Phil Hardwick

I did it. Two weeks ago this longtime Windows(PC) user bought a MacBook . One of the most difficult things so far is discovering that some of my favorite software is not available in a Mac application, or that it is not easy to make it work properly on a Mac. Nevertheless, I am forging ahead and at this point I believe the pros are going to outweigh the cons. The experience has me looking at new software and evaluating the software that I currently use. Then yesterday someone asked me, “What technology do you use?” My immediate reaction was to say, “What technology do I NOT use?” If I had the time and money, I’d be attending the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week . I love innovation and technology. Anyway, as a result of the above, I will be posting five days of blogs beginning Monday, January 4, on the subject of which technologies I use, more specifically which software and hardware that I use regularly. You’ll learn such things as my favorite word processor,

They don't mix, you say? Consider Article 6, section 8 of the North Carolina Constitution which reads, “The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God.” Six other states - Arkansas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas - have clauses in their Constitutions requiring that officeholders, according to an article in the Asheville Citizen-Times. The article discusses the case of a person recently elected to the City Council in that city. He chose to affirm, rather than swear, his oath of office. Cecil Bouthwell has received plenty of national attention, especially from bloggers who say that atheists should not be allowed to hold office. Now for the pop quiz. What is the wording the the oath of office for members of the legislature as stated by the Mississippi Constitution? Scroll down for answer ----- SECTION 40. Members of the legislature, before entering upon the discharge of their duties,

Howard Dean , M.D., the former Democratic National Committee chairman and former Governor of Vermont, made that statement this morning (12-17-2009) on MSNBC’s Morning Joe . Dean is taking flak for his “kill the bill” comments about the current version of the Senate’s health care bill. After listening to Dean for the past few days, I am beginning to believe that he is one of the few people who really care about health care reform instead of the politics of health care reform. Here’s are a few links that provide further enlightenment and elucidation: Huffington Post – Howard Dean Debates Health Care With Mary Landrieu, Chris Matthews ; NY Daily News – Howard Dean Flashback ; AP – Dean Urges Defeat of Health Care Bill .

That question should be easily answered after reading this column that I wrote for the Mississippi Business Journal. ***** This is a tale of two dollars. One stayed at home. One went to another town. Once upon a time there were two dollars. They each lived with their owners in the small town of Make Believe in rural Mississippi. Make Believe was a nice little town. There was a Main Street that had lots of little shops that sold special items and arts and crafts and catered to people who drove through town. There was also a grocery store. There was even a doctor in Make Believe. It was a nice little town that was enjoyed by all its residents, none of whom wanted it to change. This story of the first dollar is easy to tell. Its owner placed it snugly in her purse and drove 45 minutes to a nearby, larger town with a shopping mall. The owner stayed all day at the mall and spent the entire dollar on things bought in stores owned by big corporations in faraway states. Part of the first littl

The secret to escaping poverty is no secret at all, according to  Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill in their new book Creating an Oportunity Society .   Those who finish high school, work full time and marry before having children are virtually guaranteed a place in the middle class. Only about 2 percent of this group ends up in poverty.  They say that there are three things that the government could do to reduce poverty.  (1)   Improve public education : Expand pre-school programs, implement national achievement standards and establish more "paternalistic" charter schools. Provide low-income and minority pupils with better college-prep services. (2)   Encourage work : Enlarge the size and scope of the Child Tax Credit, increase child-care funding and bolster job-training programs. Building on the successful Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and experiment with "EITC-type wage supplements" for workers who either don't have children or don't have custody of thei

The lack of citizen participation in government at all levels has been lamented many times. Often, elected officials will merely announce that they welcome comments and ideas about new inititives - and they usually mean it. However, citizens who submit ideas never realy know if their ideas were considered or even received. They certainly do not know what ideas other citizens might have submitted. Perhaps technology can improve the situation. An example can be found in Seattle, Washington, where the new mayor is using the Internet to ask for advice from citizens. It's called Ideas for Seattle , a Web site where citizens can contribute new ideas for the future of the city and vote on ideas submitted by other citizens. Check it out at www.ideasforseattle.org .

Today I'm off to the Better South conference at Davidson College in North Carolina. Special conference to focus on developing Southern agenda • Download the Briefing Book • Read the news release • Visit the conference Web site NOV. 4, 2009 -- More than three dozen thinkers from across the South will gather this weekend for a two-day conference to develop an "Agenda for a Better South" that seeks to inspire Southern leaders to move the region forward. ( Read the news release ) "In our increasingly partisan and media-saturated world of small so

Last week TARP Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky issued a report that “blasted” the Tresury Department’s handling of the $700 billion bailout program. An article in USA TODAY provides a good summary. There is a lot to read in the report, but a comment made by the IG relates to something that this writer believes is at the root of where the United States is today. He said (emphasis added) that, Treasury’s failure to provide more details about the use of TARP funds has helped damage “the credibility of the program and of the government itself, and the anger, cynicism, and distrust created must be chalked up as one of the substantial, albeit unnecessary, costs of TARP.” By the way, did you know that the Special IG has a Web site where you can sign up for reports, press releases , etc. from his office?

