A Parable of Life

Helen and Brent Goates, 1975

Continuing his semi-annual tradition of a Conference missive to his former missionaries in the old California Arcadia Mission, my father writes this time about life and football:

Welcome back, dear October –

My, how we’ve missed you! Renowned for more than just General Conference, October’s refreshing breezes with a slight bite to them proclaim it is also football season. You can smell football in the air.

Maybe it’s just the surcease from the hottest summer ever recorded in Utah, but those delightful cool breezes invite the thought of a sizzling hot dog while we can now enjoy being outdoor spectators again.

As October warps into November, it brings childhood memories back to me of kicking multi-colored leaves underfoot, as I held tightly to my sports editor father’s hand (he carried his portable typewriter in the other hand) and he guided me up the ramps of the University of Utah stadium to the press box. That set up a pattern that would continue, and I never missed a “U” home game from the press box until I was old enough to leave for the mission field. In those days we would never think of having Thanksgiving dinner until after the rivalry Utah vs. Utah State football game was played.

But those days are near forgotten memories now. The cherished days of brisk but delightful afternoon football games have all but disappeared, victims of the money-driven dominance of television schedules that are insane. Last year in Provo, Utah, for example, we had 65,000 BYU fans acting like Eskimos, trying to survive a game that started at 11 p.m. and lasted well into the Sabbath. 

University of Utah's faithful 45,000 came to a night game in a snowstorm which finally relented well past midnight. 

When Utah State plays Colorado State this year on November 23 in Logan, you can bet your sheepskin boots it will be more than nippy. If famous canyon winds arise, you know there will be 25,000 numbed fans taking on the appearance of human icicles.

Where have common sense and the “good old days” gone? Soon an entire generation of sporting fans will never have known how wonderful football games can be in the brisk, warming afternoon sun. This is, in my opinion, too high a price to pay for allowing television to command the ubiquitous rising costs of collegiate athletic expenditures.

BUT – what would you think if you saw a football game being played between the white helmets and the black helmets in the most absurd conditions imaginable, including all the natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires? In these terrible, sloppy conditions of wet and cold, the teams surged back and forth, neither one winning or losing, but taking turns leading and then falling behind again.

You see a player injured, hauled out of the battle on a stretcher. The ambulance crew comes and you hear them say, “It’s too late; he’s gone,” and immediately a replacement comes to take his place. Similar replacements keep coming and coming, and the struggle continues. It all seems so aimless. So you go to the Head Coach and say, “Stop it! It’s so senseless. No team is winning or losing, so why do you let it go on?”

But the Head Coach answers by calmly pointing to a long, long bench of players as far as the eye can behold, and says, “All of these players have a right to have their time on the field of battle, so they can be tested under conditions both favorable and unfavorable, of winning or losing. They are all growing and shall only be able to perfect themselves under game conditions where they can participate against the stern realities of forces both good and bad.”

Now that you understand the purpose of the game of life and the plan of the Head Coach, why do you get so upset about the way the game is being played? It now seems somewhat more reasonable why God would place us in a world that permits so many forms of evil and why we would have willingly agreed in the beginning to enter such a violent world.

"First, we must remember that the divine creative process is ongoing. The record of creation in the Book of Moses describes the creative cycle twice, the first a spiritual creation and the second physically. However, day seven, the day that follows the completion of creation and God’s rest, is described only once. So day seven in real time has not yet arrived. We still live in day six, when the creation of humanity is unfinished. This helps me to understand the continued existence of chaos and injustice and helps also to alleviate my resultant tensions.

"Next, it is important to comprehend that many virtues linked to the plan of salvation are such virtues that depend upon the prior existence, or even the coexistence of a vice. I can forgive someone only if I have first been sinned against. Likewise, unless I am allowed to sin against my brother, I will never have the opportunity to experience forgiveness from him. Think of the attributes praised by Jesus in the Beatitudes and those required for membership in the Church by Alma at the waters of Mormon. They are virtues whose very existence depends upon the pre-existence of vice. We cannot bear each other’s burden if such burdens didn’t exist. We cannot be comforted if we didn’t know sorrow. We can be generous only if there is someone in need. Mercy can be granted only to someone who is undeserving. Peacemakers can exist only in a world of conflict. Reconciliation can occur only where there is contention. Even though these virtues are the pillars of Christianity, they depend upon the coexistence of vices. Remove the evil and the suffering or the injustice from this world, and these virtues are all but lost." (John Sutton Welch, “Why Bad Things Happen at All”, BYU Studies 42, no. 2 [2003] 75 - 90).

