Posts Tagged ‘productivity’

Greentheo's plan for economic recovery

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

It all seems so overwhelming.  The economy is a sinking ship.  Everyone is losing their job so it seems.  We're all going to be poor!  And to top it off, Democrats and Republicans can only agree that Billions (800 of them) must be spent in order to save us.

We all know that borrowing more money (to solve a problem caused by borrowing too much money) wont work and neither will printing money.  Long term both solutions require higher taxes on our children and increased devaluation of our savings.  That is, if we are lucky enough to have savings!

But we're not helpless!  That's right!  You the average citizen can help save the country even while Senators and Presidents are busy trying to ruin us as quickly as possible.

  1. Refuse to let the news affect your well being.  Keep up your productivity, creativity and hard work.  Keep investing, saving for the future, learning and above all spending time doing things you love with people you love.  If you become part of a negative statistic, work hard to turn it into a positive one!
  2. Pay off your debts and refuse to live a high risk[1] lifestyle by purchasing from a surplus and not a deficit.  Being debt free not only gives you a 10-20% discount on everything you buy (no debt = no interest payment), but also lowers your interest rate on things you might consider going into debt for in the long term, like a house.
  3. When you buy, buy local.  Money spent in the local economy has a much higher chance of coming back to you.
  4. Repair, don't upgrade.  If you want to stimulate the economy, the best way to do so is through wages.  When a product, like repairs,  consists mostly of repairs it enters the economy (especially the local economy) much more quickly.   Repairs are not only labor intensive, but also save money for you in the long term.
  5. Donate to charities.  Giving frees you up from the focus on getting more.  If you aren't focused on more, you may start to be focused on actual productive activities.  And besides, charities are a great way to release money into the economy... they have no problem spending it on the services that stimulate an economy the most.
  6. Give your time to folks with special needs, mental health issues or just plain disabled people.  Mental health issues not only impact 1 person's life but 100's of other's who help care for them.  Special needs are a fact of the world.  Helping them out is to give them the ability to reallocate their resources elsewhere.
  7. Rake an old person's lawn, or help them fix their house.  It's extremely expensive to live in a retirement center and most older people can't afford it.  What if instead of giving all their money to a retirement home an older person could spend it elsewhere in the economy?
  8. Help prevent substance abuse.  Have a young friend who is soon to be hooked on drugs?  Hundreds of people are negatively impacted financially and emotionally by 1 substance abuser.  Not to mention that it's hard to be productive when you're wasted.  Do your part and help others to say no.
  9. Repair your marriage.  Divorce and relational hardship are a huge drag on an economy.  Not only does it cost money in legal fees, but it costs productivity, creativity, energy and emotional pain for years in both you, your ex-spouse and your children.
  10. Participate in friendships.  From carpooling, and networking to splitting vacation costs, free entertainment and above all... joy ... friendships are a must for economic stimulation.

Above all, keep in mind that economics is not about the exchange and getting of money, it's the exchange and getting of things that we desire and need.  Not all things can be purchased!  So let's get out there and stimulate our economy in whatever way we can!

  1. debt is extremely risky because of the default effect.  When just a few payments are missed the interest rates default to the maximum allowable rate drastically increasing the risk of bankruptcy [↩]

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Widgets for humans

Monday, January 26th, 2009

Ubuntu Linux is perhaps the most popular version of the Linux Operating system.  It's free of charge, runs fast and mostly without a hitch.  It's secure, comes with a friendly support staff (which is 99% volunteer, and quite helpful) and has an amazing variety of programs  available for download straight from a main menu ... also free of charge.

Perhaps it is Ubuntu Linux's motto which is the best reflection of it's quality:  Ubuntu, Linux for Humans.

The motto says 2 very powerful things:

1.) Silently, it says that all other versions of Linux aren't for humans, they're for programmers and geeks (who are either ultra-humans or sub-humans depending on your perspective).  Also by making the operating system free and open-source, Ubuntu is silently saying that other operating systems are either for utter domination like Microsoft or for the elite and snobby like Apple.  Therefore the motto summarizes that humans are those who want a cheap, well supported, superior (but not snotty), customizeable, and, above all, usable operating system for their computer.

