Awestruck
It is rare when adults are awestruck. So many trips around the sun can inure one to the wonders of the world. Not true this week for us. Paul, Bogie and I did our monthly trip to Mammoth despite the lack of new snow just because we love the Eastern Sierra in all its geological […]
Caring for yourself
Somewhere in the rush to do well in your profession, take care of your family, keep up with your friends and colleagues, and not miss out on the latest happenings, did you lose caring for yourself? This time of year it goes into overdrive. Presents, holiday cards, seeing friends in town for a quick minute, […]
The K shaped economy
The K shaped economy is described as “a growing gap between the highest earners and the richest corporations, who are spending and expanding their wealth, and the lowest-income households and mom-and-pop companies, who struggle to pay their bills day to day.” -Yahoo/Finance. The top 10% of earners account for 50% of the spending. This is […]
Agent of Civility
I hope your Thanksgiving was lovely and you managed the many interactions with family and friends as an Agent of Civility. Civility you ask? Really, what is that any more? That is such a last century or even an 19th century concept. Didn’t it go out with writing by hand? Google AI says “Acting civil […]
Do what only YOU can do!
Who does your job when you are busy filling in for someone else? My guess is that you had a plan for your day, your week, this month, this quarter and on to a 5 year plan, and it tends to get hijacked along the way. Then you spend the quiet hours after everyone else […]
Persistence
Every few years, I ask business leaders what they believe to be the key to their success. I get responses like “”setting goals”, “sticking to your values”, “building a great team””getting up and doing it again”, and “persistence”. Not very fancy is it? Seems like common sense, doesn’t it? Anyone can do these things. The […]
Mentoring moments
If you have or have been a teenager, you know to seize that moment when someone is curious and camp there. “Hey Mom, can I ask you a question?”, “Hey boss, why do we do it this way?” Stop, look and listen! A brief window just opened. Drop everything and pay attention. If you are […]
Stay Flexible
It is hard to argue with logical time-tested advice. Stay flexible. It sounds good. However, the volatility in our business conditions has been exhausting. Business owners have been living like cats on a hot tin roof. They may not be able to stay flexible much longer. Profits are down, sales are down. They are laying […]
Spooky and getting spookier
The trick or treat economy continues to be extremely tricky and getting trickier. Darth Vader is the costume of choice for our 5 year old Grandson and it seems right in line with the shut down of the federal government. Should we be handing out gift cards for the parents or candy to the kids […]
It’s in the data
When the aggregate looks okay, but your spidey senses are tingling, the answer may be in the data that rises or falls first. It used to be that economists looked at packaging sales as a leading indicator of manufacturing 6 months out. We all looked at US Labor Department data on unemployment rates and new […]