INSIGHTS
Originally published in the Deseret News. Winston Churchill understood the importance of the built environment. In a speech to the House of Commons, he said, “We shape our buildings, and afterwards they shape us.” It’s a clever way of saying that our homes have a profound impact on our lives.
Originally published in Utah Business. I love World Cup summers. It’s a time to give your work-a-day life a pause and pay attention to what really matters in life—futbol, or what us yanks like to call soccer. It turns out I’m not alone—far from it. The cumulative viewing audience for the 2014 World Cup will…
Originally published in Utah Business. There must be hundreds of business books worthy of reading this summer. I recommend you add to this list a 1968 masterpiece I pull off my shelf from time to time called The Lessons of History. Authored by Will and Ariel Durant, this gem of a book will refresh your…
Originally published in the Deseret News Utah’s colleges and universities will graduate approximately 41,000 Utahns this year. Adorned in their regalia, the graduates will walk the stage, collect their diplomas and listen to carefully crafted commencement speeches. Among the many words of wisdom shared, I hope human kindness will make a big showing.
Originally published in Utah Business. I recently met with a business leader who shared an instructive thought about the value of diversity in an organization. She said, “When I’m in a meeting and all the people are the same, I think, ‘What’s the point?’ Someone could leave the room and you would make the same…
Originally published in the Deseret News. You wouldn’t call somebody who just won the lottery “prosperous.” They may be rich and they are certainly lucky, but they are not prosperous. Prosperity has to be earned. On Thursday, Gov. Gary Herbert hosted his annual Utah Economic Summit. Unlike his first year in office when unemployment hovered…
Originally published in Utah Business. “Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.” That classic line was made famous by Barry Switzer, the well-known Oklahoma football coach who was raised poor and went on to win a college football championship and the Super Bowl. And while I…
Originally published in the Deseret News. This week, the Utah Legislature passed landmark legislation that will improve and modernize Utah’s election system. The compromise negotiated by Sen. Curt Bramble and Rep. Dan McCay preserves Utah’s caucus-convention system, institutes a direct primary option, and opens primaries to non-affiliated voters. The result is an election system that…
Originally published in Utah Business. I read with interest New York Times writer David Brooks’ recent column on the legalization of recreational marijuana use in Colorado. In typical Brooks fashion, he “smoked” the issue by pointing out that legalizing weed makes it “a bit harder to be the sort of person most of us want…
Once a week I spend time in the KCPW radio studio debating the issues with State Senator Jim Dabakis and State Representative Greg Hughes. It’s a lot of fun and I always learn something when I interact with these two great guys. I represent the political center and fend off the extreme positions of my…