Business Thoughts, Favorite Quotes, Personal & Nonsensical, Rants and Observations

I was embarrassed and mortified

===========

“Any negotiation has a limit.

Otherwise, war is irrelevant.”

―

Toba Beta

=================

“The trick to negotiation was to hold all the cards going in and, even if you didn’t, to try to look as though you did.”

―

Eoin Colfer

==================

Well.

I was embarrassed this week.

I was also mortified this week.

I have run companies.

I have managed large groups of people.

I have met some of the best CEO’s imaginable.

I have discussed large organization culture, behavior alignment and strategic positioning.

I have been involved in some fairly complex and contentious multi-million dollar business negotiations.

I have seen some bad … and mostly have seen some good.

But what I have seen , 99% of time, were crafty negotiators and solid negotiation skills where a ‘win’ was always sought and an understanding that the other side also needs some version of their ‘win’ in order to have both sides walk away from the table invested enough to insure an ongoing successful deal.

That said.

I was embarrassed to see how Donald J Trump showed an America, whose population mostly does not have my experiences, what ‘negotiating’ looked like.

I was mortified to think that America, who watched Donald J Trump as the healthcare ‘art of the deal’ negotiator, would start thinking that is how business is conducted at the C-level in business.

Frankly, after that performance I could see how any everyday schmuck sitting in some bar drinking a cold one could envision that everyday schmucks were negotiating and managing and leading the everyday large business direction.

I was embarrassed and mortified because this is not the way a real CEO negotiates and makes a deal.

I was embarrassed … and I imagine a shitload business people, better than I am, were also embarrassed.

While he showcased a laundry list of embarrassing attitudes with regard to how negotiating should occur, there were probably two aspects which were particularly heinous:

Carrot and stick.

As soon as I see these words I think “old school 70’s thinker.” It is this simplistic tripe which makes today’s CEO … well … puke. It suggests you can bribe through some false incentivizing or bully through some sense of ‘threatening.’

Today’s business people can see through the ‘incentivizing’ and realize that a bribe is a bribe and the ‘incentive’ is a short term salve at best. Short term is for short term thinkers. Good negotiators think short term behavior is lazy <as well as dangerous> and that short term wins have little to no value.

As for threats?

Today’s business people see it and say “fuck you.” Threats provide clarity and inspire clarity to the one threatened. In today’s world a threat empowers the one receiving the threat. Maybe

In the 70’s this may have worked <although I doubt it> but in today’s world this isn’t negotiating … it simplistic bluster.

Look.

You can be tough in making a deal but bullying is never a viable tactic.

You can compromise in making a deal but ‘bribing’ is a fool’s errand.

Words matter.

Words matter maybe more than almost anything else and to believe that a word is simply a word and that a meeting of the minds resides solely in the words said … is … well … the thinking of an idiot <if not a naïve idiot>.

===========

“We’re fascinated by the words–but where we meet is in the silence behind them.”

―

Ram Dass

============

Attention to <at least some> details.

Whew.

Let’s be clear.

When you become a leader you know you cannot know everything.

Let’s be clear.

When you become a leader you know you cannot delegate everything <including knowledge>.

And that is where good negotiating resides … in how you resolve those two things at the same time.

You hire departments head, division presidents and specialists to know more than you do on their responsibility. But you have to know enough about what they do and what their knowledge is in order to be able to negotiate not only decisions but to manage the people in negotiation, and the discussions that occur, effectively.

Delegating all detail is fraught with peril and will never … NEVER … translate well into effective negotiating.

But let me point out the three unintended consequences of not investing yourself into the details as a negotiator:

I care.

Without knowledge of details … well … it looks like you don’t care … or at least care as much as most of the other people around the negotiating table. Negotiating is always a dance between showing what you are negotiating is important but not so important that you could walk away. And that is where knowledge of detail gives you some breathing room with your attitude. Lots of detail shows lots of caring … which permits you to be … well … an asshole on occasion. You look like a competent asshole who actually cares about what is being negotiated. Without detail? You are just an asshole.

I am personally invested.

Without knowledge of details it looks like you are skating on the superficial surface of whatever needs to be done. Suffice it to say that if there is no personal investment in a negotiation it can only be about price <or result … not what makes up the result>. This is exactly like a value equation. Personal investment adds value to the negotiation … no investment … no value. And, yes, you can win a negotiation and actually have little or no value beyond “I won.”

I can negotiate fairly <without hollow promises>.

Without knowledge of details all you end up doing is saying what people want to hear, make promises you most likely have no right promising and ultimately … well … you cannot negotiate shit.

Negotiating is never about the win or the loss itself but rather the components of the win or loss. Negotiating is like building a big puzzle … and if you do not understand the pieces then the puzzle will never look right and often never gets completed.

Lastly.

What makes great negotiators great negotiators is consistent personal responsibility. That is at their core because great negotiations revolve around some semblance of trust — trust of each other with a win and trust of each other in loss. Great negotiators know that negotiating is not a transactional career … it is an ongoing resume of activity. The chain of activity <and the value you have earned as a negotiator> is broken the moment the negotiator doesn’t assume personal responsibility for the good & the bad.

Donald J Trump solidified my embarrassment last Friday when he said … “I would love to see it <Affordable Healthcare> do well, but it can’t.”

Donald J Trump is basically suggesting he is willing to fuck America.

Great negotiators don’t take their ball and go home if they lose. Rarely is a negotiation the final word on anything. And it is certainly not the final act in the negotiated play.

The Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges in some states <with higher prices, insufficient insurer options & high deductibles> are quite fixable with some fairly easy specific tactics.

In fact … both the Obama administration and the Clinton campaign proposed a slate of improvements <some of which Republicans actually like> to alleviate some of the affordability issues.

