It’s been beautiful here in Boulder for the past week. Cool in the evenings, sunny during the day, with the occasional thunderstorm to brighten up the afternoon. During this week, I’ve had a great exchange with Stephanie George, my brilliant friend who helps businesses to see their current business situation through objective eyes, offering business development and strategic consulting.

One of her emails to me yesterday was so perceptive that I’ll share it with you in its entirety in this post. Her insights are right on. The rest of this post (with minor edits for the change of medium) is from her:

I think that we also need leadership. The two quotes were right on and – they came from leaders. Leaders do not have to be the President alone, Leaders emerge at all levels. I think it would be refreshing for a bold, non-partisan heavy hitter to enroll some outstanding legislative leaders, the President, and the media to stop cramming fear and uncertainty down the public’s throat.

Bad news sells better than good news, so the media may be challenging to enroll on a wholesale basis. Also, I don’t think a pollyanna outlook would sell well.

It’s not just a policy or a budget patch that we need to crank the engine and that’s all that I’ve heard proposed from our legislative and executive branches so far (red or blue). There is no Unity. Remember “Together we stand, divided we fall”? That’s what’s missing. There is too much interest and money to be made in dividing up the sentiment and no one working to unify it.

A mortgage broker actually told me once that he didn’t care if the market went up or down, as long as there was some sort of change, he would make money. His interest was not in seeing an overall rising of the tide or in others successes, but in keeping things off balance, because it kept creating opportunities for him to make money.

I think that Bush actually tried to connect everyone on the war – it worked immediately following 9/11 and in WWII, but when there is dishonesty as the foundation (WMDs anyone? then one after another different reason for making war was brought forth, none of them more substantial than 4th grade retribution), the rest of the construct falls apart. And when our leadership cannot be trusted, people lose confidence. As long as our bodies of leadership snipe at one another endlessly, it firstly, seems utterly arrogant and self-righteous, and secondly, does not engender faith in their ability as a corporate body to get on the same page.

I know that I have simplified foreign, economic and political policy in there. It’s not a simple problem. However, on confidence:

I don’t stand on there being THE ONE omniscient leader; all of our elected officials have the freedom be the leader that we need. However, they would need to give up personal hubris.

So, that’s top-down confidence.

How about bottom-up confidence? Enroll and empower everyone to develop their own confidence. Probably creates a bigger tide than waiting for the top-down to get it done.

Educating everyone we meet that who they are is bigger than their circumstances; they are not defined as a possibility in the world by their checkbook balance or net worth or job or their diploma. Joy, confidence and happiness are not a function of any material detritus they manage to assemble in their lifetimes. Acknowledging one’s own true personal power is at the source of confidence. It is not someone or some thing outside of us, it is in each of us. (Cue Marianne Williamson quote: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”)

Maybe we should bring back that old Skin Bracer commercial with Jack Palance telling us all that Confidence is sexy. That’s it! We need a new marketing campaign for Confidence! Confidence is Sexy. (Editor: As I mentioned to Stephanie in a follow-up email, Palance had it right in City Slickers, too.)

I went through the Harn Museum of Art a week ago and they have on display a series of public propaganda posters from around 1924 – 1936. How about some National Confidence propaganda – lots of it – that is not one diva or guru’s pocket lining? That’s not tied to some partisan agenda? That doesn’t come out of Obama’s mouth or John Boehner’s mouth?

This morning, one of my good friends–a brilliant and insightful business analyst you should know–asked me what I thought about the latest McKinsey Quarterly newsletter article entitled, “Where are the jobs.” Given the questions that I have had on this, I’ll share my thoughts that came from my response to her:

he key job growth will come from small businesses, including innovations in retail (did you see this article about 4Food?). And the only way to get businesses in those sectors to grow is to free up money that is not being used to pay them right now: consumer’s money and larger businesses’ money that is used to buy products and services from these smaller businesses.

What is going to free those funds? Confidence.

Yeah, I know it’s not the whiz-bang idea that everyone thinks we need, but it really is what we need. Confidence. It was the key difference between two speeches from a generation ago:

“The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us. For the first time in the history of our country a majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years. Two-thirds of our people do not even vote. The productivity of American workers is actually dropping, and the willingness of Americans to save for the future has fallen below that of all other people in the Western world.

“As you know, there is a growing disrespect for government and for churches and for schools, the news media, and other institutions. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning.” (that was Jimmy Carter’s infamous speech, that entirety of which is here… how familiar does that sound and how true (again) today?)

Compare it to this:

“If we look to the answer as to why, for so many years, we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on Earth, it was because here, in this land, we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on Earth. The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price.

“It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government. It is time for us to realize that we are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We are not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope.”

That, of course, was Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address, and it’s no less true today.

