Does Loyalty Matter Anymore?

Part of "The American Dream" is that by working harder you can get ahead, whatever that means. However, it is a well known fact that switching companies typically leads to a promotion and a raise. I have also been part of many organization that often focus on recruitment, and not retention. While this article is not the recruitment versus retention discussion, it has some of those themes.

This came up a few months ago among some of my friends. The subject came up that people sometimes leave something hanging to go somewhere else to get a bigger paycheck yet those who stayed do not get bigger paychecks at the end of the project. We felt as if loyalty was not rewarded. In hindsight I think that perhaps we were not thinking as long term as we should have. Often times the top management at companies consists of people that have been very loyal to the company for a long time. Additionally people do receive bonuses and raises based on their performance.

Another similar example is coaching a team of "individuals". I do not do much with recruitment because I feel that my time is better spent doing other things. Besides, my coaching salary comes out to about half of minimum wage already. However, I do feel a huge need to be involved in retention of current athletes. I can not coach someone who doesn't show up. Furthermore, I am currently dealing with such a small group of people that losing just one to injury or motivation is a double digit percentage loss. So I regularly ask how everyone is feeling and say thank you to them for showing up and cheer them on not only in running but also in other life events. Part of my job as coach is an attention giver. To some extent all the kids that show up want some sort of attention. Not every day, but at some point they want reinforcement of their perceived success.

In other words, if you can buy gas for $2.99 a gallon at the corporation that funnels money through warlords or buy it for $3.14 next door at the "free-trade" corporation that you have been using for the last three years because the two gas prices used to be the same price, would you still buy the expensive gas?

Loyalty is a finicky thing. Car companies have it, heavy equipment companies have it, Apple has it, Coke and Pepsi have it, cigarettes have it and so do a number of smaller companies, like my family's greenhouse. One of the interesting questions that has come up as a contract employee is, 'does the company that I am at have any loyalty toward me?' They are not providing health or retirement benefits and my timesheet and pay are on a weekly basis. It is quite obvious that if there would be a downturn severe enough, the contract employees would be "let-go" before the actual employees. The contract labor system is becoming more and more common at all levels of pay at a company. It is especially difficult for unskilled and low-skilled workers, the demographic that I feel would benefit the most from enhanced corporate loyalty.

I am learning so much as I grow up and experience life. It is not necessarily that my perceptions of the world are turned upside down, it is simply that a secret door seems to open in one room after another and provide me with a whole new set of ideas and experiences. I wasn't really looking for these doors, but since I now know they are there, I want to see what exists on the other side.

Leave a comment. Does loyalty still matter?

Applying Education

I realized something yesterday, I have had more short term (daily and weekly) consistency for longer in my life since moving to Iowa than I perhaps have ever had. My reasoning is that in school there were semester breaks and class changes and long summers. Considering that, I have been doing somewhat the same thing for eight months.

It is strange because I still feel like it is new and I have not yet arrived at the end of the semester yet there is no clearly defined next semester although some may argue retirement. This is now the application of what I learned through years of school. Lest my discussion be misunderstood as complaining, I suppose I never really explored the concept of acquiring a position of optional complacency.

People often talk about the corporate "ladder" but I feel a pyramid is really more descriptive of the advancement process. The ladder illustration implies that everyone climbs equally in single file which is clearly not the case. Instead many people remain well below the top of the pyramid. Our education system is in fact designed to accommodate this. There is no bachelors of Chairman of the board. I am not saying that anyone's aspirations are misguided. I am suggesting that the dynamic nature of our education system does not adequately prepare entry level employees for the consistent nature of big businesses. The only suggestion I can think of is a multi-semester class such as "Math and Physics for Engineers" which would last for two or three years, at the same time of the day and week with the same instructor for the entire class. (Sure, they can still have four month summer breaks, but that is a different topic.) I think injecting some long term consistency into the lives of young people, who might be missing that consistency at home would help develop better professional manners, long term relationships, and perhaps even some accountability.

In other words, I do not expect to be in the same position in 30 years because I have never had that kind of consistency. However, that is a possibility that would still be considered a huge success in my view. Many people do not use their degree within their career and in that respect I am more fortunate than most. This journey is continually interesting!

My Hexagon Desk

Here in Dubuque we have hexagon shaped cubicles with five people to a hexagon, and a corner left open so that we can get in in the morning. Anyway, I have a pretty sweet set up, two 22 inch wide screens and a 4 core 8GB RAM computer even though I only run simulations through our 256 core 560GB RAM cluster.

Screen Real-estate

People sometimes ask, "are you twice as productive with two screens?" The answer is obviously, "no", but if I am 5% more productive and that screen only costs 2% of my productivity then it's a good deal. The more important question is, "are you noticeably more productive?" The answer to that is, "yes". After using two screens one just seems so unproductive.

So that's my life 8-10 hours a day 4-5 days a week.

