Tag: Nevada

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S2 E98 — Why Your Company Simply Won’t Make It Out of Puberty

If you consider the lifespan of an organization that has any sort of history — say over two generations or 40 years — you can see which tribes come in and out of favor. You’ll witness it as it evolves and leaps forward in predictable stages from infancy start-up through growth to maturity and decline and from simple to complex over time.

“5’’ Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “You will remember things differently than the other people around you. Write down your impressions to preserve the details because, later, you’ll be glad for these notes.” Leo

Hi and welcome to Sunday’s Episode 98 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 16th day of August in the summer of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E97 — Frame Blindness and Decision Traps; S2 E96 — Two Kindred Spirits Drawn to Mature Complications; S2 E95 — The Founder’s Curse Unleashed by the Edifice Complex

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E98 — Why Can’t I Leave 26 Orphans for a Well Deserved Vacation? ; S1 E97 — My Top 19 Reasons for Failing; S1 E96 — Old Rabbits Die Hard; S1 E95 — No Back to Work Days or Hump Days Allowed

Context

This is a continuation of “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” a work-in-progress.

In previous episodes we described Start Up, Emerging Growth, Rapid Growth, Sustained Growth and Maturity stages.  But, each with the emphasis on how a specific stage provides another better fit opportunity for one or more of 16 Talent Profiles.

In our last episode I described a mini case study of what it was like behind the scenes working at a mature company that was a century old. Now, a second, but in a different industry.

Multinational Food and Consumer Goods Corporation

A Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate founded in mid-1800s, headquartered Switzerland, grew to the largest publicly held food company in the world.

My former boss and now client, a 110 Analytical Specialist,  brought me in to create a curriculum for his client a 109 Internal Change Agent (more on that in upcoming episodes) who headed up their internal University at their USA Headquarters Glendale division. Broadly, he wanted us to help him inject strategic learning capabilities into their leadership talent pool.

He wanted to expand their executive management’s perspective to include what could happen over their company’s lifespan moving forward. In organization learning circles research had’t really focused on companies which had been in business for over a century.

In fact, the lifespan of huge, solid companies is only 40 years. 

Not all organizations even make it that far. The infant mortality rate is a decade. Arie De Geus says 40% of all newly created companies don’t last that long . Regardless of size, the average in Japan and Europe is 12.5 years.

So, our client became immediately attracted to us —my former boss and I had direct experience with the challenges unique to 100+ year old mature companies.

For instance, by functioning in the same mature stage for years and decades, current leaders (112 Loyal Survivalists) hadn’t experienced any other way of operating.

To combat that in his company, he wanted us to research and develop a curriculum during a two-year engagement based upon the latest models and best practices for:

    • Inspiring a Shared Vision, 
    • Thinking Strategically, 
    • Leading Change, 
    • Building Alignment,  
    • Pursuing Excellence and 
    • Sharing Best Practices.

Mature organizations require four kinds of talented people – 112 Loyal Survivalists, 111 Agile Tiger Teams, 109  Internal Change Agents and 110 Analytical Specialists — who thrive in high affiliation and slower paced cultures. 

Four Talent Profiles Attracted to Sustaining-Associates Organizations

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

You’ll find some filling roles in Human Resources as a Chief People Officer, Business Partners and Corporate Trainers.  Others in Financial Analysis.  Still others in Brand Management or in Inventory Control, Supply Chain and Procurement.

They manage the system of people, technologies, processes, and organizational structures to sustain the innovation they’ve already mastered years ago.

But, two “tribes” usually manage the political agenda to the exclusion of others. They are the talent clusters whose members represent the 20% who produce 80% of the results. And we know the mix of the two tribes changes at each growth transition. In any growth period there is a certain amount of resistance to new ways from the status-quo advocates.

In mature companies more Systematic-Professional talent profiles produce 80% of the results — 114 Brand-as-Experts and 116 Institutional Traditionalists. And, you’ll find fewer Paradoxy-Morons or Emerging-Entrepreneurs still employed.

Two Systematic-Professionals Attracted to Maturity Growth Stage

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Ironically, our engagement formed out of a chance encounter in Monterey, California at a conference promoting 114 Brand-as-Experts, the sort you’d find in major universities or think tanks.

My former boss had been engaged in a business divorce from one of those experts in which his role was to convert purely just-in-case education into more targeted and practical training workshops.

Over drinks in the bar between conference seminars, our new client for our 2-year engagement bemoaned how presenters seemed just too academic for his needs, although they seemed to be in high demand.

Years later,  in January 2017,  after our 2-year engagement, the multinational corporation announced that it was relocating its US headquarters from Glendale, California to Virginia.

Summary

If you consider the lifespan of an organization that has any sort of history — say over two generations or 40 years — you can see which tribes come in and out of favor. You’ll witness it as it evolves and leaps forward in predictable stages from infancy start-up through growth to maturity and decline and from simple to complex over time.

The resulting divisional structure eventually outlasts its usefulness when it triggers the “Control Crisis” that Systematic-Professionals help bridge by tightening and centralizing operations in a complicated matrix structure featuring data-driven methods and systems. 

180 – Degree Shift in Success by Stage

Growth Stage Key Success Factor Leading to a Crisis New Success Key
Start Up Loosen Leadership Tighten
Emerging Tighten Functional Loosen
Rapid Loosen Autonomy Tighten
Sustained Tighten Repetition Loosen

Maturity

 Loosen Control Tighten

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

As more functional departments proliferate the Paradoxy-Morons disappear, not fitting into cultures built to reward affiliation and mastery. 

And, the days of the maverick, do-what-ever-it-takes team loyalty — highly rewarded for fire-fighting heroics become numbered. 

Where to Find the Best Fit

Talent Profile Growth Stage Organization Type
101 Breakpoint Inventors Start Up Paradoxy-Morons
103 Commercial Innovators Start Up Paradoxy-Morons
105 Marketing Athletes Start Up Emerging-Entrepreneurs
107 Resilient Product Teams Emerging Growth Emerging-Entrepreneurs
108 Core Business Group Emerging Growth Emerging-Entrepreneurs
111 Agile Tiger Teams Rapid Growth Sustaining-Associates
112 Loyal Survivalists Rapid Growth Sustaining-Associates
110 Analytical Specialists Sustained Growth Sustaining-Associates
114 Brand-as-Experts Maturity Systematic-Professionals
116 Institutional Traditionalists Maturity Systematic-Professionals

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

At this stage of development most of the focus by the organization is on inside operations and not enough on customers – their care and feeding. It’s as if the customers – frequently in large numbers – are taken for granted. And that sets up yet another opportunity to bonk.

