Years ago when I worked for a trade association, the powers-that-be (?) insisted that the annual meeting begin with a prayer. This might have been harmless except for the fact that the prayer was never non-denominational - the prayer-giver always invoked the name of Jesus Christ.
I always complained about this, not because I'm not Christian, but because it was ignorant. We were not a Christian organization - why assume everyone else was? It was pretty simple to conclude that not everyone in the room believed in JC, much less in God, and to throw this prayer in their face was just plain bad business.
With this as a backdrop, over the past few years I've paid particular attention to businesses that show their religious and/or political colors. Of course, it's OK for a private business to do that, but it is also relentlessly dumb to offend potential customers.
My best contemporary example of this has to be those businesses who insist on showing Fox TV in their public areas. First, let's agree on what Fox TV is - a conservative, Republican-leaning broadcast network. Everyone knows this. Fox is to 'fair and balanced' journalism as 'The Beverly Hillbillies' is to a fair and balanced depiction of life in Beverly Hills.
So if a business has Fox on their TVs, one can safely assume they are conservative, Republican-leaning folks. That's fine, but that also tacitly means they don't care to have non-conformists as customers. At least that's what it means to me, and I'm happy to oblige them. It's crazy. Just put the TV on the Food Network or some other benign channel, and I won't think twice about patronizing your business.
Take this weekend, in which I spent time in a corporate tent at a golf outing. The Golf Channel was on every TV but one - which was on Fox. Now, I'm certain I was around a bunch of Republican-leaning folks, but to assume all of the clients there were of the same political/conservative bent is dumb. If people want the news, the can go somewhere else, or use their smart phones.
I don't know, maybe I'm making too much of this, but I think there is a lesson here for businesses: Don't assume everyone else believes the same things that you do.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Graduating Hangover of 2011
Over the past week, I've been planning and attending events related to a child's high school graduation. My observations:
* High school graduation is second only to weddings when it comes to transferring wealth from middle-aged people to the younger generation, roughly twenty dollars at a time.
* The graduation cermony is too long. In this age of technology, we still haven't come up with a better method than waiting an hour while hundreds of kids listen to speeches and then walk across a stage for a fleeting five seconds of attention? There has to be an app to speed this up.
* After attending multiple graduation parties with the same invited guests, it's a challege to come up with new discussion topics. Did we comment on college plans? Check. Food served? Check. Venue? Check. Well, let's go to the next party and do that again!
* When all is said and done, high school graduation equalizes things. Everybody has the same piece of parchment, the high school diploma, and the best student is effectively no better off than the worst. It's really a minor step for most. As I've often told my kids, only now will knowledge and effort really matter.
* High school graduation is second only to weddings when it comes to transferring wealth from middle-aged people to the younger generation, roughly twenty dollars at a time.
* The graduation cermony is too long. In this age of technology, we still haven't come up with a better method than waiting an hour while hundreds of kids listen to speeches and then walk across a stage for a fleeting five seconds of attention? There has to be an app to speed this up.
* After attending multiple graduation parties with the same invited guests, it's a challege to come up with new discussion topics. Did we comment on college plans? Check. Food served? Check. Venue? Check. Well, let's go to the next party and do that again!
* When all is said and done, high school graduation equalizes things. Everybody has the same piece of parchment, the high school diploma, and the best student is effectively no better off than the worst. It's really a minor step for most. As I've often told my kids, only now will knowledge and effort really matter.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Berky Meeting Nuggets
I've attended the Bershire Hathaway annual meeing in Omaha for roughly the past 15 years. It sounds boring, simply listening to Warren Buffett and his sidekick Charlie Munger answer shareholder questions for about 5 hours, but I find it to be one of the most entertaining and informative days of my year.
The 2011 meeting held on April 30th was one of the best I've been at in a long time. The questions were good, and the answers were even better. Here's a sample of some of the exchanges:
On commodities and gold:
Buffett said that if you collect all the gold in the world and melt it together, you could form a cube with 67 feet on each side. Here’s what you could do with it: “You could get a ladder and climb on top of it, you could fondle it, you could polish it, you could stare at it.” But his kicker was this: You can’t do anything with it. It has no inherent value. Buying into gold is betting that someone else will come along and pay more for it — who then is hoping that someone else will pay even more for it down the line. Then Munger added his two cents. “There’s something peculiar about an asset that will really only go up if the world really goes to hell,” he said. “I think you’d do better by buying our stock.”
On institutions as 'too big to fail':
Ultimately, Buffett believes in government intervention. But such a rescue must come at cost, perhaps by requiring directors to forfeit five years’ worth of fees, for instance. Munger said that a discussion of bubbles and crashes “isn’t one of evil, but of stupidity.” That said, he blamed unyielding devotion to theories of economics and other fields as a contributing factor.
