WHAT’S A BETAMAX?

Changes Are Accelerating

In 1975, Sony introduced a wondrous machine called Betamax. It was huge, occupying a large space by or under an equally large TV. It was heavy and would only record when you were present to press the “Play-Record” buttons. Tape size was about the size of a small book and expensive.

Betamax was awesome for its day. To be able to record a program and watch again anytime you wanted to was very impressive. Keep in mind that TV was basically 3 channels and cable was still a one or two channel connection for people in rural areas.

The next year, 1976, VHS was introduced. The equipment was smaller and a lot less expensive (around $995 in 1976 money). The real difference was in the lower cost of blank tapes (albeit a 2-pack of VHS tapes would cost you about $50 in today’s money). The battle was on – Betamax in one corner, VHS in the other.

The winner would ultimately be VHS. (Some observers speculated that VHS won because the porn industry had adopted the VHS standard because it was less expensive.) By 1985, VHS was a clear victor in the recording and playback wars. Betamax now only exists in the annals of electronic folklore.

Today, VHS is just about extinct as a Betamax thanks to DVD player/recorders and TIVO. It took 10 years for VHS to “beat” Betamax. Less than 20 years later, VHS no longer matters. Instead DVD equipment makers are fighting over which high definition format will prevail.

Change used to occur over generations; now change can happen overnight. In a consumer-driven society, new products appear weekly and render still useful products to the “old bin.” The launch of the iPhone will undermine the entire cell phone industry making current products useless.

Here’s the point of the above comparisons: how do you prepare people for the future? What do you teach in school that can still have meaning 20 years from now? What technical training do you offer unemployed people?

Prior to 1995, very few K-12 students had access to computers; 10 years later the computer would exist in every classroom. Now students can get high school and college degrees using a computer and the Internet. The Internet was in its infancy 10 years ago; now it is such a high value commodity that lack of access sends companies scrambling for “work-arounds.”

There are two answers to the preparation questions posed above. First, the core subject areas of reading, writing, arithmetic need to have the highest degree of priority. All three subjects need integration into all aspects of student learning through the end of high school (for example, football players would have reading assignments about football; they also would write summaries about game experiences). Comprehension and skill needs to be standardized at no less than 11^th grade level. If a person can continuously learn, they will survive in a fast changing employment environment.

Second, there needs to be an emphasis on creative thinking using art, music, theater, sports and clubs like chess or journal. Education needs to engage both sides of the brain to encourage lifelong learning. Teach people how to think, not what to think.

The next greatest idea will be revealed somewhere tomorrow. Do you think you are ready?

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GROWTH <> LEADERSHIP <> EXCELLENCE

© 2007 3 Minute Learning LLC

AN IGNORANT QUESTION

“What Would You Do If …?”

In case you missed it, both the Republicans and the Democrats are holding “debates” to sell people on who is the best candidate for the next President of the United States. These debates are held in public forums with a moderator from the news reporting media. At some point during the “debate” the moderator will ask one of the most asinine questions ever uttered by a supposedly intelligent person: What would you do about another terrorist attack on the US?

To illustrate how robotic each candidate is, not one candidate will put an end to this silly question by stating that, Americans don’t live in fear of “what ifs”. The real threat comes from those who use fear to manipulate the government and legal system to reduce the freedom of all US citizens. To quote FDR: “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” The US needs the media to stop playing the fear card and instead play “the future is exciting” card.

The US, just as other democratic civilizations in bygone eras, can expect to be attacked by those who want to dominate and rule “free” cultures. And these attacks on the US didn’t just start on 9/11/2001. There was the British invasion of Washington, DC in 1812 (including the Battle of New Orleans after a truce had been declared), the attacks on US merchant ships by the pirates off Tripoli (that led to President Jefferson creating the US Marines), the sinking of non-military US ships by German warships prior to World War I, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the hostile takeover of the USS Pueblo, the bombing of the US Embassy in Lebanon and numerous other incidents of kidnapping and murder, the unfortunate result of collateral damage.

But, world terrorism is not our biggest homeland security worry. The majority of our worst terrorists are home grown, using handguns and assault rifles to attack and kill thousands of Americans every year. According to the NY Times, over ONE MILLION Americans have been killed by gun toting criminals and deranged family members over the past 30 years. That’s more deaths than all the casualties of all wars fought by US soldiers over the past 200 years. For children under 16 years of age, only deaths by auto accidents and cancer outnumber the deaths due to handguns (legal and illegal). Think about it: is there ever a week that doesn’t end or begin where some gunman enters a building/house and kills multiple victims?

