Have you noticed that we know enough about the dynamics of weather systems, such as hurricanes, that we can predict their behavior?  Like hurricanes, we understand enough about the dynamics of human systems, such as individuals, that we can predict their behavior.  In fact we can even account for some of the variation in their behavior - just like the projected cone shaped path of a hurricane.

However, the accuracy of our predictions of the behavior of any given individual is dependent on that individual being isolated from external forces.  That’s because variation of behavior has two sources.  The variation that occurs in isolation, which is due to causes within the individual and is called common cause variation; and the variation that occurs with interaction with the outside world and is called special cause variation.  This part we cannot predict.  When a predictable individual interacts with another predictable individual, collectively they become unpredictable.

We have been studying and quickly learning about the dynamics of larger human systems commonly called groups and the ideologies that guide their behavior.  We have known for some time that personality greatly influences individuals in isolation and we now know that culture is what influences group behavior.  Like the personality of the individual, culture does not change from the outside in; it evolves from the inside out.  The transition and transformation of a human system is a response to changes in the environment.  In the cases of both personality and culture, if the environment is maintained by delusion, no change is perceived and no transition will begin.

I for one am amazed at what we as a nation don’t understand.  When we look at all the factors - inputs and variables that make up an economy, there is one factor that has remained constant throughout the history of humankind - labor.  There is only one element older than labor - land.  Without the element of labor, land will feed some.  With labor, land will feed all.  As a business activity, labor represents the techne of work, value added by the human.  Labor is older than technology, which represents the techno of work, value added by tools and machines.

Long before money ever existed, we traded the value of our labor; valued in terms of experience, skill and knowledge.  Take away labor and the value of land is little.  Labor has always been and will always be the heart of economics, not money.  The value stored in currency, metals and fuels are derived from labor.  Since we cannot eat gold or build a house of oil, without labor they lose their value.

We send workers home and export work to less developed nations to save money.  We send workers home and import workers because we stopped investing in our school system.  Without work, the people we sent home cannot afford to buy anything.  Reversing the patterns of the last 40 years is not easy, but it has been done before.

Happy Holidays

Is our issue really between Democrats and Republicans?  I know so many people on either side who really want to work together to solve the problems of this country.  Or is this more about the extremes of either side.  Lets look at the result.......   posted on About.Com

Possible Effects of the Fiscal Cliff

If the current laws slated for 2013 go into effect, the impact on the economy could be dramatic. While the combination of higher taxes and spending cuts would reduce the deficit by an estimated $560 billion, the CBO estimates that the policies set to go into effect would cut gross domestic product (GDP) by four percentage points in 2013, sending the economy into a recession (i.e., negative growth). At the same time, it predicts unemployment would rise by almost a full percentage point, with a loss of about two million jobs. A Wall St. Journal article from May 16, 2012 estimates the following impact in dollar terms: “In all, according to an analysis by J.P. Morgan economist Michael Feroli, $280 billion would be pulled out of the economy by the sun-setting of the Bush tax cuts; $125 million from the expiration of the Obama payroll-tax holiday; $40 million from the expiration of emergency unemployment benefits; and $98 billion from Budget Control Act spending cuts. In all, the tax increases and spending cuts make up about 3.5% of GDP, with the Bush tax cuts making up about half of that, according to the J.P. Morgan report.” Amid an already-fragile recovery and elevated unemployment, the economy is not in a position to avoid this type of shock.

Does life need to be managed?

The role of management as agent of the organization is critical in keeping the role of organization as a social and economic entity.  Management has one primary duty – decision making.  The elements of responsibility, authority and accountability are granted by the power of law, not ownership – ownership does not matter.  The processes and practices have been derived from two hundred years of practice.

The sole proprietor is not liable for the actions of the organization because they are the owner, but because the owner has been granted the power to be responsible for making the decisions.  The same is true for the partnership and the corporation.

To assume the role of a manager without having the knowledge or understanding of the responsibility, authority, accountability, practices or processes of management is like accepting an assignment as a surgeon after taking a first-aid course on the internet.

In time, all great managers discover the wisdom of profits.  Profits are the premiums paid for the performance of promises.  Real profits are not a function of predatory speculation or buying low and selling high.  Real profits of course are the result of adding value.  In fact, it is the same lesson we learned from the late great Viktor Frankl when he talks about success being like happiness.

For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run--in the long-run, I say!--success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it.