This is true. However, witness a football team.
When the Quarterback gets the ball from the Center, there is no consensus building. Each member of the team has a job to do. Each member of the team does his job, not someone else's job.
The Guards guard. The Tackles tackle. The QB decides whether to pass, run, or hand the ball off to someone in the backfield.
There is no discussion, shared vision, visioning process, concern about group-think, or consensus building.
There is a goal. Sometimes things are too obvious for people to see them.
The actions of the QB are based on rapidly changing conditions. There is no discussion and certainly no committee.
Corporate America has spent Millions on Team Building
And how is it working out for America? Millions invested....and a vested interest in protecting the turf.
Consensus does not take place in the huddle. Before the huddle, each member of the team has a job to do. That individual responds to the conditions he is confronted with and whatever the QB said in the huddle becomes irrelevant. More on this in a moment. After we discuss...
Trust
Trust is important. However, this goes to the underlying basis of that trust.
You may trust me completely, however, if I am a bad football player, an opposing team member will get past me and tackle you. There must be a basis for that trust and in football as in business that basis is the ability to do the job.
Back to the individual having a job to do. His job to do. This is Delegation of Authority. The quarterback does not stand there directing you: Watch out, watch him, block them. Again, the delegation of authority is based on the ability of that team member to do that team member's job.
Back to the millions spent by corporations on team building.
America has spent millions, if not billions, over the decades on diet books, get-rich-quick books, and self-help books. On that basis we should all be skinny, rich, and well-adjusted. We are not. We are fat, poor and dysfunctional. [Well, except perhaps for the people who don't buy diet books, get-rich-quick-books, and self-help books.]
The basis of millions if not billions spent, the credentials of those authors writing those books, and the reception of the public has not justified the pursuit or the expense.
[NB: While the defence of many is that American companies have spent millions on team building may prove seductive, it is actually taking attention away from what the real message is: Companies have made millions selling "team building" to American Corporations and are not about to watch the cash cow get grilled.]
We no longer use the empirical method of scientific inquiry. Now, we come up with a theory and seek data to support it. We write a book, prey on gullible people, and use credentials, bogus science, and financial success as compurgation, justification, and validation
Now, how is America doing? How are the EuroCrats doing? Perhaps it is time we abandon the Process. Change the Process. To start:
Everyone who goes around with consensus on his lips should be boiled in his own pudding....! The same goes for those using the word Committee.
If you want team building in your company, buy the book, How to Play Football. Start a company football team, and build a lot of good will among your employees. If you want to succeed in business, run your team like the football team on the field.
As Yogi Berra once said, "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."
Watch what happens on the football field. That is what is going on in the business world.
Sincerest regards,
Slim
Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview
slimfairview@yahoo.com
Monday, September 26, 2011
Greece: Problem? Solution!
Greece has been around a long time. Greece predates Europe. The Greek citizen invented the Senate. The Senate did not invent the Greek citizen.
The current state of affairs in Greece is due, in part to Government ownership--In part. The other part is the notion that when the Government owns everything, everyone owns everything. This is the failed Soviet Style of Communism. The reality is that when everyone owns everything, no one owns anything.
With the Greek Citizen—with no vested interest, there is no interest.
Do you dispute me? I shall refute you.
How hard is the Greek worker fighting for his benefits?
Very hard.
Why?
Because his benefits belong to him.
Privatisation is not a dirty word.
While every plan for Greece has involved a bailout, none has involved any capital investment or economic development.
In a recent NY Times article, “The IMF “traditionally” said cutting budget deficits is the solution to the problem. Mr. Summers said Mme Lagarde’s reversal is a welcome change in thinking, emphasizing that we should be establishing a basis for growth.” I assume Mme Lagarde and I are the only two people saying this. Or, perhaps Mme. Lagarde is the only person reading my blogs. Madame goes on to say, “…the markets realize that commitment to cut spending cannot survive a lengthy stagnation.”
The best option for Greece (I have a project not a plan.) is a major economic development project that changes the process.
Let us be honest. The EuroCrats are intelligent, educated, and experienced. Why then have they failed to solve or even mitigate the damages or ameliorate the problems? By the process of elimination, the problem is the process. That must change. In Greek: Δ
The first startling example is that what the EuroCrats are doing to the Greek People can be called “poverty programmes”. The Greek People need “Prosperity Programmes”.
As an aside, I thought that warning of a move to the “right’ would be a consequence for Greece if the problem can’t be solved soon was an overstatement. Then I remembered some American political math. It is analogous.
Dems control Congress + Jimmy Carter = Ronald Reagan.
Dems control Congress + Bill Clinton = Republican turnover in Congress.
Dems control Congress + Barack Obama + Massive GOP turnover in House of Rep.
Okay, I concede. The Greek people can fix the problem now while it is small (by comparison) or wait till there is a real disaster. But I digress.
The difference between the aforementioned Soviet Style Communism and Chinese Communism (Aside from the failure of the former and the success of the latter) is China’s Middle Class.
The divestiture of Greece’s State Owned Assets is crucial to the turnaround in Greece. A limit on foreign ownership of shares in the newly minted, publicly traded companies is also essential.
Some of those assets may include but are not limited to:
Transportation
Energy
Media
Communications
With the Greek Citizen owning the asset, the Greek Citizen will have a vested interest in its success. There will be a profit incentive.
Greece; Influx of Tax Revenue without increasing taxes
Relief from Debt and the crushing interest rates
Benefits of the multiplier effect
Reduction in Lenders: Increase in Investors
Increased Capitalisation of Banks
What has been the alternative so far?
The Greek Government
Raised Taxes
Slashed Pensions
Cut State Salaries
Plans to cut jobs and cut pensions again.
Greece still has problems. Why? Because The Greek Government
Raised Taxes
Slashed Pensions
Cut State Salaries.
Someone then told the Government that by lowering wages tax revenues will fall. The Government solution to this was to fire people. This caused a further decline in revenue. To address this, the Government increased property taxes on the unemployed and underpaid. And all of this is the result of Austerity measures imposed on Greece by the EuroCrats who were working to solve the problem. Call me a flawed human being, but I believe the EuroCrats have failed in their mission.
Union busting will not solve the problem.
Labour strikes will not solve the problem.
Firing people will not solve the problem.
Taxes will not solve the problem.
[No country ever taxed its way to prosperity. The mantra during the first two years of Bill Clinton’s first term as President of the United States.]
For further information, please read my blogs on the matter.
Bon Chance!
Sincerest regards,
Slim
Slimfairview@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview
Economic Stimulus:
The Multiplier Effect:
the Future of the G 20 in Good Times and Bad
China: The economy and a word beginning with the letter P
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/china-economy-and-word-beginning-with.html
The current state of affairs in Greece is due, in part to Government ownership--In part. The other part is the notion that when the Government owns everything, everyone owns everything. This is the failed Soviet Style of Communism. The reality is that when everyone owns everything, no one owns anything.
With the Greek Citizen—with no vested interest, there is no interest.
Do you dispute me? I shall refute you.
How hard is the Greek worker fighting for his benefits?
Very hard.
Why?
Because his benefits belong to him.
Privatisation is not a dirty word.
While every plan for Greece has involved a bailout, none has involved any capital investment or economic development.
In a recent NY Times article, “The IMF “traditionally” said cutting budget deficits is the solution to the problem. Mr. Summers said Mme Lagarde’s reversal is a welcome change in thinking, emphasizing that we should be establishing a basis for growth.” I assume Mme Lagarde and I are the only two people saying this. Or, perhaps Mme. Lagarde is the only person reading my blogs. Madame goes on to say, “…the markets realize that commitment to cut spending cannot survive a lengthy stagnation.”
