FRONT-RUNNING RAPIST

 

THE PARTY OF NO

 

NEW INC. MAGAZINE COLUMN BY HOWARD TULLMAN

 

Nothing Beats Being There

You can argue all you want about the productivity of hybrid vs. remote vs. on site. But if you really want to build a culture, deepen your company's values and transfer them to new arrivals, then working together in one place is still the best way to do it. 

 

EXPERT OPINION BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS@HOWARDTULLMAN1

FEB 27, 2024

I've had dozens of opposing conversations with business owners and managers on one side, and entrepreneurs on the other, about the perks and perils of trying to build and grow a business when a significant portion of the workforce is remote. It's even more challenging when some of those remote team members have never met most of their co-workers or upper management, either personally or online. As obvious as some concerns would seem to be, there's an amazingly wide divergence of opinion on how to address the "new normal," which breaks down along fairly old and familiar lines.

Not surprisingly, the more senior executives in the larger and better-established firms think it's no big deal to operate as they always have, in spite of the clear logistical and communication changes in the new hybrid world. Keep in mind that most of these people are quite removed from the day-to-day communication channels of their businesses, and many are rarely using any form of digital connection tools. These aren't Slackers or Teams people. And they're also sadly stuck in the ivory towers rather than spending any time in the trenches. They think their company's culture is built of concrete, locked down, easily understood, and permanent.

Unfortunately, time has a way of turning anyone's assets into dust.

Let's say that old schoolers can ignore the obvious fact that - just like brands  - successful company cultures need to change, expand and be reinvigorated periodically. And if these older folk also ignore the issue of new and uninitiated employees flowing into the business, there's even a more fundamental misunderstanding of how culture, values, and vision are transmitted and shared across their companies. In practice, as opposed to theory, it's rarely done in mission statements, memos, or meetings. The guy in the bowels of the business may know more about what's really going on than the folks in the main office.

At the other end of the spectrum, I'd estimate that nearly all of the experienced entrepreneurs and new business builders (regardless of age) that I know understand that creating, communicating, and controlling the culture of a startup can't be accomplished if the players aren't regularly and physically in one place. This isn't just about proximity or serendipity; it's about understanding how much of the culture's content and the value structure of a business moves by osmosis, watercooler conversations, observed actions, and, maybe most importantly, war stories - at least some of which are true.  

All of that helps to compose the emotional and visceral meat of the company's culture. These aren't things that others can easily explain to you or that you can learn from a manual or a lecture. Anyone who's built a business from scratch, anyone who's been in the crucible of confusion, concern, and conflict that's the heart of a startup, and anyone who understands the real value and meaning of camaraderie and shared pain will tell you that you had to be there - and be an active part of the process - in order to get it.

Every great business has its foundational stories, its formative myths, and apocryphal adventures. But, in the new, widely distributed operating environments, very little thought or attention is being paid to making sure that we are building new channels to share and reinforce the transmission of all of this informal, but crucial, wisdom, attitude, and experience. There's no Zoom or Teams equivalent for the most important one-on-one chats that take place before and after any meeting or call, but these are the most critical discussions of all.

So, the critical question concerns what smart companies can do-- even assuming that they can assemble all of the concerned parties in one place on a regular basis-- to make sure that the right messages, examples, and directions are front and center and consistently communicated to everyone. I appreciate that these suggestions are better suited to smaller firms and startups rather than larger firms, but if you have more than a couple of dozen employees, I'd suggest applying the same ideas to divisions, teams, select skill sets, or other more-manageably sized groups.

First, find the passionate promoters in your company and make sure they're on the program. You want them as advocates, examples, and leaders. Keep in mind that these people aren't ever going to be limited to just managers and executives. It's important to have friends in low places as well. The good news is that, if you find the right ones, they really can't help themselves because it's in their nature to be chatty, excited cheerleaders for the company.

Second, bite the bullet and commit to a four-day work week. I'd just forget Fridays or maybe call it the Friday for Family plan. It's a good compromise and the only realistic way to get the right people in the right place at the right times. Make it clear that this is the way the business is going to operate going forward and that neither you nor anyone else is going to be the sheriff, the attendance taker, or anyone's babysitter. Everyone's an adult and no one's required to work at your company. Fire the whiners.

Third, make meals matter by shutting down for an hour at noon on Monday and Thursday and using those times for the team to come together to talk about the week ahead and the week just past. No phones, no interruptions, no excused absences and a real commitment to conversation and storytelling. The best and the worst of what's gone on and what's coming down the pipe. The execs should sit and mainly listen. It's amazing how much they'll learn. If anyone needs to cover the phones, have that be done by team members who never get to talk to callers or customers directly. It will be an eye-opening and learning experience for them for sure.

Finally, make some memories for the team by spending some time in the service of others. Those foregone Fridays can be put to important use by volunteering, helping with community projects for local schools and charities. Over decades of doing this, I've never found a more effective way to bring a team together than by doing some giving back as a group. It's absolutely one of the best ways for your team members to informally learn a great deal more about their peers and the kind of people they're working with. And it shows how the company can make a valuable difference and an important contribution outside of its day-to-day activities.

JUSTICE EILEEN O'NEILL BURKE

 

HE LIES>>>>

 

LADY LINDSEY IS A PIECE OF SHIT AND A TRAITOR

 

ONE OF MANY SENATE MORONS WHO TOLD US TRUMP WOULD CHANGE - WHAT A FOOL SUSAN COLLINS IS

 

THROW THE CROOKED TRAITOR IN JAIL NOW

 

What is an old fashioned anti-abortion fundamentalist Christian to do?

 

IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE WHAT SHAMELESS PIGS AND LIARS EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE REPUBLICAN HYPOCRITES ARE.

