By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Dec 18, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
One more reason to avoid the “Open Box” Sale Table.
Like all American consumers, I like a bargain. The sense that I, with some savvy, cleverness and sound judgement, paid less and got more than others. It’s a sort of game we play with ourselves. Best Buy is well know for these tables but they aren’t alone. Just the seeming leader in tech retail gimmicks, from “sales” to “open box” to “rebates” to “packeges” to “trading up” and “trading in” and so on.
So, when I walked into Best Buy this afternoon I gravitated to the “Open Box” Sale table announcing 20% additional off the open box prices. Pretty darned good deal, if you can find something you really need and want. So I dug through about 20 laptops….and narrowed it to two.
I researched both on my phone. Talked to a sales clerk. Browsed some more.Researched a little more. Talked to a second sales clerk and was back at the table, finally, to make my decision between the two finalist laptops.
Until a I had that feeling in my gut like I just realized I left home fully dressed but forgot to put my pants on.
Although that’s never happened to me. I have had to check a few times, being a little absent minded and easily distracted.
What happened?
One of the two laptops I was about to purchase was a laptop I traded in 4 weeks ago (for about $417) because I missed the 14 day return policy cut off by a couple days and had to “trade in” rather than “return” And the awesome price I was about to pay thinking I was outsmarting my fellow shoppers? $695.
After 30 minutes of sharp bargain hunting, I was on the brink of purchasing a computer today for $300 more than I sold the exact same computer for last month.
So does this mean I bought the other laptop from the Open Box table?
No. I decided given my shopping acumen so far today, I shouldn’t buy anything more expensive than a soft drink. At least while shopping alone. I found a PowerAde drink for $1.50 and don’t remember reselling it to Best Buy last month. And then I slinked out the door to bargain hunt in a less sophisticated environment.
During my six years as an accidental bureaucrat, after spending twenty-five years in the private sector, my friends often wondered how I could do it. They routinely asked versions of the question: doesn’t government move too slowly for you? My standard reply was that, yes, the public sector moves slowly – but then, big companies don’t move so quickly either. And come to think of it, I teased my friends in higher education, colleges and universities move more slowly than either business or government! The point is, all institutions move slowly.
What surprised me wasn’t how slowly the different institutions moved, but the different language, behavior, secret handshakes, and views of each other I found across sectors. Xenophobia runs rampant within public, private, non-profit, and for-profit silos. Each silo has created its own world completely foreign to inhabitants from other sectors. Visiting emissaries are always viewed with skepticism. (”I’m from the government and I’m here to help …”)
One epiphany from my immersion into the non-private sector is how strenuously social sector organizations resist the notion they have a “business model”. Non-profits, government agencies, social enterprises, schools, and NGOs consistently proclaim that they aren’t businesses, and therefore business rules don’t apply.
Well, I’m sorry to break the news, but if an organization has a viable way to create, deliver, and capture value, it has a business model. It doesn’t matter whether an organization is in the public or private sector. It doesn’t matter if it’s a non-profit or a for-profit enterprise. Allorganizations have a business model. Non-profit corporations may not be providing a financial return to investors or owners, but they still capture value to finance activities with contributions, grants, and service revenue. Social enterprises may be mission-driven, focused on delivering social impact versus a financial return on investment, but they still need a sustainable model to scale. Government agencies are financed by taxes, fees, and service revenue, but are still accountable to deliver citizen value at scale.
The idea that business models are just for business is just wrong. Any organization that wants to be relevant, to deliver value at scale, and to sustain itself must clearly articulate and evolve its business model. And if an organization doesn’t have a sustainable business model, its days are numbered.
Read the rest of… Saul Kaplan: Business Models Aren’t Just For Business
By Michael Steele, on Thu Dec 13, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
This morning on a teleconference moderated by LEVICK’s Michael W. Robinson, former White House special counsel Lanny Davis, and former chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele nominated “Simpson-Bowles” to be TIME Magazine’s Person of The Year.
Michael stated, “It reflects the bipartisanship the American people are looking for, and would hope will emerge in Washington. At least two individuals put information in front of the American people that challenges the status quo. I highly support that and have been an advocate of the value that Simpson-Bowles brings to the debate.”