On business schools in general:
Munger later again got to bash business schools and investment bankers. He couldn't recall Buffett having ever hired a graduate of such a school or a former banker. He noted that Berkshire doesn’t do exact financial projections or modeling, and that the company leaves a lot of wiggle room. Buffett cracked at bankers by saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a projection from an investment banker that doesn’t show everything going up. It’s like why you don’t ask a barber if you need a haircut.” Munger admonished current or incoming business school students to learn how to do financial projections the Berkshire way. But pay their teachers some lip service for the time being.
On growing up wealthy:
Buffett is well-known for not having showered his children with Berkshire riches, and for pledging most of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (Gates is a Berky director.) Buffett said that growing up rich could rob children of crucial drive and enterprise. And if a child of privilege grows up unproductive, it’s a matter of parenting. “If your kids grow up rich and without incentive, I don’t think you should point the finger at them,” he said. “You should point it at yourself.”
On his legacy:
When asked what he’d like to be known for in 100 years, Buffett responded: “old age.” Munger helpfully added that he thought Buffett would want to be known as “the oldest corpse I’ve ever seen.”
The 2011 meeting held on April 30th was one of the best I've been at in a long time. The questions were good, and the answers were even better. Here's a sample of some of the exchanges:
On commodities and gold:
Buffett said that if you collect all the gold in the world and melt it together, you could form a cube with 67 feet on each side. Here’s what you could do with it: “You could get a ladder and climb on top of it, you could fondle it, you could polish it, you could stare at it.” But his kicker was this: You can’t do anything with it. It has no inherent value. Buying into gold is betting that someone else will come along and pay more for it — who then is hoping that someone else will pay even more for it down the line. Then Munger added his two cents. “There’s something peculiar about an asset that will really only go up if the world really goes to hell,” he said. “I think you’d do better by buying our stock.”
On institutions as 'too big to fail':
Ultimately, Buffett believes in government intervention. But such a rescue must come at cost, perhaps by requiring directors to forfeit five years’ worth of fees, for instance. Munger said that a discussion of bubbles and crashes “isn’t one of evil, but of stupidity.” That said, he blamed unyielding devotion to theories of economics and other fields as a contributing factor.
On business schools in general:
Munger later again got to bash business schools and investment bankers. He couldn't recall Buffett having ever hired a graduate of such a school or a former banker. He noted that Berkshire doesn’t do exact financial projections or modeling, and that the company leaves a lot of wiggle room. Buffett cracked at bankers by saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a projection from an investment banker that doesn’t show everything going up. It’s like why you don’t ask a barber if you need a haircut.” Munger admonished current or incoming business school students to learn how to do financial projections the Berkshire way. But pay their teachers some lip service for the time being.
On growing up wealthy:
Buffett is well-known for not having showered his children with Berkshire riches, and for pledging most of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (Gates is a Berky director.) Buffett said that growing up rich could rob children of crucial drive and enterprise. And if a child of privilege grows up unproductive, it’s a matter of parenting. “If your kids grow up rich and without incentive, I don’t think you should point the finger at them,” he said. “You should point it at yourself.”
On his legacy:
When asked what he’d like to be known for in 100 years, Buffett responded: “old age.” Munger helpfully added that he thought Buffett would want to be known as “the oldest corpse I’ve ever seen.”
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Smart Phones, Dumb Users
Back when cells phones evolved into a device that one could easily carry around, I would shake my head at the self-important people I worked with who deemed it necessary to answer their phone no matter the situation. I worked at a trade association, for God's sake - I'm pretty sure there was no regulatory or lobbying emergency that couldn't wait.
With the advent of smart phones, things have not gotten better. Smart phones have now allowed people to show everyone in the room how important and busy they are, without even receiving a call. People are texting, emailing, checking social media sites, and attending to all sorts of other unnecessary tasks during meetings.
Some people use the excuse of "multi-tasking" to explain away their behavior. Gimme a break. The truth is, smart phones are a drug for self-important people addicted to making themselves appear they must be available 24/7.
Earth-to-all-self-important-people: There is a time and a place for using personal devices, and meetings are NOT one of those times. So, if you're one of those people who just must play with your smart phone (or iPad) while you're supposed to be listening, get over yourself and get back to work, you obnoxious technology jerk.
With the advent of smart phones, things have not gotten better. Smart phones have now allowed people to show everyone in the room how important and busy they are, without even receiving a call. People are texting, emailing, checking social media sites, and attending to all sorts of other unnecessary tasks during meetings.
Some people use the excuse of "multi-tasking" to explain away their behavior. Gimme a break. The truth is, smart phones are a drug for self-important people addicted to making themselves appear they must be available 24/7.
