DHughes | Straightspeak

About DHughes

Straightspeak’s purpose is to be a catalyst for conversations that make a difference, conversations that foster and elevate thinking. Conversations that change perspective. "Amid the noise and haste” straightspeak is a colloquium for thoughts and knowledge that stimulate the mind. Enjoy! And share.

Will deeper contemplative thinking get us beyond fake news and the illusion of progress? Or are we stuck in the reality of irrational human existence?

By DHughes|2017-03-11T14:32:21-05:00February 23rd, 2017|Categories: uncategorized|

Three things you might not know "Intelligence is a type of lethal mutation that threatens the human species ... and the average life span of a species, of the billions that have existed, is about 100,000 years, which is roughly the length of time that modern humans have existed." – Ernst Mayr (1904-2005) "Humans cannot live without illusion. For Read more...

Read this magazine BEFORE your next political discussion

By DHughes|2017-02-15T10:44:58-05:00February 10th, 2017|Categories: business, politics, social|Tags: Dan P. McAdams, President Trump, The Atlantic|

... and go above the incessant ideological debate and explore the reality at the core of Trump's inherent capabilities and psychological limitations Four things you might not know "Fifty years of empirical research has allowed psychological scientists to establish the widely known "Big Five" definitions in identifying a persons personality and: "Across his lifetime, Donald Trump has exhibited a Read more...

Why does everyone ignore the numbers …

By DHughes|2017-02-13T10:44:41-05:00February 8th, 2017|Categories: business, community, communitywatch, politics, social, trumpwatch|Tags: David Frum, election turnout, Isaiah Berlin, President Trump, The Atlantic|

and the truth about the presidency of the United States and the state of democracy from the largest nations to the smallest communities? Five things you might not know Donald Trump became the President of the most powerful nation in the world even though only 25% (1-in-4) of American voters voted for him. Of 251 million eligible voters Read more...

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned …

By DHughes|2017-01-26T11:07:53-05:00January 25th, 2017|Categories: business, politics, social|Tags: Ashley Judd, Donald Trump, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Madonna, Oprah Winfrey|

and democracy has no chance without women equal. Five things you might not know Crowd scientists (there is such a profession) stated the Women's March in Washington had 3 times more people than Trump's inauguration. Ashley Judd at the Women's March said, "They ain’t for grabbing … they are for new generations of nasty women." In 1868, Susan Read more...

If knowledge is king, intelligence the king-maker and mental processing capability the difference-maker, where does that leave leaders like Donald Trump? And the rest of the world?

By DHughes|2017-01-19T10:18:48-05:00January 18th, 2017|Categories: business, community, politics, social|Tags: Donald Trump, Elliott Jaques, Kathryn Cason|

Don't answer that! At least not until you've read this book Five things you might not know Research by Dr. Elliott Jaques and Kathryn Cason established two fundamental measures that universally apply to a leader's capability in judgement and decision-making: i) An individual's mental processing capability; and ii) the complexity of the information to be processed.[1] It's set Read more...

Napoleon Bonaparte illustration from Gundur Agayev collection at gunduzart.com

Is leadership in full retreat …

By DHughes|2017-01-10T07:33:05-05:00January 5th, 2017|Categories: business, community, communitywatch, politics, social|Tags: Donald Trump, Francis Fukyama, Jane Jacobs, Napoleon Bonparte, Niall Ferguson, Robert Putman, Tom Friedman, William McNeill|

as speed, complexity and growth trump trust? Four things you might not know Two-hundred and four years ago, megalomania and narcissism trumped trust in leadership as Napoleon, after ignoring repeated advice against invading Russia, suffered a ruinous retreat, returning with only 40,000 troops out of a Grande Armée of 400,000. Self-interest vs. cooperation is a fundamental dilemma in animal Read more...

photo: jakerajs

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas … at Trump Tower

By DHughes|2016-12-21T21:39:07-05:00December 21st, 2016|Categories: business, politics, social, trumpwatchhome|Tags: Donald Trump, Trump Tower, Twas Night Before Christmas|

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the land, Not a leader was stirring, no promises planned. The stocks were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that dividends soon would be there. Our leader was nestled all snug in his bed, No vision of poor people danced in his head. And profits were high, his Read more...

Fool us once, shame on you; fool us twice, shame on us

By DHughes|2016-12-14T19:47:04-05:00December 14th, 2016|Categories: business, politics, trumpwatch, trumpwatchhome|Tags: conflict of interests, emolument clause, Norman Eisen, Richard Nixon, Richard Painter, Trump, US Constitution|

America you've be duped, again Three things you might not know Richard M. Nixon said, "When the President does it that means it is not illegal." Donald Trump will be in violation of the Constitution on the day he is sworn in. Regardless of Trump's efforts to dodge the conflict of interest issue, he can't dodge the US Constitution. Read more...

Men should go to Mars, women should lead Earth

By DHughes|2016-12-14T08:13:37-05:00December 6th, 2016|Categories: business, community, politics, social|Tags: Carl Sagan, Daniel Kahneman, E.O. Wilson, John Gray, Richard Dawkins, Voltaire, Yuval Noah Harari|

It's time for leadership to move to a higher purpose Seven things you might not know One in four Americans think there is a greater likelihood that humans will colonize Mars rather than achieve gender parity in the C-suite of Fortune 500 companies.[3] Only 21 of the Fortune 500 companies have women at the helm.[3] Men are 85% Read more...

Leadership and the power of emulation …

By DHughes|2016-12-10T00:40:48-05:00November 25th, 2016|Categories: business, community, communitywatch, politics, social, trumpwatch, trumpwatchhome|Tags: E.O. Wilson, genetics, James Buchanan Jr, Peter Richerson, Sydney Finkelstein, Trump, White House|

Could Trump's brand of leadership become a problem across generations of leaders? Four things you might not know, and one you do We all know Trump is "yuugh" on branding and basks in his monarchy-impersonation of leadership. What we don't know is how four years of it will impact leadership practices everywhere. Research over the last half-century confirms that Read more...

My personal history is the stuff they write books about. And that's what I am doing. The working title "Five Generations to Freedom."

It's historical fiction because, unfortunately, I can not find enough records to substantiate all facets of the story. I've combed the genealogy, traveled to my father and grandmothers' birthplace, walked the graveyards, searched the churches and ... well, the facts just aren't there. I have written three books based on other families and their genealogy but my ancestors emerged from a journey that left few records – slavery.

My great grandmother, on my father's side, was a "freed slave." My grandmother, Amelia, was born to a white, French plantation owner in Grenada and a black slave named Mary, who worked on the Count de Poulain's plantation. Amelia was raised in her father's home and in adulthood, in an attempt to escape her black heritage, she "disowned" her mother Mary. Once, when Mary visited her daughter, Amelia told her, "Get out and never come back." And Amelia, as a mother herself (twelve children), told all of them, "Marry white." And many did, including my father. My mother was white Anglo-Saxon protestant born in England. They met in Canada where dad became a doctor.

It has taken five generations for the descendants of Mary (we do not know her last name) to free themselves from the bondage and stigma of their black heritage. But today, my children embrace it and are damn proud of it. Unfortunately, the 150 years in between has been a wasteland of bigotry, racism and bullying, Filled with anger, rejection, shame, fear, violence, murder and ... love, romance, kindness, perseverance and pride.