This would suggest “it can.”

And this would also suggest that of a negotiator said “it can’t” then … well … they were either not negotiating or they shouldn’t have been involved in the negotiation.

Oh.

And if Donald J Trump was actually a good negotiator he would already know that the bill he was “100% supporting” actually has some of these components within it.

I was embarrassed by the so called ‘negotiating’ and the ‘art of the deal’ ineptness. I have read the Art of the Deal and it is like The Secret <another heinous excuse of a life/business guidance book> for negotiating – scraps of good ideas typically amplified into some tritisms and the rest bullshit.

………. mortified and embarrassed by Trump so-called negotiating ………

I was embarrassed as a business guy watching a business guy being so inept at a moment in which we demand competency.

And I am now mortified that our so-called President & negotiator ‘par excellence’ would not want to proactively help Americans.

To be clear <attention Donald J Trump> … our national health plan is no long Obamacare … it is simply our health insurance system <of which he is responsible for>.

You know.

I believe in some hybrid version of universal healthcare in America <a hybrid system because America is not Europe and we have always created a solid capitalistic-socially beneficial system when driven to do so>.

I do so not because I am European, a bleeding heart liberal, a socialist or even because I believe it is the right of everyone to have healthcare but rather because I have run a company.

A healthy employee base is happier, shows up more often <less absenteeism>, is more energetic and, ultimately, more productive.

I have to envision the same logic applies to a citizenry <and add in the component that a healthier unemployed base is more likely to become employed … and a healthier poverty base is more likely to get out of poverty>.

Yes. These are not empathetic reasons … these are pragmatic reasons. These aren’t some simplistic “insurance will be cheaper and everyone will have it and we will not let people die on the streets” type reasons. This is about opportunity, equality and productivity. This is about maximizing the productivity of America.

It would seem to me that our so-called business President would recognize that all his job promises and economic growth promises and even his empty promises to the poor and inner cities would be more likely to succeed and the people able to contribute if they were happy and healthy.

Our current health care plan is far from perfect … but fixable.

Our current President is even farther from perfect … and I am not sure he is fixable.

All I really know is that this past week what America saw as “how great negotiating is done” is not how 99% of senior business people negotiate. It is much better than that.

It was embarrassing to watch.

======

Postscript:

While I do not support a full ‘repeal & replace’ option I do understand what the true supporters <the ones who want to create a policy not simply make a political point> desire. If I were a business president who actually liked winning and proof of results here is what I would have done:

I would have shown everyone my desired end state of the market, services provided and what people would have.
I would have then made a full repeal of Affordable Healthcare Act. 100%. Immediate. Now.
I would have created a 2 year transition plan to show how I would bridge where we are now and where we want to go and insure people would not be ‘left behind’ but offered a path across the bridge.
I would have created all the backroom deals with the insurance companies and laws to insure everyone knew the rules of engagement and rules of desired results <and shred some of that with the people so that insurance companies also assumed some responsibility>.
I would have stated that my plan was to have everyone off that bridge in two years, and in the 4^th year of my administration we would report on the state of the market, state of the services provided and a report card on how well insurance companies had fulfilled their responsibilities to the people.

