It's the economy...

Budget cuts are impending. Without a compromise soon, the bond rating for the US government will fall. The markets are taking a dim view of these dynamics... and justifiably so! The real question: what happens to stocks, the housing markets and consumer spending moving forward? Defense firms that have been riding high for a decade ... will be impacted the most. Stay tuned... but it doesn't look bullish.

Maps and Routes

This week we briefed our business plan to the Harvard Business School New Venture contest. We described a pad market that will grow to $60 billion in 2015 and target segments including outdoor leisure and military/Homeland Defense.

While envisioning an easy to use interface for off-road route planning (and selecting maps or map data) may not be trivial, the top-level interface can be captured on "story board" within a couple weeks. The true challenge is managing standards according to the Federal Geographic Data Committee and the Open Geospatial Consortium, while delivering the easy to use interface on a pad.

We're looking for GIS, GPS and map data gurus. Folks with a deep understanding of pad hardware implementation and futures would help. Outdoors-y folks aren't necessarily tech-y folks, so hitting this market well requires a dramatic improvement in approachability... visit geo-pad.com for more info.

Tragedy

Such a shame. Crazy man shoots many in Arizona, including a U.S. Congresswoman. Children assault fellow students and teachers in schools-- with pistols and rifles. Random gang killings cut innocent lives short every day in our cities and around the world.

We blame "hate language," guns, and lifestyles that make gang membership preferable to bonding with family, teachers, churches and other constructive avenues. We miss key details about why a child or person isn't connecting... about a child that doesn't connect with curriculum and other troubling problems adults have, even here in the most prosperous nation in the world.

Perhaps it is too easy for an unstable person to get a gun. Perhaps certain words or graphic language alluding to violence do contribute to senseless violence. What about the illusion some people seem to have that they have been ostracized beyond hope? Can we fix that illusion? Is the condition more than an illusion, and if so, can we improve conditions?

Let's encourage our children and colleagues to be responsible when they choose words, but let's be careful before thinking a knee-jerk, heavy-handed response will resolve trends that really are much more complicated.  See the website affiliated with my book, A Citizen's Guide to Marksmanship, at this link.

Values

In HBR, Corkindale summarizes, "leadership speaks more of duty and privilege than recognition and reward." http://blogs.hbr.org/corkindale/2010/12/2010_when_leadership_hit_the_r.html

Performance metrics for public companies were intended to drive quarterly results. Leaders were selected based on an ability to deliver these quarterly results quarter after quarter, year after year. Certainly, anyone caught in an integrity shortfall became a corporate casualty, but organizations are challenged to find a way to identify and reward an ability to understand future needs and drive activity for that future.

Serving

Raise your right hand and repeat after me: "I swear to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America...." Although Soldiers relinquish some rights to uphold your's, the traditions of military service the USA inherited from a long history gives significant authorities to commanding officers. Some due process accorded a US Citizen isn't efficient enough for the rough and tumble of combat.

These are a few expectations that you would consider a right, which become priviledges. At risk of life and limb, we sign on for a period of years, some until retirement. We do not always agree with policy and frequently have strong opinions because we live that policy on the front lines or around the world.

Integrity is our watchword, and that typically means obeying the orders, executing missions and communicating loyalty to our leadership from squad leader to President of the United States. Ask and we can do. In an increasingly complicated world, we evolve and respond. Although you can legitimately claim "there is nothing new under the sun," the words we say and way we approach problems do change.

Defense Policy

The new START treaty with Russia inspires thinking about guiding foreign and defense policy. It will also inspire thoughts on what it is to live and serve in a Democracy, thoughts about clear thinking and integrity (but more on those later).

A raging debate in our legislature regards whether to approve new START (and allow the President to put that on his re-election resume). Evidently U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemueller has been working on this for several years and the three-star general responsible for missile defense says approval is a good idea... Presidents Obama and Medvedev signed the document in April.

Proposed ammendments address strategic ballistic missiles, number of nuclear warheads on both sides and evidently missile defense developments (although many, including President Obama, claim there are no restrictions on missile defense).

If the President signed it after extensive State Department work, Secretary Gates and the Joint Chiefs say it's a good idea, why wouldn't we sign it? Why weren't prominent legislators involved earlier in the process? We might also ask about the other nuclear capable countries (China, India, France, etc.): why just Russia? There are easy answers to these questions, but finding the right steps toward policy improvements aren't easy and finding consensus domestically is never easy... never mind forging consensus within an international community.

The Wikileaks developments, along with addressing cyber investigations, illustrate the importance of an international legal consensus where laws have long been outdated. The Administration absolutely MUST be able to fashion legislation, treaty language and consensus to be effective. In comparison to other challenges we face, new START should be easy...

Brand Loyalty

Layoffs at Nokia and Yahoo are a commentary on brand loyalty today. An increasingly competitive global marketplace and lowering barriers to product substitution lead consumers to ask: "What have you done for me today?"

An era where we purchase the brand of car we always did (and our parents did) appears behind us ... while consumer electronics and web tools appear to have the half-life of a year or two. Facebook presents today's "Man of the Year," but we wonder... who's next?