Covid has created all kinds of weird effects across the spectrum of American life. My particular fasciation is how it has laid bare the disconnect between companies and their employees, specifically the willingness of employees to quit (and we're seeing that in droves) and the employers inability to understand what their employees want from a … Continue reading The lost connection between a company and its workers

Our family has been fortunate that our children have been back in the school building in some form or fashion since September. My 13 year old daughter has been going to in-person school every other day with classes over zoom when she’s not in the building. It’s not perfect, but she’s been managing well. We … Continue reading Lessons From My Middle Schooler’s Remote Learning

People become very attached to wherever they invest their resources, whether they are time or money. It makes sense when you think about it. That attachment permits you to make justifications about why you continue to invest your resources in the same way you always have. And that attachment is a strong emotional connection to … Continue reading The Market Isn’t Sentimental… But You Are

The story about Russian hacking is eyebrow raising for sure, but the thing that jumped out at me from the article I read in the New York Times was the note about the company SolarWinds and how their CEO was hyper focused on profitability and growth at the expense of security, (and possibly to the … Continue reading Our Experience Is Not Always The Best Guide

I've been giving 2021 a lot of thought as we wrap up a very challenging 2020. How is it going to play out? What will happen with a new administration, when will we get Covid under control, and what happens after that? So I've decided to write them down and see what I get right … Continue reading Predictions for 2021

I finished John R Bruning's Race of Aces: WWII's Elite Airmen and the Epic Battle to Become the Master of the Sky earlier this year. It was a fantastic story about the Ace Race in the South Pacific theater of World War II. The skill and heroics of these pilots in unbelievably challenging conditions is … Continue reading Discipline and Endurance

I saw a report earlier this week that 59% of advertising agency workers are putting in longer hours during the pandemic. I'm not surprised. Its tough to stop working when there's no separation between work and home. Fears of layoffs and the need to prove that you're adding value are also causing people to work … Continue reading Some More Thoughts On “Work From Home”

An Op-Ed piece in the Washington Post got me thinking about how we should plan to proceed successfully out of the shelter-in-place orders that being lifted. No matter the guidance offered from local, state, or federal government, we should all understand that not everyone is going to have the same level of comfort as we … Continue reading Pandemic Pragmatism

I saw a terrific piece from HBR about how we should look for a series of little things that we can all do together to mitigate the challenges of Covid-19 rather than waiting for a moon shot to solve the problem. The article suggests things ranging from hand-washing to additional cleaning protocols to contact tracing … Continue reading We’re All In This Together

I've seen a lot of posts about how the traditional office isn't dead, how everyone will return to their workplace once we're through the crisis. Then I've seen other posts suggesting that office space will never be the same and that the traditional office is a thing of the past. My sense, from reading these … Continue reading Management and Work-From-Home