Showbizjobs Blog

Sometimes we forget that many folks…older than we…have a different perspective on today’s events because they have seen it before.   For some its too much and they retreat into the bah humbug, here we go again, ingrown eyeball world.  Forget those guys...its the ones who tend to take advantage of their wisdom, and see the 'sunlight above the clouds' that I really enjoy spending time with.

Last night I had the privilege of chatting with a friend’s father who is a retired executive from a fairly well-known foods company.  He definately falls into the latter category.  Our discussions quickly landed on the hot topic of the cold business climate, namely the lack of jobs creation.

The battle-tested executive opined the difference between company ‘growth’ and ‘profitability’ and how one overshadows the other as companies sail among today’s economic whitecaps.   Profitability is what organizations seek now above all other strategies.  But shortly boards will decree ‘Yes, profits are holding because of cuts and reorganization…but how are you going to GROW our business?’ 

That one comment made me sleep easier.  Regardless of single or double-dip recession trends, I was reminded that the over-reaching Wall Street temperament will drive growth and in-turn create jobs.  And as always, it will be the companies with genuine confidence, innovation, and guts who lead us out of this.  Not ones that are laying-off risks, hunkering down, and refusing to buy coal to warm Bob Cratchit’s feet. 

The newspaper had become a prop at my breakfast table.  Something to reference, unfold, refold, scan and hide behind between my boys' pancake food fights.  Ex-smokers have said the same thing of cigarettes and smoking.

I just completed my first month of mornings without the daily newspaper.  No sobriety coin reward waiting, but it does make me think about our print brethren more.  For me, it started with the guilt of loading piles of parchment into the recycle bin each week, then an examination of the expense of it, the duplicity of the content, the clutter, and the sheer volume of ads.  I had zero alternative use for the discarded paper…I don’t have a parakeet or new puppy in the house and we don’t have a wood-burning fireplace.

Reverting to reading the news on my iPhone at the morning table was inevitable.  Plus I rarely read more than two articles in their entirety in the print version and for some reason I feel like a faster reader when the screen is only 2 inches wide.

Having made the leap away from paper, I feel more for the folks who work diligently to keep those institutions running.  They have a tough situation.  And many are still finding their way in the mobile news world…lots of room for improvement there.

But I do now look forward to picking-up a REAL paper when I’m at the coffee shop or at the airport.  A tactile treat when I’m away from home.  How strange.

BTW, does anyone have a killer iPhone news app?