CEO Causes Stir...For Making Sense!

We are all responsible for our own lives and our own health. We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health. Doing so will enrich our lives and will help create a vibrant and sustainable American society.

Does this sound like a crazed lunatic that is on a evil right winged agenda to destroy President Obama's health care reform campaign? I didn't really think that it did, but apparently there are many out there who do. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey wrote an op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal that has many people vowing never to shop at Whole Foods again. I found out about the public outrage surrounding his piece through this article on ABC News which you can read here.

"I will never shop there again," vowed Joshua, a 45-year-old blogger, who asked that his last name not be published.

Like many of his fellow health food fanatics, Joshua said he will no longer patronize the store after learning about Whole Foods Market Inc.'s CEO John Mackey's views on health care reform, which were made public this week in an op-ed piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.

Michael Lent, another Whole Foods enthusiast in Long Beach, Calif., told ABCNews.com that he, too, will turn to other organic groceries for his weekly shopping list.

"I'm boycotting [Whole Foods] because all Americans need health care," said Lent, 33, who used to visit his local Whole Foods "several times a week."

"While Mackey is worried about health care and stimulus spending, he doesn't seem too worried about expensive wars and tax breaks for the wealthy and big businesses such as his own that contribute to the deficit," said Lent.

I read Mackey's full op-ed here, and not only did I not find the article off color, I thought he wrote a very well written article with actual solutions and recommendations. I have been fairly absent from the health care debate and will be the first to admit my knowledge of the issues is fairly limited. However, that is not the point. The point is that many people blast anyone who has an "opposing view" without really knowing what is going on. Blogger Ben Casnocha recently wrote an interesting little blurb on opting out of the health care debate, you can read it here.

I think that with the massive amounts of information available today through phones, internet, ect most people are settling on headline deep knowledge of the issues at hand. We are all guilty of this. However, it is the most ignorant people who yell the loudest who often get the most attention. Unfortunately I feel that their theatrics come at the expense of the masses who, in an effort to run their daily dose of information through a sieve, end up recycling the same half truths and partisan bullet points. Check out what Seth Godin had to say in a similar topic on being willfully ignorant vs. aggressively skeptical.

If you still don’t understand what I am getting at then read the following from the original ABC news article.

The op-ed piece, which begins with a Margaret Thatcher quote, "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money," has left some Whole Foods loyalists enraged. Many say Mackey was out of line to opine against the liberal base that has made his fortune possible.

Christine Taylor, a 34-year-old New Jersey shopper, vowed never to step foot in another Whole Foods again.

"I will no longer be shopping at Whole Foods," Taylor told ABCNews.com. "I think a CEO should take care that if he speaks about politics, that his beliefs reflect at least the majority of his clients."

Apparently Christine thinks that in order to shop for organic fruits and vegetables you must be "liberal." And furthermore, if you are a CEO of a company you should adopt the political views of your customers. Now can you see how out of whack the line of reasoning of some of these people is?

Now I am not going to go into whether or not Mackey's eight proposed solutions make sense or not because as I said before I am fairly ignorant on the topic at large. However there was one suggestion that I haven’t heard yet that I thought was a pretty cool idea.
 

Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Obviously I have been pretty involved in my non-profit Checking For Charity Corporation as of late and it has shown me to never underestimate the will of mankind to help a cause that they believe in. I think this recommendation rests on this very belief.

Checking For Charity Corporation - A Journey In The Formation Of A Movement

Well it has been a crazy few weeks for me. With the move up to Boston, bumming around between a hotel and friends houses, our stuff in storage for weeks, and a new job to boot I really haven't had enough time to keep up on BadskiBlog. However, I wanted to write about Checking For Charity a bit since our inaugural hockey tournament and event is less than a week away. Obviously I have been stressed about a lot of things lately during our life transition, but Checking For Charity is honestly one of the things that has stressed me out the most.

