Featured Articles
Ave Atque Vale (Hail and Farewell)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotosprecate/Dear Media Rostra Community, Thank you for reading, sharing, and discussing the essays published here on Media Rostra. The site went inactive following the 2012 election, but please feel free to browse the archives, since much of the content here is "evergreen" and remains … [Read More...]
The Innkeeper: A Christmas Story
My name is Pradeep Patel. I operate a small motel off of Interstate 55 about an hour southwest of Chicago. And I need to tell you a story. As night began to fall, I lit the “No Vacancy” sign for the first time in months. All twelve rooms in our inn were full for the holiday travel season. I had retired to my small … [Read More...]
Our Historical Moment
I spent five years studying the American Revolution. I read the founders' letters and diaries and commonplace books. In a strange way--because I learned their secrets--I got to know them better than they knew each other. As it turns out, they were men and women just like we are. They had flaws and warts. They made some … [Read More...]
The Drawbacks of Consulting or: The Parable of the School Bus
I have done a lot of management consulting over the years. While the business can be lucrative, it has two major drawbacks: 1) the hollow grind of frequent business travel, and 2) the frustrating limitation of advisory agency. The first is self-explanatory, if you’ve ever spent week after week in placeless hotel rooms and … [Read More...]
Transforming Resources into Assets
Resources are flecks of gold shimmering in the creek bed. Assets are blocks of gold stacked in a pyramid. Entrepreneurship is the transformation of resources into assets. [1. Banks do the opposite: one of their primary businesses is dissecting assets into their constituent resources. ] Let’s imagine that I inherited … [Read More...]
The Slow Fade of Fall
A hot Arkansas August left us long ago for a wet November. Burnt grass and shriveled streams turned to windy nights and flooding fields. For most, August was a time to stay indoors and away from it all. For others, the first few weeks of August marked the start of something more communal: football. Revered and … [Read More...]