The real threat to the future of the US is its domestic policies. Healthcare is undermining employment; it is getting much more difficult for men over 50 to find high-wage employment as employers don’t want the added burden of higher insurance costs. According to the US Department of Labor less than half (48 percent) of men ages 55 to 65 are working full-time, down from nearly 70 percent 20 years ago. Healthcare has already reduced the manufacturing workforce by over 70 percent since the 1980’s.

Retirement is becoming more elusive as Social Security and Medicare become increasingly more fragile. The fastest growing bankruptcy filings are among those over 65 (mostly because of medical bills and medication needs). According to Fidelity Research Institute, among the top three reasons that prevented 58 percent of working Americans from saving for retirement needs were paying basic living expenses and paying off credit card debt. Less than half (44 percent) feel they will have a financially stable retirement.

Finally, there is the entire issue of consumption versus conservation. Everyone acknowledges that the consumption of petroleum products cannot continue at the current rate. Higher fuel prices will eventually limit the ability of people to maintain a quality standard of living. Yet, candidates on both sides stammer when asked what his or her plan would be to create a more energy-efficient society.

For the sake of our culture and society it is time to stop focusing on “what-ifs” and fear mongering and begin addressing real needs.

Follow-Up: Elite Students

In the June 14, 2007 issue of USA Today, the editorial dealt with the discrepancies between state and federal reading and math test results. In the discussion, one of the solutions was to forego the challenge of having every student achieve the same results: “Making ‘every’ child proficient in math and reading by 2014 is a nice political soundbite, but it’s about as realistic as Garrison Keillor’s Lake Webegon, ‘where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking and all the children are above average.’”

Concentrating limited resources on the very best students will yield the most favorable results that benefit everyone.

Reading Is Fundamental Even For the Wealthy

According to USA Today research, the 2008 Lexus LS600h L owner's manual is 1097 pages! (A Kia Rio is 256 pages). Compare that volume of reading with its unending pages of technical understanding to entertainment such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (784 pages) or Gone With The Wind (960 pages) and it's easy to understand why everyone should have reading comprehension at the college graduate level.

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GROWTH <> LEADERSHIP <> EXCELLENCE

© 2007 3 Minute Learning LLC

ELITE IS A GOOD WORD

Too Much Leads to Mediocrity

(Sports are a microcosm of our culture. It is constantly measured and evaluated and the seasons represent real-time project management. Sports can be useful to draw parallels to other social issues.)

If you discuss professional baseball with purist, they will say that there are too many teams in the major leagues and as a result, the sport has been diluted. The claim is that there are not enough elite professional athletes that can keep all teams competitive. A look at the current leagues standings and the woeful performances of the bottom half of teams and it is hard to disagree.

The result of major league team expansion has been to create a few outstanding teams, a majority of mediocre teams and a few very poor performing teams. The winning percentage of the teams create a bell shaped curve where the bulk of the teams fall within one standard deviation of the mean and the extremes with around 10 percent of the outstanding good or bad teams.

To preserve the concept of players that comprise the major leagues are the elite athletes of the sport, it would be necessary to eliminate the lowest performance teams each year and stock the remaining teams with the best players. The result is 12 to 16 teams that survive and the quality of the game ultimately defines the standards for an elite professional baseball player.

Considering that this is a sport played by young men across the world, plus the hundreds of thousands of US-born ball players, it is hard to imagine that there are not enough quality players to stock all the pro teams but the reality is a shortage of elite players.

Players are drafted, given professional coaching, play in the minor leagues to sharpen their skills and eventually, if they are good enough and they avoid injuries, they reach the major league level. These athletes are seasoned veterans at that point having played five or more seasons in the minor leagues before the call-up to the “big show.” So why aren’t there more elite athletes? Dilution because of quantity.

With so many young men vying to become professional baseball players there are not enough quality coaches available to teach the game, its strategy and develop skills. As a result only a few continue to advance, mostly based on talent not coaching. The sheer multitude of numbers prevents most players from advancing as coaches can’t spend enough time teaching. Instead of a higher quality product because of well-coached and talented athletes, the game is dominated by average players with minimal chances for long-term success.

It seems contrary to think that fewer would be better, but in the case of creating elite talent, fewer are better. In professional sports were the individual is the focus such as golf, tennis, swimming or track, athletes are coached one-on-one. There aren’t as many participants just the elite athlete representing his or her sport.

