I took the occasion of a night off at home to re-read my blog from last August ('What happened to Enlightened Self Interest?)...and find it impossible to resist the idea of issuing a challenge:  can we put together a compelling challenge to thoughtful Americans:  What IS IT that we want from our national political leaders?  The prospect of watching the next TWELVE MONTHS of political discourse without some strong dirction from thoughtful voters is truly sickening to contemplate.  So, here we go, putting ourselves on the line before we ask our elected leaders to do the same. I will offer this as food for thought to the best editorial pages in the country...

What is YOUR American Dream? 

What IS IT that Americans demand for our future, from elected leaders?

Be specific, be constructive.  Imagine that our collective future is on the line...because I believe it is...

There was a lot going on in Australia during my recent visit there – President Obama, Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark, finals of Australian Celebrity Apprentice…and so much more.  But for me, the hands-down best memory will be the evening I spent on

on a dark, cold beach on Sir Phillip Island south east of Melbourne (read ‘the farthest corner of the world’) waiting to see The Penguin Parade. 

Beyond the rarity of the occasion (for me, at least – turns out the penguins do this EVERY NIGHT), there were a number of profound insights I took away from the experience.  But first let me set the stage:  the island is a major breeding ground/home for thousands and thousands of a diminuitive variety of penguin. .And so every night, they are coming and going from the ocean between Australia and Antarctica.  I was lucky enough to be there during a breeding season, so the activity was hyper-charged.  

Just after sunset (so they are not vulnerable to predatory animals), the birds come ashore from their feeding/fishing chores, ambling back to their respective burrows.  They have become remarkably comfortable with human interaction, so we could literally sit on the beach and watch them saunter by within a few feet of our encampment.  Amazing!  And so, my insights: 

1. Human beings CAN sacrifice for the sake of the environment:  Tempting as it was to get a picture of this event, photography is strictly forbidden (can you imagine hundreds of flashes greeting the little penguins – and sending them straight back into the frothing surf, changing the course of nature??).  And though I caught sight of one or two crafty photographers in our group, we were remarkably respectful of the ‘no pictures’ rule.  As a result, you’ll have to take my word for how cool it was.
2.  Home really IS where the heart is:  I learned that penguins mate for life, and it was actually clear that night just how seriously this plays out.  As literally thousands of birds came on shore, they use some extraordinary senses to navigate their way ‘back home.’  The bush-covered shoreline is filled with burrows, a maze-like ‘urban village’ of penguin housing.  And just like commuters in New York, London or Shanghai, the birds move – first in a large block as they emerge from the sea, then making increasingly lonely trudges up the inclines to their humble abodes.  From our viewing area (and the walkway back to the visitors’ center), you could see and hear when ‘papa’ or ‘mama’ got home:  the squeals of happy chicks was extraordinary – felt a bit guilty intruding on their homecomings, but couldn’t really help but overhear, honestly.
3. I also learned that the mortality rate of these penguins is about 50 percent and so concluded that the drive to follow destiny does outweigh the challenges we encounter.  Said another way, the penguins face a very difficult life (breeding at least once each year, then a period of 35 days or so when eggs must be watched and warmed - a job that the mom and pop share equally – note to file); then the parents must trade off going out to sea to fish, in order to feed their young for up to eight weeks  – and this task requires many miles of swimming, then long walks back to the burrow through territory filled with fox and other predators. 
4. Good environmental policy and good business can co-exist:  according to the rangers at the Penguin site, each and every one of the THOUSANDS of penguins accounts for something like $26,000/year in tourism revenue.  More than one million people each year make the same trek I did (and it IS a commitment, I will testify, for a 45 minute ‘show’ of nature). 

Simply said, I was inspired by the ‘little people.’  I have new heroes to follow – if they can persevere, so can I. 

At the risk of seeming only opportunistic (rather than honestly reflective), I find myself sitting on an airplane in Sydney, Australia, ready to head home having missed the traditional celebration of Thanksgiving Day – and yet savoring memories and emotions of a truly wonderful few days that have me feeling filled with thanks.

