Put Agave Nectar in Starbucks
I've been going to Starbucks for over ten years now. In that time, the sweetening station hasn't evolved very much. Here's a simple addition they could make that would make a drastic improvement to the well-being of coffee drinkers everywhere: a sweetening syrup called agave nectar. If you're a diabetic, you know what the glycemic index is. It's a numeric value assigned to foods that tells you how much that particular food will affect your...
When the Game Changes
I find history interesting because it teaches you that the changes we're facing today probably won't result in the catastrophe the doomsayers are claiming. One small example: the creation of libraries (free books!) did not destroy the publishing industry. By the same token, the introduction of the Kindle (digital books!) is not likely to destroy it in the coming years, either. People like to whine because they hate it when the game changes, especially when...
Is Google Making Us Dumb?
Back at the start of the 20th century, the washing machine was invented in order to automate the process of washing clothes. This was done because women had to spend several hours a week washing clothes by hand. I imagine it was a laborious and mind-numbing task, and I don't envy women from the pre-washing machine epoch. Now, 100 years later, we have the Internet and Google at our fingertips in order to help us...
Want to Help The World? Get a Business Degree.
Nope, I'm not kidding. If you're a freshman or sophomore in college, your major is still undeclared, and you're interested in a field that will help you make the world a better place, consider getting a business degree. I've been there before. You take all kinds of random classes in an effort to find a noodle that sticks to your brain. You try sociology, psychology, social problems, social work, etc, all in the hopes that...
There's More Than One Reason To Shoot The Messenger
Usually, when we use the phrase "Don't shoot the messenger", we do it in the interest of pointing out that the bearer of bad news isn't in any way responsible for the bad news itself. But there's another reason that a lot of us shoot the messenger, and it has nothing to do with the news itself. When someone presents us with an idea, we assess the idea and ultimately reach a decision that is...
From a Recovering Fatalist
If I had to describe myself very simply at this point in my life, I'd call myself a "recovering fatalist". I think this is the plight of a lot of people in their mid- to late-twenties. I spent most of my youth believing that we're all pretty much screwed no matter what we do in life. I still think that a lot of what happens to us is mostly attributable to luck and circumstance, but...
You Have Something Worth Selling
You have something that other people would buy from you. I'm sure of it. I don't know what it is, because I can't be sure who you are and I may not know you personally. But I think everyone has something, whether it's an idea, art, or skill, that others want and would gladly pay you for. Maybe it's not for everyone. Maybe it's only five people, or five hundred, or five thousand who are...
Red Hawk Up
The bill banning cigarette smoking in bars and restaurants in the state of Michigan passed in December of 2009, and is set to go into effect in May of the following year. Interestingly enough, there are a few restaurants that never allowed smoking inside, even before it was banned. One of them is Red Hawk. Red Hawk is located in downtown Ann Arbor, right in the heart of the University of Michigan's campus. They opened...
To Catch a Crook With Billboards
A few years ago, I saw a "America's Most Wanted" type of investigative show that details real-life crime occurrences. The episode I watched told the tragic story of a father who was looking for his daughter's killer. The police had a rough sketch taken from witnesses' descriptions of the suspect to go on, but little else in the way of leads. One day, the father has a flash of insight as he's driving down the...
Strength of Weak Ties
For several years now, sociologists and social psychologists have been well-aware of the concept of the strength of weak ties, which basically says that weak connections between individuals are often more important than strong ones. For example, you're more likely to find a job opportunity from an acquaintance than a close friend. While this holds true for interpersonal connections amongst individuals, I think there's an opportunity here for companies as well. I recently wrote and...