2.) The motto also says that Ubuntu's primary reason for existance is to be used by actual people (i.e. Homo Sapiens) at whatever task they are performing.  This means that it is not meant for business alone, graphic artists alone, engineers alone, scientists alone, machines alone, servers alone, or anything in singular mode.  Rather it a universal human tool.  Human's are complex, at least 50% irrational, and variegated creatures... therefore a product designed for humans has to be ultra-flexible and powerful.  Ubuntu claims to be that in the motto.

Even the word human as opposed to people, person, man, woman, worker, business, internet or etc. seems to be chosen to connote the organic, earthy and complex qualities of humankind.

This short but powerful statement forces one to ask of their own products, widgets and businesses ... is it designed for humans?  Humans buy products, humans innovate and humans run the economy.  Machines don't invent themselves and businesses don't run themselves.  Business men are still men.  Even doctors, lawyers and academics are people too (well maybe not lawyers).

People are the foundation of humanity (how often do we forget that?).

So we must ask often... is my widget, product or business designed for humans?

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Posted in Entrepreneurship, Green, Miscellaneous | No Comments »

The Power of Downgrading

Friday, January 16th, 2009

In our jaded modern world it seems that there is one more thing we can be sure of (besides death and taxes), and that's lack of free time.

But lack of free time is really just another way of saying busyness.  Busyness implies inefficient and imprecise meeting of needs and wants.

In the line of Zen philosophy I propose a  solution to our problems: constrain our busyness by downgrading certain things in our lives to force more creative and intelligent solutions to our every day desires.

For instance:

  • Frustrated by attending meetings where most participants are participants in name only?  Downgrade notebook computers to paper notebooks and pen to make the most interesting part of the meeting the actual topic at hand and not email (or sports scores, or Facebook or etc.)
  • Channel surfing not providing adequate entertainment? Sell the Plasma, and downgrade to two lively dogs and library cards.   (Note: pets are super-high technology... they never need upgrading)
  • Sick of checking email every 10 minutes only to find that nothing new has come in?  Downgrade to checking email only as often as the real mail comes in.
  • Still feel lonely after using Facebook or MySpace?  Downgrade to real face-to-face interactions at the original Facebooks (coffee shops, pubs, churches etc.) which are remarkably efficient at providing real time communication...and with no carpal tunnel!
  • Working like crazy but still no promotions?  Downgrade to working less hours and emphasizing productivity and developing truly good ideas.  Genius takes time!
  • Trying to lose weight unsuccessfully?  Try downgrading from a car to a bicycle.  For most inter-city trips of less than 1-2 miles the time for bicycle travel and car travel are quite similar.
  • Tired of running around with 3 or 4 women?  Try downgrading to Monogamy.
  • Tired of partying and having a million acquaintances but no real friends?  Try downgrading to a 'best-friend' and several 'close' friends.
  • Got road rage?  Downgrade to the bus or light rail.
  • Working 50 hours a week to pay the mortgage on the giant house you're not ever there to enjoy?  Downgrade to a more efficient and smaller house.
  • Children not well behaved?  Downgrade to a less time consuming job and spend more time with them.
  • Wife/Husband unhappy that you have no time to romance her/him?  Downgrade to a less independent lifestyle and one in which you must function as a unit for mutual success.  Also see above.
  • Bored of work?  Downgrade to volunteering.
  • Video Games not cutting it anymore?  Downgrade to regular games... like basketball.
  • Can't get enough?  Downgrade to giving.

Mathematically there are two ways to solve a problem, the brute force guess-and-check way, and the more elegant determinate solution. Life is something of a math problem and there is one thing we can be certain of... Death, the ultimate constraint.  Don't waste time guessing and checking and being busy, spend your time wisely by really living and seeking the things that everyone needs -  love.

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Posted in Green, Philosophy, Utopian Politic | 1 Comment »

An Entrepreneurs view of hiring employees to work from home

Friday, January 9th, 2009

I was meeting with an experienced and successful entrepreneur and my business partner today.  The entrepreneur said some intereing things:

"All of my employees are permitted to work a maximum of 3 days a week at the office... and nobody gets their own office. "

When asked why he responded:

"If you can't trust someone to work at home you really can't trust them to work at the office either.  So you shouldn't hire them in the first place.  And if they do work from home they usually work uninterrupted and productively."