My Last Day at Work

Today is my last day working at Kohler Power Systems, Generators for the foreseeable future. It was a great ride! I am so thankful to the people that gave me this opportunity. I learned how to use two new peices of software, HyperMesh and ANSYS. I had the chance to work on cost savings projects and with International Building Code requirements. I also got to spend a little time reading technical papers about finite element simulation of welds and structural properties of welds. Basically, it was pretty awesome.

I mean after nearly 12 weeks I am still excited to go to work. I worked with a great group of people. I worked on problems that managed to challenge me and present a new set of skills for me to learn. The materials aspect of it all was rather slim, but I really enjoy structural analysis and design. Honestly, I think that my materials experience along with my finite element experience and structural experience make me a rather potent engineer. While being a contract engineer and moving from place to place is not what I am looking for, my experience thus far has provided me with a rather varied experience which I feel can only benefit me.

Most of all I will miss the people. It is always the people that I miss when I move. The land can be replaced and will continually offer unique aspects that appeal to me. The physical things are replaceable but no two people are the same. Every time I move I miss my friends. Since I know a number of my friends will read this know that I care about you and miss you. I like experiencing new things, but not nearly as much as I like enjoying experiences with my friends.

In many ways this three month long work experience was the best career thing that ever happened to me. After 57 weeks out of engineering I am back in the thick of it! I have experience at another company that is renowned for a high quality product (or at least most expensive in it's market). I can list NASA, Sikorsky, MIT, and now Kohler as places that have paid me for my work. Not bad for a 24 year old. I have heard that many first jobs are not fun for the employee. My experience was the opposite. I had a great time. Additionally, I feel that the things I I learned and the programs that I used while at Kohler were instrumental in getting me the job at John Deere. This experience has been so valuable because of the new skills that I have and the fact that it helped me get a job indefinitely that it would have been worth it to do this job for a whole lot less money than I was paid.

I believe we can never fully appreciate a situation until some amount of time after it is over. This working experience was no different. There are things that I have started to learn from this process that will not sink in for some time. That is part of the fun of life. Learning things about our past that we did not learn in real time.

It was just a great experience. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to experience it. I do not deserve to have this much success, but I guarantee you that I appreciate it. Hopefully you, my readers, read some of the things I wrote while I was unemployed or have been unemployed yourself. No success, in terms of a paycheck or really anything on Earth, is guaranteed. The world is full of gifts. Often the gifts go to those that work really hard, but not necessarily.

Compared to 2010, 2011 is going incredibly well. I have made somewhat more money already than I made in all of 2010. I recently ran a 1:12 half marathon. I have friends. I have family. I have a job, indefinitely. My life is awesome. I hope that in some way you can share in my joy. Sometimes I feel like I am simply bragging about my life to the world, and that is not the point. The point is to demonstrate the things I am learning to do so that you can learn from both my mistakes and my successes and enhance your own life. The problem is that so often the outcome is out of your control or my control and it is harder to learn from something out of your control than some result that you influence. Thank you for reading.

Reasons I am Excited to Move to Iowa

I am excited to move to Iowa, for a number of reasons. I thought that I would share those with all of you.

1. The job! I will be an Engineer II, doing finite element simulations, which I really enjoy. Of the people that I have met so far and the layout of the offices and manufacturing floor, it looks like an enjoyable place to work. Additionally, I will have the occasional opportunity to opperate the equipment that I am engineering! Yep, that means I will probably get to drive a backhoe, feller buncher, and knuckleboom loader. Basically, really big equipment and I'll get paid for it.
2. Iowa is three hours closer to Colorado. Now I will only be about 13 hours away, which is a much more bearable drive than 16+ hours. 
3. It seems that culturally Dubuque is ahead of the curve because it has won a whole bunch of awards for everything from a great small city for young people and best place to raise a family to shortest commute in the country and having a whole bunch of parks.
4. Dubuque is full of colleges. Not that I'm looking to go back so soon, but with college students comes coffee shops, entertainment, runners, and other young people. All of those are positives.
5. Both my probable apartment as well as where I will work have strong 3G AT&T service. That's better than the one to three out of five bars of 2G that I get now.
6. I will be in a stable job, out on my own. I have greatly enjoyed living at home with my parents the last six months, but I am ready to move on. I would like to get into a rhythm of my own, similar to college but more structured and far better funded.
7. The weather seems a little bit warmer during most of the year than here in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which means more running in shorts or bicycle commuting!
8. I will still be somewhat close to a number of my family members. Everyone only gets one family and some people have theirs taken away at a young age. I try not to take my family for granted.
9. With all due respect to a social life that I desire, at least in the beginning I will get a lot of running and writing/editing done which is a good thing.

Economics Week: Unemployment and Economic Recovery 2009-Present

In the book I am writing, I address the issue of where have all the jobs gone? As well as where will there be jobs in the United States in the future? The answers are not particularly complicated, but they are also not particularly easy to swallow.

