• THE ‘VALUABLE EMPLOYEE PARADOX’ is that most workers believe they are most valuable following direct instructions from their bosses without question. Studies, to the contrary, find Managers and Owners saying their most valuable workers are not ‘yes’ men or women, but rather those who respond to orders with possible alternatives. Every business has some hierarchy defining the priority pecking order for who has the power to make decisions toward achievement of company goals & objectives, and in theory those in higher position are most qualified. However, while experience and commitment are traditionally the criteria for reaching hierarchical position, whatever well-meaning system of levels or titles in a workplace cannot encapsulate all the nuances of good judgement that come from skill & knowledge. So, especially where leaders or managers are not self-aware enough to recognize the possible benefit of subordinate employee input, a better alternative gets overlooked and company interests not optimized. At any level on the hierarchy chart, employees who respond to instructions with the goal of spotting and strengthening holes are more valuable than those who always follow without question orders from above. DCG are expert in optimizing company structure and team leadership. Call DCG for courtesy consult.
  • LATEST STUDIES CONFIRM THAT EXPOSURE TO ‘NEWS,’ WHETHER TRADIONAL OR SOCIAL MEDIA, correlates with higher anxiety and can impact mental health as “the relentless flood of urgent alerts, reactions and global reports often turn well-intentioned scan of headlines into an emotional minefield.” Some tips to minimize the impact on sensible balance: (1) Try to consume news only from organizations with journalists & commentators whose voice you trust, to avoid being misled or manipulated; (2) Rather than constantly snacking on headlines throughout the day, set deliberate times & boundaries (like over morning coffee or after dinner) which enable a more coherent and complete picture; (3) Try to avoid distress by ‘letting go’ of anger from info that conflicts with existing beliefs or preferences, recognizing that today’s pieces of info are only interim, focused on getting your attention (and eyeballs for advertisers), and often intentionally distortive; (4) Be aware that digital news especially is the source of ‘doomscrolling’ – excessively consuming negative and depressive news, by scrolling through articles/ videos/ posts which are designed to evoke feelings of fear or hopelessness, and which become addictive because they activate the brain’s dopamine system. Be smart, be sensible, don’t believe everything you see or hear.  [NEW YORK TIMES]
  • A FASCINATING LOOK AT 1925 PREDICTIONS FROM ‘DEEP THINKERS’ A CENTURY AGO which didn’t quite pan out.  Some of them:  On the Planet: There would be only three great masses of people – the states of America, of Europe and of China, under one government with one language written, understood and spoken, common currency, and universal free trade.  On the U.S.:  Population would reach 200 million, San Francisco become the world’s greatest city with 15 million and in direct communication with 2/3 of the world population, while New York would have triple & quadruple-decked streets to accommodate commuters travelling at least 100 miles to work in cities via compact and inexpensive ‘air flivvers.’ Other air travelers would be boarding planes via airport elevator to a roof with ‘roomy and really comfortable’ planes mounted on a turntable, then shot off by catapult to travel at over 300 MPH.  On humanity: Man should live to 150, but beauty ‘is bound to decline’ and ‘not a good-looking girl to be found,’ but most of the ailments & limitations of old age eliminated with no death from disease.  Actually, however, many other 1925 predictions were right-on!       https://subscribe.beaconjournal.com/restricted?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.beaconjournal.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2F2024%2F12%2F30%2Fpredictions-about-2025-from-100-years-ago%2F77021358007%2F&gps-source=CPROADBLOCKDH&itm_source=roadblock&itm_medium=onsite&itm_campaign=premiumroadblock&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z115454e003400v115454b0054xxd005465&gca-ft=9&gca-ds=sophi&theme=twentyfour&hideGrid=true&gnt-eid=control
  • BUT, AS TO FUTURE PREDICTIONS, IT’S A DIFFERENT STORY, since “a paradox at the heart of Quantum Physics has just pushed the boundaries of human intuition beyond breaking point… Quantum weirdness operates on a fundamental level which reaffirms just how useless human brains are at understanding the operations manual for our Universe’s engine… For most things in science, ‘local realism’ does a good enough job of describing how things are. But latest researchers used a coherent stream of photons, a system of fiber-optics, and interference-measuring tools to show a set of relationships that can be solved with 37 different spatial dimensions.” No clue here whatever this means to us mortals, but most certainly will impact our future.  [SCIENCE ALERT]

THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

  • Homeowners aged 62 and older are increasingly obtaining REVERSE MORTGAGES to provide non-taxable cash flow.  Effectively a no-risk and no-installment credit line, collateralized by the property, funds are available as requested during the owner’s lifetime, with payment including accrued interest only due when owner sells the home, moves out permanently, or passes away, while ownership is retained with ability to leave remaining equity to heirs. DCG and our affiliates can help analyze  and qualify for Reverse Mortgages. 
  • “The most outrageous, horrific things USAID did with Tax Dollars”:    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/miacathell/2025/02/05/usaid-listicle-n2651587
  • The FBI revealed that 5,000 of their 13,000 agents, 40% of the entire bureau, were assigned and focused on the January 6 protesters – targeted as ‘Insurrectionists’ for political reasons – instead of focusing on criminals.
  •  As we watch this generation continue to re-write history, one thing we can be sure of: it will be misspelled and will have no punctuation…