On Cars, Computers & Moving Beyond Blame
Global Americans are Strong Because We Have Friends. The cars we drive, the computers we use, and even the homes we live in are products of international collaboration. The people making these products span many nations and states. We are all friends in this same world, making money, befriending diversity, acknowledging the global supply chain that enables real modern-day innovation in a car, a computer, or a handheld. These aren’t just machines—they’re the foundation of our modern quality of life. Instead of dividing ourselves over ideology or politics, we should embrace the efficiency and ingenuity that unites us, and by doing so enjoy the incredible innovations of our era.
How often do we stop to appreciate the global effort behind the products we use every day?
The Power of Longevity and Smart Choices
I have been driving the same Lexus for over a dozen years—with only a second set of brakes. Each year this sweet car of mine gains in personality what it has lost in newness, proving that quality and durability matter more than constant upgrades.
Likewise, our homes should also be built for longevity, sustainability, and efficiency. My home has housed more than 9 generations of families, an impressive legacy. And yet improvement can always be made for sustainability and efficiency. In my book In Search of Environmental Excellence, I noted that in Sweden, the average home uses two-thirds less energy than its American or European counterparts while maintaining higher indoor temperatures. If this is still true, I need to call some home insulation experts for my old home. We have so much to learn from each other.
What’s one change you’ve made in your life to prioritize quality over convenience?
Frugality as a Competitive Advantage
I have always felt that global Americans can be advocates of doing more with less, not doing more with more. I created my corporation and my books to demonstrate new grounds for hope in technology, markets, investments, and corporate strategy. These are the four strong legs propelling social progress. But we also need efficient and frugal friends to win the race.
Socially competitive frugality makes friends. Whether traveling for business or making financial decisions, people respect those who make mindful, efficient choices. If I negotiate a lower airfare to speak in Istanbul or Kyoto, my hosts appreciate it. They notice the gesture and invite me back. People respect when you are attentive to their choices and are free and generous with your friends. It is human nature to be drawn to thoughtful friends, in business as well as our social circles.
Being resourceful is a competitive advantage.
Have you ever seen frugality open doors for you in business or personal life?
A World of Complexity, Compassion, and Opportunity
We started our first entry with the suggestion that we rejuvenate in joy, that we relax more with friends and family, and that we require calm and compassion over hate and finger-pointing. We end our second entry with a recognition of complexity and the need for compassion as the source of care.
Our world is complex. It is easier to point fingers than to shake hands. It is easier to imagine those from other countries as our enemies, not our friends. Yet in my experience, you cannot solve our real-world problems with a half a pair of scissors. We need all of us in order to innovate and create solutions to our global problems. That is what I mean by “moving beyond blame”.
How do we do this? I believe we need to forge a new mindset when confronting difficult issues, one based in curiosity about others and compassion for many. We’ll speak more on this in our next entry in the month of May.
What are some ways you might “move beyond blame” in your business or personal life?
Bruce Piasecki, Founder/CEO
Creative Force Foundation Inc.
For further reading:
As a social historian Bruce Piasecki recommends you read his comments in the context of coverage on the $6.4 trillion lost in the last day on the stock market. Please note, without bias or prejudice, that the USA based stock values declined 10 percent in the net while global nation based traders like those in the UK dropped only .5 percent. There is a market meaning to this social history on America’s current retaliatory tariffs. Reach back history to 1930 if you want to see this known economic and market pattern to expect next in terms of inflation and stock stagnation. Modern global history illustrates why you can not win with hate, isolationism nor anti-globalization politics since World War II”.
See www.brucepiasecki.com for some videos by readers, CEOs and Board members now posted on a forthcoming PBS show called Doing More with Less; there also find some leaders like Bill Novelli and Chris Coulter commenting on my ideas of competition, globalization, and social history in the making.
For a cartoon on Piasecki’s competitive principles, visit: www.thedoingmorewithlessguy.com
