I’ve struggled a bit with what’s relevant for me to say about myself on this site because I’m not sure what matters. I expect that most people who read this know me already and know my background: I’m a crossover from the private sector to education and nonprofits, I was a management consultant for a while and worked at Hewlett Packard, and now I focus on education and nonprofits, trying to improve the lives of children across America. I’m very fortunate to have a wonderful wife and two children I love very much, and a range of hobbies, hopes, and challenges that are fairly common.

I’m not sure there’s anything that makes me particularly “qualified” to offer opinions and ideas about the range of topics I address on this site. But I think I have something to offer, and some of these ideas might be helpful for others. While I’m not sure whether many of my ideas will be adopted, I do have the ideas in the first place. I haven’t found many people thinking about issues in this way, and part of my goal in sharing my proposals is to find thought partners, both those who agree and those who don’t. So one justification for me having a voice on these topics is that I have something to say and I’m interested in sharing and engaging with others to see if together we can grapple with these topics and come up with exciting and pragmatic solutions.

I also bring a few qualities that I think are helpful in this kind of endeavor:

First, I’m not afraid to think outside the structure of the current system. In much of my life I pursue what I call “parallel paths” that include two steps. First, I take action today and make the best decisions I can with the information I have and within the structure of the life I’m leading. But in parallel, I also think about how I can become more knowledgeable, get better data, or change the system so that in the future I (or, in many cases, we) can get even better outcomes. In many cases I approach this by “starting with a blank sheet of paper” and designing systems from the very beginning: if we completely  ignore the current structure and current approaches, and just focus specifically on the problem we are trying to solve, how should we think about it? I try to unleash creativity by simply refusing to acknowledge the current world or the current approach, and see where my thinking takes me. So I’m always thinking about the bigger picture, the overall structure, and whether I think it makes sense or should be improved (or replaced), and often I like to embrace radical approaches to traditional problems. This way of thinking underlies most of the proposals I’m sharing.

Second, I genuinely believe we all can learn, change, and improve if we choose to, no matter our age, wealth, race, status, etc. If we decide to do something, we commit to it, and we stick with it, we can make meaningful progress. For example, I have always been interested in martial arts, but until recently I never found a good opportunity to include them in my life. But when I was about 40 years old I had an opportunity to try them, and I decided I wanted to become a black belt in kung fu. I tried it, liked it, and stuck with it–through many painful hours of stretching (and recovering), several minor injuries, and even back surgery (for a totally unrelated reason). But several years later I made it! I have my black belt sitting on my desk and I look at it every day and am very proud. But for me it is a symbol of what any of us can do, and also what I believe we could accomplish as a country. If we want to make changes and improve the lives of every citizen in our country or even the world, and we really commit ourselves to it, I honestly believe we can do it.

And finally, I believe in America. I really do. I’m honestly not quite sure why I feel this so strongly. For as long as I can remember I have felt very patriotic, and as I have gotten older I have also come to believe that America has unique potential to provide leadership for all of humanity in creating what I call “a true 21st century society.” If we think about the continuing progress of humanity and civilization, what do we want the future to look like? What do we dream we can accomplish together, and what kind of lives do we want to create for all of us? I think America’s combination of individual liberty, freedom of thinking and expression, and economic dynamism based on capitalism positions us uniquely to pave the way to the future for all of humanity. In the early days of the first European settlers who came to what eventually became the American colonies, the leaders often referred to their new society as “a city on a hill” where the eyes of the world were upon them. I believe in this vision, and think this is the right aspiration for America. I want us to live up to this aspiration. I worry that we have lost our way over the last few decades, and I am very troubled by our trajectory so far into the 21st century. I want to help us find it again and to reclaim our role in helping all of humanity work together to reach a better future.

That’s why I am doing this and what I bring to the conversation. Maybe my new golf scoring system will help a few friends think differently about the game and enjoy it more. Maybe my ideas about the structure for college football might be seen by people who make these decisions and could lead to some improvements over time. And maybe even some of my bigger thoughts about America, capitalism, and the future of our society might lead to meaningful change, either in the coming years or the next century. I spend lots of time thinking about systemic change and “how things should work,” and I have these ideas. I’m not sure where they come from or why my brain works this way, but I’ve decided that I should try to share them in case they can be helpful for others in some way. That’s who I am and what I’m offering, and what this site is about.