He also went on to say that the lack of offices with doors at his company was due to:

"If you have an office someone can come in and turn a 3 minute conversation into 30 minutes of wasted time.  If you work out in the open then someone stopping by to chat has to talk in front of everyone which puts a lot of pressure on them to talk about something with real substance."

Finally, he said that he had no secretaries because:

"The whole point of a secretary is to schedule meetings for you, you can't work if you're at meetings all day so I don't have a secretary."

Now this is a guy I could work with!  I'm all for empowering the employee... it's amazing the capabilities that each individual has in terms of creativity and productivity.  I strongly believe that it is the system that hinders the employee from fully unlocking the potential of the human person as a thinking, creating and analyzing machine (for instance Toyota is destroying GM because the employees are empowered with a kill switch for the whole production line.  If they find something wrong with even one part they are encouraged to stop production so it can be fixed.  As you can imagine the error rates have dropped significantly.  GM has had no such system.) Any corporate or work structure/system needs to be designed to work for humans, not vice versa.  The system should be a tool for the human, not see the human as a tool for the system.

Oh and he also bans sticky notes because:

"Sticky notes cost 3 times what paper does and besides you can just send an email or write it down in the computer for free."

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Posted in Green | 2 Comments »

Working from Home

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Having worked at home for the last 8 months or so I thought I'd give my top 10 reasons to work at home.

  • The daily commute is about as good as it gets.  From my bed to the kitchen (for coffee) to the office my total commute is about 50 steps.
  •  Really great coworkers.  My two dogs Tommy and Nelly are always there for moral support. Few coworkers will ever be as cheerful and carefree as two young black labs.
  •  I can wear fuzzy slippers and no one will give me a speech (or dirty look) about unprofessionalism.  For the record I have regular and not fuzzy slippers.
  •  Productivity.  It really has increased.  Without having to check on hundreds of emails, or attend hours of phone or in person meetings my productivity has drastically increased. It's possible to increase productivity at the office by taking control of your schedule and placing limits on email checking ... but it wont be easy...
  • The view.  I used to work in a semi-dungeon.  It would have been decades before I got a window.  Now I get plenty of sunshine throughout the day, and a tax break that goes along with the fact that it's in my spare bedroom.
  • No politicking.  Being judged strictly on results is rare and refreshing.  Tommy and Nelly only know how to politic to see who gets to be pet first ... also a plus.
  • Lunch with my wife.  I get to eat lunch with her just about everyday now for about 30 minutes.  I also don't have to go out for lunch or pack a lunch anymore.  It's surprising how much time/productivity/cost this saves/increases/decreases.
  • Ability to multitask with thinking and small chores at the same time.   A surprising amount of key insights in my work lately have been achieved while doing the dishes, plucking weeds or going to Vitamin Cottage.
  • Living locally, Living Green.  I can now walk almost everywhere that I need to go on a daily basis.  Freedom is not just the ability to "roam about the country", but also the ability to stay exactly where you are.
  • Freedom.  As long as the bills are paid (i.e. the obligations of the contracts you work on) you really are free to work on the jobs you want to work on, the way you want to work on them, with the schedule that you desire (as long as it doesn't negate the contract).  You are also free to choose your own insurance, your own vacation time (subject to paying your bills of course), your own equipment and most of your coworkers.  What's better than working at home?  Working in that foreign country you've always wanted to live in but never had the cash or courage to do so.  What's better than quitting your job?  Quitting a small portion of your job and finding another contract to replace it without suffering a monumental shortfall in income (make sure you have an escape clause in your contract!).

As an addendum to my list I would also like to point out that the number 1 reason most people do not work from home, or for themselves (as a contractor, consultant or entrepreneur) is fear: fear of failure and fear of the risk of unemployment or varied employment.

However, in the last 8 months since leaving Google two conclusions have been solidified for me:

  1. Mathematically you are far less likely to suffer a catastrophic loss with a diversified portfolio of income.  For example, working 4 contracts is far less likely to result in the loss of all 4 contracts at one time than working 1 full time job is to result in being laid off.  Self-employed diversified income is usually more variable, but long term it is far more dependable.
  2. In the United States all employment is 'at will', mostly meaning at the will of the employer.  You may leave your job any time you wish, but more importantly your employer may ask you to leave at any time.  When it suits the company they will have absolutely no loyalty to you no matter what you've done or how much time you've put in.

Here's to freedom for the working class!

