The Music in Us

Yes, High School Musical 2 is a sensation in our household. Witness below:

Health-Wii Connection

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano's leadership has helped create the Arizona Health-e Connection. It's an important development on the way to embedding smart health information exchange and effective health information technology for our system. But let's not forget the Health-Wii Connection.

A British study found that "active gaming consoles" such as the Wii get its players to burn 40% more calories and accelerate heart rates of players from a pedestrian 85 bpm to 130 bpm. Not exactly anaerobic threshold, but it counts for something.

Not coincidentally, the Wii has become the first (and likely last) game console to enter my family's life. It provides not just exercise, but family engagement and good old-fashioned fun. My six year-old son and his grandpa (who to my knowledge has never played a video game of any kind, ever) recently became enthusiastically enmeshed in a hilarious and spirited Wii golf tournament. As noted in the Wall St. Journal, I have personally battled my children in Wii Tennis and felt it the next day in my arm muscles. Wiis are being installed on Erickson Retirement Community campuses serving 19,000 older adults, and Wii bowling leagues are forming in older adult residential settings across the country.

Intergenerational engagement and fun? Check. Peer bonding and enlivenment of social ties? Check. Exercise? Check. Happiness? Check. Other than the couch becoming morose from lack of use and the disdain of the dog, I'm not seeing any downsides yet.

Health-Wii indeed.

Friday Thinking Joke: Embarrassing

(Attribution to the creator of this cartoon was not available)

The Four Mile Donut

"Consider the Four Mile Donut. If we were to walk as fast as we could for an hour, we’d cover a breathless, heart pounding 3-4 miles. If we then decided to celebrate our workout with coffee and a donut, we would eat more calories in a minute than we burned off in an hour."

The above quote comes from Brian Wansink, Ph.D., author of Mindless Eating. No one here at the Hotel has read it yet, but we will be.

Number One, With A Bullet

At left is a graphic representation of the percentage of Americans over age 15 with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30. According to our government - and to common sense if you saw such a person - a BMI of 30 or more constitutes obesity, a condition with a raft of chronic illnesses (diabetes, heart disease and more) close behind.

Now click here to see how we compare with 26 other countries who are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. But wait, these graphics are based on numbers compiled at the end of 2003. According to the CDC's just-released Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS), the proportion of Americans with a BMI greater than 30 grew by 24 percent. The same report projects a 25% - 100% increase in health care costs for individuals with BMI greater than 30.

Was there ever a time when 31% of our population over age 15 smoked two packs a day? We demonized tobacco because it needlessly took the lives of people who didn't necessarily understand the risks, because social mores and values were inappropriately supportive of tobacco use and because individuals needed help to tackle their addictions. And I'm not even sure it ever got as out-of-hand as the situation with obesity has become.

We certainly did something as a nation about smoking. It took time and energy, but we did accomplish a great deal. And those who choose to smoke still can, in most cases without it negatively impacting those who choose differently.

It's past time to wake up, step up and move forward on addressing the obesity situation.

Headscratchin' Hospital Huff and TIGGGER01

USA Today wants everyone to know: the uninsured pay nearly three times more for hospital services than health insurers pay for the same services. The paper posted this article online in a format that allows reader comments. Lucky for us all, one has come in from TIGGGER01 that reads "They are adjusting for what the illegals use and are not charged, someone has got to pay for their free ride."

Now which part should make us scratch our heads more, the finding or the comment?

Darned illegals...power-wielding insurers...bureaucratic hospitals...mutter, mutter, muttter. Wait, hold the phone. "They" is us. We are them. TIGGER01's "someone" would also be each one of us (after all, what we pay for what we get in the health care system borders on what should be illegal).

Makes all of us at the Hotel wonder...would we like to create more convenient and myopic rationalizations, or might we like to think a little more about the situation, how the system works (or fails to) and how we can make it better?

Either way, you've got to love participatory journalism.

Health Care Going to the Dogs

Literally. The Associated Press ran this article about pet owners spending big bucks for extensive cancer and diabetes treatment. As part of its slice-of-life reporting, it contains a detailed anecdote about a dog named Brownie's visit with his owner to Burger King for a fish sandwich. Brownie just had his blood sugar taken that morning, and has been medicated in recent months for diabetes, infections and high blood pressure. He's was having the fish that day because his "finicky gut...rebels at red meat."

"We give them too much food. We don't exercise them as much as we can," noted Georgette Wilson, who works for a division of Pfizer. Do tell? Is this a lucky dog, or a dog that's been acculturated in a very unfortunate way?

What happened to a pet being the incentive for the humans to be more active, connected and involved in life and the community? Apparently even this basic approach has gone to the dogs.

