My Favorite Broadcaster Died Yesterday....

As everyone in the world probably knows by now, Tim Russert of NBC News passed away suddenly at work on Friday. I am among millions of viewers who will miss him greatly.

Likely, you are too.

Tim was older than me, but not by too much.

As all the accolades and personal recollections wafted across the TV screen yesterday (and this weekend) it stuck me that he left us a gift.

His legacy.

Aside from his journalistic skills, his strong work ethic and his leadership skills as recounted by all his co-workers, perhaps his greatest attribute was his authenticity.

He never forgot his roots. He displayed reverence for his Dad in writing a couple of very popular books. He loved (and never forgot) his hometown of Buffalo, NY. He was a Buffalo Bills fan to the end. He wasn't a boss to those who reported to him. He was an advocate - a coach and a cheerleader. He was perpetually enthusiastic. He had a passion for his job.

He never looked comfortable in a suit. I always expected his shirt to be untucked under his suit jacket.

He was the guy you'd love to have a beer with. And he was the smartest man in the room. He didn't show it off. You just knew.

I have to give a talk to an MBA class on Monday night about leadership.

I suspect we'll talk about Tim Russert.

Goodbye Tim. I'll miss you.

The Price of Gas

It was with some interest this week, that I participated in a discussion at work about the current price of gas. It seems like the volume is being turned up on the debate to allow more domestic oil drilling, in an attempt to increase supply of gasoline and thereby reduce the price of gas for us all.

Seems logical, more supply, less demand, lower prices. Economics 101.

The major oil companies hope to convince enough consumers that expanded drilling rights is the cure to $4 gas. C'mon, Alaska would look great with those oil derricks scattered across it's vista. How about drilling off the eastern and western U.S. coastline... The chances for an environmental disaster aren't that big, are they? What could possibly go wrong with that plan? Those pesky National Parks are hiding the key to cheap gas. Why go camping when you could go drilling?

The ONLY thing holding us back from $2 per gallon gas is expanded drilling rights.

Except that's not the way it works.

We forget that oil is bought and sold in a world market. Even if we produce more gasoline domestically, does anyone really believe that Exxon Mobil, will sell it to us for a reduced price when they can get $4 (or $5 or $6) in the World market? Major markets like China and India are becoming major oil consumers. They're adding to the demand far faster than anyone can supply.

Lobbying by the oil companies is distorting the truth. They know it won't drive prices down. But it will grant them access to additional supply upon which they can generate more profits. Because the name of the game is not to serve its customers, its to serve shareholders.

And they have done THAT, very well.

Want proof?

The U.S. gets most of its oil from ,,,,wait for it......Canada. Not Saudi Arabia, Iraq or Iran. Canada.

If you apply the same reasoning the US Oil giants are pitching, where greater supply equals lower prices, then you also need to explain why Canadians are paying MORE for gasoline than we do HERE! They EXPORT oil, for heavens sake!

Aside from a couple of examples of dictatorships, in whose countries gas is artificially kept inexpensive as a means to staying in power, free market economics are in effect.

The bad news is that gas will never return to 2005 prices. Ever.

The good news is that if we seize the opportunity, perhaps we can rid ourselves of this dependency over the next thirty years.

In the meantime, get ready for higher prices.

I Want an Elitist President.

I'm confused by all the "elitist" criticism of the Presidential candidates. Isn't it time we voted for an "elitist"? Don't we deserve an elitist?

The person I want leading this country is definitely NOT one of the friends I hung around with in college. Don't get me wrong. They were great. It's just that I wouldn't trust them to lead a country. And I'm sure they'd feel the same way about me.

I want a President who is thinking six steps ahead of his rival in Foreign Policy matters. I want a President who connects the dots with respect to cause and effect. Someone who has the vision (unpopular or not) to make longer term decisions and to effectively communicate why we're heading in that direction.

I want a meticulous planner, a brilliant strategist, a uniter, a Mensa level scholar, a brilliant communicator and motivator, a historian, a psychologist. The challenges facing us right now demand that we bring to bear the best and brightest minds in the country. These people aren't everyday, average citizens.

They operate in the intellectual stratosphere. The are among the "elite".

Dictionary.com describes "elite" as "the choice or best of anything, considered collectively".

Those who argue that we should write off any candidate who is considered "elite" are advocating for mediocrity. Perhaps it's because the best candidate from the accusatory group is just average. Perhaps they don't understand the meaning of the word "elite".

Maybe some of us aren't comfortable around smart people.

Get over it.

Would you take advice (or a prescription) from a physician with an Internet "degree", who was working out of his car and who couldn't put a sentence together? Or would you prefer being attended to by an articulate, compassionate doctor with several degrees from a prestigious medical school, operating from a meticulous office?

I like "elite". I trust "elite".

I want to vote for someone I'd like to have a beer with. BUT, I would expect that same person would never be caught dead having a beer with me. They'd have more important things to do.

Pay Up Sucka!

On May 1st I gave my brother a call. He's a CPA and a partner in an accounting firm in Ontario, Canada.

I called him on May 1st, because April 30th is when Canadian income tax is due and his firm processes a LOT of returns.

And so, I waited until the seasonal crush of work subsided before calling him. it wasn't long before our conversation turned to tax rates.

With all the local talk in the US of making income tax cuts permanent and with several of the Presidential candidates talking about gas tax holidays over the summer months, bailing out failing financial institutions, bailing out homeowners affected by raising mortgage rates, lowering corporate income tax rates and somehow paying for universal healthcare, Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid against a backdrop of a declining US dollar, a slower economy and an ongoing expensive war, I thought it was time to inject a dose of reality into the discussion.

In Canada, they have universal healthcare, Social Security and are NOT fighting an expensive war.

My brother reminded me that in Canada, the highest personal tax rate is 46.4% and that it applies to all incomes over $120,000. In Canada, mortgage interest is NOT deductible. And remember too, that Canada has a consumption tax of 15% (Provincial Sales Tax and a Federal Goods and Services tax) on stuff you buy with your after tax dollars! Oh, and gas is currently (the US equivalent) of about $4.25 a gallon.

The Canadian economy is about 10% the size of the US economy and yes, they have a National debt.

The big difference between the approach that the two countries take is that in Canada, they attempt to "pay as you go" for services. In the U.S. we tend to try to keep taxes low, count on a growing economy to make up the shortfall and put the difference on the charge card (increase the national debt).

It allows us all to live "the American dream".

Question is: Which of the Presidential candidates will have the courage to wake us?

Missing in Action

My apologies to loyal readers who have patiently waited for a blog post for the past couple of weeks. I've been spending most of my time consulting at a terrific local company, helping them with I.T. support and development projects.

Unfortunately, that has allowed me precious little time to sit down at my laptop and reflect, think, observe and bitch!

More soon! (And thanks for reading.)

The Story of Stuff

Thanks to the Presentation Zen blog, I discovered this tremendous video about environental sustainability and over consumption.

Sounds boring.

Sounds complicated.

This presentation disproves both assumptions. Annie Leonard may have just won a place on my "Hero Wall".

How Many Countries?

If you had just landed in the U.S. with a mission to understand the political geography of the planet, could you determine how many countries exist in the world?

Not by reading the news.

Based upon mention in mainstream U.S. media, after Iraq, Iran, North Korea and China, it would seem that few other countries exist.

As we debate who has the best foreign policy credentials in the run up to the presidential election, perhaps we should ask our candidates a basic question: "How many countries are there in the world?"

I wonder how many would know the answer.

I didn't. I had to look it up.

There are 195.

When you consider how much focus we invest on Iraq, it seems we have precious time left for any other country (including our own). It also strikes me as odd, that all the bad guys would hole up in one or two countries - when they have a choice of 195.

It's a big world out there. Perhaps its time we recognized that fact.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

It's that time of year again. The temperatures are beginning to rise. Daylight is coming earlier and staying later. Birds are busy building nests around my downspouts.

But there is no more mistakable sign of Spring that the roar of gas engines, that permeate the neighbourhood.

And I'm not taking about lawn mowers. I'm talking about snow blowers.

That's right, snow blowers.

As anyone can tell you, it's not a great idea to store gas powered tools with the gas still in them.

And so the passage into Spring is announced (in my neighborhood, anyway) with a chorus of idling snow blowers, burning off the remaining gas.

I'm becoming a little more environmentally conscious as I get a little older. I never struck me as environmentally responsible running the gas tanks dry of all my yard tools, before putting them away. I have enough guilt using gas powered equipment in the first place. But running gas tanks dry is adding insult to (environmental) injury.

And so, with my new found treehugger conscience (and with gas approaching $4 a gallon), this year I decided to try something different.

No, I'm not going to leave the gas in the tank. That would be engine suicide.

