Floating Island Around Manhattan Island

Some of you may have seen Smithson's "Floating Island Around Manhattan Island" this past fall. It was the realization of his concept, developed I believed in the 70's, in which he wanted to pull an artificial island around Manhattan via tug. I love it .... water, manhattan, spectacle and boats - doesn't get better.

I took his original 70's concept sketch and superimposed actual shots of the tug, island and skyline from the 2005 exhibit. I didn't want to overshadow the original work, but wanted to give a flavor for conception of an idea through execution.

Take some responsibility ...

When I was at graduate school in 2001/02, Jeff Skilling spoke to us from a packed auditorium .... a hero to the crowd of business students. He was cocky, confident and energetic. Skilling was an alumni and seemed quite pleased to be back at his alma mater.

Later on, when Skilling was facing legal proceedings and the evidence was clearly against him, I was furious at the utter lack of responsibility. This guy helped ruin countless lives, yet he sat smugly by proclaiming innocence. (contrast this to Scott Waddell, captain of the US Navy sub that sank the Japanese research vessel - he took full responsibility). I wrote to a contact at my alma mater saying that if the school could grant a graduate degree, it should publicly take it away if someone didn't live up to our code of conduct; The school found the idea "interesting", but it never went anywhere.

Today one of the bit players in the Enron scandal, Causey, agreed to testify. I hope he finally provides the ammunition to put more of these people behind bars.

I agree that one of the things that makes American capitalism great is a "pushing the boundary" mentality. Derivatives, hedging, creative financing, etc, would never happen in a strictly regulated system and our country would suffer from it. The byproduct of this deregulated economy is illegal activity. I don't want government overseeing every aspect of our economy, but I would at least like to see it be effective at dishing out justice when it is clearly due.

Walmart - even the playing field

I've never invested much in the walmart is good vs evil debate. However, this weekend I was out of town visiting relatives for the holidays. I had hoped to run each day I was traveling, but forgot my running shoes. Well, I wasn't about to lay out 100 bucks for a decent replacement pair just to get three runs in. Later that day, I was searching for eggnog and was forced to go to Walmart, the only store open at the time. Low and behold, not only did they have eggnog, they also had running shoes for $23.49. So I picked up a pair. Granted, they are hideous looking - i'm not sure which midwestern marketing department came up with the logo and name - "starters". But they felt fine on the run. So in the end, if Walmart can put out a decent pair of running shoes for under 25 bucks, I'm a supporter. One shouldn't have to make two times the median income to be able to afford to buy good running shoes ... Of course, I'm back using my Asics, but have those "starters" in reserve.

The importance of clarity

Comparing leadership for me pre and post MBA means comparing what I experienced in the military with what I now experience in the business world. Before recently, I hadn't given it much thought, but generally felt military leaders were superior. Recently, I began to think about this again. The people I worked with in the military were top caliber, but so are the people I have worked with during two years of consulting engagements at five different companies. Why did the military leaders seem so much more effective? Having already taken ability or skill of the table, there had to be another reason. What I now think is that I perceived the military leaders to be stronger because of the environment they worked in. They had clear goals and clear lines of leadership ... Things that business leaders almost always struggle with. This struggle is largely due to the constant ambiguity resulting from new markets, serving multiple stakeholder and constant powershifts ... Complexities that are taken off the table in the military. However, previous experience seems to indicate that if business leaders could do better around clarity and accountability, they would see a dramatic improvement in their effectivess and their impact on their team. (Note: before anyone lambasts me for saying that it is more difficult to serve a new market than conduct a rescue in 20 foot seas, I'm not. I'm only discussing the different operating environments in terms of accountability and clarity)
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What is the military?

I knew some professionals (consultants, bankers, etc) who talked about joining the military after 9/11. The thought was short lived, however, and I don't know anyone personally who made the transition - which is fine because our current system can't function without these essential functions. A WSJ reporter on Friday, however, wrote about how he had just joined the Marine Corp at age 31. Having seen the world and what America meant to it, he decided he needed to be part of protecting and promoting our way of life.

Having served, I have mixed feelings about how to view the armed forces. As a Service Academy graduate, I was given four years of training centered on honor, duty and country. A feeling I loved, but largely out of touch with how our political process runs now. Up to a certain time period, politics was filled with men and women who had served in the armed forces. There was more give and take between the military and the political establishment .... it was less of a tool to coldly wield when you needed to apply force. Now, however, most of the politicians ordering the military into risky situations has never served - many seem to view the military as any other tool, like fiscal policy. The difference is that the military is a tool which necessarily results in death when wielded. I would think politicians would understand this even if they didn't serve, but for some reason many of them separate the objective of a military campaign versus the cost.

The issue is still mixed in my mind, but my main question is whether the armed forces should be viewed as something other than a tool to be wielded without emotion or as a direct extension of our political process? The former implies a mercenary type military where we really don't need to overdue the concepts of patriotism, honor, etc - it is paid well and does what it is told when it is told to do it. The latter implies that we need more of our society represented in the military.

The one baby manual that should replace all others

We must have about twenty baby manuals in our house. The interesting thing about them is that they are all process focused ... How to have a healthy, sleeping baby ... How to feed your baby ... Etc. What I don't see in the book stores are any books focused on the long term development goals of a baby. Something with the title like “How to lay the foundation for a happy human being”. Not that I don't think good sleep is important, but I tend to think the natural processes take care of themselves. Given the state of many families, it seems they could use help on raising more well adjusted children.So here is my quick take on the five things that I think a baby book should focus on helping you foster: empathy, independence, passion, humor, joy and logic.
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Strategy and The Apprentice

After spending close to 100K on an MBA, working at a strategy consulting firm and currentluy occupying a role with the title of strategist, you think I would love strategy. In fact, I think I would move it into the trashbin next to other great business buzzwords (along with my most hated word “quick wins”). I recently heard a CEO say that strategy was overrated. This is not to say that ideas aren't important because that is all a strategy really is; an idea which meets certain criteria. No, I just think that strategy withers when compared to the importance of execution, decisiveness and determination. I see this in no clearer place than The Apprentice. The people I would hire (not necessarily those trump hires) are the ones that get things done. As kramer said on Seinfeld, “TCOB”. Taking care of business. I find strategy guys interesting. They have cool ideas. But in the end give me someone who can TCOB.
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Where is the next opportunity - Dubai?

Everyone has had the discussion, where is the next opportunity? Three ways to look at it: 1) Try and find a hot technology or trend 2) Try and find a hot company that will hit on a a great opportunity 3) Try and find a geography where opportunity is omnipresent (like the Bay Area in the late 90's) . Along the latter, Dubai has been popping up in many discussions. Not sure if they are looking for management talent, but John Hagel points out how the country is looking to become an economic player beyond it's oil industry which has about 10-15 more years of life.



Dubai - Global Talent Magnet
Dubai is not China or India. Far from it. In fact, in terms of population, it is entirely at the other end of the scale. But, having just returned from a trip there, I came back with a growing sense that Dubai has an opportunity to become a much more significant player in the global economy.