Articles
Written By Rich For You.
As you know, I am an avid follower of Reddit and I found this wonderful question posed on AskReddit — here are some of the better responses. Enjoy! Bathroom doors with the handle on the inside. I just washed my hands and now have to grab the same handle after that person didn't????
Why are they still delivering phonebooks to my house?
I always thought we would have separate highways for trucks by now. We have them in some places, but I feel like truckers would have a more enjoyable ride if they weren't dealing with jerks looping in and out of traffic or passing them on the right.
How it takes several days to transfer money between banks. Why does it take FIVE days to transfer money from one bank to another? It's 2015 — how can I deposit a check from my phone, but I can't send money from bank A to bank B instantly?
Commercials that are WAY louder than the show or movie that you're watching. Why can't they be the same volume???
Self check-outs telling me to place the item in the bag. THE ITEM IS ALREADY IN THE BAG.
Anything with batteries, like are we seriously still using batteries in 2015?
Elevators that don't allow you to hit the button again to cancel the call to that particular floor. I love this idea.
Video games that have any load time. I gave it a pass when it was the 90's and new CD technology just came into play.
Glasses. Lasik should cost $199 (for both eyes) and last forever. It's ridiculous that I still wander around on this planet with plastic hanging off my ears. (Contact lens people - don't go there - that's as stupid as glasses).
Businesses that don't take credit cards. I've seen girl scouts take credit cards. That food truck is your livelyhood and you can't invest 5 minutes to set up an account with Square?
The washing, drying, folding basics. Sure machines and soap have improved over the years, but I'm sick of doing laundry (especially for 4 people). I guess I can throw in doing the dishes too. Is there any way my clothes could be put into drawers?
Traffic! People have been driving for 100 years! Why haven't we figured this out yet! Also, riding in the breakdown lane, weaving, and tailgating WILL NOT get you there any faster.
I do find myself bemused at times that the umbrella is the best design we have come up with so far.
Brushing teeth. We've been doing that for hundreds of years — it's time for a pill or sealant to stop all dental horrors. Also — we're still DRILLING??? Pain management??? Pulling teeth with PLIERS???
Pennies. Why haven't these gone away? Nickels aren't far behind. (I've noticed many stores will negate the 1-3 cents that you owe them when giving change).
Any store or restaurant that doesn't have their hours, menu, and prices online. It's 2015 and you have a website — I don't want to drive all the way over there to find out you closed 20 minutes ago. And if we do visit your website, I don't want to use Flash or PDF to read your 'beautiful' menu. Show me what you serve and how much it costs.
I still don't get get how every shower caddy I've had manages to get rusted into oblivion.
Commuting. I have better hardware, and more productivity at home. Why are you making me put my pants on?
DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
This is Part One of a multi-part series on Ethical Leadership.
"I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics." - Richard Branson
I thought I would start with the most apparent way to lead ethically - by your gut. Why? Because I feel that most people are good and try to live their lives from a position of doing good for others. I know — there are some horrible people out there — but overall, I believe that the majority of executives are guided by good rather than evil. Unfortunately, some are pulled to the dark side by a number of different reasons (found in my last post).
Leading with Gut Instinct means that you listen to an inner voice — what scientists call 'your intuition'. Intuition is a feeling within your body that something is right or just not right. Did you catch that I said "within your body" and not just "within your mind"? We've all had moments of intuition - a certain colleague or a business deal. Sometimes we listen and sometimes we don't —intuition is the signpost pointing us to the right way — unfortunately, we sometimes take the wrong way.
"Trust your hunches. They're usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level." – Dr. Joyce Brothers This is why I believe my gut. Our brain is made up of billions of neurons firing many times during the day. Thoughts, emotions, facts, knowledge, etc. all are accessible at one time or another. If you have a highly structured and organized mind, you probably don't use your intuition as much as the next person. You just go to the library, choose your book from the shelves, and access the info that you need.
Everyone else's brain uses a more complex system — intuition — to unconsciously make their way through that ball of wire we call the brain and access that one (or more) tidbit of information needed to make the right decision.
The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover will be yourself. – Alan Alda "Be yourself" — (how I love that term) — intuition allows you to make decisions from where you stand, not from anyone else's perspective. This is a sign of a true leader - one that makes the hard decisions, efficiently and effectively.
So next time you need to make the right decision — use your gut. It will keep you on the right track.
I'm tired. And angry. And I'm not alone. For too long, the stewards of our most cherished institutions have been acting less than ethical. I call it "short term thinking for short term gain" — get in, make a quick buck, and move on to the next sucker. Not the best behavior for supposedly the best executives in this nation.
Some background: First and most broadly, it doesn't make sense for America to try to maintain or enlarge manufacturing as a portion of the economy. Even if the U.S. were to seal its borders and bar any manufactured goods from coming in from abroad--something I don't recommend--we'd still be losing manufacturing jobs. That's mainly because of technology.
