• LEADERSHIP TRAINING IS CRITICAL IN GROWING COMPANIES. Since adults typically retain just 10% of what they hear in classroom lectures, versus nearly two-thirds of what they learn by doing,” it’s important to integrate Management training opportunities into on-the-job projects. Developing effective leaders also, most often, “requires changing behaviors by adjusting underlying mind-sets…by identifying below the surface thoughts, feelings assumptions & beliefs…and focusing on a small number of competencies that will make a significant difference to performance… a process which can be uncomfortable for participants, trainers, mentors and bosses.”  DCG have decades of experience in helping develop stronger and more capable leaders, resulting in boosted morale, productivity, profitability and stability.  [McKINSEY QUARTERLY – Jan 14]
  • TECHNOLOGY IS ALLOWING THE “SILENT MAJORITY TO FINALLY FIND IT’S VOICE,” as do-it-yourself (DIY) innovators willing to share their brainpower & skills have influenced issues, on a global basis, as never before. ‘Wikipedia’ was a collaboration of some 100 million hours of volunteer time to create – only half of 1/10th of a percent of the time Americans watch TV every year. Every 21 minutes, YouTube users upload more verbal & visual material than Hollywood films do in a year, reaching hundreds of millions viewers instantaneously. “The global deployment of Information & Communications Technology (ICT) has utterly democratized the tools of cooperation.”  [ABUNDANCE – Peter Diamandis – 2014]
  • MEANWHILE, ON THE TECH HORIZON, 75% of U.S. jobs will require greater skills within five years, as technological and economic forces “wipe out countless job categories over the next decade.” Over 5 million jobs (half the available) will remain vacant because they simply exceed the skilled-worker supply pool – where ”competencies are becoming the basic minimal requirement, as baby boomers retire and younger workers fail to obtain the necessary work skills…in areas like bio-factories, commercial drones, 3-D printing, rapid transit systems, micro colleges and senior living solutions.”    [THE ECONOMIST: OUTLOOK 2015]    And check out the next amazing generation of a smart ‘phone’:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J7GpVQCfms&feature=youtu.be 
  • SINCE AMERICANS EAT A THIRD OF THEIR DAILY CALORIES OUTSIDE THE HOME and over 25% “underestimate their fast-food calories by at least 500, the F.D.A. believes that “awareness about which foods are more caloric will prompt healthier choices and help stem the obesity epidemic.” Accordingly, within the next year, some 300,000 establishments that sell food in twenty or more locations (restaurants, coffee shops, markets, gas stations, theaters, etc) will be required to post caloric counts for all food & beverages. A year later, the requirement also applies to vending machines.  [TIME – Dec 15, 14]
  • HEALTH SURVEY BLURBS: (1) Hangovers are usually rougher – pounding head & nausea – if they result from champagne or sparkling wine versus from tequila or mixed-drinks. The reason is higher acetaldehyde, a by-product of fermentation, according to research at Duke University; (2) For sleep problems, “alcohol, TV or just giving up on dealing with your stress are the worst thing you can do.” In fact they can cause insomnia, according to a study reported in the journal Sleep; (3) “Couples who fall into the demand/withdrawal cycle – where one partner nags and the other avoids – are less satisfied in their relationships and even have poorer health,” according to a Texas Christian University study; (4) “Germ counts near restroom jet air dryers were 27 times higher than where paper towels were used, and half the bacteria stayed in the air more than five minutes,” a Leeds University study found.  [SELF – Nov 14, and THE WEEK – Dec 12, 14] 
  • FRAUDSTERS CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO ONLINE ADVERTISING “because it is easier to avoid detection and get paid quickly.” Of the $140 billion spent globally this year on digital advertising, billions will be siphoned off – from frauds involving some 30% of web traffic, “undetected by the user and nearly impossible for advertisers to spot because it shares the real user’s unique ‘cookie’ identifier.” Particularly vulnerable are ‘audience extension’ publishers who sell ads on other publisher sites, since they have no control of safeguards in place. ”Google has admitted that 56% of ads on the Internet are never even ‘in view’ – defined as being on the screen for one second or more.” [THE ECONOMIST – Dec 6, and THE WEEK – Dec 19, 14]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:    “The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of life, but that it bothers him less and less.” – Vaclav Havel

     “Good artists copy, great artists steal – and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.” – Steve Jobs, stolen from Pablo PIcasso

    DCG: PROVIDING GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE FOR OPTIMAL STRATEGIC, FINANCIAL, OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT