• RUSHING TO SOLUTIONS WITHOUT CLEARLY & FULLY UNDERSTANDING THE REAL ‘PROBLEM’ “can make things worse, and be just as damaging in the long run as the problem you’re trying to solve.” A process that helps ensure realistic outcome involves, in this order: (1) Defining the problem – taking observable facts into account, not just relying on data or reports from others; (2) Framing the problem – again with facts, not opinions, judgements or interpretations based on symptoms; (3) Consider contributing factors – to map out how the problem evolved, like “business environment, technology, psychology, communication, cultural norms & expectations; (4) Asking why? repeatedly – to find root cause of the problem before jumping to conclusions or implementing weak solutions.”  DCG have decades of experience in optimizing strategic, financial, operational & infrastructure. Call us for courtesy consultation in developing effective direction.  [HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – 11/27/20] 
  • DIVERSITY’ IS BECOMING A PRIORITY MARKETING TOOL. ‘BOTS’ – lifelike computer-generated images – are now producing, evidently legal and available for purchase by businesses who wish to create fake customer profiles or fake employees to make their website or commercials more diverse. “A.I. systems now create fakes which are almost indistinguishable from images of real people, selling images for as low as $3 and portraits up to $1,000… Soon available will also be entire scenes, with fake friends, dogs & babies.”   [THE WEEK – 11/24/20]
  •  “THE MOST SWEEPING OVERHAUL OF FINANCIAL CRIME SAFEGUARDS IN TWO DECADES” is included in the annual Nat’l Defense Authorization Act, expected to be passed this month. “Countries around the world have been spending billions to combat trillions of dollars in illicit finance and weaponize illicit actors by being serial incorporators of anonymous entities… They will now be required to report ownership info to the Treasury Dep’t, which could then share data with law enforcement trying to root out financial criminals… and with banks obligated to police customer accounts for illegal activity.” This rarely agreed legislation by Senate & Congress to fight money laundering is a big deal. [POLITICO – 11/25/20]
  •  IDENTITY POLITICS PRETTY MUCH PREVENTS RESOLUTION OF SOCIAL CONFLICTS. “In arguments about who people are – over religion, race, anti-elitism, etc.- compromise can seem like betrayal… with the main harm coming through animosity and gridlock. Politics is supposed to resolve society’s conflicts, but Democracy is generating them instead. Partly because tribes live in different information universes, matters of fact (like wearing masks or climate change) are transformed into disputes about people’s way of life. The result is that American politics have become unresponsive, firing people up so much that it obstructs the compromises needed for society to move forward… In theory, democracy contains the seed of its own recovery,” but prepare for a rough road ahead. [ECONOMIST – 11/28/90]
  • A TWO-HOUR ‘RAT PREVENTION’ TRAINING SESSION was streamed to New York City homeowners, tenants & superintendents last week. Over 12,600 formal complaints this year about NY Dep’t of Sanitation failures which have allowed “giant rats to overtake Central Park & neighborhoods… a result of increasing homeless, outdoor diners, shoddy street cleaning and trash not collected often enough.” Resident battle tools now include “spraying under the hold & wheel bearings with a cocktail of cinnamon/ mint oil/ water, to avoid rats chewing through car engine wires.” [LBN EXAMINER – 11/29/20]
  •  THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

      “Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of, and appreciation for, how much you already have!”

      “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom” [ISAAC ASIMOV],  and that journalism – the only real protection against abuse or neglect of powers allocated to elected officials in democratic societies – has, for the most part, abdicated responsibilities for independent and honest reporting to the people who do the electing.