Weekend Digest: The superbosses, boozy politics, and LSD-inspired music edition

TV PREVIEW
On this week’s TV edition of Talk Business & Politics, which airs Sundays at 9:30 a.m. on KATV Channel 7 in Central Arkansas and in Northeast Arkansas on KAIT-NBC, Sundays at 10 a.m.:

Declaration of Independence
Evan McMullin, an independent, conservative alternative Presidential candidate, qualifies for the November ballot in Arkansas this week. McMullin will run on the Better for America ticket. What does he see as his role and his path to victory? We’ll go one-on-one with the candidate.

Higher Ed
Dr. Maria Markham, the new director of the Arkansas Dept. of Higher Education, sits down to discuss a new funding formula that could impact college enrollment and graduation rates.

News from NWA
Plus, Talk Business & Politics Michael Tilley and Kim Souza share thoughts on Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods and the future of the region.

And we’ll go inside the numbers for a different look at the week in politics.

Tune in to Talk Business & Politics in Central Arkansas on KATV Channel 7, Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and in Northeast Arkansas on KAIT-NBC, Sundays at 10 a.m.

WHY ARE SO MANY AMERICAN GOLF COURSES CLOSING?
“More than 800 golf courses have closed nationwide in the last decade, as operators grapple with declining interest in the sport and a glut of competition,” says Bloomberg.

“That leaves some golf course owners with the real estate equivalent of an unplayable lie: They can’t make money running the course, and they can’t recoup their investment by selling it.”

“If you open a restaurant in a strip mall and you fail, you close shop and move on,” said Jay Karen, chief executive officer of the National Golf Course Owners Association. But for golf course owners, it’s much harder to pull the plug on a failing business; as courses fall into disuse, they become suburban zombies – not quite dead, yet far from alive.

Is this a market correction and also, why are so many literally going up in flames? Find out more at this link.

HOW OUTSIDER BUSINESSES ARE GOING MAINSTREAM
Fast Company  reports, “As black market businesses become mainstream, it’s clear that mastering illicit activities can help develop a lot of business acumen.

Moonshine. Camel milk. Cannabis. Once only products of the gray and black market economies, decriminalization is bringing a new wave of underground goods to consumers across the U.S.

“But while the quality may be better, the commercial recipes are still very much inspired by the bootleg generation.”

And then there’s the revenue.

States legalizing informal businesses – cannabis being the most obvious example – are finding new revenue opportunities. And once struggling informal entrepreneurs are finding new pathways into mainstream business. Since Tennessee legalized moonshine, its wholesale alcohol beverage tax revenue has grown substantially.

Learn more about the huge successes of outsider businesses going mainstream, here.

INSIDE BILLIONAIRE JAMES DYSON’S REINVENTION FACTORY
Forbes posts, “Dressed in a blue polka-dot oxford and striped Reebok sneakers, James Dyson abruptly veers off a paved path that cuts through his company’s 56-acre compound. The beanpole-thin 69-year-old billionaire pushes his way into some shrubbery and presses his nose right up to the reflective glass that encases his new, top-secret laboratory, a sleek two-story cube that looks like it was beamed directly from Santa Clara to the Cotswolds. To his delight, he can’t make out what his engineers are doing inside. “I hope they are working,” he says, chuckling.”

In reality, it’s move-in day at this brand-new $200-million-plus research facility, and on the other side of the glass dozens of young engineers are unpacking their gear and settling into their quarters. Their job at D9, as the building is cryptically known, is to experiment fearlessly, fail constantly and document those failures in company-issued black-and-yellow notebooks, which form the basis for still more experiments, still more failures–and also a corporate sideline in patent litigation.

“Very rarely this unending cycle of failure results in a revolutionary new product: the bagless vacuum cleaner (5 years, 5,127 prototypes), the 360 Eye robot (17 years, 1,000-plus prototypes) and the Supersonic hair dryer (4 years, 600 prototypes). But those successes add up: Dyson’s 58 products generated $2.4 billion in sales last year and an estimated $340 million in net profits, even after Dyson reinvested 46% of the company’s Ebitda in R&D, more than rivals such as Electrolux and Techtronic. Dyson owns 100% of the company, which is worth some $4.8 billion.”

What’s next in the Dyson lineup of products? Go to this link for a fascinating read.

SUPERBOSSES AREN’T AFRAID TO DELEGATE THEIR BIGGEST DECISIONS
Harvard Business Review says, “The answer to excessive micromanaging, we’re often told, is to learn to trust our reports, empowering them to make decisions for themselves. Yet that sounds far easier than it actually is. In practice, many bosses fail to delegate because they haven’t cultivated a set of underlying mindsets and practices.

Over the past decade, I’ve studied the world’s greatest bosses, extraordinarily successful leaders who have also unleashed vast pipelines of talent. These “superbosses,” as I called them, spanned dozens of industries and included legendary figures such as fast casual restaurant magnate Norman Brinker, packaged foods titan Michael Miles, tech mogul Larry Ellison, hedge fund pioneer Julian Robertson, media icon Oprah Winfrey, and a host of others.”

Analyzing these leaders’ careers and business practices, I found that superbosses were expert delegators, ceding degrees of authority and control that would send chills down the spines of ordinary bosses. Would you hand a twenty-something $25 million in seed capital and tell him to go off on his own to manage it? Julian Robertson did. Would you task a young protégé with generating the main strategy for a new real estate development — only two days before a big presentation with investors? If you’re real estate legend Bill Sanders, the answer is yes.

