Épisodes

  • I'm Mad As Hell

    I'm Mad As Hell
    Feb 3 2025
    "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore" This is a line from the 1976 movie Network. The line is spoken by Howard Beale, a character who is angry about the state of America. The executive vice president at a huge bank asked where I was from. "So you left that cesspool to move up here," he said. I said, "Why are so many of you so jealous of New York, is it an inferiority complex?" (This guy was later cashiered because of massive sexual harassment charges.) Then you have the passive-aggressive types: "I assume your daughter's school as her backup school"? "No, but you wouldn't know how good it is because your kids could never get in and you could never pay for it." My first Ferrari: "Look, you can't afford the insurance and she could never learn to drive it." Three Ferraris later, he put me into the first Bentley sports car for $150,000 to try to buy my good will. I've now had seven Bentley's. Stop taking crap from people. When the woman in the coffee shop was rude twice in a row, I told the owner, whom I've known since he opened up 20 years ago. "I'll take care of it," he said. She's all peaches and cream now. Prudence is required. I don't respond to poor driving. I don't want to encourage road rage. But I have taken movies of truck doing 40 on the main street, and a state bus tailgating at six feet behind cars. I received very thankful notes from the trucking company and the Rhode Island transit people. How will they know if no one tells them? I stop donating to causes that are poorly run, don't conduct quality events, and constantly berate me as if I'm an ATM. I hang up on every phone solicitation. The gym knows that when I'm there, if they can, they don't play rap music featuring the "N-word," or "mother F," or any other Fbomb, or calling women "bitches." That's not a matter of taste. It's revolting. Should they show porn videos on the wall, as well? I don't try to please other people's accounting departments and their affectations. They don't need a W2 from me, I'm a corporation. I don't send invoices for minor amounts. And I'm on them like the wrath of God if they owe me money past the due date. And speaking of God: Jesus said to turn the other cheek, but he never said to let them keep hitting you.
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    5 min
  • Lisa Miller on the Future of Healthcare

    Lisa Miller on the Future of Healthcare
    Jan 29 2025
    Lisa Miller is an expert and thought leader in efficiencies and effectiveness in health care, including how to sell in changing environments to health care executives (and avoid procurement, for example). In this rapid-fire conversation, we discuss the pros and cons of AI, the multitude of options, the projected shortage of physicians, the ability to obtain fast, comprehensive results, and much more. Can you see yourself in a "mini-Mayo Clinic" where machines evaluate, diagnose, and prescribe in one brief visit? Are you using the "portals" now available to quickly access test results and to confer rapidly with your physician without delayed visits and messages relayed through assistants? AI is proving to be fast and accurate with diagnoses, but it's incapable of hearing a random patient comment that might be more important for the patient's medical condition than the patient thinks, and that a doctor might well pick up immediately if present. When doctors are departing or changing their practices to escape confiscatory insurance premiums, will this "high tech" alleviate shortages or make them worse? If you're selling products and service to the health care market, you can't afford to miss this interview. (And for that matter, any market we discuss here the art of "warm introduction".) Lisa T. Miller, MHA With over 33 years of unparalleled success in the healthcare sector, Lisa’s expertise in selling to the C-Suite and deep understanding of the market and her clients’ needs have driven over $200 million in sales. In August 2022, Lisa Miller’s company, VIE Healthcare Consulting, was acquired by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, marking a significant milestone in her career and underscoring the immense value and impact of her work in cost optimization for the healthcare industry where she has helped hospitals and healthcare systems eliminate over $1 Billion in unnecessary costs. As founder and CEO of VIE Healthcare Consulting, Lisa perfected a sales framework that enabled her to sell successfully to the C-Suite. Using that framework, she closed multi-million dollar deals by helping her clients eliminate unnecessary costs, operate more efficiently, and provide exceptional patient care. Today, Lisa utilizes her sales strategy, C-Suite Selling, combined with deep industry knowledge, education- based selling, and innovative solutions to identify and articulate value propositions that resonate with healthcare executives. This approach builds credibility, addresses complex needs more effectively, and ultimately leads to higher-value contracts. Lisa’s career began with record-breaking performances as a top sales representative for CytoDiagnostics and Stryker Surgical, where she developed a profound understanding of sales as the engine behind business growth. These early accomplishments provided the foundation for her entrepreneurial success, instilling in her the strategic thinking and sales acumen that have become her trademarks. What sets Lisa apart in the competitive world of healthcare consulting is her ability to compete with industry giants and win. She has repeatedly outmaneuvered larger firms by leveraging her sales expertise, delivering superior results for her clients. This David-versus-Goliath success story is a testament to Lisa’s courage, sales tenacity, strategic thinking, and unparalleled understanding of healthcare organizations’ needs. Lisa’s success story is a powerful testament to the critical role of sales skills in business leadership. It demonstrates how a sales-driven approach, combined with industry expertise and innovative thinking, can enable smaller, more agile firms to outperform industry giants. Her career serves as an inspiration for sales professionals and entrepreneurs alike, highlighting the potential for sales excellence to drive transformative success in any industry.
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    24 min
  • Battleground States and Term Limits

