•  RESISTANCE TO CHANGE OF ANY KIND IS A HUMAN ATTRIBUTE, manifesting itself in many ways along a spectrum from low-key foot-dragging, to soft sabotage, to outright revolt. In the workplace, employee resistance is mostly based on simple failure to understand or feel comfortable with change, when there has been: (1) lack of communication; (2) not having been ‘consulted’; (3) absence of understanding the ‘need’ ; (4) anticipated adverse impact to work routine; and/or (5) assumed absence of personal benefit — all stemming from fear of the unknown. DCG have decades of experience in effectively implementing change, integrating merged teams, and optimizing subsequent productivity & profitability. Call us before your reality check bounces!
  •  “TODAY’S ROBOTS AND COMPUTERS ARE NOT SOCIALLY AWARE, so they cannot adapt to non-verbal clues… However, machine-learning algorithms are close to predicting personality by scanning eye movements.” Researchers at Universities of South Australia and Stuttgart have shown that artificial intelligence, in the form of a video-based eye-tracker, was able to “identify four of the ‘big five’ personality traits: Conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.” [CNET.COM – July 29, 18]
  • “THE FUNDAMENTAL FLAW IN TECHNOLOGY SECURITY AWARENESS PROGRAMS is that security managers abdicate their responsibility to implement security practices into business processes – the core function of any person overseeing a critical responsibility… Instead, they rely on the discretion of a minimally-trained user to thwart a highly skilled sociopath, financially motivated criminal, or nation-state…intending to educate people so they can make better decisions regarding how to behave or whether they are being conned – awareness programs that are at best gimmicks that will statistically fail at their goal… When there is proper governance in place, all critical (if not all) business processes are well-defined in procedures or guidelines which have embedded security. The ideal awareness program then focuses on reinforcing them, with users told about specific actions required if they are an integral part of business processes.” [DARK READING – July 19, 18]
  • INTERVIEW TIP FOR EMPLOYERS & CANDIDATES: The way a question is phrased impacts completeness and truthfulness of the response. “Small differences in wording systematically influence response veracity, because respondents use wording to make inference of assertiveness and knowledgeability about the asker… Negative assumption questions presuppose a problem; positive assumption questions presuppose the absence of a problem.” A recent study cites one example which asked lab participants to sell a used electronic device with a serious malfunction. When fictitious buyers asked ‘what problems does it have?’ they got an 89% honest response; when worded ‘it doesn’t have any problems, does it?’ only 61% responded truthfully; when phrased ‘what can you tell me about it?’ the honest answer rate dropped to 8%. DCG can help you in scripting optimal interview, marketing and selling pitches. [ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND HUMAN DECISION PROCESSES – July 18]
  • MEDIA TALKING HEAD TALK IS ACCELERATING ABOUT THE BRINK OF A “VERITABLE SECOND CIVIL WAR” as most cultural and social institutions are becoming not just polarized & politicized but, to a degree, weaponized. “Donald Trump’s election was not so much a catalyst for the divide as a manifestation & amplification of the existing schism… where Left-Right factionalism is increasingly fueled by globalization, the tech boom, illegal immigration, campus radicalism… and by the last Administration’s redefinition of race as a white-versus-nonwhite binary that pitted constitutionalism and American exceptionalism & tradition on one side versus globalist ecumenicalism and citizenry of the world on the other.” A fascinating analysis of our present dangerous trajectory: https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/07/origins-of-second-civil-war-globalism-tech-boom-immigration-campus-radicalism/ [NATIONAL REVIEW – July 31, 18]
  •  THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

      Amazon VR Kiosks – the future of shopping:  http://www.impactlab.net/2018/07/28/watch-amazons-vr-kiosks-transform-the-future-of-shopping/

       Is the ongoing fixation on Russia obscuring the genuine risk to U.S. national security: our southern border?  Another interesting perspective: http://humanevents.com/2018/07/18/putin-is-killing-millions-of-americans/?utm_source=coulterdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

      “As middle age progresses, I talk to myself, because there are times I need expert advice /  I consider ‘In Style’ to be the clothes that still fit / I don’t need anger management, I need people to stop pissing me off. / My people skills are just fine. It’s my tolerance for idiots that needs work. / The biggest lie I tell myself is ‘I don’t need to write that down, I’ll remember it.’ / These days, ‘on time’ is when I get there. / Even duct tape can’t fix stupid – but it sure does muffle the sound.” – INTERNET ANON