The best option for Greece (I have a project not a plan.) is a major economic development project that changes the process.
Let us be honest. The EuroCrats are intelligent, educated, and experienced. Why then have they failed to solve or even mitigate the damages or ameliorate the problems? By the process of elimination, the problem is the process. That must change. In Greek: Δ
The first startling example is that what the EuroCrats are doing to the Greek People can be called “poverty programmes”. The Greek People need “Prosperity Programmes”.
As an aside, I thought that warning of a move to the “right’ would be a consequence for Greece if the problem can’t be solved soon was an overstatement. Then I remembered some American political math. It is analogous.
Dems control Congress + Jimmy Carter = Ronald Reagan.
Dems control Congress + Bill Clinton = Republican turnover in Congress.
Dems control Congress + Barack Obama + Massive GOP turnover in House of Rep.
Okay, I concede. The Greek people can fix the problem now while it is small (by comparison) or wait till there is a real disaster. But I digress.
The difference between the aforementioned Soviet Style Communism and Chinese Communism (Aside from the failure of the former and the success of the latter) is China’s Middle Class.
The divestiture of Greece’s State Owned Assets is crucial to the turnaround in Greece. A limit on foreign ownership of shares in the newly minted, publicly traded companies is also essential.
Some of those assets may include but are not limited to:
Transportation
Energy
Media
Communications
With the Greek Citizen owning the asset, the Greek Citizen will have a vested interest in its success. There will be a profit incentive.
Greece; Influx of Tax Revenue without increasing taxes
Relief from Debt and the crushing interest rates
Benefits of the multiplier effect
Reduction in Lenders: Increase in Investors
Increased Capitalisation of Banks
What has been the alternative so far?
The Greek Government
Raised Taxes
Slashed Pensions
Cut State Salaries
Plans to cut jobs and cut pensions again.
Greece still has problems. Why? Because The Greek Government
Raised Taxes
Slashed Pensions
Cut State Salaries.
Someone then told the Government that by lowering wages tax revenues will fall. The Government solution to this was to fire people. This caused a further decline in revenue. To address this, the Government increased property taxes on the unemployed and underpaid. And all of this is the result of Austerity measures imposed on Greece by the EuroCrats who were working to solve the problem. Call me a flawed human being, but I believe the EuroCrats have failed in their mission.
Union busting will not solve the problem.
Labour strikes will not solve the problem.
Firing people will not solve the problem.
Taxes will not solve the problem.
[No country ever taxed its way to prosperity. The mantra during the first two years of Bill Clinton’s first term as President of the United States.]
For further information, please read my blogs on the matter.
Bon Chance!
Sincerest regards,
Slim
Slimfairview@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview
Economic Stimulus:
The Multiplier Effect:
the Future of the G 20 in Good Times and Bad
China: The economy and a word beginning with the letter P
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/china-economy-and-word-beginning-with.html
Friday, September 23, 2011
The US: Oil, Energy, Housing
US: Oil, Energy, Housing
The Economy has now achieved the mystic quality of the weather: Everyone talks about it. No one can do anything about it. We prepare for disaster. We plan for cleanup. We ride the storm—many lose everything.
The Economy is not the Weather.
“We are going to maximize the impact of our recue fund by leveraging our resources.” [A quote from a EuroCrat published in the WSJ.]
“Having lost sight of our objective we will redouble our efforts.” (My Finance Professor)
“A stitch in time saves nine.” Unknown
You cannot create a plan and sell a plan based on clichés, slogans, and platitudes.
My plan for housing:
The bank stops the foreclosure and rewrites the mortgage with affordable payments which include a balloon payment down the road; for example 2018.
The dead wood comes off the books. The revenue stream continues. The asset stops deteriorating. The bank has money to lend. The municipality maintains a revenue stream. The population decline is abated.
You think my mortgage plan won’t work, eh? Well, “BofA reaches deal to sell….” WSJ: 9/23 C3. Google it, it builds character.
Oil and Energy
The other day, referencing Solyndra, I stated, “Money will not replace management.”
Big Oil buys Solyndra—a metaphor. Big Oil invests in Green Energy, or Clean Energy. What happens? Big Oil avoids the disaster it suffered from its misalliance with Big Auto.
Big Oil and Big Auto were once very cozy. Times change. People began to demand smaller, fuel efficient cars. (Less oil) People began to demand electric cars. (Less oil) Big Auto said, “It’s us or them.” Well, General Strategy said, “Make smaller cars. Develop electric cars.” The rest is History.
Soon, Big Oil will find that General Energy will betray them as well. To Big Oil: You are no John D.
What to do?
Well, the big understanding is “demand.” Okay, here goes. Let’s look at demand.
Plastic Trash Bags (I heard they are bio-degradable now.) Food Containers: “Don’t get mad, get—“I promise not to lose this food container.”
Why the quote, the commercial. Because this is what America buys—Petroleum By-products. (True, soon gasoline will be the by-product, but I digress.)
The demand is there. The demand for energy is there also: residential energy, commercial energy. Thus, I propose a multi-pronged solution.
Big Oil buys Solyndra and runs it as a business and not as a symbolic gesture—an homage to the environment. In plain English: Stop Calling it the Solar Energy Market and start calling it The Energy Market. With an efficient, cost-effective means of production with a built in demand from manufacturing petroleum by-products, you will make it, sell it, and use it to make and products from your own raw material.
Big Oil Provides Green Energy to plants manufacturing Green(ish) products.
R&D expands into plastics. (Remember The Graduate? Then it was Social Commentary. Now it is Economic Strategy.)
Use your Lobby Muscle for tax incentives for
a. Producers and
b. Consumers.
Sincerest regards,
Slim
Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview
The Economy has now achieved the mystic quality of the weather: Everyone talks about it. No one can do anything about it. We prepare for disaster. We plan for cleanup. We ride the storm—many lose everything.
The Economy is not the Weather.
“We are going to maximize the impact of our recue fund by leveraging our resources.” [A quote from a EuroCrat published in the WSJ.]
“Having lost sight of our objective we will redouble our efforts.” (My Finance Professor)
“A stitch in time saves nine.” Unknown
You cannot create a plan and sell a plan based on clichés, slogans, and platitudes.
My plan for housing:
The bank stops the foreclosure and rewrites the mortgage with affordable payments which include a balloon payment down the road; for example 2018.
The dead wood comes off the books. The revenue stream continues. The asset stops deteriorating. The bank has money to lend. The municipality maintains a revenue stream. The population decline is abated.
You think my mortgage plan won’t work, eh? Well, “BofA reaches deal to sell….” WSJ: 9/23 C3. Google it, it builds character.
Oil and Energy
The other day, referencing Solyndra, I stated, “Money will not replace management.”
Big Oil buys Solyndra—a metaphor. Big Oil invests in Green Energy, or Clean Energy. What happens? Big Oil avoids the disaster it suffered from its misalliance with Big Auto.
Big Oil and Big Auto were once very cozy. Times change. People began to demand smaller, fuel efficient cars. (Less oil) People began to demand electric cars. (Less oil) Big Auto said, “It’s us or them.” Well, General Strategy said, “Make smaller cars. Develop electric cars.” The rest is History.
Soon, Big Oil will find that General Energy will betray them as well. To Big Oil: You are no John D.
What to do?
Well, the big understanding is “demand.” Okay, here goes. Let’s look at demand.
Plastic Trash Bags (I heard they are bio-degradable now.) Food Containers: “Don’t get mad, get—“I promise not to lose this food container.”
Why the quote, the commercial. Because this is what America buys—Petroleum By-products. (True, soon gasoline will be the by-product, but I digress.)
