Just in Case it Matters to You
Weekly Report 16-39
- BUSINESS PERFORMANCE IS ALWAYS CORRELATED TO MANAGEMENT DECISIONS about direction, strategy and risk control. The AICPA reports that more than seven in ten organizations admit to “at least one strategic initiative failing in the last three years as a result of flaws in their decision making.” Reality is that as private companies evolve, many owners & managers make critical decisions in a vacuum – without independent perspective or feedback, focused only on short-term profits & cash flow, dealing with ‘urgencies’ more so than ‘importance’ in the context of longer-term sustainability, scalability or future Value. Often there is minimal, if any, proactive strategic planning or alignment of personal goals with operational infrastructure, and business potential is squandered. Wiser entrepreneurs fill this vacuum with guidance from broad-based consultants (and often Advisory Boards) expert in economic, financial, and operational arenas. DCG has cost-effectively guided hundreds of closely-held & family businesses toward optimal profitability, Valuation and exit. Call DCG before your reality-check bounces!
- TECHNOLOGY HAS ALMOST COMPLETELY REVAMPED THE MATING GAME. In past generations, “dating was local and linear, with access to a small number of potential mates based on where one lived, went to school, and social status… Dating has now gone digital, expanding globally and exponentially.” Over 120 million ‘members’ of major dating websites (overlapping an estimated 40% of the single population) connect on platforms catering to age, gender, income, religious and other social strata, matched in a manner which transcends geography or demographics. With over 20% of heterosexual and over 60% of same-sex couples now meeting online, “the implications are staggering: besides moving the marriage age back (up to nine years for women, seven for men), there are a number of sociological effects such as decision fatigue, gamification of dating, and the commoditization of people that will start to have population-level effects as mating behaviors change. In the very near future, we will see machine learning/ artificial intelligence-based matchmakers that will find the ‘perfect’ match based upon everything from one’s genomics to psychographics. And, once on a date, augmented reality glasses will give real-time dating info… with AR cameras watching each other’s pupillary dilation and capillary flushing, etc. etc.” [PETER DIAMANDIS – Sep 18, 16]
- FOR A DEEP REALITY CHECK ON THE DIRECTION OF U.S. & WORLD ECONOMIES, view this analysis of impending scenario from unsustainable Federal Reserve velocity & leveraged debt, surging Gold Reserves, risk of China’s collapse, and the existing IMF Plan to replace the Dollar as global reserve currency. http://pro.moneymappress.com/MMRBSSH39PPM3/PMMRRA35/?iris=421443&h=true An important, fascinating and deeply disturbing presentation.
- 40% OF FINANCIAL SERVICE EXECS “ADMIT THEY LACK A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF CYBERSECURITY PROTOCOLS in their organizations.” In most cases this stems from (1) absence of effectively engaging expert advice from an internal CISO (Certified Info Security Officer) or outsourced expert consultant; (2) failure to prioritize and implement cyber-protection policies; (3) insufficient employee training. 75% of the 300-executive survey identified Reputational Damage and Legal Liability as the “most prominent result of a data breach,” yet only 38% conduct training on a quarterly or semi-annual basis, the rest only annually or even less frequently. DCG can help guide you in optimizing cybersecurity protection. [HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – Sep 13, 16]
- THE REASON THAT SMART PEOPLE SO OFTEN DO OR SAY DUMB THINGS is that basic human tendencies are to take the ‘easy way out’ when trying to solve problems, to evaluate situations from personal ‘my side’ bias, and to ignore the fact that ‘reality’ is: “the other person’s idea of how things should be… To others we are not ourselves but a performer in their lives, cast for a part we do not even know that we are playing.”
- “TYPICAL PSYCHOPATHS create a lot of chaos and tend to play people off each other.” A recent study of 261 American ‘senior executives’ found 20% who fit the psychopath profile – “the same ration found among prison inmates.” [THE WEEK – Sep 23, 16]
- THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: A nearby available-parking-space digital map, showing location & size of spaces, is coming. Mercedes-Benz is testing a pilot program in Germany using built-in ultrasound sensors to note spots automatically and transmit to the cloud for sharing with other Mercedes drivers.
For those who still deny the direction of Progressivism, an absolutely astonishing and pathetically Muslim-biased jury award, which was prosecuted by the current Administration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I3q61Y85oCw
A different and smart perspective on current ‘athletes-standing-for-the-anthem’ headlines: https://www.youtube.com/embed/qq0_nyWVXCI