OK. Perhaps it was that kind of day, but this one had me laughing out loud.

Seriously, it did!

Yesterday, for World Health Day, my colleague Rob Halper uploaded a funny, yet informative video that encouraged people to visit their doctor to the Johnson & Johnson health channel on YouTube. Called “The Appointment” (there’s also a Spanish version called ”La Cita”), it was produced by the Johnson & Johnson company, Health Media, Inc. and, according to Rob, falls somewhere between “The Twilight Zone”, “Monty Python” and “Marcus Welby, MD”. Not sure I’d agree with THAT characterization, but it DID make me laugh — all while reminding me of the importance of making sure that the next time I visit my physician, I make sure to ask the right questions, understand what is being said, take notes if need be and share any changes in my health or life with my doc. Good stuff.

By Andrea Higham, Director, The Campaign for Nursing’s Future, Johnson & Johnson

Being responsible for our Campaign for Nursing’s Future for the past few years, I’m often on the road meeting with nurses, educators and others interested in advancing the profession. Last month, I was in Seattle to raise funds for local nursing school grants, faculty fellowships and student scholarships. – and it struck me that perhaps those who aren’t able to attend would like to hear more about what goes on at these events.

We’ve been hosting these types of events in different parts of the country for 7 years now, and at this event we had more than 450 nurses, educators and thought leaders attend the Gala which featured tribute videos, inspirational speakers, and the new addition of a “Video Challenge” contest.

The video challenge contest gave Washington nurses the opportunity to showcase their passion for their career. We had many creative entries, but the winning team was “Nursing Queens” from Seattle Children’s Hospital who did a nursing-inspired parody of Abba’s “Dancing Queen” and received a $7500 educational grant. We also shared a sneak peak at our new “Nurse Educator” video which aims to inspire more nurses to pursue a career as faculty in nursing schools because we need to address the shortage of both nursing professionals and qualified faculty.

BTW — I should add that the Seattle event was a great success, raising $300,000 for nursing scholarships, faculty fellowships, and capacity expansion grants for nursing schools. All of this money will stay within Washington State. Since this was the second event in this state, this brings the total money raised for Washington State nursing programs to $750,000.

Update: For those interested in additional information, check out the Nursing Playlist on the Johnson & Johnson health channel on YouTube.

What would life in the business world, academia or the conference scene be without a slide deck?

(Thanks to Adriana)

By Marc

Margaret has a great post today on her blog on the history of Johnson & Johnson, Kilmer House, about “The Product That Dared Not speak its Name”… What was it? You will just have to read the post to find out — but it tells a great story about how much our world has changed. All I can say is that we’ve all come a long way…

By Marc

Ok, I know this has NOTHING to do with Johnson & Johnson, health care or the price of beans, but I just had to pass it along…

(For more on Johnson & Johnson’s operations in India, see my previous posts here and here…)

I had one day to myself in Mumbai before my flight home to New Jersey, and, after consulting a guidebook, I decided to visit Elephanta Island – which is a 45 minute journey by steamer from the Gateway to India in Mumbai.

Covered with a dense forest and devoid of any large scale modern construction, Elephanta Island was a welcome reprieve from the crowded and (thanks to the predilection of Mumbai taxi drivers to lean on their horns) noisy streets of Mumbai. Once off the boat, I took a short walk up about 200 stone steps to the site of ancient Hindu temples carved into the basalt rock that formed the island. A UNESCO site, the main temple “cave” is dedicated to Shiva, and includes magnificent tableaus depicting an assortment of tales about the diety.

A remarkable site – and well worth the 200 Rupee boat ride.

When leaving the cave, I noticed a family of monkeys sitting on a fence rail overlooking a ravine, and thought it would be a nice shot for my daughter. As I fumbled with my camera, the male in the group – as big as a cocker spaniel — came towards me, snarling and showing his teeth. Next thing I knew, he was jumping at me, trying to grab my water bottle. I shook him off to peels of laughter from the other tourists.

