Claude Whitmyer – Mindfulness and Meaningful Work

Food for Thought

You Can Start a Business or Have a Success After Age 50

A Couple of Brief History Lessons Lesson 1: People Who Started a Business After Age 50 Joseph Campbell – started Campbell's Soup at age 52 Ray Kroc – started McDonald's at age 52 Arianna Huffington – started the Huffington Post at age 54 Estée Lauder – founded Estée Lauder at age 54 Ferdinand Porsche – founded Porsche at age 56 Kawasaki Shozo – founded Kawasaki Heavy Industries at age 59 Amadeo Giannini – founded Bank of America at age 60 Charles Flint – started IBM at age 61 Wally Blume – started Denali Flavors at age 62 Col. Harlan Sanders…

2024-08-13

A Post Written for this Blog / Food for Thought

Building an Environment for Meaningful Work

Does your work allow you to alternate between tasks that use your hands and body and those that use your mind? Does your work allow you to experience many different jobs, never remaining in one position for too long? Can you alternate between solitary work, where you exercise personal responsibility and group work, where you share work responsibilities? Do you have enough responsibility and authority to effectively execute your work duties? Can you use your imagination and resources to solve your work challenges or are you forced to follow someone else's idea about the "best" way to do things? When…

2024-07-14

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Finding Meaningful Work (craft as right livelihood business).

A Post Written for this Blog / Food for Thought

What’s Wrong With the Way We Think About Business?

It's Just Business. It's not Personal. Two sets of wishful thinking have thus far dominated trade and industry: The "free enterprise" practices of "pure" capitalism, including minimal regulation and private ownership of production, distribution, and exchange. The business school tropes of profit maximization, capital accumulation, and "free market" competition. I call these "wishful thinking" because they hide the true costs of unregulated business. These include Poverty. Environmental degradation. Crumbling infrastructure. Declining levels of education. Inadequate or expensive healthcare. Lower than fair compensation to workers. Accumulation of vast wealth into the hands of the few. When the wealth generated by the…

2024-07-07

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Grapes of an abundant harvest.

A Post Written for this Blog / Food for Thought

Technology is not the focus.

It's the connection the technology makes possible Human augmentation by technology is now available to everyone, everywhere. We can hold in our hands, immense computing power. We are connected, one to another, through the global network we variously call the Internet, Web, or Interweb. This communication and augmentation means that in today's world, business can be, and increasingly is, much more than "just business." This revolutionary change is an evolutionary shift. The revolution and evolution are of connection, not technology. Technology is not the focus. Technology is the facilitator making it all possible. More each day we find the technology…

2024-06-29

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Business team meeting and working at office desk, hands top view, unrecognizable people, blank copy space

Food for Thought

Are we there yet?

What are some examples of Right Livelihood to you? What do you do for a living? What steps are you taking towards Right Livelihood? Stay In Touch

2024-03-06

A Post Written for this Blog / CW Advice / Reviews

Right Livelihood Books

With Brief Annotations I thought I'd share the book lists with brief annotations that I've created for people aspiring to Right Livelihood. The lists cover the six primary areas of focus when it comes to using mindfulness to find meaningful work. Mindfulness Compassion at Work and in Life Relationships, Family, and Community Working for Yourself and Others Active Health Practices Inspiring Stories Each book in these lists has passed the test of time and many foresee the troubles of today 10, 20, or 30 years ago. The problems have increased in seriousness, but the tried and true solutions are as…

2024-03-06

Musings on Right Livelihood

Perhaps the most influential teacher about right livelihood, for me, is Tarthang Tulku, Rimpoche, a Tibetan Vajrayana teacher and lama who introduced the Nyingma school tradition of Tibetan Buddhism to the United States. He is a prolific author and, in my opinion, gifted the world with Skillful Means: Gentle Ways to Successful Work—one of the most practical handbooks on right livelihood I’ve encountered. Lately, I’ve been musing about time, time management, how much time I have left, what exactly we mean when we talk about “time.” I returned to Skillful Means for some inspirations and thought I’d share some notes…

2024-01-26

Hello Zelle. Goodbye Paypal, Venmo, and Your Cousins

Recently I was asked why I had drifted away from using Paypal, Venmo and similar payment services to collect payments from my clients. One simple reason: Zelle. Zelle is a money transfer service free to customers of participating banks. Zelle sends the recipient a text or email indicating there's a payment waiting for them, along with a link to accept it. If the recipient's bank is a participating partner, the recipient simply needs to register for the service through their bank's website or mobile app with an email address or phone number. Zelle payments are typically available within minutes. (The…

2023-10-28

Food for Thought

Charlie Varon’s Year in Review (5783/2023)