So where does this analogy lead us? The questions surrounding a political concept like Leave No Child Behind. Do we really need every student to succeed at every level through grade 12? Or is it only necessary to be proficient in reading and math at the eighth grade level? Is it realistic to expect high performance from a large volume of students or just from those in the upper percentiles as measured by academic performance?

In the real world, be it sports or business, there is a funneling effect where only the best continue. In school, only those students demonstrating a talent and dedication for learning should continue. The very best or elite students are the high school students who go on to college. (The ripple effect means that there will be fewer students at the college level thereby increasing access to professors and individualized teaching.)

Just like the case of individual one-on-one sports, elite high school students are now engaged in small classrooms where teachers are focused on the needs of each student and students choose to excel because they are part of a highly-motivated select group. Mediocrity is now out of the equation; even the lowest performing students will be above the mean.

So does this suggest that there will be a greater distinction among the classes? Yes; and it has always existed and it will continue to exist. The difference is the enhanced preparation of students to embrace quality thinking and problem solving creating new opportunities ultimately benefits everyone.

Does this mean there will be an even greater number of people under-educated and dependent upon social systems to live? No. From the very first day of school until the end of eighth grade, all students get the same fundamentals of reading, writing and math. The goal is to eliminate reading and math illiteracy and create a functioning society.

At the end of eighth grade, school becomes one of two tracks: education or training. Education prepares students for the scholarly pursuits of learning that creates the critical thinkers needed to address future needs and problems. Training prepares students for a variety of work related opportunities (apprenticeships or service skills such as practical nursing).

This solution is about maximizing resources. It is not a closed door or one-shot deal. Some scholarly-bound students will drop out and choose to go into a training curriculum. Conversely, some training students will realize they underestimated their talents and choose the scholarly track. This should be allowed to occur at any age, not just before 18. As it is often stated, commencement is the beginning not the end.

If we embrace the concept that education is a life-long commitment, the idea of high school for all and finishing 12 grades is irrelevant. What we need are options that develop the best students at the highest possible levels and at the same time provide employment training opportunities for all others.

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GROWTH <> LEADERSHIP <> EXCELLENCE

© 2007 3 Minute Learning LLC

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Freedom Is Not Always About Choice

About 400 years ago, the Pilgrims came to this land to escape from religious persecution. Since then, the United States is known to be a country where a person can freely choose his or her religion without fear. Further, persons can choose to sample many religions and be a member of several faiths, if that is his or her choice.

But the real benefit from freedom of religion is the ability to choose no religion at all and still be an accepted member of the community. That is the part of United States democracy that is unequaled anywhere in the world. A person has the right to believe or not to believe in God, practice morals and standards that are acceptable in their community, and to live and work unencumbered by a commitment to a religious organization.

That is the true essence of religious freedom. On any given weekend, you can be sure that less than 50 percent of your community (provided it is not a homogenous religious community) will be attending religious services. It is highly unlikely that non-attending individuals will be attacked or driven from their homes in shame. In fact, both attendees and non-attendees will mingle the rest of the week, unlikely to ever exchanging words about “going to church.”

The US religious freedom must really seem odd to other countries that attempt to force (or deny) religion. And for all the rhetoric about the United States and its devotion to God and religion, the reality is that the majority of US citizens are more interested in breakfast, specialty coffees and the Sunday paper.

Major Sporting Events

Which of the following sporting event is the oldest in terms of when it began as a competitive event in the United States? (Answer below)

World Series (baseball)

Kentucky Derby (horse racing)

US Open (golf)

US Open (tennis)

Dumb Jocks?

Top high school football recruits, also known as “blue chip athletes”, are getting an early start in college by enrolling for spring semester courses instead of staying in high school. This allows those exceptional athletes to practice with their team. This practice of early admissions to college is gaining a higher percentage of popularity every year.

So why not allow all exceptional high school students a chance to start college early, maybe even at the beginning of their senior year? Does anyone really think that advanced placement courses offered in high school are equal to the actual college educational experience? If the objection is questioning the maturity of a 17-year old, well no one seems to be worried about football players.

The real issue is that high schools don’t have the educational, vocational and virtual resources to fully engage today’s senior students. Most students have the necessary requirements needed for graduation completed by the end of their junior year. Sports and social leadership are the common reasons for seniors to stick around; it’s not about acquiring vocational skills or advanced academics.

