What Must We Do Differently to Achieve Better Results?

"Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens." -Howard Zinn

Due to current political and economic instability inside the US, people are searching for real answers to difficult questions. How do we combat the global criminal cabal now in control of our federal government? How does the nation recover from the damage done by tyrants? And how do we remain centered and sane in this time of indecency and autocracy?

Public art and cacti in East Austin

When we face these fundamental questions in business, we turn to strategic thinking and planning. We ask (and then answer) what must we do differently to achieve better results. If the strategy doesn’t revolve around change, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on. For instance, there’s nothing wrong with hoping for a Blue Wave in November 2026, but it’s not strategic because it fails to forward a change of course.

We can’t rely on the same broken systems or broken promises from broken people posing as public servants. You may have heard that Democratic Party strategist James Carville recently suggested, "…it’s time for Democrats to embark on the most daring political maneuver in the history of our party: roll over and play dead. Allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight and make the American people miss us."

Carville suggests nothing new. Democrats mastered the art of rolling over and playing dead long ago. Also, no one will miss a political party that has utterly failed to respond to The Supreme Ruler and his royal court. Here's a better idea. Let’s join the Republican Party by the millions and flood their zone with liberals, radicals, and people who believe in and vote for freedom.

I recommend a clear change of course with the potential to deliver better results, which is why we bother with strategy in the first place. Imagine what would happen if every incumbent Republican across the nation had to face pro-democracy primary challengers in 2026, 2028, and beyond. It would send shivers down some spineless spines and that’s the work ahead.

I’d love to hear your strategic ideas. Comment below or reply to this email.

❦

Considering the dark cloud hanging over America today, I'd like to offer two sentences composed in the 1940s by legendary Texas writer, J. Frank Dobie.

"Unless freedom of enterprise includes freedom of intellectual enterprise, that form of enterprise cannot sustain, much less extend, liberty. Liberty means liberty of mind as much as it means liberty to make a profit."

❦

We just watched Landman on Paramount+. It’s the new series from Taylor Sheridan, the creator of Yellowstone, and its prequels 1883 and 1923.

The story takes place in Midland, Texas, and the oil fields outside of town. It’s extremely violent and some of the characters are needlessly shallow, but I like Billy Bob Thorton’s acting and the practical worldview that his character brings to the screen.

❦

The Heritage Foundation president, Kevin Roberts, spoke to Bloomberg last month. Let’s observe a small slice of his Doublespeak:

Creative destruction is precisely what Washington needed, and we are celebrating at Heritage, the first phases of the unearthing of the grift and corruption that has happened in this city…what Musk and Trump and Vance are doing is correcting what have been lapses by the radical left, actually worse than lapses, I dare say intentional desires to totally ignore the Constitution by creating a fourth branch of government, the administrative state that sees as itself more important than any president of the United States.

This sort of post-truth nonsense is the oldest trick in the GOP playbook—whatever crimes the GOP is actively committing (grift and corruption, for instance), just say the Democrats are doing it. The truly disturbing part is how well the deception works on the American people. One reason it works so well is because we are intimately familiar with this sort of ignorant thinking in the workplace. The corporate way is a hall of mirrors and anyone brave enough to look deeply into it sees dysfunction and toxicity in all its distorted forms.

How foolish is it to believe that one man or one woman can ever match the collective knowledge of the group? It’s absurd on its face and it’s much worse in practice. The administrative state, like the staff at a corporation, is responsible for making everything work. This is why expertise matters, healthy teams matter, and servant leadership matters. Narcissists in leadership roles offer nothing but damage—they hurt people, tarnish the brand, and destroy their product, company, and country.

❦

Robert Pinsky’s poetry for the people…