Mature organizations have vested interests in the way things were. While not overtly describing themselves as status quo advocates, many long-time Sustaining-Associates and Systematic-Professionals resist disruptive changes required to “jump paths” out of a declining trajectory.

If the organization continues to extend what they’ve always done, they fall victim to what Joel Barker calls paradigm blindness. An over-extended strength becomes a fatal flaw. The organization can’t see what is necessary to pull out of its decline. And the longer it takes for leaders of the organization to recognize that they are on the path to disaster, the more disruptive the solution becomes.

It’s a classic pattern. 

Evidence

“3”  Steve Zahn, 51: “Good fortune follows socially astute moves, such as including everyone, making introductions and lobbing the conversational ball in excellent, interesting and positive directions.” Scorpio

Before the pandemic I was all over this advice.  Now, not so much.  Will this pandemic end?  Will we return to normal?

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

Today’s Holiday Birthday:  

Your superpower is your incredible imagination. Direct it to create relationships you want, pursue far-flung interests and pull together scenes that others wouldn’t have thought possible. Team this amazing sense of vision with great faith and it will be as though you have harnessed the winds of fortune to do your bidding.

“5’’ Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “You will remember things differently than the other people around you. Write down your impressions to preserve the details because, later, you’ll be glad for these notes.” Leo

Some of you know I’ve progressed from letters, to steno notebooks and 3X5 cards to Hypercard to do just that.  The problem I found was two-fold. The first taking the time to write everything down and second, later finding the kernel of wisdom I could use.

“4”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “The key to success is three-pronged: know what you want; make a plan; stick with it. This sounds simple, but if it really were, everyone would be doing it all of the time.” Virgo

Why am I following the Tau of Steves as interpreted from the Holiday Tau if I wasn’t searching for a magical shortcut?

“3”  Steve Nash, 45: “It’s not every day that you come across an endeavor that can capture and hold your full attention. Once you give yourself over to it, there is no going back.” Aquarius

Boy, in some ways I wish the reverse is true.  For in the beginning of every endeavor that speaks to you, you’re filled with passion.  But, in the middle the drudgeries stack up.  Can you tell that’s exactly where I am with “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit”?

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 4733 to 4807.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

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S2 E97 — Frame Blindness and Decision Traps

These are the experts who love their profession instead of a specific organization like Sustaining-Associates do. They’re attracted to the challenges that come with large, complicated systems found in most organizations at the Mature stage of growth. 

“5”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Stay away from the ‘I did it, and so can you’ type of messaging today because it’s overly simplistic and does not account for the myriad of ways that people are so different from one another.”  Aries

Hi and welcome to Saturday’s Episode 97 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 15th day of August in the summer of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E96 — Two Kindred Spirits Drawn to Mature Complications; S2 E95 — The Founder’s Curse Unleashed by the Edifice Complex; S2 E94 — Sustained Growth: Slicing Turnover and Grooming Experts

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E97 — My Top 19 Reasons for Failing; S1 E96 — Old Rabbits Die Hard; S1 E95 — No Back to Work Days or Hump Days Allowed; S1 E94 — Wasn’t There a Movie about the Tau of Steve?

Context

This is a continuation of “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” a work-in-progress.

In previous episodes we described Start Up, Emerging Growth, Rapid Growth, Sustained Growth and Maturity stages.  But, each with the emphasis on how a specific stage provides another better fit opportunity for one or more of 16 Talent Profiles.

9. Consultant Life and Mutual Fund Company

It was founded in the late 1800s by a former governor in the state capitol of California. Roughly a century later the executives decided to move to Newport Beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean so families could enjoy a higher standard of living.

It was the kind of mature organization that employed maintenance workers just to polish its brick entry way.  It was the kind of mature organization that hired and groomed knowledge workers before the term was coined. 

116 Institutional Traditionalists

They included 116 Institutional Traditionalists, Systematic-Professionals delivering products and services in heavily regulated markets the company served, such as annuities, and mutual funds, a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans.

Four Talent Profiles Attracted to Systematic-Professional Organizations

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Why?  Because 116 Institutional Traditionalists are adept at managing fact-based complex systems with traditional analytical methods and tools. They’re dedicated to maintaining the institution’s smooth running. 

They defend the status quo by believing in preserving the rules and procedures.  They are practical, realistic and matter-of-fact.  In short 116 Institutional Traditionalists make good administrators because of their talent for organization.

Like other large hospitals, banking and financial institutions it was probable that a supervisor or a manager or even an executive hadn’t encountered a major transition from one growth stage to another over their careers.

Two Systematic-Professionals Attracted to Maturity Growth Stage

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

The buzzword my client described when he engaged me was this project was a major cultural change.  

But, it would unfold over many years, so urgency wasn’t felt, as much as it was anticipated.  

I had worked in several large, mature companies and had come face-to-face with immune systems that rejected any type of change.  

Maintaining the status quo across product lines and departments and divisions had become a way of life. 

My client told me our challenge was — how can you inject innovation into a century’s old mature company? 

It was a complex, complicated maneuver requiring tons of new knowledge and new idea packaging.  

It reflected the company’s structural change from a mutual ownership to a mutual holding company business model. 

114 Brand-as-Experts  

They become known for their impartial analysis and an affinity for agreed upon standards.  They excel in fact-based work situations in which you advance through continuing education, peer reviews and achieving licenses.  

The co-founder served as a model.  He  grew from being an investment analyst into a fund manager and co-founded their global fixed income investment business with  hundreds of billions managed in a Total Return Fund.

He was known as “the nation’s most prominent bond investor”. As a 114 Brand-as-Expert  he advised the Treasury during financial crises and was described as a fund manager who made people filthy-wealthy.  

In a way, he became the epitome of what my client had in mind for educating supervisors, managers and executives.

The goal as to bottle his ability to identify market inefficiencies and exploit them by adjusting the company’s strategies.  He embraced new technologies and exotic derivative products while harassing the power of the internet.

There was a requirement for a special blend of talents and skills across high-yield businesses building better traders and analysts and salespeople.

