• GOVERNANCE OF FAMILY AND CLOSELY-HELD BUSINESSES involves stewardship, operational oversight, and avoidance of risks from future innovation or disruption of regulations, supply-chains and talent. McKinsey’s latest global survey of impacts from rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence reports disrupted job roles, career trajectories and employer/employee relationships – not only in I.T. departments, but also in marketing & sales, where content creation time has been reduced up to 50% and click-through campaign rates increased by up to 40%.  Additionally, while private company Directors and Advisory Boards may sufficiently evaluate the importance of cybersecurity protection, most have yet considered the risks from impact of A.I. in today’s business climate – risks not only to productivity & profitability, but also to succession, culture and legacy of the business.  DCG can help; call for courtesy consult.

 

  • WORKLIFE BALANCE HAS ALWAYS BEEN AMONG THE ABSOLUTE ELEMENTS in optimal business performance and life appreciation.  Critical strategies to achieve and maintain balance involve: (1) Using time wisely – planning the day efficiently by focusing on high-priority task first, with realistic time allotments, and boundaries for ‘work’ hours; (2) Prioritizing self-care – sleep, exercise, healthy meals and avoidance of excessive junk food; (3) Making time for personal relationships, hobbies and periodic vacation days; (4) ‘Unplugging’ periodically &, regularly from phone, texts & emails.   Yes, tough to implement these days, but these steps help maintain optimal physical condition and ‘reset’ the brain to achieve optimal economic results.

 

  • AN INTERESTING PERSPECTIVE ON TODAY’S GENERATIONAL TURMOIL: “Boomers have been the worst generation in American history and one of their worst qualities is that they just won’t go away. In the 60’s, politically active young people tended to be leftists, but eventually got power and now want to hold on, enjoying mediocrity, retirement, and keeping government checks coming. It’s today’s young people who are waking up and voting for change, after having watched America’s economy crash, the government fail at everything, and cultural nonsense like Critical Race Theory, DEI, transexual identity evolution, 3rd World peasant immigration taking their jobs while robbing/ raping/ murdering citizens, entertainment & music industries turning to filth and trash, abandoning basic concepts like color blindness, free speech, and even Democracy – which now means framing opposition leaders, funding mutation research which brought Covid killing millions then lying about it for years, as well as killing their high-school years which disrupted normal teen rituals like dating.  Young people have had enough, and over the next decades, as the people who ruined this country are marching to the cemetery, may just save America.”   [TOWNHALL]

 

  • ALL GENERATIONS COMPLAIN: Baby Boomers about uncertain retirement, Millennials about inability to buy a home, Gen Z about social media having ruined their childhood. But nearly a third of Gen X (born 1965 – 80, today age 45 – 60) say they are ‘not very or at all happy’ according to latest polls – the highest of any generation and consistent with a ‘U-bend of life’ theory: that “people are generally happy when young & old, but miserable in middle age.”  Elements involve emergence of health issues, awareness of failure to achieve everything they’d hoped for, many having to look after both their children and/or parents, as well as having suffered the financial impacts of the dotcom bubble crash & subsequent decade financial crisis which stifled home ownership plans. “Reality bites.”  [ECONOMIST]

 

THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK

  • ALLERGY SEASON, when ‘allergic rhinitis’ more commonly known as Hay Fever affects some one-in-five people globally, was horrendous this year in LA County. The condition causes a sufferer’s immune system to react to airborne pollen by releasing histamine, an inflammatory chemical, and is worst for big-city dwellers — caused by poor air quality, warmer climates, heavy rain, and ragweed (reacting to just one pollen grain per cubic meter of air). The season normally runs from March through May, but this year hit hardest thanks to the wildfires in January.

 

  • California’s current budget deficit is projected at $10 billion, which the state Legislative Analyst Office warns is “stagnant, fragile, reliant on an unsustainable stock market, and subject to possible cuts or withholding of the $171 billion funding expected from the federal government. This $10 billion deficit ‘precisely’ matches illegal immigrant health cost, after recent expansion of MediCal eligibility.”  [AOLNEWS.COM]

 

  • Taking a ‘deep breath’ is classic advice when people feel anxious or upset. Research has found that nasal breathing, as compared to mouth breathing, has a “more positive effect on the parts of the brain that regulate emotion and behavior, and that rhythmic drawn-out breathing slows down brain waves across the entire cerebral cortex – indicating a calmer state of mind which improves performance on spatial tasks, enhances memory function and better reaction time.”  [BBC.COM]