A MADE FOR ADULT PLAN: A WISH STILL UNFULFILLED

As we approach the sequester, I re-visit a thought piece I wrote almost six months ago expressing the hope that following the election our two parties and the Administration would come together to hammer out and agree on a sustaining plan to address the nation's challenges and opportunities. 

Sadly, it is not happening. This nation deserves and needs better. It appears that we need more pain before we take the medicine we know we need. 

I believe our leaders, starting at the top, need to sequester themselves, non-stop, to hammer out a plan and make it happen. "Easy to say, hard to do".  "We have already tried".  We will hear all of this. And more. Still, that is what has to happen. 

LEARNING FROM HISTORY-FACING REALITY

I RECENTLY FINISHED READING A SAD AND SOBERING BOOK: "THE INSURGENTS: DAVID PETRAEUS AND THE PLOT TO CHANGE THE AMERICAN WAY OF WAR" by FRED KAPLAN

 It is brilliantly researched and written and is searing in its assessment of the human and systemic frailties surrounding the prosecution of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. What is also so striking and sadly meaningful- and it is why I have committed my learnings to this blog is how these "frailties" characterize and explain the biggest failures of effort in every walk of life: business, non-profit, personal.

A Tale of Two Nations and A Call to Action

A Tale of Two Nations:  A Mind-Numbing and Frightening Picture

And a Call to Action for High-Quality Childhood Education.

There are many concerns being voiced today about our future and how it is being threatened.  A column by George Will in this Sunday’s newspaper, for example, spoke about the threat of President Obama’s ignoring “the encroached limits imposed on the nation by his policies that are funded by debt that will burden future generations.”  And yes, we must deal with the issue of our debt.

But that is not the overriding issue that will most determine the future of our nation.  That issue is whether we will come to grips with the totally inadequate preparation and readiness of about 30% of our nation’s young people to compete in the world that awaits them based on their acquired abilities and confidence.