tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61367719147299552042024-03-12T20:18:17.695-07:00Everyday 2 CentsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00690295036197524447noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6136771914729955204.post-1386637076459109702015-11-22T17:14:00.001-08:002015-11-22T17:33:09.692-08:00Lung Cancer: Who Cares?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><b>By mid-century, a known worldwide
disease, lung cancer, will likely cause an additional 54 million deaths across
the globe.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">The number of lives taken will be
greater than the total death count of soldiers and civilians from all nations
killed during World War II; will be more than 3x the death toll of all
international wars of the last 60 years; more than 15 million casualties
greater than the total deaths of the international AIDS crisis since its start
in 1981; and will be equivalent to losing the combined populations of Beijing,
Los Angeles, Cairo and Rome.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Should we care? I tend to think we
should.</span></div>
<h4 style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Worldwide scope</span></b></h4>
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<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Internationally, lung cancer now causes <b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">1.6 million deaths annually</span></b>. It’s the most common
cancer worldwide, and kills more people (27%) than any other cancer. Its death
toll annually is greater than the total deaths caused by colon cancer, breast
cancer and prostate cancer combined.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Among the top 10 leading causes of death
worldwide, lung cancer is number five. Cardiovascular disease continues to be
the number one killer, followed by stroke, chronic obstructive lung disease (a
heavy risk factor for lung cancer itself), and lower respiratory infections.
After lung cancer are HIV/AIDS, diarrheal diseases, diabetes mellitus, road
injuries and hypertensive heart disease.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">While the five-year survival rate is 54
percent for cases detected, that’s only when the disease is localized within
the lungs. Only 15 percent of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at that early a
stage. The five-year survival rate drops to just 4% once the primary lung
cancer has spread to other organs.</span><br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></b>
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<h4>
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">$6.4 Trillion Economic Impact by 2050</span></b></h4>
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<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">According to a 2010 research study, The Global Economic Cost of Cancer, issued by the American Cancer Society and LIVESTRONG, the annual worldwide economic impact of lung cancer is $188 billion. Next in line was colorectal cancers ($99 billion) and breast cancer ($88 billion). So it is possible we can expect a minimum worldwide economic toll of another $6.4 trillion by 2050.</span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">
The Smoking Gun?</span></h4>
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<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">No news here that the greatest negative
force involved in lung cancer incidence is smoking. The American Lung
Association estimates that active smoking is responsible for close to 90% of lung
cancer cases. Other interrelated risk factors include exposures to radon,
outdoor air pollution, asbestos, uranium, and radiation treatment to the chest
(for diseases like breast cancer or lymphoma).</span></div>
<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">
</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">But while quitting smoking can decrease
your risk, the devil is in the details. It depends on your age, the number of
years smoked before quitting, and how many cigarettes you smoked each day on
average.</span><br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">As many as 20% of those who die of lung cancer annually never
smoked or used tobacco.</span></b><span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"> According
to the American Cancer Society, “If lung cancer in non-smokers had its own
separate category, it would rank among the top 10 fatal cancers in the United
States.”</span></div>
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<h4>
<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">The Woman’s Cancer?</span></h4>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Most of us are grateful the breast cancer movement has
succeeded so well in generating funds and awareness. Yet breast cancer is not
actually the top women’s cancer. <b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">More women die from lung cancer
than breast cancer and ovarian cancer deaths combined.</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">But in a survey conducted by the
American Legacy Foundation, 80 percent of American women believe that breast
cancer is the primary cause of cancer death among women. More worrisome is that
experts predict a rising epidemic of female lung cancer. Incidence rates among
women could quadruple by 2040 according to one source, for reasons including:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; text-indent: -0.25in;">Young women
have started smoking at younger and younger ages.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; text-indent: -0.25in;">A women who
smokes the same number of cigarettes as a man is twice as likely to develop
lung cancer because men have a greater ability to detoxify toxins.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; text-indent: -0.25in;">Estrogen
increases cancer incidence and growth.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">A Silent Parade</span></b></span></h4>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">With such an impact, why isn’t lung
cancer getting the attention and funding it seems to deserve? Where are the
huge fundraising walks, runs, nightly news stories, advocacy efforts, celebrity
stories of hope and cause-related fundraising programs at every retail store
counter?</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Sadly, there is no “mass movement”
because…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">1) There are very few lung cancer
survivors to lead activities, fundraising or large-scale advocacy.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">2) About two out of three lung cancers
are diagnosed in people over age 65, and the average age at diagnosis is 71. 6
So our small number of survivors are often too tired or in poor health,
mentally and/or physically to lead the movement anyway. In comparison, 34% of
all invasive breast cancer incidences occur in women under age 55, and 12% of
those women are younger than age 45.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">3) Lung cancer continues to have its
usual stigma related to cigarette smoking. The “they got what was coming to
them and should have known better” issue.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">4) Nearly 80% of the more than 1
billion smokers worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries. At the
local level, this relation to low income and limited education also exists. It
means that a great percentage of smokers and eventual lung cancer patients are
poor, have little education, money, power or influence.</span></div>
<h4 style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Funding Discrepancies</span></b></h4>
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<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Using our war analogy again only for a
comparison, total global defense spending annually is about $2 trillion. In
comparison, we spend $750 million annually across the world on lung cancer
research.</span><br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">That’s 62% less funding each year for a killer we know about, and
who we know will successfully kill 1.6 million people across the globe next
year</span></b><span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">, and another 1.6
the year after that, and the year after that, and so on.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">In more everyday context, the tobacco
industry itself had a value of over $40 billion last year internationally. Our
international lung cancer commitment in the same period was 2% of that.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Less deadly, coffee sales worldwide are
more than $80 billion annually, and ice cream sales worldwide are over $74
billion. In context of dollars and cents only, lung cancer research got 1% as
much money as either of those sales figures. While it’s an apples to bananas
comparison, it does show economic perspective at simply a consumer spending
level.</span></div>
<h4 style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">So Who Cares?</span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">I’m not an advocate for aggressive
military and defense budget chops. And I like coffee and ice cream (a bit too
much). But I join with others who believe it is past time to take lung cancer
much more seriously. Not as a single nation, but as a world of intelligent
people. Frankly the numbers speak for themselves.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Awareness campaigns are still needed.
