COOK: Restoring buildings revitalizes communities
I got involved in restoration projects more than 30 years ago when a serious cardiac illness sidelined me from my medical-device
business.
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GIGERICH: Happiness is factor in location choices
State-by-state comparisons ranking residents’ satisfaction levels are gaining traction in economic development circles. While rankings do not drive site-selection decisions, they do play a role.
HENDERSON: The real reasons not to merge utilities
Part of the overall utility problem is that lack of government oversight and public policy vision has made Indianapolis one
of the highest-polluting and just plain ugliest cities in the Midwest.
SLAUGHTER: Why you should kill the operations manual
You’ve
probably forgotten entirely about your company operations manual.
WEIGAND: Let’s rethink fixes for urban poverty
The message to neighborhoods couldn’t be clearer: It’s absolutely essential to attract and retain middle-class
homeowners with the resources to invest in—and maintain—their own homes, as well as support surrounding businesses.
GUY: Do you want to travel or truly vacate?
How does a busy person vacate, as in the dictionary reference, “to vacate one’s mind
of worries?” One answer is to take a vacation, but an important choice remains: place or event?
FORSELL: Look beyond results for reciprocity in health care
I want to matter to the nurse standing next to me. I want to be more than a number, more than just a name on a list of hundreds
of patients on a research protocol.
SHOBERT: Who’s your in-house entrepreneur?
Times like this are ripe for pioneering activities. Now that your business knows it can operate profitably even in a down
economy—no small thing—the next question is what you need to be doing to grow.
FELDMANN: Beware the dreaded donor engagement gap
Engagement gap strikes small organizations and big ones, struggling not-for-profits and successful ones, and it threatens
to cripple each of its sufferers.
SLAUGHTER: Does your work flow bring satisfaction?
The satisfaction derived from work is more than just momentary bliss. Satisfaction is an essential component of productivity.
HENDERSON: Indianapolis getting squeezed by suburbs
Indianapolis’ successful suburbs are rapidly surrounding the city. More important, tax and cultural shifts
are starting to drain Marion County.
HOLIFIELD: Build consensus before building facilities
Only a handful
of public building projects have earned permission from voters, leading local officials to delay or consider abandoning much-needed
projects.
WIEGAND: Who’s monitoring home construction?
About 18 months ago, I watched as the entire exterior of an expensive condo on the Central Canal—originally
built in 1996—was rebuilt. Among the issues: There was no building paper (Tyvek) under the siding, treated lumber wasn’t
used on the exposed porches, and neither was there any drainage.
GARNER: Find a mentor to make you better
Most people muddle through, often learning the hard way. But those who are successful will point to
mentors who helped them find their way.
DOUGLAS: Regulate the raters, but not too much
In Washington, the Senate Banking Committee is considering far-reaching legislation regulating the financial services
industry in the wake of the recent and ongoing crisis. This legislation will dramatically change the relationship between
the federal government and some of our financial institutions.
MORTON: Colts’ decision was all business
The Indianapolis Colts’ decision to pull the plug on a potential undefeated season was made for one reason: “What
must we do to win Super Bowl XLIV in Miami on Feb. 7?”
RYAN: Recession could prompt tax reform
A new study by the National Conference of State Legislatures shows that states have narrowed
a collective budget gap by $145.9 billion in the fiscal year that began July 1, only to be faced with another $28.2 billion
gap for the remainder of the fiscal year. And fiscal 2011 and 2012 are equally bleak.
SLAUGHTER: Imagine a world without deadlines
The
reason we have deadlines is that they act as inflection points in the hierarchy of work. Each phase of work has a deadline:
an opportunity for failure and rejection.
PAYNE: How we can improve our ‘talent dividend’
We Hoosiers are starting to treat education with a sense of urgency and as something
worth achieving. This response to our city’s, state’s and country’s education crisis is reassuring, because the
stakes couldn’t be higher.
GUY: Ethical collapses offer many lessons
“The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse,” by Marianne M. Jennings, caused me to wonder whether investors
could have avoided various corporate disasters in Indiana.