Month: February 2013

EMyth’s Jonathan Raymond on Ayn Rand

Jonathan Raymond’s concise and frankly brilliant summation of Ayn Rand’s wisdom and folly:

What she had right, in my opinion, were some truths about leadership, self-interest and non-victimhood – the essential truth that it starts and ends with each of us. She helped many get clear about what it means to approach business rationally and without being seduced by “group think.”

The real tragedy was in how narrowly she defined self-interest, positioning it as an “opposite” to service. She couldn’t see how our desires to connect with others, to care and be cared about, are not pathological. That they are always and forever a part of self-interest. What kind of self-interest would possibly ignore the impact we have on our employees, our loved ones, and the world around us?

Jonathan’s full article Atlas Cared is worth reading in its entirety on the EMyth blog.

(Incidentally, I’m proud as punch that EMyth trusts Rocket Lift with their ongoing WordPress website improvements. This is the company that invented small business coaching. They embody what they teach in their day to day dealings, wear their values on their sleeves, and are a dream to work with.)

DMB Means Summer

I’m listening to Gaucho, from DMB’s latest, Away from the World…

I can feel the wind on my face, blowing off the Columbia as the sun sets over the Gorge Amphitheater. I can see the lighting rigs flash and glint as they sway above the stage. I can smell the smoke wafting. I can feel the flip flops between my toes, and the anticipation of friends huddled as we press against the fence at the bottom of the lawn. This joy will stay with me all year; the thought will lighten the darkest times. It’s the perennial, precious, spiritual thrill of summer, when the world is at its best.

“We’ve gotta do much more than believe, if we wanna see the world change. We’ve gotta do much more than believe…”