FunnyBusiness: Everything About Business Except The Bottom Line

Trend Spotting: Baby On Board In The Office

After my daughter Berit was born in 1989 the plan was to work at home for a few weeks and then at six weeks take her to the daycare center in the same building as my office.

However, after two weeks at home, I decided to take Berit to the office.  She was an incredibly good baby. She ate and slept and really didn't make a peep. I had the flexibility to make that decision because I owned the company and didn't have to ask permission.

What I remember about that time is how much I enjoyed it. I also loved the idea that I was saving what I thought was astronomical day care costs for a baby who spent her days sleeping. That all changed at six months when Berit woke up and decided she was not a quiet child after all.

Now, 19 years later, it seems taking the baby to work is a new trend. USA Today reports

More than 80 companies across the nation allow babies in the workplace, according to Parenting in the Workplace Institute in Framingham, Mass., which says that number is likely to be low. It's an extreme — and controversial — example of how employers are seeking more ways to help workers strike a balance between work and the rest of their lives.

The number of companies allowing children at work on an occasional basis climbed to 29% last year, up from 22% in 2006, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

Next Wave of Outsourcing --- Patients

Euphemistically its called Medical Tourism, Medical Travel or health tourism. While it's not a new phenomenon there are things going on in this sector that indicate its in a transformative stage.
The under-insured and uninsured have opted to go to Singapore, Thailand or India for medical procedures for several years because the treatments are affordable. But that was a personal decision.
Now  it looks that health insurance providers are  gearing up to create an environment where going overseas for a procedure will be required.

It's starting now with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of South Carolina establishing partnerships with some overseas hospitals. So it will be voluntary ...at first. However, when you compare that open heart surgery in the U.S costs $122,000 compared to $15,000 overseas, does anyone really think that it won't be too long that a hip replacement will also mean an opportunity to see the world.

More about this trend at BlogHer Will Your Next Hospital Stay Be in Israel,Korea, Ireland or Singapore?

Does Your Health Insurance Have The Wal-Mart Clause?

Chances are your health insurance policy has the exact same clause that  Wal-Mart is using to recoup health insurance benefits paid to Deborah Shank.It's a clause that is part of most private insured plans --it's just that it wasn't a clause that was enforced.

And so goes the expression. There but for the grace of God go I because if you or a family member are in the same situation as Deborah Shank, expect the same treatment.

What the Shank Family ---in fact what many people don't realize-- is that clause in the Wal-Mart  health plan is very common. From Concurring Opinions

I wonder why Wal-Mart and other private insurers are doing this now, when the provisions apparently have been in the insurance contracts for years. One could speculate that private insurers feel emboldened to sue their insureds because Congress blessed this same practice for Medicare in 2003. As part of the same law that created the new Medicare prescription drug plan, Congress granted Medicare the right to recover its from beneficiaries who settle tort lawsuits.

Public opinion is definitely on the side of Deborah Shank and Wal-Mart finds itself once again on the wrong side of the PR story. Some of the headlines for the story:
MSN MONEY: Employers grab accident victims' cash
Workers Comp Insider:   A Turkey For Walmart
WSJ: Accident Victims Face Grab for Legal Winnings
The Writing On The Wal:  Deborah Shank Still Needs The Money More Than Wal-Mart
Crooks and Liars: Wal-Mart Sues, SCOTUS Screws Brain Damaged Woman
SocraticGadfly  Wal-Mart hits new low in hardheartedness
The DemoMemo: Wal-Mart Sucks Even Worse Than I Thought

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An IT Guy's Solution To Finding The Elusive Electrical Outlet In Airports

"Can I share your outlet?"  Startled, the woman who was busy working on her computer, looked up to see a young man holding a power strip and asking if  he could share the juice  for his computer too.

They were in an airport and she had access to one of just a handful of available electric outlets

The guy explained that too many times he was stuck in an airport and other people had dibs on all the power sources.

His solution: Start traveling with a power strip. In today's world it's not only a traveling best practice (great for hotel rooms with skimpy outlets) but it could be the fastest way to make friends and influence people.

Yesterday was a travel day. It was also a day where I was at an airport for 3 hours and needed an electrical outlet. Often I can go into a an airport lounge and don't have to worry about that. But yesterday I was at Midway -- an airport that doesn't have airport lounges.

That meant I had to compete for outlet space. Fortunately, Midway is very generous with it's electrical outlets. You can find them next to their Rocking Chairs and at the Southwest Gates there are "work bars" where you can plug in your computer and get some work time.

