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Culture is Born, not Declared

The thing about company culture is that it doesn’t make it happen by stating you have one. The culture we belong to has to do with our tribe (and I mean by that our close friends and associates), our background and history and the way we were raised.

In the same way that who we are as individuals takes a while to shake out—and actually changes over time—the same is true of business. Do you trust your boss, like your workmates, leave for work with a smile and hope to stay there for a while? If so, your company earned that over the years you worked there.

Or…

…do you watch the clock, hungering for it to be the end of the day, drop everything at quitting time and bolt for the door, as well as pry yourself out of bed on a workday? It may say “We Appreciate What You Do” over the door, but it’s stated, not earned.

You won’t be there for long and neither will the person who replaces you.

What your company stands for is best understood when you look at the rates of turnover.

The Writer’s Obligation to Climate Change

In a very real sense of the matter, certainly the writer bears no more obligation than the ordinary citizen. Those who have an opinion on the matter tend to be high on shaming, possibly other substances as well and very low on obligation. Which is as it should be....

When the Going Is the Point

A friend I hold in high esteem says, “when we get to where we’re going…perhaps we should stop. Unless the going was the point.” That’s a fascinating premise to me because it explains a lot about the reasons we are here on this earth and if we’re making a difference....

The Dark Side of the Moon: vol. 2

Volume 2 of The Dark Side of the Moon moves from Howard Dean’s ‘excellent chance of becoming the next president of the United States’ to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the evisceration of Medicaid and the exposure of the Jack Abramoff scandal. But what else was...

Mike Wallace Died last Sunday at Age Ninety-three

That’s fact and incontrovertible, announced to us from every page and media source. It’s taken me these five days or so to get my thoughts together sufficiently to comment. Mike was a lion among journalist-commentators and brought to his trade a new paradigm. Not only...