Friday Thinking Joke: Seeing the Light

It's late at night. A man is on all fours underneath a street lamp, searching for something. A policeman happens on the scene and asks the clearly drunken man what he is doing. "Looking for my keys," answers the man. The policeman scans the area, seeing nothing and asks "did you drop them here?" "No," the reply comes back, "I dropped them in the alley."

The cop is both bemused and baffled. The drunk only registers the baffled part, and explains, "but the light is much better here."

An apt tale to reflect upon for those who are stumbling drunken down the alley of health care reform and thinking that the keys to making improvement will be right where the light is shining.

Your Long Tail is Showing

80% of Blockbuster's movie rentals are big-budget, big star vehicles (I think they like to call 'em blockbusters). On the other hand, 80% of Netflix's business comes from the art house, specialty, independent or small movie (you know, flix). Our long tail is showing.

Chris Anderson coined the phrase "The Long Tail" in a Wired Magazine article, later turning the concept into a book (shown at right). The cover announces that "the future of business is selling less of more."

When you think about the Arizona economy, you could say that we have a long tail business base. While we can appreciate having large employers that focus on a more traditional "blockbuster" business approach, we can also appreciate having a large share of businesses that collectively "sell more of less."

Let's not get so caught up in comparing ourselves to the blockbuster cities of the past and focus on what will likely be a diversified and bright economic future.

Addendum, fresh from the markets: Blockbuster posted a wider-than-expected loss this past quarter as it spent an inordinate amount of capital to chase Netflix's business model.

Wednesday Stretch: Open Desert

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." - Rumi, Sufi Poet

American can-do spirit seems to have morphed into competitive spirit and then mutated into polarization - politically, socially, and in our business dealings. Even in the face of the positive history of a practice like coopetition (that's not a typo, there's a book on this very subject), polarization seems to be sucking the strength from American culture.

What to do? Create a clearing. And no better place to do it than our Open Desert. One of our greatest resources is our literal and figurative wide open space, meaning this: we have relatively blank slates. A young state with young cities and towns has many opportunities and choices that have just been made or are yet to be made. As the prinicipal of my kids' elementary school says on the PA each day, "It's your choice. Make it a good one."

Take a moment today to look at your choices. Are they polarizing? Coopetitive? Collaborative? Or even unifying? I'll be reflecting today as I work, asking the same questions of myself.

BTW: Google the words "Open Desert" and you'll find our neighbors in Coachella Valley, CA have started a group by that name (and note that I pinched a photo from their site.) At first glance, it appears to have no rudder in the water. When you dig a little deeper, it turns out that this is actually a kinder, gentler networking group. This could be an interesting model for business networkers here to consider.

The Leak Under the Sink

This past weekend was the third installment of "the leak under the sink," an issue I had called a professional repairman to fix (didn't work) and then surely 'fixed' myself last week. Not so. Turns out that all the parts below the sink are interconnected. Simply remounting the disposal that inexplicably fell last weekend wasn't enough. The drain the disposal connected to had a problem, and the pipes and their fittings had all been disturbed by last week's trauma in measurable ways. Measurable, that is, in ounces of water that had accumulated in the under-sink cabinet. Hmm.

Have you already guessed that I might see this as an analogy for the health care system? Without a setup that contains the entire flow, we end up with a trickle, a leak, and ultimately a mess that someone's going to have to clean up or pay to clean up. Attending to one part doesn't get the entire thing to perform right. It sure as heck matters how much water flows in and what's going down the drain with it. Each piece has to be able to deal with what's thrown at it.

Once something does happen, I learned the hard way that it is a whole lot better to take the entire system completely apart, examine the flaws, and then start all over again - some new parts, some old, some different - to build a system that meets the current need and keeps me from coming back in the future to do it again (like next weekend).

Next time you're thinking about health care reform, remember my leak under the sink.

One Day

Friday Thinking Joke: Seeing the Obvious

Roger Van Oech is the creator of the Creative Whack Pack, among other things. He is the inaugural member of the Friday thinking joke club here at Hotel Arizona. Click here to read the story he relates as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson work to deduce the more obvious secrets of their place in the universe (sort of).

"They Just Don't Care"

John McCain announced his Presidential candidacy yesterday. Apparently not many folks showed up. One attendee holding a McCain for President sign told an NPR reporter that she wasn't really a McCain supporter, but the people passing out signs "looked desperate, so I took one."

It reminds me of a community development admonishment I once heard: Social Capital should never be judged by how many people show up to the meeting.

The tendency is for passionate people who call a community meeting on a critical issue to be deflated and stunned when turnout at the meeting is low. The knee-jerk reaction is, 'they just don't care.'