    Battleground States and Term Limits
    Jan 17 2025
    A "battleground state" in a US election is a state where either candidate might win depending on the appeal to voters and for whom the majority votes. This is the essence of democracy. Shouldn't every state be a "battleground state"? The same should apply to Congressional and Senate Seats. We have Senators serving longer than many European monarchs. Will people with that kind of sinecure ever vote term limits for themselves. Let me go out on a limb and say, "Never!" The European monarchies were cast aside by democracies. We seem to be going in the opposite direction, with democracy subordinated to Senate monarchs. You think I'm kidding? The late Robert Byrd served in the Senate for 51.5 years. The currently serving Chuck Grassley has been sitting there for 50 years. Queen Elizabeth II reigned for 70 years, but the average tenure of a British monarch has been 25 years, and only 17 if you remove her unnaturally long reign. The French monarchs have averaged 20 years, but less if you remove the 72-year reign of Louis XIV. Since 2018 polling, over 80% of Americans favor term limits in Congress. Sheldon Whitehouse, one of our Democratic Senators from Rhode Island for 24 years hollered long and hard for term limits on the Supreme Court, which was too conservative for him. He has never uttered a word about term limits for the Senate. He has also fought to end the filibuster and increase the size of the Supreme Court, but he's mum on that now since his side lost the election! Were they good ideas, or was he just seeking more power? I don't think the founders left King George III to someday serve under King Sheldon I.
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    6 min
  • War's End

    War's End
    Jan 14 2025
    War’s End? We’ve honored the character and acts of Jimmy Carter upon his death, as we should. But most of the honor was due to his works after he left his one-term presidency, defeated by Ronald Regan. People voted for a starkly different candidate (as they did with Trump after both Obama and Biden). One of Carter’s great blunders was his handling of the Iranian hostage crisis, that lasted for over a year. While there was international pressure and economic compromises, the overwhelming pressure was probably from that election of Ronald Regan, who was seen as someone who would be far more forceful than Jimmy Carter. Regan fired the air traffic controllers who illegally went on strike. Now we apparently have a cease fire in the Israeli/Hamas war which seems to be due to the same factor: In this case, a threatening Donald Trump replacing a wavering and weak Joe Biden. It isn’t unreasonable to believe that Ukraine will settle its war with Russia in a similar fashion. There will be pressure for concessions, some land lost, but a way for both sides to save face and rebuild. Korean soldiers being used a cannon fodder are clearly not the answer for the Russians, not is tolerating the horrible attrition for the Ukraines. Strength, and the ability to project strength, are what enables national goals to be met and protected. What is China doing these days? Building a stronger and stronger navy.
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    3 min
  • Gratitude

    Gratitude
    Jan 11 2025
    We made four significant charitable contributions to the arts at year end. Two of the the group’s management called to thank us. Whenever I see a positive mention about me on social media, I write in to simply say thanks for the generosity. I thank bussers and gas station attendants. I thank my trainer each time. It doesn’t matter whether I’m paying them or not. People get unduly upset when people in other cars don’t express thanks for being able to turn, but I don’t let them turn in order to be thanked. And they may be preoccupied. But people always say “thanks” when you hold a door, I think because of the physical proximity. I thank my doctor and dentist and attorney. I thank people who pay me. It’s more than a common courtesy, it’s a symbol of respect and dignity. Removing used plates and leftover food is an important service in terms of a dining experience, as is standing out in the elements and pouring gas into my car. A great many people, believers and non-believers, reflexively say “Thank God” when something good occurs, from an illness recovery to a victory for the home team. But I don’t believe He is the one who’s concerned. Yet we see this desperate need to thank someone! Some of us offer thanks publicly, some privately, some often, some infrequently. But I think we all tend to exhibit gratitude when things go our way or weren’t as bad as we feared. Thank God for that.
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    3 min
  • Predictions

