Well, That’s Good News

A Short Break from Politics for Good News in Other Sectors

I Promised a Break

We ended last week with the promise of talking about some lighter, more good news items, and so we shall this week. There certainly is no shortage of political and related news (both good and bad) but it seems healthy, every once in a while, to walk in another garden for a while. Shall we?

 The Blind Shall See

I saw an encouraging article recently in the Washington Post about several companies experimenting with a type of gene therapy called optogenetics. They’re trying to create a bionic eye that can restore sight in visually impaired people. This could mean deseases like macular degeneration could become historical footnotes in the near future. What a gift that would be.

These things always take longer than planned but clinical trials of one of these endeavors are set to begin in the next 18 months. If all goes well, this technology could be on the market in the next five years.

Setting the Standards for Nursing Homes

We have heard far too many stories, especially since the pandemic, of nursing homes and similar organizations being woefully understaffed, with the expected costs to human beings. This was always a challenge at some level, but really took off in recent years. It seems the problem is worst in for-profit units.

Now the Biden administration has set minimum national staffing levels for nursing homes As one might expect, there is pushback within the industry, with alarms that some places may be forced to close. If true, that would make availability even more challenging, but in the end, why should we underwrite inadequate staffing? No doubt there will be administrative and legal challenges, but I expect in the end the standard will hold and the vast majority of these places will figure out how to meet the standard. Thanks, President Joe. Another long overlooked shortfall addressed.

Coffee, Anyone?

I ran across a neat little story about a coffee company in Finland that is really, really serious about making great coffee. They decided to work with artificial intelligence to go over everything in their operations to determine what would make the most perfect coffee possible.

The thought was they would take the results of the AI input, test it thoroughly, make some good old human tweaks, and end up with the best coffee possible. The result? A coffee from AI was judged by their entire team as perfect. No human adjustments needed on any process or product. AI got it 100% right the first time out. Exciting and scary. Think about applying this throughout the world of food and beverage. I am sure we will see many more stories like this, with whole categories of products improving in a big way.

Who Has an Idea?

I read an interesting article in Numlock recently about something Nestlé  has done that proves out so very often in other companies. The program in question launched in 2019, seeking ideas for new products from its employees. It has been a homerun effort, with 6,000 ideas submitted from 20,000 employees. So far, 46 of these ideas became company initiatives that have added over $200 million in revenue to the company in just a few years.

In my local area, many breweries and distilleries (we have a LOT of them here) take this same approach. Many allocate time, resources, and equipment to employees to play with new ideas. A number have been successes, made into marketed products, with credit and rewards to the employees who had the vision.  Good products, healthy change, happy employees. Does not get much better than that.

Lingering Effects of Pandemic Have An Upside

Now there is a phrase you don’t hear often: “pandemic upside.” But it does fit here. We have all seen and have been hearing about the national crisis of isolation and loneliness. The US Surgeon General has called this a national crisis. One can indeed see the signs everywhere, including among some of our own friends. It is as though people have forgotten how to connect after two years of isolation.

But more than a few have come out of all this rethinking the meaning of life for themselves, looking for ways to give value to their lives. Many have started new careers or made similar big changes in their lives. And very many have begun volunteering for the many organizations out there trying to serve others and make the world a better place. That more people of all ages are making such connections and commitments can only be a good thing. May it grow and endure. A philosophy of “pay it forward” is a powerful key to a better life and a win-win for all involved.

Show Us Around, Please

We recently did a bit of concentrated tourism in Kentucky, deep into bourbon and horses, among other things. Learned a lot. I know very little about horse racing and seldom watched the Kentucky Derby. After spending time with such horses and at Church Hill Downs on this trip, we watched it with real interest and a better understanding this year.

But what I really wanted to share with you was something that dawned on me that a lot of you have also observed. A very large percentage of our guides, docents, museum staff, escorts, welcomers, etc. were senior citizens. Once I recognized this trend, I looked back into my memory and realize this has been the case for a long time just about everywhere we have travelled, and not just in the US.

This strikes me as a fine match up of people to requirements. Most such senior guides I have encountered have a lifetime of experience that simply makes them more complete operators in this part of the tourism world. As a group, they strike me as well informed, gracious, forgiving of ignorance or crudeness, and well humored. In short, perfect guides. I will be looking for such guides henceforth.

Next Week

We likely need to “get back to work” next week. The Israel-Gaza mess is at a different stage in a couple of areas. So, too, Ukraine and the Russian invaders. Trumps trial will likely reveal next week conclusion sooner than later or a drawn out exercise. If we have space, we might talk about some interesting background on digital books and a particular curse of our times – private equity firms. See you next week.

Bill Clontz

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