<but that’s me … just a business guy who hates this idea>

15% or so said it affected them negatively, 20 million Americans gained insurance under the Affordable Care Act, 30 days for something like this is insane, 37 seconds well used is a lifetime, 49% predicted 2015 will be better, 50% of people have also said Obamacare didn’t affect them in any way, 71% of those surveyed were dissatisfied with the way things are going in USA, 99% of time, a better future, a bleeding heart liberal, a bureaucratic elite which believes our Constitution, a certain pride in uncovering solutions to the complex lives we have created for ourselves, a challenging reality, a discussion of ideas and not ideology, a final objective, a finished work, a fool seeks answers, A fool will always come calling, a full life, a good expectation, a healthy perspective, a human defect or a flaw, a little inaccurate to say I hate everything, a little sacrifice from everyone, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions, a political system which, a resting place, a semi utopian belief, a severe shortcoming, a shitload business people, a socialist, a superior consistent functional delivery person, a surprisingly movable target, a turning point in our history, a wrong perception, abandoned like an orphan without support, ability to repair her faults, ability to think critically and to communicate, about choices, absolutely enchanting, abstract concepts rather than on human beings, absurd level, absurd level of hope & expectations, accept life unconditionally, accomplish far more than I had ever hoped, accustomed to thinking of learning as good in and of itself, act with unflinching certainty in Life, action and consequences, actions today make who i am tomorrow, adapt, advice, Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces have struggled to attract health insurers, alignment, all the COMPLICATED SHIT YOU WANT TO COMPLICATE THIS WITH, allowing the movement to communicate and educate constantly, always that fanatical few who wear the brand, amalgamation of imperfections and flaws, amazingly difficult in between, america dreams shattered, America has always been defined by a combination idealism and materialism, America is and always has been a restless nation, America is moving around and a lot, America is moving around and a lot but is stagnant, America is no better than any other country, america repairing it’s faults, America typically lashes out when it happens, america's faults, America's health care system is neither healthy, American health care, American healthcare, American healthcare is getting quite tiring, Americans have a long history of worrying about their decline, Americas long term success in self renewal, America’s character, America’s foreign policy in a state of collapse, an imperfectly lovely lady, an inevitable Life truth, An informed patriotism is what we want, an inner fool who wants to enjoy Life, an unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing, and a shared social experience, and as a society, and consensus-building, and exclusive privileges, and faith in the future of this nation, and innovative economy, and its own propaganda apparatus, and love is more important than law, and marketing mechanisms for movement members, and not the things they want, and otherwise linked members into fun, and our faith in God, and talent, and that’s got to change, and then we can change our course, and to advance the quality of our American civilization, anger, angst driven internal churning, ANOTHER body representing another form of government, answers centered around delivering on the functional need, Any business person with half a brain, Any negotiation has a limit, anyone but the government and politics, apparently include the value of communities, appreciate the things of the body are important, architects of a greater society, architects of fate, aren’t just competing against those you think you are competing against, art of the deal ineptness, as doctors, as I stare on and on into the past, as I stare on and on into the past in the end you emerge, as judges, as parents, as you re-look at them you wonder, assuming responsibility for all aspects of who you are, astonish people, astonishing in their perceptiveness and sophistication, at one time it was exactly what you wanted, attacking doubt, attitude of respect & integrity & listening, attitude toward life, authentic human empathy, bad enough not getting what you want, balance, balanced and a fair approach that demands sacrifice, balancing individuality and integrating, Be competent for what they need done, be like you and make a difference, be prepared, Be prepared to be disappointed, be the best version of who they can be, be to simply eliminate programs, be transforming, be true to thineself, be true to thineself regardless of the repercussions, be who you are, be yourself, be yourself despite what anyone tells you, be yourself is important, beautiful people, beautifully unnoticed, beauty because she embraced, because America has no choice but to do better, because morals are more important than ethics, because that feeling NEVER goes away, become an extremely valuable employee, become more enlightened, been asked a lot for my view on American health care, Before you slit your wrists be aware of this interviewing truth, behavior, behavior alignment and strategic positioning, behavior in new economic world, behavior of someone who is not loyal to me, behoove the citizens of America to think, being a contrarian, being an enlightened person, being an enlightened thinker, being comfortable, being contrarian, being different for different sake, being distinct, being enlightened, Being exceptional is a very dangerous game, being good at something, being honest to yourself, Being informed means a higher likelihood, being interesting and relevant, being loyal, being soft in business, being successful has always been about doing the hard things, being the best we can be, being visible and not being ignored to an absurd level, being visible but ignored is a lesson, being yourself, being yourself can be difficult, Being yourself is not stagnant, being yourself part 2 and mockingbirds, believable plan for robust job creation in America, believed in something called progress, best serve the needs of the market, best solutions are often the ideas that are immediately obvious, better than every other country, bitch and we moan and we point fingers, blatant stereotyping, blend of her style and her demeanor, Both scenarios suck, Both situations suck, brand does not meet use expectations, brand loyalty, brand loyalty in terms of absolutes, brands are not indispensable, brilliant in simplicity, build our expectations, builders versus renovators, building a culture, bullshit about depth of loyalty, bullshit thinking, business, business and Life, business career destined for failure, business environment, business environment a little less painful, Business Thoughts, business truth typically lies somewhere in between, business version of was this not what you wanted, but better, but by what one owns, but is stagnant, But loyalty is about value, but only one way of standing still, but we appreciate also that things of the soul are immeasurably, buy as soon as possible, call that Life’s shit, called the Pygmalion Effect, called upon unbounded invention, can be a question, can iran manage it’s own issues, can lead a man to Congress, Candidates don't have to deal with reality, cannot be built in isolation, cannot buy long term behavior, cannot go backwards, capacity to love, capacity to love cannot be built in isolation, capitalism and morals, capitalism communism, career, Caring, caring and ethical individuals, certain group of people have deigned to anoint, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change in attitude aligned, change is easier if you simplify, change takes remarkable effort, change will come, change will come to america, changed behavior, changing objectives to make change, character, charm, check