I shrugged it off and proceeded on my way — but upon my return I could see my attacker waiting for me in a pack of monkeys some way off. He caught my eye, and made a running assault, weaving between the other tourists. This time he successfully planted himself on my arm and made a play for my water bottle. That, however, made it a bit easier to avoid his teeth when I flung him off, which I did with great alacrity.

The women near me, some in beautiful saris, laughed politely.

Why me? Why my water bottle? I still don’t know, but I have some suspicions.

I’m a simple Midwesterner at heart — and have often been accused of being too “nice.” For instance, while waiting for the boat to depart Mumbai, I foolishly forgot the fine art of haggling and and ended up buying a guide book to the island for a 200 percent mark-up. I suspect the guy knew he had a live one when he first laid his eyes on me — a suspicion reinforced by the fact that he didn’t even bother approaching the other passengers.

Seeing me lolloping along — water bottle in one hand and camera in the other — perhaps the monkey also had me pegged as an easy mark. I’m just glad he didn’t go for my camera…

PS — Coincidentally, CNN had a piece today on another monkey problem — this one in New Delhi.

As I was about to hit the road for Thanksgiving, I came across the following article on Strength for Caring that really struck home — 10 Tips to Avoid Thanksgiving Stress.

I know, I know. As the holiday season approaches, the media is always awash with good advice — about how you should spread the responsibility of making the food and put old grudges aside for the sake of family harmony. But Julie Brown has collected lots of unusual and insightful tips in this article that set it apart. As you rush around, trying to create the perfect Norman Rockwell-like holiday experience, you may want to keep her tenth tip in mind:

Around the holidays, we are bombarded by made for T.V. movies that showcase the joy and love around the holidays. Real-life families are not perfect. The first step to having a good time around the holidays is to realize you will have potential conflict and that it is normal. The stories may be different from family to family, but we’ve all experienced some silly or unbelievable things during the holidays. Laughing about past holiday events can be a great way to break the ice if things start going downhill. Ask everyone ttalk about the funniest or most embarrassing thing that happened last Thanksgiving, you’ll be surprised at the bond this forms.

Well, one can hope…

Happy Thanksgiving.

Ahhh… the sun is finally shining in lovely New Brunswick, New Jersey after a very rainy week.

As we head into one of the final weekends of the summer, here’s some light reading for your enjoyment:

Mother Jones at Nurse Ratched’s Place has some terrific guidance to students heading off to nursing school. Very wise advice that all students can learn from — and the cover shots of vintage novels that she includes are priceless.

Students however, have mixed emotions about going back to school, especially nursing students. On the one hand, nursing students look forward to entering a profession that is held in high esteem, but on the other hand, they know that their life is about to be turned up-side-down. Never fear, Mother’s here, and I’m going to give you some tips on how to survive nursing school.

***

Are redheads going extinct? And, if so, is this a marketing opportunity? BrandWeek NrX explores the possibility.

After all, the fewer redheads, the more desirable this color will become, if the law of supply and demand is to be believed.

***

And finally, curtesy of Kevin MD, do moose contribute to global warming?

Norway is concerned that its national animal, the moose, is harming the climate by emitting an estimated 2,100 kilos of carbon dioxide a year through its belching and farting.

I’d also like to extend a warm welcome to my friend and colleague, Bill Price, who posted to JNJ BTW for the first time today. Welcome aboard!

As the end of August draws near, it’s time to head to the beach, plop down on your towel and get into that last bit of summer reading.

Two weeks ago, I took Wall Street Journal Editor Alan Murray’s new book, Revolt in the Boardroom, with me to North Carolina. While it’s not a page-turning, John Grisham thriller, it did offer a good history lesson and sound insights on the changing landscape of corporate governance in America. So, as I pondered what my first JNJBTW entry would be, musings on this topic seemed like a good place to start.