After that speech, the country went on a tear that lasted a couple of decades.

The facts are that creativity fuels innovation and innovation fuels the economy. Without confidence, there is no creativity.

What can the government do? Stop the spending, drop the taxes, create a predictable environment for innovation to be free to develop. Otherwise, the innovation gets spent trying to get around governmental interference.

What do you think?

There are a number of very specific reasons that this worldwide economic situation persists, primarily, as I wrote earlier, due to the very poor decisions and lack of clarity from politicians. While we do live in a worldwide economy, the United States remains that primary engine of that economy. For that reason, what happens in the US leads the rest of the world in a particular direction. Right now, that direction is aimless wandering.

For more evidence of the repercussions of the unpredictable environment that the US government has created with its fast-changing taxes, fees, and laws, realize that the 500 largest non-financial corporations are holding more than 10% of their assets in cash according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. That’s about a trillion US dollars sitting on the sidelines. It’s not hiring new staff, developing new products, or buying new capital. It’s sitting there doing nothing.

Why? Because the management of those companies doesn’t know what they are going to have to do next as the US government changes the rules yet again. So, they hold on to the funds just in case they might need them to handle yet another “great idea” from government bureaucrats who have never had to make payroll or delivery a product or produce a service that customers value. They are utter unequipped to understand — much less implement — effective solutions to economic issues involving the complex interrelationship of business.

The first thing to do is to promise and then deliver predictability to the market, and not just for interest rates. Interest is not the only expense that businesses have to plan to address, so predictability must extend to the other areas such as regulation, taxes, fees, and other mandates. When that happens, those funds will find their way into investment, turning into jobs, investment, and an economy on the rebound.

Until then…? A continuing malaise.

Earlier this past week I was in my home office working on a new iPhone app for a client when my phone rang. On the other end of the line was a northeastern accent that I recognized right away. Last winter, this friend and I had spent the better part of a day skiing around Copper Mountain. He and his family were visiting from New Hampshire, and I had the joy of showing he and his two boys some of my favorite secret stashes on a day that still had some powder to be found.

As I answered the phone, he asked me how I was doing, and I mentioned to him the wonderful Colorado weather. “Yes,” he said with a wistful longing in his voice, “the boys still talk about that day with you at Copper. That was a great day!”

Yes, it was. But, that’s not why he called. You see, he’s a Vice President of Marketing at a major corporation and he was calling to find out if I’d have time to take on a small project for him. We chatted for a few minutes so I could get a basic understanding of what he needed. “Yes,” I said, “that’s something that is a good fit for me, and I’d really like to work on it with you.”

…and like that, it was a done deal.

We had our kick-off call the next day, and I’ll be working with him over the next few weeks to build content for marketing one of their product lines as they launch a new set of communications.

Decisiveness.

It can really make a difference for you and your business. It’s going to help him with their process, we’ll get a lot done, and their customers will get some great insights into their products.

Your decisions are best in this order:

1. The “right” decision
2. The “wrong” decision
3. No decision

Today more than ever the adage applies: You can’t steer a ship that isn’t moving. Make a choice. Get moving. And adjust as you go along.

Earlier this week, you may have read my post on Why “Net Neutrality” is Wrong. In it, I illustrated the reasons for network management control of the network, and also mentioned how most of the politicians involved just don’t get it (and believe me, I got email about the video linked to my “idiot politicians” statement!). Today, Larry Downes of The Technology Liberation Front breaks down the Google/Verizon model legislation and outlines the irony of who is complaining about it in his excellent article Deconstructing the Google-Verizon Framework. When you read it, you’ll begin to see the disingenuous nature of so many knee-jerk reactions to political gamesmanship.

It’s a good read.

The bottom line remains: if we are to have all of the applications that we want to have on the Internet, we need to protect it from being controlled by political whims and wanna-be political engineers. The challenges are far greater than can be solved by political debate, and most of what we’re seeing these days makes it clear that actually solving problems is beyond the ken of most in political life. Note that I don’t call them “leaders.” That’s on purpose. I have too much respect for true leadership.

As I sat in my family room here in Boulder, Colorado a few days ago thinking about the utter ignorance of the people who are making laws in this country, I began writing this post. Then, this morning, I read this excellent piece in the Wall Street Journal:

“Why I’m Not Hiring” by Michael P. Fleisher outlines the reality of the situation that the ignorant, poll-driven politicians have created. Subtitled, “When you add it all up, it costs $74,000 to put $44,000 in Sally’s pocket and to give her $12,000 in benefits.” the piece demonstrates why the “recovery” is “jobless:” The government is doing almost everything in its power to make it painful to hire, and is simultaneously making it clear that it will very likely get more difficult to hold on to existing employees by increasing fees, taxes, and other mandatory payments for having an employee.