in with the rest of the world, Chemistry ain't created, chemistry is valuable, china economy, choices, choices leading to full life, choices to do the right thing, choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility, choices we make or do not make, choose ALL politicians by popular vote, choose the decisionmakers who work with a president, choosing the best leader that can be found, clear away the residue of immorality and greed and untruth, clear leadership, close-knit communities, colleges, combination of classy accessibleness, commencement speeches, committed, committed to showing up everyday, communication, communism embracing capitalism, communism in the 1900s, competency, competency driven, competent means average, competing against expectations being set by other companies, complexity equals value, Complexity is a destructive path, complexity often hides within some bright shiny object, Confidence in the future has supported everything else, confused on what to prepare, congress haggled over the plan itself, conservers of the routine, considering compromise as effective in governing, Consistent delivery at work is, constantly seeking the right questions, constantly teetering between good performance and bad performance, consumers are complicated, content matching value proposition, continually impart the inherent value of human beings, contrarian, Contrarians need to stick together, core of what enlightened conflict is, could get away with not performing at its peak, country geography, country mortality, couple steps back to take the steps forward, courage and faith, courage doesn’t always roar, courage is about resiliency, craft and shape the sort of human being they will become, creates an angst driven internal churning, creating positive touchpoints, creating some nebulous want objective, creation means destroying something, Creative Destruction is all about how the small constantly, creativity, creativity overcomes clutter, creativity process, credibility, crisis of confidence, crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will, crisscrossing between business and Life, critical thinking, crushed by doubt, curiosity touching his own nature, current system is flawed, Cut off election financial aid, daily work life would be more efficient, Deal loyalty is NOT brand loyalty, dealing with adversity, dealing with everyday life, debate, debate over healthcare, decades before ObamaCare, decision making, decline of America, deliver upon expectations, delivering stupid shit, delivering stupid shit that doesn't help the situation, democracy broken, democracy in america, democratic uprisings, depression versus recession, deprived of a reasonable opportunity to speak and be heard, depth of character to face everyday life, desire for wealth is healthy to a growing society, desired actual delivery, desperation makes people vulnerable, destroying the personal baggage you carry, develop a personal brand seems like a crazy decision, dialogue, diametrically opposed on the direction of the country, didn’t experience full transparency of the best, didn’t particularly like any of her movies, Different, differentiation, discerning the important from the unimportant, disciplined chaos, discovery, discovery is messy, discussed large organization culture, disgust with politics and politicians, dislike the suggestion I can actually buy loyalty, disliked the whole ‘love yourself first & foremost, Dissent from the indifference, Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government, distinctive in the developed world, do demand politicians that seek solutions that reward, do not accept that a child dies every three seconds simply because he does not have, do not fear the event, do not have any simple trite expert advice, do nothing is not an option, do whatever you need to do, do you fit into culture and team, does have a nasty habit, does not become more valuable because it becomes complicated, doesn't help the situation, doesn’t insult me with superficial promises, doesn’t insult the intelligence of any and all people, doing & saying things just to be visible, doing anything of value, doing the best you can, doing the right thing, doing the right thing is hard, doing what is right, doing what someone wants is a perilous path in business, don't be fooled by these fanatical few, don't care how you prove that, Don’t give them what you think they want, don’t go changing, don’t go changing’ tripe, Don’t ignore it but manage it, don’t like it when politicians, don’t like it when politicians use hyperbole, don’t really wonder a shitload about the answer, don’t throw everything out, don’t want the president to be an economist, don’t waste energy trying to control what you can’t, don’t worry about people stealing an idea, double speak, double speak is bullshit, doubt, down is down, down sales can never be up, dreaming is not just for kids, drive message virality, driven by an inherent belief that everything can be better, dropped from any healthcare survey, each moment matters, easier to quit, economic center of gravity, economic inequality, economy, economy and virtue, edging our way into a presidential election cycle, education, ee cummings, effect of recession, Effective and positive visibility is a combination, Either way, elegantly lovely, eliminating the unimportant, embarrassed to see how Donald J Trump showed an America, embellishment, embrace some aspects and let go of others, Embrace your complexity, embracing failure, embracing your individuality is not silly, emotional, emotional things attached to the functional, Emotional traditions are the strongest links to indispensable, encouraged not only to be outstanding scholars, encouraging ongoing loyalty, end up being invisible, end up being invisible in the world, energetic, energy, engagement, enlightened ambition, enlightened america, enlightened attitude, enlightened behavior, enlightened business thinking, enlightened business truth, enlightened business wisdom, enlightened conflict, enlightened decisions, enlightened every day Life, enlightened freedom, enlightened future, enlightened government, enlightened healthcare, enlightened life, enlightened life management, enlightened living, enlightened looking, enlightened people, enlightened quotes, enlightened reading, enlightened teaching, enlightened thinking, enlightened truth, enlightened world, enlightening read, enlightening reading, enlightening yourself, entitlement economics, Equal emotional engagement, Equality of talents, erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening, esteem and happiness, ethical content of their national dream, ethical reasoning, even if the status quo is good & right, even if you didn't, even the world, events are meant to be commanded not feared, ever wonder what life looks like through, every man is equally entitled to protection by law, every one is an architect of life, every one plays a role in fate, everyone expects everyone else to be, everyone should be wealthier than they are, everything to do with smart business development, Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life, evolution back into the private competitive sector, excellent mimickers, expansion of society and progress, expectations, Expectations are truly tricky things, expectations as an economy, Expectations challenge the status quo, Expectations must always pass the test of reality, experience, external validation versus internal driven, external versus internal, exude character, exuded elegance, facing overwhelming responsibilities, failure is a reflection of a flaw, failure of imagination, faith in oneself, faith in our ability to govern ourselves, Fame has a tendency to warp perspective, fascinated by the words, favorite story I have ever heard about Hepburn, fear, fear less than perfection, fear of choices, fear saps energy, fearlessness, feel them, ferociously independent, fewer Americans are skipping doctors’ visits than before, fight the hardest battle to be yourself, find an excuse to not do what is best, find