June 8, 2026

Good morning! The Indiana Bears!  What else will change?! My Mom died 34 years ago today… and our youngest daughter was born 30 years ago today. And, our new-as-of-last-year Colorado Black Spruce is sprouting a new foot of velvety green growth in all directions. Good thing we’ve kept it watered. I haven’t tracked the data, but don’t we have some sort of annual celebration for Prince almost weekly here in Minnesota?!

Olé, Olé, Olé

Do you think the United States is a worthy host for whatever number of soccer games are on the horizon this summer?

How will we perform in the eyes of the world?

We apparently have learned how to double and triple our hotel prices… and to 10x our subway prices.

Olé

• According to Entertainment magazine, the BEST Bond 007 movies of the 25 are… wait for it…
  • #1 of all time:  Goldfinger
  • #2 of all time:  From Russia with Love
  • #3 of all time:  On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
    • Makes you wanna binge, right?
    • Worst of all time?  You guessed it:  Moonraker
    • BTW, another source ranks Casino Royale as the best of all time, so you could probably safely add it as a 4th to binge.
• Would you like a dozen apples with your economy-size package of socks?
  • The amazonians, in concert with a company it wholly owns, Whole Foods (no pun intended), is taking a worn page from McDonald’s by asking, “You want fries with that?!”
  • BusinessWeek is reporting the Whole Foods CEO thinks it will be habit forming if apples suddenly appear at your doorstep packaged with books, underwear, widgets, and socks.
  • Not only apples, of course, but all manner of foods… get it?  Whole Foods… by way of the amazonians — which just passed WalMart as #1.
• Here’s one for you — sorta reminds me of baseball :
  • The best of the best leaders achieve, at best, 30% of their strategic imperatives.  (McKinsey)
    • Reminds me of a time several years ago when I was the top leader at an organization.
    • My team and I — with the support of the Board — identified nine strategic imperatives to move us forward (wayyyy too many in hindsight, but).
    • We constructed a magnificent graphic, a chart, depicting data-driven progress on each imperative by moving an arrow from farther away to closer to the center, signifying progress and success.
    • As you might imagine, some of the arrows moved faster than others, one or two might have sometimes moved in the wrong direction.
  • Overall we did make good progress and the graphic was a helpful reminder of the relative status of each imperative, but…
  • … one day someone said to me, “You see those arrows as progress, but your staff sees each of them as weapons pointed straight at them; i.e., disruption of the status quo!”
    • Gulp!
    • Never saw that one coming!  We stopped using the chart, at least beyond the leadership team.
    • (Editor’s note:  We did end up batting better than .300 on those ten imperatives.)
• Can’t find a job — or at least not the dream job?
  • It might be time to open a small business on Main Street, and…
  • … and, it might be time to purchase that small business from a two or three-generation owner.
  • Many might think running a hardware store on Main Street (or, Maple if you prefer) to be boring, but…
    • … but, more and more it is becoming something to seriously consider.
  • Just as the intergenerational transfer of wealth ($110 trillion, reportedly) is happening, there are as many as 6 million small businesses poised for transition.
    • Among the options:  Going out of business, never to be again, never to employ again, never to SERVE people again, never to add to the economy…
    • Small businesses throughout the United States employ ~ 60,000,000 workers.  (U.S. Dep’t. of Labour)
    • Skip the start-up grind, inherit existing customers and cash flow, find financial freedom hidden in plain sight… and…
    • … and, most importantly, fall in love with the benefits and the freedoms of being your own boss.
  • (Editor’s note:  Actually had a client pursue this exact path — admittedly long before I thought of it as a path.)
• A mentor once told me:  “Organizations make decisions, that’s what they do, not always good decisions, but decisions.”
  • And, there are consequences — intended and unintended — associated with all decisions.
  • NOT deciding is also deciding.
• When the next hurricane, tornado, flood, or hailstorm hits, you will have been smart to have been insured by Travelers.
  • From among ten large insurance firms, Travelers came closest to paying almost all of the claims made by homeowners.
  • According to data from The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 44% of homeowner insurance claims were denied last year — up from about 36% a decade ago.
  • The so-called Big Five home insurance firms have similar records of insurance claim denials.
  • When disaster strikes — and it will — you might be paying more out of your own pocket… in addition to paying higher premiums.  (Ibid.)
• “When everything is a priority, nothing is.  The leader’s job is to make the hard call about what actually matters right now.”  (Eades)
• “Artificial intelligence is here to add, not to take over.”  (Peron)