HOW TO BECOME A TOTAL FAILURE

My full-time occupation is print broker. I serve my customers printing needs by shopping the best values, arranging for and assisting the proofing process, attending press checks, following up on deliveries, and if needed, interfacing with the mailing house. When I’m busy I barely have time to breathe. Lately I haven’t been so busy–in fact […]

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This morning I learned the results of Prudential Financial’s stockholder meeting. The stockholders did not accept the board’s recommendation to let the executives decide their own compensation without stockholder supervision. The Say on Pay resolution passed with 61.5% of the vote. Much of the praise belongs to Executive Wealth an organization that is working diligently […]

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First let me say that I haven’t had a real problem with Vanguard. The funds have done better than many others. In downturns they haven’t lost as much and in the upswings they do better than the average. Vanguard seems to be one of the good guys, however, you knew this was coming didn’t you? […]

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Yellowstone National Park has been an environmental proving ground. Park rangers told us that the forestry pendulum initially swung wide toward micro-management of public lands and animals. Wolves were considered to be a menace and bounties were offered to eliminate them. Without the wolves the elk herds flourished. The elks ate all edible vegetation in sight until […]

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I spent the weekend in Scottsdale, AZ attending a restaurateur’s convention. That’s an odd place for a printing professional to go, isn’t it? What does printing ink have to do with sauce? Or presses with ovens? So why was I there? I went at the invitation of Kevin Hall whom I’ve written about before (see link). Kevin […]

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You’ve got to give him credit. President Obama isn’t just sitting behind his desk in the oval office luxuriating in his win. He’s out spreading his message. I heard his interview on Face the Nation yesterday (March 29, 2009). Bob Schieffer quoted Thomas Jefferson who said, “the presidency is a splendid misery.” Furthermore Schieffer said, […]

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I heard on this morning’s news that AIG is now asking another $300 Billion dollars from the taxpayers. That is on top of the $85 billion already received, and the $37.8 Billion requested in September of this year. Wow! I can’t even begin to comprehend such sums even when put into real world examples like […]

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They used to call it reverse psychology, but the term seems to have gone out of favor. I haven’t heard it used in twenty-years or so. How To Become A Total Failure is all about reverse psychology. The intention of the book is to startle us into noticing our failure patterns, so we can take […]

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New Hampshire’s Republican Senator, Judd Gregg, lobbied the Obama team to become  Secretary of Commerce. Senator Gregg was a good nominee. He could have brought bipartisan balance to the Cabinet. He has the reputation in the Senate of being a fiscal conservative, just what we needed at the Cabinet level to advise the President. Senator […]

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