Lanny added, “It is absolutely immoral to use credit cards to have our children pay for our debt. The one combination that won 60% in a bipartisan commission is Simpson-Bowles. This is a purple bipartisan moment. No political party has stepped up to the line. As TIME’S “Person of the Year,” this would be the moment to ask President Obama and Speaker Boehner to endorse this.”
Purple Nation Solutions is a D.C.-based strategic communications and public affairs firm founded by former White House special counsel and legal crisis management expert Lanny J. Davis and former RNC chairman, Lt. Gov. of Maryland Michael Steele. Situated in the heart of downtown Washington D.C., in proximity to Capitol Hill, the White House and federal regulatory agencies, we are a bipartisan, global, one-stop shop where law, media, and politics intersect.
LEVICK is the leading strategic communications firm that establishes and protects trust. LEVICK deploys uniquely qualified teams – armed with the instincts, influence, and experience needed to win your battles in an increasingly complex and challenging world.
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Dec 12, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET
As we fast approach the fiscal cliff, The RP has dedicated his latest column in The Huffington Post to rallying Americans behind No Labels’ demands for leadership by our elected officials.
Here’s an excerpt:
The last couple of weeks have been littered with false starts and steps backward in fiscal cliff negotiations. America needs its leaders to find a solution now more than ever, but real leaders have not yet emerged from the Capitol or the White House.
The American people are tired of short-term solutions that fail to solve any actual problems. We need real leadership in this country that can find a way to get things done.
Right now our leaders are unable to bridge the partisan divide that keeps government from solving problems. That’s why No Labels, a movement of more than 600,000 Democrats, Republicans, and independents who want to end congressional gridlock, calls for five principles of leadership to be present in the fiscal cliff negotiations. These principles are:
1. Tell the people the full truth. In order for Americans to make informed decisions, we need to know the details — all of them. If our lawmakers don’t tell us the enormity of the problems we face, how can we begin to solve them? When telling us the truth, lawmakers have to agree on the facts. There can’t be two different sets of numbers in the search for solutions. It was Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan who said that while every man is entitled to his own opinions, he is not entitled to his own facts.
2. Govern for the future. If we can’t find solutions to our economic issues, we put our potential for growth and opportunity at stake. America’s tradition of upward mobility and ingenuity is threatened by our lingering economic uncertainty. If we want to convince the rest of the world that we are still a leader, we must prove that we can overcome the petty partisan issues and take control of our fate.
No American family embodies mainstream Republicanism more than the Bushes, noted a New York Times article this year.
For three generations, Bush men have occupied towering positions in the party pantheon, and the party’s demographic and ideological shifts can be traced through the branches of the Bush family tree: from Prescott, the blue-blooded Eisenhower Republican, and George H.W. Bush, the transitional figure who tried and failed to emulate the approach of the New Right, to George W. Bush, who embodied the new breed of tax-cutting, evangelical conservatism. Indeed, the Bushes’ metamorphosis from genial centrism to deep-fried conservatism has both anticipated and reflected the party’s trajectory.
But now, Jeb Bush, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, seems to be bucking the trend. He is seeking to return the party to its ideological moorings — toward the centrism of his grandfather. Even before the GOP’s ignominious defeat in November, Jeb was offering tough love to his party, suggesting that Republicans stand up to Grover Norquist and craft a bipartisan compromise to reduce the deficit significantly. But will Republicans listen? There are many reasons to believe they won’t.
Prescott was a Manhattan investment banker who called himself a “moderate progressive.” In the 1952 primary between conservative presidential candidate Sen. Robert Taft and moderate Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Prescott chose Eisenhower — and became the president’s favorite golf partner. Prescott rode Eisenhower’s coattails into the Senate, where he focused on urban renewal, spearheading the 1954 Housing Act. An early proponent of the line-item veto, he received national recognition as an advocate of fiscal responsibility.
Prescott’s son George H.W. left for West Texas in 1948 when Texas was still a one-party state. But change was afoot in the South, and by the time H.W. ran for U.S. Senate in 1964, he encountered a flourishing Texas Republican Party that had recently elected its first U.S. senator by attracting hordes of conservative Democrats. But the new rank-and-file Republicans were nothing like the Connecticut Republicans he knew — or even like those in the Houston suburbs. Biographer Richard Ben Cramer imagined H.W.’s vexation at this new breed of Texas Republican:
“These … these nuts! They were coming out of the woodwork! They talked about blowing up the U.N., about armed revolt against the income tax. …The nuts hated him. They could smell Yale on him.”
