Veteran AdVenturers

Age is no barrier to adVenturing. Tom Lackey, 89, continued to embrace adventure late into life, in his case as a way past the grief of losing his wife to a heart attack 10 years ago. Mr. Lackey took up wing-walking. Last summer, he strapped his feet to the top of a single-engine biplane, like the daredevils of aviation's early days, and flew across the English Channel at 160 miles per hour, with nothing between him and the wild blue yonder but goggles and layers of clothing to fight the wind...

Health or sick reform?

Someone Must Pay for Health Reform is the title of an article by Catherine Arnst in Business Week (June 1, 2009). She says that, "there are only three ways to pay for universal coverage: Raise taxes, cut payments to medical providers, or ration care." How can it be in this era of systems thinking that such a view can prevail? It assumes that the current US view of healthcare delivery is about health, when it is actually about sickness. The whole current argument rages around a sick sy...

Sustainability: what’s in the shadows?

In 1989, the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) articulated what has now become a widely accepted definition of of the word Sustainability: "[to meet] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The word is much used these days. In the business context, it is often used as an alternative for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), or even interchangeably with Triple Bottom Line (TBL). In any case...