While the non-movable stool is further away from the bench then I would prefer, it was a great place to get some work done.

Over dinner one of my business associates said that when she needs an electrical outlet she just goes to the counter of an empty gate and works until the the airlines needs the gate again. Somehow that feels like trespassing to me

I'd much rather find the guy with the power strip or become the girl who goes up to the guy and says, " mind if I share your outlet?"

Is Rowland Martin The Only Journalist Listening to Rev. Wright's Complete Sermons?

Would you be surprised that the Reverend Jeremiah Wright sound bite that made its way around the world thanks to YouTube( and if you believe Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly their investigative skills) is not what it appears?

CNN contributing editor Roland Martin  has taken the time to listen to the entire sermon and as it turns out, those hate filled words were not The Reverends...he was quoting an  former U.S. Ambassador To Iraq.  Oh, and just where did that ambassador make those remarks. FOX NEWS

One of the most controversial statements in this sermon was when he mentioned “chickens coming home to roost.” He was actually quoting Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and deputy director of President Reagan’s terrorism task force, who was speaking on FOX News. That’s what he told the congregation.

He was quoting Peck as saying that America’s foreign policy has put the nation in peril:

“I heard Ambassador Peck on an interview yesterday did anybody else see or hear him? He was on FOX News, this is a white man, and he was upsetting the FOX News commentators to no end, he pointed out, a white man, an ambassador, he pointed out that what Malcolm X said when he was silenced by Elijah Mohammad was in fact true, he said Americas chickens, are coming home to roost.”

Like the Imus bru-ha-ha last year, the media continues to astound in its incompetence.  As soon as the videos began their viral invasion of the air waves, why didn't every news organization have a team going over the actual sermons to understand if they offensive remarks were being taken out of context?  How difficult would that have been? When you read the reverends entire speech it doesn't feel radical or anti-American. Instead, because the media treats politics like the Final Four, we get instead pundits "scoring" the event and placing their philosophical bets on how much damage any one particular event will mean for  the candidate. Have they no shame? Their incompetence is embarrassing. While I have never bought into the idea that journalists are truth-seekers, I do believe that  a minimum requirement of journalists is to try to get all sides of the story. Growing up my parents always said, don't believe everything you read in the paper. Today that goes for You Tube. What you think you are seeing and hearing, may not be the whole story. Now, how many pundits will fess up on tomorrow's shows and share that maybe they got it wrong? Maybe they jumped the gun? Maybe they didn't do their job? Let's hear a commitment from the journalists to do what they are getting paid to do. To tell all sides of the story.

Closed For Easter/Purim/Good Friday?

Few communities capture the spirit of Happy Holidays more than the community of Long Beach, New York. Depending on which page you land on the City of Long Beach New York's web site, you will get the impression that the city employees have the day off because its in observance of (a) Easter (b) Good Friday (c) Purim

Easter/Purim Celebration

That's right the City Hall  of Long Beach is closed for Purim. Really? Do they close for Purim when it doesn't fall on Easter? Will they be closed for Passover?

Evidently  not everyone in the city got the message that the city was celebrating Purim. The folks responsible for the homepage think they're just celebrating Easter.

EASTER ONLY

Others are under the impression that City Hall is closed in observation of Good Friday.

City Hall may be closed in observation of Easter/Purim/Good Friday but worry not. The sanitation workers do not have the day off. Garbage pickup will occur on schedule.

Trendspotting: Work-Life Integration

Chances are you are going to see the term  "work-life integration" popping up in more conversations, blog posts and media reports.

The term first surfaced for me this weekend when I was reading a futurist report on the state of the workplace in Great Britain ten years from now. At first I thought it was just the British term for work life balance but the report in The Guardian squashed that impression.

Dreams of a future when technological advances would liberate us from the daily drudge and allow more time for leisure appear to be fading, with futurologists predicting less talk about "work-life balance" and more about "work-life integration".

According to the Guardian report, work life integration is going to occur because of the blurring of the boundaries between work life and someone's life/life . The article says the need to  reduce the carbon footprint( who can afford to drive to work at $4.00 a gallon plus?)  or because people need to take care of elderly relatives will result in more people working virtually.

Multi-tasking  is a key element of work life integration. Go to Walgreen's and pick up mom's meds while talking on a cell phone to a co-worker.

Spend time at a swimming meet/soccer game/ballet lesson/pick the activity while sending urgent emails from your Blackberry.

Instead of having a lovely chat with a co-worker with five minutes downtime, throw in another load of laundry or unload the dishwasher.