The other day, I was looking at Charlie Varon's website for some inspiration (he frequently inspires me) and I encountered his "The Year Year in Review: 5783." That's 5783 on the Hebrew calendar which just ended on September 15, 2023 of the modern calendar. He and his collaborators created an inspiring review of the 12 months from September 2022 to September 2023. It is worldly and thoughtful and includes both good things and bad. I found it quite inspiring. You can find it at: https://www.charlievaron.com/yearinreview About CharlieSome of you have undoubtedly enjoyed performances by Charlie Varon. Charlie is an author,…

2023-10-17

Charlie Varon

CW Advice / Food for Thought

People Don’t Buy Products or Services

That's right! People don't buy products or services. They buy a way to rid themselves of: a pain a problem a challenge Or they buy to fill: a desire a need. They want solutions. They also want Courtesy Friendliness Honesty If you give them these, they'll choose you every time over anyone who gives less. My old mentor Michael Phillips taught his apprentices that the whole transaction of the exchange of goods and services. should be the basic unit of observation. This is contrary to contemporary economic theory’s focus on the basic unit of observation as money (or its equivalent).…

2023-08-16

The Wisdom of C. West Churchman

A plan that emphasizes the parts may pay the cost of failing to consider the whole, and a plan that emphasizes the whole may pay the cost of failing to get down to the real depth with respect to the parts." C. West ChurchmanAmerican philosopher and systems scientist It's always wise to raise questions about the most obvious and simple assumption. C. West ChurchmanAmerican philosopher and systems scientist We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them. C. West ChurchmanAmerican philosopher and systems scientist Knowledge resides in…

2022-09-22

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C. West Churchman

B Corps and Patagonia’s new ownership model

Client Advice MESSAGE FROM XXXXX XXXXXXX ON 09/15/2022 Hi Claude, Dropping in for some input. I was thinking of sending a bulk message to my Men's team, but I'll start with you instead since you're as badass as their combined total anyway. The Biden administration recently allocated $350 billion dollars In federal loans and loan guarantees for energy and automotive projects and businesses. That money will be dispersed by the energy department. (Side note: Critics say this looks suspiciously like what happened to Solyndra, the energy company that borrowed $500 million from the Obama administration and then went bankrupt...) Of…

2022-09-16

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Patagonia founder Chouinard

A Post Written for this Blog / CW Advice

Briarpatch, Hippie Entrepreneurs, and Open Books, Part 1

Not to long ago, I got a request from a member of the Briarpatch (the alternative business network I coordinate) to listen to a podcast her godson had created about hippies and the counterculture movement of the 1960s. The response I wrote to him follows: I'm a friend of Xxxxx's and coordinator of the "hippie" business network she has been a member of for many years. She invited me to listen to your podcast and I thought it was delightful and pretty damn accurate. As she pointed out, she was in the incubator of the East at the time which…

2022-09-05

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A Post Written for this Blog / CW Advice

Briarpatch, Hippie Entrepreneurs, and Open Books, Part 2

Of Historical Note In the Briarpatch's early years, our open books practice spread by word of mouth to counterculture businesses coast to coast. This set the stage for the launch of the "open-book management" movement popularized in the early 90s by Jack Stack and John Case in their books, respectively, • The Great Game of Business: Unlocking the Power and Profitability of Open-Book Management • Open-Book Management: The Coming Business Revolution. Stack chronicles the story of an International Harvester factory in Springfield, Missouri that headquarters was putting on the chopping block. The 130 or so managers and employees who…

2022-09-05

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The Briarpatch Book

Food for Thought

Mindfulness & Right Livelihood

Meaningful Work Food for Thought "We rush too much with nervous hands and worried minds. We are impatient for results. What we need . . . is reinforcement of the soul by the invisible power waiting to be used." Henry Ford Henry Ford is the ultimate icon of the twins genius and demon. His was a fabulous commercial success and he had a high level of concern for the welfare of his employees. Yet his factories polluted, he conspired to dominate his suppliers and crush his competition, and his people were dumped on the street if they could not adjust…

2022-08-01

CW Advice / Food for Thought

Good Work and Your Work Portfolio

There are many ways to organize a work portfolio. Gleanings from planet Briarpatch have revealed a simple portfolio model based on the activities required to become and remain visible to your potential supporters and fans. A majority of these activities involve communications in support of increasing trust, building relationships, and delivering meaningful, value-rich products and/or experiences. A Simple Model of Seven Activities for Creating the Good Work Lifestyle Think About It Write About It Speak About It Teach About It Coach About It Consult About It Productize It These activities generally proceed in the order listed, though there may be…