self-value in problem solivng, finding what is possible from impossible, finding you're exactly the same, finding your way is tough, First of all, fitting in, fitting in sends a shiver up my spine, five dirty secrets about the economy we’re not supposed to know, fix Americans attitude, fixes are possible by removing some key impediments, fixing america in terms of repairing our faults, Fixing America Part 1, fixing america repair faults, fixing the U.S. economy isn’t impossible, flame inside, flawed is challenging, flawed is interesting, flaws in our utopian dream, flaws wrapped up in what appeared to be, fluffy power of positive thinking, Focus on simplicity, focus on the core message, focused and energetically purposeful, following orders could never be perilous, foolish to believe, foolish to believe that someone will be what you imagine them to be, fooliswhat you imagine them to be, for better or worse, for what you think you want, forever ineligible to any public office of trust, formed bands and singing groups, fragmentation exacerbates the politic playing field issues, free speech, freedom of enterprise, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, fresh thinking if sales are down, friendship, from an economic & success standpoint, frozen in inaction because of all the debate and politics, frozen in inaction because of all the politics, fruits of superior industry, fumble through and make decisions, functional, Functional indispensables, fundamental and intrinsic part of everything we teach, gain some new identity aspects, general cynicism, general feeling that you could be doing better, generates a sinking feeling, generation of measurement, generations, generations changing behavior, geopolitical wars, get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture, get more money from loyal customers, get off their government big brother high horse, getting a grip on life, getting a new start means destroying some old things, give consumers a choice, giving others the things they need, global economic superiority, global unrest, goal of education here is not so much the mastery of subject matter, gobs of articles & pundits yapping, good mixture of defects, good people, government, government imbalance, gratuities, greatest impediments to effectiveness are the slogans, greatness of America, grew up in a different America, growing up is tough, had to stop and think, happened to me without my ever seeking it, happiness & actualization, hard choices, hard decisions, has a high list of expectations, have a choice which helps define who, have a number of problems in the country all quite solvable, have and have nots, have been loved and are loved, have faith in each other, have no expectations and you live in the now, have to promote your accomplishments, haven’t become a joke, haves, haves versus have-nots, having a desire to add complexity to a beautiful simple idea has nothing to do with the idea but rather with the person, having a personal defect, head over heel in like with my brand, head over heels in like, head over heels in like brand, Health care in 2017 from a business perspective, health(s)care, healthcare, healthcare and the Affordable Healthcare Act, healthcare going into 2008 was shit, healthcare ‘art of the deal’ negotiator, heated debate over healthcare, held festivals, hell of a responsibility, hell of a responsibility to being yourself, helps you envision and clarify what you want, here is no such thing as work-life balance, here is what I want is very wrong, hich allows politicians to lay out a maximum, highlight the crossroads where, his ideas were the wrong ones, history, honest branding, honest with themselves, hope, hope there is a better future, hospitals, how Americans define their personal aspirations, how any everyday schmuck sitting, how they express themselves, how to act and what I was supposed to do, how to build loyalty and maximize profitability, hrive on saying everyone should be a success, human costs of a narrow destructive economic rationality, Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, humble elegance, humility and elegance, hybrid version of universal healthcare in America, hyperconsumption, I am what I am, I didn’t meet expectations, I didn’t need you to think on this one, I don’t understand why people see me as beautiful, I fail, I hear sell sell sell, I think everybody can agree that politicians are crooks, I think I would have liked to have met, I was embarrassed and mortified, I wish I would have written this, I won’t change, ideas, identifying who you are, if Donald J Trump was actually a good negotiator, If everything was always consistent, if i only had time, If only it were all this simple, if personal branding brings people into the funnel, If you are honest with yourself, if you let Life squeeze it too hard, ignorance, ignore context, imagination, immigration, impact of recession, impart some wisdom, imperfect perfectness, imperfection implies opinion, Imperfections well accepted, Imperfections well accepted beome perfections, imperfections well embraced, imperfections when embraced exude character, imperfectly lovely, implying that the goal of education is to stuff all kinds of facts, important notions of societal relevance, in an interview you are a person not a brand, in business, in learning how to be a nobody, in that wretched hollow you are guessing, in the end you emerge, in the midst of a genuine marketing revolution, inaction, income inequality, inconsistency is good in this case, indispensable, indispensable to me is arrogant, individuality, influence of one person, influence of one person’s expectations on another, Informed citizenry, Informed patriotism, infrastructure, infrastructure the envy of the world, initial program ain't gonna be perfect, innocence, innovation is impossible to budget, Input being something we hear, inside with somebody else’s outside, inspire to act, inspiring words, instinctively complicates life, Insurance companies have been forced to provide you benefits, insurance companies in my judgment are determined to protect their profits, intelligent society in which a productive, intent to build loyalty, intentions, intertwine it in a positive way into the lives of people, interviewing is stressful, interviewing lingo, invest more energy & focus on you, Invisibility is isolation, iran, iran sanctions, is that we all have choices, Is that what you want, Issues in congress and leadership and alignment, it has become uncool to do simple things in business, it is okay to fail, it is tough but how tough, it isn’t process it is the work, It takes courage to be good at simple, It will have been enough, it would be a good idea, its economy ailing, its foothold within our government, its own pressure groups, its own vested interests, janis joplin, journey from strength to weakness, judging failure needs context, just a business guy who hates this idea, Just be careful as you do so, just needed you to do what I told you to do, just some wackjobs that everyone recognized as completely bonkers, just this once, keenly aware of America’s faults, keenly aware of america’s flaws, key issues from a business perspective, kindness in words creates confidence, kiss of death for an employee, know the gig on your competency, know what they want, knowing what is right is not enough, lack of knowledge and misinformation, lack of self confidence, lacking hope, lacking sophistication or good sense and intelligence, laid by strictly legal means, largely the result of actions and decisions by educated people, laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, lead a man to Congress but you can't make him think, Leaders get paid to make good decisions not deliver bad promises, leadership, learning, learning as good in and of itself, learning to do the right thing, left free, less than thinkingly, lessons, let the chips fall as they may, letting go is difficult, letting go is not simple, level of civility constant, level of civility in developed world, lies, lies a mistaken