First, a simple observation that has huge implications. With advances in technology less people are needed to produce the same amount of product or provide the same amount of service. Although technology thus far has not accelerated the ability to reduce staff in the service industry nearly as fast as in the product industry. In other words, working at Target, McDonalds or Starbucks is a more stable long term career choice than working in the manufacturing industry for Ford or Catepillar despite less than half of the starting pay, based on the past several decades in the United States. Of course, that is my opinion and it is based on non-management, non-salaried, hourly wage employees. If you have a education, such as engineering, manufacturing on the other hand provides far greater opportunities for job security. Lest anyone get an ego too inflated, no job is secure. Even Tiger Woods the first athlete billionaire is certainly not making as much money post-scandal as he once was.

What does the above paragraph mean? It means that working at American Eagle folding clothes and selling me jeans is likely more stable than painting car panels at Pontiac, wait Chrysler, wait... Toyota is still around I think. In the service industry (like at a nursing home, mortuary, Starbucks, or American Eagle) you are less likely to be susceptible to mechanization and automation that is taking over everything from farming to manufacturing, and soon enough, driving.

In other words, if 20% of the workforce is laid-off because of advances in manufacturing technology and outsourcing, consumer spending might only decrease 12% because those people who are laid-off will receive unemployment benefits. Additionally, it is possible that those left working will receive raises and spend more money. (I only have one example to prove that statement and it involves manual labor and working more hours. Not the ideal situation for the population as a whole.)

Second, lay-offs typically have a slightly positive affect. Despite our capitalist society, we typically pay people based on their initial formal education and their years of experience with less regard given to performance. Due to a variety of factors some employees are not as profitable to the company as others. Some are possibly even unprofitable. Lay-offs are a way to reduce the number of under-performers. That being said I do not blame the laid-off at all.  I would imagine if given the chance to work for 2/3 of the money or even half of the money to keep their jobs, most would gladly accept rather than be unemployed for several years. It is not an employee's fault that he or she was gradually paid more every year at a faster rate than that particular employee's productivity increased.

Additionally, some people are in the wrong industry. Plain and simple I've met a number of them doing something because they have a degree or the money is good that they are really not cut out for. I do not know, but I feel if this type of person was laid-off hopefully they would find more suitable employment.

Third, after lay-offs and after automation the people that you are left with are the high performers. When given the chance to work 60 hours instead of 40 they jump at the opportunity. These people might fall into the work-work-life-work balance but that is what the US economy typically rewards. That is actually a subject that I take great pains in my book to deal with, because work is one small aspect of our lives. We need to value more than work and our jobs. Easy to say, but it took me months of anguish to really understand that.

Currently, many companies are offering their employees overtime instead of hiring new employees despite business drastically picking up within the last year. The theory is that employees cost money for health insurance and training and other expenses while simply giving employees overtime reduces the training, healthcare, hiring process, 401K and other expenses that employers have to pay. All of this means...

Fourth, employers have a greater choice of employees and are able to pay less and not give out benefits to find people. One person I know referred to the new trend in lower wages and no benefits as "indentured servitude". I would probably not go that far because working 65 hours a week still leaves over 100 hours a week to do whatever. The point being my first three jobs after college did not include any kind of health insurance, vacation, sick days, or retirement planning.

It is more competitive now to get any job than it was pre-2008 and to be honest I do not see that trend changing much for several years. To those of you currently racking up college debt, stick with it even though you are going to fight for lower wages. With a degree you will probably still make more money, and hopefully enjoy a job that does not degrade your health. The road ahead is hard, but you can make it. If the basket case of pent of emotions and egotistical grandeur that is me made it than you can certainly make it. Plus I'm writing a book that will hopefully help you.

Fifth, and finally, it is to everyone's advantage that you succeed in life. While the multimillionaires on Wall Street will be selling short (making money on stock that goes down in price) on your 401K as your 401K gets cut in half they still need you, otherwise they are out of a job. They need your commissions. If Warren Buffett did not have thousands of people working in companies that he owned, he would not have as much money as he does. If you did not buy Microsoft products Bill Gates would not have the fortune that he does.

Every society in history that has created a lop sided wealth structure has eventually gone through a revolution to change that. France in the 1790s, Russia in 1917, and it appears most of the Middle East in 2011 are a few of the rather significant ones. The point being, it is in everyone's best interest if everyone is making some money. Of course the opportunity to make more money typically encourages people to work harder. That is where capitalism works.

The point is, you can make it. You will get a job and it will be good. It may take far longer than you would like, but it will happen. It is in everyone's best interest that you succeed. Wether anyone admits it or not your success will help everyone from the places you spend your money to your employer who you make money for. The economy will recovery, but it will be different.

The Life of a Contract Engineer: Week 9

Well, some weeks are better than others, and this was a rather nice week. I was offered a long term position! Of course I took it! A week and a half ago on Friday I was interviewed by some engineers at John Deere. Tuesday I was offered a job. Thursday I accepted it. I will be moving to Dubuque, Iowa to start work April 18th. For now, that is all I will say because the papers have not been signed yet and during unemployment I had my hopes rise just to be dashed so many times that I feel it is not real until I'm there long enough to get that first paycheck. There are so many things that could happen between now and then that are totally out of my control, and few within my control, that I will still live one day at a time with the knowledge of how fragile my personal economic situation really is.