 

What is an old fashioned anti-abortion fundamentalist Christian to do?

The days that Republicans could say they were pro-life and forget about the details are over.

LUCIAN K. TRUSCOTT IV FEB 24

 

The Life at Conception Act is the legal jewel in the anti-abortion crown, a federal law that would recognize a fertilized egg – Alabama’s so-called extrauterine child – as a human being with all the rights and protections provided to the rest of us under the 14^th Amendment.  The Life at Conception Act, which has no exceptions for IVF or any other fertility treatments, would amount to an automatic nationwide ban on abortions with no exceptions for rape, incest, or the health of the mother.

 

The law would override state laws permitting abortion.  In states with limits on abortion, such as a ban after six or 15 weeks, the law would cancel those time limits as well.

It’s an extreme anti-abortion law that would take the end of Roe v. Wade to the next level, completely taking away a woman’s right to control her own reproductive life in every state in the Union. 

 

For 125 House Republicans who have co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act, and the 19 Senators who signed onto an identical bill in the last Congress, the act was a no-brainer.  If you were a Republican and you called yourself pro-life, you were for the Life at Conception Act, no questions asked.

Until now.

This week the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision declaring every fertilized egg a person immediately called into question the status of all the fertilized eggs at fertility clinics in the state and caused the closing of several, among them, the state’s most prominent.  The Alabama decision flipped the anti-abortion script.  The question became, “do you support in vitro fertilization?”, and Republican hands started popping up all over.  Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, an avowed Christian Nationalist who made his sponsorship of the Life at Conception Act a signature part of his agenda which includes support for the establishment of a national religion – Christianity, natch – raised his hand along with all the other Republicans who have found “Reverse” on their gear shifts. 

On Thursday, Johnson was still pushing for co-mingling of Biblical principles in our system of secular laws and supporting overturning laws legalizing homosexual acts and same-sex marriage.  If asked he thought frozen embryos were children as the Life at Conception Act says they are, he would have high-fived you.  But by Friday evening, Johnson was fulsomely praising the very thing Alabama had just banned.  “I believe the life of every single child has inestimable dignity and value,” Johnson squeaked.  “That is why I support I.V.F. treatment, which has been a blessing for many moms and dads who have struggled with fertility.”

You will note that Mike limited his support of IVF to “moms and dads.”  Gay and lesbian couples who want children using IVF?  Not so much.

The days that Republicans could say they were pro-life and forget about the details are over.  It turns out that being anti-abortion wasn’t about the fetus as much as it was about the votes. Today, the anti-abortion movement is all about trying to find a way through the minefield the issue has become for them.  Laws about abortion in red states have turned into a pick-your-timeframe smorgasbord. 

Republicans who used to say they are pro-life are all of a sudden for abortion but with caveats.  Take Donald Trump, who this week was exposed trying to carve out a new position for himself that split the difference and as he put it, “make everyone happy.”  Trump is all for aborting fetuses up to 16 weeks of pregnancy.  Then he’s against abortion.  In Florida, they’re pro-abortion up to 15 weeks, but only for the time being, while a new law works its way through the courts making abortion illegal after six weeks.  Some red states, like Arkansas and Alabama and Mississippi and Louisiana, have banned abortion completely, without exceptions for rape or incest.  Other states have limits.  In Arizona, abortion is legal up to 15 weeks; in Georgia, it’s legal up to six weeks; in Nebraska it's legal up to 12 weeks; in Ohio, aborting a fetus is legal up to 22 weeks, but after that it’s illegal with no exceptions for rape or incest; same with Wisconsin, where abortion is legal up to 22 weeks, and after that, it’s illegal except to save the life of the mother, but not for reasons of rape or incest.

Do you see what’s going on here?  Republicans are against abortion except when they’re not.  When the vote wind is being blown by suburban woman, some Republicans find a way to legalize abortion up to some arbitrary number of weeks.  Republicans appear to be out there like fishermen, casting their lines for votes:  Hey, I got a bite at 12 weeks!  The Republican down the river hooks his votes at 15 weeks! 

They’re all looking for a sweet spot with the abortion issue, and where they land depends, as ever, on what state we’re in.  Trump seems to be betting he can con women by making abortion legal up to 16 weeks, a new number Trump pulled out of the air.  But give him some time, and he’ll find another number, once he’s stuck his finger in the air and checked which way the votes are blowing.

Whatever they pick – and by “they,” I mean Republican state legislators and governors and candidates like Trump – at the tick of the clock past midnight on the last day of that arbitrary number, the fetus magically becomes a child and you can’t abort it, because…well, because Republicans say so, that’s why.

It's going to be fun watching Republicans running for the exits from the Life at Conception Act, because last week Alabama started a fire and anyone clinging to it is going to get burned.  You’d like to think, wouldn’t you, that somehow Republicans are coming to their senses on the issue of reproductive rights, but that is not what’s happening.  Instead, they’ve got their metal detectors out and they’re waving them across the ground in front of them trying to find their way through the minefield they’ve created for themselves.

Yesterday, Republicans thought they could moderate their anti-abortion position by giving an inch on exceptions for rape or incest.  Today, it’s IVF.  But the truth is, they don’t believe anything they say about when life begins, or when a fetus becomes a child, or when a legal abortion should suddenly become illegal.  Despite the best efforts of Republicans like Mike Johnson to yap about abortion out of one side of their mouths and Jesus out of the other, abortion isn’t about morality, it’s about votes. 

Watch these shapeshifters. IVF bit them in the ass, and they don’t want to get bitten again.  We’re going to need X-ray vision to find our way through the fog of Republican obfuscation and quick-change reversals and outright red-in-the-face lies ahead of us.