I've seen research reports that put the failure rate of strategic plans as high as 80 percent and as low as 30 percent. How can there be such a wide difference? Well, the discrepancy in those rates is easily understandable when one looks behind the numbers. It's not that the researchers looked at the same data and came up with different conclusions. It's more about who was was surveyed and how the survey was conducted. One recent survey "of 163 executives" reported that the respondents said that 82 percent of strategic plan failure was preventable and offered the following reasons for why strategic plans fail: 1. Failure of unforseen external circumstance (24%); 2. lack of understanding among those in developing the strategy and what they need to do to make it successful (19%); 3. the strategy itself is flawed (18%); 4. poor match between the strategy and core competencies of the organization (16%); and 5. lack of accountability or holding the team

Yesterday I discussed how communities and organizations are often seen as having human characteristics. I also suggested an exercise for your staff meeting to discuss what your organization would look like as a person. The primary reason for the exercise is to gauge how your employees perceive your organization. It could also be used to determine how your customers or the community in general perceives your organization. The point is not so much how your organization is perceived as it is whether different groups see the organization in the same way. For example, let’s say that your organization had 30 offices. Going through this exercise in every office would be valuable because it would reveal whether different offices see the organization in the same. If one office describes the organization as an old lady, and another described it as a young man then clearly there is something going on. In this case the exercise reveals that the organization apparently has an internal commun

Don’t you just love those mac vesus pc commercials? Especially the mac ones that portray mac as a young, hip dude and pc as the suit-wearing, paunchy salesman? Regardless of which computer system is better it must be admitted that by assigning human images to a product an impression has been created about the product. And so it is with communities. Cities and towns are often perceived as having human attributes. For example, would you say that Austin, Texas is young and hip or old and out-of-touch? How about Detroit? Or Miami? Or Atlanta? There is an interesting exercise that I use in my strategic planning retreats that relates to this phenomenon. I assign breakout groups the task of describing their community or organizations as though it was a person. Usually I will ask them to come up with the following characteristics: age, race, gender, vacation preference, last book read, political views, type of vehicle driven and favorite restaurant. The results are always fascinating. Want to

What is asset mapping? “Asset mapping” is the current buzzterm in economic and community development. Everywhere I turn it seems that I find that organizations and communities are doing asset mapping. So, exactly what is asset mapping? There are no shortage of definitions. Consider: A disciplined, structured process of listing key community features in spreadsheet format designed to discover unique and unknown assets. Mapping should always be contained within a defined geographic boundary - ConnectSI (Southern Illinois – 20 county collaborative) An asset map is an inventory of the strengths and gifts of the people who make up a community. Asset mapping reveals the assets of the entire community and highlights the interconnections among them, which in turn reveals how to access those assets. – Northwest Regional Education Laboratory At its most basic level, the asset mapping process will provide leaders with an inventory of key resources that can be utilized in a development effort. A

Interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal about why it appears that most college football coaches vote Republican.  It should be fodder for plenty of discussion, especially the comments of Coach Lou Holtz: Mr. Holtz, who coached Notre Dame to its last national championship in 1988, draws a parallel between the standards and rules that most coaches set for their players and the Republican vision of how American society ought to operate. "You aren't entitled to anything. You don't inherit anything. You get what you earn—your position on the team," Mr. Holtz said. "You're treated like everybody else. You're held accountable for your actions. You understand that your decisions affect other people on that team…There's winners, there's losers, and there's competitiveness."

From the August 31 edition of Internet World Stats News comes the following: The new total for the world population is estimated at 6,767,805,208 persons for mid-year 2009. This represents an increase of 91,684,920 persons, a 1.4% population increase since one-year ago. On the other hand, our mid-year 2009 estimate for world Internet users is 1,668,870,408. Internet penetration is 24.7%. This means that approximately one out of every four persons in the world uses the Internet. The new user distribution by geographic regions can be observed in the world stats table .

I did an Internet search for "why strategic plans fail," and was presented with one post that purported to contain the top five reasons and one post that contained 37 reasons. The latter was a blogger who said that he was asking his clients to give him more reasons so that he could have 50 reasons. Perhaps I'm oversimplifying this subject, but I am of the opinion that there are two main reasons why strategic plans fail. This assumes that the plan is sound in the first place. The first reason is that no one is responsible for achieving the goals and the second reason is that there is no accountability. If I had to add a third reason, it would be that the environment has changed. Speaking of strategic planning, I'll be conducting a workshop presented by the Stennis Institute of Government on "How to facilitate a strategic planning retreat" on Thursday, September 3, in Jackson. More information about that at the Stennis Institute Web site training page .