In actuality, everybody cares about things related to their lives in varying degrees and within a hierarchy of priorities. The people who show up are just those who care about your agenda, were motivated by how you framed it AND could make it without having to honor commitment to a higher priority. Worst case, the people you are counting are those with a passion for coming to meetings.

If people aren't coalescing around your meetings, it is time to rethink what you are doing.

What if: You Stop Smoking RIGHT NOW?

Wade Meredith writes a blog called HealthBolt. I strongly encourage those smokers who think "it's too late to stop now" to read his post "What Happens to Your Body if you stop smoking right now?"

I'm no doc, nor do I play one on this blog. I also can't figure out what Wade Meredith's credentials are. But then again, I didn't try very hard to figure them out. The more important point is this: we make choices individually and as a collective. Good choices improve outcomes. Bad choices don't. And any time you choose well instead of not-so-well, then you are helping yourself and those around you.

Thanks in advance for reading Wade's post and thinking about it.

Microsoft on Microsoft Crime

I can't help but laugh when Bill Gates' programs don't get along. I came to work this morning to find this message: "To help protect your computer, Windows has closed this program." Not so funny you say? Funny to me, because the program that was forced to close by Microsoft Windows was itself a program from - you guessed it - Microsoft Corporation.

Hey, Softies. Yeah, you guys in Redmond. The ones who squandered the world's largest market cap and who probably still have more cash on the balance sheet than you should. Is this the 21st century version of GM's planned obsolescence?

I'm convince that there would be one quarter to one third as many tech support staff if we all had Macs. And likely a lot less road rage.

What's the point of this? Perhaps that we all need to take a look at what's in conflict in our lives and the places in which we live and really be honest with each other about making better choices that are good for ALL of us. Because in the end we all pay one way or another. Take the example of health care in Arizona. 20% of us don't have insurance. Not because we're lazy and don't want to work, but because it is out of reach of a family of four with a $60,000 household income. These citizens may even be working harder to practice healthy living than the rest of us just to stay out of the system. What is a fact, however, is that their treatment is much more expensive and much less likely to avoid chronic illness when they do enter the health care system at the local emergency room.

The costs come out of all of our pockets, reducing our GDP, bogging down our hospitals and, worst of all, clouding our perception of the root cause that requires attention. Don't be fooled. We can do better, without embracing any of the knee-jerk reactions that have been offered in the past. The track record on these is also clear. Not much has changed in decades.

That goes for Microsoft too.

Number Two, Trying Harder?

Phoenix is the number two major metro for new college graduates. That was the conclusion after BizJournals crunched the numbers and we were edged out of the top spot by – surprise – Las Vegas. I assume that this has something to do with Vegas having showgirls.

But hold on. The previously heralded retirement mecca symbolized by Sun City has ostensibly been measured as one of the best large metro areas where job opportunities are strongest for young adults.

Question: do they understand that they are not Medicare-eligible?

Over the Top to Make a Point

My, oh my, oh my. Please do yourself a favor and visit Bob Fuller's Roadside Memorials. It's twisted and wrong, but dead-on right at the same time. Make sure you watch the television commercial and call the 800-number.

Nonprofit advocates are really getting what the web can do. I originally thought that Elect Susie was nicely done. But what 'til you get a hold of this one.

If only Saturday Night Live had writers this good.

Who's Creating The Future in AZ? (Part 1 of a 500 part series)

Answer one: all of us. Whether we know it or not. Whether we realize it or not. Answer two: Hildy Gottlieb. Hildy works every day with a passion that is always worth paying attention to. And you can check out what she is doing two ways: visit her blog, or visit the web site of her Community Driven Institute.

Full disclosure: I've worked with the Community Driven Institute as a consultant to my employer, St. Luke's Health Initiatives. I didn't hire her, but did have the experience of working alongside her and business partner Dimitri Petropolis. When you are looking for smart people with great hearts, you should make a stop here.

Who Are the Strangers? (VTech, Part 2)

More reflection brought to mind the story told by community development expert Jody Kretzmann from Northwestern University. He shared the situation: a diverse, busted-up neighborhood in Chicago was making progress in bringing neighbors together and improving their situation. Everyone was feeling good. Feeling like a community. Kretzmann challenged their good feeling with the question, "who in your neighborhood still feels like a stranger to you?"

Answer one: the police. Answer two went something like: the people who live in that house for crazy people. Indeed, neighbors were uneasy about recently discharged mental patients living in a group home.

Kretzmann reminded the assembled group that these people had unique gifts and contributions to make too. To make a long, compelling and emotional story short, the neighbors even succeeded at involving the one inhabitant who had in turn been marginalized by all of the other home's residents. His name escapes me, but this man of Polish descent had been relegated to a back room with barely enough space for a bed and no windows. He spoke to no one. For years. He was 'invisible,' to borrow a phrase from the VTech situation.