Earth-to-all-self-important-people: There is a time and a place for using personal devices, and meetings are NOT one of those times. So, if you're one of those people who just must play with your smart phone (or iPad) while you're supposed to be listening, get over yourself and get back to work, you obnoxious technology jerk.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Another Nonprofit Lie - Follow Up
A quick follow-up: The Des Moines Register did publish my letter to the editor mentioned in the last post, without edits. The on-line version allows for comments, of which there were only a few, and they all completely missed the point about how non-profits, especially taxpayer-funded ones, are poorly managed.
Those responses actually fit my profile of someone who would comment on-line to such letters - they must sit around a computer all day with nothing to do, thinking up new conspiracy theories and swatting away imaginary bugs.
Those responses actually fit my profile of someone who would comment on-line to such letters - they must sit around a computer all day with nothing to do, thinking up new conspiracy theories and swatting away imaginary bugs.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Another Nonprofit Lie
Below is the text of a Letter to the Editor I sent today to The Des Moines Register:
By increasing room and board fees at state universities by 3-5% (April 29 article, "Regents OK Room, Board Increases for Fall"), the Board of Regents cited inflation as the main reason. A similar excuse was used only a month ago to justify tuition hikes for next year.
Yet using our country's most recent core measure of inflation, the March 2011 Consumer Price Index, inflation has actually risen less than 3% in the past twelve months. And excluding food and energy costs, the CPI has risen only 1.2% since March 2010.
The fact is, inflation doesn't justify increasing fees by as much as 5%. No for-profit services organization would be able to survive in this economy by raising prices like that, so why should it be OK for a non-profit, taxpayer-subsidized organization to do so?
If we want to keep higher education affordable in Iowa, we need more intellectual honesty - not to mention budget accountability - from our state academic institutions and their governing body.
By increasing room and board fees at state universities by 3-5% (April 29 article, "Regents OK Room, Board Increases for Fall"), the Board of Regents cited inflation as the main reason. A similar excuse was used only a month ago to justify tuition hikes for next year.
Yet using our country's most recent core measure of inflation, the March 2011 Consumer Price Index, inflation has actually risen less than 3% in the past twelve months. And excluding food and energy costs, the CPI has risen only 1.2% since March 2010.
The fact is, inflation doesn't justify increasing fees by as much as 5%. No for-profit services organization would be able to survive in this economy by raising prices like that, so why should it be OK for a non-profit, taxpayer-subsidized organization to do so?
If we want to keep higher education affordable in Iowa, we need more intellectual honesty - not to mention budget accountability - from our state academic institutions and their governing body.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Best (Effing) Song Lyrics (Part VI)
When rap music - or as I call it, c-rap music - was trying to get a mainstream foothold in the 80s, it had acceptance problems related to both its subject matter and explicit 'lyrics' (if that's what you want to call them). Over time, mainstream rap has transformed into hip-hop, and the subject matter has been toned down, but the language generally hasn't.
Unfortunately, we're now seeing that language spill over into popular music. A recent look at the current top hits include two with the F-word in title. Not just buried somewhere in the lyrics, but in the often-repeated song title. In the words of the DeAndre Cole character on Saturday Night Live, What's up wit dat!?
Now for purposes of radio play, the F-words in these songs have been changed or eliminated. I've listened to both versions, and guess what - the song means the same thing! And it's not like these songs need some sort of urban edge to them for audience appeal, so why do this? Oh, that's right - because today it has to be more about the singer than the song, to help monetize the product.
Bob Dylan would be rolling over in his grave about this, if he was dead. As it is, he's lost too many brain cells to care. But before all of that, and before money mattered so much in music, he wrote some fantastic songs, with lyrics as meaningful today and when he wrote them in the 60s. Look at these lyrics from The Times They Are A-Changin' and you'll see they are still applicable. (Sadly, this might mean we haven't changed.)
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’
Unfortunately, we're now seeing that language spill over into popular music. A recent look at the current top hits include two with the F-word in title. Not just buried somewhere in the lyrics, but in the often-repeated song title. In the words of the DeAndre Cole character on Saturday Night Live, What's up wit dat!?
Now for purposes of radio play, the F-words in these songs have been changed or eliminated. I've listened to both versions, and guess what - the song means the same thing! And it's not like these songs need some sort of urban edge to them for audience appeal, so why do this? Oh, that's right - because today it has to be more about the singer than the song, to help monetize the product.
Bob Dylan would be rolling over in his grave about this, if he was dead. As it is, he's lost too many brain cells to care. But before all of that, and before money mattered so much in music, he wrote some fantastic songs, with lyrics as meaningful today and when he wrote them in the 60s. Look at these lyrics from The Times They Are A-Changin' and you'll see they are still applicable. (Sadly, this might mean we haven't changed.)
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)