Stories are powerful when used correctly in meetings. Not just any story though. Stories should have certain characteriestics. Professor Stew Friedman of Wharton's Leadership Program says that the use of stories can provide valuable leadership lessons and opportunities. Here's his advice: A good leadership story has the power to engage hearts and minds. It has these six crucial elements: Draws on your real past and lessons you've learned from it. Resonates emotionally with your audience because it's relevant to them. Inspires your audience because it's fueled by your passion. Shows the struggle between your goal and the obstacles you faced in pursuing it. Illustrates with a vivid example. Teaches an important lesson.

A meeting was held in Clarksdale last week to discuss the future of the community after a local company closed its doors and left 76 workers without jobs. The Clarksdale Press Register article provides a good summary of the meeting and the various perspectives of the public officials and community leaders. Opinions ranged from looking on the bright side for what we had to blaming the media. Pete Johnson, former co-chair of the Delta Regional Authority had this observation: “For us to sit here and think we are not on the road to extinction we are kidding ourselves,” said Johnson after discussing the dramatic population declines in Clarksdale and other rural cities. “We are looking at a 40 year trend in rural America and it seems nothing is going to change that trend. Why do we sit here and think we can hope for an automobile plant or hope for these other things. Hope isn’t going to feed this gentleman’s family that just got laid off.” The data support Johnson’s comments. Eleven c

IRS Press Release- The Internal Revenue Service today announced the availability of video and audio products to help taxpayers take full advantage of the 2009 tax provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The IRS has launched a YouTube video site and an iTunes podcast site to better serve taxpayers. People can visit the video site at www.youtube.com/irsvideos to view information about the Recovery, tax tips and how-to videos. These videos will be in English, Spanish, American Sign Language and other languages. The YouTube focus will be on the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Videos will highlight the $8,000 first-time homebuyer’s credit for those who purchase a house this year, the sales or excise tax deduction on new car purchases and the expanded credits for education and energy conservation. The IRS YouTube channel will debut with seven Recovery videos in English and ASL and eight in Spanish. Also, included will be a video on using the IRS W

Yesterday someone told me that I seemed so natural and at ease speaking before a group that it must come naturally. Ha! Early in my career I was so afraid of public speaking that I took a speech course at a local community college to force myself to talk in front of a group. And then I practiced, practiced, practiced before giving a speech. Some would call it deliberative practice , the idea that experts in many fields of endeavor, especially sports, concentrate relentlessly on technique as opposed to outcome, set specific goals and get feedback and use it. A-Rod , Tiger Woods , Michael Jordon and Jay Leno come to mind. Jay Leno? Yes, Jay Leno. An article in today’s Wall Street Journa l says that in preparation for his upcoming primetime show Leno - He arrives at NBC Burbank studios at 8 a.m., an hour before anyone else. He spends his days involved in details like designing the seating layout for the new studio. To tune his act, he has done almost weekly stand-up performances at

With colleges starting back this month it is useful to look at the earning potential of various degrees. According to a recent survey , below are the Top Ten and Bottom Ten degrees. If your degree is not listed below check out the complete list at Payscale.com . Top Ten Starting Mid-Career Aerospace Engineering $59,600 $109,000 Chemical Engineering $65,700 $107,000 Computer Engineering $61,700 $105,000 Electrical Engineering $60,200 $102,000 Economics $50,200 $101,000 Physics $51,100 $98,800 Mechanical Engineering $58,900 $98,300 Computer Science $56,400 $97,400 Industrial Engineering $57,100 $95,000 Environmental Engineering $53,400 $94,500 Bottom Ten Starting Mid-career Drama $35,600 $56,600 Fine Arts $35,800 $56,300 Hospitality and Tourism $37,000 $54,300 Education $36,200 $54,100 Horticulture $37,200 $53,400 Spanish $35,600 $52,600 Music $34,000 $52,000 Theology $34,800 $51,500 Elementary Education $33,000 $42,400 Social Work $33,400 $41,600

One recent morning I received an e-mail inviting me to attend an event that was to occur in a couple of days. The invitation was from a community leader who had formed a monthly discussion group regarding an issue that was important to the community. Indeed, this person is what I would call a great community builder. I had been to the discussion group a year earlier and found it well-intended, but lacking very much honesty among the discussants, myself included. I decided to give it – and me – another chance even if I had to squeeze it in around other appointments. Now to make my reservation. I was already feeling better for making the decision to attend. The e-mail message instructed me call a certain person at a certain number. I called and asked to speak to the designated person. A rather gruff voice said, “She’s not here. Would you like her voicemail?” I replied in the affirmative and was connected to the voicemail of a man who was obviously not the right person. I hung u

