The Purpose of Life

March 24, 2025

Good morning! Hear those Robins? Welcome to this world, precious new little granddaughter! I miss the tactile experience of clipping the Madnesses bracket from the newspaper. This has been perfect tree sap weather with cold nights and warm(er) days… lots of capacity and production — and rewards. Do you like the odds of making 63 correct decisions in a row, somewhat logic-based, but not entirely? I haven’t tested these data, but the experts tell us the odds in a vacuum are ~1: 9,200,000,000,000,000,000  (that’s quintillion) Bob Kierlin died; he was an acquaintance from my old stomping grounds, the founder and leader of Fastenal, a Winona, MN-based company — old school style and substance.  (FAST $74.73) And, part of the inspiration for the name of my company, Without A Vision Consultancy, LLC.

• Food waste.
  • It’s probably mostly my own fault, but we buy too much, get distracted, eat out when we had planned to eat in, and change menus at the last minute.
  • In the meantime the lettuce wilts, the strawberries rot, the yogurt grows a new skin, and the multigrain bread molds.
  • The healthier you TRY to eat; e.g., fresh produce, the more likely it is there will be waste.
  • And, if you stock up, some of your larder — sometimes all of it — will spoil… and then you optimistically start over again.
• Remember back to Grade #3 when we were taught about the human tongue’s function in tasting sweet, sour, bitter, and salt?
  • I’m from a small country school, but I don’t recall being taught about Umami.
  • How about you?
• If 99.9% of germs are killed when you use a certain product, are you concerned about the 0.1% not killed?
  • And, if so, why?  And, if not, why not?
  • So, one in every thousand germs is NOT killed as a result of using this product.
  • What if this is the super germ?
  • Do you feel lucky?
• “Surely it is much more generous to forgive and remember than to forgive and forget.”  (Edgeworth)
• “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a new and richer experience.”  (E. Roosevelt)
• If you enjoy homework, and who doesn’t, here is a compare and contrast dissertation (or brief) on the subject of late 19th century entrepreneurial mega-leaders vs.
  • Mega-Billionaire  entrepreneurs of the 2020s here in the United States of Amerigo.
    • If you don’t like any of these pairings, choose your own:
    • Gould     vs.     Oprah
    • Rockefeller     vs.     Gates
    • Carnegie     vs.     Zuckerberg
    • Hill     vs.     Beyonce (or Swift)
    • Astor     vs.     Bezos
    • Morgan     vs.     Walton
    • Edison     vs.     Jobs
    • Ford (early 20th, sorry)   vs.  Musk
    • Vanderbilt     vs.     Turner
    • Mellon     vs.     Buffet
    • Weyerhaeuser     vs.     Koch Bros. (or Julia Koch herself if you prefer)
• (The following synthesis informed significantly by Detert, The Darden School, 2024)
  • Some things you’re NOT going to hear at work:
    • “I’m not motivated to work harder or innovate when you and your bosses get most of the credit and all the bonus money.”
    • “Employee engagement is low because key leaders aren’t trusted or respected and nothing serious gets done about that.”
    • “I can’t make good decisions unless you and your bosses are more transparent with financial or strategic details.”
    • “I think we’re growing enough and making enough money right now.”
  • “…democracy in industry is not an idealistic conception but a hard necessity.”
  • “Democracy is a system of values and beliefs governing behavior, including full and free communication, regardless of rank and power.”  (Bennis)
  • Leaders still struggle to make organizations more democratic in the sense of truly full and free communication regardless of rank and power.
  • Most of what gets said in the workplace doesn’t challenge the deep rules, the status quo core culture…
  • and that is because deep rules (core culture) suffocate ideas before they get voiced.
  • Once you have deep rules preventing most conversations about an organization’s purpose, power structure, pay and perks, and leadership mistakes, employees know that these kinds of comments lie outside acceptable bounds.
  • They self-censor and keep their mouths shut.
  • In fact, neither employees nor managers tend to think about this form of power operating until a breach happens.
  • Then, sadly, management’s instinct often is to snuff it out rather than explore or accept the need for deep change.  (Bennis & Slater more than 60 years ago.)
  • People with more power must take the lead on change.
  • Expecting people below you to stick their necks further out isn’t just unfair, it’s unrealistic.
  • People might not like the deep rules they experience, but most don’t feel anywhere near safe or emboldened enough to start challenging them.
  • To drive substantive change, try:
    • Discussing the Undiscussables — also called public secrets; i.e., everyone knows anyway, so don’t kid yourself
    • Fix the follies — the mismatch… saying what you do and doing what you say; i..e., authenticity
    • Veil Fails — Is it the truth?  Is it fair to all concerned?  Will it build goodwill and better friendships?  (Rotary International)