Commentary
Virgin on Business: Change of venue
The Boston Garden provided a playing home for Beantowns hockey and basketball teams for nearly 70 years. Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto was home of the eponymous hockey club for about as long. The current incarnation of New Yorks Madison Square Garden, opened in 1968, is still in operation as a venue for sporting events,…
Toward a More Civilized Incivility
See full illustration at end of article. If you havent heard someone lament the rapid decline of civility, you havent been paying attention. Social commentators have been going on about how the next generation is less civil than the previous one since before people were using forks. In 1530, the Dutch priest and scholar Erasmus…
The Mandate of Growth
When I first came to Seattle in 1989, I enjoyed Seattle Times columnist Emmett Watsons rants about the swarm of Californians invading this impressionable region. Watson called for a Lesser Seattle campaign whose central tenet was also the name of a fictitious organization known as KBO (Keep the Bastards Out). Watson could just as well…
‘Lean’ Is the Flavor of the Moment
Lean on me. The Leaning tower of Pisa. Jack Spratts wife could eat no lean. You may forget, for now, any other context for the word lean. The only approved usage of lean these days is as a method for improving workplace efficiency and productivity. But you already know this, unless you are oblivious not…
Final Analysis: Love It or Loathe It, Amazon Is a Major Presence
Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when Amazon.com became the Borg? Me, neither. It just sort of happened. One day, Amazon was this little online bookstore that couldnt make a profit. The next, it had 65,000 employees, $48 billion in annual sales and the same fearsome presence as those boxy…
How to Bolster the Future of Manufacturing
When I was 19, I spent a summer working at a kibbutz that bordered a gorgeous beach on the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, I spent most of my days in a factory making ladder rungs for the Israeli army. I would stuff a block of wood in a machine and watch it grind a notch. Turn, repeat….
Coaches Aren’t Just for Athletes
If youre like me, one of the first things you do at work in the morning is read your email. Bad move, it turns out. Why? The randomness with which tasks are thrown at you decreases your cognitive ability. You can end up spending a big chunk of your day reacting to those demands while…
Employers Should Plan for Coming Insurance Exchange
Washington states effort to establish an insurance Exchange by January 1, 2014, as part of the 2010 federal health care reform law, is getting less publicity than the pending U.S. Supreme Court case challenging the constitutionality of health reform. But the Exchange will lead to a transformation of the current system that relies on employer-sponsored…
Navigating Family Business Succession
Most of us have at one time or another faced a transition that seemed truly dauntingsomething that took us out of our comfort zones and made us question our abilities and limits. In 2004, when I agreed to join Port Blakely Companies as the successor to CEO Jim Warjone, the challenge of successfully transitioning into…
Will the Economic Advantage of Having Communities Friendly to Gays Tip the Political Balance in Favor of Legalizing Gay Marriage?
When a delegation from Charlotte, North Carolina visited Seattle recently, Steve Johnson, Director of Seattles Office of Economic Development, was asked to address the delegates on the topic of how to create and support a culture of creativity. Afterward, one member of the delegation asked Johnson how Charlotte should go about creating a welcoming environment…
Downtown Seattle Association Proposes New Not-for-Profit Focused on Central Waterfront Redevelopment
Interesting new approach for exploring the exciting possibilities of transforming Seattle’s waterfront! Here’s the press release: The Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) is asking Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and the Seattle City Council to support development of a not-for-profit entity dedicated exclusively to the long-term funding, development and sustainability of the Central Waterfront Redevelopment project. With…
Power Shortage
The mean geographic center of population in the United States, calculated every 10 years by the U.S. Census Bureau, has been moving steadily westward ever since those who got here after the Pilgrims set foot on dry land decided things were just as crowded here as back home and kept walking toward the sunset. That…
Flying Blind
A few months ago in this space, I wrote about courage and how a lot of people dont know they have it. This month, well be talking about people who are completely lacking the courage chromosome and could use an emergency implant, stat. Im talking about the CEOs of the nations airlines and the people…