ThoughtRocket Blog

Nike’s Courage to “Just Do It”

Will Marre — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:38:54 +0000

I was in France recently, and there is definitely a different feeling about Lance Armstrong in that country. Before, he was despised for what many considered a kind of over competitive arrogance, and others just think it’s sour grapes. Undoubtedly, some of the softening towards Armstrong has to do with his age; age makes any athlete an underdog, and secondly his very public and passionate commitment to cancer research. Armstrong’s LiveStrong campaign with Nike has made worldwide reverberation, and as I’ve written before, it is Nike’s most successful promotional program. It is a promotional program with a general purpose. The money really does go to cancer research. In fact, 100% of all the profit that Nike makes off their LiveStrong products are finding their way into research labs. So we wish Lance well in his quest to win a bicycle race and admire Nike for having the courage to, “Just Do It.”

Save the World - Launch 1000 Entrepreneurs

Will Marre — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:15:24 +0000

I had some really great talks with the Grameen Foundation about the book launch, Save the World and Still Be Home for Dinner coming to a bookstore near you in early October. We’re trying to really do something different. Why just sell a book when you can also try and help launch entrepreneurs? So my idea initially, is to try to launch 1,000 entrepreneurs through the Grameen Foundation micro credit partners. I plan to do this through both selling books and connecting with those who read the books, who really want to make a difference right where they stand.

Goldman Sachs Has Record Earnings

Will Marre — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:28:53 +0000

Those bankers are at it again. You have to admit that they are shameless. Goldman Sachs, who was a prime beneficiary of the recent taxpayer bailout, having just paid back 10 billion dollars last month, announced they had record earnings this quarter, the highest profit in their 140-year history. Because investment banks pay out their profits in bonuses the average employee is likely to earn between 7 and 8 hundred thousand a year with between 50 to 100 earning over 20 million. This is eye popping, especially given the fact that Goldman Sachs was a leader in creating some of the exotic instruments that brought us down. Yes, they significantly benefited by our taxpayer bailout. They had made a very toxic investment with AIG of 13 billion dollars that was paid of in full from yours and my money. The leaders of Goldman Sachs are defensive about these payouts after all the say, “We pay for performance!” Of course the core question is how to we define performance? There are really two economies, people who really work for a living, and then the whole financial economies, which is based on a lot of people analyzing risks on computers, and making huge financial bets that trickle down in ways that affect the general economy, far beyond their initial intention. I think most of us want to see performance redefined before we get too excited about rewarding people, many of whom have created so much misery.

San Diego - The Center for Biofuel Research?

Will Marre — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:14:51 +0000

Today the San Diego Tribune reported that Exxon Mobil has pledged to invest 300 million dollars into a private venture in San Diego. It is headed by J. Craig Venter, who is a pioneer in the study of the human genome. Venter is a rock star scientist, a true genius that has allowed us to study the human genetics much more effectively. He says that he got involved with bio fuels in the 1990’s during the course of his work. He discovered that as algae grows it draws on sunlight and carbon dioxide and as a by-product produces fats and bio-oils that have a structure similar to crude oil. It’s also true that algae grows extremely fast, and is very resistant to disease and other problems common with crops. So, because of this its one of the only research areas that looks like it could be scaled up to provide a significant amount of our energy needs. The fact that Exxon is investing so much money in this project is startling. In fact, an official from Greenpeace, who has been really skeptical of big oil companies investments in alternative fuels remarked that he was very encouraged, that it looks like Exxon Mobil has finally decided to pursue alternative fuels and earnest. Obviously people in San Diego are pretty excited today both from the direct economic impacts of this investment and the long-term chance to become a world center for bio fuels research!

The Dealer Network

Will Marre — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:55:17 +0000

I recently read an article by Charles Lane from The Washington Post. He tells us that one of the big problems on why cars cost so much is the whole dealer network. Dealers you see, have so much political clout, that most of them are protected by state laws that give them exclusive sales territories, and bar manufacturers from selling direct. This is insane, using a dealer network in the age of the Internet. It adds about 30% to the retail cost of a car, and what are the benefits? Increasingly very little. In fact, buying or leasing a car is consistently listed by consumers as one of the most unpleasant tasks they do. It’s not that choosing a car is hard, it’s dealing with the superficial smiles of hungry sales people, and their manipulation. It is extremely distasteful. We also never know if we are getting the best deal, because everybody seems to be making his or her own individual deal. Government regulation that protects special interest in business, that has no strategic value to consumers, is simply not a good thing. Almost all regulations served a purpose when they were instituted, but they must be consistently reviewed and expire old regulations that get in the way of progress.

Synthetic Energy Addiction

Will Marre — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:03:51 +0000

I read an article by William Neuman from the New York Times titled, “Energy Shots Stimulate Power Drink Sales.” It is about the amazing popularity in terrible tasting energy shot drinks in which 5 Hour Energy is the leader. These are super concentrated doses of caffeine and other stimulants that people are getting addicted to, especially college students. Professionals that work endless hours like in the fields of accounting, law, and medicine are also getting very addicted. Somehow becoming dependant on synthetic energy instead of producing our own to proper diet, exercise, and rest seems like a bad idea!