I am a type A personality. I like to be in control. I am not one of those people who needs to be in charge of every group or team, but I like to feel like I am in control of my life and anything that I decide to undertake. I think that stems more from my belief that with enough perseverance, hard work and dedication you can accomplish most things you set out to do in this world than from a hunger for power.

With CFC's tournament taking place in Voorhees New Jersey, I am obviously not co-located with my team of buddies who have stepped up to build this corporation and make this first event happen. And believe me it has been very difficult for me. I like to be in the trenches so to speak. When I lead I typically shut my mouth, put my head down and skate, and lead by example. I have always gotten along quite in a team environment, so that coupled with trying to lead by example has always made leadership roles a fairly comfortable place for me. In fact most times I don't even really feel like THE leader. I feel like someone who is respected amongst friends and teammates seeking a common goal. Well that is still the case with CFC, however being a few states away I really have had to place a lot of trust in other people to come through where I would typically be fairly close to the action. As I said it has been difficult, but I could not be more proud of the people who have stepped up to help. Their creativity and initiative is truly going to make our first event a memorable one.

As stressful as it has been it has also been a huge learning experience for me in the art of leadership. This tournament is a living example that if you surround yourself with good people, lay out a vision, and give them the means to contribute and improve upon that vision they will astonish you. Taking nothing away from myself or any of the guys who have become part of this creative smorgasbord, but we aren't top level executives or Rhodes scholars. For the most part we are just everyday average guys who came together and have created something that is, in my opinion, pretty damn cool.

Here are some bullet point updates for you to digest. If you are unfamiliar with what the Checking For Charity movement is all about you can check it out in the upper right corner of this blog or click here. If you are at all inspired and would like to contribute please do. There are many opportunities to help other than just monetarily (although that is good too). Simply spreading the word to others who may want to be part of our movement is a great and relatively simple way to contribute. Join us on Facebook. If you are in the NJ/Philly/NY area and would like to participate as a player, spectator, volunteer, or even beer consumer please visit the site and contact us.

- There are now 8 teams competing in the tournament representing a wide variety of charities which are listed on the website.

- There will be T-shirts, Polo's, and hoodies available for sale at the tournament and eventually on the website. All proceeds will go towards charity. BIG THANKS to Mikey at Quality Concepts for their generous donation.

- There will be food and frosty beverages available outside the arena for all to enjoy.

- On Sunday a formal presentation will be made by the tournament committee to a representative of each charity and the team captain of the team who represented them. Media will be present to witness the trophy presentations as well as the giant check presentation to each team detailing how much was raised for their cause.

- The trophy presentation will consist of one trophy to the winning team as well as a travelling trophy with the winning team's name and charity engraved on it which will be maintained by the corporation.

- Be on the look out for some prominent individuals from the professional sporting world. More details to come.

- If you are interested in having an event in your area let us know. Checking For Charity 2.0 is seeking to serve as a vehicle and mentor for those who are looking to change the world through competitive hockey events. "Our Goal Is To Assist!"

Landlord Chronicles - Lessons in Real Estate Investing

It has been a while since I updated you all on my first rental property progress. Part of the reason is that I have been busy with the move and whatnot, but another part of it is that I really didn't have much good news to report until now. In my last post on my landlording journey I spoke a bit about how networking helped me, and in my initial post I spoke about how my primary concern was marketing. Well it is safe to say that since those posts I have gone through a lot of experiences and have learned quite a few lessons along the way.

One of the biggest lessons I learned was about negotiation. I spoke previously about how when I got the news that I was moving and I realized that I was going to become a landlord my primary concern wasn't laws and leases, but marketing. Well I think that was the right strategy; to an extent. In fact I think my wife and I did an awesome job marketing. Over the past two months we showed our place over a dozen times and got calls about it almost daily. This was with an entirely free marketing campaign. We used a military housing site, craigslist, postlets.com, and a few signs and flyers. The problem was that I wasn't thinking ahead. I wasn't thinking of step two. I was only thinking of getting as many people in the door as possible and hoping that one would seal the deal. When I was taking a professional development class for Air Force Contracting we watched a cheesy movie about a couple of brothers and their quest to buy a minor league baseball team. The movie was hilariously bad as far as acting goes, however it had amazing lessons on negotiation. It talked about setting anchors and having BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) and a reservation price or the lowest amount you would settle for.