Organizational or small- to mid-size collaborative research projects are
inspiring and helpful. But however “promising” and hope-filled they seem, they
are inadequate to make the major impact needed.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">An unprecedented international
collaboration and commitment of magnitude, resources and leadership is what is
needed. The kind that wins not just battles, but wars.</span></div>
<h4 style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Progress Being Made</span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">I consider there to be three interwoven
areas in this war:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; text-indent: -0.25in;">Catch lung
cancer earlier while it is still treatable and either pre-cancerous or stage I.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; text-indent: -0.25in;">Create
better, less toxic, less invasive treatments that have longer efficacy.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; text-indent: -0.25in;">Prevent
lung cancer from happening in the first place.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; text-indent: -0.25in;">The good news is that we are
doing well at the first two.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h4 style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Catching it Faster</span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Autofluorescence bronchoscopy is being
used in many locations to help find some lung cancers earlier. So is low-dose
computed tomography (LDCT) and spiral CT scanning (also called helical computed
tomography). Spiral CT is used to help diagnose, plan treatment, and to monitor
treatment progress or challenges.</span><span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Improved screening and its research movement began just several
years ago. I was thankful to play a small part in one effort, the creation and
funding of the </span><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #8c68cb; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><a href="https://www.roswellpark.org/cancer/lung/stacey-scott-registry/registry-team">Stacey Scott Lung Cancer Registry</a></span><span id="goog_688242996" style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"></span><span id="goog_688242997" style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/" style="font-family: arial;"></a><span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">. The registry was one
of the first international collections of biologic samples and corresponding
scan and lifestyle data from high-risk patients at partner cancer centers in
the United States, Canada, and Europe for research.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) in
high risk adults aged 55 to 80 years old is now recommended for individuals
with a 30 pack-year smoking history and who currently smoke, or have quit
within the past 15 years. This recommendation also took time to get wide
adoption. In America alone, it is still endorsed by only 8 of 9 leading
organizations in the field.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">The one that did not is the American Academy of Family Practice (AAFP). AAFP’s
reasons were because “favorable results, conducted in major medical centers
with strict follow-up protocols for nodules, have not been replicated in a
community settings. The long term harms of radiation exposure from necessary
follow-up full dose CT scans are unknown.”</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">True. Community oncology diagnostics,
care, treatment and follow-up for lung cancer (and most cancers) is typically
of a different quality and consistency than that conducted in major medical
centers and comprehensive cancer centers. In a perfect, collaborative
environment, the solution would be easy: A generalist in the community would
refer the high-risk case to the experts. Solved.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">But we don’t live in that world. So
that’s not about to happen.</span></div>
<h4 style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Creating Better Treatments</span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">This area, too, has seen progress. New
immunotherapy drugs are being approved to boost the immune system’s natural
ability to fight off and destroy cancerous cells in the lung. Two of the most
recently approved by the FDA in 2015 are nivolumab (Opdivo®) and pembrolizumab
(Keytruda®). These are approved for use by patients after their standard
chemotherapy has stopped working. An impressive 25% of 129 patients with
advanced lung cancer in the study released in June 2014 survived at least two
years after starting nivolumab.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">But while laudable in their early
current phases, the immunotherapy drugs offer just an extra 3 to 9 months of
life beyond standard chemo for the majority of advanced lung cancer patients.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">New and targeted gene sequencing tests
also are hitting the market. These can quickly sequence an advanced lung cancer
patient’s DNA to see exactly which known lung cancer genes have mutations on
them in that individual. A “prescription” is then provided using the available,
already approved drugs (mostly pills) for each of the gene mutations. It’s an
advanced lung cancer treatment cocktail approach—more targeted, and less toxic,
than ever before.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">This is tremendous progress and is
saving lives. But still, this is only part of the solution.</span></div>
<h4 style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Vaccines for Lung Cancer</span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">While there is no vaccine for lung
cancer, there are several vaccines being tested for nicotine addiction. Based
on the math, it’s no surprise that so many experts consider this one route to
help prevent lung cancer, as well as oral cancer, esophageal cancer, stomach
cancer, cervical cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, ovarian cancer,
colorectal cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, heart disease, stroke, asthma, low
birth weights, diabetes, cataracts, macular degeneration, blindness and more.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">After some initial lessons from earlier
vaccine NicVAX (by Nabi, and funded by the Dutch government), new vaccines
and approaches are on the way it seems.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">The most talked about is from
researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and colleagues at Weill Cornell
Medical College. It creates antibodies to “shut off” the brain’s reward system
for nicotine. But it because nicotine is a small molecule, not seen by the
immune system, the vaccine has to be joined to a larger molecule in order to
get an anti-nicotine immune response. With help from Cornell, they announced in
September that they have tied it to a purified protein delivery to increase the
levels of anti-nicotine antibodies delivered to “shield the brain from
nicotine.” Research continues.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Over at Massachusetts General Hospital
in Boston, their peers are studying how to improve the clinical response rate
to a nicotine vaccine using a laser-based, particulate vaccine and
adjuvant-coated transdermal patch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Top scientists at research centers
across the world also are working at creating a better vaccine, securing
patents, and constructing start-up spinoff companies to do so. So are
scientists in the pharma and the biotech industry.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Like at Selecta Biosciences, in
Watertown, New York. The company received $8.1 million from the National
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH) in June 2014 to continue development of a
nicotine vaccine that uses nanoparticles to modulate the immune system. They
previously secured $3 million from the same agency, “which paid for early
research and an initial trial in 80 humans which found the drug (SEL-068) to be
safe.”</span></div>
<h4 style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">What’s Next?</span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Many people, including me, think that a
durable nicotine vaccine of some kind is the logical choice to put our money
on—not just to help people quit smoking, but to prevent anyone from ever
getting addicted to smoking.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">This leads to the related discussion of
creating an approved, international nicotine vaccine for children or even
newborns. And that creates discourse and disagreement on ethical and moral
grounds. I read one piece that even said teens might be more apt to smoke
knowing they could not get addicted.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Yet if such a vaccine would allow no
one to ever get addicted to cigarettes, we could prevent 30% of all cancers
internationally, as well as millions of deaths from heart disease and other
diseases each year. Financially we are talking about billions and trillions of
dollars saved across the world.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">And as we began this blog, we would
save 160 million lives in the next century based only on current statistics.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">I don’t buy the argument against it.