Rrom a management and executive development strategy it was to cultivate the ability to distill complex ideas into something simple enough to take action.

My client wanted build a hybrid curriculum drawing upon university experts with internal consultants to offer the early stages of a corporate education division.

“Advanced Curriculum for Officers” focused more on  managing divisions and new units in anticipation of favoring newer industry niches and technologies, but leading in a strong tradition based on an industry resistant to change.  

My first role was to manage external experts, define the curriculum based on executive assessments and development plans, and to provide referrals to seminars and recommended development activities.

Plans were based upon individual assessments. They defined gaps to be closed to qualify for the next advancement step, and admission into the high potential development talent pool.

The curriculum was the first for officers and included new courses I researched and designed, updated management courses they had (Management by Objectives was obsolete) and a curriculum I had developed and Fluor and Unisys.  

The plan included an “intrapreneurially shared services approach” I had described as a business model I’d experienced and managed before. 

During and after “de-mutalization” breakups, my client’s corporate group would have to sell and customize courses for the new business groups while competing with outside vendors and universities.

Top priorities for my client were how to bring about change, how to prevent frame blindness and avoid decision bias from a long list of decision-making traps plus scenario building tools.

I was all too happy to oblige!  

Evidence

“3”  Steve Zahn, 51: “You’ve known things to be more work than anticipated, but today’s thing is ridiculous. Devote yourself when it’s adding up to something that will matter. This isn’t. Get out of it.” Scorpio

Wait, what?  

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“5”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Stay away from the ‘I did it, and so can you’ type of messaging today because it’s overly simplistic and does not account for the myriad of ways that people are so different from one another.”  Aries

So, this is really hard to do.  Except what I intend to accomplish is not so much copy me, but to choose which talent cultures work for you as a best fit.  Ask yourself how many degrees from high to medium do you need: independence, affiliation, speed, mastery, disruptive innovation, improvement, new knowledge creation or embodied knowledge.

“3”  Steve Winwood, 71; Stevie Wonder, 69; Stephen Colbert, 56: “The reality of a situation is much better than you’re thinking it is. You just have to ask different questions of it. A person coming from a different place in life will help you frame things another way.” Taurus 

How in the world is this unending pandemic much better than I think?

“3”  Steve Smith, 30: “Any mistakes in the work will actually be mistakes of planning. The more time you spend thinking ahead and setting yourself up for a win, the better your day will go.” Gemini

Unless, of course, I fall victim to the curse plaguing almost every introvert I know — OBE, overtaken by events!

“3”  Steve Howey, 42: “Your natural responses cannot be correct or incorrect. They just are. The behavior you choose after you feel a certain way can be very much wrong or right. You’ll choose carefully tonight.” Cancer

I guess we’ll have to wait for 8 hours or more to find out.

“5”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “It turns out that the period of time when you felt like you were meandering was actually a long and deliberate planning stage for what’s going on with you today.” Virgo

Busted.  How long?  Almost a year of surviving until I could break the code of jargon my new career spoke in.  And then that career transition was repeated and repeated in several industries, types of companies, and at various growth stages.

“3”  Steve Kerr, 54: “When you are in an observant, receptive and artistic mood, ‘always,’ ‘never’ and other extremes of language fall away. You revel in life’s many colors and shades beyond black and white.” Libra

As much as I want to own this one, I only picked it for the first part of the first sentence up until the second comma.  What was I thinking?

“4”  Steve Harvey, 62: “There was a time when you stretched yourself to fit a role. And then, slowly, steadily, you grew to fit the title. You’re about to repeat this process with a new challenge.” Capricorn 

Was there ever!  I totally talked myself into my first job in a new career in a mature company about to fall into a decline.  I learned so much in it and didn’t know it at the time but it fueled this original research I taught at UCI’s Executive MBA program.  So, bring on the new challenge!  And, now I’m struggling to describe in this “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” work-in-progress

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 4636 to 4733.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life 

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

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S4 E28 — Why Do Those Who Know the Least Talk the Longest?

According to the plan, public pressure created by the delay would lead state legislatures in six key battleground states with Republican-dominated legislatures – Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada – to de-certify election results, with the intended outcome that Trump would have more certified electoral college votes than the election’s actual winner, Joe Biden.

“5”  Steve Aoki, 41; Steven Spielberg, 74: “Why do those who know the least tend to talk the longest? Your observations may be brief by comparison, but they go right to the heart of the matter, so don’t hesitate to lead the way.” Sagittarius

Hi and welcome to Sunday’s 28th Episode in Season 4 of  “Our Disruptively Resilient Year” on this 17th day of April in the spring of 2022.

We concluded the three-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed — during the “normal” pre-pandemic year compared to the pandemic year, and more recently to the paradoxically normal year. 

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season Four continues now within domestic and global chaos.

Previously in Season Four, The Disruptively Resilient Year

S4 E27 — Who Cares If It’s The Right Thing To Do Anymore?; S4 E26 — What Happens If No One Asks a Question?; S4 E25 — Accountability? 

Related from Season Three, the Paradoxically Normal Year

S3 E28 — Why I Stole Your Daily Horoscope for a Year; S3 E27 — What the World Needs Now Before It’s Too Late; S3 E26 — Following Alice Down the Rabbit Hole; S3 E25 — Art Lives Upon Discussion, Upon Experiment, Upon Curiosity …

Related from Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E28 — Hosting Norwegian Zooms While Trump Eliminated the Virus in April; S2 E27 — Why I Have to Keep Leo da V on a Leash and So Should You; S2 E26 — Rethinking the N-Word; S2 E25— Are You an Innie or Outie Thinker? 

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E28 — Day 28 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E27 — Day 27 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E26 — Day 26  of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E25 — Day 25 of My 1-Year Experiment

Context

After Joe Biden won, Former President Donald Trump refused to concede and Peter Navarro jumped into action working on plans to overturn the legal results of the 2020 election.

    • He and Steve Bannon coordinated the details naming the scheme, “The Green Bay Sweep” involving more than 100 Republican state legislators. 
    • Navarro published the plot in a November 2021 book and then hit a talking head tour speaking about it in multiple media interviews. 

Invoking Lombardi’s Packers

It took its name from the Packers sweep, where the Green Bay Packers of the 1950s and ’60s, led by Vince Lombardi, would flood a zone with blockers, allowing the football to be advanced dependably behind them. 