I am so excited! I mean this is a contract position, but it starts at one year in length and will most likely be renewed. That kind of job security is nearly unfathomable to me right now. There is so much to say about this that I won't even try in this post. I will be using HyperMesh and Abaqus to do almost exactly the same thing I am doing now (stress analysis).

How does this affect my work at Kohler? First of all, I am incredibly thankful for the Kohler opportunity. The least productive three months of my entire career are the first three months, I expect. To have a company that was willing to take that kind of a chance on me and allow me to learn two new pieces of finite element software is phenomenal. No company will probably ever be as generous to me as Kohler was. If I am as productive in May, June and July as I was in January, February and March I will be terribly unproductive. Additionally, I worked with an amazing group of people who exceeded my expectations and taught me all sorts of things. I will miss the people most, I always do.

My running had a bad week that ended with the best workout I have ever had. I was tired all week and I ran a 4 mile tempo midweek and I ruined it by going out at 5:10 pace for nearly a mile and putting myself in anaerobic debt. I even had one day where I ran only 2.5 miles. Finally, Saturday I ran 14.1 miles in 1:21:54. That's a 5:49 average on a breezy 31ºF day with flurries. I set personal records at every distance from 7 miles through 14 miles including a half marathon PR of exactly one minute to 1:16:06. Setting a half marathon PR in practice and running a little farther is generally a good indication of running fitness. In total 85 miles with 18.3 of that at sub 5:50 pace.

What else? I am up over 51,000 words on my book. A slow week for writing. I watched the movie Inside Job and it, as well as two chapters in my book, and the newspapers I've been reading lately inspired me to do four articles this week about economics. I'm doing a review of Inside Job, one about CDOs, and then I'll probably do one about the economic recovery that we are experiencing 2009-present as it pertains to unemployment because it pertains directly to my book, and I have no idea what a fourth will be about.

I will be writing a number of posts about Iowa and such in the future, but I feel talking economics this week is more pressing. Thank you all for reading and hopefully you had a week even better than mine.

The Man Behind Apple Inc.

In case you have never heard of Jonathan Ive, I'm telling you now. This is the guy that brought us first the iMac and every significant Apple design since then. If there is one guy to blame for how cool Apple products look, it is this guy.

He is in the news because there is a rumor that he is going to leave the United States to head back to the United Kingdom, where he is originally from. Apple, it seems, will not allow him to stay with the company if he moves. I am somewhat surprised. This guy has done so well over the last 15 years that they should let him live wherever he wants and send a staff of 10 or 20 people with him. I'm sure it is more complicated than that, but I am not sure why it has to be.

I'm Designing an Airplane

About three years ago I finally learned everything I need to to fundamentally design a plane. Two of my friends and I wrote a 62 page report where we designed an airplane and we received an A for our dozens of hours of work. I am a little lacking in the manufacturing department, but I hear carbon fiber is very forgiving. The point being, I am going to design a full scale airplane, then I will design a scale model (with features that might have to be different due to the size). Then financially willing, I'll build the scale model and fly it. If all of that goes as planned, I don't know what will happen...

Why?

At the core of this idea is something that I have more or less based my education on. I came up with the idea about eight or ten years ago in high school. It's different. No one has done it. They have done many things like it but they have not done it. Furthermore, I am a rocket scientist and materials scientist. My specialty is not getting a job, although I feel I am getting better at that, I create things. New and patentable and innovative things all come flowing out of my head. I can't turn my brain off. Therefore I am going to do some homework

What chance do I have of actually finishing any of this?

It depends on how you define finishing. The paper and computer design work will be done. The model and subsequent full sized airplane require so much experience that I do not have. Any possibility of either one happening will depend on factors like, if I am employed, how much each one will cost, and other projects I have. A full size airplane will likely take years to build and cost hundreds of thousands probably millions and have very little practical value. Although, there is some future in communications...

A Big Reason Most Companies are NOT Non-Profit

The Capital Gains Tax is only 15% where as the tax for the highest incomes is 35%.

You can make a killing of millions by playing the stock market and pay less than half as many taxes as if you made millions through a salary. That is why insurance companies, many healthcare companies, companies with angel investors and venture capitalists, and companies on the stock market are for profit. They want the opportunity to make a lot of money and you can make more money (that is, get taxed less so you take home more money) by owning part of a for profit company that being a founder of a non-profit company.

You don't get to be a billionaire by being on salary. You get there by owning part of a company who's value skyrockets. Warren Buffet, professional investor; Bill Gates, Microsoft founder; Herb Kohler Jr., Kohler Owner; Mark Zuckerburg, Facebook and the list continues. You can get rich working for the man, but your wealth will still be determined by the man.

Applying... For... Jobs... Is... FRUSTRATING!!!!