I am profoundly grateful for my immediate family:  a husband so accomplished and extraordinary that I’m still surprised (34 years later) that he picked me;  a daughter who is sensitive, spiritual, smart and emotive – and who is entering her own preparation for marriage in a manner that has to make a parent very proud and happy to welcome her partner into our family; a son who is strong, courageous, insightful and intelligent – and whose passion for adventure and experiencing new people and places made my business trip to Sydney extra special (hooked up with him for some fun after meetings ended).

Our extended family also provides a multitude of blessings that lift me up:  parents whose unconditional love and support sets the standard; siblings for whom I would do anything  (and they for me, I know); in-laws of three generations in a family I’ve been part of now for almost two-thirds of my life.

For the most part, we have health (with enough history of health scares to know how precious good health really is in life).  We have experienced profound loss – this year, the passing of my fabulous mother-in-law, a wise and warm role model for me and for so many who were lucky enough to know her…and so celebrating life seems not only acceptable but gracious. 

I am grateful for a career that has enabled me (or perhaps required me) to continually evolve and adapt – particularly now as the world becomes ever flatter, faster, smaller. I truly enjoy the challenges of global-size dilemmas, organizations, and travel -- and I know that I am fortunate to have created a business that now demands we explore possibilities that expansively.  I have fantastic colleagues in our company, in Minneapolis and around the world – and so am living proof of the old adage that surrounding oneself with talent is the key to success in business.

In a life so filled with deadlines, obligations and activity, my friendships have always been squeezed the most – and so I am humbly thankful for my friends and their capacity to take me as I am:  often distracted, sometimes late.  Their investment in me is something I treasure more than I’ve likely acknowledged, but do so with true appreciation.

Flight ready to go – onto the next chapter for this very grateful traveler.

Turns out, I was on my way to Sydney Australia just ahead of President Barack Obama this week (could I have hitched a ride?)...and so I find myself surrounded by insights/observations/analysis of the United States and our role in the world -- all of which coincide with my own continued reflections on what is happening to our economy, our business performance, and the opportunities we are (or are not) creating for our children and grandchildren coming up behind us.

First, to just enthusiastically affirm the obvious:  the world is REALLY, REALLY getting smaller, flatter and faster.  Viewed through the significantly less cynical lens of Australian general media, Obama communicated here with an extraordinary level of friendly candor -- none of the 'cool' demeanor he gets tagged with at home.  If anything, media here observe that he and the Australian PM come off as 'buddies' beyond normal diplomatic niceties.  And in that friendly, guard-down communications environment, Obama delivered potent messages about just how much America understands its need for REAL friends, REAL allies with shared values - because we can't successfully be the world's enforcer of democracy alone. 

What I'm not confident Americans undertand as well:  there are consequences to asking that we get some help on the enforcement work. 

--If we want help carrying the load (and/or paying for the load), we must expect to be asked to share the decision-making and even the power moving ahead.

--If we want opportunity to explore our global economic potential via new alliances or new relationships, we must expect that others will seek to do the same - to explore THEIR global ecomic potential in this flat, fast world. 

And like all other kinds of competition (even between friends), winners tend to be the ones who are in good shape, who have a game plan that makes sense (and that all the players on the team understand and accept). 

The United States is NOT in game-ready condition:  we don't even have basic agreement about the make-up of our team. Partisan politics have replaced governance in Washington, meaning there's no willingness to agree on a game plan - no longer respect for the authority of the guy in the top job to determine that game plan.  AND THIS IS HAPPENNG right out in the transparent, global marketplace where all the other competitors can watch our dysfunction.  Makes me think about watching football on television, and how coaches hold up a clipboard over their mouths to ensure their instructions aren't getting picked up and used against them. 

No such clipboard for the leader of the free world.  But if the 'fans in his stands' at home were at least as supportive of his success as the fans watching on television (from places like Sydney), we can still make a game of it, I'm hoping.  We owe it to ourselves and our children to get game-ready again.   