According to sources cited in Wikipedia:

    • In the political iteration, devised by Steve Bannon, the Electoral College vote count would be blocked by repeated challenges to various state’s vote counts by Republican members of the House and Senate favorable to Donald Trump. 
    • Each challenge could take up to two hours of debate by each chamber, individually, leading to as much of 24 hours of televised hearings.
    • According to the plan, public pressure created by the delay would lead state legislatures in six key battleground states with Republican-dominated legislatures – Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada – to de-certify election results.

100 Congressman on the Wall, if 1 of Them Happens to Fall …

The intended outcome was Trump would have more certified electoral college votes than the election’s actual winner, Joe Biden.

Navarro claimed that then-president Trump was “on board with the strategy”and that up to 100 congressmen were committed to executing the plan. 

Goal Line Play Comes Up Short

However the plan was dependent on Vice President Mike Pence’s participation. It was difficult to pressure Pence, said Navarro, according to Wikipedia: 

“Because all communication passed through his chief of staff, Marc Short, who had been president of the Koch Brothers funded Freedom Partners. It was like the Soviet Union taking over Eastern Europe. As an Iron Koch Curtain fell over the vice president, the only way you could speak to VPOTUS was to go through Short.” — Peter Navarro

Pence himself rejected the strategy, but Republican legislators initially followed the plan, with Arizona representative Paul Gosar objecting to his state’s vote counts. 

And, as it turns out things turned darker.

In December after the election, right-wing political activist and organizer Ali Alexander said that he, Gosar, Biggs, and Representative Mo Brooks were “planning something big”: a “mob” to pressure Congress into rejecting the election results. — Wikipedia

In a since-deleted video, Alexander said: “We four schemed up of putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting.”

To be fair, Gosar’s office did not respond to media inquiries about this allegation. But News outlets noted that Gosar’s social media accounts had expressed support for Alexander in the past, according to sources cited in Wikipedia.

In the joint session of Congress to formally count the votes of the Electoral College on January 6, 2021, Gosar and Senator Ted Cruz led a challenge to Arizona’s electoral results. — Wikipedia

And, then the Weirdness Descended

Hours after the January 6 storming of the Capitol, during which one police officer and four marchers eventually died, Gosar was the first member of Congress to advance the conspiracy theory that antifa was to blame for the violence, echoed by Brooks and Representative Matt Gaetz.

When Congress reconvened that night, the challenge to the Arizona vote had been rejected 6-93 in the Senate and 121-303 in the House. Gosar, Biggs and Debbie Lesko of Arizona voted to reject Arizona’s vote results, according to Wikipedia cited sources.

As a result of Gosar’s alleged involvement in the storming of the Capitol, three of his siblings called for his expulsion from Congress. 

“When you talk about what happened the other day, you’re talking about treason. You’re talking about overthrowing the government. That’s what this is. If that doesn’t rise to the level of expulsion, what does?” said Tim Gosar. 

Pardon Me, PLEASE

On January 19, the last day of the Trump administration, it was reported that Gosar and Biggs sought pardons from Trump. 

    • No pardons were granted to them or anyone else involved in the storming of the Capitol or the preceding “Save America” rally.
    • In June 2021, Gosar was one of 21 House Republicans to vote against a resolution to give the Congressional Gold Medal to police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
    • After proceedings were interrupted by the January 6 Capitol attack, Pence cited the violence as a rationale for blocking further challenges.

Evidence

“3”  Steve Zahn, 51: “‘Don’t sweat the small stuff,’ they say. ‘The little things add up,’ they say. So which is it? Forget about the scale of things for now and focus on their gravitational pull. If it’s important, you’ll be attracted to it.” Scorpio

I was hoping for more.  This whole Green Bay Sweep stuff and nutty elected officials supporting extremism even his siblings can’t stomach is as confusing as this Holiday Tau.

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

Today’s Holiday Birthday: 

Your talent for listening with your whole being makes wonderful music out of your year. People, nature and ideas intertwine, clash and harmonize to help you move toward an unexpected destiny much to your liking. Your openness engenders practical and magical connections for whatever you and your loved ones need.

“4”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “You don’t expect people to think and behave like you do. This makes you easy to be around. Others can tell that you’re not imposing rules or judgments on them. People feel accepted for who they are.” Aries

True, even that one crazy uncle every family claims.  Which is why it was so tempting to tell my story about Peter Navarro’s request for which I volunteered just before I left The Paul Merage School of Business for our anniversary vacation to Italy.  Navarro taught classes there and we’d pass in the hallways.  Turned out the resume was for his wife.  She lived and worked as an architect in Laguna Beach.  The last I saw Navarro was on a break during his class when I introduced myself, said I had edited his wife’s resume for which he thanked me.  I just found out today, that they divorced around the same time Emma the Baroness and I took off for Charles de Gulle Airport on British Airways. 

“5”  Steve Aoki, 41; Steven Spielberg, 74: “Why do those who know the least tend to talk the longest? Your observations may be brief by comparison, but they go right to the heart of the matter, so don’t hesitate to lead the way.” Sagittarius

That was always my critique of our former, twice impeached president.  When he got wound up and improvised from the teleprompters he just started stringing together phrases like I used to when I had no idea what the answer to a question was, but I had to answer it in a 5-page essay.  For which I’d receive a D+ or a C-.  I’m not like that.  I facilitate conversations after it gets going and I can find something humorous to say. 

