The Richly or Poorly Show
Show Transcript
shdawson-20260224.mp3
Episode 02/24/2026
02/24/2026

Hello! Welcome to The Richly or Poorly Show!

My name is Dr. Stephen Dawson, and I am your show host.

Thank you for joining me.

Please visit shdawson DOT COM SLASH podcast and click on the LINK offer to learn about The Richly or Poorly Show! Here you can familiarize yourself with the show.

Please listen to, follow, and like the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen. And please remember to leave the show a nice review.

Please share the show with your friends. Send them the link to my podcast web page, and offer to help them set up their device to subscribe to the show.

Thank you to the six streaming services that syndicate The Richly or Poorly Show!

Thank you to the anonymous and individual sponsors of The Richly or Poorly Show! I am still looking for my first commercial sponsor.

Finally, please continue to email your questions and comments about the show to service AT shdawson DOT COM.

The show's motto is unmistakable: RICHLY IS GOODLY!

Please consider how you define the term good as we journey through life together in your pursuit of defining the term richly in your life.

The plan for my presentations to you was to first establish a foundation of shared understanding between you, the listener, and me. Then, proceed to build on that foundation with subsequent episodes. I recommend that you review the nine episodes between December 2nd, 2025 through January 27th, 2026 as you see fit to help you remember the foundation of our shared understanding as we proceed through each episode you hear in the coming weeks, months, and years.

Last week, I presented a deep, tangible way for the show's intended audience to advance their shared worldviews and move into ethics: Education and a proposed web site.

Today is story day. I presented the terms worldview, ethics, morality, and virtue in the December 23rd, 2025, episode. I will present today on how you will face the topic of morality as you consider the small modular reactor that I have presented during the past three episodes by sharing with you some of my personal experiences with the topic of morality in my work of the past four decades. The intended outcome of my sharing with you today is to help you use the first principle I have found as paramount, undeniable, and non-negotiable to living life more richly combined with the first aspect of The Truth, to help you not be harmed as you live your life.

I presented on December 9th, 2025, the first principle I have found as paramount, undeniable, and non-negotiable to living life more richly:
Understand Your Data Lifecycle

I presented on January 20th, 2026, the first aspect of The Truth:
Arrogance Precedes Anger
AND
Anger Precedes Violence

Now, for my intended show audience, the topic of morality.

I restate the term morality as I presented in the December 9th, 2025 episode. The term morality is a singular term. It is a noun. Morality is conformity to the rules of right conduct. It is a list of a person's worldview and ethics combinations. Morality is beyond a person, as the person’s worldview necessitates that others conform to their definition of morality. The morality of a person that does not match the worldview and ethics combination of the person is a contradiction in statements from the person. Specifically, they do not follow the rules of right conduct that they profess they believe in by acting as they do.

The topic of morality is based first on the topic of worldview and then built on the topic of ethics. Morality is a combination of polar opposites. Good-bad, right-wrong, better-worse. Morality is not too difficult for me to understand. Tell me the process to accomplish the desired outcome. If I agree with the outcome, then I will follow the process. Otherwise, I am gone. If I disagree with the process to accomplish the outcome, then I will try to negotiate a different process. Otherwise, I am gone. So, my morality needs to agree with the process and the outcome to gain my participation.

The small modular reactor is one of countless examples to consider how to connect the four members of my intended show audience. It is my prediction that the events of the data center will be similar to the coming events of the small modular reactor. There will be complaints by the public about the cost of the electricity to establish an SMR and the way that an SMR destroys personal privacy by powering data centers. None of these positions holds true to reason, but that is my worldview of the circumstances.

You, as a member of my intended show audience, will face the same arguments from the public. You will be demanded of by the public to either love or hate the SMR for whatever reason the public has to justify their demands of you. The love-hate ultimatum is another example of a polar opposite, another indication that you are facing the topic of morality. Love is good, hate is bad. Love is right, hate is wrong, polar opposites.

My work history has a clear pattern: those who are not doing their work hate me. Hate, as in the extreme sense of the term. They hate me because they know it is a matter of time before they will be exposed for not doing their work. So, the response from this crowd is to get rid of me as soon as possible. It has happened many times over the past four decades. Each time, I am gone. Each time, they are gone after me. Each time, the company where I did some type of work goes into a horrendous cash flow problem. All companies have recovered, after years of losses, layoffs, and restructurings.

You see, it is not me. It is the poor leadership of the companies. My work has been to help companies grow. Growth is painful. Laziness is not a part of growth. Lazy workers are not going to help a company grow.