Well obviously I didn't turn my education into action after watching this movie, because I would have saved myself a hell of a lot of stress and trouble had I discussed these things with my wife at the outset. At the beginning we had time on our side and a pretty nice condo to offer. As time went on we had more and more people walk away and we had to lower our price more and more. I set my anchor fairly high asking for $1700 a month in rent. We had a nice young couple come on day two who were extremely interested in the place. They wanted to negotiate rent and me being the rookie that I am, told them that the property had just been put on the market and I wasn't going to budge on the price yet. Well multiple showings later and a few years of my life lost to stress and we eventually ended up getting $1575 a month in rent. As time dwindled away the BATNA that I never set was becoming more apparent. My BATNA was me floating a mortgage in New Jersey while paying rent in Boston. Not a very good BATNA. I did the right thing by setting my initial anchor high at $1700 a month, however my wife and I had never discussed a reservation price. If we had, we likely could have gotten the first couple in back in May instead of showing the place to multiple other people for the next few months. In fact, there is a chance that I could have gotten more in rent had I been willing to budge and give a little while we were asking $1700, or even $1650.

This brings me to my next lesson learned which is the the power of the market. The market will bear only what the market will bear. Because I listed my condo at $1700, does that mean I am going to get $1700? Obviously not. With the rental market as soft as it is, many renters were willing to sacrifice what my condo had to offer, quality, in order to seek out a cheaper rental. Even though I was a little disappointed with the amount of rent I ended up getting, I really do have to say that it is reasonable given the size and location of my condo and the other condos available out there. Although this lesson is not entirely new to me, it certainly is different when your monthly cash flow is on the line. Easier said than done.

In order to avoid writing a real estate investing novel I will break up some of these lessons learned and add to them at a later date.

Innovation In The Music Biz

It's no secret that the music industry is jacked up. Not too many people are making money in that industry right now and although this innovation is by no means changing the way the industry works, I think it is a creative way to leverage those who buy music to find new talent. Signmeto.roadrunnerrecords.com is a new tool that Roadrunner Records is testing out that allows fans to be both scouts of new talent and submitters of new bands. Its a pretty cool idea. The bands with the best and most reviews naturally rise to the top, as well as the scouts with the most comments/reviews. This little free market if you will, naturally funnels the best bands and the best (or at least most dedicated) scouts right into the hands of the label. When I think about this system I think about Seth Godin's Tribes. He says to create an effective tribe you need to give a unified message or reason for being and give a means for members to communicate around that message. Well here is a tribe in action. Let the fans tell you who is the best unsigned band. Let the fans seek out the best unsigned music. Let the fans communicate what they think is cool. And most importantly, leverage the fans to present you with a band you can capitalize on and present to a greater audience. Pretty cool stuff. I need to mess around with the site some more to see really how effective it is, but the concept is a great one. I think being a metal label they are forced to think a little more creatively since metal doesn't translate too well into the Britney Spears pop model of selling records. Whether by choice or necessity, this is the kind of thinking that will 'save' the music industry down the road.

The Lean Manager - Developing a Lean Mindset

I subscribe to a Lean Enterprise Institute newsletter and about once a month the man who coined to the term lean, Jim Womack, writes a letter to subscribers. I have included the letter below in full. He shares a valuable but frustrating lesson. One of my mentors in my continuous process improvement journey used to say to me it's about 20% tools and about 80% culture. I think what he meant by that was very much in line with what Womack says here. Anyone can learn lean tools. It has become somewhat of a fad in corporate America and obviously, since I am constantly writing about it, has become instituted in the Department of Defense as well. The tools are the easy part. Maybe it is because they are more tangible, or that they seem more like a step by step guide. However, it is the leadership support and culture change that is truly difficult and will require the most effort. It is never easy to steer the ship when everyone else wants to keep going straight, when everyone else wants to keep things comfortable. Sometimes it just takes showing them that you can go against the status quo and the world is not going to end.

