• DISAGREEMENTS & DISPUTES IN BUSINESS, among owners/ partners/ work-teams/ vendors/ employees/ or customers, can surprisingly evolve to a level of conflict which risks becoming consequential. DCG mediation services involve quiet meetings, solely with the parties in dispute, to rationally discuss issues, their priority goals & objectives, and development of realistic alternatives which, in most cases, allow effective resolution. Obstacles which impede settlements of personal disputes stem from basic human psychological needs which, when threatened or impeded, cause discomfort, distress and often shutdown & withdrawal. Those fundamental needs include Identity, Self-esteem, Self-determination, Meaning & Purpose which, when perceived as threatened (whether or not true) cause emotional charging – in most cases, even without conscious awareness – which can also activate acute stress. Dennis has decades of experience in alleviating stress to facilitate prompt resolution, and diminish risk of ongoing adverse impacts.
• THE LATEST STUDY OF COVID 19 WORKPLACE SHUTDOWNS which initiated today’s Remote Worker programs involved over half a million Americans, to find that those spending workdays alone without other human contact suffered detrimental consequences for mental health. While remote work arrangements can reduce commuting hassle and improve work-life balance, the absence of daily human interface has resulted – especially for those living alone who also lost after-office-hours connection – the study found roughly doubled psychological distress, greater likelihood to visit a mental healthcare professional, plus greater use of prescription medications for anxiety & depression. Previous studies have also linked daily loneliness and isolation to poor health outcomes including early death. “Remote work has been large-scale removal of an unpriced social good.” [SCIENCE ADVISOR]
• WORKPLACE BACTERIA CONTAMINATE OFFICE EQUIPMENT on a typical desk about 400 times more than a toilet seat and contribute to ‘sick day’ absence levels of up to six days yearly, with even a benign virus spreading to 50% of office surfaces and co-workers within four hours, from touching shared surfaces including doorknobs/ elevator & vending machine buttons/ coffee pots/ microwaves/ refrigerators/ watercoolers & other appliances. By lunchtime, even private keyboards can be contaminated from oil, crumbs with 25,000 germs per square inch loaded with e-Coli and staph. Handwashing consistently for a minimum 20 seconds with disinfectant soap & sanitizer can reduce infection risk, but best to remain aware and cautious. [WEB MD]
• AMERICA’S POLITICAL SPECTRUM is comprised of nine distinct ideological subgroups, according to latest 10K survey by Pew Research: Four groups on the Right – No Apologies, Faith First Conservatives, Unconventional, Pragmatic & Polite; four on the Left – Loyal Liberals, Left-out, Order & Opportunity, Progressives; and one group of Independents – Tuned-out Middle. The most extreme and politically engaged are Leftward Progressives who are youngest, most energetic and likely to vote, with polarizing views which drive smaller primary elections. However, “most detest the Democrat Party and would defect to a 3rd Party if they thought it would successfully propel them to power.” [PATRIOT POST]
• THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: At age 5, average children ask 107 questions hourly, but by first grade this drops below 2.5, and by fifth grade down to one every two hours. What’s happening is that less ‘curious’ brains atrophy, dependent on the child’s rate of learning and their drive to learn new things. [PETER DIAMANDIS]
• “Idealism increases in direct proportion to one’s distance from the problem… And crime expands in proportion to our willingness to put up with it.”
• The latest lifelike robot face is truly astonishing: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MtK_kbajEB0