But I seek your thoughts and expertise here. Thanks to LinkedIn, we have a
dialogue opportunity with experts across the globe. Way smarter people than me
for sure. And I want to learn the “why not” reasons so I can be better versed.</span></div>
<h4 style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Other Factors</span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">I do imagine that we would create a new
investment by the tobacco industry in finding a way to thwart such a vaccine,
legally and chemically. Scientists would work around the clock to create an
“anti-anti-nicotine drug”—so we all could be sure no one would ever threaten
our freedom to kill ourselves.</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">The nicotine vaccine approach also
would have huge negative economic ramifications for those employed by the
tobacco industry—from poor farmhands to middle class managers, and yes,
extremely well paid VPs. Crime and criminal justice costs would likely
eventually get sucked into the whole thing, too. We'd </span><span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">see criminal
activity, worldwide violence, related deaths and other costs. Such
international issues tend to face armies of opposition, with extremely deep
pockets. </span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">In the end, here’s the rub. Lung cancer
is not an American problem. It is not a smoker’s problem. It is not a male
problem or a female problem. And it is not the problem of the poor, rich or
middle class. Lung cancer is everyone’s problem. </span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Taking it on for good
requires deeper international collaboration, corporate collaboration,
government funding collaboration, and moral and ethical discussion,
debates and fights.</span><span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">The question is, are we really
interested in going there?</span><br />
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Do we care about lung cancer, or don't we? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">PS: What's in a Ribbon?</span></b><span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Although a footnote to the lung cancer
story, and seemingly unimportant to most, it seems
sadly fitting to me that the official awareness ribbon color for lung
cancer is clear, pearl or white—that which is hardly visible,
attracts little attention, and hardly inspires anything. Did
the disease get stuck with the most neutral colors of the
spectrum because every other disease was in line first? Or
was lung cancer just forgotten, and not even invited to the color party to
begin with? A small thing, I know. But not really that small a thing in the
scope of the colorful other awareness movements. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Statistics and sources consulted in preparing
this blog included:</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;">American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, World Health Organization, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Department of Defense (DoD), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Harvard School of Public Health, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Research and Markets, IBIS World, New York Times, and many more. </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">If I accidentally have any statistics or facts wrong, I want to know. Just send me an email to <a href="mailto:john@digitalhealthcomgroup.com">john@digitalhealthcomgroup.com </a> and I will update the blog that same day. Thanks for your help. -js<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #232629; font-family: "arial"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Why I Care</span></i></b><span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "arial";">Prior to forming<a href="http://www.digitalhealthcomgroup.com/"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #8c68cb; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span></a><a href="http://www.digitalhealthcomgroup.com/">DigitalHealthcom Group,</a> I was a communications director at an NCI
comprehensive cancer center for almost a decade and had the privilege of
getting to know many lung cancer patients and their families. I shared their
stories with others, including those who might choose to make financial gifts
for research. I also watched far too many of them die too soon. A few years
later, I then watched the same happen to a close family member. I’m interested
in learning more, and somehow being part of progress. Or learning why it is not
a priority, and what the other answer might be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00690295036197524447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6136771914729955204.post-1772624584307248472015-09-13T09:24:00.003-07:002015-09-13T09:24:53.253-07:00Second Chance or Change Partners?<div class="article-content" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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Today, Seth Godin had an excellent blog called <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/09/another-chance-to-start-over.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #8c68cb; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Another Chance to Start Over</a>. The blog shared the following wisdom: </div>
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<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Every day that you begin with a colleague, a partner, a customer... it might as well be a fresh start. There's little upside in two strikes, a grudge, probation. When we give people the benefit of the doubt, we have a chance to engage with their best selves.</em></div>
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<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If someone can't earn that fresh start, by all means, make the choice not to work with them again. Ask your customer to move on, recommend someone who might serve them better. But for everyone else, today is another chance to be great.</em></div>
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I agree completely and have learned a lot in both scenarios.</div>
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Some clients, colleagues, employers, acquaintances, neighbors and fellow humans are the type that give us one chance. They want one certain thing, in a certain exact way that is in their minds—thoughts that we can't often read and that are not often shared (or shared in an easily understood manner). Sometimes they aren't sure themselves what they want. Sometimes what they think they wanted changes during a short time period.</div>
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If you provide it and do a good job reading their minds or translating, you're good in their books.</div>
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Do it differently or ask too many questions along the way that you were not asked to ask, and many of this type get uneasy, worried and uncomfortable. Get it off a little or completely wrong for any unplanned reasons and you're gone, off the list and so on.</div>
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Others, however, will offer a second or possibly (rare) third chance. These people see the bigger picture, and if you did enough right, they see the potential or the partnership/engagement curve that is needed to do continuous excellent work together. These are the people we want to work with and associate with. </div>
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That first type? It's actually a good thing for both sides they are saying goodbye. If you REALLY messed up, never listened, did not follow any direction and risked a life or an organization's entire future by following your way or the highway.... you have other issues you need to work on and they were right to change partners. But 9 times times out of 10, they don't really want your thoughts, opinions, advice, help or counsel. And it's a bad match anyway.</div>
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Many of them prefer an autocratic experience telling others what and how to do something. They may take offense at well meant positive, constructive ideas. And they are often, not so coincidently, individuals who don't want to pay or give any more for your help than they ABSOLUTELY need to. It's based on how much or little they value the entire industry/service/expertise you are in, and it's what they believe it's worth—whether you're a consultant, employee, widget-maker, babysitter or even a volunteer (paid in gratitude, friendship or recognition).</div>