The demand is there. The demand for energy is there also: residential energy, commercial energy. Thus, I propose a multi-pronged solution.
Big Oil buys Solyndra and runs it as a business and not as a symbolic gesture—an homage to the environment. In plain English: Stop Calling it the Solar Energy Market and start calling it The Energy Market. With an efficient, cost-effective means of production with a built in demand from manufacturing petroleum by-products, you will make it, sell it, and use it to make and products from your own raw material.
Big Oil Provides Green Energy to plants manufacturing Green(ish) products.
R&D expands into plastics. (Remember The Graduate? Then it was Social Commentary. Now it is Economic Strategy.)
Use your Lobby Muscle for tax incentives for
a. Producers and
b. Consumers.
Sincerest regards,
Slim
Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview
Thursday, September 22, 2011
EuroCrats: It is Our Policy to Fail
The handling or mishandling of the debt crisis by the EuroCrats proves one thing. The Process is the Problem.
From the IMF we learn that the set of policy choices that are economically viable and politically feasible is shrinking. That is a bold admission.
Further, the IMF acknowledges the market’s negative response but chooses to stay the course. This is wrong.
Still, the bold admission is a good thing. Oftentimes people don’t take bold action until a crisis is impending. Bureaucrats never do.
Now with Belgium, Italy, and Spain heading toward a crisis, why embrace a proven Policy of Failure? One glaring point: A cash infusion into banks that suffered losses due to the debt crisis will only cause the banks to continue to lose what others infuse.
Meanwhile, there is a call for taxpayers to bolster…..! Any call for taxpayers to bolster anything is a lose—lose situation.
If the plan fails, the crisis deepens.
If the plan succeeds, those who pay for the success of others will harbour a deep resentment. If you don’t believe me: Parliament Hampers Merkel Deal Making.
EuroBanks stand to lose €630 Billion. Banks are starting to not trust each other or lend to each other. That is not a good sign either.
The IMF goes on to say that the Global Credit Crisis moved into the Political Phase. Therein lies the punishment for using political considerations to solve the problem in the first place.
Greece and Europe suffer from problems of Austere Proportions.
As I previously stated, “Analysts conceded a €110 Billion bailout for Greece on the assumption that the Greek economy would grow. Then, they called for sanctions to punish Greece because their assumptions were wrong.”
The austerity measures to be imposed by (upon) Greece include a move to reduce public employment.
“There are no unintended consequences, only unwanted consequences.” –Slim Fairview
Such a move will
Reduce tax revenue.
Strain the social safety net,
Negatively impact the multiplier effect; if there is one.
[ http://www.slideshare.net/slimfairview/the-multiplier-effect-4962273 ]
Greece may consider some alternatives
Sell state owned assets [to Greek citizens].
Seek Foreign Investors instead of Foreign Lenders. [Asia. Brazil]
Encourage, promote, and support, entrepreneurship for the Greek people.
The Nanny-State mentality in Europe has less to do with benefits and more to do with business. It is easy for a society to become complacent if the jobs are already there whether provided by Big Government or by Big Business. SMEs provide jobs, growth, economic stimulus, and prosperity. Don’t believe me? The headline in the NY Times reads: India Nurtures Entrepreneurship.
Economic Stimulus by Metaphor
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/economic-stimulus-by-metaphor.html
Greece can also follow my prescription for the American housing crisis. Only they may wish to expand upon it—tailor it to Greek needs.
Stop Foreclosures
Rewrite Loans at a lower payment rate
Add a balloon payment. [2018, 2019, 2020]
Will all this work?
Did your efforts fail?
The EuroCrats are Intelligent, Educated, and Experienced.
Q: Why the failure?
A: The Process
The meeting of the minds emphasises consensus. The EuroCrats do not need consensus. The EuroCrats need acknowledgement.
“The fact that you cannot predict the future is not a proper rebuff to the one who tells you to get off the tracks a train is coming.” –Slim Fairview
Sincerest regards,
Slim
Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview
From the IMF we learn that the set of policy choices that are economically viable and politically feasible is shrinking. That is a bold admission.
Further, the IMF acknowledges the market’s negative response but chooses to stay the course. This is wrong.
Still, the bold admission is a good thing. Oftentimes people don’t take bold action until a crisis is impending. Bureaucrats never do.
Now with Belgium, Italy, and Spain heading toward a crisis, why embrace a proven Policy of Failure? One glaring point: A cash infusion into banks that suffered losses due to the debt crisis will only cause the banks to continue to lose what others infuse.
Meanwhile, there is a call for taxpayers to bolster…..! Any call for taxpayers to bolster anything is a lose—lose situation.
If the plan fails, the crisis deepens.
If the plan succeeds, those who pay for the success of others will harbour a deep resentment. If you don’t believe me: Parliament Hampers Merkel Deal Making.
EuroBanks stand to lose €630 Billion. Banks are starting to not trust each other or lend to each other. That is not a good sign either.
The IMF goes on to say that the Global Credit Crisis moved into the Political Phase. Therein lies the punishment for using political considerations to solve the problem in the first place.
Greece and Europe suffer from problems of Austere Proportions.
As I previously stated, “Analysts conceded a €110 Billion bailout for Greece on the assumption that the Greek economy would grow. Then, they called for sanctions to punish Greece because their assumptions were wrong.”
The austerity measures to be imposed by (upon) Greece include a move to reduce public employment.
“There are no unintended consequences, only unwanted consequences.” –Slim Fairview
Such a move will
Reduce tax revenue.
Strain the social safety net,
Negatively impact the multiplier effect; if there is one.
[ http://www.slideshare.net/slimfairview/the-multiplier-effect-4962273 ]
Greece may consider some alternatives
Sell state owned assets [to Greek citizens].
Seek Foreign Investors instead of Foreign Lenders. [Asia. Brazil]
Encourage, promote, and support, entrepreneurship for the Greek people.
The Nanny-State mentality in Europe has less to do with benefits and more to do with business. It is easy for a society to become complacent if the jobs are already there whether provided by Big Government or by Big Business. SMEs provide jobs, growth, economic stimulus, and prosperity. Don’t believe me? The headline in the NY Times reads: India Nurtures Entrepreneurship.
Economic Stimulus by Metaphor
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/economic-stimulus-by-metaphor.html
Greece can also follow my prescription for the American housing crisis. Only they may wish to expand upon it—tailor it to Greek needs.
Stop Foreclosures
Rewrite Loans at a lower payment rate
Add a balloon payment. [2018, 2019, 2020]
Will all this work?
Did your efforts fail?
The EuroCrats are Intelligent, Educated, and Experienced.
Q: Why the failure?
A: The Process
The meeting of the minds emphasises consensus. The EuroCrats do not need consensus. The EuroCrats need acknowledgement.
“The fact that you cannot predict the future is not a proper rebuff to the one who tells you to get off the tracks a train is coming.” –Slim Fairview
Sincerest regards,
Slim
Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Rogue Traders and Resumes
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Rogue Banker Loses $2,000,000,000 Now, I was going to apply for that job, but I didn't really think I was qualified.
The Side Street Journal: Commentary on Global Political and Economic Events by Slim Fairview. Read my stuff today or hear it from experts in a month or two. Slim
Commentary on Global Political and Economic Events by Slim Fairview
Please also see also http://slimviews.blogspot.com/ Please do click the follow button for The Journal--and please email a link to your friends. Thank you.
Please also see also http://slimviews.blogspot.com/ Please do click the follow button for The Journal--and please email a link to your friends. Thank you.
