Monday, October 6, 2008

Responsibility Like all of you, I've been reading a lot about the current economic crisis and how we got there. People love to blame Congress (and I'm not immune to that crutch), but there's plenty of blame. When bubbles start, seems as if everyone wants a piece. And people like me that try to avoid bubble thinking are often thought of as foolish until the burst. In this case there are many reasons why banks took on riskier loans and people took them out. There is ample anecdotal evidence of people buying homes way too big for their incomes. Either they thought that they could get something for nothing (classic bubble thinking) or they were betting on rising home prices to sell their way out. Same with the bankers. They'd make the loan then try to sell it to their banker brothers. I listened to an interview on NPR Saturday and was struck by the inconsistency of the interviewee--one of those banker dudes. His logic went like this--a) Congress loosened the regulations on making risky loans; b) we jumped in and made as many as possible; c) (with a sad voice) now we're facing a lot of regulation because some people went too far. The guy was trying to avoid taking any blame and instead pushing it either to Congress or the public. This is classic avoidance of responsibility for one's actions. I may be liberal in some ways, but the Midwestern in me always says that people should be responsible for their actions and should take responsibility. As I told the defender yesterday in my soccer match, "You're right. I made a bad decision on that play. It won't happen again." In big things and little things--take responsibility for your actions. If you think you're getting something for nothing, you probably aren't. 8:04:01 AM    comment []

Wealth based on rumor Last week a "citizen journalist" posted to a blog that Steve Jobs had a heart attack. It was picked up by some media sources. Apple's stock took a nosedive. Within a short period of time, the truth came out that this was incorrect and the stock corrected. I follow a venture capital blog called Silicon Valley Insider. Used to respect this guy. But here is a long justification of why it decided to run the rumor. The gist is that Wall Street runs on rumor, and all of us should get in on the same rumors that the traders there have so that we can all react and dump stocks solely on rumor. And to think, my retirement is in the hands of people like this. 7:52:02 AM    comment []

What do they think Marketers and journalists love surveys. As a marketer or reader of newspapers and magazines, pay attention to the questions asked. The wording of the questions or the context set often influences the answer. As a marketer, that can lead you to make incorrect decisions about your marketing approach. As a reader, you can get a wrong view of what's happening in the world, or at least skew your attitudes. Guy Kawasaki discusses a little of the pitfalls of surveys in this blog post. 7:40:26 AM    comment []