I was applying for jobs at a company and the website proceeded to tell me about what a great company it was and how many interesting things they did. I already knew most of what they did, so I was reading the description, like I read every description, hoping that it sounded like a good fit. It did seem like a fit. As much as a fit can be without explicitly saying they wanted X, Y, and Z which would be exactly what I have. After the description the required qualifications section proceeded to describe the different qualifications that were necessary with all sorts of different qualified paths to the same job. Then below that the benefits were described.

Why is this frustrating?

1. As much as I would absolutely LOVE to have the job of my dreams doing something interesting and innovative that has never exactly been done before, I'll settle for run of the mill and boring right now.
2. I have a feeling that I come off as ambitious, and also ambiguous. In the 1950s a handful of pilots wanted to walk on the Moon, but of course they didn't talk about it in public because that was ridiculous! No one would ever walk on the Moon! Do companies want me to say that I desire to sit behind a desk 50 hours a week the rest of my life?
3. Companies often post multiple job openings with the same title and description, sometimes in multiple locations, often in the same place. I have applied for all such openings from companies in the past, but now I only apply for a few. If someone sees my application with any interest they will get to me. I am guessing that one person often manages the hiring of multiple positions. So why exactly are there four postings for Entry Level Mechanical Engineer with exactly the same descriptions at the same location. 
4. The entire job application process is absolutely the opposite of applying to colleges. When I applied for colleges I made it into about half of the schools I applied to. Considering my backup school was a private college and my top school accepted something like 1% of applicants I think I did well. I sure ended up where I was supposed to be. For the eight or so schools that I applied to I was accepted into several. I honestly thought that if I applied to a similar number of jobs I would at least get a few interviews. 200+ applications later, no such ratio of interviews or offers to applications. I'm batting like 1% for applications to interviews.
5. Benefits! You want to tell me about benefits! I have been living without health insurance for the last seven weeks. I have way more debt than I would like. Things like full dental care and a 401(k) while nice to consider, are so far away from my priorities right now it is not worth me reading on their websites. Salary expectations give me a similar reaction. Give me half of what I expected I would make with my education and experience in 2008 and I'll take it.
6. Control is totally out of my hands. For colleges I had enough offers that I had my choice of where to go. Now, the following sentences are totally self-centered, if you are offended I'm not making you read this. I thought, and still think, that what I have done in a mere 24 years is at least a little impressive. I mean a master's degree, some patents, I saved a big company some money by discovering some things they did not know. In fact a month after I discovered one issue they changed their processing to change that issue. I never received any credit, someone else probably solved it independently of me, but I was there and I did mention it. The point is, I always thought, and I still struggle with this, that companies would want someone like me. I thought I would have a choice in my future, and the time to make a choice. The first offer I receive will be where I go. The advantage of this hard time in my life is that I am really starting to understand those less fortunate than me. For everything and every opportunity that I have been given I am probably in the top 1% of the world for fortunate people. So while I really struggle with not having control of my career, many people in the world never have any option of choice. From my perspective it is hard to understand how many opportunities I have had compared to billions of others around the world. Why me?

I might work until the day I die just so that I don't have to worry about being unemployed. Ha! In the words of Tommy Williams from the Shawshank Redemption, "Just give me that chance."

Do I Start to Lie?

I am a terrible lier. Ask anyone. A typical lie will manifest itself about once every two months humorously around my friends which will be followed by myself saying ten seconds later, "I'm sorry. That was a lie..." just incase they did not get the joke and I will explain the truth.

I was taking a true and false quiz for a position at an aerospace company. I was applying for an engineering job. The position was a statics load engineer. One of the questions was, "Do you have a masters degree in Aeronautical or Aerospace Engineering?" I answered "False" because of course I do not have that degree. I have a masters in Materials Science and Engineering. As I stared at the job title and the question I thought, 'Really? A master's in Aeronautical or Aerospace Engineering would know something about static loads that I don't?'

This is not nearly the first question that I have answered "wrong". I often answer questions about specific programs that I have used. Many aerospace companies use CATIA, a CAD and FEA software package. I have not used CATIA but I have used SolidWorks, ProEngineer, AutoCAD and Abaqus as well as creating MatLab simulations. How hard would it be for me learn CATIA? I am 99% confident that in less that one business day I could create a beam and bend it in a finite element simulation. Sure that is very simple to an experienced user, but considering I have never touched the software that would be impressive. I have spent so much time learning different CAD programs and a fair amount of time learning FEA that switching to a new system would be measured in hours or days instead of weeks and months and even years for a true beginner.

So when I am asked how much experience I have with CATIA and I answer "none" I can feel the recruiter passing my application into the junk pile. Interestingly enough CATIA and SIMULIA (the company that produces Abaqus) are owned by the same company. Lest one of my readers think that my education was lacking I would not change a thing. Abaqus supports DANTE which is a very powerful piece of software for heat treating steels and something that CATIA does not do, as far as I know. CATIA can model kinetics, however, I am not sure to what extent it covers. Steel, particularly the Pyrowear 53 I was working with, has fairly complex heat treating kinetics compared to most things.

Wow, that got detailed.

