dougjpobrien

Without empathy, can there be a sixth principal?

In this last post of the workshop, I will mix a little of the personal and professional as I ponder the three different kinds of empathy and how they might apply to the cooperative community within the context of the sixth cooperative principle: “cooperation among cooperatives.” I grew up on a farm in Iowa whereContinue reading “Without empathy, can there be a sixth principal?”

How it happened

September 20, 2028: Doug O’Brien recently testified before the U.S. House Small Business Committee and the Senate Small Business committee on the role that cooperatives played in saving tens of thousands of small Main Street businesses in the wake of the economic downturn in the early 2020’s. He explained how a robust set of financial,Continue reading “How it happened”

Leveraging Luck

I am stinking rich. I have inherited my pale skin color, which is an asset that yields financial and network advantage. My male gender adds 30 or 40 percent to my income. While I did not grow up in a particularly financially secure family, just about every other facet of my life set me inContinue reading “Leveraging Luck”

Three resources for better writing

I began to learn to write at Loras College, a small Liberal Arts, Catholic college in Dubuque, Iowa. I became literate about 12 years earlier in grade school; but I did not learn to write. Perhaps one of the most important things I learned is that I will never finish learning how to write. ThereContinue reading “Three resources for better writing”