A View from The Prairie, 2025

January 2025

Leadership

Many people strive to be leaders, but lack leadership. Often, they think that the most important thing is to be loud and speaking often, even making up stuff. But leadership is first and foremost about moral authority - when others trust someone to make the next decision fairly and in a way that benefits the most people. Leadership involves vision, communication, and structuring things so that others can do more.

Once Rich - Staying Poor?

The ruins of Chaco Canyon are impressive. They show that in the 1100's, a vibrant and wealthy civilization flourished in northwest New Mexico centered on that canyon. Today it is a ruin. The only people living there are park employees. Mississippi was once the richest state in the Union. Today it isn't. Place after place has been wealthy and slid into a decline that can last hundreds of years.

World Champion or DEI Hire?

In early February, the basketball world was shocked by the Luka Doncic trade. Many wondered if the manager really knows how to evaluate talent. When looking at someone, do we see only the surface and call that person a "DEI hire" or go beyond the surface and recognize a "Tiger Woods", a world champion? History is full of cases where people did not look beyond the surface and let champions walk to their competitors.

Greatness or Just Average

A small business person wanted a new video ad. They were able to use AI to generate such a video within a short time. For small business, AI is a great way to generate ad copy. Many writers view writing ad copy as one of the worst jobs they could have and using AI instead frees them from that. But AI generates average marketing, not great marketing. Great marketing tells a story, an irresistible story.

Move Fast and Kill People

When we stagger out of bed and get ready for work, we often follow a routine. We have a "process" we use over and over again. One of the most powerful parts of modern management is how we develop and rely upon processes to perform functions over and over again. While some people attempt to circumvent such processes and processes do need to be rethought on a regular basis, destroying a process can destroy the organization. When people's lives are at stake, following a well thought out process can be essential to survival. Back in 2011, JC Penney was struggling and the board brought in a new CEO.

Turn Problems Around

Does singing a country song backwards bring back your pickup and dog? While humorous to think that it might, this saying is about looking at problems from the other end. Many times, we get caught up in one way of thinking and turning the problem around is a great way to see our problem in a new light. When we look at the potential failures of investments, we might be able to see things we missed when full of enthusiasm.

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