In these times of hardship we are drawn to God for help, comfort and support. Pain and agony allow us to empathize with each other, draw closer to one another and serve our fellowmen. It also changes our perspective of God. Instead of seeing Him as a cruel schoolmaster, we know He is a loving parent, willing to support us, sharing our successes and disappointments, even like Jesus did with Lazarus’s sisters, and be assured that adversity and chaos are just a part of this creative season. Order and justice will be established in day seven ahead in the millennial or celestial age.

Of His ultimate triumph over Satan and the elimination of his opposition in all things we can be assured. Let us prove faithful to the end, ever-believing, ever-faithful, and ever anxious to lift the burdens from those suffering in this intentionally embattled world.

                                                                                         
Always, your friend,

President L. Brent Goates

Putin or Obama as World Champion for Peace and Freedom? Vote Here

In this past week where we witnessed the observance of the 12th anniversary of the events of 9/11/01, many other tangential stories were also grabbing headlines. On the eighth anniversary, I recorded my thoughts about what has happened since that day. Today's post continues to reflect on the aftermath that has changed our national psyche perhaps forever.

President Barack Obama, September 10, 2013

Not the least of these tangential stories was a "bizarre" address to the nation from our current resident of the White House, President Barack Obama on September 10th, 2013. Only a skilled politician like him could have threaded such a delicate needle as Mr. Obama attempted to do. In essence, his message seemed to be we need to rush to bomb Syria to punish their use of chemical weapons, but we don't really want to go to war, and we're going to wait to see if Russia and Syria can agree on a plan to destroy Assad's stockpile of weapons, but we don't know if it's really viable, so we'll wait on Congress taking a vote on it until we can see if diplomacy will work. Oh, and we might even go to the U.N. Security Council for a vote for good measure, but since I think I have the authority to do anything I want anytime of my own choosing, I'll leave my cruise missile laden carriers in the region just in case. "Bizarre" messaging doesn't even begin to describe the scene today.

Wow, this last week was confusing, because it felt more like watching a tennis match at the recently concluded U.S. Open in New York than international intrigue. Every morning this week there has been a new twist on the story line. John Kerry is now in Switzerland apparently trying to take credit for what has now evolved into a "grand strategy" after tossing off a one-liner Putin seized upon to call his bluff. Watching Obama and Kerry is more like watching an episode of the old Keystone Cops, while the world waits breathlessly to see the outcome. One wonders after assessing the reactions to his performance if his best days of speech making are behind Obama. I lost interest in his soaring rhetoric a long time ago, don't know about you. Honestly, looking back on it, does anyone yet understand or know what he really intends to do? Is it bumbling amateurism at work here, or part of some diabolical plot against stability in the world?

Sensing accurately there is a gaping void in leadership in America these days, Vladimir Putin has inserted himself into our politics with an op/ed piece that appeared in the unofficial propaganda arm of the new Russia, The New York Times. In it he takes exception with Mr. Obama's characterization of America as "exceptional". How ironic that it was Obama himself during his election campaigns who routinely attacked his opponents on the political right for using such a phrase, and now as recently as his speech to the nation this week he seems to have embraced it again. These are, indeed, strange days. It appears Putin the Communist has the better of Obama the Marxist. Certainly, the body of the text of Putin's piece is much better thought out than Obama's rambling incoherent "call to action" to the nation other night. Here's the concluding paragraph that has given rise to an immediate reaction within the Beltway from both sides:

President Vladimir Putin

"My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is 'what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.' It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal."

Imagine a Communist leader (I know, you think the Communist Party is dead, but is it?) invoking the name of God, when for 70 years the regime did everything in its power to advance by brute force the cause of atheism! Ask yourself if Putin can now take center stage as the leader for the nations "still finding their way to democracy". May God grant that we may yet be able to find a leader in America who champions democracy and freedom. One may ask rightly if we have such a leader in Obama, but I would assert the world would not be well-served by looking to Putin for that leadership. We live under an "exceptional" form of government, not because we are "better than", but because we are collectively free and continue to oppose tyranny and despotism.

