Scott Barstow

The Number Two

A man with two clocks never knows the time.

A man cannot serve two masters.

These independent thoughts have in common the distraction of having two of something.  In the case of business, this might be having two competing objectives, or to be more to the point not having one clear objective.  

I think there is also something to the idea that trying to be something you are not (personally or professionally) creates two of you.  The real you and the other you.

Lots of people think of the new year as a time to add to their lives those things that they think are missing.  There is more value, I would submit, in ruthlessly getting rid of things that don’t belong.  

Getting down to one is where I am headed each day.  It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be.

How about you?

Nothing is Fatal

Except, well, death.

When I am in periods like I am right now, where everything is going sideways, it’s a good reminder that there are very few things that are unrecoverable.

As a companion to this idea, Seth Godin’s post yesterday about failure and mistakes was another reminder that every decision made, while not fatal most of the time, does have consequences.  Taking the time to think about “Have I been here before, and how did that go?” is a good thing.

Observations from a Rural Outpost

I am spending this week with family in upstate NY.  My parents have lived in the same house for close to 45 years, and I love getting up here a couple of times a year to enjoy a change of scenery.

A few things have jumped out at me since we have been up here.

1. Americans watch a ton of television.  I guess I don’t notice it as much where we live for whatever reason, but as we have been out at night enjoying the brisk winter air it seems that every house has their TV on.  Some of it is no doubt generational.  Many of the people living here are older, and there is but so much that one can do in 30 degree weather.  None-the-less, it’s been eye-opening, and a touch depressing.
2. The migration away from small towns feels very real here.  As I drive down the road, I often try to figure out what the people that live here are doing for a living.  As the factories that powered this area have closed down, it gets harder and harder to find real industry or job-producing engines.  More and more homes stand empty each time we visit.  Living in North Carolina, I know where a lot of them are going.  Charlotte and Raleigh are top destinations for people leaving New York.
   
   
3. I realize why many people crave the small town living experience.  There is something about living in a town of less than 2,000 people that you can’t get in a suburban neighborhood.  I don’t know that the opposite is true.  
   
   
4. Somehow Uggs boots manage to find their way into every crevasse in America.  It’s one of life’s profound mysteries. 

Below are some scenes from here in Franklin.  

My parent’s house

The Franklin Postmaster

The hallowed halls of Franklin Central School

The local houses of worship

The village hall

The Technology Adoption Debt

I am guilty many times of rushing to judgement about how widespread technology adoption is among the general population in the US.  I often presume that because I know about and use great technology every day that most everyone else is doing the same.

It’s simply not true.  There is a significant portion of the population that doesn’t know anything about Dropbox or GMail or dozens of the other time-saving, productivity boosting applications that I take for granted.

The amount of time spent on doing things the hard way, simply because the better way is not known, is overwhelming.  The good news is that the opportunity to make a difference is equally large.

It’s What We Have

I was listening to an interview with REM the other night on NPR.  Michael Stipe and Mike Miles were in studio, talking about closing out three decades of amazing music.  I must disclose I don’t care for REM at all, but can acknowledge that their contribution to music is worthy of high praise.

Toward the end of the interview, each was asked what was next for them individually.  As the voices for most all REM songs, the two talked about how different it would be in the future not singing with each other.

Mike Miles said “It won’t be what we had, but it will be what we have.”  I thought that was a great quote.  

The Privilege of Protest

I witnessed two events in the past week that could not have presented a more different view the world.

The first was a fundraiser last Saturday night for an organization based here in Raleigh called Jobs for Life.  Jobs for Life equips people for the workforce who have had little or no experience in getting or holding a job.  The curriculum teaches how to interview, how to fill out applications, and why showing up for work every day matters.  The organization also works with businesses in the cities where the programs are held to assist with placement where possible.  The most memorable parts of the evening were listening to people stand up and tell their stories of success in the program.  Each of the participants gushed with pride as they talked about the change in their lives brought about by the dignity of work and opportunity.

The second event was the shutting down of the campground in Zucotti Park, NYC, the epicenter of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  As stories of rampant drug use, the spread of TB, and other issues became more prevalent, Mayor Bloomberg of New York decided that enough was enough.  I can’t say that I get the point of view of the whole OWS movement.  In fact, I don’t get it at all.

Setting my personal viewpoint aside for a moment, however, the contrast between these two events could not have been more stark.  On the one hand, I saw a group of people that had been given almost nothing, and in many cases had had everything taken away, working hard to change their lives.  Jail time, extreme poverty and hardship had been replaced by hope and the promise of a better life.  On the other hand, I witnessed a group of primarily well-educated, privileged people spending their days and nights railing against societal ills in the name of the “other 99%.”  

To be sure the protests have their place, and there is truth in some of the issues.  However, it seems that perhaps a little less whinging might be the order of the day.  In the end this is not an “Arab spring” moment.  The relative injustice is incomparable, and we all know it.

Question:  Where does the OWS movement go from here, after the shut downs?

Things Done In Secret - The Mess at Penn State

The happenings at Penn State are another reminder to us all that things done in secret will be shouted from the housetop (or in this case from every housetop). 

Joe Paterno’s handling of the events around his assistant coach are at best disgusting and at worst criminally negligent.  His graduate assistant bears the same responsibility and should be dealt the same set of cards.  Both knew about it and effectively did nothing.  Regardless of how great a coach he was, or how clean of a program he ran, by any measure Paterno’s legacy is forever tarnished (and rightfully so).  I hope that Penn State continue to do the right thing and compensate all of the victims in this sordid affair.