“5”  Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011): “You’re socially aware and it works to your advantage. Conversational breeziness features fitting topics. You have a terrific sense of who is open to you, when to advance and how best to retreat.” Pisces

Throughout my several careers I found myself working with a wide variety of people from the bottom of society and workplaces up through supervision and management levels to the C-suite.  And, by the nature of introducing change into companies, you had to size people up who had resources and were on the positive side of change and the others that weren’t.  And then you had to address each group differently.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll

    • @KnowLabs suite of 36 digital magazines, according to my analytics, grew from 12559 this week to 12654 organically grown followers.
    • Orange County Beach Towns 216 viewers stopped by the week before.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • “Here, Right Matters: An American Story” by Alexander Vindman. “We’d long been confused by the president’s policy of accommodation and appeasement of Russia, the United States’ most pressing major adversary. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, seizing the Crimean Peninsula, attacking its industrial heartland, the Donbass, from the capital, Kyiv. By 2019, little had changed, Russian military and security forces and their proxy separatists continued to occupy the Donbass. The biggest change was to Ukraine’s importance as a bulwark against Russian aggression weeks earlier, the White House had abruptly put a hold on nearly four hundred million dollars.” 
    • David Enrich begins his book with a suicide in “Deutsche Bank Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction” and then meticulously details the bank’s Russian money laundering operations. Deutsche’s Russian business surged after revenues had fallen 50% due to the 2008 financial crisis. Putin’s Russia, poured in to Deutsche from deals it did with VTB Bank, linked to the Kremlin’s intelligence apparatus. Deutsche positioned itself as a crucial cog in “The Laundromat” by doing what couldn’t be done — processing cross-border transactions for banks that were too small  and didn’t have offices outside their home countries.
    • “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy” by Jamie Raskin recalls one tragedy no parent should endure — the suicide of his son — and then a second tragedy at almost the same time — the insurrection on January 6th 2021, that terrified he and his congressional peers who were tasked by the Constitution to routinely oversee the orderly transfer of power from one former president to the duly elected new President. 
    • “A Warning” by Anonymous (Miles Taylor) written prior to the January 6th Insurrection as an insider’s account documenting how frequently the former President’s behavior and rage without any “guard rails” showed just how far he would go to win the next election at any cost while spinning lies and misinformation on top of each other.  
    • “Peril” by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa provides anecdotes, stories and inside reporting documenting the controversial last days of Donald Trump’s presidency, as well as the presidential transition and early presidency of Joe Biden. 
    • “Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Nationalist Uprising,” by Joshua Green tracks the money behind the scenes leading up to the 2016 presidential election and the growing influence of Steve Bannon’s network of extreme nationalists.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

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S3 E8 — Wait, You’re Saying I Should Read It Again?

What’s been going on?  Emma the Baroness received that life saver poke in the arm through the backseat driver’s side (no comment) window as we drove through Soka University.  It’s a life saver for two reasons.

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Hi and welcome to Thursday’s Episode 8 in Season 3 of  “My Paradoxically Normal Year” on this 11th day of March in the spring of 2021 — which is a three-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic year and then in the pandemic year, and now months after.

Previously in Season Three, The Paradoxically Normal Year

S3 E7 — Who Can Resist Ricky Gervais Calls in this Paradoxically Normal Year?; S3 E6 — What’s the Half Life of Wisdom?; S3 E5 — Another Year Another Baby, Could Have Been Stevie like Stevie Nicks, but Noooooo!; S3 E4 — What a Fool Believes She Sees; S3 E3 — A Pivot, a Miracle or Something Paradoxically Normal?

Related from Season Two, The Pandemic Year

S2 E8 — How Does the Entangled Fish Hook Theory of Creativity Work?; S2 E7 — Smart Moves and Shifting Opportunities; S2 E6 — No We Don’t Share Your Precious Little Frickin’ Data; S2 E5 —Second Season Sneak Preview: My Pandemic Year’s Natural Experiment; S2 E4 — Sneak Preview: Day 4 of My Pandemic Year’s Natural Experiment; S2 E3 — Day 3 of My Pandemic Year Experiment 

Related from Season One, The Normal Year

S1 E8 — Day 8 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E7 — Day 7 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E6 — Day 6 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E5 — Day 5 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E4 — Day 4 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E3 — Day 3 of My 1-Year Experiment

“5”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Ever since the Big Bang, this plane of existence has been made up of contrasts, curves and cycles. You wouldn’t want it all one way. Embrace how it is now. It’s about to change.”  Aries

Evidence

One, for real and two the Pfizer’s second dose allows her to vacate with the boarders and skiers at Mammoth Mountain in the eastern sierras. 

Yay! However comma. 

Have you ever lost a document because it became so long that, when you tried to save your world-changing insights after hours of composing,  it crashed?  

Or the Apple circle of death icon spun and spun?  Some days it feels like I’m snake bit, as my old pappy would say.  

There’s always something that forces a resourceful work around — which frequently is temporary and which causes more harm than not — like going all in on start up technology that goes belly up.  

I’m looking at you Hypercard, delic-i-ous, Microsoft Entourage…

Why am I bitching and moaning? 

My latest work around threw all my hard won efficiencies out the window. 

    • One master document weighs in at 1.7 MB (by the way is that larger or smaller than say 254 KB? I can never remember.  
    • It’s like a brain stutter as I try to figure out if bond yields increase that’s somehow a bad thing), and 643.5 pages required a breakdown.  
    • Or else I’d suffer one.  
    • The short and the long of it means it takes me 2.5 x longer to accomplish simple tasks dipping into and out of nine smaller instead of one larger source.

Oh, I forgot.  

Biden’s $1.9 Trillion relief package passed the Senate and the House so he’ll put pen to paper and tip the first domino of recovery so it falls off the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office and into your bank account in about 72 hours.

Now turning back to what is really important, me.  

Actually, what is important to Zahn, Winkler, Emma the Baroness and me.  

While I am neither a spy or a secret society member, if my mother is correct my grandfather worked for the State Department in the Brooklyn Naval Yards and achieved one of the highest orders in the “Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonery.” 

I must come by it honestly — craving privacy.

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “Though you’re not a spy or a member of a secret society, and you’re not doing much today that you shouldn’t be doing, you still want privacy and appreciate most those who respect yours the best.” Scorpio

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

Note:  This is not my birthday, but I’ll sign up for it anyway, especially the June part. Maybe you should too. 

Today’s Holiday Birthday: 

Perhaps improving sleep, fitness and nutrition is not included on your list of ambitious and glamourous goals. And yet, self-discipline in this regard will be cosmically the birthday gift you’ll most cherish, as all you desire will be served on the shiny platter of good habits. An excellent rating gets you promoted in June.

Good habits, eh?  Sure, but will they help me when McQueens’ ominous warning comes true?  Near as I can figure after the Big Bang came Young Sheldon, but I’m a student of gaps, cycles, innovation curves and science and art contrasts.

