• SUCCESSION PLANNING IS “ONE OF THE MORE COMPLEX AND NUANCED ASPECTS of human capital management, requiring a focused program of keeping talent in the pipeline for the evolving roles that matter most to companies in the future.” Failing to plan ahead for this critical dimension of stability and valuation is among the most important missteps in business leadership. Key elements in effective succession planning include: (1) Focusing on all important tiers, managers, stakeholders and influencers in the process, not just senior management; (2) “Validating assumptions about the ambitions and expectations of employees in the matrix, to deter false sense of security”; and (3) Incorporating regular Plan reviews with strategic planning to ensure ongoing relevancy with future talent needs. DCG have decades of experience to assist owners, executive team and Boards in this process.  [INTERCHANGE-GROUP – Feb 17]
  • FLYING DRONE TAXI’S ARE NO LONGER SCIENCE FICTION – THEY’RE HERE! Dubai is now testing with passenger service planned to begin in July. The electric drone can carry one passenger up to 220 pounds, up to 31 miles at a top speed of 100 mph; the passenger selects destination on a touch-screen pad and the drone then flies automatically. Uber and Airbus aren’t too far behind, but their plan is to begin transporting cargo first. Dubai is “pushing the limits of transportation technology, likely to deploy the first active Hyperloop system, and also piloting a number of self-driving shuttle projects.” [TECHCRUNCH.COM –Feb 14, 17]
  •  “WHEN STRATEGY ISN’T PANNING OUT AS PLANNED, attribution bias usually kick in, with missed targets blamed on the most convenient cause available – usually some one-off event like unseasonal weather, IT outage, etc… The fallacy that underlies most strategies is ‘I’ll get better results next year by trying to do roughly the same thing as last year, but just a bit better.’ Hope and hot air abound.” Strategic Planning begins with setting Goals and determining what it will take (Objectives) to achieve them, but the most critical factor has to do with “crafting choices and moves to meet those goals with levers that are firmly in the control of management” – i.e. tactical strategy to achieve the expected results. Confusion of goals with strategies can torpedo the best of Plans. Let DCG help ensure this doesn’t happen to your company. [McKINSEY.COM BLOG – Jan 31, 17]
  •  PERSONALITY EVOLVES OVER TIME, influenced by environmental and genetic factors. A 1,200 student study of 14-year olds began in 1950 with teachers assessing “self-confidence, originality, perseverance, conscientiousness, mood stability and desire to excel.” 62 years later, 174 participated in a second evaluation, “completing cognitive tests and detailed questionnaires, rating themselves on the same characteristics, and also having a close friend or relative evaluate their current personality.” Researchers comparing results found “no correlation between current personalities of the seniors and who they were as teenagers… concluding that people change so dramatically, they often bear little resemblance to their younger selves.”  [THE WEEK – Mar 10, 17] 
  • MEN, BE AWARE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEAVY EXERCISE AND LIBIDO. High levels of endurance training and/or high volumes of intense training are “known to depress testosterone production in males… and may contribute to decreased libido levels.” A University of No. Carolina study of over 1,000 runners found that men who engaged in high-intensity and high-duration activity were “more likely to have lower sex drive.”  [MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS & EXERCISE and TIME – Mar 13, 17]
  •  TAXI DRIVERS OVERCHARGE WHEN PASSENGERS SAY THEY’RE ON BUSINESS EXPENSE ACCOUNTS, at least in Greece. Researchers at University of Innsbruck took 400 rides covering eleven routes in Athens. In the 50% test group who let the driver know they’d be reimbursed, one in six were overcharged 7% on average. Gimmicks were mostly bogus surcharges or Night Fare rates in daylight hours. It also turned out that women were overcharged more often in both groups. [ECONOMIST – Mar 4, 17]
  •  THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:  “Civilization, in fact, grows more and more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy, it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”  – H. L. Mencken, 1916

            The latest “nightmare inducing” Robot – wow!  http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-27/meet-handle-nightmare-inducing-robot-boston-dynamics

            Next time you grimace at your partners ‘over-packing’ for a vacation, think about how 572 workers felt transporting over 500 tons of luggage and private vehicles for the Saudi King’s recent 9-day trip to Indonesia.  

           Ransomware for Dummies – now available for $400.  Pathetic!   https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/03/ransomware-for-dummies-anyone-can-do-it/