Armed only with an analytical mind and the ability to speak in metaphors, I attempt to explain the events of the day as I view them through the magic glasses my parents gave me over 50 years ago. Regards, Slim
PS. I am not Paul Harvey. However, I am open to becoming a paid commentator, columnist, or blogger.
If you find anything I say to be helpful, please don’t hesitate to send me one of those tricked-out laptops and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note. Thank you.
Slim
Faculty Advisors and HR Managers
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? Faculty Advisor: "Get a good night’s sleep before the interview. You want to be alert and focused."
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? Faculty Advisor: "Be certain to ask interesting questions about the company."
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? Faculty Advisor: "In the interview, sit up straight. Look at the HR. Manager. Speak Clearly. Smile"
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? Faculty Advisor: "Make sure your shoes are polished. Your shirt is pressed. Wear a clean tie."
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? Faculty Advisor: "Make sure you have two copies of your resume. And Proofread them first."
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? HR Manager: "Yes, but do you have any actual experience working as a Rogue Trader?"
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? HR Manager: "We don't take applications here. You must log onto our company website."
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? HR Manager: "Did you play any sports while you were in High School?"
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? HR Manager: "I see you switched majors in your junior year. Would you like to share that with us?"
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? HR Manager: "You have a nice resume, however, to be completely honest, we feel you are overqualified
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? HR Manager: "You have nice credentials, but we're looking for someone with a background in sales."
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? HR Manager: "We see you have 5 years of college but no degree? First finish your degree then reapply
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? HR Manager: "Please explain all periods of unemployment. Use a separate sheet if necessary."
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Are you qualified to be a Rogue Trader? HR Manager: "Would you like to be a big fish in a small pond, or a small fish in a big pond?"
Slimfairview Slim Fairview
Rogue Banker Loses $2,000,000,000 Now, I was going to apply for that job, but I didn't really think I was qualified.
Regards,
Slim
Amnesty. Oh, yeah, and Anger Management
AMNESTY
If we do it to them, they will do it to us.
If we don't do it to them, they will do it to us.
If they do it to us, we shouldn't do it to them because they will do it to us.
If they do it to us and we don't to it to them, they will do it to us.
Where is the part that starts,
If they don't do it to us...?
Slim
PS. Nice article.
Amnesty:
Noun: An official pardon for people who have been convicted of political offenses. (Wikipedia)
I like your work, and what you are trying to do.
Should the Libyans grant amnesty to Gadhafi?
Should the Egyptians grant amnesty to Mubarak?
Ought the Iraqi's have granted amnesty to Hussein?
The problem is "The Process". As with the EuroCrats.
They are intelligent, educated, experienced, yet they cannot solve the EuroCrisis. Why not? E-Z. The Process.
This amnesty thing is analogous to a company that brings in anger management classes for all its employees but cannot solve the anger problem. Why not? They never deal with the person who makes everyone angry.
Regards.
Slim
PS. Please don't forget that tricked out laptop and the few dollars in the envelope thing mentioned at the end of others posts. ;-) Slim
If we do it to them, they will do it to us.
If we don't do it to them, they will do it to us.
If they do it to us, we shouldn't do it to them because they will do it to us.
If they do it to us and we don't to it to them, they will do it to us.
Where is the part that starts,
If they don't do it to us...?
Slim
PS. Nice article.
Amnesty:
Noun: An official pardon for people who have been convicted of political offenses. (Wikipedia)
I like your work, and what you are trying to do.
Should the Libyans grant amnesty to Gadhafi?
Should the Egyptians grant amnesty to Mubarak?
Ought the Iraqi's have granted amnesty to Hussein?
The problem is "The Process". As with the EuroCrats.
They are intelligent, educated, experienced, yet they cannot solve the EuroCrisis. Why not? E-Z. The Process.
This amnesty thing is analogous to a company that brings in anger management classes for all its employees but cannot solve the anger problem. Why not? They never deal with the person who makes everyone angry.
Regards.
Slim
PS. Please don't forget that tricked out laptop and the few dollars in the envelope thing mentioned at the end of others posts. ;-) Slim
Friday, September 16, 2011
I Fell Into the Trap
I was thrilled to be invited to attend
I hung up after 40 minutes. There were no solutions. As is too often the case with much of what we are offered, the forum was descriptive and not prescriptive.
Thomas Friedman, writer for The Times, with his co-author gave a brief intro and took questions.
I don't ask questions. I've been watching the process for 50 years. The reason we can't solve our problems? The answers never change. The process never changes. The results are always the same: The Problems Aren't Solved.
I think about this every time I hear people on the news commenting on campaign chatter as if it were a serious discussion about issues. It never is.
Case in point.
After watching 40 years of Talk Show Television selling diet books, get rich quick books, and self-help books, we should be thin, rich, and happy. Instead we are fat, poor, and dysfunctional. If we used the empirical method of analysis, we would conclude they don't work.
Rather, we as a nation, seek data to support our opinions.
We are told, for example, that not every diet book is right for every person. Okay. Now, with a thousand diet books, these should be right for those people, those should be right for these people, and others should be right for other people. Okay? No. We are fat, poor, and dysfunctional. Diet books, get rich quick books, and self help books have failed to deliver on the promise. We still clutch retentively to the notion that they will help.
We talk about "That used to be us." We concoct a dreamy Beaver Cleaver ideal to sell a new idea that won't work. We disparage and discredit Beaver Cleaver, then invoke the success of America's Past.
It may be simplistic, but please bear with me. The Wright Brothers invented the airplane before the creation of the FAA. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb by candle light. The Robber Barons built Eastern Standard Oil, built the Transcontinental Railway, built the West Side Highway, back in the day when conditions were such that we would never tolerate them today.
In short, we fail to concede: "Everybody knows what everybody knows." The Quotations of Slim Fairview.
China, as referenced by The President who accurately pointed out that China built the world's largest supercomputer, high speed rail service, and a hydro-electric dam to power the engines of their economy is doing what we used to do. Why? Because they can. What can we do? If we watch the campaign, we see that we can point fingers at China and say, "Hey, no fair, cheatin'." [sic]
We cannot do that. Then we could. Today we cannot.
Today, we do things by committee. The great evil of modern business.
Here we go. We built the Hoover Dam. We created the TVA. We cannot do that today. We are not allowed to do that today. Do I have anything against polliwogs or purple toads? No. But they are where we want to be.
Don't believe me, eh? The Canadian Hydro-Electric Project when Mario Cuomo was Governor of New York. Clean Energy. Bullwinkle put the kibosh on that one. And so on.
In a time of crisis, people look to a leader, not a committee. Leaders lead. There is no, visioning process, shared vision, "no I in team", combating group-think, or consensus building. Consensus Building is group-think built by a committee.
A tax credit for businesses who hire people? [Create jobs.] On which planet?
When things go well, we have a home, a job, a car, we don't worry about economics. When things do not go well, we don't trust your politicians. What causes the disconnect? We don't understand economics. Not the highfalutin economics of college professors, or EuroCrats. The "explain it to me simple" economics I've been posting on my blog.
The EuroCrats:
They are intelligent, educated, experienced. The conditions are getting worse! Why would Europeans trust their leaders if their leaders cannot do the job of solving problems?
Leaders? Look behind you. If people are following you, you are a leader. If they're not, you're not. That simple. People are not following the EuroCrats.
Yes, another infomercial.
Credentials. I covered that. If you show up with 5 economists who say do this, someone else will show up with 5 economists who say, do that. Another infomercial.
The books that are out there? They are self-congratulatory pats on the back and an insurance policy to protect business leaders in case of a reversal of fortune.
Read my stuff today, or hear it from experts in a month or two.