“Superbosses embrace a number of specific behaviors and beliefs that enable them to trust their subordinates more deeply, and delegate decision-making authority more aggressively. (Take this assessment to find out if you’re a superboss.)”

Find out more at this link.

ETHICISTS SCOFF AT CLINTON FOUNDATION TRANSITION PLAN
POLITICO posts, “The Clinton Foundation’s vague timetable to limit its involvement with overseas programs, and its insistence that Chelsea Clinton remain on its board, raise red flags for ethics watchdogs even as the charity vows to avoid conflicts of interest in a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Foundation President Donna Shalala suggested Tuesday that reorganizing the $2 billion enterprise could not happen overnight. The charity pledged last week not to accept foreign or corporate donations if Clinton is elected.”

But Richard Painter, former ethics counsel in the George W. Bush administration, said that if the Clintons really wanted to separate themselves, they could do it tomorrow.

“That could be done in one board meeting — change the name, have the board members resign and be replaced with people with no ties to the Clintons. No one in the Clinton family should be there. … That’s an easy step to take. It could be done in an afternoon,” Painter said.

Independent trustees with experience at other charities could oversee any necessary changes without jeopardizing programs, he said.”

“Questions about how the global philanthropy would sever ties that raise potential conflicts of interest for a President Clinton are the latest controversy surrounding its work. Assertions that donors to the charity got special access to Clinton while she was secretary of state have dogged her campaign.”

More on this evolving story at this link.

RACHEL MADDOW’S DUEL WITH TRUMP MANAGER KELLYANNE CONWAY
Donald Trump has only been doing Fox News these days, but on Wednesday night his new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, gamely ventured into the unfriendly confines of Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show. What followed was a fascinating, lengthy back-and-forth over the importance of policy to Trump, among many other topics.

The whole thing was so riveting that The Washington Post annotated it.

Check it out for yourself at this link.

STRAIGHT TALKIN’ McCAIN
“Facing his toughest reelection fight ever, the Arizona senator looks like the freewheeling presidential contender of 2000,” reports POLITICO.

“The dour John McCain of Capitol Hill is on hiatus. In his place, at least for a day: The loose, accessible, happy warrior of Straight Talk Express yesteryear. McCain is deadly serious about winning reelection and continuing his long-running battle against the health care and foreign policies of President Barack Obama.”

McCain has plenty weighing on his mind these days, including a wild card Republican nominee for president who’s attacked him personally as well as his state’s growing Latino electorate. A super PAC supporting his primary opponent, Kelli Ward, is receiving a late infusion of money ahead of the Tuesday election, an attempt to embarrass McCain with a poor showing. Though McCain is heavily favored to win that race, he’ll then run into Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) in the general, easily the toughest opponent he’s ever faced.

Follow this link for the complete story including McCain showing the humorous side of his personality that endeared him to millions in multiple state and national campaigns.

HOW ALCOHOL PLAYED A ROLE IN AMERICA’S POLITICS
“Booze and presidency has a long and illustrious history in the United States. Whether it’s President Obama’s “Beer Summit” in the Rose Garden or Richard Nixon’s famous trip to China, alcohol has been a necessary part of diplomacy. Historian Mark Will-Weber, author of “Drinking with the Republicans,” joins “CBS This Morning: Saturday” to share some of the presidents’ boozy stories in office.”

Did President Harding actually stash a fifth in his golf bag and was Nixon a “light-weight” drinker?

Get the boozy facts from America’s political past by clicking here.

RYAN LOCHTE TURNS EXPERTLY FROM APOLOGY TOUR TO COMEBACK
“Ryan Lochte lost all his big sponsorship deals after his idiocy down in Brazil during the Olympics. Today, you might say he’s failing upward, or something,” reports MarketPlace.

Lochte has been on what you might call an apology tour, giving interviews and admitting  his story was “over-exaggerated.”

But today, Pine Brothers cough drops signed him up, saying “Just as Pine Bros. is forgiving to your throat, the company asks the public for a little forgiveness for an American swimming legend.”

Cheesy and opportunistic all at once.

And for other huge “Lochte Redemption news” you can get the scoop by clicking here.

FOR THE COLONEL, IT WASN’T ‘FINGER-LICKIN’
The New York Times says, “A small boy, seated at a table in Kentucky Fried Chicken store in Greenwich Village paled and almost dropped the extra‐crispy drumstick he was about to bite into yesterday as he looked up and saw none other than the Kentucky Colonel himself, Harland Sanders, every inch his television image with flowing white hair, trim goatee and blazing white suit.”

Looking over to the boy’s mother who was managing a thin smile of disbelief, the colonel boomed, “Ah, madam, I bet you never thought it was true. But you, boy, you never doubted it, did you?”

And then he handed the child signed photograph of himself.

“This unannounced inspection visit to the Kentucky Fried Chicken store on the Avenue of the Americas near Eighth Street followed a prebirthday luncheon for the colonel at the Coach House. Today the colonel’s 86th birthday will be celebrated with a luncheon at “21.” But driving back from lunch yesterday in the colonel’s limousine, I noticed this Kentucky Fried store, at which I had purchased some of the worst fried chicken I’ve ever eaten in my life.”

Oh no. The Colonel was a purist with high standards. What’s going on?

“Wing” it over to this link to find out.

PSYCHEDELIC DRUG INSPIRED BEATLES’ MASTERPIECE
“The story of Revolver began in a night of hell and illumination.” reports Rolling Stone.

“We’ve had LSD,” John Lennon told George Harrison.

But it “also opened wounds that never healed.” For a great read, trip on over to this link.