In other words, tasks that used to be conducted outside of the typical work day are now going to be blended into the work day. Hence work life integration.

You can read more about this concept and why some say work life balance is an act of futility at my BlogHer post.

Excerpt From ROCK ON-- AN OFFICE BALLAD

Found this excerpt  from Dan Kennedy's book on life in the record industry.on Seth's Blog.  Liked it so much that I went out and bought the book.  In this one excerpt Kennedy captures  why no decision in business is an easy decision. It depicts the circular, insular, strategic, warlike thinking that turns a two second decision into the crisis of the day sucking up oxygen and morale.

First of all, before we change anything, is the light bulb really burned out? Maybe we just need to breathe some life into it; repackage it, maybe the light bulb could do a duet with somebody (Sheryl Crow? Tim McGraw?) in hopes of getting some crossover appeal, maybe it could be in a beer commercial, maybe we could get it out on the road with a brighter light bulb. The other thing to think about is that this summer, Honda is rolling out a 100 Million dollar campaign for a new car aimed at thirty-somethings who consider themselves adventurous/spontaneous but can't really afford something like a luxury S.U.V. and it might be a perfect campaign to tie this light bulb into, at least it would be the perfect demographic, in terms of age.

Also, and this is just an idea: what if we found out what video games are being released in the third quarter and maybe pitched the idea of having our light bulb make an appearance in the video game at some certain level of completion; like, you get to a dark cave, let's say, if it's an adventure game, and if you have enough points you can get the light bulb - and it would be our light bulb, obviously - and then it's easier to see in the cave. The other thing is this: worst-case scenario the light bulb is, in fact, burned out. Is that really the end of the world? I mean, maybe that's actually of more value to us in the long run: Picture this for voice over: "The light bulb is dead. . . but the legend lives on. . . re-released, re-mastered, revealed. . . the light bulb. . . IN STORES NOW." It almost makes more sense than taking the time changing it, plus, if it's dead we can sell it without dealing with it, you know what I mean? No demands from it, no hotels, no road expense, no delays in the project from its end, etc. But, like I said, I'm just thinking off the top of my head here, just brainstorming, and none of this is written in stone. But the first thing we should do is figure out how we want to handle this, because the light bulb's manager is a total nightmare and we're going to have to take a meeting and listen to him sooner or later, and we should know what our plan is before we sit down with him. And let me tell you right now that the first thing out of his mouth is going to be, "This light bulb should be the brightest light bulb in the world, and it could be the brightest light bulb in the world, but you need to support the light bulb, you need to give the light bulb TV ads, you need to be more active in giving the light bulb tour support, we need to have some promotion from your end!" and on and on. And in that meeting, if you're in it, the only answer from our side should be that we're obviously very excited to be working with the light bulb, that we don't think it needs to be changed, that the only problem is people haven't seen how bright the light bulb could be, and our plan is to do everything we can to make this light bulb happen.

I'll send out an email to everyone before the meeting to remind people of our position on this, but the bottom line is we don't have the budgets right now, and basically we need to see something happening with the light bulb before we go throwing good money after bad, but obviously we can't have the light bulb's manager hearing that. I can tell you all that I'm personally very excited to be working with the light bulb, I think it will light up very brightly, and we're not going to stop working the light bulb, in whatever ways budgets will permit, until it does, in fact, light up very brightly. . . the light bulb is a very big priority for us from the top of the company to the bottom. Period. We can talk more about this when I am back from Barbados next week, and I'm going to need everybody's help on this. I know we can do it, but we need everybody working hard.

Is Asking For A Raise Just a Big Fat Myth?

If you spend time reading blogs,magazine articles and searching the titles of self -help books in the business section of your local book store, chances are you are going to find someone who has advice to give on how you can ask and succeed at getting a raise.

Let's just say I'm skeptical on this issue. I don't think that the majority of American workers ---make that the vast majority of American workers are in situations where they can actually negotiate their salaries once they are an employee.

While there is a great deal  of opportunity to negotiate  your salary before you get hired, once you are in the system, the annual pay raise is so corporatized that it's become nothing more than a grade your "teacher" hands out .

To read more, check out my post on BlogHer.

Elliot Spitzer, Glass Houses and Mean Cats

When I was in the news business it was called "full coverage." Full coverage occurred when a story was SO BIG that no other stories could break through the news cycle..

It's a FULL COVERAGE kind of day --thank you Elliot Spitzer.

So maybe that's why when I saw this Simon Tofield video on Susan Getgood's blog -- I saw Elliot Spitzer written all over it. Do you see the connection?