Some of the things I was warned as a young man that I should never get into arguments over
were—in no particular order—religion, politics, which hand in a card game wins, and whether there should be a
motorcycle-helmet law.
The telephone has incredible
value. It’s also among the most effective ways to destroy productivity.
One day last spring, I put on a helmet, climbed on my bike, and rode to work with a
co-worker. For a guy who had only recently gotten on a bike
after more than 15 years away from two-wheelers, it was monumental.
Time and again, communities have tried pedestrian plazas in downtown areas and have failed because, without cars, there are few people, and businesses failed.
On my most recent trip to China, it was not without some heaviness of heart that I again found myself comparing the newness
of the country’s infrastructure—and the teeming activity that seems to have enveloped this part of the world—with
much of what I see, or do not, around Indiana and the United States.
Americans are not as civil as they used to be. Daily, there are doses of uncivil behavior reported by the media. And bad behavior isn’t limited to highly visible
people.
In 2007, the Indiana General Assembly unanimously put into place the requirement for all Indiana schools to identify students
with advanced potential from all groups and provide them with appropriate curriculum and instruction needed to develop their
potential.
Recent events in the Gulf of Mexico have placed considerable focus
on the everyday contributions the men and women in the oil and natural gas industry make to help fuel and power our way of
life.
Tech-savvy employers are turning to social-media tools to locate and
screen applicants for positions. And with increasing competition for jobs, employers are trying to both find the best applicants
available and know as much as possible about them.
I am a sucker for a good story. During the NCAA men’s basketball
championship last month, when that ball, or as the CBS color commentator Clark Kellogg called it, the “pumpkin,”
arched into the air from the hands of central Indiana’s now second-most-famous “babyface,” I thought, “This
is it!”
I got involved in restoration projects more than 30 years ago when a serious cardiac illness sidelined me from my medical-device
business.
State-by-state comparisons ranking residents’ satisfaction levels are gaining traction in economic development circles. While rankings do not drive site-selection decisions, they do play a role.
Part of the overall utility problem is that lack of government oversight and public policy vision has made Indianapolis one
of the highest-polluting and just plain ugliest cities in the Midwest.
You’ve
probably forgotten entirely about your company operations manual.
The message to neighborhoods couldn’t be clearer: It’s absolutely essential to attract and retain middle-class
homeowners with the resources to invest in—and maintain—their own homes, as well as support surrounding businesses.
How does a busy person vacate, as in the dictionary reference, “to vacate one’s mind
of worries?” One answer is to take a vacation, but an important choice remains: place or event?
I want to matter to the nurse standing next to me. I want to be more than a number, more than just a name on a list of hundreds
of patients on a research protocol.
Times like this are ripe for pioneering activities. Now that your business knows it can operate profitably even in a down
economy—no small thing—the next question is what you need to be doing to grow.
Engagement gap strikes small organizations and big ones, struggling not-for-profits and successful ones, and it threatens
to cripple each of its sufferers.
The satisfaction derived from work is more than just momentary bliss. Satisfaction is an essential component of productivity.