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Life is not that long as we know. Sometimes business and personal relationships aren't meant to be, and that's neither right nor wrong. It just is. (Multiple studies over the years have shown that our core personalities are pretty much set by age 6!)</div>
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So what type are you, and do you want to stay that way? What type do you work with or associate with? And which partners of any type should you give a second chance to, and which should you walk away from, or agree to disagree with?</div>
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It's not always easy to decide. But the answers will likely help you find longer-term happiness, personal and business success and satisfaction.</div>
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<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">John Senall is principal and founder of <a href="http://www.mobilefirstmedia.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #8c68cb; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Mobile First Media</a> and <a href="http://www.digitalhealthcomgroup.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #8c68cb; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Digital Healthcom Group</a>. He believes mistakes are good for us, and the best way to learn—but that we can avoid them quite a bit due to what we learned the last times. For more information, or to inquire about his consulting, speaking, training or business services, call 716-361-9124, email<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #008cc9; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">john@mobilefirstmedia.com</a> or send an inmail or LinkedIn connection request. Thanks for reading! :>)</em></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00690295036197524447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6136771914729955204.post-74126057799220335592015-08-19T20:15:00.001-07:002015-08-19T20:15:25.762-07:00Buffalo Small Biz Blog: Two Guys, Some Grease and 30 Years Strong<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DwXmsyAG7EM/VdVDhoP5BZI/AAAAAAAAbl4/8T5gshORV1k/s1600/bob-and-don-cropped-2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DwXmsyAG7EM/VdVDhoP5BZI/AAAAAAAAbl4/8T5gshORV1k/s320/bob-and-don-cropped-2.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
When two people's names are up on a business marquee, I'm always interested in their story. Especially if they can fix a flat, a carburetor, headlight, and much more with their hands tied behind their backs.<br />
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Today, while driving down Kensington Avenue in Snyder, I spotted such a sign, and also two distinguished gentlemen relaxing at a picnic table directly underneath it. One was reading the paper, half-blinded by the sun, and one was finishing a sandwich.<br />
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They sat in a comfortable silence most friends rarely achieve, let alone business partners, as if they had zero worries in the world, and had sat that way countless times before.<br />
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Their tan mechanic uniform shirts were crisp and ironed—with their names embroidered on the pockets. I couldn't make out the names from my car, but I already could guess who they were. (They were, after all, sitting under a sign that said "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/BobDonsAutoCare?fref=photo">Bob and Don's Auto Care</a>.") <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VDOjEZ-tH68/VdVF5jI6y9I/AAAAAAAAbmI/R9Wltq2PrKs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-08-19%2Bat%2B10.49.16%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VDOjEZ-tH68/VdVF5jI6y9I/AAAAAAAAbmI/R9Wltq2PrKs/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-08-19%2Bat%2B10.49.16%2BPM.png" width="200" /></a></div>
So I stopped to say hi.<br />
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Turns out Bob and Don have had their auto shop at that corner (2229 Kensington Ave.) for over 30 years. Partners in their business day in and day out fixing probably thousands of vehicles for their neighbors over the years so far, and still counting.<br />
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I asked if I could snap a photo, and chatted for a few minutes. They said the neighborhood people are loyal and wonderful customers. Plus they always liked the location, and still do.<br />
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Challenges? More and more competition from all kinds of auto shops and national franchises now all around them. But things seem okay and they are continuing to do what they love. I saw on their Facebook page tonight that Don just turned 70 this May. I imagine Bob is about the same.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x7tRsk-F_20/VdVFv02oTSI/AAAAAAAAbmA/TvkmXT46RE0/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-08-19%2Bat%2B10.48.38%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x7tRsk-F_20/VdVFv02oTSI/AAAAAAAAbmA/TvkmXT46RE0/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-08-19%2Bat%2B10.48.38%2BPM.png" width="200" /></a></div>
Thanks, guys, for serving as a great example of turning an idea into a business, doing what you love, doing it well, providing excellent service and weathering the good, bad and in-between on the road to success—now three decades and counting.<br />
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(PS... I'll bring in the car soon to fix that light. Glad I met you.)<br />
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<i><span style="color: purple;">This blog is neither a paid endorsement nor a paid non-endorsement. Only words and laughter were exchanged during the brief 5 minute conversation with Bob and Don. It is likely the first of occasional other Buffalo Small Biz Profiles when I see or hear an interesting story I think others would enjoy. -JS </span></i><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00690295036197524447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6136771914729955204.post-33195697514817318492015-08-01T08:39:00.002-07:002015-08-01T08:41:54.865-07:00You are SO creative! (Or are you?)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e4SudVb7TRE/VbzoDvb90qI/AAAAAAAAbAs/mRmfGr0wFXY/s1600/creativity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e4SudVb7TRE/VbzoDvb90qI/AAAAAAAAbAs/mRmfGr0wFXY/s400/creativity.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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“I’m just not the creative type.” “They’re the creative ones, so they should do this part of the project.” “I wish I was more creative, but that’s definitely not my area.”</div>
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Sound familiar? There’s a current LinkedIn group discussion I noticed about “How do you define creativity?” I saw several hundred people sharing their definitions. I didn’t read any of them.<br />
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The reason is because I have been thinking about that topic on and off for a long time—because of all the times I hear people I know tell me they are NOT “creative types.”</div>
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Each time I hear this, I typically share five words:<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> I doubt that very much.</strong><br />
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My answer is based one simple belief: that most people confuse creativity with “artistic talent.” But it’s not the same at all.<br />
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This misunderstanding usually begins in high school, like a bad case of acne. Before high school, do you remember how we all had to take art and music? Some students were more naturally gifted than others in these subjects. But we all participated, and were better for it, even if we did not grow up to be the next Matisse or Marsalis.<br />