“5”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Ever since the Big Bang, this plane of existence has been made up of contrasts, curves and cycles. You wouldn’t want it all one way. Embrace how it is now. It’s about to change.”  Aries

Somehow I’m getting Smith and Nicks are pointing to cult-like bias fed by certain social media platforms and geezer cable news channels.  Wait, you’re saying I should read it again?  Okay.  But I stand by my set up.  I’m inferring science asks questions, closes gaps in understanding in such a way that the answers can be repeated yielding the same results.

“5”  Steve Smith, 30, Stevie Nicks, 72: “It really doesn’t matter how good a person is at formulating answers if all of the questions are pointless. This is why you examine your questions with the aim of up-leveling before you ask them.” Gemini

Here I felt the Holiday Tau kept me on a roll.  While I did achieve a period of lucid dreaming and value imagination more than you know, I’m not rating G&G’s as high as the other Steve.

“3”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “You will travel through the magic of media and dreams. Your own fantasies provide the sweetest escapes but much more is possible. Learning to guide your imagination is a skill that will bring good fortune to hand.” Virgo

Oops, maybe I should combine Kerr’s with Greene and Guttenberg to reach a higher score.  And I use imagination after I stuff my mind with facts and figures in my meditations.

“5“  Steve Kerr, 54: “You’ll be working your mind like it’s your job — because it is. While feeding your brain the facts and figures that will be necessary, also throw in the unnecessary stuff that makes it all go down a little sweeter.” Libra

I see how it is.  Ending today while reminding myself about my bitching and moaning about losing all your careful articulation and long hours and effort only to loose your precious document.

“5”  Steve Nash, 45: “Communicating well will require careful articulation, patience and a level of attention emotional attunement that is, quite frankly, work. Nonetheless, everything good comes through good communication.”  Aquarius

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @KnowLabs suite of 36 digital magazines jumps from  7397 to 7455 this week organically grown followers

Foresight

Quality-of-Life 

Long-Form

    • “Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History” by Kurt Andersen Both of us, Emma the Baroness and I, have been processing the acquittal of our ex-President — not really being surprised by the “Big Lie” promoting followers in the Senate, but more disappointed after seeing new video documentation of the insurrection and detailed evidence time lines.  I return to Kurt Andersen’s book “Fantasyland” to help me through the process of filtering the unfolding events.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trips

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S1 E52 – Missing Chapters and Paths Not Taken

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Summer

June 2019

“5”  Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011): “You’re drawn to unexplored territories today, and you’ll map out the terrain for those who come along later.” Pisces

Hi and welcome to this June 21st Edition and Day 52 of My 1-Year Experiment.

What’s been going on? 

I’ve been working through the missing chapters from my 5-book volume I’ve been calling “The Knowledge Path Series” and just published “High Country Cowboys and Eagles in Whitefish” in my blog, Knowledge Banking: Wealthy Choices. Healthy Lives. What was it about?  Here’s how I described it: 

With the help of our knowledge bank, you can choose for variations in your new neighborhood by:

Does that make me a paradox grandmaster?  Maybe.  But, not for the reason implied in the second sentence.

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “You are the grandmaster of paradox today.  For you, doing nothing is more difficult than doing something.” Scorpio

More from what I described two months ago on Day 26th illustrating our Holiday Tau then: 

“In my original field research about “work” which I tested in workshops and advising sessions with hundreds of Executive MBA students I’ve been exploring disruptive change — as driven by a specific type of organization named “Paradoxy-Morons” and at a specific stage of growth companies feel either desperate enough to enter or innovative enough to bake it into their Organizational DNA — reinvention.”  

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

And the paradox continues with how I responded in Day 45 on 6/7/19: 

“I developed a reverse order negotiations worksheet for those in my Executive MBA career classes.  It ends with weighing the trade-offs among three offers.  But it begins with all the other factors most candidates weigh at the last minute.”

“5”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “As generous as an offer may be, if it doesn’t work for you, then move along without fuss or regret.” Aries

Is Howey’s Holiday Tau messing with me?  It feels like a hall of mirrors.  Should I read less into it?

“3”  Steve Howey, 42: “Yes, this looks a lot like what you’ve already seen, but it’s not.  If you approach it like you already know, you’ll miss what’s really there.” Cancer

Sure, I’m all about understanding.  And as an introverted idea-packager it’s my temperament and you might say obsession to drill down to identify all the variables and aspects to why somebody lies — like our current President.  My best reference, if anyone else is interested, is “Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History” by Kurt Andersen. 

“5”  Steve Nash, 45: “Sincerity is better than falsehood, but one person’s truth won’t make a difference for all involved.  You go 10 steps beyond to really understand and present solutions likely to help.” Aquarius

Not, just for today, but for as long as I can remember.  Thank you Jobs for allowing me to swipe your Holiday Tau.

“5”  Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011): “You’re drawn to unexplored territories today, and you’ll map out the terrain for those who come along later.” Pisces

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

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60-Minute Habit

Day Two:  “Gather learning materials to help you practice your service before taking on a client.”

First Cup at Zero Dark Thirty
Now what?  I’ve gathered boxes of stuff and identified 11 ways of working through a process.

Reviewing this step described by AnyWired now, dredges up my feelings of confusion.

Instead of the blank page problem any author encounters before (or after) that 5 a.m. perked brew, I faced the opposite.

Feeling overwhelmed.

Awash in a Sea of Papers

Too many materials gathered, digitized and sitting in desk piles on my first floor home office.

“While this should be mainly direct practice (doing rather than reading about), you will need to gather materials to guide you here.”

Right.

Doing.

“This includes articles, interviews and tutorials.”

Right.

Look, I was moonlighting and running out of time I budgeted before my morning commute.

It will take me more than an hour just to figure out some sense of order with all this stuff.

Reports, Articles, Printouts

Travel articles from the LA Times profiling destinations and vacations along the coast in Southern California and Northern California.

Indexed in an old Mac version of Microsoft’s “Entourage Notes” with full text of the article and linked to their file categorized by:

“Lone Eagle”;

  • Listing of best places by year from 2005 – 2010 and
  • Tools / websites for finding the best; and
  • Regions – western states and Hawaii / Tropical.

And by another category – by “Do What You Love Scenarios:”

  • High Country Eagles,
  • Permanently Temporary,
  • Wealthy Influentials and
  • Wireless Resorters

(16 Lifestyles, 4 for each).

I’m panicked.

Just then a thought bubble popped above my head.

If Only. What if?

What if somehow customers and clients could use my system for tagging the Internet sites and articles on Delicious, the social book marking site?

