• “GONE ARE THE DAYS WHEN ‘CHANGE’ WAS A PERIODIC EVENT, versus today’s fast-paced digital world in a steady state of change and evolution.” New applications and collaborative tools largely contribute to employee distraction from interruptions every 5-minutes, annoyance at needing to adapt to new procedures, and generally feeling they don’t already have enough time to do their jobs – all of which lead to loss of productivity. Leadership steps to help overcome these challenges include: (1) Anticipating their predictable sources of resistance to change and proactively coaching employees; (2) Anticipating their individual “styles/ needs/ experience with change/ competence/ attitudes which influence what info they expect and need to best adapt”; (3) Connecting one-on-one, asking for their input with direct questions like ‘What do you think? What would you do?’; (4) Avoiding the tendency to adopt a ‘telling’ approach, and remembering that ‘collaboration’ generally motivates & energizes workers. [ENTREPRENEUR – 6/29/23]   DCG provides courtesy consultation in this and other aspects of optimal strategic business direction. 
  •  “THE FUTURE OF OFFICE VERSUS REMOTE WORK IS STILL HYBRID, but a gradual reverse migration is underway. Numerous studies have demonstrated that remote productivity can decline up to 20%, in the form of fewer calls, weaker interactions, inhibited creative thinking, less collaboration, and less feedback.” Policies requiring employees back to the office for in-face conferences versus zoom, and demanding at least three days weekly in-office have come from Wall Street firms and tech firms including Apple/ Google/ Meta/ Microsoft. The counter argument, however, is that “there is more to work and life than productivity, and the greatest virtue of remote work is that it leads to happier employees – from less commuting, easier fit with family balance like school pickups, doctor appointments, exercise, and unbroken concentration for long periods – to a point where several surveys have found employees willing to accept pay cuts for the option of working from home.”  [ECONOMIST – 7/1/23]
  •  “HALF THE COUNTRY IS “ILL-INFORMED ABOUT A HOST OF IMPORTANT ISSUES, from lack of border security and impact of Administration policies, to financial scandels surrounding the President & his family. A comprehensive new poll from Media Research Center finds that those who rely on CNN and MSNBC averaged 23.5% less informed than those watching Fox News or Newsmax, and that never more than 50% had the same information… This is because the ideological divide between news divisions of liberal vs conservative media is scripted to only protect the people they believe more ideologically centered with themselves, and does the public no favor. The country, blessed with resources to gain knowledge and ability to fact-check almost instantaneously, is slipping down a slope of ignorance which we may never recover from.”  [RED STATE – 6/29/23]
  •  ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS ARE “DOWN 70% UNDER LATEST BIDEN POLICIES” reports the liberal press, thanks to a shell game which hides the numbers from an incredibly stupid voter base. Some 200,000+ illegals continue to flock into America – effectively a covert invasion – every month.  Since Biden upended the prior policies, some 1.7 million foreign nationals have become got-aways, evading Border Patrol altogether, with another 1 million still projected for fiscal 2023. The touted ‘reduction’ comes from people now “registering on an app, to obtain ‘pre-approved’ crossing” (with Asylum hearings deferred indefinitely) at legal ports of entry, versus previously crossing at non-port-of-entry openings along the border, which accordingly reduces ‘apprehensions’ and allows Customs & Border Patrol to claim the problem is resolved, and allowing media justification for ignoring the ongoing catastrophe.  [PRICKLY PEAR – 7/5/23]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:  

      Scammers & thieves have been increasingly aggressive in stealing checks from outdoor mailboxes, erasing the payee name and replacing with a bogus account to which they can deposit to ATM machines and transfer funds to wherever. Beyond the hassle (with bills then delinquent, or outstanding checks once the bank freezes your account, it can take months for bank insurance programs to reimburse the stolen funds.  When paying and mailing by check, some tips: (!) Use a permanent pen so the information is harder to erase; (2) Make sure to fill out the payee and dollar amount space completely or draw a line to the end of the space; (3) Sign your checks the same way every time; Mail your check from inside the post office.