It is humbling to realize that one can work their whole life at something and have it disappear in an instant.  It has happened so often over the last few years that it becomes easy to dismiss.  Tiger Woods, Anthony Weiner, Joe Paterno.  The temptation is to say that these things happen to other people.  The reality is that every decision made every day carries this kind of potential outcome.  Integrity is a minute-by-minute fight to the death.  

Question:  Did Penn State do the right thing here?  What else should they do?

Lessons from the Runway

I was at FashionSpark this past weekend, which is the fashion show associated with SparkCon here in Raleigh.  I was there, not because I know anything about fashion (other than that I don’t know anything about fashion), but to support a friend who was launching a new clothing company called Villette.  There were about fifteen designers that participated, from what I could tell.

What I love about going to events like this is that the designers basically just say “Here it is, world.  I hope you like it.”  The feedback is immediate, either with deafening silence or applause (there was some of both on Friday night).  Every detail matters, from the choice of music to the people modeling the clothing to the pace at which they walk.  It was really interesting to see artists approach the same stage so differently.

It was a really interesting event, and personally I thought Villette stole the show (but I am undoubtedly biased).

The Network Made Me Do It

A good friend posted an article on Facebook the other day about the network effect on extremism in modern life.  The author, Bill Davidow, is a veteran of business and studying the market.  

First, let me say that I agree with the premise of this article in that the network produces positive effect more rapidly than at any other time in human history.  We see this in the examples provided by the author, whether in wild market swings or the liberation of countries in the Middle East.  

However, I disagree with most all of the conclusions presented in the article.  

Davidow says “The Internet can be a powerful vehicle for creating thought silos. Most of us tend to read material that supports our opinions. Liberals usually listen to NPR. Conservatives get their news from the Fox network. “

Davidow seems to be saying that the network is making us more myopic.  I don’t believe this to be true.  While I can, if I desire, find all manner of information and commentary to support my viewpoints, I can also more easily find a wealth of competing or divergent opinions at lower cost than at any other time.  The network is not the cause of the myopia.  The cause is ignorance.

Davidow also seems to blame the mortgage and economy issues on the network.  It seems to me that the cause of the mortgage meltdown was unchecked greed, not the fact that there was a network upon which to facilitate it.  With no real threat of jail time or even loss of money, those that facilitated the housing bubble walked away not only unscathed but hundreds of millions of dollars richer.

Lastly, the thing that really set me off was the network being blamed for income inequality.  He goes on to make the tired point that the cause of job loss in the US is companies being able to manage work around the globe as if it were next door.  The flagship example of this account is the Chinese factory worker making $300 a month.  I simply don’t understand this point of view.  Why are we lamenting the loss of low-paying, low-skill jobs, and not welcoming a new era of higher paying, higher-skill jobs?  Could it be that we are simply behind with our education and job training?  The rest of the world is running past us while we sit and suck our collective thumb about losing jobs putting rivets on cars.  

I would think we would be excited about someone in India or China being able to afford an iPhone or something else made in the US.  A rising tide generally floats all boats.  Furthermore, the global marketplace is about finding the best talent.  It is not about finding the best talent that has a US passport.

I can imagine that previous generations similarly lamented the advance of innovation.  I bet people hated the telephone because less people went outside and talked to their neighbor on the sidewalk.  I bet people thought the world was ending when we built railroads or the interstate highway system.  

It turns out that humans as a species evolve as innovation evolves.  In 100 years, there will be the next crisis like Davidow sees now, and the internet will just be that thing that people got all worked up about in the 2000’s.

Question:  Do you agree with Davidow?  Is the network having more adverse affects than we realize?

The Triumph of Good - Remembering 9/11

Yesterday, September 11, was a witches brew of emotion for me.  I was up early, playing tennis with my daughter as the sun came up.  It’s one of my great pleasures in life, being out early and just enjoying her company.  She went to play a tournament match an hour later and lost, ending a pretty good weekend for her.

I listened to the radio broadcast on NPR of the various ceremonies at the sites as I drove to and from church later in the morning.  The singing of the national anthem by the Brooklyn Youth Choir was amazing.  If you didn’t get a chance to hear it, you can listen to them it here.  Listening to the families read the names of their lost relatives was almost too much.

When I returned home from church, I saw an amazing story on CNN of the water brigade of 9/11.  In the space of nine hours, all manner of boats moved over half a million people off of the south end of Manhattan.  It was the largest evacuation by water in world history, larger than the evacuation of Dunkirk in WW II.  It was completely unplanned and ad hoc.  It was carried out primarily by volunteer boaters and tugboat drivers who were no more sure of what was going to happen next than anyone else.  They risked their own lives throughout the day to ensure others would live.  There were stories of people jumping from the piers as boats were leaving and catching the rail, barely able to pull themselves onto the boat.  

Last night I saw a 60 Minutes interview with Ali Soufan, an FBI agent in charge of interrogating some of the early captives in the manhunt for Al Qaeda.  He has a book coming out today that I intend to read.  I also heard an interview with Lauren Manning, who was burned severely over 80% of her body on that day but has lived to tell an amazing story. Her book is another that is going on the list to read.

Like anyone else old enough, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on 9/11/2001.  We saved the newspaper from the next morning, and we come across it periodically when we are moving things in the house.  I always stop to read it and look at the pictures.  

There is a lot of talk about how we are winning the war on terror.  As Dan Carlin has talked about, I am not so sure we have won anything in the last ten years.  We have lost thousands more American lives in protracted wars that have no end in sight.  We have lost freedoms at home.  Our government is over its head in debt, due in no small part to fighting two or three wars at a time.  

You know what, though?  I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.  We may be royally screwed up right now, but after taking in the events of yesterday I am convinced that we will be back.

What was your most memorable moment from yesterday’s ceremonies?