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Changing Things Up

By: posted May 8, 2007

I can’t get the old Wings song, “Too Many People” out of my head.   I have considered just writing an entire series of blogs with the “Too Many People” lyrics as the basis for my ranting and ravings.

I get this Twilight Zone eerie feeling that our entire popular culture and approach to the world is to take old models and try to get new innovation to conform to them.   My gut tells me that this approach is probably fueled by the wealth and powers that be in this world.   After all, if you innovated without using the old models – then revenue might dry up for the music industry, oil industry, education industry.   


Too many people pulled and pushed around,
Too many waiting for that lucky break.

Maybe I am all over the place today, but it is really eating at me.   I see the struggles in starting up a new business and I laugh at how ridiculous the process is.   I keep shaking my head and repeating, “It doesn’t have to be this way….”  and then I realize that I have said that about almost everything for my entire life and that maybe I am the problem. 

Oil companies aren’t going to help us out.  The Government is not going to figure this out.   It is our jobs to figure this out.   It is a responsibility left for the people.   and, I have to say… I think it has always been that way.   We see how Government and huge corporations do things.  They make the process ugly, painful, uncomfortable and adhere to special interests while doing it.    

If the Government can’t figure out Social Security… a program that says… people put money into an account that they are then given back when they retire or turn 65 years old, then how can we count on them to sort out the other issues?

I think all of this revolves around a false sense of security.   I think my generation constantly listened to logic that was based on a false sense of security.   If you work hard… then this will happen.  If you follow these rules… then that will work out for you.    Instead of things working out for the 30-something generation, I see a lot of people working hard and losing sight of what they once believed in.    Maybe this happens with every generation.   Maybe the system beats you down.

But… what about the rest of us.   Those that refuse to let the system win.   Those of us who think it is more important to recreate, shape, and repair the system?   What about those of us who believe that there is a better way to do things?   

I think it is our job to work for that.  To take the risk and to assume the responsibility.   This part might sound a little bit sappy, but — the reward can’t be seen as purely financial or self-centric.   The reward has to be knowing that you pursued a better way.   That your intention while working was to make the world a better place than when you got here.   


Too many people preaching practices,
Don’t let ‘em tell you what you wanna be.
Too many people holding back,
This is crazy, and baby, it’s not like me

So… there it is.  An informal pledge to start approaching life with the same passion that fueled me as a child.   With the same energy that I felt when I started my first business.   No more holding back.  No more adhering to “unofficial rules” that insist you have to take your innovative brilliance and apply it to old models.    We need to stop seeing America as our Governmet and Corporations and instead see ourselves as Americans.   We need to take a stand against bad jobs, bad bosses, bad situations.   We need to transform from within…and make choices that reflect these values.

I know those WWJD  bracelets were popular, but — I think it makes more sense  to have a bracelet that says,  “What Do I Really Want To Do?”  and while WDIRWTD is less sexy  than WWJD… you can see that – if we really took 3 seconds to look down on a bracelet that asked us every day, “What do I really want?”  or “What really makes sense?”  then we might become aware that…

Too Many People are tired of doing the same old thing over and over with no new results.

How about you?

Categories: business, teachers

  • J. Klomp

    I couldn’t agree more. I long for the opportunity to be creative and help shape something new. As an educator and administrator for the last 12 years (with a family) it is scary to think that I cannot/will not take the risks that will allow me to be actualized in a new profession. I want to apply technology for learning (as a profession), but also my family needs some stability. This is a paradox for someone that believes both are possible. How are opportunities created? How possible is it to make the jump from schools to business?Sometimes it seems that the only way to do something is the way you’ve seen it done. (Thus, all learning is based on prior learning.- John Dewey) But…this is the excuse I’ve heard from some teachers that I’ve supervised…since they learned something in a certain modality (i.e. chalk and talk) then that is how they should teach. I’m looking for the opportunity, or the someone, who can teach me another way. For example, I have at least three clear ideas to employ current technology in a fashion that would be profitable, and I have a pretty clear plan of how to sell the item, but I don’t yet know how to actually produce a product prototype (even if I had the cash handy).

  • WeaselKent

    "Too Many People are tired of doing the same old thing over and over with no new results."This i a systemic problem in our civilization today,the cult of information pollution is eating our individuation away,brainwashed and subjugated, we seek to advance to move beyond foolishand youthful romance of politics and material gain,our ever present conditioning is causing mental, emotional and spiritual strain.Living in the machine, like a cog on a wheel, what does it take to really step outside,to feel the sunlight on our face, like a creature of an unknown place – beyond the madnessof this human rat race.Do it. Do it. Do it different, do it right – stop recreating what we know isn’t right,explore and expanded, walk back to the start – take the right road – leave the horse and the cart,we are all on a journey, outside and in – only in living can we really begin to step outsidethe zombie mind, educate, elucidate, and break down the barriers of trauma and time.peace brother.