Peggy Noonan, one of my favorite commentators, summed it up this way in yesterday's column at The Wall Street Journal:

"Clearly he [Putin] is looking at President Obama and seeing weakness, lostness, lack of popularity. His essay is intended to exploit this and make some larger points, often sanctimoniously, about how the U.S. should conduct itself in the world. And so he chided American leadership, implicitly challenged its position as world leader, posited the U.N. Security Council, where Russia has done so much mischief, as the only appropriate decision-making body for international military action, and worried the U.N. will 'suffer the fate' of the League of Nations if 'influential countries' continue to take action without authorization.

"He does not doubt chemical weapons were used in Syria but doubts it was the government that used them. It was probably the rebels, he asserts, in an attempt to 'provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons.'

"Still, in general, Mr. Putin made a better case in the piece against a U.S. military strike than the American president has for it. And he did so, in a way, by getting to the left of the president, who he implies is insufficiently respectful to international bodies. Mr. Putin was candid about his primary anxiety — a spillover from Syria that could threaten Russian stability."

As we remember those who fell with the twin towers in the tragedy of 9/11, victims of a savage attack using jet planes and innocent passengers as missiles, may we never forget our resolve on that day to oppose the evil that attacked us. May we never deny the enormity of the problem of evil we still confront. There is little we can do to change hearts and minds determined to destroy us, but we must oppose it and resist it when it comes knocking at the door.

To continue thinking, however, we can embroil ourselves in the foreign intrigues of other nations, and unilaterally install democracy in the far-flung corners of the globe, particularly in the Middle East, now seems fool hearty at best. Remember the dictoms of the "neo-conservatives" with Dick Cheney at the helm? We now have some experience with those forays, as well-intentioned as they seemed. Now, we must ask, will we ever come to the end of the "tit for tat" mentality that says we must intervene whenever we are abhorred with bad behavior from dictators?

We should learn from what has transpired, not repeat it in yet another experiment with overthrowing Assad. To embroil ourselves in a brutal civil war in Syria that has killed over a hundred thousand in the last two years, is insane. At this writing it is anything but clear about who actually used those weapons against their own people.

Here again, Obama and Putin tell a different story - was it Assad and his military, or was it the rebels attempting to frame the government? So far I haven't seen a definitive answer. And where everyone in Syria involved in the fighting seems to be equally culpable, how does America presume to pick and back a winner from half a world away? One need look no further than the installation of the Shah of Iran for an example of failed policy.

If Putin can succeed in putting our current POTUS back in his box where his political opponents here at home have failed to, I'm asking how would that be a bad thing?

Noonan concludes her piece with this sobering assessment: We're not in a hot war or a cold war with Russians, but there's a definite chill in the air. Since its exceptional founding, America has always led the cause of freedom.

But that was yesterday, and even as I am writing this post, word has come there is a deal in place to rid Syria of its chemical weapons. Assad has one week in which to account for them, with an agreement they will be destroyed under international supervision by mid-2014. The deal was conceived and brokered by Russia with Assad's government. And now Putin is headed to Iran at the invitation of the mullahs there to see if he can intercede with America and blunt the U.S. opposition to their nuclear program.

I told you it was a strange world.

Being an Old Man in a Technological Golden Age

We live in a truly remarkable age of technological "miracles." As I think about what's happened in my little orbit in just the last month it gives me pause to reflect upon a few of those miracles.

It might be useful to describe my definition of "miracle" in this context, since the word gets tossed around a lot without the needed context. If we were to discuss the miracles of Jesus, like turning water into wine, walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee or raising Lazarus from the dead, we would say they are events without a logical explanation.

What I am talking about here is something akin, so stunning based upon technological advances that they also defy explanation. My finite simple mind likens them to "miracles" as a way to explain them.

In the last six months my vision has deteriorated rapidly due to cataracts that have developed in both eyes. I was warned a year ago by my optometrist that I needed more than an adjustment to my optical prescription for glasses. Now, she said, I needed to schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist to have the cataracts removed surgically. But like most things in life I suppose I tend to let things slide until they reach crisis stage. Especially when they involve someone slicing into my eyeballs with a laser.

