Category: Commentary

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Kindling Success

Addendum: RIP Steve Jobs – You are this generation’s greatest innovator

Amazon recently introduced a new version of its trendsetting Kindle electronic reader. While the original ignited change in how books reach audiences, the latest intends to disrupt the momentum of Apple’s iPad. Kindle Fire has a bigger – color – screen, a faster browser the company believes will be as smooth as its Silk name and stores everything in the cloud. Since iPad hit the market 18 months ago – having sold more than 30 million units – competitors appeared and vanished quickly.

HP announced six weeks ago it is discontinuing TouchPad after determining it mistakenly tried to compete with Apple’s 83 percent market share. So what makes Amazon think it will succeed where others failed? Amazon is upfront that it’s not taking aim directly at iPad. Kindle Fire is WiFi only with no 3G access. There is no camera, nor can you create and edit documents. You can’t place a voice call. What you can do is access Amazon’s extensive digital library. As CEO Jeff Bezos noted in unveiling Fire: “What we’ve done is really integrate seamlessly all of our media offerings – video, movies, TV, apps, games, magazines and so on.’

Most importantly, you can buy Kindle Fire for $199. The entry-level iPad is $500. Amazon is betting the digital content it sells will make up for the low price. That’s an advantage other Apple competitors aren’t able to utilize.

Anytime there is innovation, copycats follow. The key to not ending up in the product graveyard is to provide enough differentiation that consumers have a viable choice. As someone who purchased the original Kindle several years ago and has read many books on it, I’m glad to see Amazon take the next step in improving its device. Someday – in our lifetimes, I’m guessing – hard copies of books will be collector’s items and nothing more.

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Always Remember

Last week, our youngest – for an 8th grade class – had to interview someone about the ‘most historical moment’ of his/her lifetime. She chose her grandfather, who just celebrated his 80th birthday. He told her the assassination of JFK tops his list, as he was too young to remember Pearl Harbor, although having spent 27 years as a naval fighter pilot beginning in 1954, he certainly understands the meaning and significance of ‘a date which will live in infamy.’

I was three-and-a-half on November 22, 1963, and have been fascinated by JFK since my sophomore geography teacher told us about his experience as a senior in high school in Dallas on that fateful day. I’ve read most of the conspiracy books, watched all the famous news programs, walked Dealey Plaza and spent time in the Sixth Floor Museum. I’ve even seen Lee Harvey Oswald’s unmarked grave in Rose Hill cemetery – a hunt completed with my sister and brother-in-law on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy.

Today, we remember the victims of 9/11, so I asked our daughter – who’s a senior in college – what she recalls from being a sixth grader in 2001:

“They didn’t tell us about it right away, but we knew something was wrong, because teachers were crying and kids were being picked up. After a while we had this assembly, and the guy basically told us God had performed so many miracles that day, which didn’t make sense to me. Oh, and I remember asking one of the lunch aides why kids were leaving, and she said ‘must be a lot of dentist appointments.’ None of the adults knew how to handle the situation. They saw us as kids, but a lot changed for us on that day. As part of the post-9/11 generation, I think we would better handle something like this, or at least know how to talk about it.”

It’s a common conversation piece to ask those who experienced historical moments where they were and what they were doing when they found out. For those alive today, the discussions might include the Crash of 1929, Pearl Harbor, Germany’s surrender, Jackie Robinson, JFK, the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, Neil Armstrong, Nixon’s resignation, Challenger, the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11.

Of course, as time passes, memories become less clear. Yet, as long as we pause to reflect, those dramatic events will remain part of who we are as a nation. We’ll pass them on to future generations, and hopefully teach them new lessons. A friend who’s a printer made a magnet for clients a couple of weeks after 9/11. He gave one to us. It shows an American flag and says, “We Will Never Forget.” We haven’t. It’s still on our refrigerator.

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Burning Brightly

As I write this, the state of Texas is blazing. Sixty-four wildfires started in the past two days as lack of rain, strong winds and low humidity combine to create the perfect firestorm. The biggest conflagration is in central Texas – 500 homes destroyed and 30,000 acres burned in Bastrop. Less than 15 miles as the crow flies from our house northwest of Houston is an inferno that’s consumed 5,000 acres. This latest round comes after a series of fires in North Texas during the spring; the biggest one consumed 200,000 acres and destroyed 250 homes, including our good friends’ lake house.