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But shortly after we hit high school, something happened. We no longer had to take art or music beyond typically a one-year requirement. After that year, that was that. Some people (the smaller group) were labeled creative. The rest were not. The labels were applied quickly, even though just two years earlier, we ALL had paintbrushes in our hands, and were willing to use them (or at least to try using them, and trying is more than half the creative battle).<br />
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After a couple more years, we began applying the same labels to non-artistic “creative” exercises. The idea that some of us were creative, and the rest were not, became embedded in our brains.</div>
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So those who were not labeled creative in high school, assumed their usual roles. They firmly believed it, too. Didn’t even challenge it. They henceforth hardly ever now as adults give themselves permission to participate in creative exercises. They’re often are not even invited to join in, anyway. Those in control or managing something (people who also self-label themselves “non-creatives”) go and find or go hire “a creative person” to help solve the riddle of the day.<br />
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On the flip side, there became a large group of other folks led to believe that because they had nurtured an artistic talent of some kind (e.g. writing, design, music, etc.), that they alone have claim to the creative moniker. Some were, and some were not, in the larger sense of the word. An entire set of professionals in advertising and related industries now uses the word “creative” to define their artistic talents.<br />
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It is not the same thing as creativity though. It’s the acne thing all over again.</div>
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But what we CAN learn from them is the formula, or rather the anti-formula. <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Artistic individuals have given themselves absolute permission to experiment and play with alternative solutions, concepts and a world of what ifs.</strong> Jazz improvisation, expressionism, cubism, rap, hip-hop, poetry, and a whole history of examples come to mind.<br />
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<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Think you’re not creative? How many times in your past that you have labeled yourself that way? How many times have you let others define you that way, and you never challenged it?</em><br />
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You are very likely creative in some, or in many potential ways. No one owns that opportunity. No one can keep you out of the sandbox. And your organization, business, volunteer group and community needs you to jump in way more often. (The fewer the creative ideas we allow to be generated, the smaller the chance of finding the best ideas worth pursuing.)<br />
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The creativity sandbox is nice, because it has no punishments for coming up with imperfect potential solutions. You just have to let yourself in, and allow yourself to enjoy what we once took for granted as kids. The freedoms to play, think, ponder and plan without constraints, criticism or the rules of official decision-making.<br />
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My advice is also for the “creative types” who are highly skilled in some form of artistic talent. Take extra time pondering the other side of true creativity. Have a catchy slogan, gorgeous logo, clever campaign? We need them. But in what ways will it create a solution to a business or organizational challenge besides being temporarily memorable?<br />
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Sometimes, being memorable for an extra week or month and keeping top-of-mind awareness of a name or product is all that is called for. It’s tough being noticed and maintaining awareness in a crowded jungle of similar brands, products and ideas. <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But will your idea, over time, address a need with a better solution than the present way?</strong> Will it help win over more new customers, keep existing customers coming back, enhance loyalty to brand, provide greater value to customers, or make any processes more efficient, profitable or effective on either the client or customer side?</div>
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If it will not, it’s not a creative solution by definition or practice. It’s just clever and artistic.</div>
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Clever, artistic, hip, cool, killer, rockin’, awesome and hot are catchy, fun and exciting. You may even have your social media channels “blow up” (in a good way) for a week or month. But in the end, if it does not solve the challenge, and just titillated, we should return to the sandbox and start fresh.<br />
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Only this time, invite a few “non-creative” people in to play, too. As a team, I bet your group may come up with something that can be carved and sanded into true and meaningful positive outcomes.</div>
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It's not that you don't need artistic ideas and fresh designs and campaigns. You do, and I'm the first to encourage you to pay experts for those. Just make sure you work effectively with your internal or external teammates to come up with, well, "creative" solutions.<br />
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It'll be good for business, and even better for you.<br />
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<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">John Senall is principal and founder of <a href="http://www.mobilefirstmedia.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #96999c; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Mobile First Media</a> and <a href="http://www.digitalhealthcomgroup.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #96999c; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Digital Healthcom Group</a>. He personally labels himself as semi-artistic (e.g. writer, occasional designer and video guy), but usually he just hires excellent people to do most of that because they are fun to work with and way better than he is at that stuff. He does fancy himself to be creative, though. Not sure how that happened over the years, but maybe it's because of his jazz drumming roots and his track record of achieving results in communications and marketing management. Call 716-361-9124, or email<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #006fa6; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">john@mobilefirstmedia.com</a> if you have a sandbox and want to jump in. </em></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00690295036197524447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6136771914729955204.post-34522384233041625832015-06-21T11:54:00.000-07:002015-06-21T12:26:06.521-07:00Life Lessons from My Father<h2>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">Life Lessons from My Father</span><br /><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><i>A 2015 Father's Day Tribute</i></span></h2>
by John Senall<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5oFZ0hEj2js/VYcH1I-ESNI/AAAAAAAAaZk/FcLhsLCTLV0/s1600/John-and-Dad.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5oFZ0hEj2js/VYcH1I-ESNI/AAAAAAAAaZk/FcLhsLCTLV0/s320/John-and-Dad.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
When I think about my dad, I think of these words: loyal, funny, loving, hard-working, respectful, caring, selfless, friendly and warm.<br />
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As a kid, it took me many years to figure out what he actually did for a career. But his nightly dinner table stories eventually added up.<br />
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He was a production planner for General Motors’ main radiator supplier. Dad worked for GM and its subsidiary for almost 40 years and retired with a pension. It was not a job he loved, but he didn’t hate it. It had good pay and excellent benefits, and helped him provide a comfortable life for a family of six, including four children—all boys.<br />
