More Chocolate!

Johnnie … first, thanks for the link love. Second, thanks for leading me to David Wilcox’s post which led me to Dave Pollard’s post which both talk about why manifestos don’t necessarily work.

I agree with Dave that for a ‘manifesto’ to be read, one must trust the author. And, I agree reading manifesto will not change anyone’s mind like actually living through an experience will change one’s mind.

However, I think we may be playing a game of semantics here. The brand called ‘manifesto’ is indeed becoming tired in our circles. Sure, in the early 2000s it was cool to label something as a ‘manifesto’ as it broke through the clutter. Long ago we became immune to over-promising titles like ‘100 Fool-Proof Ways to Build a Brand.’ So by labeling something as a ‘manifesto’ it became different, noteworthy, or dare I say … ‘remarkable.’

With regards to Bruce Mau’s “Manifesto for Growth” … keep in mind, this was written in 1998 … years before the manifestation of the manifesto in our circles occurred. Plus, I’m sure if Bruce Mau were to write this piece in 2005, he would surely title it something else. (‘An Incomplete Credo for Growth’ comes to my mind.)

While I do not expect the words in Bruce’s manifesto to actually change to me. I do anticipate that the words will linger longer enough within me so that when I begin to experience things in 2005, I may do things differently than I would have before. Ultimately it is up to me to change but sometimes I need some prodding to elicit change from within. Dig?

Did somebody say poetry?

I read the brochure,
I did what you said.
I was jazzed by the speeches.
And, hey, now I'm dead.

Just a little ditty scribbled upon reading this last year:

The Costco Way: Higher wages mean higher profits. But try telling Wall Street

...At Costco, it's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder," says Deutsche Bank (DB ) analyst Bill Dreher.

...Costco actually keeps its labor costs lower than Wal-Mart's as a percentage of sales, and its 68,000 hourly workers in the U.S. sell more per square foot. Put another way, the 102,000 Sam's employees in the U.S. generated some $35 billion in sales last year, while Costco did $34 billion with one-third fewer employees.

Bottom line: Costco pulled in $13,647 in U.S. operating profit per hourly employee last year, vs. $11,039 at Sam's. Over the past five years, Costco's operating income grew at an average of 10.1% annually, slightly besting Sam's 9.8%. Most of Wall Street doesn't see the broader picture, though, and only focuses on the up-front savings Costco would gain if it paid workers less....