This year I invested in a fluid pump. For a few bucks, FleetFarm provided me with a way to transfer my snow blower gas and avoid adding to the engine choir each Spring.

Too bad it took a city boy thirty years to figure out what every farmer already knows.

Why aren't these things on sale each Spring and Fall? It makes great environmental sense and trust me, there are a LOT of people (at least on my block) who don't know they exist!

It's White Out There.

As I write this, our local Channel 12 "Weather Center" has wall to wall coverage of snow falling in Wisconsin in March.

Not exactly an unusual event.

Now I'm certain that some small segment of their viewership are really appreciative of Channel 12 telling them that driving will be more difficut than normal, or that there may be some delays on major highways and at the airport or that we should all bundle up because of the weather.

I have a name for this segment of their viewership.

Idiots.

Note to Channel 12: Just scroll event closing information at the bottom of the screen and show us the expected snowfall amounts. And broadcast regular programming.

You're embarrasing yourselves.

We don't need to see the classic TV image of the junior reporter standing in a field, with a ruler, measuring the snowfall. These people went to college for this? It strikes me that meteorologists don't specilize in Weather forecasting. Their true skill is taking the maximum amount of time to tell you the least amount of information. And getting as much "face time" on local TV as possible.

There is far more important television that they could be broadcasting.

Like Regis and Kelly.

Brilliant Simplicity

Today's post on Seth Godin's blog is a great example of why he's so popular. He's a master of suggesting "obvious" solutions to everyday marketing problems.

His true skill of course is in cutting to the chase - by looking to turn a problem into an advantage, or eliminating the problem altogether.

The rest of us take our business environment for granted. We look for ways to "tweak" solutions - to work around or control known "deficiencies", rather than eliminate them. We work in a world where "you can't do that" and "every restaurant has a few bad tables".

His brain works on an entirely different plane.

The answer of how to solve the problem of a bad table at a restaurant, is brilliant in its simplicity. (To discover the answer, follow the link).

The NEW U.S. Metric System

I don't know how many of you remember when America was considering switching to the metric system. It was decades ago.

As a Canuck, we were immersed in learning all about centimeters, millimeters and celcius. Frankly, the change was difficult for me because I was at the age where I already was familiar with miles and farenheit.

You all know the ending of the story. Canada switched and the U.S. decided not to.

And the result are expensive speeding tickets for Americans driving through Canada, driving in miles per hour instead of kilometers per hour. (Aside: When the switch from mph to kmph was made, they kept the fines the same - so driving at 10 kph (about 6 mph) over the speed limit cost you the same as if you hade been driving at 10 mph over the limit on the day before conversion! An overnight 40% increase in all speeding fines!)

But I digress.

I wanted to talk about a brand new measurement system invading the U.S. - the 100 Calorie Pack. This brilliant marketing scheme has completely invaded the grocery store shelves, in the same way that bottled water did years ago.

Those clever marketers at all the major food brands are cleverly repackaging their products in increments of 100 Calories and selling them as snacks. They take all the guesswork out of figuring out "serving sizes" based upon the required calorie labelling on the back of all products.

Yup - just dive in. You'll only consume 100 calories.

These companies prey upon those of us (including me) who constantly battle their waistlines - at about twice the price (per portion) of the regular family sized packaging.

Brilliant.

Election Math

Seems like there are two major discussion threads helping decide who will run for President in the Fall.

The first thread is the rush to outrage and judgement about campaign surrogates who in their zealous support of their preferred candidate, firmly insert their feet into their respective mouths (Geraldine Ferraro from Hillary's camp, and several different religious leaders supporting McCain and Obama.)

The second major discussion, on the Democratic side, is all about math. Mostly delegate count, super-delegate counts and popular vote. To the media's glee, the numbers change daily, presenting yet another news cycle of speculation, parsing candidate comments, body language analysis and a review of what the Late Night Talk Shows are saying about each candidate.

Of course, there's very little discussion of the actual issues. Frankly I'd be surprised if most Democrats could cite the differences between Clinton's and Obama's policy plans. We are all guilty of letting the candidates get away without enough policy specificity.

And we completely let them off the hook when it comes to "election math".

Like how are you planning to pay for all of this?

Last I heard, Social Security was in trouble. Medicare and Medicaid will run out of funding. National Guard troops located at the Mexican border, will begin to be withdrawn as a result of dwindling budgets. There's that war in Afghanistan and Iraq (and soon coming to Iran?) that is draining the life out of future generations of Americans (both literally and figuratively). There's the required infrastructure investments in America's roads, bridges, energy infrastructure and the required investment to address Global Climate change. We're going to require substantial investment in our military simply to rebuild and re-equip our soldiers, sailors, air force and marines.