What’s in a name? A lot if your town’s name is Sturgis. (photo courtesy Steve Corbitt) During the weekend of August 15-16, 2009 thousands of motorcyclists (bikers) descended on towns named Sturgis. The Grandaddy of course is Sturgis, South Dakota where bikers congragate for a full week of activities. Statistics are not in yet for this year, but in 2008 there 400,000 in attendance, 66 marriage licenses issued, $10.45 million in taxable sales, $418,932 South Dakota sales taxes collected, $217,213 Sturgis city sales taxes collected and 543 tons of garbage hauled. The event has grown so big that other towns in the U.S. named Sturgis have been having there own biker festivals during the same weekend. More… In Sturgis, Mississippi over 850 bikers pre-registered for the event, and many more showed up without being pre-registered. Sturgis Mayor Walter Turner said the event is great for the city and the bikers and families are welcome. In advance of the even city crews performed such tasks

The latest Harris Poll lists the Most Prestigious Occupations. The Top Five are: Firefighter Scientist Doctor Nurse Teacher The bottom four are: Real estate agent/broker Accountant Stock broker Actor

What would happen if one of the greatest musicians played on a street corner in your town - anonymously! Joshua Bell is one of the world's greatest violinists. His instrument of choice is a multimillion-dollar Stradivarius. If he played it for spare change, incognito, outside a bustling Metro stop in Washington, would anyone notice? The Washington Post found out. Click here for the rest of the story

A national survey of 1,817 teens, conducted by Search Institute – Teen Voice 2009: The Untapped Strengths of 15-Year-Olds – finds that a majority of 15-year-olds lack high levels of each of the concepts: “sparks,” “teen voice” and “relationships and opportunities.” These three factors, when experienced at high levels and combined, provide young people the support they need to set and keep a positive course in the midst of a critical time in their lives. More...

The Mississippi Municipal League conference on the Gulf Coast opened with a parade of city flags. Some of the city officials in towns without flags wished they had a city flag. What makes a great flag? The answer to that question can be found in a great little booklet compiled by Ted Kaye and published by the North American Vexillological Association. Here are the five basic principles to create an outstanding flag for your organization, city, tribe, company, family, neighborhood or even country: 1. Keep It Simple – the flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory; 2. Use Meaningful Symbolism – the flag’s images, colors or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes; 3. Use Two or Three Basic Colors – Limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which will contrast well and come from the standard color set; 4. No Lettering or Seals – Never use writing of any kind or an organization’s seal; and 5. Be Distinctive or Be Related – Avoid duplicating other flags

There were quite a few inaugurations in Mississippi last week. At most, if not all, of them a prayer were delivered by a local minister. Even Presidential inaugurations feature a prayer. Steve Waldman, Editor-in-Chief of Beliefnet , has performed a great public service by collecting the texts of all Presidential inaugural prayers from 1937 to date. Click here to read them.

Information about how to apply for broadband funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. AGENCIES : Rural Utilities Service (RUS), Department of Agriculture, and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and solicitation of applications. SUMMARY: RUS and NTIA announce general policy and application procedures for broadband initiatives established pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). RUS is establishing the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) which may extend loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in rural areas. NTIA is establishing the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) which makes available grants for deploying broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas in the United States, enhancing broadband capacity at public computer centers, and promoting sustainable

The Two Most Admirable Qualities in a Leader When asked what they look for and admire in a leader and in a colleague, people put honesty at #1 . But the second-highest requirement of a leader — that he or she be forward-looking — wasn’t applied to colleagues. 72% of respondents wanted leaders to be forward-looking, but only 27% looked for that trait in a colleague. SOURCE: “To Lead, Create a Shared Vision” in Harvard Business Review , January 2009

Posted by philhardwick on June 29, 2009 There seem to be weekly snapshot pools on what people think of health care reform. A better tool, in my opinion, for guaging the public sentiment on this issue is a report prepared for the Kettering Foundation that was released June 19, 2009 at briefings in Washington, DC. The Stennis Institute held one of the forums last year for this report. Here’s more info about the report: The report, titled Public Thinking about Coping with the Cost of Health Care: How Do We Pay for What We Need , presents outcomes of the 2008 National Issues Forums (NIF) where participants used the issue book titled Coping with the Cost of Health Care: How Do We Pay for What We Need? in deliberative public forums around the country. The following are excerpts from the report’s executive summary. This report examines public thinking about the rising cost of health care–the values, thoughts, insights, and struggles voiced by a diverse collectio