In short, the politicians have killed any hope of new jobs.

And why wouldn’t they? They don’t understand business. They don’t see how many flows in business, or understand forecasting, revenue, cash flow, or managing to a budget. After all, when they want more money, they simply pass a law to get it.

Of course, those laws never actually work they way that they had planned, since money naturally moves away from areas that are taxed. That’s why no one is hiring.

So, in short, the very structures that the government is putting in place has killed the employment marketplace. It will not improve until there is some assurance that the idiots in Washington, D.C. won’t make yet more changes on a whim and a prayer. And that’s not going to happen until there is a change of thinking in those circles.

You cannot vilify business and those wealthy enough to run businesses without also decimating the job market. Yet, that’s exactly what they are doing in D.C.

Update: So what can be done?

It’s actually quite simple: lower the burden on those who do the employing, and make the costs of hiring and maintaining employees predictable.

How is that done?

That’s also simple: reduce taxes and fees on employers and employees and create laws and policies that make those reductions predictable, giving 12 months’ notice for any increases. When increases can happen at any time, business owners and leaders must maintain additional reserves to cover unexpected costs dictated by the whims of government.

For some real research into what happens when these kinds of approaches are followed, look at The Historical Lessons of Lower Tax Rates, the Joint Economic Committee report on the Reagan tax cuts, and Wikipedia’s explanation of the Laffer Curve for some insights into how complex the interconnections are. Regardless of this theoretic conversation, predictability is the key to business management, and the lack of predictability is a primary issue impacting the “Jobless Recovery” that we’re now seeing.

Second update: I am clearly not alone in my thinking on this. For another, there is Michael Schrage’s perspective on his Harvard Business Review blog article “The Hireless Recovery” (my thanks to my good friend Stephanie George for pointing me to this article!).

Yesterday, Steve Jobs directly addressed the YouTube videos, press reports, and bloggers who have been reporting on signal strength loss with the new iPhone 4 (I’ll address the iPhone 4 in a focused post early next week). He was 100% right in what he said, and I’m appalled by the response from both the mainstream media and the tech bloggers–both of whom I expect to know better and behave with better integrity.

So, what is he right about?

He’s right that:

1. The press and many others can’t stand it when a person or company performs well and consistently. They tear others down in an effort to look good. What do you call people who behave that way towards others?
2. Every wireless device is effected by being close to a bag of salt water like a human body.
3. Apple made it’s biggest mistake by having the spot that’s most effected by the touch of a hand be marked by the black line between the two antennas.

You know from reading this blog that I think success is to be celebrated, not destroyed, so you can imagine how I feel about the ridiculous attacks on Apple and Jobs by the press and bloggers. But, that’s how they sell ads, I guess. What it means for you is the same as it does for most so-called news outlets: take it with a gigantic grain of salt!

What you may not know about me is that my engineering background is in analog electrical engineering. When everyone else in my class in the MSU Engineering College was focused on digital systems, I was working on antennas, transmission lines, and cellular radio technologies. Recently I have returned to work in that area of engineering (primarily with 4G networks), and I can claim far more expertise than the riffraff who have been writing about “Antennagate.” As a result, starting with the announcement of the iPhone 4 (in fact, from the photos and dubious article published by Gizmodo of the iPhone 4 before the announcement) I expected that the less-knowledgable would grab onto the external antenna as a bad idea.

But, it was a good idea. And Jobs is right: every wireless device is impacted by proximity to a human. Unfortunately, the FCC creates tests that don’t do a reliable job of representing real-world use scenarios. And to add to that, the manufacturers have to comply with the FCC requirement often to the detriment of performance.

Lastly, completely unintentionally, Apple happened to mark the weak spot with the black band at the bottom of the iPhone 4. With the design of the antenna and that obvious black line, curious amateur engineers would bridge the two antennas with their hands to see what happened. What they found was that the device’s signal was negatively impacted.

Of course, it’s not for the reason that they think. It’s not the bridging of the two antennas. If it was, turning off the signals to the second antenna (which is Bluetooth, GPS reception, and WiFi) would eliminate the issue. But, that’s not what happens, because that’s not the real issue.

I’ll post my specific thoughts about the iPhone 4 for business use early in the week next week. In the meantime it is vitally important to understand that most of the people writing about this situation have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, are more concerned with controversy and page views than truth, and do not look at devices as tools but rather as collections of features.

