“The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.”
William James
1842-1910
“The Father of American Psychology”
First educator to offer a college course in psychology in the United States
Input on Output
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” is one of the oldest management principles. In a tight labor market and increasing numbers of people working from home and out of sight of supervisors, measurement and productivity are doubly important. This brief article from Knowledge at Wharton reminds us of a few tried and true methods for measuring output and offers a few new ones as well.
How Ike Prioritized
Peter Drucker once described the CEO’s job as “infinite.” If so, then the art of setting priorities is itself the greatest priority. Dwight D. Eisenhower not only ran the biggest country in the world, he also ran its largest war as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during WWII. An article from Chief Executive Magazine shares a simple method embodied in a 2 x 2 matrix that served him well in setting priorities…along with a few others tips you may find helpful. Make it a priority to read “How Prioritize 101 (with Help from Dwight D. Eisenhower).“
“Here Comes the Fun”
The War for Talent is being fought on many fronts; compensation, work from home policy, employee benefits working hours……and now, there’s one more battle to be won: how much fun do your employees have at work? We all know that fun is important, but a short article in CEO Magazine stresses that “not all fun is equal in the new-office era. Savvy CEOs are making sure there’s method to the mayhem. “ There’s a right and wrong way to have fun at work. Find out how in Here comes the Fun.”
Econ Recon
Jobs and Money: If you think we’re in a recession, you may have to keep looking for the proof. Dr. Brian Wesbury says there’s “No Sign of a recession in the labor market. Just the opposite: the job market was very strong in July”….bringing the unemployment rate down to 3.5 % from 3.6%. Check out his executive summary of the July Employment Report. In a separate article on monetary policy, Dr. Wesbury opines that Fed Chairman “Jerome Powell does not think the US is in recession, and neither do we.” In particular, he thinks that confusion about the respective roles of interest rates and money supply growth in creating inflation are instead creating a “Monetary Muddle.”
A Bridge Too Far? The Fed raised its Fed Funds rate by 75 bps on July 27 as they had promised. Did they overreact.? ITR Economics Brian Beaulieu has a few thoughts: Has the Federal Reserve Gone Too Far?
A Note From Scott:
Friends,
I hope you are enjoying summer. As I mentioned in May, I'm now back from my bicycle trip across the U.S. in support of The Fuller Center for Housing .
A group of us cyclists pedaled from Seaside, Oregon across the northern U.S. to Portland Maine. Along the way we stopped to help out at six local Fuller Center building sites to lend a hand building, refurbishing and cleaning for low income families in need of decent housing. Check out this video montage and TV news report of our trip.
It was a challenging and impactful trip. If you'd like to hear more let me know. I'd be glad to share about the adventure and stories of families who we served.
Warm regards,
Scott
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