Brad Rourke

Brad Rourke’s Blog

  • I Least Expect It!

    One of my children used to love to be tickled, surprised, pounced upon, – still does. Back in the toddler days, it would be a repeated request. “Tickle me! Get me!” Eventually, the tickling and surprising doesn’t work and Daddy gets tired. “I’ll surprise you when you least expect it,” I would promise. The reply…

  • Management Lesson From The Boy Scouts: What Looks Simple From The Inside May Be Complex From The Outside

    For the past few days I have been helping in a small way on a large crowd control effort. My son’s Boy Scout troop parks cars at the local county fair every summer. The boys plan and execute it each year. This is a huge undertaking, as tens of thousands attend the fair. It’s one…

  • Are You Playing Restaurant?

    When I was about eleven, I learned how to make my favorite cheese sandwich: white bread, mayonnaise, American cheese. Yes, I grew up in the midwest. Shortly after I learned this special skill, I developed a fun game to pass the time: I would play “restaurant.” More precisely, I would play short order cook. I…

  • How Can Government Work With Philanthropy?

    In a recent discussion with a number of Michigan based foundation heads and staffers, respected Brookings Institution scholar Bruce Katz discussed the tough economic conditions and what government responses to it can look like. The notes from his conversation suggest that it was wide ranging. Katz, who runs the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, was…

  • Journalist As Craftsman

    Here’s an interesting story about the news and journalism. It has a few intertwining threads. It needs a bit of set up, too, so bear with me. Thank you to my friend Adam Pagnucco for doing the heavy lifting here. Here’s how Adam puts a recent situation with DC’s Metro system in his indispensable Maryland…

  • The Case For Nonprofit Journalism?

    Visiting from Twitter? Thanks so much! You might enjoy this post, too: Why Social Media Is Like The Telephone Circa 1915. I was having a conversation with my good friend (and former boss) Rush Kidder just the other day, and the subject turned to journalism — specifically, the idea that as newspapers tank that foundations…

  • Putting Our Organization First

    At the drive through I saw this sign that struck me as amusing and I just had to snap a picture. It said: If you fail to receive a receipt with your order please notify manager before leaving window for a refund of price paid. After I finished chuckling, I felt compassionate. This is the…