Made famous by the Scottish political scientist/economist Adam Smith, 'enlightened self interest' is the phenomena of people (and businesses) making decisions to serve their own self interest which also, happily, serve the common good.  His notion:  sometimes, without really intending or caring, doing what is good for one is also good for all.  This occurs particularly powerfully and frequently when one takes a somewhat longer view:  a willingness to pay taxes, for example (as opposed to spending lots of time/money to fight them, or just ignoring them at the risk of prosecution), also means that the community around the taxpayer gets the benefit of public investment in a road or a school. 

We are living in a time when the instincts or training for enlightened self interest seem to be in serious disarray - in fact, I would argue that signs of rampant UNenlightened self interest are showing up with alarming frequency.  A few observations:  working class citizens well-served by public infrastructure and public education vote in surging blocs for politicians hellbent on dissembling those very investments, on promises of 'tax cuts' that never really reach those taxpayers (if they pay substantially at all now); corporate pay schemes drive more and more mileage between the compensation at the top and their first-tier employees, building simmering resentment about fairness and discontent in corporate life; labor unions fight trade agreements that will, over time, help create demand for products or services created in this country and increase demand for workers.  What has happened to our instinct for enlightened self interest? 

My take:  there are two key seismic shifts occuring in our current reality and the disruption to our social fabric is dramatic.  First, the impacts of a truly global economy are really starting to hit -- and while I believe in the long run this is fabulous for America's potential, we are NOT weathering the transition well so far.  In globalization's earlier stages, we (all of us, consumers and institutions alike) splurged like drunken sailors on access to 'cheap' credit (thank you, China) -- and are now unable to comprehend what it really means to have mortgaged such a significant portion of our worth to a power center on the other side of the planet. Practically, a global economy is creating very distinctly different realities for Americans:  one whole group of us is experiencing globalization as an extraordinary opportunity of new markets, new allies, new experiences; another whole group of us is experiencing globalization only indirectly, via jobs being offshored, increased immigration from corners of the world not well understood, and news stories about the rising power of countries that don't share our proclaimed values. 

Secondly, the disintegration of our middle class is also picking up steam:  and as the weights on both ends of the economic spectrum gain (working poor on one side, privileged class on the other), some critical, shared characteristics of our American tapestry are straining, even fraying badly. Nothing illustrates it more pointedly than stories surfacing this week that 'over the top' parties are back on Wall Street (Elton John entertains for banker's birthday!), even as the jobless rolls continue to beat a sobering, frightening tune in too many American homes.  The extraordinary concentration of wealth in a small percentage of our total population has begun to open up a frightening chasm in our society:  do we really have a common set of aspirations, dreams, or even fears anymore? 

What IS the American Dream?  Depends greatly on who you ask, it seems.  And in such cacophony, there is little hope of hearing any chorus offering an inspiring anthem of shared values or common ground.  The distances, the uncommon grounds, seem too challenging to overcome. But for businesses and citizens alike, the answer is NOT to pretend we didn't go on a wild bender, or to take up sustenance farming and a pledge to live more simply.  We must work our way back - grow our way back - and prove ourselves worthy of the financial leverage we created and used. We must accept and bear the consequences of our earlier decisions - and we can do so and emerge stronger than ever. 

How?  I believe it should start with demanding honest conversations about enlightened self interest (NOTE: media enterprises, you have a serious responsibility here to inform, an opportunity to engage).  Shouting simplistic, divisive platitudes only drives the wedges between us more deeply.  As numerous public figures proclaim (in ironic agreement) across the ideological spectrum, there is nothing wrong with America that Americans cannot fix -- but we need to nurture real, meaningful discussion about what future interests we truly share.  We can build on common ground from there, and I have no real doubt that our penchants for innovation, for shared sacrifice, for dreaming big dreams will carry us forward again.  

Call it fate, call it coincidence, call it whatever you want:  as our world moves ever faster, ever flatter, ever more interconnected, there is a need to explicitly call out the DOTS TO BE CONNECTED.   As marketers and brand builders, we cannot take for granted that potential for alignment between agendas, or leverage between investments will occur without some discipline and actions-by-intention.  So I’m going to start noting – and sharing – incidence of synchronicity that (might) matter.  Let me know what you think…or see…or hear.