The American Dream: Letter to a friend

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Stan

Hi My Friend!

Thank you for forwarding the article in the Wall Street Journal, “The American Dream is Alive and Well”, by Michael R. Strain.  In that article, he proposes that the “populist” concern about the demise of the “American Dream” is unfounded.

I agree that the American Dream is alive and well.  It lives in the hearts and souls of the vast majority of our population, many of whom are legal immigrants and their children.  The average American is working hard, raising a family, trying to put something away for the future and hard times, getting their kids educated, trying to stay healthy, etc.  The tiny fraction of the population that is internally fighting over ideology and policy unfortunately drags the rest of the population along with it.  It’s been that way since the dawn of civilization, I’m sure.

There are some disputed figures in the article, but the statistics cited are largely accurate, however incomplete.  As Mark Twain said, “There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.”

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Visiting Berlin

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Stan

A few years ago I visited Berlin for a business meeting.  First time to the city.

I grew up during the Cold War, which was always threatening to heat up.  We hunkered under our wooden school desks to prepare for the blast wave of a thermonuclear attack.  Even at the age of 10, I recognized the lunacy of that act.

Over five decades later, I found myself wandering the streets of the city that epitomized the degree of divisiveness in the world at that time.  A city, and a whole country, cut in half.  The west represented the democratic allies from World War II, and the east represented the communist countries forming what was known as the Soviet Bloc.

These two ideologies were mutually exclusive, alternate forms of government founded on alternate views of reality.  Like matter and antimatter, when they might come into contact they would annihilate each other.  Or threaten to.

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No lying, no faking, no hiding

Posted on August 18, 2019 by Stan

This mantra is catching on at WD-40 Company, thanks to our Chief, I mean CEO, Garry Ridge.  At our company, we strive for transparency and truth, which is the foundation for trust in any relationship.  Transparency and truth are also necessary ingredients for effective business leadership, achieving objectives, helping people grow in their abilities, squeezing all the learning out of our experiences…the list goes on and on.

But even with the clear advantage of transparency and truth, people still lie sometimes.  Or they try to fake their way through.  Or they hide their intentions, their true feelings and even sometimes their actions.  Why is that?

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The guru syndrome

Posted on July 14, 2019 by Stan

When a new “thought leader” or “leadership guru” enters our collective awareness, it’s usually because their messages resonate with our hopes, fears and needs of the time.  In this era of “viral” speed in social media, a nobody can become a somebody in a very short period of time.  But the phenomenon has been going on for much, much longer than since the advent of online proselytizing.

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