Politics: I finally get it!
The Politics Industry
Most know I rarely write or post about politics. While I have some political beliefs, I find little value in discussing them. It is unlikely to influence those on the other side of the political fence and it could hurt my relationships.
But a recent book has brought me out of this self-imposed position. Mostly as it is co-authored by Michael Porter, a writer who did more to advance my thinking on competitive strategy during my business career than anything else. I’ve admired and followed him for years.
What Porter (a registered Republican) does with his co-author, Katherine M. Gehl (a registered Democrat) is simply amazing. Porter takes his business acumen and experience and applies it to deeply analyze politics—as a business and industry. What he discovers from this analysis and set of lenses is nothing short of brilliant. In classic Porter fashion, he puts core issues into perspective and shows an easy-to-follow remedy to fix the problem.
The book takes on both Democrats and Republicans. Officials in these parties will hate this book and fight it tooth and nail. But if you are a voter and care about the United States, I am 99% certain you will agree with me that it is the most important book you’ve read in the past five years. It sure was for me.
The book articulates WHY our government seems incapable of getting anything done and what we citizens can do about it. He explains, in just the right amount of detail, how for the past 25 years, our government has become impotent at fixing our issues, getting things done and doing the right thing. Along with how and why this happened.
If you read only ONE book this year, this is the one I would recommend. It is brilliant in its insight and prescription for what is required to get our government back on track. Democrats don’t want their party members to read it, and Republicans won’t either. But we as citizens must understand the deep incentives in place to keep things the way they are now.
The individual who told me of the book is a former Republican elected official. It came after I lamented our government’s failure to fix the border issue. He replied, “The border is an unsolved problem because like it exactly the way it is.”
Warning, the 3rd chapter will depress the hell out of you, and it’s scary. But here’s a big hint: do not stop after reading Chapter 3. We can’t fix something we don’t understand, and Porter forces readers to understand why things are the way they are. But through this understanding, he provides the rationale for what is needed, how it is possible to fix, and, in fact, fixes have worked in the past.
This is not a high-level think tank, it is clear, practical and actionable steps to get things done. The answers are there. (Side note: I listened to the Audio version of the book).
Steve
P.S. I’ve not written in a while. If you got this, please give me a one-word reply, so I know my email system is still sending. Thanks!