I worry about the way that many people think about education–if they bother to think about it at all. What got me started thinking about it was a podcast titled “Freakonomics Goes to College, Part 2,” which I listened to at the gym this morning (and you can find at the link). The podcast focused […]
Category Archives: Life in General
“Out-of-Control” Controls
How often do you encounter a situation where the attempt to “control” something has itself gotten out of control? Usually it is the result of an overly zealous attempt to “protect” someone or something from the bad behavior or bad results of someone else’s behavior [whether that behavior was ill-intended or otherwise]. The Sarbannes-Oxley legislation of […]
“007” Style Succession Planning
[For the past several weeks I have focused my writing efforts on an upcoming book my business partner, Moss Jackson, and I are writing about Succession Planning and have been ignoring the blog. Erin Palmer, who works with Villanova University’s online human resources programs, and writes about project management including the PMP certification training training and business […]
Fathers and Sons – Part Two
In my previous post, “Fathers and Sons – Part One,” I wrote about PGA professional Russ Cochran and his son, Ryan. They weren’t the only father/son player/caddie duo that I followed during the 2012 Toshiba Classic. On Sunday, March 18th, the final day of the tournament, I was the walking scorer for the trio of […]
Fathers and Sons – Part One
For the past eight years I have worked as a volunteer Walking Scorer at the PGA Champions Tour Toshiba Classic at Newport Beach Country Club. It has given me the opportunity to meet, talk with and observe at close hand over fifty Champions Tour golfers, including major championship winners such as Gary Player, Lee Trevino, […]
Playing in the Wind
Golf is a game played in beautiful surroundings. Golfers play out in the open air, on golf courses that are usually carefully cultivated and highly manicured playgrounds, where their bright white golf balls gleam against the green grasses that fill the fairways. Even the hazards the golfers try to avoid can be visually appealing. Bunkers are filled […]
The Tale of the Peacock’s Tail
Have you ever wondered why peacocks developed such long, beautiful tails? It’s simple evolutionary biology. Peahens show a reference for large-tailed peacocks. In the earliest days, this made a lot of sense. A showy tail was a marker of a good, healthy male who knew how to feed himself — a good breeding partner, and […]
Consequences and Accountability
Strategic Business Analysis is Messy Business
A while back I asked my son-in-law, who works for Cisco in San Jose, what kind of job he would pick if he were able to choose from anything available at his company. He told me that he’d really like to work on business strategy, maybe performing strategic business analysis. Everyone who has been subjected […]
Sometimes BS Isn’t All Bad, Especially When Dealing with SMAPs
No, I’m not writing about bulls**t. I’m writing about an approach to problem solving that my friend and colleague, Alan Engelstad, has dubbed “Benevolent Skepticism.” [Hence the somewhat misleading “BS” tag in the title of this post. I hope it worked to get your attention.] SMAPs are Solutions-Masquerading-as-Problems, but more on that later. Benevolent skepticism […]