Within a year, this invisible Polish man had become a member of the neighborhood's championship all-Hispanic (except for him) bowling team. He had started talking again - some Polish, but all bowling dialogue was in Spanish. He had been brought back from invisibility. He was no longer a stranger. He belonged.

Could something like this have happpened with Cho Seung-Hui? On the one hand, Cho was severely defensive, angry, calculated, cold and mean. On the other hand, anything's possible. The question is, what kind of social capital do we need to foster to make it probable?

When the Teacher is Ready, The Students Appear

'I'm a Hokie.' The students of VTech have boiled it down to that. And with the exception of a vocal minority who have picked at the administration, the vast majority of students is working to pull the community together and bounce back.

The media would like to do otherwise. They're trying to get the nasty part of the story out. Without even being a coverage junkie, I've seen two television outlets try to get the seamy side of the story (don't you think the administration wronged you?) - in other words, to try to expose what's wrong. The best part is, the students aren't biting. They seem to be saying 'hey, we support our administration because they are doing their best and because they are part of our community. They are us and we are them. We are coming together and healing. That includes the administration. And we are going to be known not as the place where that horrible thing happened, but as the place that showed the world the right way to bounce back.'

I hope the media either go away soon or change their tune. They did leave the Amish mass murder scene quickly, and they missed the real story. In that case, the Amish community not only forgave the shooter and his surviving family, but they invited the shooter's family to break bread with them and mourn the passing of all those involved. VTech, take that next step. You too will be leading lights in the world of an embracing community.

The old saying reads that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. In this case, the students are leading the way and are our teachers. Let's all take notice and applaud them.

Refocus Phoenix

I appropriated the leaping-out-over-Phoenix photo (top of the page, right hand column) from a guy who attributed it to Refocus Phoenix. I went over to the Refocus Phoenix site and found out that the lensework was by Andy Ferra. I also found pictures of Phoenix that in many cases are much more insightful and inviting than the CVB's. And yet, they're just looking to have fun and raise their skill level. From the site:

"We're a group of photographers in Phoenix, Arizona. We come from all levels of experience and represent many different styles. We go to fun places a few times a month to shoot pictures and hang out."

Now this is what I'm talking about: people getting together, having a good time doing what they like to do and appreciating what their town has to offer. Makes me wonder what they'll do next. And it makes me want to bring my crappy little camera along for the ride at the next event.

I owe Wilco

"Hotel in Arizona, made us all want to feel like stars." That's the first lyric from the song "Hotel Arizona," from which this blog derives its title, by the band Wilco (pictured at right). That's a pretty straightforward take on how the cool resorts and wide open beautiful spaces here have made people feel over the years. One cannot help but be affected by the unique treasures and sense of place that can be found. Separated by relatively few miles, Tucson has a dramatically different sensibility from Phoenix (to which many Tucson inhabitants cry "thank goodness!"). Sedona is a world away from both. Ditto Flagstaff.

The song continues. "Hello? Can you here me?" Well, can you? We have an opportunity to value these places and we hold the gift of our collective future in our hands. Let's be intentional about that. Together we'll make something real, affecting and attractive.

And at the tune's conclusion: "I guess all this history is a mystery to me, One more worried whisper right in my ear." Many of us come here fresh from other locales. We often speak of what's not here that we had in our former hometowns. Well, this is our town now. Take your "I'll always be a New Yorker-Chicagoan-Bostonian" personalized license plate and turn it back in to the MVD.

Ironically, the lineup of Wilco that recorded "Hotel Arizona" in 1997 is nothing like the one pictured above. The band's membership is a lot like the famed Arizona transience. (Does it still hold that two leave for every three that arrive?) And yet, people keep on coming. Like Arizona, there are more people in Wilco now than there used to be.

By the way, the band will release its new album titled "Sky Blue Sky" on May 15. Buy it.

Getting on the Train

Time to get the train on the track. How unclear the destination is only makes the trip more interesting and fun. This is the story of ambiguity and clarity emerging from practice.

Arizona's future is a lot like the view of this photo. We're on the tracks, but not so sure where we're going. Sometimes we care (like when NIMBY-ism kicks in) and other times we act like we don't. In the end though, we can make it all matter and turn Arizona into an even better place in the process.

There' s room at the table for anyone who cares about this place. Lots of folks are dancing on former Arizona Republic columnist Jon Talton's professional grave now that he no longer rails against what's wrong here, but I believe that Jon did care in his own way. That said, positive assessment and drawing on what we have rather than criticizing what we lack stands as the better approach.

Hotel Arizona is one place you can check-in, kick back, think, talk, relax and enjoy.