    Predictions
    Jan 5 2025
    Show Notes: Predictions • Both wars will run out of steam and end, officially or unofficially. • There will be insurrections in Iran. • Neither the Dodgers, nor the Celtics, nor the Chiefs will repeat. • Electric car requirements and limits on ICEs will be lifted or eased. • Retinal scanning and fingerprints will allow many to circumvent TSA. • Attempts to copyright and/or trademark AI composites of text and images will eventually reach the Supreme Court. • A betting scandal will rock professional sports. • As China’s economy weakens it will engage in more limited military actions against Taiwan. • Universities will face a perfect storm: AI will enable cheating and plagiarism, students and parents will revolt against huge tuitions, government forgiveness of tuition debt will end, there will be attempts to fire tenured professors who teach radical and biased political views, and large cuts will have to be made. The biggest threat: Remote learning which will dramatically lower tuition and enable a greater choice of institutions. • As the population ages and the Millennials rise in business, the country becomes more conservative and centrist in its views and voting. • There will be more intensive recruiting and higher pay for police officers. • Two more members of Congress will be indicted for corruption. • The Taylor Swift phenomenon will begin to wane. • The largest contribution to population growth in the US will be from legal immigrants. • Hacking will accelerate, and will include all kinds of organizations. The government will grant immunity to convicted hackers to help them combat other hackers. • The smart Democrats will realize that it wasn’t that “their message didn’t get out,” but rather that most people didn’t like the message. • Not a prediction, but a wish: Term limits for all of Congress so we can finally end the incestuous power grabbing that has undermined progress for the people. • Happy New Year.
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    9 min
  • Replacing Resolutions

    Replacing Resolutions
    Jan 2 2025
    Forget resolutions that are broken in 90 minutes. Try to focus on the good things that you do and that happen to you. Try a personal journal. You don’t have to be compulsive, but keep it handy, electronically or physically, to easily record things. These may be good acts done for you by others or good acts you perform, especially spontaneously and “in the moment.” Record experiences that were unplanned yet rewarding: a deer staring at you from the woods, a quick-reflex escape from someone else’s driving error, a baby smiling at you on a plane. We tend to default to the negative: what didn’t work, what disappointed us, what we did to disappoint others. Reverse that, and make note of the positives and the emotionally rewarding. Have you worked out without missing a session for 90 days; have you refrained from entering into a senseless argument with a family member; have you thanked someone seldom thanked who was appreciative of your recognition? Every so often, you can review your journal, not necessarily reread it all, but randomly choose some pages to remind yourself of the rewards in your life and the kindnesses you bring to others. We need to escape our “doom loop” mindsets and the normative pressures that attempt to make us feel guilty and unworthy. While it’s important to rely on others, it’s also important to rely on ourselves, and our recall isn’t always sufficiently complete or accurate. Did you throw your first snowball of the season, call a friend you haven’t spoken to in quite a while, or leave social media platforms that are simply irritating and unfulfilling? What did you do for your family, your business, your community, and yourself? Some people might call this a journal of gratitude, but I prefer a journal of reality and accomplishment. Life is not a slow crawl through enemy territory nor a random walk in the dark. It’s a thoughtful journey in what light we have.
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    4 min
  • December 25, 2024

    December 25, 2024
    Dec 26 2024
    These are times of astounding incivility, harassment, and dismissiveness. These acts are based on a posturing of moral superiority, as if mere disagreement denotes an inferior being. There is a line in Morris West's The Navigator that states: "And that's the terror of the high place and the high man. Is it God he hears or the echo of his own mad shouting?" Hillary Clinton most probably sealed her election defeat with the observation that those who would vote for her opponent were the "deplorables." This time, it was Joe Biden calling Trump supporters "garbage." The arrogance of such statements and such positions is appalling. I'm not taking a political position, but rather a social one: We understandably reject people who feel our opinion is not to be respected but immediately rejected because it originates in some lower intelligence. But we are mostly filled with hubris. We live in an indeterminate universe, acting as if we understand infinity, light years, and black holes. We know virtually nothing of its origins or nature. (A "big bang" before which there was nothing? "Nothing" has no meaning if there isn't "something" to which to compare it.) When praised for discovering universal laws of the cosmos, Einstein replied, "Yes, but the question is really who made the laws?" During a recent scientific journey in Peru's Alto Mayo region in the Amazon rain forest, researchers identified 27 new species of animals and indications of another 48, all previously unknown to science. And, of course, we have very little idea of what lives in the abysmal depths of the great oceans. We do know that we live on a hunk of rock speeding through a vacuum at 85,000 miles per hour, around an exploding star. Don't tell me you have no faith. I'm not proselytizing, not suggesting a belief in a deity is required, though I would remind everyone that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. I am suggesting that the arrogant, polarizing behaviors extant in the land are basically caused by low esteem, the fear of trying to confront the unknowable, and the comfort of kidding ourselves that we truly understand the arcane solar systems and galaxies. A little humility might go a long way this holiday season, and it just may be developed and instantiated during this time of purported tolerance and forgiveness, of presents given and received, and of church bells ringing and choirs singing, "Joy to the World." From Maria and me, my friends, whatever your beliefs, in the true spirit underlying it: Merry Christmas!
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    4 min