Browsing Category

Junkyard Management

More is Less

Here’s a classic example of how Junkyard Wisdom precedes academic insight.

A few years ago I read a marketing book that cited a Stanford University study. The Stanford researcher had gone to a high end grocery store and set up a small table with 24 jams to sample. A huge number of shoppers stopped to taste the jams, but there were few buyers.

Then the researchers returned to the same store and only offered six jams to sample. Fewer people stopped to sample. But sales skyrocketed!

The obvious conclusion is that too many choices will overwhelm a buyer. Being overwhelmed, …

Junkyard Management, Random Thoughts,

Best Looking Cars Ever?

A blog titled Junkyard Wisdom should post something about cars every now and then, don’t you think? I came across this article from Popular Mechanics and found it amusing. It’s a list of the top 100 hottest looking cars of all time. A good way to waste a few minutes daydreaming.

Get a few car lovers together, have plenty of your favorite adult beverage available, and this list of 100 Hottest Cars of All Time will create all kinds of arguments and laughter. I admire Popular Mechanics for even giving it a try; it wouldn’t be easy to pull such …

Apocryphal, Belize, Book Reviews, D'Oliva Olive Oil, Family, Goble Properties, Junkyard Management, PathLight, Random Thoughts, Sabbatical, The SOLD Project, Westmont, Wine Reviews,

Taking Stock

Junkyard Wisdom is 4-years old now. Topics have bounced from leadership ideas to wine reviews, from PathLight updates to family stories, and a wide range beyond all that. All of it has reflected my range of interests and ideas.

After four years of this, it’s time to again ask what you have enjoyed most. I can easily look at the data and see what posts were the most popular, but sometimes popularity isn’t the same as having an impact. A quick example: the most visited post of all time was a book review, but that’s mostly because the author promoted …

Apocryphal, Junkyard Management,

Being and Doing

This is the time of year college seniors seek my advice about jobs and careers. Sometimes I have good leads, often I’m clueless how to advise them. So I’m always looking for insights that I can pass on.

I recently heard a young preacher say, “If you know who you are you will know what to do.” It’s an interesting insight that is true. But it’s not the complete picture.

To understand who you are, you have to get out and do a few things. We learn a lot about ourselves by doing. We gain experience and talents along …

Junkyard Management,

Social Investment & Giving

Enormous resources are poured into “social investment” these days. The definition of the term isn’t always clear, but the idea is utilizing the power of the economic system to improve the lives of the poor and the marginalized.

One significant difference between “social investment” and simply “investment” is the motivation. Social investors focus on changing people’s lives. Pure economic investment focuses on earning a profit. There is an overlap in those two objectives, and social investment is experimenting to find the right balance.

There is also a difference between “social investment” and “giving”. Giving (or philanthropy, or charity, or any …

Apocryphal, Junkyard Management, Random Thoughts,

My 2013 Predictions

A year ago I began a new tradition and posted ten predictions for the upcoming year. And you know what? I was actually fairly accurate!
crystal_ball1
Among other things, I predicted the Giants would win the World Series, the economy would slowly improve, Obama would win the election, the Mayan apocalypse would not happen, the London Olympics would be great, China will keep growing, and the Occupy folks would lose steam. Not bad!

Of course, I missed it on the Priceline Transporter, Hawaii seceding from the Union, and the Kanye West marriage to Taylor Swift. But hey, you didn’t really …

Junkyard Management,

Humorous Photo

Long time friend Brad Boydston posted this and it made me laugh out loud. Figured it was well worth sharing. As Brad said, Jeep driving is known to help people maintain a sense of humor.

…

Family, Junkyard Management,

The Murderer Who Built Our Waterfall

Taking a break from blog posts about wine, books, or spiritual insights…and sharing a story from my youth.

My childhood was a weird mix of suburban predictability and wrecking yard madness. On the predictable side, I grew up in a typical tract home in the Willow Glen district of San Jose, we shopped at the regular stores, we wore clothes typical for the era, we ate regular middle class meals, and we attended a conservative Baptist church. Life was pretty straightforward.

But there was that madness side. Dad always had some odd deal in the works and he knew some …