idea of freedom, life, life as a renovator, Life cannot be planned in a way that is fool proof, life compass, life is a winding road, life is complex, Life is inherently inconsistent, life is tough, life lessons, Life truths, Life version, Life version of was this not what you wanted, Life's in between, like Christmas for politicians, like thinking big, like to work and feel better when they are working, likely the most valued attribute an employee can offer, little failures versus big failures, live up to your potential, lived up to the bar of expectations, living life backwards but still question, living with grace, look at yourself, Looking for a way out of this crisis, loss of a unity of purpose for our nation, loss of these values breeds loneliness and boredom and indifference, Lost Ground, lost sight of what a brand really is, lot of noise from people, lots of brand moving parts, love yourself, lover’s quarrel with the country today, lower expectations we make less of an effort, loyalty brands, loyalty brands … and … well … loyalty, Loyalty experts would be lining up to begin advocating, Loyalty in general is an interesting topic, loyalty is about value not sales, loyalty is not something really earned, loyalty to a company, Luca Dotti words, made the necessary adjustments in real time, main peril resides in the fact, main things politicians do is tap into the contradiction, maintain your individuality, majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years, majority of people are not destitute, make decisions that allow us to sleep at night, make my head spin, make people do the things that insure a better society, make some adjustments and move on, make sure you are not ignored, make themselves look indispensable, making brands indispensable, making changes personally, making choices, making shit is good, making the hard choice, making the simple complicated, Making yourself visible by being yourself, managed large groups of people, management, Managers are humans too, managing perceptions, managing regrets, many economists, many times they unthinkingly, marketing, Marketing bullshit, mass ignorance, mastery of one’s own person, Maturity & Sense of Entitlement, maybe it is better to admit we failed at something, McTague Thoughts on the Healthcare Debate, measured in moments and not lifetimes, Meet or exceed expectations, messages and truth, messaging, middle east, middle east is complex, Mind boggling because there are actuarial models, minorities, miss the simplicity in life, missing an opportunity, mistakes, mistakes shape expectations as much as successes do, mixed between business and Life, moral compass and doing the right thing, moral fiber, morals are more important than ethics, more and more we’ve come to expect less and less of each other, more hopeful than reality suggests, mortified that our so-called President & negotiator, Most companies aren't seeking clones, most people cannot recognize simple solutions, Most people really don’t change that much, most significant declines in loyalty were primarily due to, most things in life are not black or white, motivated by a desire to achieve, movement grounded in labor and tasks, mr. magorium wisdom, much easier to be somebody else, musician William Fitzsimmons, must have faith in each other, my most complex on simplicity, nation that was proud of hard work, natural coexisting conflict sparked greatness, need politicians to quit diminishing and start building, NEED them to shape, need to fix in how they conduct their business, need to sustain esteem, negotiation has a limit, negotiations, neither party is ever more than a recession, network of cooperative enterprises to provide capital, never as fast as hasty Americans ever want, never compare your inside, never dwelled on the imperfections Life dealt her, never expected it to do anything special for me, never like to waste time under normal circumstances, never talked about how hard she worked, next batch of world changers to the world, next moment is even easier to not do the right thing, nice attitude editorial on top of specific fixes, no clue what to expect, no easy steps in middle east, no formulas nor are there any checklists, no longer just judged against other products and services, No matter how cynical you are, no one actually tells you that you are a joke, no one believes in simplicity anymore, no one else will love you, no one says you failed any more, nor a system, not a recipe for educated leadership, not a single sound at the end of my performances, not all customers are created equal, not because they are stupid but because they are politicians, not being ignored, not driven by stupidity, not even mean judging yourself through society's eyes, not false claims and evasiveness and politics as usual, not getting us anywhere, not healthy for democracy, not how 99% of senior business people negotiate, not in being more enlightened than any other nation, not many good feelings get tied to this phrase, not more valuable because complicated, not motivated to reach for unattainable shit, not only expect people to be like us, not only look at the world, not only the world a little differently, not superlative buzzword lingo, not the result of ignorant people, not the result of work by ignorant people, Not the sadness, not the way a real CEO negotiates, nothing is Indispensable, nothing is original, nothing lasts forever, odds of us making as many mistakes as we do now would decrease, of education, of paramount importance in education, often plans of action, often requires finding common ground with Americans who have a different vision than your own, oing the wrong thing is better than doing nothing, old school 70’s thinker, older generations are getting more online savvy, on every measure America is still peerless, on the tip of my tongue, once and for all who you are, one foot in history one foot in future, one mistake away, one of the most unequal of societies, one of the smartest simplest things I have ever written, only about 50% of people, only few find the way, only offers a choice between the Democrats and the Republicans, only way to not be ignored, ontinually teach crosscultural communication skills, ook inside rather than without type of guy, operating WITHIN our government and political system, opportunity and progress, opportunity to realign reality, optomism versus pessimism, optomistically cynical, or foreign-policy catastrophe away, or of wealth cannot be produced by human institutions, or the people, ordinary life with extraordinary responsibilities, ordinary people don’t think they are remarkable, organizations, original ideas, original ideas are typically nuances of existing, ot because I am European, Our blindness to the difference between need and want is sometime stunning, our minds create, our people have turned to the Federal government and found it, our situation is not the result of ignorant people, our version of best version, Output being something we say, Outwardly we have a Constitutional government, over-muscled giant with a pea-brain for partnerships, own up to them, painfully visible, parallel those of Zbigniew Brzezinski, Paralysis precludes the adoption of needed remedies, Paris 1919, parks, part 1 of 3 about fixing America, path that leads to fragmentation and self-interest, path would be one of constant conflict between narrow interests, patiently and persistently pursued domestic reforms turn America, penalizes politicians who pander, pend more time wondering how you got to where, People are rarely what we expect them to be, People aren’t always what you want them to be, people believe simplicity doesn’t have value, people confuse process and disciplined thinking, people do want to work, people get confused about simple, people should be employed in rebuilding its decrepit infrastructure, people tend to be the people they were, people would like to do what is right, perfect balance of control and freedom, perfectly lovely poem for an imperfectly lovely lady, persepctive on economy, personal