Thoughts of the Day

So often people get so caught up in their daily grind that they stop thinking, when they get home they try to de-stress, but they turn on their TV, the same one they have surrendered their mind too and let it flood information into their heads, most of which is completely irrelevant.

Well, it seems that; Ignorance, Arrogance aB68nd Complacency are nothing more than Precursors of Disaster, Devastation, Doom - doomed to repeat. Doomed, via the law of unintended consequences using the very definition of insanity they decry - I ask why?

And that my friends is my first thought of the day and the one that causes me to write this short article, so let's begin this daily monologue of thought. Perhaps if I take you through my thoughts from today, it might make you think and wake up your mind, maybe you might take it back from the smog of information or the flickering High Definition TV in that living room cave of yours?

A friend today mentioned that the Multi-National Corporate Conglomerate knows No boundaries and he is correct considering that our World is growing closer and closer together now. After all we live in a Global Market Place, there are good aspects to that as well as not so good issues, as well. He asked me;

Has the evolution of the multi-national corporation transcended all boundaries and societies to completely dominate and eliminate society's culture?

Well, I do not believe that multi-national branding has to delete culture, or regional flavor. Indeed, allowing for regional variation by companies helps them "sell more" and therefore they will succeed better when they do. In franchising (I am retired from the franchising industry) we always did, and we competed well.

Adaptation for specific markets is "good business" and it makes sense. Someday, who knows, a World Franchising System, could allow governments, nation-states to operate in similar monetary, trade markets using similar laws. Make the Whole World like the United States - or United Franchise System, so to speak. Then everyone would be on the same team.

The thought occurred to me that it could work, except during times when those in-charge were not working together, kind of like the UN or during Change Management. hat About Changing the Way We Think about How Business is Done? Is that possible? Today, I finished reading a book:

"Rewiring the Corporate Brain - Using the New Science to Rethink How We Structure and Lead Organizations" by Danah Zohar - 1997.

And although I am not a new age type thinker, with all the spiritual fluff, wrapped around a quantum physics reality like a religion, the author did make some good points. And to one of those points and addressing such scenarios as the authors of "Co-opetition" where the future has in store from us a different market place were companies communicate and cooperate for the common good of all, without attacking and worrying about the competition, but rather focusing on the customers.

Sure, that could work and it would work a lot better if the corporation and the employees got along too and focused on what is best for all concerned, sometimes this happens but usually not. We just saw t1BFhe UAW strike at GM and General Motors write down in the third quarter of 39 billion dollars. Then in the same Wall Street Journal issue we read that Chrysler Company laying off 12,000 right after negotiation with the UAW? All this while the Hollywood Writers Picket outside the Studios along side the Homeless - See the point?

Worker's Unions and Global Government Political Impasse are very similar and when one side blames another well, "5B4there you go again!" and it occurred to me that If You Name it - "When you name it, you own it and if you own it, it owns you." Lance 2007. Even the Teamster Truck Drivers are out to get more right at a time when US diesel prices are at the highest point in our nation's history and oil is hovering near $100 per barrel, thus teamster truck drivers are at least for now - No Friend to Logistics.

Right after de-regulation of the industry teamster drivers would run other independent truck drivers off the road. Hurting competition, raises prices for all of us, as it is like a tax on the over all society. Still, those truck drivers are Americans and now 750,000 truck drivers have joined the Truckers Mobile Watch Program as part of the American Trucking Association. So everything is not black and white, no one side is evil and no side is innocent - too bad they will not all work together in a common cause, because the efficiencies and economies of scale would be significant and add to the everyone's quality of life and standard of living.

But, how can you be sure as business person that you are hiring someone who will be a team player and not turn into a problem for your companies bottom line? You cannot tell by their resumes, which made me think about an article I read recently that stated; Long Resumes Becoming Popular. Is a resume that tells a story better to judge a potential team member?

In some companies, the employees a5B4re trained to do every job in the company and thus, if there is ever a problem or disruption, someone else can pick up the slack. If you will read the book; "The World on Time" by Fred Smith - the FEDEx story you will see this point. During the California Fires a helicopter spotted a small fire that was growing, but instead of landing to try to put it out, they were told not to risk it and return to base, the fire spread and destroyed several structures within the hour.

Should all emergency personnel be trained to do some of this fire-fighting, even if on a limited scale. What if we designed pick-up Truck Portable Fire Suppression Spray System Devices for the Forest Service, Rural Mountain Communities and Area Residents? It has been proposed that new mini-fire suppression units needed for USDA Forest Service workers in every vehicle. Could we get some of these devastating fires out before they grew to epic proportions, threatened property, lives and wipes out water supplies?