But, why and how?

Focus mainly on developing techniques you could actually see yourself using in client work.

1.  List of online resources?

2.  Seasonal comparison summaries by categories:  Best Places, Green Planet, High Country Eagles and Wireless Resorters?

You should spend at least 1 hour per day just developing your skill.

I know,

I know.

  • Maybe I could write about how to use delicious (aka knowledge bank) for the sequence of initiating coverage of a best place community?
  • How to use the Internet to build a knowledge bank for finding the right place?
  • How would a potential reader, customer or client?
  • It may begin with a vacation to a favorite destination.

For the first time you’ll want to figure out your route and itinerary, right?

  • Usually you have a region in mind, with some ideas where you might want to visit.
  • You may start with a map of a region within the West or of Hawaii.
  • You can start saving bookmarks about potential places, to revisit later.

Or you recall a trip you took out west a few years ago.

  • From California to Nevada and Arizona.
  • Up to Colorado and back through Utah and Nevada to your return to California.

A name rings a bell when you read an article about the list of top places to retire published by AARP – Loveland, Colorado.

Loveland, Colorado. The Gateway to the Rockies
  • You spend a little time on the Internet and discover, it’s been singled out as a great place to retire on the water.
  • In 2009 it was singled out as a best place to live.
  • You recall the fun you had hiking through the nearby Rocky Mountain National Park.
  • What were the names of some of those other places you saw on the way?
Awesome Views from Rocky Mountain National Park

You wonder if it is right for you?

  • After all US News & World Report ranked it 7th on their top 10 places to live in 2009;
  • right ahead of San Luis Obispo, California and
  • behind front-runner Albuquerque, New Mexico, # 3 Austin, Texas and #4 Boise, Idaho.

Now you’ve got your work cut out for you.

Here’s a way to find out.

1.  I recommend beginning with Wikipedia and WikiTravel for a quick summary, local history some pictures and the zip code or zip codes.  You’ll see a map of the state, a subset of that map for it’s county.  WikiTravel profiles vacation attractions – directions and transportation, where to stay overnight, where you should eat and play.  It gives you ideas for visiting local attractions and doing more when you consider a broader vicinity.  So you can plan for a long weekend or a one or more week vacation.

2.  If you aren’t interested in Loveland you can stop there and consider San Luis Obispo next.  Maybe, for this time of year you want to visit the desert instead of the mountains.  Or take a vacation along the coast. Or islands – like Catalina off the coast of Southern California or one of the Hawaiian Islands. If you like lakes and rivers, then Loveland may be worth further investigation.

3.  For our purposes, we are assuming that you really want to move, invest in, work in and around, start a business or retire in a new community that doubles as a vacation resort and with pristine quality of lifestyle activities.  Otherwise, why bother?

4.  So, grab the zip code and go to Google and search on the 5 digits.  You’ll find a map which will show you where this destination is in relation to its surrounding area.  You see photo slide shows and videos of the area.  You can switch to satellite views and hybrid map views.

5.  Still believe this town maybe a keeper?  Jump to Claritas to check out the types of people who already live in the neighborhoods.  Birds of a Feather Flock Together.  Neighborhoods change slowly.  They attract the same kinds of people over time.  If you plan to move, invest, work, start a business or retire, you’ll want to see if residents match your criteria.

6.  We’ve already done the heavy lifting for you by identifying neighborhood characteristics by age and stage of life of their residents.  Single (20-20, 25-54, or 30-44).  Couple (55+ or 65+). Family (20-44, 25-54, 35-54). Empty Nests (55+).  Mid-Lifers (30-44).  Baby Boomers (45+ or 55+). Seniors ( 65+).

7.  And, we’ve compared neighborhoods by status and density.  From Wealthy Influentials and Wireless Resorters to High Country Eagles and Permanent Temporaries.  And from Metropolitan to Suburban to Small Cities and Country Towns.  So, if you want to narrow your focus to neighborhoods with 25-54 year old families in Wireless Resorts, then you can find a list that no other top 10 magazine list can provide.

8.  Let’s say you’ve compared and narrowed your search for real estate investments.  Check out City-Data for in-depth demographics and regional, county and zip code statistics – including the number of registered sex offenders.

9.  If you plan to move, you should search by zip code on Weather Underground to find a wealth of weather patterns including tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters for each season, but especially for January and June to determine just how inviting your new vacation resort will be.  You may just decide to live there for six months and somewhere else for the other.  In the mountains for skiing and snowboarding and then at the beach for surfing and sun bathing.

10. Need a job?  Check the openings by zip code from two Internet sites – Indeed and Simply Hired.  You’ll want to take a couple of job hunting or house hunting trips before your final decision.  Make a vacation of it by returning to WikiTravel to line up the best accommodations, or visit My New Place for a listing, map and photos of rentals by zip code.

11.  We know that the best positions are hidden.  You find them by a chain of referrals and introductions.  How do you create a new network?  Use your zip code and key word description of the town in LinkedIn’s advanced search function and begin contacting the first few of 100 local introductions.

Now what?

Is this really a business?

I’ve gathered boxes of stuff and identified 11 ways of working through a process.

And, I know it will take more that another 60 minutes.

Day One: Behind the Scenes

 

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Appeal

“Find one or two lifestyles that describe you, then the logic goes other neighborhoods that attract the same  “Birds-of-a-Feather” lifestyle would appeal to you.”

Peel Away the Outer to Find Your Inner Appeal
An ongoing case study: How to convert thousand lesser fans into a thousand true fans, so they buy enough to support you and make a little profit?

Here’s the part I’ve always hated.

Crafting the sales message.

And, there’s a little irony.

To be successful you have to appeal to human motivations and I earned a masters degree in psychology.

The problem for me has always been that as a professional knowledge worker — in my case a consultant, coach and trusted advisor — we were trained not to advertise or to market ourselves

The path to a thousand raving fans was taken one referral step at a time.

No Advertising or Sales

Not by running ads.

Or by selling.

But by transforming clients with so much value they became enthusiastic advocates.

Can you advertise and sell online without crossing over into the “scam territory?”

Sure.

For the last few years I found plenty of information and inside intelligence that online marketers and other less scrupulous “Make Money Online” entrepreneurs misused.

But some of it could and should be used by legitimate consultants and lifestyle business owners.