Wind and rain are an annual threat to those living on the Gulf Coast. Each June, proactive citizens prepare for the worst: buying supplies, developing contingency plans and determining evacuation routes. Tropical Storm Alison flooded downtown in 2001. Hurricane Rita missed in 2005. Ike delivered a direct hit three years ago next week. Until the season ends in November, there is always the possibility of destruction.

Last week’s forecast that Tropical Storm Lee was heading this way brought anticipation of an end to the worst drought since the 1950’s. Instead, Lee took a right turn, all the rain went elsewhere and the backside winds flamed the raging fires. Much like the Dust Bowl that ravaged the Great Plains in the midst of the Great Depression, these roaring flames – along with Hurricane Irene that ravaged the East Coast – are piling on to the nation’s woes at the worst of times.

Life is busy. You get moving fast. Caught up in a lot of little things. Then one day you wake up and are told to evacuate your home… to leave behind all your memories. It’s a helpless feeling, and for some, all their keepsakes will be forever lost. Please take a moment right now in your thoughts to remember those affected by these natural disasters. Say a prayer, too, for the first responders and all those who lend a helping hand. As the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 arrives on Sunday, you know it’s times like these when America’s great light of care shines brightest.

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Direct Comments

One thing I enjoy is collecting quotes – about leadership, about success, about inspiration. I’ve been doing it for more than a decade. Whenever I come across a good one, I drop it into a Word document. So far, there are 19 pages and more than 300 inspirational citations from famous people. Often, when I’m looking for motivation or a spark for new ideas, I’ll open up the file and start reading.

Here are three of my favorites:

“If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn’t thinking.” ~ George Patton

“Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.” ~ John Wooden

“Do something every day that scares you.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

I’ve wondered if these sayings attributed to legendary people came ‘off the cuff’ in a newspaper interview, were published in a book or carefully crafted in preparation for a speech. I’ve also thought about how many things these leaders must have said during their lifetimes… and they’re remembered for just a few words. (See: Truman, Harry S. ~ “If you can’t stand the heat…”)

Yet a few words are all it takes to communicate a wonderful thought. Recently we were in a restaurant and, returning from the restroom, I poked my head in the kitchen. (Hey, I’m a coach… curiosity is what I do!) Written in large letters on a white board – surrounded by names of employees, schedules, specials and which menu items to push – were four words that speak volumes: “Earn your job everyday.”

With four people looking for work for every single opening in this country, that’s a great motivator for employees. Put more directly: “Phone it in, and you’ll be gone.” I guess the true power of a memorable quote is the carefully chosen words that convey the desired message.

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Center Point

Four of my friends from church and I have lunch together once a month, rotating who picks the restaurant. These 90-minute gatherings are simply the ‘in person’ part of what plays out in email between gatherings. During those written discussions we share editorials from various online newspapers, comment on the happenings in the world and trade a lot of friendly barbs – always in good humor and with the purpose of getting each other to think. Sometimes these dialogues may happen frequently on a good news day.

While all of us fall to the right on the political pendulum, I am the one who sits closest to the middle. In fact, I jokingly refer to myself as, “The liberal Catholic among us.” One of our recent exchanges was about the budget deficit standoff and who was at fault. The member who leans waaaay toward conservative blamed the president and Democrats for their insistence that a tax hike be included in any new legislation. I assumed my typical role – playing devil’s advocate: “What about those Tea Party members who refuse to budge on any of their tenets, even if it leads to an agreement?” His response: “They’re doing the right things. The other side is wrong.”

To me this is a microcosm of the biggest challenge impacting leadership. Whenever someone takes the position of ‘I think it, so it must be correct,” there is the danger of missing the opportunity to create a better result. It’s only through a willingness to hear other ideas and consider different approaches that true growth occurs. Lines in the sand and one-sided viewpoints don’t lead to change. They simply keep things heading down the same path.

This month it’s my turn to choose where to eat. When I gave two options and said we could decide the morning of lunch, one of my group wrote, “Sounds like you’re kicking the can down the road, just like Congress.” I wrote back: “Actually, I’m trying to model that the art of compromise happens every day in the real world… and usually makes for a more enjoyable meal.”

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