Ways to Speak Up

 

• What are the arguments against that course of action/position?
• Is there a downside that we haven't considered? For example, what would be our response if a plaintiff's attorney were to say there is not a strong basis for point A or point B?
• Jack and Mary raised a possible negative issue in their emails. What is our response?
• I know the lawyers have blessed this. Does anyone see any potential ethical problems?
• This seems complicated. Is there a reason why we can't take a few more days before reaching a decision?
• They cite a study in support of the proposed course of action. Has anyone read that study? If so, how detailed was it?
• Are there any overstatements or understatements in this document?
• What are some possible options in addition to the ones presented?
• Is there an example from here or another organization where the proposed course of action has clearly worked?
• What are the benefits and downsides of doing nothing?
• Are any other departments working on a similar project? If so, where are they on it?
• I propose that regardless of whether or not people favor the course of action, everyone here should voice their opinion. No one should simply pass.

[Photo by Headway at Unsplash]

Pulp Fiction's Management Consultant

 

The Newly Defined

 They call it a university, but it's not the university you and I once knew.

 They may call it a debate, but it's not a real debate. 

A piece of paper may be called a high school diploma, but it is nowhere near what a high school diploma meant in the Thirties or Forties.

Terms such as freedom, security, work, service, manners, wise, and bravery can change their definitions right under our noses and yet we continue to think of them as What They Once Were and not as they currently are.

It is a great and quiet deception that is made without altering the dictionary.

Be on the alert.

Quasi-Arranged Marriages Nostalgia

 

Remember Your Not to Do List

As we move into 2024, we can jot down a brief Not to Do List that can be carried in a pocket and used every day. 

Why every day? 

You know the reason. Because the same things should not be done day after day. 

Option: Leave a couple of blank spaces for any special additions.

Hmm

 

Plain Spoken

The BBC interview with Katherine Birbalsingh regarding education in Britain.

[Photo by Kimberly Farmer at Unsplash.]

Never Forget

"We have not journeyed all this way across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies, because we are made of sugar candy."

- Winston Churchill

Tis the Spirit

 

Improving 2024

 2024 is here. 

It looked hellish from a distance. Let's do our best to make 2024 less so even as the walls shake and furniture is splintered.

Regardless of your choice for president, we can avoid the craziness that has infected so much of American politics for so long. The genius of the American system is that the Founders designed checks and balances on the belief that even the brightest members of high office need to be restrained.

In other words, our system was designed by the only modest revolutionaries in history. [Look at the contrast with the French, Russian, Chinese, Cuban, and Iranian revolutions.] 

We need to share that modesty and know that each side, no matter how smart or wise, has flaws. I say that as one who strongly believes that one side is far better than the other, but the time is always ripe to check yourself out.

Let's lower our voices, listen carefully, and have a great year.