Recognizing that his 1964 primary campaign would need to be more Goldwater than Rockefeller, he ignored the social problems Prescott had addressed. “Only unbridled free enterprise can cure unemployment,” H.W. asserted, contending that government bore no responsibility for alleviating poverty. Though he lost, he began the transition to Sunbelt conservatism that would make him (barely) acceptable to Ronald Reagan as a running mate. But he never fully evolved: He famously reneged on his “no new taxes” pledge. His son George W. would complete the transition.
George W.’s first major legislative accomplishment as president was the enactment of a massive $1.6 trillion tax cut. He rode roughshod over the green-eyeshade types to pass a massive tax cut. When it produced runaway deficits, he accepted Dick Cheney’s argument: “Reagan taught us that deficits don’t matter.”
In adopting Sun Belt conservatism — sometimes clumsily — George H.W. and George W. anticipated the Republican Party’s ideological shift. Hence, in evaluating Jeb’s prescriptions for fiscal responsibility, today’s Republicans should recall the Bushes’ past political palm reading.
Read the rest of… Jeff Smith: Can Jeb Bush sway the GOP on taxes, debt?
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Dec 11, 2012 at 5:00 PM ET
The RP just sent out this email to the No Labels troops. We encourage you to join them:
It’s urgent: On Sunday, President Obama and Speaker Boehner met face-to-face for the first time in 23 days. With our leaders not even sitting down with each other regularly, how can they find a solution to the fiscal cliff?
Last week, we told Washington to park the planes, stop the trains — get the job done. The fiscal cliff is too big of a problem to let political point scoring get in the way of problem solving.
Add your name to the thousands calling for our leaders to park the planes, stop the trains and get the job done — Click here to SIGN ON NOW.
Together, we’ll make sure our leaders stop the political games and get to work in Washington.
Earlier this year I wrote one of my first pieces for the Huffington Post entitled “Flyover Country? Not this Kansas City.” The column focused on many of the incredible things happening on Silicon Prairie. Since then Kansas City has continued to impress with its unbelievable momentum in the entrepreneur, startup and innovation space. Kansas City is on a roll. It’s a city on move.
Now as many people might already know Kansas City has the best barbecue in the world. Not only is it the best, but recently one of KC’s outstanding BBQ restaurants, Oklahoma Joe’s, was named The Manliest Restaurant in America by Men’s Health. Try the Z-Man and fries, you won’t be disappointed. KC is the barbecue capital of the world, but now through The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s Big 5 Initiative, KC is building to become “America’s Most Entrepreneurial City.” A lofty goal with serious competition on both coasts, but with Kansas City’s rich history of entrepreneurship and innovation anything is possible.
Recently, many impressive developments are helping to move the ball past the goal line with entrepreneurs in Kansas City. Much of this is due to a renaissance in the spirit of collaboration. Groups such asKCSourceLink, UMKC SBTDC and the Kauffman Foundation are providing unprecedented access, opportunities and resources for entrepreneurs. This can be no more apparent than at Kauffman Labsthrough the 1 Million Cups (1MC) program. Every Wednesday morning local startups present their companies to a diverse room of hundreds of mentors, advisers, investors and entrepreneurs over coffee. In addition, the Kauffman Foundation recently powered Global Entrepreneurship Week in 129 countries, which included a full week of over 40 activities for entrepreneurs of all ages and stages of business in Kansas City.
In Kansas City, local government is also developing innovative public-private sector partnerships and real collaboration with the entrepreneurial community. The Mayor of Kansas City, Mo., Sly James recently announced Launch KC. Launch KC is an initiative designed to attract and develop entrepreneurs and IT professionals in the thriving information technology community around the downtown area of Kansas City, MO. A few key parts of the Launch KC initiative are reducing the costs of launching tech companies in KC, building a downtown wireless district, providing incentives on business equipment to tech startups, connecting entrepreneurs to corporate resources and establishing a major technology lab in Kansas City’s Union Station.