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He had regular clients, though he probably didn’t call them that. He liked to tell us about his phone calls, and shared the people’s names and the conversations. At night he would relive the moments of the workday, and share some of the funny stories.<br />
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Sometimes he’d relive the not-so-fun times. My father once acted out a conversation he had experienced with a hot-headed supervisor. Dad spit out the insults that night as if he was that man. It bothered him a lot. It was a rare awkward moment, but revealed his character. He said that he didn’t yell back, or physically confront the guy. He had to just “take it” and go on with his day.<br />
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When I was older, I knew why. With four kids, a mortgage, bills, a life dependent upon keeping a job that many others would have loved to have, you needed to walk away from fights—both the verbal ones and of course any physical ones. He did it for his family. He knew he had more important things that depended on that job and on him. Onward.<br />
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Prior to getting that job, he had been a foreman in one of GM’s Buffalo plants. At one time he was up for a major promotion, but the new job brought with it tremendous pressure. So he chose to take a lateral move rather than moving up the ladder. It was a wise choice, but it bothered him for years. He could have earned more money in the other path for his family. But it likely would have killed him mentally.<br />
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Dad is a lover of people. He talks a lot, tells stories, and cracks jokes to make people happier. He would make funny faces or sounds to make his co-workers, friends and children laugh. He was and still is funny.<br />
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Although I was an extremely shy kid, I now talk way too much, tell stories, crack jokes to make people happier, and I make funny faces and sounds for friends, colleagues and especially for my children. I get those traits from him, and am glad for it. (My wife wishes I had fewer of them, especially the chatting and giving soliloquies or mini “sermons” about topics that interest me, but hey—it’s genetic.)<br />
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I remember once, way after retirement, Dad and I were shopping at a store and he saw a former co-worker he had not seen in many years. She was an African-American woman, also getting older in years, but attractive, energetic and very down-to-earth.<br />
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As soon as she saw him, she walked toward us with a big smile and hugged him. They shared a quick conversation, Dad made her smile with a joke, and they wished each other well.<br />
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I asked him who she was. He said it was Nettie. I knew the name. Nettie was one of the recurring stock characters in Dad’s work stories, and he always spoke highly of her. Not once, though, over 30 to 40 years, did he ever use an adjective to describe her race, or the color of her skin.<br />
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Dad had a lot of African-American colleagues he considered friends or just friendly co-working acquaintances. He had started his GM career on the assembly floor of a plant. Through his stories, I sensed that most of his colleagues liked him and enjoyed his company. This was the mid-1960s and 1970s, when race relations were even more complex and challenging than today for obvious reasons. As a child, I did not consider what this meant, but I get it now.<br />
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He treated everyone equally. He was most interested in people who would listen to him, work with him, or who would enjoy one of his jokes or stories. He could have cared less if they were green, purple, white or brown. In turn, I believe those co-workers appreciated him valuing them just as people, sharing his life, his stories and his respect for them in his own organic way.<br />
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One of his favorite memories he would share with my brothers and me was recounting the “Limburger parties” he and some plant employees would have for fun every year. He had already gone on to his office gig, but would get invited to come down at a certain hour each year for a unique lunch.<br />
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Apparently, they would buy tons of Limburger cheese once a year, sit around a table in the plant and make sandwiches together. It was an all-you-can-eat Limburger fest. (To this day, I still have not tried the famous smelly cheese, but Dad loved the tradition and the taste.)<br />
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My mother was a lifetime social worker. She worked in some of the poorest communities and neighborhoods in Western New York over her career, and with people of all colors. But it was different, and probably due to the nature of serving versus working alongside. Dad just seemed to think of race more as an after-thought.<br />
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He got his “likes to talk and be funny” and “enjoys being with all kinds of people” from his mother, who was of Irish-Welsh stock. Grandma Claire had friends of all types. She also would talk about her conversations with the butcher, baker, and everybody in between. She would reference blacks with just an informational aside after the first sentence, as in, “He’s a colored fella.” But it was the vocabulary of her time, and she didn’t use it for anything except as an adjective.<br />
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My father had put himself through college by joining the Navy after high school. His parents had few savings. Dad was fortunate that it was a “between the wars” period. His service to our country was nestled right between the Korean and Vietnam wars. <br />
His ship had a good gig. It was a training vessel stateside. They would travel around American waters and train recruits in using various naval weapons, and in naval procedures, and heaven knows what else.<br />
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His stories were positive about that, too, and typically involved food. My brothers and I heard about the sailors having occasional feasts with “buckets and buckets of shrimp,” according to Dad.<br />
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Once, when he was on shore leave, he planned to surprise his parents by showing up at the house and spending some quality time with them. Apparently he and they didn’t communicate much by letters. He arrived at his Sayre, Pennsylvania home in the middle of the night, only to find that his parents were not there. They had sold the house and moved without telling him—to Buffalo, New York.<br />
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My grandfather was a railroad foreman for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Turns out he had been transferred to Buffalo’s Lehigh branch, so he, Grandma Claire, and my Dad’s younger sister and brother just up and moved. They must have figured Dad was smart enough to eventually find them, which he did.<br />
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After the Navy, Dad worked summers between college semesters for his father on the Buffalo tracks. He worked heavy duty, dusty manual labor, same as everyone else, even though he was the boss’s son.<br />
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Many of the railroad laborers were Puerto Rican immigrants who had migrated to the North for the plentiful industrial jobs. While they had a natural disliking sometimes for my grandfather (one individual almost killed Grandpa once in a squabble), they liked Dad. They would share their lunches with him, and he would enjoy native Puerto Rican cooking and food with them. (Sensing a trend here with the food thing?)<br />
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Together, they would repair the rail lines mile by mile by mile—day after day in the hot summer sun—including laying new rail, and pounding in spikes with sledgehammers in a single stroke.<br />