For our National security sake, we're also going to have to find a way to become energy independent (no oil imports) and that will require significant investment.

And, if we are considering universal healthcare, we will need fat wallets.

So Barack, Hillary, John.... how are you going to pay for all this? Let's have you put on a class in "Election Math".

And may I remind you that the cost of oil is now around $110 a barrel and the number of employed Americans is going DOWN each day.

Let me remind you of the current economic realities, shown at this site, In the past 8 years, our National Debt has grown from $5.7 Trillion dollars to a whopping $9.4 Trillion dollars. Every year we purchase more than we export, currently at a rate in excess of $700 Billion dollars per year!

If you had a family member in these financial straits, you'd recommend credit counselling.

But no one is talking about it.

Because for the Democrats, getting elected is about keeping people focused on change, on hope and dreams and a wish list of social initiatives. For the Republicans it's about trying to scare people into believing you're the only people who can protect America from the bad guys.

In case the past eight years haven't taught you the lesson, let me spell it out for you. Getting elected and governing are two very different skill sets. It's one thing to make it to the Oval Office.

It's quite another to be "Ready on Day 1" with a maxed-out credit card.

Hillary? Barack? John? Your responses?

The New Five

As a Canadian living in the U.S. friends tease us mercilessly about Canadian "10 month Winters", our passion for hockey (which we actually don't watch in our household) and our "funny" colored money.

As of this morning, the mighty U.S. dollar is now worth 99 cents Canadian and as as I write this, another change is happening..... the introduction of a more colorful U.S. five dollar bill.

I understand that the new format has more to do with forgery security than it does with fashion, but i wonder...

Can U.S. looneys and twoneys be far behind?

Thanks, Brett

My first recollection of Brett Favre, was in mid October 1995, when I first moved to Milwaukee from Toronto. Until then, I had no idea what all the "Packer fuss" was about.

While in Toronto, I was a Buffalo Bills fan (and endured the four Jim Kelly Super Bowl defeats!).

As anyone can tell you there's something about Wisconsin that makes it almost impossible NOT to become a Packers fan. Monday morning water cooler discussions make it manditory that you watch Sunday's game. Packer fan devotion is contageous.

And so, it was on Sunday October 15th 1995, that I began to become a Brett Favre fan. The first game I watched, Brett led a win over the dreaded Detroit Lions.

And I've been watching (and cheering) for the Green and Gold ever since.

Like virtually everyone in Wisconsin, I was shocked at yesterday's news of Brett's retirement. Last year was very successful - we were an overtime loss away from going to the Super Bowl. And no one could argue that Brett still had the talent to compete at the highest levels.

But to be successful in the NFL, it requires a tremendous amount of mental toughness to endure, to prepare, to win week after week.

And after 17 seasons, Brett simply got tired.

And to his credit, he realized that without a 100% mental commitment to the effort of one more campaign, it simply wasn't worth the personal sacrifice. He would run the risk of letting down his team and his fans.

What a great way to leave the game - as a folk hero, as a living legend, a genuinely down to earth, humble, nice guy.

And with virtually every record in the record book.

And with the fans wanting more.

Congratulations on a fantastic career and thanks for a great ride!

My Pet Peeve

Recently I've found myself extremely frustrated at the local video store. The woman that runs the place is great and the selection is outstanding. No complaints there.

But I have one HUGE problem.

I can't read the friggin 2pt type on the back of the DVD cases. C'mon really - is someone actually supposed to be able to read this stuff without magnification?

I realize that reading glasses are the scourge of the middle aged, but I truly believe that Hollywood and all the major film studios have it out for me.

Perhaps the store should offer plastic magnifying glasses with every ten rentals. Or maybe they could install one of those bar code readers (like some of the retail stores have for price checking) except that in this case, they could provide a plot synopsis for those of us who can't see microscopic print.

In fact, the only narrative I CAN read on these cases are the headlines and they're usually lies!

Hilarious! Riveting! Non-stop action!

In hindsight, perhaps closing my eyes and picking randomly would work just as well.

You Can't Do That!

It's interesting how people react to the phrase "You can't do that!".

Some of us heed it as a warning. Danger - imminent threat. A strictly enforced rule. Perhaps a declaration of lack of confidence in your abilities. This group falls in line - doesn't make waves. They heed convention. They listen to pollsters. They follow the rules.