Or is such a concept simply impossible due to the bureaucracy out there? And if government does nothing very well, then why let them do very much? Should the bureaucracy hold fake news conferences, like FEMA did? Should the regulatory bodies of the Federal Government PR their every move to prove to the citizenry that they are doing something, even when they are not? Is the bureaucracy so big that it cannot get out of its own way? This had me ponde5B4ring the following questions, perhaps worthy of future titles for articles:

• Why the Justice Department's Industry Regulatory Bodies Fraudulently Deceive the Consumer and Citizen
• How Government Regulating Agencies Justify their Growth at the Expense of the Taxpayers
• How Corporations Use Small Businesses as Banks During Recessions and Down Turns in Their Sectors
• How the Government Allowed Corporations to Crush Small Businesses - Case Study in Labor
• How Government Regulating Agencies Justify their Growth at the Expense of the Taxpayers

Indeed, we need to fix this problem of government and if we do not we will drown in red tape, which is killing businesses both large and small. Do we need Regulation Reduction to Reduce Recession Risks - or is the recession inevitable, as this ship cannot be turned fast enough before it runs aground? Is there a way to stave off a recession of shallow out its effects on our economy, middle class, currency and employment? I think there is a way, which made me think of writing an article titled:

Recession Proofing a Nation Using Franchising, Small Business Solutions and Entrepreneurial Training

Maybe, I will write this article and position myself as The Portable Franchise Guru or something similar? What if we took such a concept and franchised it out to the world? Networks of net-centric syste5B4ms to help the world, develop micro-businesses and habitats? Maybe, a book needs to be written on this subject; "Low Cost Third World Village Systems - Wells, Power, Microloans, Shelters, Farming Tools - eBook Project"

If we do not do it now then who will do it? Will the next generation come up to the plate and hit a home run, or will we just have to work harder and live longer to do it ourselves, as Life Extension in BioTech Advances. That's great, but will we run out of money helping all the baby boomers grow old, instead of getting them to fix the problems they were assigned and failed to fix? Do we let them off the hook, as it is not a very pretty picture with Pensions, Social Security, Medical Insurance and In Home Care Personnel Shortages.

Still, I thought if the economy holds on then that will pay for the future funds to fix these issues. And yet everyone is debating about the so-called; Coming US Recession, rather than doing something to advert it. The Headlines seem obvious now, well at least to me? With CitiGroup, foreclosures soaring, GM 39 billion dollar charge off, Morgan Stanley questions, Chrysler cutting 12,000 jobs and rather weak economic numbers?

So what's the answer, we have too many outflows from our nation, we are borrowing too much and we have too much bureaucracy and being taken advantage of by preferred nation trading partners. Still, Capitalism with Protectionism decays society rather than Bui59lding it Up and I am no party pooper to capitalism, I believe in fair trade like any true5B4 economist would, still, what happened to fair trade, are we really getting a fair shake?

Some say things will get better and the economy is good, but with housing, construction, transportation and Auto all hurting and issues on the horizon with retail, how can anyone say things are rosy? Yes, I believe that consumer confidence is important and probably accounts for one-third of the game, to keep it going and we do not need any lower consumer confidence going into the Christmas Season, still I see that US Retailers are gearing down and conserving coming into the Christmas bend.

If that is not bad enough, we find that Al Qeada is plotting to attack Shopping Malls, stated an FBI official, who called the threat information credible. Top this with higher fuel prices definitely taking its toll on the consumer, and no more home-equity loan tricks for most consumers to pay off credit card debt and the US Automakers that make up retail economic sales figures and they are currently tanked, expected to remain low - one has to wonder about the economy.

Still, you know markets go up and they come down, industry sectors do their rotations and it is all in the ebb and flow of the river of monetary flow. I guess it is similar to the politics of this recent Water Bill that was vetoed and over-ridden only to be continued, as there is more to the story, before it gets fully funded and spent. The question thus goes back to corporate grow594th, can it go on for ever, always increasing its output and efficiency like Moore's Law or do we need to do a little tweaking on the way we do things?

Well, I need to get something to eat, it is nearly 10:00 am now and I have been busy thinking for over an hour. So, I will continue these thoughts of the day article later, but I hope you will enjoy these thoughts and that it gets you thinking too.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Julia Cameron