Crisis stage was finally reached with advancing double vision and blurred vision, and my glasses rapidly became obsolete. An impending date with the eye exam for a driver's license renewal also started pressing down upon me because I knew I couldn't pass it even with my glasses. Such are the realities of old men.

One of my favorite missionary companions was Phil Hoopes. We were only together for one transfer over Christmas way back in 1967, but we made the most of our time together in West Hartlepool on the northeast coast of England. Today Phil is a renowned eye surgeon practicing here in Salt Lake City. Even though we hadn't seen each other since then, I sought him out. Gratefully, he remembered how I'd shared my Skippy peanut butter (a rare commodity in those days). How old is OLD? I asked his eldest son to perform my eye surgery, since Phil Sr. has "retired" from cataract surgery.

Acrylic MICS-IOL in holder

I'm halfway there at this writing. Phil Jr. performed an intraocular lens implant on the worse of the two cataracts about a week and a half ago. Post-op exams have confirmed my youthful 20-20 vision has now been restored. My glasses are gone. The whole procedure took about seven minutes and I was awake throughout. On Wednesday of next week I'll have the same thing done on my other eye. The contrast today between the two eyes is stunning. I feel to say, like the young man Jesus healed, "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." (John 9:25).

So I would call that a modern-day "miracle," defying a logical explanation from one like me who has no knowledge of the scientific explanation.

Another example. Some of our sons have suffered from male infertility. Through means of a grant the University of Utah Medical Center is now conducting a genetic study on our family to see if they can help unravel the mystery of male infertility not only in our family but also in the larger population.

This month one of those sons with the aid of in vitro fertilization has announced he and his wife have been successful with their second pregnancy. Their first was a "miracle" birth defying all the medical odds they would conceive naturally on their own. Certainly, by my definition of having no scientific knowledge of "how" it is done, the ability to replicate the natural sequence of events scientifically outside the womb to produce a viable fertilized egg, then to implant it into the mother's womb to produce another living soul is a "miracle." (In this case they may possibly have TWO living souls - time will tell on that). It's nothing short of "miraculous" to an old man like me who never had a moment's difficulty in fathering thirteen healthy children.

And finally, a third example. I have never considered myself a tree-hugging liberal on social issues, nor do I give much credence to global warming enthusiasts. I think Al Gore is nothing more than a money-grubbing opportunist playing on people's fears. However, that said, I am becoming increasingly more aware of my ability to reduce my personal carbon footprint and this week I made a decision to give up style for practicality. I am no longer in love with those interlocking four rings of silver on the front of my Audis. That alone would qualify as a "miracle," but I am now speaking about reducing my consumption of gas by 50% (at least) with the aid of modern technology.

2012 Toyota Prius

Another son and his wife gave us an old Saturn they had outlived several months ago. It finally gave up the ghost at the top of Parleys Summit on Monday morning at 187,000 miles. As I said, I tend to wait until the engine blows up before seriously considering a car purchase decision. In a rapid chain of events, working through our good friend and "adopted son" Clint Page at Western Fleet Sales, we found a more "politically correct" vehicle, a 2012 Toyota Prius. Give Clint a call whenever you're looking for a used car solution. Why would anyone ever buy a new car if they know Clint? He's the best.

What led to that decision was the shining example of Packsize's CEO, Hanko Kiessner, who perhaps owns the largest private fleet of Prius cars in the US. The Packsize portfolio of cars has been growing over the years, but now totals around 70 on any given day. Hal Johnson, who runs the fleet internally, told me all they've done in the way of major repairs is to replace a fuel valve at around 200,000 miles on average. Other than oil changes and tires, they are essentially maintenance-free and Packsize consumes as little gas as possible. The fleet policy was to drive them until they hit 200,000 miles, then trade them in, and now they've extended that to 250,000 based upon their favorable performance. Anytime you can benefit from a sample size that large, it's hard to ignore. At least it was for me. I find it amazing! We just turned over 300,000 miles on our Audi A-6 wagon, but I replaced the engine and the transmission on it. Because I'm not "on the road," I don't qualify for a company-owned Prius, but this was an e-mail I sent to Hanko yesterday summarizing my first week's experience in driving one:

"So, here are some interesting data points you asked for. I bought this 2012 Toyota Hybrid Prius (non-electric) for $19,900 through a friend who buys direct from the auto auction here in SLC. That price includes the leather and heated seats kit he is adding for $1295. It had 27,852 miles on it, and now it has 28,360. When he delivered it to me on Tuesday this week, it didn't have a full tank of gas in it. I’ve driven 508 miles, used 8.5 gallons, and that translates into 59.76 miles per gallon! [Hanko cautioned it will likely be reduced in winter conditions to about 46-50 mpg]. I drive about 100 miles per day up and down Parleys Canyon. There is no loss of power going uphill. I’m stunned at the early returns. Now I’m wondering why everyone on planet Earth isn’t buying the Prius."

Hanko's been buying new cars with a fleet discount through the Larry H. Miller Group, but when I told him about Clint my guess is he's going to rethink spending significantly more than he needs to on new ones. I still haven't bought gas this week, and the range indicator says I've still got 63 miles left to go on this partial tank. And by the way, it's not "cute." The Prius has to be one of the ugliest vehicles on the road. But you've got to love the efficiencies in the hybrid technology. I have become a true believer, and I've swallowed Hanko's Kool-Aid.

In case you missed it, here's his explanation of his sustainable business model.

So, once again, this old man is still learning lessons about modern-day miracles. My knowledge of cars and what makes them tick is limited. I know how to put gas in them, change the oil and buy new tires. That's about it. How that hybrid engine works to produce twice the mileage on a gallon of gas, effectively reducing my consumption by 50% or more is nothing short of miraculous.

I'm an old man in awe of what technology hath wrought.

Hanko Kiessner Defines What a "Sustainable" Business Model Looks Like

It has become very fashionable in recent years to use the words "sustainable," and "green," and "lean" as marketing buzz. Like most things in business, however, one must sift the chaff from the wheat to discern the difference between business leaders who are sincere about it and others who merely want to jump on the marketing bandwagon.

There is an ongoing robust national debate about man's impact on this planet over whether we are good stewards of our environment or merely consumers gone wild with little or no accountability. No matter which side of that debate you land on, it makes perfect sense to become more aware of how much we consume as individuals and how much we conserve. We can all do better, and in the aggregate we can make a difference with even modest changes in our own individual behavior.

In the domain of politics, often legitimate efforts toward global change for the better get diminished because the politicians tend to cheapen everything to a point where words lose their meaning. The words "global warming" spring to mind. Without any government mandate to do so, there are some business leaders who simply "get it" because of the way they conduct themselves in private and in public by the way they live their lives and set an example for others to follow.

I've been able to observe a good corporate citizen up close and personal in recent years. Hanko Kiessner is the genuine article, an inspiration to those of us fortunate enough to know him personally as well as professionally. I am posting an interview conducted in-house recently by our Packsize blogmeister, Jacob Low, who asked Hanko to spell out his philosophy and more importantly his commitment to sustainability. He defines it more precisely than anyone else in my world. Perhaps his words will inspire others as he does all of us.

The Rainmaker 

Hanko Kiessner

In its July 2013 issue, DC Velocity named Packsize’s founder and CEO Hanko Kiessner one of their 2013 Rainmakers for his contribution to logistics and for advancing the industry. I had the chance to catch up with Hanko and ask him a few questions. Our conversation touched on sustainability, public policy, and good business practices.

Jake: You’ve just been named one of DC Velocity’s 2013 Rainmakers. Could you briefly explain the significance of this and why you’re being awarded with this achievement? 

Hanko: The Rainmaker Award is for high-impact and high-transformational change projects, individuals, or organizations. So I see this as receiving it on behalf of Packsize and all the team members and employees here for having a tremendous impact when it comes to sustainability, efficiencies within the fulfillment industry, and particularly the shipping supply chains. At Packsize, we are helping customers reduce their shipping volume by 40 percent or more — depending on their previous packaging situation — and that has a tremendous impact when it comes to the fossil-fuel consumption of trucks, freight planes, delivery vans, etc. This is an industry changing project that we at Packsize have undertaken. Given that, it has been very humbling to receive this nomination.

Jake: One thing I love about you personally and the way you run this company is the way you practice what you preach. “Green” and “sustainability” aren’t just marketing buzzwords here, but they are one of our core competencies and a huge part of the way you personally live your life. Why are you so invested in these causes? 

