Friday, January 31, 2020

Identifying Local Opportunities


Philadelphia father faked home invasion, charged in death of 4-year-old son
 This story was about a young father who lied to the police about his four-year-old son being killed in an apparent home invasion. The father and son lived in a home in North Philadelphia along with a sibling age 3. After an investigation, it was determined the only crime that had taken place was that of the father leaving a gun in an unsafe location whereby the four-year-old was able to shoot himself in the head. The father was subsequently arrested and charged with the son’s death.
Problem in my words:
The father lives in an area of town with a high crime rate. Most likely he had the gun for protection. Because he decided not to secure his gun, his son is now dead.
Problem presented in the story:
The problem presented in the story was that of a deceased child, as well as a father being charged with manslaughter.
Who has the problem:
From my perspective the father has the most immediate of problems. Because he was a felon having been found to have had a gun in his possession, in addition to the killing his own son through his own bad judgment, he will likely be put away for some time. 

Jewish couple sues American Airlines after being kicked off flight for ‘body odor


A young Jewish couple is suing American Airlines claiming discrimination after being kicked off a plane due to body odor. After complaints from several crew members, as well as patrons, the decision was made to remove the couple from the airplane. They were told it was due to an emergency, and promptly removed. Couple allege they did not bathe for religious reasons that week and were embarrassed due to the removal.
Problem in my words:
Because of our culture of both misunderstanding and clear ignorance of others who are unlike them, someone exercising their religious rights were discriminated against.
Problem presented in the story:
The airline appears from the story not to have handled the circumstance with as much care as they perhaps should have. Alienating their customer for the convenience of other customers.
Who has the problem:
At this time, the airline has the problem, as now they are being sued for discrimination. 

No learners’ permit for teen voters — White’s office vows to stop letting 16-year-olds submit forms to register to vote

Chicago teens who submitted for their learners permits, were also wrongly allowed to pre-register to vote as a courtesy. This was another of many errors having been made in Illinois as it relates to voter registration. Apparently, this courtesy of registering was meant only for 17-year old’s. The registration would be held until their 18th birthday. There is no such pathway for 16-year-old. The problem was found and applications were terminated.
Problem presented in the story:
The story outlined how this was just one of several snafus having been committed by the Illinois department of elections. Republicans noted non-citizens were found to have been allowed to register in error previously as well. Fixing the problems with the Illinois Department of Elections was the problem.  
Who has the problem:
State lawmakers, as well as the Department of Elections are the entities with the problem.

 Ex-Hinsdale South teachers sue Sterigenics over cancers

Problem in my words:
Several teachers who had previously worked at a high school located near to a medical supplier are suing the medical supplier because they have developed several forms of cancer. The school is located in close proximity to the supplier. The government declared ethylene oxide to be a cancer-causing agent. This agent was used in sterilization of medical supplies at the medical supplier.
Problem presented in the story:
The teachers having cancer due to the medical suppliers’ emissions.
Who has the problem:
The medical supplier has the problem as now they are being sued due to their negligence. 

Youth climate activists condemn DePaul professor’s open letter to Greta Thunberg as ‘hateful’

Problem in my words:
A Swedish climate activist by the name of Greta Thunberg was openly criticized by a DePaul professor. Other activists found the professors remarks to be demeaning, hurtful, and rising to the levels of hateful. Professor Jason Hill openly criticized the activist in a publish piece.
Problem presented in the story:
The story noted the divide amongst climate activists and those that are not supportive of the activism and global warming.
Who has the problem:
Within the article, the professor’s school, DePaul has a problem as activists are noting them to be liable for Professor Hills remarks. DePaul contends they are not supportive of the remarks.

Forming An Opportunity Belief



          
Beginning Point:
In reviewing my current beliefs, there is one that sits paramount at the forefront on my mind. The belief is very near and dear to my heart, as it involves our elder relatives. My belief is that elder care is essential and that some way, some how adequate care or provisions for our elderly should be provided. This creates an opportunity. While options currently exist, none appear to be efficient models to assist the vast majority of our seniors in ways they need it the most. 

Belief Description:
The unmet need I see is in assistance, direction and consultation for life planning and long-term changes. The need is vast, as it occupies one of the largest subsets within our population, our baby boomers.  

Who has the need:
While my first thought is that the baby boomers themselves have the need, after some deep considerations, I now believe it to be the children of the baby-boomers / soon to be retirees who have the need. My thoughts changed when I realized most soon to be retirees, at least the one’s I come in contact with, while aware of their impending needs, do not have the where-with-all to digest the challenges they are soon to be facing. For the children however, they become more and more acutely aware as their parents grow older and began to change. 

