Ok everyone:
So we can actually put an end to any negativity… let’s just get the remainder of it out. Let me re-animate a concept we tried years back, near the beginning of the forum. ('05?)
A few months after the forum began, I placed a post in the Store forum that asked the simple question “What are we doing wrong?”
For reasons I still don’t fully understand in my way of thinking, this incited massive amounts of controversy. A wonderful user at the name who went by the moniker Rbt was especially adamant about how wrong it is to ask what are we doing wrong, if we weren’t – to our knowledge – actually doing anything wrong. He was just trying to be helpful, but boy, were people fumed at us to ask this when things were right. It was so surprising, that the experience really left an impression on my memory cells.
The intention of that post was to pre-emptively discover any little things we were doing wrong early, so these things didn’t ignite into a fire later on. I wanted to be pre-emptively good, basically. It was also intended to achieve something I really love doing – making the GOOD, even BETTER. Sort of like waxing a really nice car, upgrading your lightbulbs to something more healthy & full spectrum, or being especially nice to someone you already love.
Sure, I guess this sort of pre-emptiveness might sound crazy to some, but if you think about it it’s the exact thing you’re taught in popular organizations such as the Boy Scouts. I grew up rather poor, so I didn’t have never had enough money at that time in my life to make it all the way to Eagle Scout, but I still admire and try to live their modus operandi to “Be prepared!” To pre-emptively anticipate and solve any possible problems, and to to be on the case fixing them as soon as they do occur. To understand that Murphy’s law is merely a warning that allows you to be a more effective person or organization, and not a fate to which you are doomed.
Anyway, now that there actually ARE problems it would seem, I figure this might be a great time to ask once more:
“What are we doing wrong?”
Unlike last time, I won’t ask you to air anything publicly (I think that was ultimately Rbt’s point – that I shouldn’t have asked for people to respond to the thread itself). Just give me a quick pm. Nothing fancy. In fact, the more to the point and factual (with actual examples, quotes, links, etc. – concrete things) the better.
Doesn’t matter who’s involved in something, Jasmin (and yes, please mention anything you might’ve said to Jasmin on the recent calls since she’s sometimes too positive to remember to tell me certain things), Steve, Amy, Jacob, whomever. I realize that each person has their own strengths and weaknesses, and accurately identifying those lets us all work better.
Even if you have complaints about me, that’s fine. I’m a big boy, I can take it! I expect everyone here to be able to take it, too.
We all live a limited amount of time, I understand that accurate feedback truly is a growth opportunity. This is not just psychobabble. Truly good, well intended feedback is something that does allow you to be all that you can be, in the limited time you are here on this planet. Constructive criticism allows us to be helpful mirrors for one another, so we can make life better for everyone, as quickly and efficiently as possible.
So, if you would be so kind, just let me know anything we’ve done wrong from now since the last time we asked. Recent tends to be better, but there could still be things from the past that are relevent. I tend to stay more on the invention side of things, and honestly, my work requires a certain degree of detachment from the day to day, or there’d never be any progress. The downside is that there may be certain things I’m not even aware of. Having read this post, I think there may be certain issues or actions that would valuable to be made aware of.
Whether it’s behavior or activities that don’t gel well with our culture or standards (I hope you guys can understand what my standards are from my posts through the years – something of a cross between Ayn Rand, Richard Feynman, “Trader Joe”, Joe Sugarman, Thomas Edison, Thomas Payne, Google and Apple, all mixed up then topped with a dash of maybe Richard Bach), or even just the type of bubble wrap we use, I’m ready to tackle just about any problem you throw at me.
As sure as I can drive from New York to Detroit in one fell swoop, in one piece, I can take us from nearly anywhere now to anywhere else. I’ve just got to know where we are now and perhaps some of where we’ve been that I might not have noticed. 
As the song goes, if you would be so kind, let me know what condition our condition is in.
Thanks, guys. I appreciate your help! 