Dear Matt,

Several years ago I started to talk about the need to move beyond lean tools - including the very powerful concept of Value-Stream Mapping - to lean management. At the same time we at LEI began to publish a set of volumes on lean management techniques. These consist of strategy deployment to set priorities from the top of the organization, A3 analysis to deploy new initiatives and solve problems in the middle of the organization, and standardized work with kaizen to create stability and sustainability at the bottom of the organization where value is actually created.

Recently I've been walking through a range of organizations to see how these lean management techniques are being used. Let me cite several illustrative cases:

In one organization I found a remarkably elaborate strategy deployment matrix posted throughout the headquarters and in the plants. It was the familiar x-shaped diagram with important business objectives on the left side, the initiatives needed to achieve the objectives along the top, and the specific results to be achieved in the current year on the right side. In addition there was an array to the right side showing who in which part of the organization was taking responsibility for each initiative and which parts of the organization were affected by each initiative.

And I also found very little success in achieving the goals. Instead, the organizational focus at the end of the budget year was on explaining why progress had not been what had been anticipated. It was a new form of the variance analysis I caricatured in last month's e-letter!

In a second organization I found that the COO had decreed that all problems were henceforth to be tackled using A3 analysis employing a standard eight box format. At the review meeting I attended, every manager showed up with a completely filled out A3 to prove they were on top of their jobs. And, because this organization was transitioning from a decades-long tradition of preparing lengthy reports on every problem (with pages of documentation), the A3s used one point type to crowd in all of the details that would have been included in a traditional report. When these were projected as PowerPoints it turned out that
no one in the room could actually read them. But every manager had done his job.

In a third organization I found all of the elements of standardized work - work standards, work combination tables, kaizen opportunity lists - clearly posted in work areas and ... no standardized work. A few minutes observation showed that the work was not actually being done in the way the work standards required and that kaizen activities were not based on clear problem definition. Yet the management took pains to show me how much progress they had made with this splendid technique as part of their new visual management system.

As I walked through these and other organizations I was sobered to realize that these new lean management techniques had become more tools, in this case lean management tools. They were being followed as corporate ritual without thinking about their actual purpose. As so often happens in organizational life, means had become ends.

I was not surprised. Tools -- for process analysis and for management -- are wonderful things. And they are absolutely necessary. And managers love them because they seem to provide short cuts to doing a better job. But they can't achieve their potential results, and often can't achieve any results, without managers with a lean state of mind to wield them.

What do I mean by a lean state of mind?

First, the lean manager eagerly embraces the role of problem solver. This means going to see the actual situation, asking about the performance issue, seeking the root cause, and showing respect for lower-level managers and for colleagues at the same organizational level by asking hard questions until good answers emerge. It's this critical, probing state of mind that permits lean tools to be put to good use as the lean manager applies the right tool for the specific problem and does this in context on the gemba rather than in the abstract in some conference room. Empty ritual is replaced with a rigorous thought process that engages employees and pulls forward their best abilities.

Second, the lean manager realizes that no manager at a higher level can or should solve a problem at a lower level. (And one of the worst abuses of lean tools lies in trying to do just this.) Instead, the higher-level manager can assign responsibility to a manager at a lower level to tackle the problem through a continuing dialogue, both with the higher-level manager and with
everyone actually touching the process causing the problem. The lean law of organizational life is that problems can only be solved where they live, in conversation with the people whose current actions are contributing to the problem. But this requires support, encouragement, and, yes, relentless pressure, from the higher-level lean manager.

