Occupy… Something… What? I Dunno

Are you making New Year’s resolutions this year? Three years ago was the last time I did so. I worked hard at it too. I created three categories – Healthy, Wealthy and Wise – and made two resolutions in each. It was a serious endeavor. (No one who knows me would be surprised. I have been told I am too serious since I was in the second grade.) It took me two years to achieve them all. I am still tired from the effort.

Despite my exhaustion, I feel compelled to have another go at it. This time, I’ll keep it simple. My resolution is to Occupy something. I am not sure what just yet. But I will do it. I will Occupy something.

Many serious commentators have made Occupy their Word of the Year. Indeed, Ben Zimmer who heads the Word of the Year effort at the American Dialectic Society told NPR that Occupy leads this year’s voting (although he admitted his personal favorite is Humblebrag).

Occupy has several meanings, of course. I don’t mean that I will Occupy something in the conventional sense. If I Occupy my Lazy Boy recliner, that won’t count. It’s doubtful I could Occupy it any more next year than I did this year anyway. Taking up residence somewhere else doesn’t count either. I could plop myself in a first class airline seat on my way to the capitals of Europe or Occupy a suite at the Four Seasons; but, that wouldn’t capture the essence of the resolution either.

Nor, do I mean Occupy in the military sense. The US military Occupied Iraq for eight plus years. It’s not what I mean.

Occupying my time with something would not require much resolution either. I already occupy my time writing this blog and reading about this and that.

The real resolution to Occupy something requires that I embrace and idea or concept and immerse myself in it. The folks who Occupied Wall Street made a serious commitment to an idea. They physically and visibly took up residence in a downtown NY park. Their idea – and their attitude – were picked up throughout the western world and went viral (that phrase – went viral – must have been the word of the year sometime in the past).

In my professional career, I have found that for change to be effective in any institutional setting there must be a physical and visible manifestation of it. If the CEO wants a realignment of functions to be effective, he should move people’s offices around. Preferably this should happen during the work day so that everyone can see it.

I have a good friend and colleague, Larry Litowitz, who, as CEO of a manufacturing company, moved his desk to the factory floor to make sure everyone knew he was serious about getting in touch with his workforce and the need to improve equipment and safety.

That’s how you Occupy something!

So, I must decide. What will I Occupy? Maybe you can help. Any suggestions?

Say It Ain't So...

Brooklyn Dodgers center
fielder Duke Snider

When I was a kid – I mean a very young kid, grade school age – I was a baseball fan. No one talked about football. The NFL wasn’t a big deal. If you were a football fan you watched the college game. Michigan vs. Michigan State, USC vs. UCLA, Florida vs. Florida State, etc.


But, I grew up in NY where there were no big deal football teams. But there were three – that’s right – three major league baseball teams. The team you rooted for largely depended on what borough you were born in. I was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Long Island so I was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. It would be more accurate to say I was consumed with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

I remember how devastated I felt when I learned that my beloved Dodgers were moving to L.A. I had never considered the possibility. How could the BROOKLYN Dodgers move to California? It was unheard of.

Of course, it wasn’t unheard of. Just four years earlier the Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee and the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore to become the Orioles. But, I was too young to have that perspective.

At around the same time, the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first unmanned satellite into outer space. All the grown-ups around me were in a state of shock. Not me, I was surprised that this was the first. After all, I had been watching Flash Gordon and Captain Video soar through space on TV for years.

Five years later, when JFK was assassinated, I was shocked (like the rest of the nation). However, by then, I had some historical perspective. I knew that three other presidents had been assassinated while in office so, in a way, I was less shocked. I had gained that perspective by then.

The fall of the Berlin Wall

With age, comes wisdom, right? At least that’s the common belief. Yet, there have been other world events that I never saw coming. Indeed, much like when the Dodgers announced their impending departure from NY, I had never considered the possibility that the Cold War would end in my lifetime and that I would see the Berlin Wall come down.

I also never considered the possibility that I would see terrorists fly commercial airplanes into the World Trade Center. Nor, did think I would live to see an African American President of the United States. (Even the President’s mother-in-law said as much.)

It strikes me that these events are coming along at a faster pace than when I was a kid. About once a decade, I think. Does that mean that my inability to foresee them undermines the premise that wisdom comes with age? What perspective am I lacking?

What’s next, I wonder. The only prospective disaster I can see coming is the possibility of a dollar collapse because our government can’t get its act together. But, I have gone on and on about that in these pages; so, I won’t drag you through it again.

But, I have some questions. My favorite, of course, is WHO WILL LEAD? Who will solve this morass in DC? And, can they do so in time?

But, I wonder if you can help me? What are things that have happened in your life that you never contemplated could happen? Can you foresee the next big one?

If you can, please share it with me? It’s obvious that I don’t know what’s next.