Hanko: When we started Packsize, it was always my goal to create a company that does not wreck the planet as it serves its customers and creates a profit for its investors and other stakeholders. It’s an unsustainable practice to run a business while over-utilizing all sorts of resources along the way just for the sake of creating a profit for the business. I just saw this being practiced too frequently in too many companies, and I concluded that if everyone acted that way, it would be completely unsustainable. We would not be leaving a livable, habitable world for our kids and their kids to come. So I wanted to prove that it is possible to do the right thing and at the same time run a profitable business. That’s always been on my mind. It’s been a lot of fun, and we’ve proven that running a sustainable business that is also profitable is possible. From today’s perspective, I would even go one step further and say that sustainable practices actually drive more profitability as well. In fact, if it’s not sustainable, one might as well not do it all, because you cannot do it forever, you can only do it for a brief period of time, and usually at the expense of others. Someone always pays the price of the lack of sustainability. Let’s look at pollution for instance: Someone inhales those particles that are being emitted. Someone pays for their healthcare. There is a cost for every unsustainable practice. It’s just not tracked in todays’ economic system.

Jake: Oh, that’s a good point I hadn’t thought of. How would you deal with this issue?

Hanko: My vision for a completely sustainable economy which I’ve started to contemplate is fully-burdened supply chain accountability. That means that every step along the supply chain — every emission, waste stream, everything that exits as a result of conducting the business, and all the negative impact as a result of running the business — all of these costs ought to be burdened into the very product that was created from these emissions. At that point, you would have to include the total, fully burdened costs of the cleanups, healthcare, and social expenses that come from that pollution. You would then have a really have a fair — and actually quite sustainable and exciting — economy that actually rewards the leanest and most sustainable product. At that point, you would have a self-regulating system where you don’t need a government anymore to regulate this or that because you would have every waste stream, every emission, the cost thereof would be factored into the cost of producing the product or service. So once again, I call this “fully-burdened supply chain accountability.” And I think we have no choice but to go there, as a society, in the long-term future. For instance, if you take a look at the copper mine over there [Packsize's headquarters is located across the valley from a copper mine], the entire health impact from all their operations — from all the dust particles, the emissions, the red air alert days — that cost should be factored into every ounce of copper they’re mining over there. At that point, you would have fully burdened supply chain accountability where the cost of the product already covers what is already spread across the rest of society. I mean, you’re really not adding anything to the costs anyway, because the costs are already there today. Today, the people who are not accountable for the infringement are the ones paying for it. It’s you, me, all of us, paying in the form of sick days and healthcare. But the price should be paid through the product. Only then you’d have really fair, sustainable, market equilibrium I know that’s pretty far-reaching, but at that point, the government would only have to make this one rule. Then you wouldn’t need to regulate much else, because the market takes care of it. So that’s my vision of how the entire economy should be working. You know, today, emissions are free. It’s free to emit. But there’s a high cost to those emissions. So that’s like socialism, right? You take wealth from someone and spread it across the rest of the country. Here, you’re taking the emissions of a few and you’re spreading it across the population. So in a way, it’s not a free market economy, like you’d have in a fully-burdened system.

Jake: That is something that I always did think was so cool about this company: It was a profitable company that is also green, and it’s a win-win-win situation. We’re making money, but the people who are using our solution are also saving money, and the customer who is on the receiving end of that solution gets an added benefit as well. 

Hanko: That’s really true. And they should also save money because they can purchase a more competitive product in the market, and spend less money having it shipped to them. I think in the future we’ll see one of the biggest drivers of profit is sustainable behavior. But it only works if everyone participates in that system. If we have a few polluters who are not participating, then they can take a short term advantage of the market. That’s where the regulators need to set the rules of the game, and then we’ll all play by the same rules. In my mind, the only rule we need in this context is that every product or service carries the fully-burdened cost of all of its operations.

Jake: That’s a tall order. 