Anyway, I'm not going to lie. I can't. Also, it doesn't make sense. Despite the fact that I could probably pass myself off as knowing CATIA (let's be honest, companies don't actually test your technical skills until you start working; they only ask questions about your technical skills) however, truthfully I don't know CATIA.

Frustrating to say the least. It's like asking if I drive a Ferrari. Well, I've never driven a Ferrari. Does a Porsche count? No. Once again I wonder, do nice guys finish last?

Actually, finishing last would be fine with me. At this point it would be nice to know that I even get to start the race.

Working at Boy Scout Camp

Recently one of my bosses told us that he delights in seeing the Boy Scouts scrutinized in the media for this mistake or that mistake. He said the reason for his pleasure was that the Boy Scouts were doing so much good and were so successful that other people were out to get the Boy Scouts. It is a different point of view to be sure.

I can say with certainty that Boy Scouts changed my life, several times. For example, I went on a ten day backpacking expedition at Philmont Scout Ranch in 2001 the summer after my freshman year. I also ran track in the spring of my freshman year in large part to get ready for that trek. I would have never guessed nine years ago that my exploits in the spring and summer of 2001 would have such life changing consequences. My two physical "hobbies" both took a big step up that year. There were steps before that point and after that point but that specific year was one where I really committed to both sports. Many of the pieces of gear that I bought for Philmont I still have and use occasionally. Those two weeks in New Mexico inspired me to spend a good part of three more summers are Philmont. That fall in cross country I had a breakthrough season and it pretty much cemented my passion for running.

So now as I am most of the way through my fourth summer at a Boy Scout camp I have been doing some reflecting on the whole experience. Why do I spend my summers teaching teenage boys outdoor skills? Why do I spend my summers with teenage boys instead of working with adults at a corporation? Why am I working for 20% of the pay that I thought I would be making with my education?

The answer is actually simple. We staff members don't really ever talk about it but you can see it during a flag ceremony or a mealtime prayer. You can see it when we are trying to get a 12 year old to do the 30 foot tall rappel even though he is crying and his legs are shaking. You can see it when we are handing out hot chocolate after swim tests (or the canoe T exercise) in our 64 degree lake. The reason is that we simply believe in what we are doing. It is honest work that makes kids... better. They have more confidence, more appreciation for the environment, they trust each other. Even though I don't talk to the kids I went through Boy Scouts with too often anymore we still have a bond. Like the 15 degree night in Kansas when the liquid soap turned into a solid. Unless you were there you can't appreciate how interesting it was to do dishes that night.

Someone once said, "it is better to give than to receive." I received so much in my seven years as a Boy Scout that I hope to give back some of that to the next generation. It is very rewarding when a 12 year old with shaky knees and tears gets down the rappel and shows up back at the head of the line five minutes later with a huge smile on his face because he had fun and wants to do it again.

Many people get paid only with money. I get paid with smiles, yells, and quiet compliments. Plus a little money. Life is good.

Successful Innovative Companies: Volume 23

The Successful Innovative Company of the Week is: IKEA!

What they do right: IKEA changed furniture shopping into a schedule-able event. I have only been to an IKEA once. However, it occupied most of my afternoon. My friend was intent on buying a table and chairs for her apartment. We left in the morning for the hour long drive there. Then we ate a four dollar filling lunch. If cafeterias like that were more accessible I would go more often. A similar meal at a typical college will run two or three times as expensive.

As we journeyed from the start to finish line through IKEA visiting each room with a different theme I was amazed by the selection. I was even more impressed by the people. Yes it was August a traditional moving month for both college kids and others yet there were hundreds of people there at the same time. August 2009 the economy was not great at that time yet there were hundreds of people out buying new furniture. Furniture is the kind of purchase that is made every decade or so and most college kids would be content with used sofas from Goodwill so this was a rather surprising experience.

Their organization is second to none. They have one of everything displayed nicely on one level. On the lower level they have stacks of boxed filled with disassembled furniture in the same layout as the display level. That is to say that on the display level there will be a dresser in the far corner of the store. On the warehouse floor in the same far corner will be a stack of disassembled dressers in cardboard boxes. By taking a tag from the display piece you like you will be able to find the stack of boxes on the warehouse level containing that piece of furniture.

As far as style, most of what they offer is modern with simple lines and shapes designed to be assembled by normal people. Which is really nice. I like the whole modern thing. Hey, I like Piet Mondrian. However, I also like solid-wood-construction, too-heavy-on-moving-day, no-it-doesn't-come-apart, could-probably-take-a-bullet-for-me furniture as well. I've built this kind of thing and it lasts a long time. I think there is a place in a room for both types of furniture.

What they could improve: The sales representatives, as I remember, were not the most informed about their products. When asking about alternative colors or mixing tables, legs and chairs to get the perfect combination they were not very helpful. When a sales representative says he or she is not sure then reads the sales tag, that you have already read, before admitting that they don't know, I wonder what he or she is getting paid to do. Can the table and chairs be bought separately or do they have to be bought together?