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Why Money Must Die

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Part of the Green movement's underlying philosophy is that cultural and societal structures need to be constructed such that they are sustainable.  One of the key components of sustainability is the ability for all parts of the whole to pass through a cycle of life and death.  One is born, grows, reaches maximum productivity and usefulness and then eventually dies, decomposes and is returned back into the system for future use.

This is the way of nature.  When something dies it is decomposed and with it's nutrients broken down and released back into the roots of the living it will be synthesized into something more useful, complex and beautiful.

Just imagine a world in which fungus, and bacteria didn't break down the dead and waste of the living...

There is one component of our society (of many) that not only does not die, it grows without bound: money.  It is perhaps the greatest barrier to a sustainable and otherwise green economy.

A proper, sustainable view of money needs to be embraced in the Green Movement as it will provide the economic base for the movement's ultimate goals.

Money is not the paper that we hold in our wallets, nor is it the gold that backs it in the treasury.  Money is the common faith medium of exchange.  And as a medium of exchange it needs to flow around like blood in the body.  It should be born when a product is created and sold to a customer and then put to death when the producer turns consumer and spends his wage.  When money is spent it comes back to life.  It is this cycle, the death and rebirth of money from consumer to producer, producer cum consumer to the next producer etc. that keeps a society flowing and functioning.  It is the opposite, when money is stuck in the bank, or the sock drawer that a society becomes depressed and ill-functioning.

So what happens when the money fails to die?  If money sits in the bank collecting interest it can only be growing and growing, like a virus or a cancer.  Soon it becomes so large that the owner couldn't even spend it all in a lifetime if he tried.  And like garbage in a landfill it serves no purpose... unable to die and return to life through the roots of the living consumers and producers.  The living consumers and producers starve while the money is locked away in some remote reserve...full of life... but locked and hidden away.

There are several means to accomplish the death of money, the easiest one is to schedule it's devaluation in order to make it unattractive as a means of hoarding wealth.  When we eliminate the immortality of money, then we eliminate it's future purchasing power, creating a level playing field for all.  If the playing field were level I believe that the best, most efficient and productive technologies would be the most sought after and thus the world would necessarily become Greener and more sustainable.

If we want a sustainable world, one where our children don't have to face the imminent dangers of a toxic ecology, or food shortages or natural disaster then we have to try to make every part of our world sustainable, including the money system.

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Posted in Green | 4 Comments »

By the numbers

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

Being a mathematician/statistician, and a quasi-socialist and utopian dreamer here are some enlightening numbers.

Some Stats:

Estimated cost of Iraq and Afghanistan wars up to 2008: $691 Billion [1]

TSA Budget 2008: $6.3 Billion[2]

US National Defense Budget 2008: $481 Billion[3]

Cost of maintaining the US National Debt per year:  $420 Billion[4]

Cost of maintaining the US National Debt since 2000: $2.8 Trillion

Cost of Nationalizing US banking System in 2008: about $1-2 Trillion

Feeding 3 organic and healthy meals per day to each of the US's 300 million citizens for 1 year: $90 Billion[5]

Providing $5,000 worth of health care to every US citizen per year[6]: $1.5 Trillion

Terrorism Related Fatalities in the US 1968-2006 - 3,227[7]

Heart Disease and Cancer related mortality in the US in 2005: 652,091(heart) + 559,312(cancer)= 1,211,403[8]

My Conclusion:

Terror and fear are irrational, you will either be killed by terrorism with a nearly 0% chance or not, fear does not decrease the chance either.

So why should we give up our liberties and our resources for protection from an almost non-existent threat when we could give up an even smaller portion of our resources (and no liberties) for a threat that is very real and very preventable... poor nutrition and inadequate health care?

  1. http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2365065420080124 [↩]
  2. www.whitehouse.gov [↩]
  3. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/defense.html [↩]
  4. http://bp3.blogger.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/R4RTa3tCUAI/AAAAAAAABzw/ef5q9xtOO0Y/s1600-h/interest-expense-historical-data.png [↩]
  5. based on my estimate of $300/month per person [↩]
  6. if you didn't use it, it could go to someone else, if there was a surplus spend it on something else [↩]
  7. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ter_ter_act_196_fat-terrorist-acts-1968-2006-fatalities [↩]
  8. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/FASTATS/lcod.htm [↩]

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