Ramblings on Government Debt-Are we in need of a paradigm shift?

The governmental budget has always been an important part of public discussion. After the 1970’s and 80’s the amount of publically held debt rose from around 35% of GNP to almost 75% of GNP today. According to a new report by the Congressional Budget Office that debt will exceed 100% of GNP in 25 years. Growing debt and lack of sustainable fixes might be one problem related to not having a paradigm shift on institutions and spending. 

Government has a responsibility to use money wisely in order to enhance the lives of people and encourage the longevity of fundamental American values. When institutions take on an existence of their own and fail to change, they also neglect meeting their fiduciary responsibilities to the American public. Each wasted dollar is a dollar that can’t be used for the greater good of the nation. 

The growing deficit should be a concern for all Americans as our and our children’s livelihoods rest on the ability to ensure government is sustainable and accountable long into the future. Each generation has its own challenge and leaves a legacy for the next generation. Our legacy is one that carries the weight of unsustainable spending for the last 40 years that may very well impact the next 40 years.

Without fundamental changes in the way we think this debt will rear its ugly head in the future bursting pension funds, raising interest rates, collapsing municipalities, high student loans, drowning state budgets and leaving the lives of people shattered.  Public perception of government will change based upon its ability to reign in the monster sleeping under our beds. 

There are fundamental differences in perception of those who receive direct benefit from government spending and those who do not. Organizations that enjoy the financial benefits of large government spending through contracts, grants, wages, and resources have a vested interest in ensuring that government continues to spend and spend big.  Those closest to government have little incentive to change it.

Those outside of government may view spending as excessive and want justifications for government programs. Running a deficit year after year without attempting to change seems antithetical to growth and development. More spending means the next generation will have to pick up the slack where we left off. One has to wonder where the “buck stops here” in this mass dispersion of responsibility. 

The problem isn’t that anyone is trying to waste money but that people do not understand the consequences of improper resource allocation.  Without net positive of government functions the system will continue to amass large amounts of debt making it more difficult to operate, adjust, and be effective in the future. When financial resources are needed to avert disaster they won’t be there without the risk of default. 

To solve budgeting problems requires a fundamental paradigm shift about why these institutions have developed and the need to keep them updated for efficient effectiveness.  Money should not be flowing without some gauge of the institutions performance. When programs don’t work they need either a major overhaul or should be discarded as a drag on society.  Tough choices many politicians are not willing to make because the stakes on their careers from special interests are too high.

Government spending comes with responsibilities that include evaluating that programs are meeting their objectives; ensuring evidence is supporting these programs, and they are updated to reduce the drag on society. When money is used wisely that money can be used to reduce debt or focus on other important aspects of national growth.  Being in an elected position comes with responsibilities to a wider group of stakeholders. That requires thinking beyond the short-term to something more sustainable.  

https://www.cbo.gov/

Including Emotional Intelligence In the Real Estate Profession

Emotional intelligence may be the primary difference between those that are successful and those that are not. High emotional intelligence has been touted as an important predictor of a person's ability to master their environment from an emotional standpoint and continue to work on their goals through effectively engage those around them. The higher the emotional intelligence the capable the person is at understanding themselves and others.

The following presentation offers insight from Dr (s) Swanson, Hamilton and Zobisch into the very real benefits of developing higher emotional intelligence among real estate professionals:

Establishing Best Practices for including Emotional Intelligence in the Real Estate Professionals from AC Swanson Group

Service Logic That Solves Customer Problems

The process of developing a better service logic approach requires more than wishful thinking and running the same process over and over in hopes of doing something new. Organizations that focus on integrating their service concept throughout their operations will be rewarded through greater market relevance and customer support. It is helpful to encourage customers to be co-creators and then developing operations around their needs to ensure focus.

Integrated service frameworks relies on taking customers suggestions based on their problems, using their input to develop a salable solution, and then integrating the information throughout operations. The lens of understanding requires the company to think through customer problems and service solutions to successfully move to the next level.

Jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) offers insight into organizational needs to solve customers problems while service-dominant logic (SDL) focuses efforts on the customers needs. Using jobs-to-be-done with service-dominant logic in the viewing of firm marketing programs offers a much higher customer oriented outcome (Bettencourt, et. al. 2014). The design of the operations and marketing process should be based in solving problems.

This provides a much stronger framework for seeing how operational designs do not often coordinate well to a final product or solution. Customers don’t concern themselves with the internal mechanisms of the company but do become acutely aware when a service mistake costs them time, money, or a good time. Upset customers don’t often come back but they are often willing to share information to either the company or other customers.

