Occupy Chicago - One Year Later

A few weeks ago I attended the Occupy Chicago General Assembly in an attempt to understand what the organization had been doing over the last year. The Occupy Movement, started as "Occupy Wall Street" in New York City, fell out of the mainstream spotlight as the winter weather and presidential politics overwhelmed the protestations of "the 99%" against the control of the elite. I joined some friends at one of the events that Occupy Chicago held last fall in Grant Park, and remembered thinking that this movement would last as long as it had the ability to bring large crowds to conspicuous locations in Chicago, Oakland, Zuccotti Park, and beyond. But I doubted its ability to survive the winter.

Food Trucks, False Facts, & Fair Play

This week, the Chicago City Council passed new regulations for the hundreds of food trucks that shuttle about serving tasty offerings to busy workers and curious passerbys. The bureaucracy of the city, along with many of the major media outlets, is claiming this to be a step forward for the city, bolstering the city's position as a progressive supporter of innovative entrepreneurs. I had the opportunity to speak with several food truck owners this week, who painted a much more grim picture of the landscape.

Innovation Stagnation - Set Knowledge Free

Trade secrets. Proprietary knowledge. Insider information.

Corporate America is notoriously tight fisted with their secret sauces. A company figures out some competitive advantage within the production of their widgets, then they horde that knowledge, unwilling to let anyone outside their W2's know about that bit of knowledge that sets them apart.

It makes sense, right? Protect what makes you money. Hire the top talent, who will hopefully keep your company on top, attempting to keep things fresh with the same intellectual ingredients.

Lunch on a Sunny Afternoon

It is all too common that, on any given weekday, my waking hours are spent rushing from home to office, appointment to conference in a flurry of corporate glad-handing and client-serving correspondence. The meantime is riddled with conference calls and emails, techno-jargon and corporate-America productivity babble. The days are a whirlwind of faux-synergy and rarely are the emergencies my clients present me anywhere near the panic level they assume.