Who Would Have Thought?

GM to junk bond status and the US government subsidizing Viagra for sex offenders! I wasn’t sure which sounded more incredible as I watched CNN at the airport just prior to my flight to Wichita this afternoon for a talk tonight in Wellington, KS.

GM jumped ahead of Ford when Henry Ford wouldn’t change his Model-T. GM, under the leadership of Alfred Sloan, redesigned, reengineered and redefined the automobile industry in the teens and twenties. Their multiple brands, from Chevy to Cadillac, became the new style leaders and GM has been the undisputed top selling car maker in the USA ever since. In the 60s they commanded almost 60% of the domestic market, with their Chevrolet Division having as much market share alone as what the entire GM lineup has today.

GM was arrogant, made mistakes like their $1600/car medical and retirement legacy cost and thinking that their power position with pickups, SUVs and at GMAC would protect them in the long term. They were wrong and it might take a bankruptcy to stop the bleeding presently going on in Detroit.

I was stunned when I heard on CNN that something like 80% of registered sex offenders are receiving Viagra from government health programs. For free! Are we nuts? What is wrong with this picture?

The lessons for small towns from these examples? You can’t let yourself become arrogant like a GM. You’ve constantly got to be reinventing yourself because someone is always going to be breathing over your shoulder. And, don’t lose sight of common sense as you develop plans and programs that you hope will make your community a better place in which to live.