Understanding customers and drawing them into finding solutions that help the organization to better align its offerings to solving marketing problems is better than shooting blindly at a market opening. The customer provides a gentle hand and will tell you what they are looking for and how to market to them. Organizations must only adjust their data gathering and strategic processes to the customer's needs.

Once the information and product is obtained from the customer it is beneficial to revisit the operations for improvement and better focus on customer needs. It is a feedback process that helps companies take in information, analyze that information, and then adjust operations to meet the market needs and improve sales. Living and breathing organizations that adjust to market problems will outlive their more stagnant cousins through greater market relevancy.

Bettencourt, L., et. al. (2014). A service lens on value creation: marketing’s role in achieving strategic advantage. California Management Review, 57 (1).

The Importance of Simple Communication in Group Development

Group interaction and discussion has an important function in socializing and creating networks of people. When interaction is present groups begin to form around important core shared beliefs and values. Sometimes these groups are formed with a very specific purpose like product development or they are more general directed such as political parties. All groups follow similar patterns as all first start with a discussion.

Society is a group that develops off of the conversations that people partake. Whether you are discussing a group of friends, workplace or a nation, at the very core of its identity are the shared ideas and beliefs among its people. Groups that discuss and communicate begin to create agreement around shared values that form their identity. Separated groups form their own identity.

One of the first things we should understand about group discussions is that not everything that is said has value for education or research. Most information discussed is shared information while very little is unique (Reimer, et. al., 2010). People seem to engage more in social necessities than actual meaningful discussion. 

This could infer that informal groups are more for social purposes than product groups. The same could be said even for voluntary groups around hobbies and other life events. Most people repeat shared information because it helps solidify the group. It is a way of interrelating with one another and finding a place.

Group discussion is not passive enough though much of the information passed among group members is social by nature it has the goal of understanding each other and finding an order among events. It becomes a process socialization that offers familiarity of thought and concerted action.

When people are together longer than a short period of time they will move through stages until new rules are adopted. Usually there is also someone(s) that come to lead that group through the quality of their discussion and charisma. Once rules and norms are developed the group becomes goal directed in its behavior and more functional than informal groups.

When they develop a shared understanding, find a leader and have direction the maintenance of such groups becomes easier. Each member already knows the value systems, can express their needs in the group, and can receive support from the group. Steering group beliefs through influencing the conversation during the storming stage leads its lasting impact on its identity.

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Reimer, T., Reimer, A. & Czienskowski, U. (2010). Decision-making a groups attenuate the discussion bias in favor of shared information: a meta-analysis. Communication Monographs, 77 (1).

The Decline of Union Membership

Union membership has been on the decline for over two decades and doesn't appear to be slowing. A recent press release from the DOL shows that in 2014 union membership rate declined over the past year by .2% ending at 11.1% of all workers. Public sector unionization rates were still flat at 35.7%. Those who were union members earned approximately 10K annually over those who were not union members. The decline is part of a larger trend in the American economy.

According to a study released in 2013 by the Pew Research Center there has been a decline from the 20% in 1983 to 11.3% in 2013. Public attitude has shifted among regions. The Northeast and Midwest, with its once all powerful manufacturing base, greatly supported unions by 74% but that has declined in recent years to 65%. The culture of the United States is shifting away from unions.

We learn that not only has manufacturing shifted to Southern states but also attitudes toward unions have also shifted. The south has not taken well to the idea of unionization based upon their agricultural and historical differences with the manufacturing north. Southern states have become lucrative places for new manufacturing operations to open their doors.

It is also important to realize that with the change from the manufacturing era to the informational age there are differences in cultural perception. Those who work in individualistic type jobs like sales, design, and service are not necessarily going to understand the collective benefits of being in a union.  Their occupations and rearing are different than the industrial age collectivism of the past.

Furthermore, greater pressure is placed on the American worker to be more productive. Cheap labor, manufacturing companies moving overseas, and rising benefit costs have made union membership expensive for companies. The poor economy and impending lay-offs gave unions a difficult choice of either making concessions or facing the loss of their membership.

With new types of work, living arrangements, and ages there are natural changes in the cultural landscape. As American regains its competitive stance, wage disparity becomes a bigger issue, and manufacturing returns home, changes may again occur that could support unionization. Before this will occur unions will have to find a new core purpose and change their models to become more relevant to a new generation of highly skilled American workers.