I think Eleanor Shellstrop captured it best:

Yeah, in America everyone DOES whatever they want, society DID break down, it’s terrible, and it’s great! You only look out for number one, scream at whoever disagrees with you, there are no bees because they all died, and if you need surgery you just beg for money on the Internet! It’s the perfect system!"

Laptop computer. I used to travel for work and got used to working without a keyboard and mouse, and sometimes working without a desk and chair (consulting is classy!).

I’m a parent and do not agree with this approach. Everyone should behave in public - and kids should practice so they can learn. At home, my kids get to behave like animals and we do things where they can behave like kids, like trampoline park, zoo, the arcade, etc. When we are out at places where the kids should behave, we bring them iPads and headphones so they are able to make it through the activity. But it is just rude to let your kid intrude and ruin a dinner, museum, movie, etc for others.

Congrats! I deeply regret not investing in beanie babies when I had the chance.

Sure thing! Here are some other thoughts your survey brought to mind:

1. I think of business culture as the way people behave when a leader isn’t there giving direction. So, sota in line with your perspective. But unlike the culture of a country, I think a business’ culture is defined by behaviors (as opposed to beliefs).

2. In the last 40 years, public corporations have focused on profits and shareholder value. But I think it is a huge mistake to ignore the other groups the business impacts and influences, such as their customers, their employees and the community they are in. My perspective is that unless all of those things are looked after, the business will become terrible over time (Boeing is like a case study on this).

3. Not mentioned in your survey, but a pet peeve is the lack of development and mentorship of staff. Most teams could be so much stronger with the right support, oversight and development. But it requires a lot of elbow grease, which managers and leaders are unwilling to put in. To me, this is so wrong it boarders on unethical. But, at least in the US, it is pervasive across businesses.

I have so many thoughts stirred up by this survey. Here’s just 1: some companies don’t benefit from consultants because they are the unwilling or unable to implement their recommendations - not because the recommendatios are wrong. Honestly, most big companies hire consultants to blame their poor results on - and for that, consultants are totally worth the cost. Happy to share more if you would like - just message me.

We’ll, there’s Amazon go, which is actually slightly better than having to scan and check out: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Go#%3A~%3Atext=Amazon+Go+is+a+chain+of+convenience%2CKingdom%2C+operated+by+the+online+retailer+Amazon.

Also Kroger did what you are recommending like 10 years ago, but it looked silly compared to Amazon go, so it didn’t really stick in my area.

Usually not at all. More recently, the polical influence on our economy is that impacting everything from hiring (we were gonna hire, but now we aren’t) to investing in the business (we think we need to store cash because a downturn is looming). Apparently it is difficult to improve an economy, but one can be wrecked in 45 days.

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I own a small business consulting firm that the serves tech and energy industries. Generally, pay is good in consulting. Owning a company can be risky financially - we’ve had good years and bad years.

I used to commute 1.5 hours each direction - it was exhausting and I hated it.

100% remote.

I’d like to live in the woods in the PNW. It’s pretty, I like the weather and there aren’t too many bugs (compared to other parts of the country).

Apples are so fascinating! There is a fun section of this documentary on them: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1421383/

My brother.

Sadly, I do not. And the fact that your Teams notification is giving me anxiety probably means I could use some recommendations too.

English is a beautifully confusing language.

Idiocracy

Big Trouble

Dental care.

All my legal doc are in the house, which would be a pain but to lose. Besides that, I welcome the destruction of my stuff.