Colin Wright's Blog, page 45

Skill and Capability

Some of the most driven people in the world spend their lives honing the skills they possess. Sharpening and sharpening until those skills become truly useful tools that can change the world around them for the better.

Even more useful than skills, however, is general capability. Being capable means that one is able to make things work. It means that if something needs to be done, it gets done, regardless of whether the person responsible for it has the necessary skill to do so at first. That...

Talking Animals

It’s recently come to light that both whales and elephants may be trying to talk to us.

The evidence at this point is incredibly anecdotal, and the publicity could very well be the effort of some interest group or another, but the concept alone raises an interesting point.

What if we learned — today — that some species of non-human animals were capable of sentient thought? That they were trying to talk to us?

It’s a difficult question, and one that may not be answered the way most people think....

Empty Brands

You can tell an empty brand from a full one by looking at the intersection of who or what they say they are, and what they actually do.

A restaurant can make use of the colors, marketing, hiring practices, and prices of a healthy, all natural, ground-to-plate endeavor, but in practice their food can be unhealthy, their suppliers inhumane, and their sanitation suspect.

A politician can be declared a man of the people, a champion of local businesses, and a righter of wrongs, despite having always...

Loyalty or Happiness

Brand loyalty demands that you keep buying products from a specific company no matter what. You like the brand, so why wouldn’t you support their efforts?

Think on that for a moment. Brand loyalty means that even if another brand has a superior product, you’ll continue to buy the inferior one. In fact, it generally means you won’t even acknowledge the other product’s superiority (or existence) in the first place. You’ll spend your money where you’ve spent it before because that’s where you’ve...

Not Capitalism

It’s not capitalism when a company or industry hamstrings new competitors — capitalism means competition in value creation, not lawsuits and abusive legalities.

It’s not capitalism when non-competitive products or services are given advantages to keep things ‘fair.’ Capitalism isn’t fair — the superior products and services win out, and those who can’t keep up are outpaced and scrapped for parts.

It’s not capitalism when a dominant product or service maintains high prices due to a lack of compe...

Offenseless

The best way to shut down a discussion is to become offended.

Taking offense halts the distribution of ideas, and any further interactions are clouded by one or both parties trying not to cause further offense, or steeling themselves against perceived onslaught.

And that’s the issue: the onslaught is perceived, not legitimate.

An insult about our religion, politics, families, opinions, or some other aspect of ourselves can seem like a truly heinous act in the moment, but ask yourself: is it real...