Others see it as a challenge. Just because no one has done it before, doesn't mean it can't be done. Because someone has failed at this doesn't mean we won't be successful. Just because we're breaking a convention doesn't mean it is still a good practice.

Challenging the status quo isn't always wrong. Sometimes it's the only right thing to do.

What's your reaction to "You can't do that!"?

The Business Card that Changed Our World

Over a decade ago, my team changed our world - with a business card.

We migrated a locally run, non-standard, international I.T. organization into a regional support model, running on a globally standardized infrastructure.

And it all began with a meeting, a business card and a philosophy of team empowerment.

Fortunately for each of us (in about 8 different countries), shared similar pain. Our systems were difficult to support, we didn't have any support depth at any single site.

It was difficult to share processes or learning, since the sites were so different from each other. And the other thing we all had in common? - universal user dissatisfaction with the support we were providing (or not providing) to our end users.

And so, it was under these circumstances we began the journey.

It started with the understanding that WE were a big part of the problem.

Once our team met, and understood that we all faced common challenges. It was relatively easy to identify the pathway to better systems and improved support. We had to get to "common" and we had to "watch each other's back", by sharing stories, identifying and adopting our best internal processes, learning from our mistakes and by standardizing on technologies, so we could develop expertise across multiple sites to back each other up.

And so it was that the 5 Rules were born.

We didn't specify up front what had to be implemented, only that we do it together and not make our problems any worse by adding to our computing complexity. (To be honest, many of the team had a shared vision about which technologies we should leverage, we just had to agree on hardware and service products and vendors.) And we had to talk to each other like never before.

Our 5 Rules were:

1. Common and Fewer (initiatives, platforms, processes)

2. Global and cross divisional teams vs. local initiatives

3. Package vs. Custom (software)

4. Need vs. Want ("concrete business benefit" trumps "cool to have")

5. Communicate, communicate, communicate!

The idea of putting our 5 Rules on business cards came from one of my Directors (thanks Dave) and the idea was to spread the word throughout I.T. (and the rest of the company) via the 5 Rules cards.

We mandated that any technology being considered or deployed, had to fall within the 5 Rules.

Any proposed exceptions had to be brought to my attention.

In this way, our entire team was empowered to make it happen. We avoided the typical "have everything approved by Corporate" because our team clearly understood the rules. And the rules could fit on a business card.

It took us three years, but in the end, the team built one of the best and well run computing platforms I've ever come across. Global vendors were consolidated. Data communications were globally monitored. All networks were visible around the world. Standard computing images were developed. Common routers, switches and firewalls deployed, 5 data centers consolidated into one, a DR center built, all mid range computers managed by just a couple of people, common email, KM applications and universal Internet access to Corporate applications, anytime, anywhere.

It was quite an accomplishment. I couldn't be more proud of that team.

And it all started with a business card.

Beautiful Blogging

I just came across a beautiful presentation on my favorite presentation sharing site slideshare.net.

This presentation provides practical advice for people who write blogs (or want to). It's an example of beautiful design and effective communication.

Enjoy

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Welcome to Bizarro World

This morning the NY Times ran a non-story about an unsubstantiated, implied, inappropriate relationship that John McCain may or may not have had, with a lobbiest, 8 years ago.

This isn't news, it's gossip.

And, if untrue, the NY Times need to be hauled into court and forced to pay a steep price for giving voice to an unsubstantiated rumor.

To make things worse, all the TV pundits this morning are doing their usual schtick - amplifying the non-story by repeating it endlessly and expressing their fake outrage from both sides of the aisle.

He (and WE) all deserve better. If you thought the media learned anything from their 6 year haitus during the years when we launched a war and began losing all our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, think again.

It appears they'll publish whatever generates readership.

The old adage "If it bleeds, it leads." should be amended to; "If it doesn't bleed, throw ketchup on it, imply it's bleeding and lead with it."

Must have been a slow news day.

iTunes Artwork Screensaver for Windows

Yesterday I wandered into my son Jeff's room. Both his Macs were in screensaver mode and were displaying album art from his iTunes library.

I thought it looked pretty cool (just like Apple to do something like this) and I asked whether there was a version for Windows.

He didn't know, but his intrepid Dad found a free downloadable copy for Windows users thanks to Canyon Room. It has been available for well over a year, but I never knew about it until now.

Enjoy.