Are You a Nice Jerk?

January 27, 2025

Good morning! Did we make it through last week?  Let me check…Have you been enjoying the spectacular waning crescent moon as it makes its way across the pre-dawn southern sky? Quick question:  Is it ever possible to observe a waning crescent moon in the evening twilight sky?  (Northern Hemisphere, that is.) All that glitters is not gold… even that Olympic medal you earned… it, too, is fleeting, and corroding. And, speaking of fleeting, nearly HALF of the people surveyed said they would choose a football Super Bowl win over finding true love.  (Wetten, 2025)

• I will not vouch for those data, just reporting them, but can you imagine?!  (I do a little bit understand 54% of Vikings fans choosing the not-love option, but that’s a lonnng time to go without love!)
• We are an anticipatory society, perhaps more so now than ever.
  • By this time next week The Feast of Ground Hogs will have already come and gone.
  • And thus, we are duty-bound to report it being on the horizon, just six days hence.
  • It’s an important day because it signals our survival of the 84 darkest days of the year — and the beginning of daily discerning the measurable return of light.
• Power, power, power everywhere you turn.
  • It’s an exponential explosion of desire for electricity; however will we meet the need?!
• I know absolutely nothing about downhill skiing — except that it involves gravity.
  • Apparently the tiny little village of Vail quite some time ago became a multinational corporation with dozens of properties throughout the world.
  • And, it is reportedly not pleased with a bottom line return just north of 10%.
• We’re going to Mars!  (Reuters, 2025)
  • Between now and the year 2035 the global space economy is expected to grow at an average rate of 9% per year.  (Vail, take note; two different data types, yes, but…)
  • I remember the year 1969 quite well — and we landed on the moon, but… whatever did we get from that besides Tang?
• We are slow learners — when it comes to some things.
  • Consider 500 generations or more since the last great ice age, and still we are slow to learn.
  • Especially things like common sense, the things your mother or your grandmother taught you, or should have.
  • We have a new granddaughter getting born soon.
  • I realize these new parents will need to learn everything for themselves, all over again, notwithstanding the advice from generations before them.
  • But, on the other hand, look at medicine (if we don’t go backwards from here!), technology, transportation, and communication, to name a few.
  • Wait, I take communication back… we do more of it faster, but I’m not sure any of it is better or more accurate.
• I don’t have any data on this, but it’s a curiosity.
  • The only commercial enterprise in our neck of the woods exploding more quickly than outdoor garage storage acreage is fancy, high-tech car washes.
  • If you haven’t noticed you’ve been focused too much on driving and not enough on rubber-necking.
  • Check it out.  Our guess is neither of these enterprise categories is sustainable at the current growth rate — unless we continue to accumulate more and more stuff and dirtier cars.
• Here’s a marketing analogy:
  • Do all of your customers/ clients listen to exactly the same music?
  • Probably not — with a little bit of research you could even know for sure.
  • Why then would you think they all will be receptive to the same marketing message, medium, or messenger?
• And, speaking of marketing, do you think of it as something you purchase, OR
  • do you think of some of these more important things:
    • How your product or service makes customers/ clients FEEL?
    • The EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE that comes along with your product or service?
    • Your REPUTATION?
    • The PROMISES you make?
    • Your story, your WHY?
    • Your CULTURE and how it underpins all that you do?
• Agree or disagree?
  • A team goal is good, but a shared purpose is better.
  • Explain.
• “Better health for women throughout their lives could create at least $1 trillion in incremental annual economic growth by 2040.”
  • “Women worldwide live as much as 25% more of their lives in poor health than men do…”  (World Economic Forum, Petersen, Etc., et al., 2025)
  • Public, private, and social-sector stakeholders can drive change in a world in which the women’s health gap is impeding productivity…
  • …and holding women back from leading full(er) and health(ier) lives.
  • Global health and social systems were not designed around the health of women.
  • Women around the world are diagnosed with and often die from conditions that are preventable and treatable.
  • Women regularly experience a disability burden from selected conditions affecting lives, families, communities, work places, and economics.
  • Women face barriers to accessing health care, are often seen by providers who have limited understanding of women’s unique health care needs, 
  • and face greater risk of premature death and avoidable disability.  (Ibid.)
• Are you being a nice jerk?
  • Chronic lateness — constant interruptions — continuous multitasking…
  • Repeated disrespect can destroy relationships and hurt culture.  (For more:  M.I.T., Detert, 2025)