This Focused Performance Weblog started life as a "business management blog" containing links and commentary related primarily to organizational effectiveness with a "Theory of Constraints" perspective, but is in the process of evolving towards primary content on interactive and mobile marketing. Think of it as about Focusing marketing messages for enhanced Performance. If you are on an archive page, current postings are found here.
"If one aked me to what do I think one must principally attribute the singular prosperity and growing force of this people, I would answer that it is to the superiority of its women." - Alexis de Tocqueville
...to a New England town hall and a Bronx student council meeting, Democracy - coming to the USA.
"It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A."
- Leonard Cohen
Unfocused: Why Healthcare Costs So Much -- I wasn't sure whether to label this post as "unfocused", i.e., related more to politics, arts, society, science, and culture than my usual management, webdev, and (recently) mobile content. While there is certainly a socio-political aspect to the subject, there's also the fallout of the legacy of the absurd employer-based healthcare we've got in the US that impacts costs unrelated to the actual work at hand. That said, it's a much bigger subject than business. So, "unfocused" it is.
That said, I just want to point you to a series of posts from Andrew Sullivan's "Daily Dish". Sullivan is a prolific observer of social issues, and his style is partially based on pointing to and quoting from others' work. His blog doesn't have comments, but he does do a great job of editing and passing along emailed responses to his provocations. The recent series, started with Why Healthcare Costs So Much and continuing here, here, and here, so far, is a prime example of his best work.
Strongly recommend the thoughtful and insightful responses from his readers.
(And if you don't know him from TV commentaries or elsewhere, here's a good profile of Andrew Sullivan, my favorite Catholic, conservative, gay, pro-Obama, Brit-American pundit.)
"One thing is clear: whenever this episode ends, there will have to be a serious and real effort to prevent the growth of so many Too Big Too Fail institutions. We cannot have a functioning system if some don't pay the costs of their bad decisions. Not to be too grand, but our very way of life depends on that."
Gotta think that if the banks are worth almost a trillion, the auto industry (including the network of suppliers tied to the big 3) deserves a quarter-to-half billion 25-50 billion (whoops - dropped a couple decimal points).
(Of course, that "if" related to the banks is a big "if.")
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