There was also a general lack of sales people, a fact that some people may actually like. I however on the other hand like to talk to someone that knows their product. When I go into a running store to buy shoes I usually have to spend 15-30 minutes trying shoes, jogging, trying some more, jogging and talking with the sales person about my feet and running. I have tried on dozens of shoes because of a sales person's recommendation that I would have never given a chance.

(Blank) is Your Mission.

One of the most frustrating aspects of my life right now is that, as far as I can tell, nobody has any plans for me. Let me explain.

When children are young their parents try to raise them in the way they should live. In school teachers and professors want to see the students succeed, however randomly that might be measured. When people have a boss, that boss wants something to get done. When people are in the position I am in there is a lack of direction because there is a lack of accountability to anyone. Then again it seems like most people regardless of their employment situation are still figuring out what they want to do with their life.

Oh how easy it is to work for someone else. To be accountable for something you can do. To have someone else set the bar. Of course it isn't always like this working for someone else. I was doing some temporary work once in the early summer and the first few days were very tiring. It was so hard that on the third day I quit just after lunch and went to sleep because I had heat exhaustion. One of the supervisors got pretty angry to say the least. Fortunately I bounced back the next day and the rest of the work was fine.

I am struggling now, knowing what my next step is. My mission in life? I have spent a lot of time thinking in broad strokes and life is a series of small steps instead. I know first hand that life is hard. I've seen the poor in poor countries. I grew up where going out to eat meant McDonalds.

As I work on my mission, and what the next step is in this ultra-marathon I keep in mind that that is the key: the next step. When the going gets rough, just keep going. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Time only goes forward and I think that experiences and my mission are a lot of time. There are lessons to be learned every day, and I intend to learn then so that I might do... something.

Successful Innovative Companies: Volume 21

The Successful Innovative Company of the week is: Carbery!

What they do right: they make cheese! That's a good start but I've toured probably half a dozen cheese factories and let me tell you, innovative is not a word used to describe the cheese industry. Not even American cheese. (It hurts me a little inside to call it cheese. Calling it American semi-solid processed oil would be more appropriate.) In the world of cheese the recipes have been around for centuries and changes are few and far between. In the last hundred years most of the actual change has been creating production equipment to mass produce cheese. So when Carbery created a new cheese in 1996 that is simply amazing, they get a nod for being innovative.

Carbery is a company headquartered in Cork, Ireland. They were established in 1965 as a dairy food company. Today they produce everything from alcohol to flavorings.

If you have never had Dubliner cheese, you are missing out. Introduced in 1996 it is tasty. It is similar to cheddar but it is a little bit more sweet and a tiny bit sour. It is aged 1-2 years and has a nice sharp cheese aged taste. There are also little calcium crystals that give it a slightly rough texture. It is my favorite cheese.

What they could improve: I would like to see greater distribution of their other cheese flavors in the US. Dubliner is somewhat easy to find however they have several varieties of Dubliner and other cheeses like Red Leicester that I have not tried.

Other than that I think that offering only the 7 ounce and 5 pound sizes of Dubliner must save money on packaging and production. They also do very little advertising in the US so word spreads by word of mouth. I can only imagine how a little advertising would go a long way for Carbery and Dubliner cheese.

Designer vs. Developer

The world of products has changed somewhat the past few decades. There is a group of people who get college degrees in design. Graphic design, fashion design, and other forms of design are becoming increasingly common. I only have a limited knowledge of this field so what I say may be wrong about it. It seems that this is not purely art. It is applying art to an otherwise "structural" situation.

For example, clothing companies come out with new product lines and updates every year. A large amount of the "new" is due to designers creating new lengths, seems, cuts, pockets, color schemes, and the like. Designers are to products what architects are to buildings. These seem to be the creative people that challenge the limits of what is possible.

Then there are developers. Developers are to products what civil engineers are to buildings. These are the people that make it work. They apply manufacturing constraints to the designs and come up with the best solution. Their creativity is figuring out how to make something. Welded seam gloves. It's the next big thing if anyone can figure out how to do it well. Many millions of dollars if you can make gloves with welded seams that last as long as sewn seams. Companies are starting to try it now, but it is not working yet.

Right now as a do-it-all-myself person it's hard to separate the different tasks. As I apply for mainstream jobs I have some difficulty most of the time even understanding what they are looking for. In my education, proof of concept and functionality have been stressed over looks. If it worked with duct tape, we used duct tape. The more I learn about marketing it seems that people care how things look. Now, my experience in industry is very limited. So when I apply for these jobs I wonder if I will be creating new products from scratch like I have done before or if they want someone to take a prototype and make it shinny and figure out how to make tens of thousands of them.

There are many other people in the product line chain such as the people that actually manufacture the stuff, the sales people, the marketing people, management, investors/owners, and the support people that keep all of those people running. However, when it comes to the creation and production the people that create items and solve production problems are designer and developers.

