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I’ll Turn You Into an Out-of-the-Box
Thinker Yet
I got more email regarding last week’s column
than on any one I’ve ever written. In it, as a
way of inspiring you to come up with out-of-the-box
ideas, I shared one that I cooked up—a way to
reinvent high school education.
Well, ever wanting to meet my reader’s
needs, here are two more unconventional ideas.
These address what may be the Bay Area’s
biggest current local issues:
San Mateo representative George Miller
spearheaded a deal that would allow the 250-member
Lytton Band of the Pomo Indian tribe to build a
casino in the middle of the Bay Area, right off one
of the busiest stretches of Interstate 80. Even if
its originally proposed 12-story size is halved to
a “mere” 2,500 slot-machined Loser’s
Paradise, it would create hypergridlock in the
already choked I-80, stealing precious time from
already harried commuters while poisoning the air
with all the idling cars and trucks. Worse, in the
name of creating 250 millionaires, that casino
would extract millions of dollars from the patrons
who on average are poor, those who can least afford
it.
My simple solution: Give each of the 250 Lytton
Band members $1 million, which would cost each
California resident only an additional $6 in
additional tax, one time only! The 250 get to be
millionaires while allowing countless poor people
to keep their money and freeing our freeways from
additional gridlock. But you say, what about the
tax money that would have gone to the state? I dare
any politician to say they’re in favor of such
a regressive tax. If the state needs more money
(and that is highly dubious), poor people are the
last ones who should be expected to bail out the
state.
Next issue. A month ago, tolls on Bay Area
bridges were $2.00. Now they’re three. Backups
at the plazas, already horrendous, immediately
doubled and have stayed that way—it’s
tough to dig up $3.00 on command while driving. The
miles-long toll plaza backups rob commuters of
precious time, and their idling cars and trucks
worsen air pollution. And now they’re talking
about increasing the tolls for the long-since-paid
for bridges to four dollars and then even five.
My simple solution: Blow up all the toll booths
(without the tolltakers in them.). Every time, a
car passed a toll plaza, a digital license plate
reader connected to a computer (already used at
toll plazas to catch toll evaders) would add the
cost of the toll to the person’s
next-year’s registration fee. What about
out-of-state residents? The hotel and car rental
tax could be increased to match the amount in tolls
paid annually by out-of-state drivers.
Let’s turn to you, my reader. They say we
learn by example, and I hope that these examples
will inspire you to think of out-of-the-box
solutions for the problems you face in your
worklife. But if you’d like a little more
guidance, let’s look at the principles I used
to come up with those solution. Actually, I used
just one principle: Figure out what the real goal
is and how it can be achieved with the fewest side
effects.
So, with regard to the casino issue, I asked
myself, “What do the Indians want, really
want?” They don’t really want a casino.
That’s merely a means to an end. They want
money. And how can they get the money with as few
side effects as possible?” Just give it to
them.
I did the same thing with the toll collection
problem. I started by asking, “What is the
true goal here?” Again, it’s to collect
money. And how can they get it with the fewest side
effects?” Replace all mechanical toll taking
with an automatic system that requires no
additional billing systems.
Advice I’d Give My Child
If you simply keep your head down and do your
work, you’ll likely always be a poorly paid
worker bee. Constantly keep your antennae out for
ways to build a better mousetrap. To ensure you get
the credit, float the idea for feedback in an email
to the staff or in a staff meeting. Or, consider
the possibility that your better mousetrap might
yield a self-employment opportunity for you.
© 2009, Marty
Nemko
* * *
Marty
Nemko holds a PhD from the University of
California, Berkeley, and subsequently taught in
Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education. He is
the worklife columnist in the Sunday San Francisco
Chronicle and is the producer and host of Work With
Marty Nemko, heard Sundays at 11 on 91.7 FM in
(NPR, San Francisco), and worldwide on
www.martynemko.com
 .
400+ of his published writings are available free
on that website and is a co-editor of
Cool
Careers for Dummies.
and author of The All-in-One College Guide.
E-Mail.
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