Government: More or Less

"Government regulations impose an enormous burden on large and small businesses in America, discourage productivity, and contribute substantially to our current economic woes."

"We don't need a weakened government but a strong government that would take responsibility for the rights of the individual and care for the society as a whole."

The above does a good job summarizing the national debate that is at the core of every country's struggle to address the economic problems affecting us all.

Each could have been said by any number of people on both sides of the question. More government or less?

What do you think?

Who made these statements?

The first, Ronald Reagan, Vladimir Putin the second.

Change: The Inevitable Constant

"You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea."

Pearl S Buck

The older we get the less change we want to see, possibly because we don't like the change we see in ourselves??

One semester of college psychology so long ago I can't recall the year, not to mention what I "learned", means I probably shouldn't even ask that question. But it is established that for most, the older we get the less comfortable we are about change.

You would think that change would be ingrained in us because of the fact that we do get older all the way to seeing four seasons come and go year, after year, after year. However . . .

So in business, how do we know we are resisting new thinking for good reason and not just because we don't feel comfortable with something new?

Opinion: How Do You See Things?

"Self-doubt is the little voice in your head saying "You can do it!" and the big voice saying "I wish you would" . . . listen to the little voice."

Sean O'Donnell

NHL Hockey Player

Some of you have privately told me you don't feel qualified to comment on what you read here. Certainly the number of comments is a fraction of the number who subscribe to the feed.

If we were only getting a lot of input from business "experts" I would judge BW a failure and would have shut it down long ago.

The intent was and is to create a place where people in business, regardless of which business or their position, could go to exchange thoughts and ideas.

Ok, now what do you think?

Management: Proactive, Reactive?

"Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists."

Edward de Bono
Maltese Physician, Author, Inventor

Do you know the story of the blind men examining an elephant? Each touches a different part reaching different conclusions as to what it is based on what they touched.

We are all "blind" regarding the future and not just during these difficult times. Always. We all "see" different "parts" of what will likely be.

Seeing things differently is not the problem. Not looking at all or simply waiting, being reactive rather than proactive, that's the problem.

Which are you personally? What about your company?

Management: Who's In Charge?

"If you don't understand that you work for your mislabeled 'subordinates,' then you know nothing of leadership. You know only tyranny."

Dee Hock
Founder and CEO Emeritus Visa International

I really like this. In the first 17 words he tells us:

1. Who reports to who says little of an individual's importance to the organization.
2. Reporting relationships are intertwined, three dimensional.
3. Real leaders understand points 1 and 2 while others don't.

However I don't believe he needed the last sentence. Tyranny implies an ongoing power and in a free society such as ours, individuals subjected to tyrannical leadership will elect to leave as soon as possible. There's no real power in that.

That being true, maybe a better statement would be "You know only tyranny, only for a short time."

Authoritarian structure school of management advocates may disagree.

What do you think?