Where did need come from:
This need of having assistance available for the older cross section of our population has always been present. The problem is most options available only meet the needs of those who are well to do or have already for the most part prepared for their coming of age. The children of our aging parents are more aware than our previous generations, that if some help isn’t provided than they are liable to endure a very difficult path of confusion, and ultimately a difficult passing on. The need is more dire as the children of these individuals are becoming more and more consumed with their own day to day lives.

What is being done now:
Within our current society, there are many measures being undertaken to care for our aging adults. The problem/ needs however are due to multiply as our baby boomers – now 25% of the population, began to require additional assistance. I do not believe society is prepared for what is due to come. While some of these aging adults have made preparations in the way of retirement savings, pensions and the like, there is a large cross section of Americans that have found themselves either incapable of saving due to income constraints, or have worked on jobs that do not offer adequate employer funded contribution options. Additionally, all needs are not always financial. Some need direction on decision making.  Due to the lack of direction many individuals are continuing to work in hopes that at some point they will be in a better position to retire. Instead of retirement being at age of 65, many are finding themselves working an additional 10 years to this end. I believe more should be done by way of assistance from the children (input), as opposed to any government led intervention. The children for the most part were the investment these aging adults have made when unable to invest in their own savings/ life planning.

Prototypical customer reflections:
Because of my current job, I was able to speak with more than the requested three prototypical customers. Many of my clients, peers, and employees fit into my population subset which is that of Generation X. Those that were born in the 60’s and 70’s and grew up in the 80’s. Our parents comprise the current population of baby boomers. From my conversations the consensus was that everyone agreed there to be an unmet need. While some as I expected had planned for aging, there were still concerns on direct assistance with decision making during this period. Alternatively, many became aware of the unmet need through interacting with their parents and feeling the increase questions on areas of their parents lives they had not been invited to assist in previously. The lack of preparedness for this task on behalf of the children was noted to be scary for all. Some because of their busy schedules just were able to put the pieces together. Through my conversations with them the consensus was that they should probably be checking in more.  
Initially, the focus had been on the income issue, but as I spoke to more and more individuals, it became clear that a need for advisory, in addition to life planning was necessary. It was agreed some individual or entity who would qualify and work to understand a soon to be, or retired individuals’ current trajectory would work best. The children all agreed on the importance of being involved in perhaps the funding of the campaign and were all frustrated by the lack of time they currently had set aside to assist. At the time of the interviews, many of those I spoke with were not satisfied with the solutions of allowing their parents attempt to work through their life planning with auxiliary assistance from websites, talk shows, and consultation with other aging seniors. Everyone agreed more should be done on a larger scale. 

Summarize:
After completing this assignment, I felt comforted that I was not alone in understanding there exists an unmet need, and opportunity to assist our aging boomers. While I still feel the opportunity exists, I found myself floundering with where exactly the concentration should be. At this time, I feel it should be in consultation and life planning. At this time though, the funding aspect from the children impacted by these changes are were I am having difficulty rolling it up. I continue to agree there lies an opportunity and do believe the level of opportunity has been clarified by this exercise. Feedback was essential in honing in on the who, what and what I should be directing my energies on in determining my opportunity. In my observation, my opportunity would have gone on without any actual actionable items had there not been feedback from those directly affected.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Entrepreneurship Story


    

           I have always been drawn to the entrepreneurial spirit of things. The idea of building something on your own, with your own rules and guidelines- for some reason entices me. For that reason, several years back, I decided to open my own boutique real estate office. This is where my entrepreneurial story began to take shape. At that time, I had no formal business knowledge, or previous experience running or heading up anything. It was for these reasons the shaping of my business ended in the first several months. While I have had some successes, they have been very limited as I have not been running my office very efficiently. While I have enjoyed the experience, I am your example of a startup still attempting to define itself, after almost 10 years of doing business. This I am adamant about changing.

              I enrolled in ENT 3003 as it was a requirement in the business school for graduation. I am however EXTREMELY happy I have. Alternatively, I believe I also had the option to enroll in a Real Estate class. Based on what I have experienced thus far, I can honestly say I already see where this class will be more relevant to my successes in defining my business model than a course directly related to my trade. In missing the fundamentals, this will help me work back in filling in the missing pieces of how I should be thinking. I am also interested in guiding several relatives who also have grand ideas of becoming entrepreneurs. While they all look to me for direction as they consider me a success, I would like to properly direct them along their individual journeys.