Regardless of how you interact with the topic of the SMR, you will be forced to either agree or disagree with why humanity needs the SMR. The reason you will be forced to arrive at the decision is that the SMR will impact all of humanity. There is no avoiding it. So, I bring to your attention the benefits of deciding peacefully before you are forced to decide where you stand on the topic of morality.

A sizable part of my work has been to help people define morality in their lives. We have many talks and go through many examples in discussing the topic of morality. Eventually, each person arrives at their decision to define their morality, and we say goodbye.

I wrote a guide on the topic of Insufficient Performance Reasoning to help my customers consider the topic of morality when they interact with their employees. If you want a copy of the guide, then email me, and I will send you a copy. The guide was written for a leader to consider how to talk with their followers to learn the morality of each person who reports to them directly. It has helped many people over the years discuss the topic of morality. I hope it will help you, too.

Here is a part of my work to help frame the topic of morality for you.

I help companies figure out where their processes are failing. I look at the data each employee submits. This part of the picture is called self-reported data. Then, I look at the data their boss submits about their employees performing their work. This part of the picture is called observed data. Then, I look at the data calculated by the work output of each employee. Things like an employee saying they did ten things, so I look for the ten things. They say they painted ten walls, so I look for ten painted walls to prove it. They say they cut ten heads of hair, so I look for ten cut heads of hair to prove it. I had one employee say they did 300 hours of work one week. Well, there are 24 hours in a day, and seven days in a week. 24 x 7 is 168. 168 is a long way from 300, that is...if they could stay awake for a solid week of working.

Anyway, it is about this point when the folks whom I am evaluating realize there is one of me and more of them. So, they gang up and decide to get rid of me. Things like complaining to each other, complaining to their boss, complaining to human resources, things like this. The leadership of the company is then faced with a decision: Either they will have many employees quitting at the same time, or I need to go. So, things settle down for a while, then flare back up, and round and round, and ultimately I am gone.

You see, no lazy worker is going to quit a job where they are being paid to be lazy. So, the threat of quitting is an outright lie. The measurement of performance is not the problem. The lack of performance is not the problem. The problem is that the employer and the employees do not share the same definition of the term morality.

Your effort to connect with the four members of my intended show audience on the topic of the SMR will have a similar journey. It is not the type of work you do, but the quality of the work you do. I read over the past few years that workers in Amazon warehouses say it is tough work. I worked in a warehouse job for about a year. It is tough work, but it is the job. This condition is the first principle I have found as paramount, undeniable, and non-negotiable to living life more richly:
Understand Your Data Lifecycle

I read in history over the past two centuries that skilled and service workers sometimes organize their labor and strike against their employers. This action is the first aspect of The Truth:
Arrogance Precedes Anger
AND
Anger Precedes Violence

So, the simplest way to succeed in sharing the same morality as others is to look at their desired outcome and the process they follow to accomplish their desired outcome. I agree, it may take some time to understand the second part, but the first part should be easy enough to understand...provided they are telling you The Truth.

So, we have another condition addressing the first principle I have found as paramount, undeniable, and non-negotiable to living life more richly:
Understand Your Data Lifecycle

If they are lying to you, then you have invalid data.

If they are lying to you, then do you really want them to be a part of your life?

Again, the topic of the SMR is the example I use to speak to you about how morality will impact your life. What is important is that you define for yourself what comprises your morality. Then, you need to work on deciding what you will do to live your morality. Meaning, what you will not do to live your morality. Meaning, your ethics. The rubber meets the road for you when you then decide what you need to do to modify your ethics to accomplish your morality. If you are changing your ethics, then you have already changed your worldview.

I feel for the leaders who pay me to help them. I do not blame them for being poor leaders. I sell services to help leaders become better leaders. They are trying to become better leaders. I feel bad for them because they have employees who are trying to take control of the company where they both work through a revolt. The revolting employees need to be terminated, but that is easier said than done.

So, let's wrap up what I have shared with you today by leaving you with this thought: If you were either the boss of your company, the boss of your country, or the boss of the world, then what do you want from your employees in terms of their morality?

Chew on that question over the coming week, and let's look at how I see that answer next week.

Add the show conclusion section here.

Well, that's it for today.

RICHLY IS GOODLY!

Please consider all you have heard from me today.

I hope you are excited about how you can apply the material I present to you on the show to your life, so you can live your life more richly than you have ever known!

Thank you for joining me for this episode of The Richly or Poorly Show!

I have enjoyed presenting to you today.

Until the next episode, I hope you will be safe and join me next week.

Until then.