Formula for Attraction

How can you convert a thousand Lesser Fans into a thousand True Fans?

So they buy enough to support you and make a little profit?

Keep these tips in mind.

One of the things that motivates you is to avoid unpleasant things.

Will your “knowledge product” – book or ebook, for instance – save your true fans from making a fool of themselves?

If Only You Knew in Time

Remember high school and how embarrassed you felt from time to time because you didn’t know or understand what everyone else did?

Television ads reminded us how bad our breath smelled or our stinky body odor offended the those around us.

We didn’t have a clue.

Others did though.

Or so the ads implied

There’s that whole wall of worry.

Stuff that makes us uncomfortable.

Things like worrying about having enough money …

  • for paying our monthly bills,
  • for our doctor visits,
  • for the car payment and
  • for what the insurance company won’t pay because of our high collision deductible.

As an entrepreneur you wake up abruptly at 3 a.m. in the dark doubting your ability.

  • Money is running out.

    Gotta Get Back To Sleep
  • Did you seriously underestimated the market for your product or service?
  • Can your knowledge product or service offer peace of mind ?

During the Great Recession we all worried if we would keep our jobs.

If we lost them we worried we might not find another one that paid as well located within a reasonable commuting distance.

Just before the Memorial Day holiday a couple of years ago one of the Chief Marketing Officers who volunteers to mentor our Executive MBA students shocked me.

I knew he lost his job, which comes with the territory when you reach age 50 and finally pull in the big bucks.

What I didn’t realize was how traumatic his situation was.

Now What?

He lost his house because he couldn’t make payments on his mortgage – a wapping $6,000 a month.

And he had to find and move into a two bedroom apartment that long weekend.

Plus lease a storage unit for all the stuff that wouldn’t fit.

Not only did he and his wife suffer the loss of their home and their wealthy influential lifestyle that came part and parcel with it, but their basic feelings of security disappeared that weekend.

Neither he nor his wife could qualify for for social security or medicare coverage.

At least not for another 12 years.

But, the truly shocking part he told me was he had taken out and spent equity loans while he drained his 401K accounts to make his lavish lifestyle “ends meet.”

In my chapter, “Why Careers Are like Real Estate Markets,” I described the dilemma many like my CMO friend faced.

They find themselves at the cross roads between “Doing What You Love vs. Doing What You Hate” and “Living in the Same Geographical Location vs. Moving to a New Preferred Community.”

“My passion and location stories described four different communities …  ‘Wealthy Influentials,’ ‘Wireless Resorters,’ ‘High Country Eagles,’ and ‘Permanent Temporaries.’”

Here’s a snapshot of each.

“Permanent Temporaries don’t anticipate the future well and have a hard time adapting to new work realities. 

Many become consultants and entrepreneurs because they can’t find full-time employment. 

Guarded Gate Communities

They aspire to live in, or return to, the guarded-gate communities of the Wealthy Influentials. 

What if they’re forced to relocate, where do they go?

When forced to move to lower cost-of-living neighborhoods they choose small university towns populated with High Country Eagles in higher quality-of-life communities. 

But, they long for face-to-face project-based work as a way of affiliating with other people on a more regular basis.  

Succeeding at interim work demonstrates their value in a new organization. 

What about the trade offs?

Between projects they miss the teamwork and seek to counterbalance the isolation and extreme independence they are forced to endure being on their own – no matter if they’re  interim middle managers, trapped urbanites or just starting over in a new marriage, neighborhood or way of life.

Wealthy Influentials live in neighborhoods that showcase their status and affluence. 

Viewed from the outside, it’s as if they’ve cornered the market with a wealth-generating machine. 

Like my Executive MBA Mentor once was able to afford …

They find a safe haven for high margin income, pay for a high cost of living, accumulate peak real estate appreciation, and live in a secluded, secure, and mature suburbs or an upscale metropolitan center. 

Selling products or services to this group means offering highly personalized, luxury, and one-of-a-kind experiences.

What if you found yourself in a similar situation?

How about …

Quality-of-Life Lifestyles

Wireless Resorters share the love of a new quality-of-life community with High Country Eagles. 

They realize that with the ability to operate anywhere there is Internet access, anyone can move to unspoiled smaller towns and rural regions. 

Many moved to the mountains areas that became destination vacation  areas like the ski resorts in Colorado.

All four lifestyles populate thousands of thousands of communities from coast to coast.

Across the western region of the United States you’ll find residents in Wealthy Influential neighborhoods like Del Mar or Coronado in California; 

High Country Eagle towns like Sedona or Bisbee in Arizona or Angel Fire and Taos in New Mexico; 

Permanent Temporaries parts of Reno, Nevada or Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; 

or, in some of the better known ski resorts attracting the Wireless Resorters like Breckenridge and Steamboat Springs in Colorado.” 

What if you could find the perfect town for you with just the right kind of neighborhood you’d love?

Claritas, now Nielsen Segmentation, helped pioneer market segments initially based on each new census update.

They linked consumer behaviors for “shopping, financial, media and much more …” with household lifestyles living in specific zip codes across the United States.

Household Shopping Lifestyles

If you’ve ever received direct mail addressed to you or “current resident” those marketers are taking advantage of household data.

The key to their business model unlocks a specific zip code.

In their PRIZM segmentation you can slice and dice over 60 different lifestyles ranging from high to low degrees of affluence and status.

By age and life stage.

Type in your current zip code and they’ll supply you with the top four or five lifestyles in your community.

Find one or two lifestyles that describe you, then the logic goes other neighborhoods that attract the same  “Birds-of-a-Feather” lifestyle would appeal to you.

Try to search for that lifestyle in their segmentation database and build a “Bucket List” of awesome zip code neighborhoods.

Can’t do it.

Doesn’t work that way.

  • But, what if you devoted the time to reverse engineer it?
  • And, you “mobilized” your lifestyle business?
  • Once you authentically built your virtual community of a 1000 raving fans?
  • You could move them with you, right?

And, you’d be able to zero in on regions and communities varying from …

  • high to low  density,
  • from urban to suburban, exurban, rural and
  • remote populations.

You wouldn’t have to worry about making a living solely from the locals.

Instead, you’d live that quality-of-life that can bring out the best in you.

More on that later.

An excerpt from Book Two in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you make more money from a lifestyle businesses you’re truly passionate about.

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