Read the rest of… Jason Grill: Kansas City is Building America’s Most Entrepreneurial City
Yesterday the President warned Congressional Republicans not to mess with him and the country when it comes to raising the debt ceiling.
Oh debt ceiling. If I had to describe you in one word, it would be seducer. That’s right…seducer, you naughty debt ceiling, you. Members of Congress got together and gorged themselves at the table of deficit spending, ordering up Porterhouse sized tax cuts for their rich friends and a heaping helping of extended unemployment benefits for their out of work neighbors.
Krystal Ball
Now the bill comes due and when it’s time to whip out the national credit card, you whisper your sweet nothings into the Tea Party’s ear and the GOP threatens to dine and dash as a matter of “principle.” After all, who wants to put $16 trillion on the national credit card? Who is pro-debt? No one. GOP extremists get to pretend they are the adults in the room, railing about spending that has already happened and that they agreed to. And the best part, you naughty naughty debt ceiling, you offer them the chance to get some more goodies in the form of more tax cuts for their rich benefactors or the righteous thrill of cutting Medicaid assistance from those Obama-loving takers.
For nearly a hundred years now, you were this boring, nondescript wallflower, never drawing attention to yourself. When Congress, through spending and tax cuts, came up against your limits, you were raised without a word…they barely gave you a second glance. Sure it was a waste of time to have to deal with you but waste of time is what Congress does! You’ve been raised 74 times since the 60’s, 18 times under Reagan alone!
You saw wars, peace, a man on the moon, and no matter how you batted your fiscal eyelashes, nobody cared. Invisible. Now, all of the sudden, the Tea Partiers can’t keep their hands off you.
Like a case of fiscal syphilis you now put the entire body in peril. Yes, I know this disease is no fault of your own. Congressional Republicans have decided that consequences be damned: threatening the country with national default by refusing to lift you (after having already voted to cut taxes and spend until you absolutely must be raised) is a useful tool for getting their way. I know you love all the attention, but seriously, debt ceiling, this isn’t a harmless flirtation.
I know you think that no sane person or party would actually cause a national default for the sake of a temper tantrum and the chance for a few extra fiscal goodies, the chance to cop a fiscal feel, if you will. But alas, we have looked into their eyes, and they actually seem crazy enough to do it.
And so dear debt ceiling, it’s time to say goodbye. You can’t seduce our Congress any more with your promises of phony courage and self-righteous hostage taking…the gig’s up, dear, but I do know this great looking bunch in China that we’d love for you to meet.
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Dec 7, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET
We’re truly standing on the precipice of the fiscal cliff. Our leaders have known about this problem since August 2011, and now, with less than a month left, they’re barely even in Washington. They’re flying in Tuesday morning, taking a train out Thursday night, and they only plan on staying in session four more days.
Join us in sending a message to our leaders in Washington: it’s time to park the planes, stop the trains and get the job done. We don’t have much time left — act now!
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Dec 6, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Take me out to the ball game. Take me out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack. I don’t care if I never get back.
The immortal words of the time honored “7th Inning Stretch” –a moment of pause to stretch, relax, refocus and retool for the final two innings of the game.
And it’s for the fans more than the players.
So….I propose the healthful benefits of the few minute long 7th Inning Stretch be extended to Corporate America.
Of course, we’ll need a catchy tune with easy to remember lyrics. But I’ve already thought about that. Every weekday at 3:15 I propose everyone in every business organization, profit and non-profit, be encouraged to stand, stretch, peel away that glaze over their eyes as they get ready to bring the day home. And the anthem should be “Boogie Nights” by Heatwave.
This could work. And insurance companies can even sponsor personal service announcements encouraging participation.
I mean, c’mon, who doesn’t like the song “Boogie Nights,” and knows the words, and feels a little bit more hopeful and energized after hearing?
I researched both on my phone. Talked to a sales clerk. Browsed some more.Researched a little more. Talked to a second sales clerk and was back at the table, finally, to make my decision between the two finalist laptops.
Lanny added, “It is absolutely immoral to use credit cards to have our children pay for our debt. The one combination that won 60% in a bipartisan commission is Simpson-Bowles. This is a purple bipartisan moment. No political party has stepped up to the line. As TIME’S “Person of the Year,” this would be the moment to ask President Obama and Speaker Boehner to endorse this.”