Regards,
Slim
ps. Don't forget what I said about the tricked out laptop and the few dollars tucked into the envelope.
Slim
Discussing Solutions for America with Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum
"You're invited to a live, national teleforum to talk about real solutions for America's future."I hung up after 40 minutes. There were no solutions. As is too often the case with much of what we are offered, the forum was descriptive and not prescriptive.
Thomas Friedman, writer for The Times, with his co-author gave a brief intro and took questions.
I don't ask questions. I've been watching the process for 50 years. The reason we can't solve our problems? The answers never change. The process never changes. The results are always the same: The Problems Aren't Solved.
I think about this every time I hear people on the news commenting on campaign chatter as if it were a serious discussion about issues. It never is.
Case in point.
After watching 40 years of Talk Show Television selling diet books, get rich quick books, and self-help books, we should be thin, rich, and happy. Instead we are fat, poor, and dysfunctional. If we used the empirical method of analysis, we would conclude they don't work.
Rather, we as a nation, seek data to support our opinions.
We are told, for example, that not every diet book is right for every person. Okay. Now, with a thousand diet books, these should be right for those people, those should be right for these people, and others should be right for other people. Okay? No. We are fat, poor, and dysfunctional. Diet books, get rich quick books, and self help books have failed to deliver on the promise. We still clutch retentively to the notion that they will help.
We talk about "That used to be us." We concoct a dreamy Beaver Cleaver ideal to sell a new idea that won't work. We disparage and discredit Beaver Cleaver, then invoke the success of America's Past.
It may be simplistic, but please bear with me. The Wright Brothers invented the airplane before the creation of the FAA. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb by candle light. The Robber Barons built Eastern Standard Oil, built the Transcontinental Railway, built the West Side Highway, back in the day when conditions were such that we would never tolerate them today.
In short, we fail to concede: "Everybody knows what everybody knows." The Quotations of Slim Fairview.
China, as referenced by The President who accurately pointed out that China built the world's largest supercomputer, high speed rail service, and a hydro-electric dam to power the engines of their economy is doing what we used to do. Why? Because they can. What can we do? If we watch the campaign, we see that we can point fingers at China and say, "Hey, no fair, cheatin'." [sic]
We cannot do that. Then we could. Today we cannot.
Today, we do things by committee. The great evil of modern business.
Here we go. We built the Hoover Dam. We created the TVA. We cannot do that today. We are not allowed to do that today. Do I have anything against polliwogs or purple toads? No. But they are where we want to be.
Don't believe me, eh? The Canadian Hydro-Electric Project when Mario Cuomo was Governor of New York. Clean Energy. Bullwinkle put the kibosh on that one. And so on.
In a time of crisis, people look to a leader, not a committee. Leaders lead. There is no, visioning process, shared vision, "no I in team", combating group-think, or consensus building. Consensus Building is group-think built by a committee.
A tax credit for businesses who hire people? [Create jobs.] On which planet?
When things go well, we have a home, a job, a car, we don't worry about economics. When things do not go well, we don't trust your politicians. What causes the disconnect? We don't understand economics. Not the highfalutin economics of college professors, or EuroCrats. The "explain it to me simple" economics I've been posting on my blog.
The EuroCrats:
They are intelligent, educated, experienced. The conditions are getting worse! Why would Europeans trust their leaders if their leaders cannot do the job of solving problems?
Leaders? Look behind you. If people are following you, you are a leader. If they're not, you're not. That simple. People are not following the EuroCrats.
Yes, another infomercial.
Credentials. I covered that. If you show up with 5 economists who say do this, someone else will show up with 5 economists who say, do that. Another infomercial.
The books that are out there? They are self-congratulatory pats on the back and an insurance policy to protect business leaders in case of a reversal of fortune.
Read my stuff today, or hear it from experts in a month or two.
Regards,
Slim
ps. Don't forget what I said about the tricked out laptop and the few dollars tucked into the envelope.
Slim
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Can Leadership be Learned? See: The EuroCrisis
Let's not say learned. Let's say aquired or developed.
I have been called upon a few times to fill a leadership role. Usually, ex-officio. However, as I posted in another discussion, I am a lone wolf style person.
This does not always mean work alone, however. I have worked with people. And it is nice. But I don't aspire to leadership.
A few things are necessary.
1. knowledge--know what to do on the job.
2. delegate authority--authority is defined as permission--to others to do a job.
3. be ready with real help. ("The fact that we have to do something is no justification to do something stupid." The Quotations of Slim Fairview
Witness the EuroCrisis.
The "leaders" are educated.
Experienced.
Even reasonably intelligent.
Yet, they cannot solve the EuroCrisis.
Why not? Who will "follow" a leader who does not know what to do?
Europe: Analysis
Is everything "more high, good, better"? NO
Is everything "More low, bad, worse"? YES
Why can't they solve the problem? Who will follow their lead?
Did you ever hear an employee say, "I'm not listening to him. He doesn't know what he's doing." ?
Now you know why the EuroCrisis exists.
Can leadership be learned? Well, ask yourself this: Can leadership be taught? NO
Leadership skills can be developed, not learned.
You can learn the tenets of the "position" (Of Leadership) but you cannot learn to be a leader.
From: Slim Fairview
I am interested in working as a paid blogger, a columnist, a commentator. (This in addition to finding someone interested in publishing my novel or producing my screenplay.)
If any of what I've written has been helpful to large corporations or powerful nations, I encourage them to send me a tricked out laptop and to tuck their respective currency into the envelope along with the thank you note.
I don't want to be paid for what I do.
I don't want to be paid for what I know.
I don't want to be paid for what I think.
I want to be paid for the way I think.
Slim
ps. If I have been truly helpful to the powerful, the less fortunate will have benefited from the advice in the monographs I've posted.
Slim
I have been called upon a few times to fill a leadership role. Usually, ex-officio. However, as I posted in another discussion, I am a lone wolf style person.
This does not always mean work alone, however. I have worked with people. And it is nice. But I don't aspire to leadership.
A few things are necessary.
1. knowledge--know what to do on the job.
2. delegate authority--authority is defined as permission--to others to do a job.
3. be ready with real help. ("The fact that we have to do something is no justification to do something stupid." The Quotations of Slim Fairview
Witness the EuroCrisis.
The "leaders" are educated.
Experienced.
Even reasonably intelligent.
Yet, they cannot solve the EuroCrisis.
Why not? Who will "follow" a leader who does not know what to do?
Europe: Analysis
Is everything "more high, good, better"? NO
Is everything "More low, bad, worse"? YES
Why can't they solve the problem? Who will follow their lead?
Did you ever hear an employee say, "I'm not listening to him. He doesn't know what he's doing." ?
Now you know why the EuroCrisis exists.
Can leadership be learned? Well, ask yourself this: Can leadership be taught? NO
Leadership skills can be developed, not learned.
You can learn the tenets of the "position" (Of Leadership) but you cannot learn to be a leader.
From: Slim Fairview
I am interested in working as a paid blogger, a columnist, a commentator. (This in addition to finding someone interested in publishing my novel or producing my screenplay.)
If any of what I've written has been helpful to large corporations or powerful nations, I encourage them to send me a tricked out laptop and to tuck their respective currency into the envelope along with the thank you note.
I don't want to be paid for what I do.
I don't want to be paid for what I know.
I don't want to be paid for what I think.
I want to be paid for the way I think.
Slim
ps. If I have been truly helpful to the powerful, the less fortunate will have benefited from the advice in the monographs I've posted.
Slim
Slim's View
From: Slim Fairview
I am interested in working as a paid blogger, a columnist, a commentator. (This in addition to finding someone interested in publishing my novel or producing my screenplay.)