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Another summer during his college years, Dad worked in a Bethlehem Steel mill. But apparently, this “college boy” worked too efficiently. One of the more senior workers came up to him one day and told him to slow down. They were being paid to work a shift, and the day’s work should last the whole shift, this guy explained to him. To do that, one has to keep to a certain pace. Dad’s was too fast, and too ambitious. So he took his cue, and slowed down, for his own health and safety. Smart guy, my dad.<br />
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My father isn’t perfect. He’s human.<br />
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Sometimes he would lose his patience and temper with us. Normal stuff. Some yelling, punishments, and the like. But he always made sure we went to bed on a good note. He would sit beside my bed and apologize if he hurt my feelings or yelled too much, say good night, and mean it.<br />
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He was consistent.<br />
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Despite his work schedule, he somehow managed to attend every single soccer game I played from age 10 through 17 except one. He did the same for my three brothers. Unfortunately of all the games, that one game was the only one in which I was ever injured. I was hit in the face by a ball kicked by an opposing player from five feet away. I was blind in my left eye for two weeks, but the sight returned eventually. That “not being there” bothered Dad for many years afterward.<br />
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Dad had coached little league and soccer in the early years. Plus, he and my mother would alternate turns driving me every Saturday to private drum and percussion lessons all through junior high and high school. Thirty minutes there, thirty minutes back, and they would kill time for thirty minutes to an hour in between during the lessons—all so that I could pursue my primary interest at the time and study with the best music instructors in both counties.<br />
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When Dad was around 52 years old, his father had a stroke. We would go visit Grandpa at the house. Dad would kneel beside his father, leaning in to hear him as he struggled to form words to say simple things he used to find so easy. Asking for a glass of root beer or some peanuts. Or expressing disgust over the Buffalo Bills’ poor performance in a game playing on the console TV that sat in their family room, directly under their front picture window.<br />
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Dad spoke to his father in a quiet, loving voice. He would repeat back his father’s words, to make sure he had them correct. Then he’d go get what he needed, or had asked for, bring it to him and sit by him to watch the rest of the game.<br />
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In the summer of 1994, my father had his own first major health issue. While sitting on his patio with my mom and some friends, he suffered a cardiac arrest. His longtime neighbor, Jim, was with them and started CPR until the paramedics arrived.<br />
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I was living in Buffalo, and remember getting the phone call. That night at the hospital, as he lie there unable to speak, with all the usual monitors blinking and beeping in a regular pattern, I went in to see him. I thought it was the last time I might see him.<br />
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I kissed him on the top of his head and left the room with my younger brother. As we walked down the hallway toward the exit, I began crying. It came unexpectedly—I had been strangely far too calm while driving there and upon arrival. It was catching up with me.<br />
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The next day the surgeons implanted a defibrillator and pacemaker. The defibrillator has only gone off once in the subsequent 21 years, and that was a false alarm. One of the lead wires became disconnected, so they replaced it. (Quite a treat, having such a false alarm, Dad shared. Get up to 360 watts in a single second directly to your heart, and well, you tend to remember it.) <br />
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Since those initial health episodes, he’s had several stents placed in his heart over the years. He also has endured treatments for two unrelated cancers. He was a trooper through both of those. Then six months ago, one came back after 10 years.<br />
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Microscopic cancer cells enjoy hiding out in the body for years, just to make you think you’re home free. Then they jump out from behind an organ and yell, “surprise!” at the least ideal times. So he’s getting through it now like he does with everything. But the prognosis isn’t that good.<br />
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On top of that, he forgets a lot these days. It is stressful for my mother and to a far lesser extent to me, as I am the only son still in town, so I am here to do whatever is needed. I also benefit from their company and help caring for my own kids a couple days each week.<br />
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When he forgets things I know he has experienced, I often get frustrated. I don’t like seeing him like that, and it comes out in anger occasionally. I’m trying to be better about that. He deserves better.<br />
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He has lived a good life, full of unique and varied experiences. He has watched his four sons go on to their own careers, get married and have children. He has watched his 11 grandchildren grow up, and has been a part of each of their lives. He has been a loyal and dedicated son, husband, father, brother, employee, neighbor, citizen and friend. And he has given joy to countless people throughout his life with his smile, humor and love.<br />
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I am proud to be his son. And when the day comes that I, too, will kneel by his side, listen to his whispers as he tries to find words that once came easy, comfort him and serve him in his final days, it will be more than a duty that guides me. It will be a privilege and an honor.<br />
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Father to child. Child to father. And life will continue, as I do my best to take those subtle lessons he taught by example, and apply them to my life as a father to two young daughters, who are growing up way too fast before me.<br />
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My father used to often tell us, his four sons, “You have to be better than your dad—have to be a lawyer, or a doctor or in business. Please be better than your father.”<br />
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As far as careers, his sons went on to become (in birth order) a successful optometrist; a respected orthopaedic surgeon; a healthcare communications/technology consultant and business owner; and the president of a business incubator and technology commercialization organization serving several upstate New York counties.<br />
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We did fine with our careers, thanks largely to my parents’ expectations of us, and them pushing or pulling us each along the way and being there for us. But none of us will ever be “better” than my father. That would be impossible.<br />
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Now that we are in our 40s and 50s, though, we each try, hard as it may be, to get a few feet closer to what our father stood for, and who he is. It’s a tall order. I guess all I can hope for is that I do half as well for my own kids, my friends, family members, co-workers and community. That would be a success.<br />
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And if I tell a few too many stories, jokes, make too many funny faces, or care a bit too much along the way, so be it. Neither Dad, nor I, would have it any other way.<br />