A Simpler Life is a More Satisfying Life

Will Marre — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:53:50 +0000

I was reading an article by Wendy Koch from USA Today titled For Many, A Simpler Life Is Better. It’s about this new movement to limit the number of things you own. In fact, someone in San Diego, a man named Dave Bruno has launched a blog called the 100 Thing Challenge. His whole concept is to try to get people to limit the things they own down to 100 items. That is not that many things, but people that do it seem to feel free and less stressed than deprived. One of the trends in the article is that only half of all consumers say they already have what they need, meaning they don’t need to buy anything. In the American Dream Project I’ve often talked about where you commit for a month not to buy anything other than food or the current necessities that you use every month. Try it for a month, try it for 2 months, try it for 6 months and just see what happens. This is a whole movement called Voluntary Simplicity. Its got a lot of traction because people are finding a simpler, less cluttered life is actually a better more satisfying life. That is a civil lining. If it really takes hold however, our recession will undoubtedly last a little longer, there will be fewer stores and less consumption, but on balance that’s the only thing that’s sustainable.

A Healthy Employee is a Productive Employee

Will Marre — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:06:09 +0000

I am off to one of the large computer companies in Silicon Valley to talk about the Human Performance Institute’s, Health and Performance Program. It seems remarkable that most people don’t equate that it is necessary to have healthy employees in order to have productive employees. Yet, when people get the connection that fit, healthy, high energy employees are much more likely to create things of value, take care of their customers, and be productive they get excited that there is a business reason along with a health reason, to give people the information and motivation to lead their lives in a healthy way.

We are the World

Will Marre — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:21:46 +0000

In some very important ways maybe all of us are more like Michael Jackson than we think. I know. He invented moon walking and was also a moon beam. He optimized the tragic weirdness of someone disconnected from others’ reality. That’s my point. Michael Jackson is just an extreme example of the mixed bag that all of us are. His talent was extreme. Even unique. But his gifts of singing, dancing, songwriting, and envisioning never-seen-before entertainment were developed through immense amounts of hard work and tireless practice.

As Malcolm Gladwell tells us in Outliers, extreme success is nearly always the result of extreme effort. Michael was extraordinary principally because he chose to work at it. So can we. Researcher Carol Dweck reports that nearly all people who are considered experts or masters at something have simply practiced much more than only competent people. I think Tiger Woods, Eli Manning, John Grisham, Steve Jobs and other over-the-top achievers would agree. They focus their talent on being great in a certain way, their way, and over-invest in themselves. The result is unique competence and often spectacular results. So one inspiring thing we can all take from Michael Jackson is that when humans are inspired to do things with enough drive, determination and relentless practice, greatness can result.

But even with extraordinary greatest, all of us are flawed. And no matter how hard we may discipline ourselves, those flaws dog us or new ones appear. To be human is to be flawed. Our flaws are widely seen and yes even talked about. Perhaps the greatest flaw is the arrogance of thinking our own shortcomings don’t matter. I think most of us would rather be judged by our sincere intentions than our uneven behavior. Which brings me back to Michael Jackson. People who knew him best and people who worked with him (I happened to know one of his producers in the 1980s) said he brimmed with positive intention and gentle kindness. Yes, he was afflicted by inner demons (The Man in the Mirror), and who knows how all those demons played out, but all of us have at some time in our lives battled our own darkness. It’s then we need affirming friends who call us on our crap and lift us to higher ground. Authentic friendship is both tough and loyal. I am not sure Michael had many real friends. Friends who didn’t need or want anything from him. All of us need such friends and need to be such friends. All of us. As the singer wrote, “We are the world.” It’s up to us to “make it a better place.”

What’s the best thing we can do? Be a great friend to someone today. A friend that encourages persistence, effort and practice towards worthwhile goals and a friend who also holds up a mirror and says, “You’re better than that!” when our friends give in to their weakness. That’s a friend.

Environmental and Social Responsibility

Will Marre — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:24:52 +0000

There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal called, “Luxury-Good Makers, Brandish Green Credentials.” In this article it talks about how consumers are insistent that companies become more environmentally responsible.

According to the Con e Consumer Environmental Report conducted early in 2009, 34% of adults are more interested in buying environmentally responsible products during this recession than when it started. There is a growing concern that business in general has been irresponsible not just our bankers but the people who make and sell us the things we wear, eat, watch, listen to, or otherwise consume. This is most prominent in young consumers. Milton Pedraza, who is the CEO of the Luxury Institute says,

“Young consumers believe that caring about the environment is how you create a meaningful life.”

In fact luxury brands are really jumping on the environment bandwagon. Brands like Louis Vuitton have been conducting a carbon inventory since 2004, trying to reduce the negative environmental impact on their green house emissions. Their parent company has even created a film which was released in over 100 companies highlighting man’s abuse of the environment. It seems that even in luxury goods, being green is essential to help consumers feel good about spending money. Environmental and social responsibility is now a positive driver of brand value; in fact, it’s a turbo charger. Many companies are being accused of green washing and this is well deserved. For example, building sneakers out of recycled water bottles and calling them vegan is cute, but most of the other processes used in their production are hardly what would be considered green. Applying the word organic to clothing is a stretch; nevertheless people are trying hard. Wal Mart has spent considerable money and time with the founder of Patagonia trying to come up with supplies of truly organic cotton and recyclable materials, because the growing demand for responsibly-made clothing and organic food is growing through the roof. Yes, at Wal Mart.

The global recession has hit the luxury goods and all consumer goods really hard. Consumers have very high expectations to become even more choosy with their dollars. Going green is just not the right thing to do it’s the strategic thing to do. We’ve crossed a tipping point with environmentally responsible consumer goods. This is a tidal wave that is not going to recede but flood the Earth, and soon its going to be required just to be a player in a consumer game and it must be. Everything else is not sustainable. The people/companies who don’t get this are dinosaurs, who don’t know they’re nearly dead.