If any of what I've written has been helpful to large corporations or powerful nations, I encourage them to send me a tricked out laptop and to tuck their respective currency into the envelope along with the thank you note.
Slim
ps. If I have been truly helpful to the powerful, the less fortunate will have benefited from the advice in the monographs I've posted.
Slim
I am interested in working as a paid blogger, a columnist, a commentator. (This in addition to finding someone interested in publishing my novel or producing my screenplay.)
If any of what I've written has been helpful to large corporations or powerful nations, I encourage them to send me a tricked out laptop and to tuck their respective currency into the envelope along with the thank you note.
Slim
ps. If I have been truly helpful to the powerful, the less fortunate will have benefited from the advice in the monographs I've posted.
Slim
Thursday, August 25, 2011
America V. China: The Diplomacy Wars
Commentary on US Chinese Relations by Slim Fairview.
Read my stuff today, or hear it from experts in a month or two. Slim.
The Pentagon noticed that China is expanding its navy. They suspect that China is looking to expand its influence beyond Asian waters. We pay analysts to tell us this.
This news reminds me of a job I had years ago.
One of the employees was a power lifter. Another, was a body builder. "The guys" tried to get them to have an arm wrestling match. (Money would be a stake.) They both declined. Nicely.
One did claim that he never lost an arm wrestling match. He never said he was never in one. He simply said that he'd never lost one.
The other simply declined to arm wrestle. However, he and I did pretend to arm wrestle one day. He pretended to find me a worthy opponent. However, as his arm was the size of my leg, this was all in jest. Still, one of the younger employees asked in earnest if I really thought I could win.
Why bring this up? In 1965 my teacher told the class, "Never think for a moment that the Soviet Union and Red China will go to war with each other." They never did.
Red China is now The People's Republic of China. The Soviet Union is, once again, Russia.
We never went to war with the Soviet Union.
However, when it came to the soft-wars, diplomacy, propaganda, influence, The Soviet Union clearly had the edge. One factor was that they did, after all, occupy Eastern Europe.
Our second tactical error of World War Two was not listening to Lord Winston Churchill at the end of the war. The First was before the war began. That was when we ignored Lord Winston Churchill's admonition that the Nazis were going to go to war.
I do not believe that we will ever go to war with China.
However, what abut the soft-stuff? Diplomacy, influence, international relations? [Global relations?]
"Never underestimate the Power of a symbolic gesture." Old Chinese Saying.
"The Power of a symbolic gesture resides with the person making the gesture." Slim Fairview
If history is any indicator, China will fare much better than we will. We do have history to substantiate that.
"Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." Santayana
"Those who never learned history are doomed--period!" Slim Fairview
China? No. China! 9. March 2012
China. Economics. Diversification
China. The Economy and a word beginning with the letter p.
Misunderstanding China Again 5. November 2012
Underestimating China Again 3. December 2012
There I've posted several monographs on the impending failures of Western Diplomacy in the Middle East. The analysts can figure out how they extend to impending Western Diplomatic Failures in the rest of the world.
Sincerest regards,
Slim
PS. I am not Paul Harvey. However, I am open to becoming a paid commentator, columnist, or blogger. If you’ve found anything I said to be helpful, please don’t hesitate to send me one of those tricked-out laptops and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note.
Sincerely,
Slim
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
You Can't Lead if You Can't Manage 2.0
In a previous monograph, I detailed the handling of a problem management is required to deal with all the time.
That problem ostensibly focuses on the non-performer. Actually, it focuses on the non-performing manager. It illustrates how someone who knows how to manage does, and why he is considered a leader.
That example was limited to a team working on a project. Now, we will focus on a higher level of activity. Team leaders working on different projects.
In order to do this, we must create an analogy. This time, however, we cannot use Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D’Artagnan.
This analogy involves Wolf Blitzer, Candy Crowley, the fictitious Odious Thudpucker, and the big, important boss, Phil A. Bilgewater.
First, I will put two qualified individuals on display.
Wolf Blitzer and Candy Crowley are working on different stories at opposite ends of a large table. Ms. Crowley is getting information together for a story. She gathers what she needs, stands up, and says,
“Well, I’ve got what I need. I’m going to head downtown to interview the Mayor; I should be back by three o’clock.”
“Good luck,” Mr. Blitzer says.
“Thank you,” Ms. Crowley says, and leaves.
The following day, Mr. Blitzer is still working on his story. At the other end of the table is Odious Thudpucker. Odious is gathering information for his story. He gathers what he needs, stand up, and says,
“Well, I got what I need. I’m gonna go interview the Mayor. But first I’m stoppin’ off to talk to the director. I wanna keep him in the loop. Then, I’m gonna stop by and talk to the fact checkers, them I’m gonna go interview the Mayor. I should be back by about three. I may stop for a samwich, I dunno. How you doin? Okay. If you need any help, I’ll be back around three. Well, I guess I better go.”
He leaves.
Now, Wolf Blitzer, Candy Crowley, and Odious Thudpucker all have their assignments. In plain English, however, Odious is no good. He was hired by Mr. Bilgewater. Bilgewater is no good at his job, either. So, he calls a meeting and tells the three they all must attend. This disrupts Mr. Blitzer’s and Ms. Crowley’s work. Mr. Bilgewater tells them, “This is important.” What he means is, “I think I am important.” They all attend.
Mr. Bilgewater discusses the visioning process, shared vision, the importance of avoiding groupthink. He discusses the importance of consensus building, which is really groupthink you paid a consultant to build.
In order for things to go more smoothly and to improve the quality of the journalism, Mr. Bilgewater is going to have Odious work with Ms. Crowley.
Ms. Crowley doesn’t say anything. She knows that Odious Thudpucker is no good at his job. Nor is Mr. Bilgewater. She knows she will be doing Thudpucker’s job for him. She knows he will junk up her report. However, she bites the bullet and goes along with it.
This is what Ms. Crowley knows:
If Thudpucker’s story comes off well, he will take the credit.
If Thudpucker’s story fails, he will blame her.
If her story comes off well, Thudpucker will take the credit.
If her story fails, Bilgewater will hold her responsible—After all, “I had Odious Thudpucker work with you on that story to help you.”
When her story fails, Odious Thudpucker defends her to Mr. Bilgewater.
“It isn’t all Candy’s fault. I had some good ideas and suggestions but I hesitated to push them. I didn’t really feel comfortable making too many suggestions to help Candy improve her story.”
Mr. Bilgewater looks to Ms. Crowley. “The purpose of having Odious help you was for you two to work as a team. You should be more receptive, open to the ideas of others. Let’s not have this again.”
Well, a string of disasters would have ensued. However, Mr. Bilgewater has a boss. His boss, Mr. Hammerhead reads my blog. Not that he must. He already knows this stuff.
He calls Ms. Crowley, Odious Thudpucker, and Mr. Bilgewater into his office. He wants an explanation about this new arrangement. He does not direct his question to Ms. Crowley. He looks at Odious Thudpucker and Mr. Bilgewater.
Odious know his stuff. He isn’t going to try to pull any fast ones with Mr. Hammerhead. He has plan B. ready. Throw Mr. Bilgewater under the bus.
Mr. Bilgewater knows what to expect. He defends his decision.
“I am trying to build consensus. I want my people to work as a team. I learned this stuff at the Really Big, Important Seminar we had here last year.”
“Shut up, Bilgewater.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“From now on, Ms. Crowley works on her stories. Mr. Blitzer works on his stories, and Odious Thudpucker works on his stories. Got it!”
“Yes, Sir.”
“That was not a question. Meeting over.”