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<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>Connect with John at https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsenall, at john@mobilefirstmedia.com, at @mobile1john or call 716-361-9124. But be prepared for a story or to talk for longer than five minutes. It's genetic, and that's a good thing. </b></span></i><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00690295036197524447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6136771914729955204.post-36734594786559854882015-01-19T16:02:00.000-08:002015-01-19T16:09:04.664-08:00MLK's Lessons for Life and Work<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IxKmM4K3ovQ/VL2XpxBOl7I/AAAAAAAATg0/9o1hgbdLQ1w/s1600/MLK%2Bimage2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IxKmM4K3ovQ/VL2XpxBOl7I/AAAAAAAATg0/9o1hgbdLQ1w/s1600/MLK%2Bimage2.png" height="215" width="400" /></a></div>
<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4d4f51; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This blog first appeared today on my <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsenall/">LinkedIn profile page</a>.</em><br />
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<span style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">It’s Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Day here in the United States, and that means a few things: a day off for public employees; celebrations in our urban cities and some suburban towns at churches and community centers; and TV, radio and internet news stories about those local and national celebration events.</span></div>
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Henry Louis Gates, Jr. shared in an August 2013 post in <a href="http://www.theroot.com/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #7b539d; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">The Root</a> (later republished in <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/search-results/?q=MLK#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=MLK&gsc.page=1" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #7b539d; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">PBS.org</a>) that Julian Bond once said [MLK] commemorations focus almost entirely on Martin Luther King, Jr. the dreamer, and not on King’s other accomplishments or aspirations he worked so hard for.</div>
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Here are 8 of likely 100s of takeaways from Dr. King that anyone could curate equally or better than me. Ideas from a person who eventually got a day named after him, and whose lessons apply to each of us, whether black, white, brown, green, fuchsia, invisible or purple people eater.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1. Don’t just talk about it.</strong></div>
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If you believe in a dream, vision, or simply a new way of doing things, commit to it, stick to it, share it and work toward it. Or don’t bother talking about it at all. Otherwise, people around you will see it as empty words, even though they won’t usually call you on it out loud.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
2. <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Be willing to disrupt the status quo.</strong></div>
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To achieve change, innovation and/or improvement, it usually involves someone taking a risk of some kind—whether as simple as not being liked for a day, of being branded as trouble, or actually risking personal danger or reputational damage. It takes guts. But if you aren’t willing to push an idea forward, refer to #1 above.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3. Persuade without pummeling.</strong></div>
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People will likely be more apt to consider your ideas if you don’t start your first meeting with a sledgehammer approach. Learn as much as you can to understand those who disagree with you, who fight against your ideas or who seem to waste endless hours blocking your every move. Then zone in on those areas of potential mutual understanding or interest, and go from there. Use a strategy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Don’t try to do it alone.</strong></div>
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You can’t do it alone. Build alliances and partnerships, find like-minded collaborators and lead them forward toward your goal.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5. When empowering or guiding others, don’t wait until the perfect or the exactly right or the most prepared moment.</strong></div>
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These are King’s words from a March 6, 1957 radio interview immediately following Ghana’s independence: "I often feel like saying, when I hear the question 'People aren't ready,' that it's like telling a person who is trying to swim, 'Don't jump in that water until you learn how to swim.' When actually you will never learn how to swim until you get in the water. And I think people have to have an opportunity to develop themselves.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">6. Sometimes, just go with your gut.</strong></div>
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The now famous “I have a dream” section of the King presentation that day was not actually part of his prepared written speech. (And that written speech was carefully prepared and edited many, many times in advance.)</div>
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According to a 2011 story in <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The</em> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Washington Post</em>, King speechwriter Clarence Jones said he saw King push the text of his prepared remarks to the side right before delivering the famous “I have a dream” lines.</div>
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Three months later, King explained his decision to go off-script: “I started out reading the speech … just all of a sudden — the audience response was wonderful that day — and all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used — I’d used it many times before, that thing about ‘I have a dream’ — and I just felt that I wanted to use it here” (quoted in David Garrow’s Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference).</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">7. Things may not be popular when you do them, but could have a much longer and lasting impact.</strong></div>
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Speaking of <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Washington </em>Post, apparently the paper did not even mention King’s speech in its coverage of the march the next day. Other well-known leaders criticized the speech. But eventually, it had an impact around the world.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">8. A long or even average lifespan is not guaranteed, so try to do what you want to do, need to do, or can do now, rather than waiting for a “later” that may never come.</strong></div>
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King was a whopping 39 years old when he was assassinated. 39. He may have made it to a “40 Under 40” list technically, but not to a 50 for 50, a Sensational 60 or a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious 70 list.</div>
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As regular non-famous folks, most of us aren’t likely to get assassinated. But we’re human. We’re not supposed to live forever. And statistically many of us will die well before we plan to—whether from heart disease, cancer, an accident or several other not too planned or fun occurrences.</div>
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<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Don’t</em> quit your day job to climb Mount Everest unless you really want to and have some sort of plan after the attempt. <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Do</em> just try to make the most of every day, in little, medium, and larger ways, and in whatever ways are meaningful to you.</div>
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<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> John Senall is the principal and founder of <a href="http://www.mobilefirstmedia.com/">Mobile First Media</a> and <a href="http://www.digitalhealthcomgroup.com/">Digital Healthcom Group</a><span id="goog_857324964"></span><span id="goog_857324965"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a>—communications, marketing and digital consultancies. For more information, call 716-361-9124 or email john@mobilefirstmedia.com.</em></div>
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