2020-07-01

Pushing Ideas Out to Your Community

"If we are transparent enough, our ideas gain traction from the feedback and accountability provided by those around us." Scott Belsky, Making Ideas Happen, p. 147. Overcoming the Stigma of Self-Marketing Your ability to access the resources and opportunities in your community depends on others recognizing your qualifications, initiative, and interests. Effective self-marketing builds respect. "Marketing should not be seen as fake. At its best, marketing is building relationships—and learning." Sara Horowitz, Founder, Freelancers Unionas quoted in Making Ideas Happen.RESOURCE: The Freelancers Union. (Free) [https://www.freelancersunion.org/] Stay In Touch

2014-09-17

Tips for Productive Meetings

Never hold a meeting when action will produce just as much or more. Conduct all meetings standing up (except of course, for those who are legitimately chair-bound). Let no meeting last longer than 15 minutes. Let no meeting be held without a preplanned agenda (including estimated times for each agenda item). Begin every agenda with a statement of purpose (aka the hoped-for outcome). Make sure all "purpose statements" are actionable. Everybody must participate. No spectators. No computers, phones, or other electronic digital devices may be present. Exceptions: These are allowed only if they serve a function to further the meeting.…

2014-09-17

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Make meetings an adventure

Internet Bookselling Made Easy (Book Review)

How to Earn a Living Selling Used Books Online by Joe Waynick (Small Business Press, 2011). Reviewed by Claude Whitmyer, 2011. INTERNET BOOKSELLING - The Website At first glance, when visiting Joe Waynick's InternetBookselling.Com site it looks somewhat like all those "get rich quick on the Internet" scams that are so prevalent these days. Don't let that first impression put you off. Click on the links and you'll find out just how good Joe is at delivering a detailed how-to manual for the American dream of meaningful, successful self-employment--this time as an Internet Bookseller. The website promises "A FREE step-by-step…

2011-06-03

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Another Interview about Meaningful Work

Look for an interview with me on "Mindfulness and Meaningful Work" in the Winter 2011 issue of Integral Yoga Magazine. It should show up on newsstands around mid-January. This interview came about because of my consulting practice with individuals who are seeking meaningful work (aka right livelihood) and because I am the author of an anthology called Mindfulness and Meaningful Work. (Available from Amazon). My consulting practice uses a model I developed over many years in sessions with about 500 individuals so far. I do these individual consulting sessions alongside my other careers — as a consultant to small and…

2011-01-09

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Cover: Integral Yoga Magazine

In My Own Way (Book Review)

IN MY OWN WAY: An autobiography 1915-1965 by Alan Watts (New World Library, 2007, Second Edition, 385 pp. with index, ISBN:10-1-57731-584-7). Reviewed by Claude Whitmyer for AHP Perspectives. "The reason…I became a philosopher is that ever since I was a little boy I always felt that existence as such was weird! I mean, here we are. Isn’t that odd!" Alan Watts Alan Watts is, arguably, the most influential philosopher of the 20th century. When I make such a statement to my friends who contemplate these things, the question most frequently proffered in opposition is “What about Ken Wilber?” Granted, they…

2007-07-22

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Success Without College (Book Review)

SUCCESS WITHOUT COLLEGE: Why Your Child May Not Have to Go to College Right Now—and May Not Have to Go at All by Linda Lee. (Broadway Books, 2000).. Reviewed by Claude Whitmyer for AHP Perspective . College is a class issue. Think about it. What if your child decided not to go to college? How would that make you feel? What are your beliefs about life without a college degree? What would you say? “You won’t be able to get a decent job!” “People with a college degree earn more than those without.” “The more education you have the greater…

2000-12-23

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Job Shift (Book Review)

JOB SHIFT: How to Prosper in A Workplace Without Jobs. By William Bridges. (Addison-Wesley, 1994, 256 pp, bibliography, index, ISBN 0-201-48933-3). Reviewed by Claude Whitmyer for AHP Perspective. A slightly revised version of this review was published in the Journal of Management Consulting, Vol. 9, No. 3, May 1997.Here's a book to make you sit up and pay attention. The job as we know it is dead, and William Bridges makes a good case for why every one of us, whether worker or self-employed, should take note. As he quotes from Seneca, "The fates guide those who go willingly, those…

1997-05-22

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The Warrior (Audio Review)

THE WARRIOR: Living the Fourfold Way,. by Angeles Arrien. (Wisdom Circles CD series, 1996.) Reviewed by Claude Whitmyer for AHP Perspective. Show up. Pay attention to what has heart and meaning. Tell the truth without blame or judgment. Be open yet unattached to outcome. These are the challenges laid at our feet by anthropologist and organizational consultant Angeles Arrien in her book The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary (San Francisco: Harper, 1993). Arrien has also developed a four-part CD set of guidance, invocations, and practices, with one CD for each archetype. These CDs,…

1996-09-23

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Cover: Living the Fourfold Way-The Warrior