brand and branding, personal branding has to more to do, personal competitive analysis, personal creative destruction, personality, perspective, Perspective is always good, pessimistic about the future of their country, Pew Research, phrase got stuck in my head, pick a way that feels comfortable for you, placed undue emphasis on academic theories, plainness with absence of showiness, policy isn’t being discussed seriously, political posturing is preventing from being addressed, political scientists and social commentators have labeled the problems insoluble, Politicians, Politicians need to assume some responsibility for how patriotism is utilized, Politicians SHOULD talk about patriotism, Politicians who deal in the pragmatic reality of governing, politicians who recognize success, politics, positioning yourself versus personal branding, positive attributes, possible government program solution, posted on a-thousand-words.tumblr.com, potential leaders, poverty, powerful sources of motivation, powerful words, pre-existing conditions health conditions that, preciously I take that endeavor and responsibility, precisely how real prosperity happens, predicated on rapid economic growth, preoccupied with possibilities, preparing for the real world, President Clinton in USAToday on health care, presidential candidates, pretty high standard, pretty high standard for which the person, principles behind establishing a brand, prior to the Affordable Care Act, proactively help Americans, process is a means to an end, product benefit, product has to be good enough, productivity, productivity of America, profitability, progress has been part of the living history of America, promoting ourselves, promoting ourselves to insure we are not ignored, proud patriots, proud patriots who’d live no place else, provide less tangible value, provided lecturers, psychologically healthy without social support, public that is highly ignorant about the world, publicly addressing a broken national program, pure & simple marketing arrogance, pure abstraction rather than on mindfulness, pursuing the way, put failing in perpsective, put on cultural events, Quality is now based on what they are willing to pay, quality of being simple or uncombined, quotations, quote made me think, quotes, rare to make complicated simple, rarely balance at that point, rarely build something without help, rather than a true celebration of difference, real things you should have cared about, realistic and achievable, rearranging existing pieces, reason for being, received specific direction, recession, recession affecting shopping behavior, recognize success often requires finding common ground, recognizing your limitations is a challenge, redefined quality, redefining The American Dream, redistribution of power, redrawing boundaries, reflect the prosperity's limited reach, reform, regardless of how it is interpreted, reinforcing that someone made a good decision, relationships, remnant-thoughts, repairing america’s flaws, resetting the expectations in your category, reshaping things in business, resiliency, resiliency and character, respect, respect the burden of leadership, responsibility, returned simply to the things, right is right, ROI versus imagination, salvation by society, sane solid foundation to stand upon for one and all, saving versus buying, Say something meaningful in an interesting way, scandal, schools, scraps of good ideas, scripted answers rather than on critical questions, seconds well used is a lifetime, secretly danced for groups of people to collect money, see more clearly within the moment, see the program as fluid, see your own reality, seek every way possible to complicate our lives, seek happiness by committing on nothing less than doing your best, seek out events without fear, seeking new experiences, seemed beautifully imperfect, seems crazy in hindsight, self determination, self doubt, self esteem seemed to wander into some dark places, self identity, self truth, self-improvement, sense of being relatable, seriously looking for perspective, sets the country up to be a model to follow, shake my head in disgust with politics, shaking the etch a sketch, shape our lives, shape ourselves, shape the minds and actions of the architects of my future, she seemed to be already among us, shine a spotlight on your accomplishments, shopping around, shopping behavior, Short term is for short term thinkers, short term wins have little to no value, shortcomings leading to consequences, should be a moral one, shows the lack of business leadership knowledge, significantly better at setting aside expectations, significantly more complex, silly diatribes that stoke fear, simple, simple is hard, simple isn’t the least, simple solutions are often the best solutions, simplicity, simplicity has gone the way of the dodo, simplicity is an acquired taste, simplicity of solution, simplicity seems too chaotic, simplicity takes remarkable effort, simplistic bluster, simply an incentive program, simply called perspective, sincerely relentless strength of character, sinclair lewis, single most important Life compass, sitting in your manager’s office handing them something, six impossible things before breakfast, skeptical with regard to whether, slight head nod to some ethical standard, slightly perverse opinion on the decline of America, slippery slope, slippery slope of despair, slippery surface of irrelevant brilliance, smallest actions contribute, smart marketing, So as parents, So much of modern life seems to be about more, social imbalance, social marketing, social revolutions, social unrest, social upheavals, Societal mandate that everyone should be able to receive healthcare, Societal mandate that everyone should be able to receive healthcare without being bankrupted, societies in which every life counts, society has falsely defined the, soft choices, solely revolves around preparing for the next election, some calculated risks on the wants, some give and take, some of the best CEO’s imaginable, some things have changed, some things you can control and some things you cannot control, somehow exuded humanness, something bad delivered, something more important than fear, something we hear, something we say, Sometimes they disappoint you, somewhere above the least and significantly below the most, Somewhere along the way you find, sounds manipulative, speaking about yourself in the third person, speaking to someone, spending money as soon as we have it, springwise, squeezing yourself, stagnation is not an option, stand for something within yourself, standard that is the envy of the world, standing up every time we fall down, standing up shouting about America is no longer great, start supporting the program, starting out in business, Stay within yourself and your personality, steadfast in believing we SHOULD have expectations, stealing expectations, stewards of tomorrow’s world, stomach gets this incredibly empty feeling, stop and think, stopping the decline of america, story of two americas, strategy, strategy doomed for failure, strength against adversity, strength of character, strength of character to make change, strength of self, stress of interviewing, stress that comes with unemployment and interviewing, stretch your creativity, strip away the undoable and identify the doable, strong families, struggled receiving compliments, struggling with Iran, students will use the knowledge and ideas, Study results have shown, Stuff I Like, stunning grace in the face of overwhelming life, stupid business, Subject matter is simply the tool, success, success in business resides solely, Success is like reaching, sucks on so many levels, supplies, surely our loss, surrounds fear of change, switching, switching but not satisfied, Tactically fixing America is relatively easy & doable, taggering amount of people are questioning hope, take revenge on doubters, talk about success & the economy, tangible things that can be fixed, taught literacy classes, tell me something about yourself, tend to see them, that America is