• THE LEADERSHIP MODEL WHICH DCG HAS PREACHED FOR DECADES has been substantiated by a major McKinsey survey of 189,000 people in 81 diverse organizations around the world: “While different business situations require different styles of leadership…four core behaviors account for 89% of leadership effectiveness”: (1) Seeking and considering “different perspectives for sound analysis to avoid the many biases to which decisions are prone”; (2) Operating with a “strong results-orientation…which emphasizes the importance of efficiency and productivity to prioritize the highest-value work”; (3) Demonstrating effective problem solving, after gathering, analyzing and considering all relevant information; and (4) Supporting the team by “showing authenticity and sincere interest…to inspire and help colleagues overcome challenges …allay unwarranted fears about external threats, and prevent team energies from dissipating into internal conflict.” [McKINSEY QTRLY – Jan 15]
  • UPDATE ON THE ‘GLOBAL WARMING CRISIS’: After President Obama’s declaration that “97% of scientists agree that climate change is real, man-made and dangerous,” the Wall St. Journal called this “fiction” – supported by dozens of independent studies and a petition from over 31,000 scientists stating “there is no convincing evidence that human release… is causing catastrophic heating of the earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the earth’s climate. “ The facts are always fuzzy, but based on NASA and NOAA measurements appear to be that: (1) “There has always been, and always will be, climate change caused by Solar Cycles”; (2) The earth has warmed only .36 degrees over the last 35 years, and has actually cooled by 1.08 degrees since 1998; (3) Contrary to Al Gore’s famous 2007 prediction (while accepting a Nobel Prize) that the ice cap “could be completely gone in as little as 7 years… the arctic ice caps have increased in size by up to 63% since then… and an area of open water twice the size of Alaska two years ago is now covered in ice.” Meanwhile, ‘green-tech’ companies have received over $2.5 billion in federal loans, grants, etc. from the current Administration, and Gore could become “the world’s first carbon billionaire.”  [NEWSMAX.COM –Mar 27, 15]
  • 500 MILLION PEOPLE USE A ‘FLASHLIGHT APP’ WHICH ALMOST CERTAINLY STEALS THEIR SMARTPHONE OR TABLET DATA, including contacts, photos, credit card or banking input. The most popular free app is ‘Brightest Flashlight’ with 100 million users. But it and every one of the top ten flashlight apps are infected with malware which routes private data to China, Russia or India, according to Snoopwall Security (which first reported the problem six months ago and monitors the flow). The FTC resolved one lawsuit by requiring a 25-page opt-in disclosure which, of course, no one reads. The Trojan programs cannot be ‘uninstalled’; elimination requires ‘factory reset’ – which wipes everything back to original factory programming, and ‘backing up’ current data is not easy for most users. For a news report video, click https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q8xz8xKEFvU
  • “SINGLE PARENTING IS THE NEW NORM. At some point before they turn 18, a majority of all American children will likely live with a single mom and no dad.” Family breakdown has increasing led to “community chaos” predominantly stemming from children born to unwed mothers (30% of American girls of all races become pregnant by age 19 – roughly 70% are Afro-American, 50% Hispanic, 35% Caucasian), and/or from incarceration rates having tripled over the last four decades “leading countless boys to grow up without dads… A father’s absence increases antisocial behavior, such as aggression, rule-breaking, delinquency, illegal drug use… and young men growing up in broken families never acquire any stable relationship to male authority or any set of rational expectations about the future.” The results include children “five times more likely to live in poverty and 40% less likely to graduate from high school.” In our ‘progressive’ culture, the trend continues to accelerate.  [NEW YORK TIMES – Mar 11, 15]
  • IT’S UNBELIEVABLY EASY FOR CROOKS TO STEAL YOUR I.R.S. OR SOCIAL SECURITY IDENTITY AND COLLECTIONS – through free government websites, including IRS.gov. The reason is that website access is controlled by reliance on ‘static information’ and ‘knowledge-based authentication’ in the form of “challenge questions which can be easily defeated with information widely available for sale in the cybercrime underground and/or with a small amount of searching online.” Better sign up before cybercriminals do it for you.  http://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/03/sign-up-at-irs-gov-before-crooks-do-it-for-you  [KREBS ON SECURITY – Mar 15, 15]
  •  THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:  “There are no such things as guilty pleasures, only pleasures.” – Quentin Tarantino

     For optimization of anything, it’s your choice: Accuracy, Timeliness, Inexpensive. Pick any two – you’ll never get all three!

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE FOR OPTIMAL STRATEGIC & FINANCIAL PLANNING, OPERATIONS, MANAGEMENT & MEDIATION