Hanko: And I fully realize that with Packsize, we aren’t 100 percent compliant with that ourselves. For instance, our trucks that we use to ship corrugated are burning diesel, and we are not paying a premium on the fossil fuel consumption there. But we are holding ourselves accountable wherever we can control it. All of the power we use here at our headquarters, for example, comes exclusively from renewable sources. So where we can control our emissions, we will do that. And we will also choose a sustainable transportation method as soon as battery, natural gas, or bio-fuels become available. We have not achieved that goal completely, but with every decision, we are taking that into consideration and choosing the best available solution.

Jake: Other than using Packsize’s machines and solutions [wink, wink, readers], what advice would you give to someone who would like to increase the sustainability of their business? Where are some easy places to start? 

Hanko: I would say to question the status quo. There is always a more sustainable way of doing it. Sometimes, the choices are very easy to implement. In many cases, they’re also cheaper to implement than to go conventional way. The high-impact, low cost, or obvious ones include transportation, power generation, and shipping of supply chain. There are carbon neutral choices now available through many carriers. There’s the EPA sponsored program called the Smartway Transport Partnership, and we are members of that. And also to live the example. That’s always good leadership — to not just talk about ideas, but to actually do them yourself.

Jake: Without giving too much away, what are you most excited about in regards to the future of Packsize LLC? 

Hanko: What I’m most excited about is that we can scale up the impact that we’re having. We’ve proven our systems now for many years. We have some incredibly exciting new developments that have begun to hit the market and will continue to hit the market. These developments will provide incremental improvements for our customers, as well as quantum leap improvements. We consider ourselves founders of the On Demand Packaging® industry, and this industry is now in full gear. So what we started eleven years ago as a startup is now moving at light speed with hundreds of fulfillment buildings that want to be lean and have a lower cost structure. That inflection point that we are seeing right now is what I’m most excited about.

Jake: It is super exciting! Thank you for your time Hanko. 

Hanko: Thank you, This was fun.

Are You a "Rowan" or Just Another Soldier?

Funny how things that happen today can put your mind in reverse and call back a distant memory. Elbert Hubbard wrote a classic essay I have recaptured below. He called it "A Message to Garcia." The history behind the story is outlined here if you're interested. The setting of the account is the year 1898 during the Spanish-American War in Cuba. Its message is as timely today as it is timeless. See if you don't agree if you're reading it for the first time..

I was first introduced to the story during "goat week" as a Sigma Chi pledge yearning for initiation into what we all considered the best boys club on campus. We were admonished to live our lives in such a way that we could be considered a "Rowan." In Rowan's own words, here's his account of HOW he did it.

Perhaps others have encountered the story in other settings. When I first heard the story it made a lasting impression. The lessons to take away from it are numerous, but the author sums it up better than anyone who has moralized its value since then.

A Message To Garcia

IN ALL THIS CUBAN BUSINESS there is one man stands out on the horizon of my memory like Mars at perihelion. When war broke out between Spain and the United States, it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain fastnesses of Cuba — no one knew where. No mail or telegraph could reach him. The President must secure his co-operation, and quickly.

What to do!

Someone said to the President, "There is a fellow by the name of Rowan will find Garcia for you, if anybody can."

Andrew Summers Rowan

Rowan was sent for and given a letter to be delivered to Garcia. How "the fellow by name of Rowan" took the letter, sealed it up in an oil-skin pouch, strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by night off the coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, and in three weeks came out on the other side of the Island, having traversed a hostile country on foot, and having delivered his letter to Garcia — are things I have no special desire now to tell in detail.

The point I wish to make is this: McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter and did not ask, "Where is he at?"

By the Eternal! there is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land. It is not book-learning young men need, nor instruction about this or that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do the thing — "Carry a message to Garcia."

General Garcia is dead now, but there are other Garcias.

No man who has endeavored to carry out an enterprise where many hands are needed, but has been well-nigh appalled at times by the imbecility of the average man — the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it. Slipshod assistance, foolish inattention, dowdy indifference, and half-hearted work seem the rule; and no man succeeds, unless by hook or crook or threat he forces or bribes other men to assist him; or mayhap, God in His goodness performs a miracle, and sends him an Angel of Light for an assistant.

You, reader, put this matter to a test: You are sitting now in your office — six clerks are within call. Summon any one and make this request: "Please look in the encyclopedia and make a brief memorandum for me concerning the life of Correggio."

Will the clerk quietly say, "Yes, sir," and go do the task?

