Tag: Climate Change

If Problems Go Away

A scientist posted
about how many people
think ignoring a problem
will make it magically go away.

That’s because
for many people
that is exactly what happens
…for them.

Someone else,
likely someone like you or me,
puts in the hard work
and fixes the problem.

All the other people
have to do
is mention it IS a problem
for them.

They complain to the manager.
(That manager might be the general internet
or their spouse
or some other person/entity.)

And that manager fixes it.

The challenge we’re seeing
right now
is there are a lot of problems
to fix
and
not enough people fixing problems.

If your problems
go away
without you having done anything
to fix them,
someone else is doing
that work.

Problems
don’t magically
fix themselves.

Waiting For Someone To Save Us

We read these stories
all the time.
People ignore
evacuation notices
and
then they expect
other people
to put their lives in danger
to rescue them.

And in the past,
they HAVE done that.

But in the past,
there wasn’t a labor shortage.

There wasn’t an ongoing pandemic
causing every organization
everywhere
to be constantly
understaffed.

There wasn’t a voting population
who were now okay
with a certain percentage
of people dying.

Times are changing.

We can’t assume,
in the future,
someone else will save us
or our families
or our businesses.

Act accordingly.

Not Believing In Reality

Every candidate
for a major US political party
recently
stood up and said
climate change wasn’t real.

Much of the US
is on fire
or in severe drought
or under water.

A five year old
could tell you
something was wrong
with climate.

Sane leaders
know climate change is real also.

When leaders say
they ‘don’t believe’
an obvious problem
is ‘real’,
they’re saying
‘I don’t plan
to ever help you
with that problem’.

And often
the full message is
‘And I will likely make
that problem worse.’

Don’t expect help
from leaders
who refuse
to ‘believe’ in a problem.

We’re on our own
with those leaders.

A Person To Blame

Some people are blaming
arsonists for the wildfires
all over the world,
instead of the real culprits
– drought and climate change.

That doesn’t surprise me.

Many people look
for a person or a group to blame
for their problems.

And they want promises
that person or group
will ‘be dealt with’
i.e. punished.

That prospect makes them happier.

A business building buddy,
knowing this,
blames all the problems
customers come to her with
on Stanley.

Stanley made that change
in their favorite product.
Stanley set that return policy.
F*ckin’ Stanley, always messing up.

No one in the company
is named Stanley.
He is a dummy target
for both customers and employees
to curse,
a name to give
when the customer demands one.

Cursing Stanley makes them happier
and it makes them more likely
to remain loyal to my buddy’s business.

People often
are looking for a person
or a group to blame.

Do your best
to ensure no real person or group
is harmed.

Accountability And Climate Change

When 1.5C was set as a target,
world leaders knew
what we’re seeing today
– the fires, the floods,
the excessive heat, the crop failures –
would happen.

(They also believed
we would lose
all of the coral reefs.)

Leaders felt those losses,
the disasters
and
the deaths were acceptable.

Today, youth
are suing governments
and winning

And they SHOULD win
because the climate disasters
we’re experiencing today
were a deliberate choice.

Governments
should be held accountable
for that choice.

As business leaders,
we should also
expect to be held
accountable for our decisions.

That is part of
leadership.

Take Advantage Of Lucky Breaks

My tiny part of the world
has been having
pleasant temperatures
and reasonable rainfall.

I see what is happening
in the rest of the world.

I know how very lucky
I am.

I’m grateful
every d@mn day for this weather.

And I realize
it is due to
mostly luck.

I know we’re getting
a lucky break.
I know that lucky break
won’t last forever.

So I’m taking advantage of it
AND I’m preparing for
the time
when that lucky break ends.

If you receive a lucky break,
realize that is what it is
and ensure you make the most of it.
Don’t assume it will last forever.

A Small Business Owner’s Risk Is Not Everyone’s Risk

I was chatting with
an online buddy
and she told me
she insists every customer
entering her store
wears a mask
because she can’t afford to get sick.

She is a small business owner.
If she’s ill,
her income drops to next to nothing.
She doesn’t have paid sick leave.
She doesn’t have insurance
to cover her illness.
She is on her own.

The calculation of risk
for us,
for business builders,
is significantly different
than the calculation of risk
for other people.

We can’t afford to do
things other people do,
like run around unmasked,
not have an alternative power supply,
etc.

Factor that
into your decision making.

Plan For Heat

In my corner of the world,
Cadbury doesn’t sell chocolate
via Amazon
during the summer months.

They can’t assure
the chocolate won’t melt
in the increasing heat.

A buddy runs
a small clothing business
in Arizona.

She closes her physical store
during the height
of the summer
and focuses on online business.

Her physical store
has air conditioning
when the grid is functional
but people arrive
quite sweaty.
And trying on clothing
during heat waves
often renders any not-purchased clothing
unsellable to other customers.

Climate change is happening.
The heat will continue
in the future.

Plan for it.

Does Your Model Still Work?

Weather prediction models
are based on a stable jet stream.

The jet stream
is no longer stable.

And the weather prediction models
no longer work
for any predictions longer
than a day out.

I suspect
we are all basing decisions
on models
that no longer work
in today’s world.

I know I am.

In the past,
as one example,
if readers downloaded
one of my free books,
11% of them
would read the entire series.

I built my rate of return on promotions model
around that read-through
(sell-through)
number.

But that read-through number
is no longer applicable.
Very few readers
now read the entire series.

When I modified
my rate of return on promotions models
and applied the new
read-through number
(plus some other factors),
none of the promotions
I was considering
made a return.

Do your models
still work?

Go Outside If You Can

If the weather
and air quality allows it,
go outside
for a few minutes.

Find a patch of green.
Look at a plant.
And the sky.
And the ground.

Focus.
Pay attention.
Notice details
like the veins on a leaf
or the shape of the clouds
or the moistness of the soil
under your shoes.

Forget everything else
for a moment.
And absorb your surroundings.

Once you’re relaxed,
go back inside
and get back to work.

You NEED this break.
You don’t think you do
right now
but you need it.

Take it for yourself
and for the business
you’re building.