Of course all the above statements do contradict research studies that indicate that high school seniors are poor at math and reading skills. Maybe 12^th grade students should go back to elementary school to re-visit basic educational skills instead of early admission to college?

Answer

The oldest US sporting event is the Kentucky Derby first held in 1875. Surprisingly, the second oldest is the US Open for tennis (1881), third was golf (1895) and the World Series was a distant fourth beginning in 1903.

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GROWTH <> LEADERSHIP <> EXCELLENCE

© 2007 3 Minute Learning LLC

LISTEN TO ME

Leaders Listen to Others First

Leadership is an attitude. Leadership is a lifestyle. Leadership is a moral compass. Leadership represents the “will” of an organization. Leadership is a powerful presence, yet the leader is humble.

Leadership is not something that a person “turns on” in front of co-workers. A leader leads by his or her actions. As Aristotle said, excellence is a habit and you can apply that to leadership.

The 3 words that will kill leadership are: Listen to me. The lack of leadership is characterized by a person using his or her influence to coerce or manipulate people into action (fear is a common tactic). You know the type who stands in front of people and pronounces, “It’s my way or the highway.”

This lack of leadership from a person is connected to his/her narcissistic attitude. From Greek mythology, narcissism refers to a person who is in love with his/her own reflection. Freud felt narcissism was a failure to suppress childlike behavior in adulthood. Leadership and narcissism are direct opposites; a leader cannot be a narcissist.

The cornerstones of leadership are sacrifice and a genuine interest in the well-being of others. Mother Theresa is one of the truly great examples of leadership. She could have done her humanitarian work from the comfort of Vatican City. Instead, she refused the Church’s offer and continued to live among the people she served until her death. Her lesson: never distance yourself from those who need you.

Narcissistic behaviors are the opposite: self-centered and greedy. Narcissistic people are abundantly represented by those spiritual and political leaders so enamored with him/herself that a scandal is inevitable. They only pretend to serve people, instead advancing their own agenda.

So when a person says, Listen to me instead of I want to hear you, you know what kind of person who employs you. You may have no choice but to stay under those conditions; just keep you expectations and opinions in check. There is no freedom of speech in a workplace without quality leadership. (In the classroom, the quickest way to alienate students is to say listen to me. By the time the words are spoken, those students’ minds have already left the building. An essential part of learning is the presence of student challenges.)

If you are working on sharpening your leadership skills, the most productive actions are your physical presence and active listening. People want to be heard, they want to be involved and they want to feel that what they are doing is meaningful. It’s not difficult to walk around, greet people with a smile and ask how they are doing today. Like Mother Theresa, spend your energy among your people.

In Lee Iacocca’s new book, Where Have All The Leaders Gone?, the title leaves no doubt as to his purpose. Iacocca’s framework is his 9 C’s of Leadership: Curiosity, Creativity, Communication, Character, Courage, Conviction, Charisma, Competency and Common Sense. According to Iacoccca, no one has mastered all of these attributes, but everyone has a foundation that includes pieces of each trait.

Here’s a suggestion: start with your strengths and then build. Take those 9 traits and begin a list of how you see yourself in each category (the strongest are the easiest to identify). Find a confidant to help you sharpen your list and give you objective feedback. Look for mentors, read books, establish a list of admired people and why you admire them and finally, be genuine to those around you so they will feel comfortable offering advice that will help you grow.

(Ironically, I think his leadership advice misses the mark: pick good people, have a good team around you and set priorities. That is a recipe for success reserved for a few, for example, assembling a potent baseball team like the New York Yankees. Leadership in everyday settings is about taking a diverse set of people, creating a vision, help them attain success and as a result they freely choose to follow their leader.)

Here’s one final tip: when asked, “Are you a leader?” respond with a “No.” Tell them you are a learner and the people around you are the teachers.

Unbelievable Healthcare Spending

Medicare became law in 1965, as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. In 1970, Medicare costs were $7.5 billion.

In 2006, Medicare’s budget had ballooned to $408 billion and in 10 years, it is projected to be $863 billion! Given the monthly premiums paid by seniors, medical co-payments, deductibles and the shameful prescription coverage plan, where is all that money going?

Access to affordable and quality medical care is a basic right in modern society. It is not an opportunity for healthcare-related companies to make record profits from the pain and misery of citizens.

America has enough resources to provide the best healthcare in the world. Unfortunately, America cannot overcome, or hope to survive, greed.

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GROWTH <> LEADERSHIP <> EXCELLENCE

© 2007 3 Minute Learning LLC