Now, this is the point at which the critics see their opportunity to barge in and shift the focus to advance their agenda.
Two heads are better than one. One person can’t do everything. People need other people to help them. People, people who need people.... You get the idea.
However, that is not the point of this presentation.
Wolf Blitzer has a story to work on. He has a researcher look up information. He has a fact checker check facts. He has an assistant go to the film department to get some file videos. He puts his story together.
Candy Crowley has a story to work on. She has a researcher look up information. She asks a fact checker to check facts. She asks an assistant to get some video from the files. She puts her story together.
Now we come to Odious Thudpucker.
Odious has a story to work on. He needs research. His demands are not merely vague they are confusing. The researcher digs up the information he knows will be needed for the story. Odious criticises his assistant. He decides to get the information himself. Odious has the fact-checker check certain facts. The facts he wants checked are not in question. The ones that are, he tells her not to bother checking. He sends an assistant for video from the files. He doesn’t like the videos. He gets some himself. He gets a clip of young women in bikinis, people at a bar drinking vodka, and a car-chase scene. This, he knows, will hold the interest of the audience. His staff is rushed, pressured, confused, overworked, and feels a deepening resentment for Mr. Thudpucker and for Mr. Bilgewater who can’t manage and certainly can’t lead.
Wolf Blitzer’s story is a success.
Candy Crowley’s story is a success.
Odious Thudpucker’s story is a disaster.
Mr. Hammerhead can now deal with the problem. He calls everyone into his office. I can assure you this is not a meeting.
“What happened?”
“My staff. I’m new. They question my ability. They challenge my authority. They aren’t team players.”
Bilgewater chimes in, “That’s what I was talking about, Mr. Hammerhead. Team building, consensus building, shared vision—“
“Shut up.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“You have the best researchers. You have the best fact-checkers. You have access to the best video files. There is no excuse for this disaster you call a project. This will not happen again. You can go back to work. Bilgewater, you stay.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Everyone leaves except Mr. Bilgewater. When everyone leaves, Mr. Bilgewater looks at Mr. Hammerhead and asks, “Are you going to fire Thudpucker?”
“No.”
“Do you want me to fire Thudpucker?”
“No. I am not going to fire Thudpucker. I don’t want you to fire Thudpucker. I am going to have the new big boss fire Thudpucker. Clean out your desk.”
Now Mr. Hammerhead can justify his decision to the people upstairs. Mr. Hammerhead hires a new big boss. The new big boss replaces Odious Thudpucker with a qualified journalist.
Sincerest regards,
Slim
PS. I am not Paul Harvey. However, I am open to becoming a paid commentator, columnist, or blogger. If you’ve found anything I said to be helpful, please don’t hesitate to send me one of those tricked-out laptops and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note.
Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.
Monday, August 22, 2011
EuroCrisis: Hocus Pocus--Focus!
Instead of relying on the unending stream of bad news to comment upon, I took some time to read some of the articles being written about the EuroCrisis. I’m not sorry I did.
The EuroCrats are discussing solutions. They are focusing on the unpopular solutions. We used to believe that if medicine tasted bad, it was good for you. Now we believe that the unpopular solution is always the best solution.
The solution that no one likes is imposing sanctions on nations that do not improve their circumstances after receiving a bailout.
Your economy was in bad shape. We gave you money to pay your national debts. That was to help you while your economy improved. Your economy did not improve. Now we are going to punish you. We are going to do this to help you.
Some things require no additional comment. The above paragraph is an example of that.
Another solution on the table is to create another layer of bureaucracy. This is the toothless watchdog. You feed the dog, walk the dog, listen to the dog bark, and blame the dog when your home is burgled. My cat came up with that analogy. Self-serving? Yes. Valid none-the-less.
The EuroNations currently staggering downhill economically do not need governance. They need leadership. Moreover, however, the leaders are in need of leadership. All we have now is gratuitous management.
What has caused this flurry of activity? I am embarrassed to say this. Analysts. Why am I embarrassed to say this? I admittedly have only two skills. An analytical mind and the ability to speak in metaphors.
Analysts are predicting the recession in Greece will continue. They are basing their predictions on the fact that their assumptions failed to materialise.
Here is what happened. The € 110 Billion Bailout to Greece was apparently predicated on the assumption that growth would return to Greece after some austere fiscal and economic changes. When growth failed to arrive (Deus ex machina, I assume. Or Deus non machina for that matter.), the analysts predicted that the recession would continue. Apparently, the Analysts never read Horace’s Ars Poetica. Now, I never read it either. Still, here is the analogy.
Instead of putting 10% of your income into your retirement fund each year, I want you to put 5% of your income into your retirement fund each year. This based on the assumption that your rate of return is going to double.
Instead of crunching the numbers, grasp the concept.
Thus far, there seems to be no solution. There is no short-term solution to the problem. There is no long-term solution to the problem. What we do have, however, are steps being taken in the hopes that things will get better.
This, we do, by calling the people trying to solve the problems, experts.
This, we do, by calling the people trying to solve the problems, experts.
“Early to bed and early to rise, does not make you Ben Franklin.”—Slim Fairview
What is most startling about this situation is that there is little discussion about projects. Cutting spending to the bone certainly gives the appearance of a better financial position. It gives you the feeling of being in better financial shape.
You can also improve your circumstances by focusing on increasing the revenue.
Now, as I said elsewhere:
If you are unemployed, a government job is a job.
If you are an economist, a government job is a transfer payment.
However, we need a scapegoat. There is, after all, a global economic crisis. What happened? Let’s blame it on John Maynard Keynes. John Maynard Keynes may have as much to do with the problem as Maynard G. Krebs, but it will give us the opportunity to sell new ideas.
This in analogous to the decline in reading skills in the United States.
With no evidence to suggest that Phonics caused the decline in reading scores, we began down the path of coming up with new and better ways to teach reading. Each new way of teaching reading was embraced to solve the problem of declining test scores caused by the previous solution. Ultimately, we blamed the test. When that didn’t work, we began to demand testing the teacher. The only ones who benefited were the ones who wrote and sold books explaining the new and better way of teaching youngsters to read.
The only people who got rich from Get Rich Quick books were the people who wrote them. The only people who felt better from Self-Help Books were the people who made money writing them.
Thus it is with the EuroCrisis. Everyone is in the same situation, it would seem. Everyone has a solution. The only people benefiting from the solutions, however, are the experts who make money selling their theories to the EuroCrats.
I once said in jest, “Put me in charge. I can do just as bad a job, but I can come up with much better excuses.” Now I will say it not in jest. "Put me in charge. I can do just as bad a job, but I can come up with better excuses."
Let’s be honest, isn’t the feel-good course of action the one that helps us to show everyone that it was someone else’s fault.
Sincerest regards,
Slim
PS. I am not Paul Harvey. However, I am open to becoming a paid commentator, columnist, or blogger. If you’ve found anything I said to be helpful, please don’t hesitate to send me one of those tricked-out laptops and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note.
Sincerely
Slim
RR #2
Route 390
Cresco, PA 18326
Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview
Friday, August 19, 2011
EuroCrisis Analogy
You and your two sisters have been asking your parents for an allowance.
They have resisted. They have explained that you are not responsible. However, they will discuss it privately.
A few days later, they call you and your two sisters to a meeting. They announce that they will give you an allowance. There are three conditions:
1. You save some.
2. You spend some.
3. You give some to the less fortunate.
You all agree. Happily.
You ask, “How much to we get?”
Your Dad explains.
“Your Mom and I are putting all the money into a shoebox. You may each take your allowance from there.”
Your one sister takes money out to buy two blouses. She puts $10.00 in her Piggy Bank.
