• 2022 WILL GRADUALLY RETURN TO BUSINESS ACTIVITY AT A ‘NEW NORMAL’ LEVEL. Maintaining stability is now a matter of continuous attention, learning and flexible response as circumstances evolve. While economic & political changes are still very uncertain, the historical model of organizational decision-making is still important – where leaders do their best to avoid disrupting longer-term mission & goals by ‘crisis-mode’ response, instead prioritizing refinement of forward strategies/ budgets/ tactics in order to manage operations in accordance with those goals and guidelines. DCG offers courtesy programs in two critical areas: (1) Effective Strategic Planning – focused on developing Goals, Objectives & Priorities which optimize productivity, profitability & stability by minimizing risk; (2) Working Smarter, Not Harder – focused on optimizing efficiency & effectiveness, critical factors impacting job satisfaction, life balance, and motivating team performance.
  •  2022 BUSINESS RISKS FOR BIG COMPANIES CONTINUE TO INCREASE, and proportion of CFOs who feel optimistic about financial prospects are below 50%. Year-end surveys of C-suite execs and Board members (by Deloitte, universities and other organizations) are finding that the most worrisome external risks will be inflation, supply chain bottlenecks, government regulation, and coronavirus impacts. But the most severe risks are now Internal, led by talent and labor shortages, attracting & retaining employees – from attrition, burnout, wage inflation (with three-quarters of surveyed intending to increase compensation by over 5%, a fifty-year high), as well as office/remote work conflict, and the ‘quit’ rate already highest in two decades.  [CFO DIVE – 12/16/21]
  • 2022 ALSO WILL DRAMATICALLY ADVANCE THE RISK FROM ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. “Machines already carry out important tasks independently, without programmers fully understanding how they learned it – a situation that could at some point be uncontrollable and dangerous for humanity… The tipping point would be when A.I. evolves to solve a pressing global problem, manage a wide swath of our lives, or improve an area of national priority: security/ climate change/ natural resource allotment/ wealth distribution/ or whatever challenge we face… Reality is that A.I. can make mistakes, human programmers can make mistakes, and/or be bad actors… Combined with the presence of terrorists, nations and authoritarian states that end to refuse to be bound by international standards, it’s not at all certain we could develop any reasonably enforceable worldwide limitation on A.I. applications… What happens if we lose control?”  [THOMAS FREY – 12/16/21]
  • 2022 EXPECTATIONS from a survey of U.S. CEOs and CFOs:  Half expect inflation to get worse, less that a quarter predict it will subside. //  Over a third predict a ‘mild’ recession. //  Around a third expect at least 1% rise in interest rates. //  Nearly 40% believe the Dow Jones stock index will drop below current levels; //  9% of CEOs and 15% of CFOs expect the balance of federal power will remain unresolved following the election.  [CHIEF EXECUTIVE.NET – 12/22/21]
  •  THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:      SNL take on Xmas clothing for kids: https://biggeekdad.com/2021/12/winter-clothing-for-kids/

     The Secret Service reported last week that over $100 billion has been stolen from Covid-19 relief programs, by individuals/ small businesses/ organized worldwide criminal networks, through fraudulent PPP loans and unemployment claims.

      Less is Best?  Our phones now = wireless; Cooking = fireless; Cars = keyless; Food = fatless; Tires = tubeless; Youth = jobless; Leaders = shameless; Relationships = meaningless; Attitudes = careless; Children = mannerless; Education = valueless; Government & Politicians = useless. 

     “Most people of sound judgment have concluded that any time mouths move among the members of Congress or Executive Branch), they are either eating or lying, sometimes both simultaneously. Uttering lies is one of those sanctions processed by the autonomous part of the brain, like breathing. Even when caught in a falsehood, it is thought to be a social lapse no worse than passing gas during a dramatic pause at the opera.” – author Steve Martini