None of which is helpful to you as a person looking for a tool for your business. More about the iPhone and business next week. In the meantime, post your thoughts in the comments…

Here are a few posts from other places on the iPhone 4, so-called “Antennagate,” and more rational commentary:

Inside Apple’s Actual Distortion Field: Giant Chambers, Fake Heads, And Black Cloaks

Radio engineer: Consumer Reports iPhone 4 testing flawed (u)

FaceTime and Why Apple’s Massive Integration Advantage is Just Beginning

Total Recall Or Total Bull? Some Perspective On The iPhone 4 Antenna Frenzy

The Anandtech iPhone 4 Antenna Review

What is this?

The Great Circle of my summer

You may have wondered just what has been going on, since I had typed on this very blog about how I was planning to re-engage with it, let you know what’s going on, and generally communicate more.

Then, I went silent. This graphic outlines part of the reason.

You see, this is the Great Circle map of my flights since I last completed a post here on the blog. I’ve created a few, but they are all still in draft status. I’ve been spending my time on airplanes, on calls, and in-person working with clients in locations in the western hemisphere. I’ve logged over 31,000 miles just since July 15th!

That said, I’m going to change my posting strategy and get posting frequently.

The content will likely be shorter, but I have been thinking about so much that I think you’ll enjoy learning! So, let me know what’s on your mind, and let’s get started.

Tomorrow, I’ll be recording a special interview with my good friend Chuck Sproule. Chuck is an inventor, a martial artist, and has incredible research insights into how our bodies work. We’re going to produce some products from that call that I’ll tell you about soon.

Drop in a comment and let me know what’s on your mind. I have a few technology and business reviews coming up, too.

Blessings…
ssh

Last night as I was the last one up and the house was quiet, it hit me. I remembered. I had forgotten up until that point with all the craziness of the day, but there is was, entering my thinking and kickin’ me in the gut:

Tomorrow is the day.

And that tomorrow came this morning. After a bright-eyed breakfast, our sweet Daisy puppy went with Mom and Megan to the vet. Yes, it was just routine surgery. Yes, she’ll be fine. But you know what? That didn’t really matter. I still hated to do it. We all did. But, it was the right thing to do.

Sweet Daisy puppy this morning

There she was this morning, before her trip to the vet. Tonight, of course, she’s been sleeping since she got home. Her tummy’s been shaved. It’s a bummer.

But, it was the right thing to do.

Often in life you are faced with questions about what to do. Will you do the easy thing or the right thing?

As Terry and I talked about Daisy this evening, she reminded me: “When we do the right thing, it can be hard. The outcomes, though, are the best.”

And as usual, she’s right.

To YOUR success,
ssh

Last week I sat reading an email from one of the mailing lists that I receive. Some Internet friends and I have shared our lives on this list for well over a decade. From life and death to kids with croup, we’ve laughed and cried together. Maybe I’ll tell you more about the group one of these days, but for now, I’d like to let you in our conversation from last week: the changing face of business.

My friend Cindy Collins-Smith, the editor of Customer Relationship Management magazine who has had the opportunity to edit thought leaders such as Don Peppers/Martha Rogers, Chip Bell and Pete Blackshaw, among others, put it very well and succinctly:

Loyalty, not individual sales, is what will sustain [businesses] over the long term. [The] idea of maximizing profit at every point of contact is 20th century capitalism, not 21st. Successful 21st century capitalists will be looking for ways to build relationships with customers (audiences) over time, not just looking for immediate, short term profits.

This is a fundamental paradigm shift, and many businesses are missing it. In fact, many people are doing their level best to pretend that nothing has changed; that we’ll go back to the way things were. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Twenty years ago, very few people had heard of the Internet. Today, it is a staple of every day life from the streets of Manhattan to the mud walkways of Kigali, Rwanda. The world is smaller and more interconnected than ever before, and the process is accelerating. How will you respond to this brave new world? How you respond will determine the degree of your success.

Ten years ago, most businesses poo-pooed the Web. They didn’t see the value or the importance. While they were busy holding on to the past, visionary entrepreneurs like my friend and coach Matt Furey were creating Internet empires that would generate millions of dollars in sustainable revenue.

Today, we find ourselves at another juncture very similar to those turning points. Business is once again driven by relationships as it was a century ago. Now, though, those relationships are with like-minded people anywhere in the world. And today, the most powerful technology drivers are the social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and others.

Social media really is the wild west, though. Even those of us who have been involved in various social media for many years (for me, it started over 25 years ago!) are finding it work to stay on top of the ebbs and flows. Yet this is what you as a business leader need to do to remain competitive and to catch this wave. So get on it!

If you want some help, get it from someone who focuses on business first, not the latest gadgets and “cool sites.” A number of experienced business people have done just that and so I am working with them to build social media into their overall business strategy. It’s your turn.

To YOUR success,
ssh, your Geek Whisperer

PS Because my work with my clients is so hands-on, I can only take 3 more clients for the Social Media QuickStart program. Jump on it now!