What’s the Top Threat Facing Companies?

May 10, 2021

Good morning! At least after twenty (20) years of doing the F.A.F.S.A.s I’m done with those onerous monsters, or am I?! Hey, a new granddaughter was born late this past Friday evening just in time for Mothers’ Day; Maggie Ann = now 3 days old.

• Seen stenciled on a car on one of the hikes:  “My life… my rules.”
  • Did this person never take a single philosophy class?  How about ethics or theology?  Sociology?

Environment as a Catalyst for Change

• For the last three months, because of a change in the hiking routes, I’ve been noticing the huge number of motor vehicles more than ever.
  • In our little town there are at least thirty (30) car stores, maybe more.
    • It makes you think, who is buying all of these cars?!  And why?!
• Environment might be the #1 most consistently reliable catalyst for change.
  • Try it, even a simple change in furniture or the way in which your space is arranged or decorated — or try a different route to/ from work.
    • Guaranteed:  Change your environment and you’ll change behaviour… at least a little bit.
    • Want a bigger change in behaviour?  Make a bigger environmental change.

• “I think 15 to 20 years down this road we’re going to see completely packed stadiums.  We’re going to see a world that not only embraces but might even prefer women’s soccer over men’s.”  (Wambach)
• “Be kind to unkind people, they need it the most.”  (Unattributed)
• Chilling!  The House of Fragile Things (McAuley, Yale Press)
  • “Neither their wealth, prominence nor philanthropy could save these French Jews from harm.”
• “We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey which no one else can make for us, and (from) which no one can spare us.”  (Proust)
• The future of everything — when it comes to restaurants (Ma, 2021)

1. Outdoors
2. Higher prices
3. Fewer options on the menu
4. Elevating workers (dare we think Europe?!)
5. Upscale, A-Z take-out — including cocktails

What’s the Top Threat Facing Companies?

• Poor management is the top threat facing companies, according to Warren Buffett, who spoke on the issue last week.
  • Buffett said choosing the wrong people to lead an organization is the number one risk for businesses.  In his five decades running Berkshire, Buffett said, he has seen a number of companies fail… and he suggested that a consistent element could be found in those failures beyond changing consumer behaviour or shifting market forces.
    • “You get a guy or a woman in charge of it — they’re personable, the directors like ’em — they don’t know what they’re doing.  But they know how to put on an appearance.  That’s the biggest single danger.”
• Six things mentally strong people do:

1. They move on; they don’t waste time feeling sorry for themselves.
2. They embrace change; they welcome challenges.
3. They stay happy; they don’t waste energy on things they can’t control.
4. They are kind, fair, and unafraid to speak up.
5. They are willing to take calculated risks.
6. They celebrate other people’s successes; they don’t resent those successes.