freedom, that i will be tomorrow, THAT may be a better version, That which is simple is invaluable, that which is simple is valuable, that will fix everything, That’s too simple, the achievements and actions, the American century ended, the angst we feel is a reflection, The answer is that there is no good answer, the bottom line for the rest of society, the builders of the new version of our Great Society, the commitments, the decline of america, the economist, the fact many people do not really know what they want, the Great Society is not a safe harbor, the great society which they can shape, the have nots, the haves, the humble members of society, the indignant righteous, the initial thought, the issues of yesterday, the kind of education these people received, the likes of the lovely Audrey Hepburn again, the minute you start referring to yourself as a brand, the myth of original, the notions of global responsibility, the objective that matters, the output version, the President, the prophecy causes its own fulfillment, the Pygmalion Effect, the result of actions and decisions by educated people, the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others, the story of a fragmented america, the story of fragmented middle east, The truth is, the unimportant, the US healthcare system, the way one person treats another can, the wise who seek the questions, the word failure is tough love, the younger generations who are unburdened by an era of mass production, There are many ways of going forward, there is no formula for good choices, there’s a lot of ruin in a nation, they have destroyed an economy, they sometimes act like aliens, they turn out to be better, things politicians do is tap into the contradiction, think, think about being visible, think old school 70’s thinker, thinking, thinking and those words make me cringe, thinking impossible things, thinking is good, thinking you are invisible, this generation of Americans, this i am today, this is about people's live and their healthcare, this is called perspective, this is the Creative Destruction theory, thought about being yourself, thoughtful middle east solution, Thoughts on the Healthcare Debate, through someone else’s eyes, tie empowerment to burden of responsibility, time, time and choices, time magazine, time this repeal plan of action has been discussed, times of stress I have found simplicity, tips, to acquaint him with the resources of his mind, to do or not to do, to grant titles, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, to try to look as though you did, tocqueville, Today the path to total dictatorship in the United States, today’s economy, told over and over again who I was supposed to be, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption, total impunity on behalf of something called corporate greed, toughest problems we face are those created by the successes of our past, trade offs, trains, transformational people, transport, Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is, trick to negotiation, true challenge of this generation of Americans, true test of character, true to thineself, truly good within all, truly honest with ourselves, trust, truth, truth to oneself, trying to preserve will lead to stagnation, ts own local political support organizations, turning point to fix the deepening domestic stagnation, ultimately resides on the shoulders of these young people, Umair Haque article, Umair Haque Five Secrets, Umair Haque HBR rant, unattainable shit, uncertainty of nations, under the law, underestimate the ingenuity of our inner fool, understanding the implications, understanding the implications of this knowledge, understanding the middle east, unexpected innovation, unfortunately Life has a habit, unless it's grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge, unless you love yourself, unlike the Affordable Care Act, unreasonable solutions, unsaid halo over everything else that comes after, unseen and unheard by the Congress, untiring industry to create an order of plenty for all of our people, upcoming vote on repealing the Affordable Healthcare Act, US has glaring deficits in all these public goods, US should invest in its common wealth, use Americanism as exceptionalism to motivate, use Americanism to motivate interest, use hyperbole, use your imagination, Usefulness, value of loyalty, valued material acquisition above people, very child can find knowledge to enrich his mind, very directly, very easy to disregard what you see around you, visible and ignored versus thinking you are invisible, voting districts is crazy, wacky wisdom, waiting or living, want to repeal it, wanting more can help us grow in many ways, was this not what you wanted, was this not what you wanted business version, was this not what you wanted personal version, waste time & energy flailing about seeking blame, watching and learning, we all fail, we all have a little fool within us, We do not teach them to aspire to be all they can, we don’t want them to be like us, we fumble through and make decisions, we fumble through and make decisions that allow us to sleep at night, we make a shitload of mistakes, we must face the truth, we shape our lives, we should not attempt to teach something without, We were taught, wealth with purpose and life with meaning, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style, were crafty negotiators, what all these asshat politicians know, What bullshit, what I have seen, What I would like, what is the alternative, what it means to be an American, what she thought was right, what Tocqueville would think of America today, what we need to get us through, what you do with your time, what you expect and what you deserve, what you had, what you imagine, what you think you want, whatever it takes, whatever it takes to cross that dark bridge, whatever she had, When we expect nothing from anyone, when you give them a chance, Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, which still dominate public discourse still confine our vision, while ferociously independent, who I wish you were, whose population mostly does not have my experiences, will fix everything, will not expound upon balance, willing to forfeit any sense of self, wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life, wish all the damn politicians, with who I wish you were, within all of this imperfect perfectness, women, wonder if America can repair her faults, wonder what the world looks like, won’t choose you solely on this, Word of mouth now travels the world in a flash, words, worked hard to be, world a little differently, world looks like to someone else, worry about implementing a great idea versus protecting it, worrying about elections, would have been grounds for denying coverage, would have respected her, would look back on all the pleasures, would start thinking that is how business, would take a step back, wretched hollow in between need & want, write about, wrote in 1969 about the Pygmalion Effect, you are either competent or not, you are not a failure because you fail, you are what makes the world great, you can be smart about how you go about doing it, You can buy short term behavior, You cannot be uninteresting, you cannot fake it or make it, you cannot love yourself, you could be doing better, you fail, you have to be your own cheerleader, you have to earn loyalty, you imagine them to be, you make decisions that look, you need to make sure you, you need to make sure you haven’t become a joke, you shelve what is important, you will keep moving forward, you will learn how not to be a jerk, You would think, You would think in business, your accomplishments, your stomach gets this incredibly empty feeling

March 26, 2017 by Bruce

Written by Bruce

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

I was embarrassed and mortified

Related Posts

Leave a Comment

Meta

I was embarrassed and mortified

Share this:

Related Posts

finagle follow up … logic & illogical

winners, losers, victories and defeats

this generation of tweens

Leave a Comment

Meta