Third, the lean manager believes that all problem solving is about experimentation by means of Plan Do Check Act. No one can know the answer before experiments are conducted and the many experiments that fail will yield valuable learning that can be applied to the next round of experiments.

Finally, the lean manager knows that no problem is ever solved forever. Indeed, the introduction of a promising countermeasure is sure to create new problems at some other point in the organization. This is not bad. It is good, provided the critical, probing mind of the lean manager keeps on the case in pursuit of perfection.

In short the traditional manager is usually passive, going through rituals and applying standard remedies to unique problems. By contrast, inside the mind of the lean manager lies a restless desire to continually rethink the organization's problems, probe their root causes, and lead experiments to find the best currently known countermeasures. When this lean mindset is coupled with the proper lean tools amazing things are continually possible.

Best regards,
Jim

James P. Womack
Founder and Chairman
Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc.

Manvational Posters - George Patton

I found this on The Art of Manliness and thought it needed to be posted here. I did a similar post on Teddy Roosevelt here on BadskiBlog a few months back. Basically they replicate those cheesy motivational posters that are found in offices across the nation, only instead of some picture of a waterfall and a quote on persistence they are filled with quotes from real leaders and examples of manliness. Pretty cool. Here is an excerpt from the post and a sample of a few of my favorites from General Patton.

George “Old Blood and Guts” Patton was a four star generally who ably led American troops during World War II. In his 36 years of distinguished service to the military, he earned the Purple Heart, 2 Distinguished Service Crosses, 3 Distinguished Service Medals, 2 Silver Stars, and several other decorations as well. Patton was as famous for his efficiency on the battlefield as his colorful personality off of it. He was a sight to behold, with his medals emblazoned on his chest, a shiny helmet upon his head, and two ivory-handled pistols around his waist. The men who served under him groused about his demand for absolute discipline, yet they knew that his strict leadership upped their chances for survival.

Patton, like every single man from history, was far from perfect. His love of war bordered on the crazy, and his behavior and outspoken nature often got him in trouble. His most famous controversial incident occurred when he slapped a man suffering from “battle fatigue” in a hospital and called him a coward.

But he was decidedly good at his job. He was born to lead men in battle. And while one can certainly disagree with his philosophy, he was undeniably a compelling leader and master motivator of men. His words will give any man a needed kick in the pants.

Death Metal Update - The Black Dahlia Murder

Just thought I would add this tasty nugget to my blog to satisfy all those death metal heads out there. This is a new song they have been playing live that will be featured on their next album. For those who have not seen the light, or the darkness for that matter, on The Black Dahlia Murder you got to check them out here. They are one of the best bands going right now. Enjoy.

Competition vs. Synergy: Is Global Competition A Zero Sum Game?

Great post by Ben Casnocha. In my last post on China/US relations I, as well as the author of that article, fell into this very mindset. It is fairly easy to do and if you critically examine your way of thinking in your daily life you will see that you carry out this way of thinking more often than not. Competitive nature is very American, however it is not always the best outlook as it often ignores the principle of synergy. I listened to the audiobook The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman and it has a myriad of case studies embracing outsourcing and globalization, and how it is actually beneficial to the world at large. Yet it also often makes little comments about how we should be worried about the Indian and Chinese youth taking over the world due to their extraordinary desire and advanced skills. Although I think Friedman's comments were made more to illustrate the need to change the current state of our nation's education system than the benefits of global standards of living increase, it is an interesting contradiction nonetheless. I really need to check out some of these discussions on TED. I have included Ben's full post below which is very insightful.

Rising Tide Lifts All (Nation-State) Boats

Americans, in their (our) obsession with “national competitiveness,” too often frame the discussion in a zero-sum manner: if China rises, we fall; if India wins, we lose.

The United States over the next 50 years will experience a relative decline in material living. But in absolute terms, we will not suffer at all. To the contrary, the rise of other countries improves our material well-being.