An Entrepreneur is:

I've realized that I've been using the word entrepreneur often recently and it isn't something they really teach in any school I've been in so I will tell people what it means. I'm going to try and describe different qualities of an entrepreneur. First the definition from the Apple Inc. Dictionary application 2.0.3 on my computer:

entrepreneur |ˌäntrəprəˈnoŏr; -ˈnər|nouna person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.• a promoter in the entertainment industry.

ORIGIN early 19th cent. (denoting the director of a musical institution):from French, from entreprendre ‘undertake’ (see enterprise ).

To be honest, that is a very lacking definition. Here are some of my thoughts on the subject:

• Scrappy. An entrepreneur will do what it take to survive. He or she will do unpleasant things to stay afloat. For example: "Call who? You've got to be kidding. I can't do that!"
• Desperate. Whatever it takes to make the sale will be considered.
• Terrified. This is one that separates those who do and those who do not. To make it as an entrepreneur you have to wake up terrified about what you have to do, then do it anyway. Many people delay their life because they are afraid. I am working on this one...
• Committed. There is no half effort in starting a venture like a company. It's all or nothing.
• Passionate. Who else would work around the clock on some project just to get paid in sweat equity (ownership in a company based on work put in instead of money invested) and intellectual property?
• Stingy. Somehow money just seems to always disappear...
• Brave. Facing fears on a daily basis changes the nature of risk. What might once have seemed like a huge risk is now even less scary than driving in Boston.
• Helpless. While many entrepreneurs start with the intention of doing everything on their own most quickly learn they can't do everything. In fact many find that there aren't too many things that they do well.
• Curious. Of the successful start up companies that I know of most of the owners thought 'why can't I/we do it better?' There is a certain interest to attempting something with an uncertain end.
• Resourceful. An entrepreneur doesn't have to be a true renaissance man but he or she does have to get things done that are outside of his or her formal training.
• Energetic. I think this word fits better than optimistic or hopeful. The idea is that an entrepreneur is excited to go to work and be there all day long.

That's what I can think of. I thought about innovative for a while but I think that an entrepreneur honestly does not have be terribly innovative. I think that often times it involves applying a proven method to a different location or market such as franchising.

If you have any additional thoughts post them blow.

Successful Innovative Company of the week: volume 19

The successful innovative company of the week is: Jetboil

what they do right: Jetboil came on the camping and mountaineering stove scene in 2001 with their namesake signature stove. This stove changed the possibilities of what a stove could do. It is more effiecient than any stove was before. It locks in place so it is easy to hang in steep situations. It has neoprene on the outside so you can grab it with barehands when there is boiling water inside. It is made of aluminum and is very light. The actual stove and a fuel canister pack inside the mated pot. It just works better than any stove that came before it. This was a game changer.

I was talking with an aquaintance who is a professional mountain guide and he said that on a training trip about two years ago he started to cook supper and he was the only person that didn't have a jetboil so he went out and bought one the first chance he had. When professional mountain guides are all using it you know it works.

Since their first product they have expanded to include pans and larger pots and detached fuel canisters. Their product line includes everything for cooking. They also have a coffee press attachment and I have to say a nice cup of coffee in the morning is so nice sometimes.

What they could improve: Simply put a few years after Jetboil came on the scene MSR responded with the Reactor. The Reactor is amazing and I would easily take it over the Jetboil. It boils water faster, it has a bigger pot, and is less prone to wind which are all significant factors when using the stove to mainly melt snow high on a mountain (which is what I like to do). The Reactor does not have the twist lock connection that the Jetboil has and thus I have never seen anybody hang one, which is necessary when you are using a portaledge (which I also like to do).

I would also be interested to see what Jetboil could do in the liquid fuel stove realm. Currently all of their stoves use propane/butane canisters. Offering a stove that used white gas and/or kerosene would expand their appeal.

Successful Innovative Companies: Volume 18

The Successful Innovative Company of the week is: The Weather Channel.

What they do right: give weather information all day every day. You will be hard pressed to ever catch me watching The Weather Channel but I recognize something innovative and different when I see it.

Can you imagine what it must have been like when they were proposing this? Some younger guys standing in a room with some older guys and the question coming from the older guys, "So, you're just going to give weather forecasts... all the time." However, weather is kind of a big thing. Outdoor activities and travel all depend on the weather. Weather can destroy buildings and strand communities.

As far as the details, local on the 8s is pretty cool. Every ten minutes they give two minutes of the local weather forecast at :08, :18, :28...

I also like storm stories. They show short programs about historical weather events like hurricanes and blizzards. They also have an iPhone app which is better for weather than the weather app that came with my iPhone. It has nice semi-detailed weather forecasts and all of the weather information I ever need.

What they could improve: Their website is not my favorite for weather information. I prefer Weather Underground because it has more information when you type in a zip code or city. I like the fact that so much information is on the page. You can just scroll down instead of clicking on this link and that link. I like information that is available in one place without having to go down the rabbit hole to find everything. Perhaps some people like to click on links to find information but I click on enough links as it is.

However, when it comes to television The Weather Channel is number one. I can not think of a single thing that I would do to their station to make it better.