We of the “older” generation like to use this phrase to blame and condemn the “younger” folks for the problems of the world.  Each generation that follows the next generation is somehow not quite up to the standards of the prior generation.  Thus, kids today are lazy and part of the “Entitlement” generation.  The Entitlement Generation (as all of us older folks know) want things easy and expect instant rewards without the hard work that characterized the efforts of their elders.   But what if the reverse was true?  What if “Age Was Wasted on the Old?”

Old people wasting their lives playing Pickle Ball, shooting endless rounds of golf and sitting around collecting retirement funds don’t really seem to add too much to the world.  Older people take up more of the health care dollars spent in this country.  Older people produce fewer new and innovative products.  Older people are more resistant to change and new ideas.  Older people are in a disproportionate number of accidents.  Older people are more fearful and become more and more conservative creating less willingness to adapt to needed changes in the political and economic environments.

So many older people, they just sit around all day long and they don’t get any exercise. Their muscles atrophy, and they lose their strength, their energy and vitality by inactivity. – Jack LaLanne

How are we going to pay for all the health care needs of the baby boom generation?  According to some reports, baby boomers will drain the Medicare Program and cause it to go bankrupt.

Between 2010 and 2040, median annual real out-of-pocket costs for Americans age 65 and older will more than double in constant 2008 dollars, from about $2,600 to about $6,200. Nearly 1 in 10 older adults will spend more than $14,000 per year on health care in 2040.

—Will Health Care Costs Bankrupt Aging Boomers?

 I suppose much of the problem of the “older” generation could be cured by the solution given in the movie Soylent Green?  I wonder how many of you remember this old movie starring Charlton Heston of Moses and NRA fame and Edward G. Robinson.  The 1973 film depicts an investigation into the murder of a wealthy businessman in a dystopian future suffering from pollution, overpopulation, depleted resources, poverty, dying oceans, and a hot climate due to the greenhouse effect.  Much of the population survives on processed food rations, including “Soylent Green”.   One might say looking at the list of future problems the denizens in this film faced that it was more than prophetic.  Pollution, global warming, depleted resources, poverty and dying oceans all echo headlines we see every day.

In this future, “old” folks are processed into a food staple called Soylent Green when they reach a certain age.  They then contribute to the health of the society in two ways:  Less use of resources when they are “terminated” and they “give back” as a tasty and nutritious food with all of the needed amino acids.   It is a wonder that none of our politicians today have glommed on this idea as a solution to the Medicare and health crisis facing this country.  I suppose it might have something to do with the lack of votes among the elderly this idea would generate for any politician bold enough to suggest it.  The political clout of the elderly and the AARP is probably only second to the political clout of the NRA and the pro-attack rifle crowd.  Maybe that’s why guns are growing in this country?  Too many baby boomers saw Soylent Green and want to be sure that no one turns them into green spinach.  My good friend told me last night that his gun group is frustrated because the gun stores are sold out of bullets and magazines.  He says you can’t find any useful items in the gun shops these days.  Is it all Obama’s fault for suggesting new gun laws?  Actually, with gun sales doing so well, I wonder if Obama is not actually on the payroll of Smith and Wesson.  Take a look at the following stock chart to see how well Smith and Wesson have been doing this past year:

chart[1]

Sorry, I digressed there a bit.  Let me return to the point.  We often blame others and fail to see the problems that we create.  The problems of today are blamed on a generation that was not even born when the etiology of these problems was first sown.  Problems we face today have their roots in decisions and choices made long before the Generation X’s or Generation Millennium’s were conceived.  The young have been reviled and blamed since the time of Socrates and probably even earlier.  We have a tendency to separate generations as though they were black and white and we ignore the overlaps and myriad nuances that culture, ethnicity and class play on the outcomes.  As a teacher who has been in middle schools, high schools and colleges all within the last 3 years, I can attest to the vast differences in the attitudes and preferences shown by students.  The diversity in this country is much greater than anything we have ever experienced in our 250 year history.  It is undoubtedly going to increase as the world becomes ever yet more mobile and fragmented.  Blaming the young and failure to see the young with anything other than a set of biased lens creates a dangerous illusion.  It leads to a failure to see the true sources and causes of the problems that are facing us today.  Only by accepting responsibility and acting as one nation, old and young can we solve the crises that come to each new generation.

Ok, time for questions:

Is age wasted on the Old?  Should growing old be saved for the young?  Do we grow too conservative as we age?  Are we too afraid of taking risks?  Do we blame everyone else except ourselves for the world’s problems?  How do we tap into the strengths of all generations to solve the problems of today?  How do we create a world that will be better for future generations?
Life is just beginning.

Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries