Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

SHOW NOTES: World Cup attendance and revenues are disappointing. That's hardly surprising. The hype and publicity and exaggerated claims create a level of expectation that's hard to support, and the inflated prices of everything from hot dogs to hotel rooms is absurd. This kind of insistence on constantly "topping" what's come before exists with Super Bowl halftime shows, entertainment award shows (they are proliferating in number as well as production extremes), parades for any variety of causes, political rallies, and even fundraising. The more the pressure to "better" and "outdo" the past attempts as a metric of current success, the more you're prone to fall short. No one has ever sung the Star Spangled Banner better than Whitney Houston, so stop trying to create a canonical version, and just sing the song. Tom Brady wasn't trying to be better than Joe Montana or Johnny Unitas, just the best quarterback he could be.Picasso was just trying to be Picasso. They're wondering why attendance is down when a train ticket was $15 is now $150 to get to the Meadowlands in New Jersey from Penn Station in Manhattan, and it can cost as much as $175 to park at Gillette Stadium on Foxboro, MA for the World Cup (where it's $50 for Patriot game). The road to excess had a lot of potholes.

SHOW NOTES: The winter Olympics had a boring opening ceremony except for Andrea Bocelli. Some of the events seem duplicative, especially figure skating and skiing. Some seem like efforts to avoid death or injury, and not just competing—skeleton, luge, giant slalom, ski jumping, distance skiing. Skiing in ruts is rather boring, and then the women collapsing over the finishing line and gasping for air is frightening. The giant slalom hits about 85 MPH. Luge and skeleton runs are between 80 and 100 MPH. On the ice, men are tossing women around who have knives attached to their feet. The French judge in figure skating obviously downgraded the American and inflated the French scores so that the latter pairs won. That judge has been known to have done this throughout the last year. Now onto curling, which is a game played with stones and brooms, has suffered cheating accusations for the Canadians “double touching” the stone on launch. After a profane, long outburst by the accused, slow reply showed he, indeed, did commit the infraction. In a manner of speaking he “gave them the finger” before tongue lashing them with obscenities. So much for the Olympic spirit. (And for Canadians being nice people.) At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Canadian curlers Marc Kennedy and Rachel Homan were accused of "double-touching" (illegally touching a stone after its initial release) in separate matches. Sweden's Oskar Eriksson initiated the allegation against Kennedy on Feb. 13, while officials flagged Homan on Feb. 14. Curling is basically the same as shuffleboard, which older people play in retirement villages, or bocce which specifically older Italian people play on dirt. Then there’s the cousin, English Lawn Bowls, which I’ve never been able to finish watching without falling asleep. Johnny Weir, the former Olympic figure skater and NBC commentator, is renowned for his highly, flamboyant, and gender-neutral fashion choices while broadcasting, often featuring makeup, jewelry, and avant-garde, designer clothing. He and Sarah Lapinsky are worth the time spent watching people jump around on ice. Yes, it is true that the Olympic Village at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games ran out of free condoms within the first three days, according to reports in La Stampa and The Guardian. Approximately 10,000 contraceptives for about 2,900 athletes were depleted quickly, prompting emergency restocking due to higher-than-expected demand. Now THAT’S the competitive spirit!

SHOW NOTES: • Suddenly we have “toxic workplaces” (and need “psychological safety” and have “unhoused” people and “food insecure people). • We try to wallpaper over real problems with euphemisms and ideologically-biased language. • Can you have a “toxic workplace” without toxic employees? Chicken and egg? • On social media we see complete nonsense such as “52% of all workplaces are toxic,” which is preposterous and without any valid study. • Can we have so many successful businesses with such malicious management? • I’ve witnessed the opposite: Leadership doing its best to deal with underperforming and entitled employees. • The story of Burlington Industries and Bill Klopman. • If people want to do the job but don’t know how, they need skills training. • If people don’t want to do the job even if they do know how, they need coaching (attitude adjustment). If they still refuse to do it, they need firing. • It’s an entitled age, and people demand certain treatments and conditions that please them, but may not please others, and don’t help the business or its customers. • My work at the post office. • “Toxic” often means “I’m asked to do too much, to meet deadlines, to fulfill commitments.” • There are, of course, bad bosses, and hungry people and homeless people. Let’s not conflate the truly bad with those who are merely discontents. • I have to conclude here, I feel “food insecure” so I’m going out for lunch, which would make me, for the moment, “unhoused.”

SHOW NOTES: • The point is to live with imperfection. • Free of mistakes, we’re free of critique and ridicule is false • Perfectionism leads to huge stress • It’s a fictitious expectation (dining, travel, relationships, etc.) • We think it protects us, but it ruins us • It’s based on the fear of being imperfect—and human!! • Engage in vulnerable conversations and actitivies • Accept results of a task that are “OK” • My wife’s formula for long-term marriages • Perfectionism assumes control you don’t have • Why I don’t guarantee my results • Strong esteem nullifies perfectionism • Self-compassion, the same sensitivity you’d offer others • My “therapy” of trains and models • Small “chunks” of change, not mammoth ones • At extremes we have OCD • Experience rather than orchestrate • Ironically, caused by not feeling worthy or good about yourself • The critical distinction between efficacy and self-worth

SHOW NOTES: Did people whine as much years ago as they do now? They won't let me succeed at my job. They won't hire me anywhere else. Maybe "toxic workplaces" are caused by toxic employees? Maybe terrible bosses are just leaders expecting employees to meet deadlines and fulfill assignments? The fault is with the "Boomers" or GenX because they took advantage, they led great lives, and left nothing for us! Nothing but a healthier, safer world and the last decade of constantly improved living standards. I'm not valued! Maybe because you don't create much value and you don't make it visible. Take some accountability, and stop immersing yourself in the internet for that good old confirmation bias from other people who don't take initiative. If you're unhappy in your job, change it or leave it. There's plenty of work out there that pays well, isn't threatened by AI, but does require responsibility and ownership. But just stop whining, stop yelling for your Mama. It ain't your mother's fault.