On your life, he will not. He will look at you out of a fishy eye, and ask one or more of the following questions:

Who was he?

Which encyclopedia?

Where is the encyclopedia?

Was I hired for that?

Don't you mean Bismarck?

What's the matter with Charlie doing it?

Is he dead?

Is there any hurry?

Sha'n't I bring you the book and let you look it up yourself?

What do you want to know for?

And I will lay you ten to one that after you have answered the questions, and explained how to find the information, and why you want it, the clerk will go off and get one of the other clerks to help him find Garcia — and then come back and tell you there is no such man. Of course, I may lose my bet, but according to the Law of Average I will not.

Now, if you are wise, you will not bother to explain to your "assistant" that Correggio is indexed under the C's, not in the K's, but you will smile very sweetly and say, "Never mind," and go look it up yourself. And this incapacity for independent action, this moral stupidity, this infirmity of the will, this unwillingness to cheerfully catch hold and lift — these are the things that put pure Socialism so far into the future. If men will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of their effort is for all?

A first mate with knotted club seems necessary; and the dread of getting "the bounce" Saturday night holds many a worker to his place. Advertise for a stenographer, and nine out of ten who apply can neither spell nor punctuate — and do not think it necessary to.

Can such a one write a letter to Garcia?

"You see that bookkeeper," said the foreman to me in a large factory.

"Yes, what about him?"

"Well, he's a fine accountant, but if I'd send him uptown on an errand, he might accomplish the errand all right, and on the other hand, might stop at four saloons on the way, and when he got to Main Street would forget what he had been sent for."

Can such a man be entrusted to carry a message to Garcia?

We have recently been hearing much maudlin sympathy expressed for the "down-trodden denizens of the sweatshop" and the "homeless wanderer searching for honest employment," and with it all often go many hard words for the men in power.

Nothing is said about the employer who grows old before his time in a vain attempt to get frowsy ne'er-do-wells to do intelligent work; and his long, patient striving after "help" that does nothing but loaf when his back is turned. In every store and factory there is a constant weeding-out process going on. The employer is constantly sending away "help" that have shown their incapacity to further the interests of the business, and others are being taken on. No matter how good times are, this sorting continues: only, if times are hard and work is scarce, this sorting is done finer — but out and forever out the incompetent and unworthy go. It is the survival of the fittest. Self-interest prompts every employer to keep the best — those who can carry a message to Garcia.

I know one man of really brilliant parts who has not the ability to manage a business of his own, and yet who is absolutely worthless to anyone else, because he carries with him constantly the insane suspicion that his employer is oppressing, or intending to oppress him. He can not give orders, and he will not receive them. Should a message be given him to take to Garcia, his answer would probably be, "Take it yourself!"

Tonight this man walks the streets looking for work, the wind whistling through his threadbare coat. No one who knows him dare employ him, for he is a regular firebrand of discontent. He is impervious to reason, and the only thing that can impress him is the toe of a thick-soled Number Nine boot.

Of course, I know that one so morally deformed is no less to be pitied than a physical cripple; but in our pitying let us drop a tear, too, for the men who are striving to carry on a great enterprise, whose working hours are not limited by the whistle, and whose hair is fast turning white through the struggle to hold the line in dowdy indifference, slipshod imbecility, and the heartless ingratitude which, but for their enterprise, would be both hungry and homeless.

Have I put the matter too strongly? Possibly I have; but when all the world has gone a-slumming I wish to speak a word of sympathy for the man who succeeds — the man who, against great odds, has directed the efforts of others, and having succeeded, finds there's nothing in it nothing but bare board and clothes. I have carried a dinner-pail and worked for a day's wages, and I have also been an employer of labor, and I know there is something to be said on both sides. There is no excellence, per se, in poverty; rags are no recommendation; and all employers are not rapacious and high-handed, any more than all poor men are virtuous.

My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the "boss" is away, as well as when he is at home. And the man who, when given a letter for Garcia, quietly takes the missive, without asking any idiotic questions, and with no lurking intention of chucking it into the nearest sewer, or of doing aught else but deliver it, never gets "laid off," nor has to go on a strike for higher wages. Civilization is one long, anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks will be granted. He is wanted in every city, town and village — in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: he is needed and needed badly — the man who can "Carry a Message to Garcia."