Your other sister takes money out to buy one blouse. She puts $5.00 in her Piggy Bank.
You go to the shoebox and find only $3.00 left. You complain to your parents.
Your parents tell you to, “put $1.00 in your Piggy Bank, give $1.00 to the poor, and to spend $1.00 on yourself.”
Now do you understand why the EuroCrisis has not been solved?
Sincerely,
Slim
PS.
I am not Paul Harvey. However, I am open to becoming a paid commentator, columnist, or blogger.
If you’ve found anything I said to be helpful, please don’t hesitate to send me one of those tricked-out laptops and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note.
Sincerest regards,
Slim
Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview
Friday, August 12, 2011
You Can't Lead if You Can't Manage
We keep hearing about leadership. Why? Why are we discussing leadership when we can’t even manage to manage?
For the purposes of this discussion, we will discuss a team in your company. There are three members on this team. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.
If you are thinking “All for one and one for all,” you are thinking of The Three Musketeers. That was then. This is now.
The Boss, Mr. Odious, has received several complaints from Athos and Porthos that Aramis is not pulling his own weight. Mr. Odious tends to ignore these things. That is until Mr. Hammerhead hears about it.
Mr. Odious calls the three into his office. You’ve heard it all before. You may even sell this stuff.
Mr. Odious says, “There is no I in team” and he proceeds to talk about the visioning process, shared vision, group-think, and consensus building. When he is finished, and after having mentioned efficiency, productivity, and personal responsibility, he hands each employee a smiley-face key chain, and sends the three back to work.
Mr. Odious tells Mr. Hammerhead that he had a talk and things should be fine. Mr. Hammerhead is not reassured.
The Big Boss does not want to hear about problems. He doesn’t even want to hear about solutions. Why not? Because solutions mean problems.
The problem of Aramis continues. Now, there is a bigger problem. Mr. Hammerhead calls Mr. Odious and Aramis into his office.
“Mr. Odious, do you have the sales figures for the first two quarters?”
“Well....”
“Yes or no!”
“No, Sir.”
“Do you have a draft of the Quilby contract? Yes or no?”
“No, Sir.”
“Which person in your department was responsible for these assignments?”
“Aramis, Sir.”
“Mrs. McGillicuddy, have D'Artagnan report to my office.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Odious, Aramis is off the team. D‘Artagnan will handle the assignments.”
Yes, Sir.”
“You may leave now, Aramis. Odious, you stay.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Odious, I can easily see that you cannot manage. You received complaints on more than one occasion that Aramis was not pulling his own weight. We don’t have the sales figures, we don’t have a draft of the contract, and this is not acceptable. I don’t want it to happen again. Understood?
“Yes, Sir.”
“That’s all.”
It is not long before Mr. Odious is replaced by D’Artagnan.
The main reason is that Athos and Porthos lost all respect for Mr. Odious. Athos and Porthos have jobs to do. The company relies on their accomplishing their assignments. Aramis was the weak link. Mr. Odious was a weaker link. Mr. Odious not only could not lead, he could not even manage.
This plagues American business.
Athos and Porthos have a great deal of respect for D’Artagnan. He knows his stuff. He is capable of helping Athos and Porthos. He has the respect of Mr. Hammerhead. Mr. Hammerhead already knows D’Artagnan will be replacing Mr. Odious.
Mr. Hammerhead is a leader. He is respected. People want fair play. They don’t want smiley-face key chains.
Had Mr. Hammerhead not replaced Mr. Odious, he would have both lost the respect of his employees and he would have lost the confidence of his bosses.
We have had our ability to manage, and by extension our ability to lead, compromised over the past several decades.
Leadership is this simple:
“Look behind you. If people are following you, you’re a leader. If they’re not, you’re not.” The Quotations of Slim Fairview
Regards,
Slim
PS. I am not Paul Harvey. However, I am open to becoming a paid commentator, columnist, or blogger. If you’ve found anything I said to be helpful, please don’t hesitate to send me one of those tricked-out laptops and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note.
Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Senator Bilgewater: Politician or Window Dressing?
In all seriousness, investors don't really invest in politicians. They invest in the candidates who will further their own interests.
On that thought, it is analogous to the comment about US Bond ratings: Where else are they going to put their money?
While American Corporations are making foreign (capital) investments it could be said they have no faith in politicians or an acute grasp of the economy. I will assume the analysts can and have plotted the path of the trajectory.
Unless they are watching the news when they are reporting poll numbers (public opinion) savvy investors know the limits of the politicians.
There is little that Senator Bilgewater* can do to resolve our "Jobs" crisis. As it has been said, the government cannot create jobs. Only the private sector can create jobs. Senator Bilgewater is at this point in time an impediment to the creation of jobs.
Tip O'Neil once said, "All politics is local." This can also be said of the economy. Investors deal in large numbers. People want to know only one thing, "Will I have a job?"
Our country moves in spite of the politicians. In plain speak, the U.S. has had three GREAT Presidents: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and FDR. And I am a person who believes that Ronald Reagan was a President of Mythic Proportions. After all, he single-handedly tore down the Berlin Wall liberating 1 billion people ground beneath the boot heel of communist military occupation.
But that was then, this is now.
As an aside, there is a large difference between Soviet Style Communism and Chinese Style Communism.
The Soviet Union had its going out of business sale years ago, changed its name, and reopened under new management--Russia.
China is the second fastest growing economy in the world.
See the difference?
Politicians are Window Dressing. Senator Bilgewater is a Politician. Therefore, Senator Bilgewater is Window Dressing.
Politicians? Window dressing.
Regards,
Slim
mailto:slimfairview@yahoo.com
On that thought, it is analogous to the comment about US Bond ratings: Where else are they going to put their money?
While American Corporations are making foreign (capital) investments it could be said they have no faith in politicians or an acute grasp of the economy. I will assume the analysts can and have plotted the path of the trajectory.
Unless they are watching the news when they are reporting poll numbers (public opinion) savvy investors know the limits of the politicians.
There is little that Senator Bilgewater* can do to resolve our "Jobs" crisis. As it has been said, the government cannot create jobs. Only the private sector can create jobs. Senator Bilgewater is at this point in time an impediment to the creation of jobs.
Tip O'Neil once said, "All politics is local." This can also be said of the economy. Investors deal in large numbers. People want to know only one thing, "Will I have a job?"
Our country moves in spite of the politicians. In plain speak, the U.S. has had three GREAT Presidents: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and FDR. And I am a person who believes that Ronald Reagan was a President of Mythic Proportions. After all, he single-handedly tore down the Berlin Wall liberating 1 billion people ground beneath the boot heel of communist military occupation.
But that was then, this is now.
As an aside, there is a large difference between Soviet Style Communism and Chinese Style Communism.
The Soviet Union had its going out of business sale years ago, changed its name, and reopened under new management--Russia.
China is the second fastest growing economy in the world.
See the difference?
Politicians are Window Dressing. Senator Bilgewater is a Politician. Therefore, Senator Bilgewater is Window Dressing.
Politicians? Window dressing.
Regards,
Slim
mailto:slimfairview@yahoo.com
PS
I am not Paul Harvey.
However, I am open to becoming a paid commentator, columnist, or blogger.
If you’ve found anything I said to be helpful, please don’t hesitate to send me one
of those tricked-out laptops and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with
the thank you note.
Sincerest regards,
Slim
RR #2
Route 390
Cresco, PA 18326
Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview
* Senator Bilgewater, Senior Senator from Kansachusetts.
Kansachusetts: The State We All Live In.
This message has been paid for by the Kansachusetts Chamber of Commerce.
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