My Photo

July 2008

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
    1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31    
Blog powered by TypePad

Words to Live By

  • "There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. . . By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world, which remain unknown even to ourselves." Robert Louis Stevenson
  • "The wise man reads both books and life itself." Lin Yutang
  • "The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one's appreciation of fundamental things like home, love, and understanding companionship." Amelia Earhart
  • "Remember this lesson. History does not teach fatalism. There are moments when the will of a handful of free men breaks through determinism and opens up new roads. People get the history they deserve." Charles de Gaulle
  • "Be regular and orderly in your life, like a good bourgeois, so that you may be violent and original in your work." Gustave Flaubert
  • "There is not in all America a more dangerous trait than the deification of mere smartness unaccompanied by any sense of moral responsibility." Theodore Roosevelt
  • "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable." Helen Keller
  • "Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn't be done." Amelia Earhart
  • "Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace. The soul that knows it not, knows no release from little things; knows not the livid loneliness of fear, nor mountain heights, where bitter joy can hear the sound of wings. How can life grant us boon of living, compensate for dull gray ugliness and pregnant hate, unless we dare the soul's dominion? Each time we make a choice, we pay with courage to behold restless day and count it fair." Amelia Earhart
  • "One is happy as a result of one's own efforts, once one knows of the necessary ingredients of happiness--simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self-denial to a point, love of work, and, above all, a clear conscience. Happiness is no vague dream, of that I now feel certain." George Sand

July 28, 2008

Randy Pausch's Legacy, With Links

Pausch_2 The New York Times usefully brings together links of Professor Pausch's living legacy.

Has anyone ever made better use of their limited days on this earth?  He bequeaths tremendous lessons in living, service and leadership, for which we can all be thankful.

Friedman on T. Boone Pickens--From Texas to Tel Aviv

Tom Friedman is spot on in his analysis of the significance of T. Boone Pickens' move to support long-term national policy for advanced technology energy.

July 24, 2008

Good Read: 'Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age'

Gandhi_and_wsc Historian Arthur Herman has taken a powerful concept and turned it into an extraordinary book.

Gandhi and Churchill are titanic figures by any reckoning.  Each of them both altered history--and was forced to adjust to and in some cases accept historic changes they resisted.  Each illustrates the power that can be unleashed by an individual.  Each also illustrates the sometimes tragic limitations of human endeavor.

As a student of Gandhi, and having read literally hundreds of books on Churchill, I found myself enthralled with Herman's artistry and command of history.

This book is a must-read for anyone in, or aspiring to, leadership.  The lessons are applicable in any setting.

The book is a reminder that we should be able to admire historical figures of very different goals and accomplishments, finding our way to their common humanity and shared devotion to service.

T. Boone Pickens' Energy Plan Makes Progress

Pickens T. Boone Pickens is picking up where four decades of American presidents have let us down:  challenging the nation to take control of our destiny by bringing our scandalous, gluttonous dependence on foreign oil to an end.

His plan is a great stimulus to debate and action.

Pickens is also demonstrating a truism of 21st Century leadership: one can lead effectively outside of traditional positions of authority.  He may well set the agenda for a President McCain or President Obama on this threshold issues from which so much else flows.

July 17, 2008

Mandela's Leadership 'Rules'

Mandela_pensive Time has a fine piece by Rick Stengel on Nelson Mandela's leadership approach. Mandela offers so many lessons in leadership and life, that it's hard to know where to start or stop...

California's Getting Results in its Ongoing War on Talent, Thrift and Enterprise

California_republicWith the legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger reportedly close to agreement on a massive tax increase package, the Wall Street Journal has a fine editorial summarizing California's fiscal calamity.

[L]ast week Toyota announced it is canceling plans to build its new Prius hybrid at its plant in the San Francisco Bay area because of the high tax and regulatory costs. Adding to the humiliation is that Toyota will now take this investment and about 1,000 jobs to a more progressive and pro-business state: Mississippi.

There is already a reverse gold rush going on in California and the evidence points powerfully toward high tax rates as a culprit. Census Bureau data show that, from 1996-2005, 1.3 million more Americans left than came to California. And the people who are leaving are disproportionately those with higher incomes: the very targets the Democrats want to tax more.

The liberal fairy tale is that the rich "don't pay their fair share." The reality is that there's no state in the country more dependent on six- and seven-figure earners to pay its bills. Those with incomes of more than $100,000 pay 83% of the state's income taxes, and the richest 6,000 of the 38 million Californians pay $9 billion in taxes. Every time a rich person like Tiger Woods departs, the state fiscal problem deepens.

Lest other states become complacent, it's worth emphasizing that Arizona state government is currently running an operating deficit of similar magnitude to California on a percentage basis. Real spending has surged by almost a third in the past three years alone.

July 15, 2008

Global Business Network: Innovation Incubator

I was privileged to be a participant in an innovation workshop at the Global Business Network in San Francisco at the end of last week. Olaf Groth led a two-day brainstorming session for a sophisticated client. The value added by Olaf, as well as Peter Schwartz, Eamon Kelly and other GBN team members was extraordinary, and the group they assembled contributed a range of perspectives spanning various disciplines and generations.

Though one can never forecast with certainty, the capacity to discern scenarios--and apply history to better face the future--can be of immense value. All the more at this moment of tremendous global change and tumult.

July 09, 2008

Is it Time to Shift from Taxing Income to Taxing Consumption?

Eagle-eyed Stephen Moore has the latest figures on tax burden in the USA in the Wall Street Journal:

My contacts at the Treasury Department tell me that for the first time in decades, and perhaps ever, the richest 1% of tax filers will have paid more than 40% of the income tax burden. The top 50% will account for 97% of all federal income taxes, while the bottom 50% will have paid just 3%.

The Obama campaign has promised to increase tax revenues to dramatically to finance a range of new programs--including national health care--and claims that will not require any new taxes on people making under $250,000 in a year (although they have also proposed lifting the Social Security wage cap).

There's every reason to assume that raising taxes significantly on the most enterprising will have deleterious economic consequences--especially hitting the entrepreneurial, independent business sector.

Wouldn't it make more sense to tax consumption rather than income creation? If a billionaire creates more wealth, including saving and investment, we all benefit. On the other hand, consumption has fewer social benefits and may make much more sense to tax.

July 06, 2008

'Carbox' Liabilities for Corporate Boards and Officers?

Forbes catalogs the issues raised by the confluence of Sarbanes-Oxley regulatory regime with increased regulatory oversight of carbon footprints.

Bottom line: corporate boards and officers must factor carbon footprint into business planning--accompanied by effective disclosure to relevant stakeholders.

July 03, 2008

Maker of Matchbox Cars Now Has Greater Market Cap than GM

Gas_pump Bloomberg reports on General Motors' travails:

The company's current market value is smaller than that of Mattel Inc., maker of Matchbox cars, and a 10th of what it was in 2000. A Merrill Lynch analyst said yesterday that a GM "bankruptcy is not impossible if the market continues to deteriorate.''

Wow. The company that makes Hummers has a lower market cap than the company that makes Matchbox cars.

There might be a message in that, Mr. Wagoner. Ya think?!