June 30, 2018

Like Everyone

Looking back I was miserably shy, fearful, and sure I wasn’t good enough. Once I got to know people, was good at listening and opening up with people. The best decision I made was to like everyone. My perspective became “what do I like about this person?” not “what are they after?”

Being shy was a self-centered fear of not sure what. Don’t talk to strangers? That went away liking people. 



Difficult coworkers? Figured out most of them seriously cared about the quality of their work. When you care about work as well, they become understandable and relax with you. 

Know 1% - 3% of people are dangerous/evil. But the majority are interesting nice people. They deserve our attention, care and appreciation. When people know you care, they open up and take care of you as well.

My life and work has been enriched meeting business owners, coworkers, customers, suppliers, dishwashers and janitors. My decision to like people was wonderful life/business choice have never regretted.

June 23, 2018

Graduation Speech for Rest of Us

Graduations speeches emphasis how wonderful we are, how far we will go, how we will lead the world, and be the ‘bestiest of the bestiest ever’. But we know we all can’t be no. 1 all at the same time. Who here did not graduate top of their class? 

I have accomplishments. Worked hard, solved problems, created new products, improved safety, and wrote a couple books. Graduated in the top on my class? Nope. Middle of high school class, and bottom third of engineering school. Being a C student never held me back in business. Only HR ever asked my grades, and HR was not the person choosing to hire me or not.

Why can we accomplish much in our lives? Will give you a hint, no one does it alone. Someone like you has an idea. They start researching the idea. They talk with trusted friends and improve it. They raise some seed money to test the idea. Change the idea and try again. Try again and again. 

The reason we succeed is research, collaboration, team work, learning from others mistakes, and learning from our mistakes. Don’t forget a ton of hard work. Success has lots of contributors sweating out details during development, marketing, sales and service.


The reason most people succeed is not that they are perfect. It is they are willing to try. They often fail. But failure is a chance to learn, and successful people will learn from everyone - Family, friends, strangers, people they disagree with, and people they don’t like.

We learn by small trials, testing, and learn to mitigate risks. We don’t take the wildest risk first. By mitigating risks we have ships, trains, trucks, airplanes and rockets. We send satellites throughout the solar system and are observing the universe. Being wrong is how we got here and how the future will be created. “Together, we can find a way” to create abundant energy, abundant food, and better health for all.

Customers are people who make choices, not corporations. People are people - weird, strange, eat odd foods, and make their own choices - which will not be your choices. Take good care of customers, because without sales we will be out of business in a few months. 

Since we will all be wrong at some point, or likely several times a day. Be kind to each other. Ask your parents if they knew what they were doing raising you? Of course they were figuring it out as they went. Raising good adults is one of life’s best accomplishments.

No one knows what the future will hold. Having education, business knowledge, skills, experience, resilience and options are necessary for your career. Try to learn something every day.

Some will scorn what I said. Some will like it. But someday you will go ‘That guy was right, dammit!’ Probably followed by what was his name?

Don’t be afraid to learn, live life, and share what you know. Remember, no matter what, you are loved. From me, your family, your neighbors, people you don’t know, and God with us. No matter how you struggle, how you fail and how you fail again. Love will be with you. 

June 16, 2018

World Debt Bubble

U.S. 329% debt-to-GDP. 
Eurozone 446% debt-to-GDP
China 256% debt-to-GDP (if numbers/estimates trustworthy)

Federal debt, state debt, and city debt [unfunded liabilities included] exceeds $200 trillion. China has similar issues with local & providence governments.

Not included above is corporate debt, which has been increasing. Stock buybacks and financial engineering are not good investments for corporations as the effect is temporary. Debt is better reserved for growing income.

Rising interest rates may trigger next recession. “With the Fed paring back its balance sheet and the federal government increasing its borrowing, the U.S. will have to finance by the end of the year “$400 billion a quarter — that’s a lot, that’s a huge shift from the past.” - Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase

Recent debt-to-GDP data from Ned David Research (NDR):
Japan 590%
France 480%
Germany 279%
Greece 360%
S. Korea 357%
Netherlands 725%
Denmark 585%
Canada 332%
Italy 360%
Portugal 488%
Ireland 828%
Spain 397%
Sweden 467%
Switzerland 382%
UK 476%



When bubbles pop recessions happen. Stocks could fall 50% again. Bonds fall in this scenario as rising interest rates adversely affect bond values. 

No hint any economies are falling apart yet. These scenarios are early observations what may come over the next few years or decade. No one really knows what will happen. But with debt and interest rates growing, the next recession will be painful. 

My thoughts are to have diverse holdings, reduce your debt, and raise cash for the next downturn. There are opportunities in recessions. Diverse holdings could include low cost Vanguard Total World Stocks and Total World Bond ETFs. Other options include precious metals, CDs, US savings bonds, and savings accounts with online banks.

Working on my health, and planning working into my 70s or 80s. Based on family history and improving health care, could be healthy into 90s or 100s. Like to raise more savings.

Credit ‘On My Radar’ by Steve Blumenthal for information & inspiration. Suggest you read:

June 9, 2018

Own Your Mistakes

Everyone screws up. Dad said, “The only people who don’t make mistakes, don’t do anything.” Dad was right.

The natural reaction when you make a mistake is to deny it, keep quiet, or make excuses. All 3 are strong temptations. Don’t.

Made an error on instructions I wrote when a new engineer. The number was not clear enough for the machinist to read easy. The gentleman who brought it up to show me was expecting a fight. He had reasons lined up why I had to change it. 

My response when he showed me my error, “You’re right. I’ll fix it.” He was off balance by that response. Started to explain why, and then paused thinking about what I said. My follow up was, “Will do it right now. Is there anything else?”

Reason to own your mistakes, you will learn. Denial takes energy that can be used to learn. Was able to fix my mistake in a few minutes and get back to other work.

Even if something is not your fault, there may be a lesson you can learn in it. Communicating better. Understanding customers. Even not to use that company’s product or service again. Find value.

 Your boss starts talking with you about your performance. You are surprised it is not good enough. Not time to freak out, but time to ask questions. Could you show me what you expected? Do you have a sample what you are looking for? Who does this well? Let me go talk to him to see what they are doing right?

In short you are making a plan to improve your performance. Then set up follow up meeting. Set a time in one or two weeks to review your actions and ask for more feedback. Then thank them for telling you. (They have given you an opportunity to improve)

Answering difficult feedback with questions and maturity are not natural reactions, but can raise your value to your company. Learning often is followed by more opportunities and responsibilities

Moral Collapse. Don’t We Recognize Evil?

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