From Revolt in the Boardroom:

Throughout the 20th century, American corporations were governed by autocratic, almost unaccountable chief executives. Their word was law and the only check on their power was a board of directors composed of their friends and allies. Then, in a stunning reversal … formerly unchallenged CEOs found themselves under fire, often from their own hand-picked boards.

Amidst the storytelling of recent CEO ousters, Murray delves deeply into the way CEO relationships with stakeholders have changed over time and how their accountability to dozens of stakeholders presents various new challenges. From pension funds and hedge funds to shareowner advisory services and activists, there is no shortage of influence or agendas competing in today’s corporate boardroom. And to Murray’s point, CEOs and the boards they report to can no longer ignore or marginalize these voices.

He writes of Jeffrey Immelt, GE’s Chairman and CEO:

Immelt recognizes that to do his job well, he has to keep the support of a broad group of new constituencies. That requires the skills and efforts and actions of a good politician.

With all the forces that CEOs must answer to today, I was left wondering if today’s CEO faces an insurmountable challenge. Does trying to satisfy all these constituencies lead to some type of inevitable corporate paralysis? I was challenged just to keep a house full of 15 guests in North Carolina from staging a coup d’etat.

In the healthcare industry, for example, you can see an untenable conflict forming between the shareowner demands for continued strong financial returns; the government’s focus on tighter price controls and increased scrutiny of product development and safety; and patients’ growing need for new medicines and earlier access to breakthrough treatments. Not to mention, the agendas of other shareowner activists and NGOs.

Granted, CEOs are chosen for their skills and abilities to lead companies through these types of turbulent environments, and history was certainly not devoid of its own unique challenges in each preceding era. But, I wonder in this new age whether a CEO’s performance may be hampered by serving too many masters. What kind of impact might this new environment have on a company’s ability to simultaneously deliver new innovations, serve its customers, generate fair returns for its shareholders, and act as a responsible steward for society?

Murray makes no sweeping conclusion to this thesis and I tend to agree:

There is no template, no right answer to the problem. The only thing that is clear is that in the new environment – with the growing independence of boards, the increased activism of pension funds, the heightened scrutiny of regulators, the new clout of NGOs, the muscular presence of hedge funds and private equity, and most important, the diminished support of the public – the old rules no longer apply.

Maybe next August, I should just grab the Grisham novel.

(P.S. In the spirit of full disclosure that seems to come with blogging territory, I should say that I did not purchase this book, but received a free copy from colleagues at a PR agency.)

It’s been quite a roller coaster ride around here lately. Perhaps that’s why a recent research letter in JAMA caught my eye.

It’s no surprise that riding a coaster can lead to a rapid rise in heart rate. What was intriguing was that, according to the study of study of 56 men people (37 were men), the biggest change in heart rate happened while the cars were climbing. As the authors put it:

In a group of presumably healthy individuals, this modern roller coaster ride led to a pronounced rise in heart rate. The largest rate increase occurred during the ascent, where speed was low and there were no significant acceleration forces, suggesting a contributing role of emotional stress.

Emotional stress, eh? Gotta watch out for that. Scott Hensley over at the WSJ Health Blog went on to do a nice follow up to their initial post, interviewing a physician from Sandusky, Ohio, near to an amusement park I visited every summer as a kid — Cedar Point. For those of you thinking of visiting thrill parks this summer, Scott’s post includes some decent health tips.

Dan Santow had a terrific post on his blog about all the “of-the-moment” words that are used so much in business that they become empty and devoid of meaning. I find that all too often these buzzwords are used when people don’t want to take the time to explain what is really going on. Dan puts it rather well:

Half the time we use these words it’s because we have no idea what the heck we’re talking about in the first place.

I’d like to say that I’ve never been guilty of doing this or using these words — but I know better.

My favorite meaningless words and phrases from Dan’s list? Paradigm-shifting, world-class, empowered and seamless.

Adriana — who I work with — had one of the most unique (a particularly painful phrase that I come across now and again) takes on Dan’s post.