Alex Tabarrok, in his must-watch econo-optimist TED talk, makes this point well by describing the market for cancer drugs. Suppose you were diagnosed with cancer. Would you rather have a common form of the cancer or a rare one? Common, because common cancers have a larger potential customer market, which means there's greater incentive for companies to invest in research to find a cure. This is what is happening in all sorts of markets when hundreds of millions of Chinese and Indians become middle-class consumers. If China and India were as rich as the U.S., Tabarrok says, the market for cancer drugs would be eight times larger!

More rich countries means more innovation, because of increased demand (larger target market for products like cancer drugs) and increased supply (rich countries have more educated people who can create the new ideas and innovation in the first place). More innovation in country X means more innovation for the world -- everyone in the world benefits from new ideas and products, no matter where they originate.

Why, then, do Americans fear the rise of other nations? Isn't it obviously in our self-interest to cheer on poor countries becoming rich?

In the case of China, critics may denounce its anti-democratic values and human rights violations and say to support the economic growth of China is to endorse these values and make their spread more likely. For example, China, in pursuit of oil, has used its economic might to support corrupt African dictatorships while America and Europe have withheld aid in pursuit of regime change. This is a fair critique.

Unfortunately, most reasons have nothing to do with enlightened values (yes - some values are more enlightened than others) and everything to do with a mis-understanding of economics, misguided notions of nationalism, and good ole’ xenophobia. Watch Bill O'Reilly or Lou Dobbs for more on how these concepts hang together in the minds of the stupid.

By the way, it's not just Americans who ought to remember "a rising tide lifts all boats."

When the financial crisis hit, Europeans seemed almost gleeful at American economic woes: Finally the U.S. pays the price for its gluttonous ways and rampant free market culture! Finally their arrogance comes back to hurt the! Yet they soon discovered that in an interconnected world, when one (big) country hurts, all countries hurt. Same thing went down in China: Finally U.S. consumers pay the price for not saving and reckless spending! Followed quickly by, Shit! U.S. consumers - can you binge anew on our exports?

Bottom Line: Other countries are growing richer. Rejoice! Other countries are growing more powerful. Big deal. Americans should support the economic growth of other countries, even if that growth means our political sway and material standard of living are lower in relative terms.

CEO's & Execs Rate Obama

Check out this slideshow and what some corporate leaders have to say about President Barack Obama's performance thus far. Like any other segment of people in the United States, their responses and beliefs span the entire spectrum of possible outlooks. That is what is so interesting about politics and our outlook on politics as human beings. All of these leaders play under very similar rules, yet through their life experiences, their industry, their personality, etc. they all have differing views on how our leader in chief is doing. Interesting stuff that is definitely worth a glance.

To some top executives, President Barack Obama is "rapidly socializing the United States." Others see his initiatives on everything from healthcare reform to the saving of GM as crucial for sparing the U.S. from even deeper economic trouble. We quizzed numerous leaders of small, medium, and large companies on how they think the President has done in his first six months in office. Some give him a failing grade; others, top marks. Read on to see what these business leaders think of the CEO-in-chief.

BadskiBlog Officially Moves To Beantown!

That's right. Heidi, Otis and I have arrived in Boston and are currently living in an extended stay hotel until we can move into our new place. Things have been in whirlwind mode the last few weeks and the last few days have been absolutely crazy, but we have finally arrived. We will definitely miss the dirty Jerz but are excited to settle in here in Boston for the next couple years. I apologize for the lack of posts but between the move and becoming a landlord it has been really tough to carve out some time to blog.

One quick thought though. Showing up to work today and moving up here really put into perspective how much we take for granted on a day to day basis and how much of what we do is formed around habit. When you move, everything is a struggle. Whether it is finding your new office or finding gas, everything is unfamiliar and takes a concerted effort. I have been feeling that way with my rental property for the last month or two and although it is challenging and uncomfortable it is a great learning opportunity nonetheless. Shoot me an email or give me a call if you are in Boston.