June 26, 2023
Good morning! Happy New Year! Many organizations function on a June 30th end-of-fiscal-year; if you’re one of them, have a good new year! Would you drive that stretch of Road #95 in Philadelphia which was repaired in less than two weeks? Makes you wonder what we could accomplish as a society if we set aside all of the arguing. Yesterday found us in a small rural town participating in a funeral for someone who died much too soon. If Norman Rockwell had been there he would have been inspired in a dozen or more ways; there wouldn’t have been enough paint nor brushes to capture it all. Worldwide fame met at a crossroads with ordinary people, the deceased the common denominator. With nary a crease nor a wrinkle in his clothing, a practiced bagpiper led the procession. A lone train whistle juxtaposed with the bugler’s four crisp notes, day was done, gone the sun… may he rest in peace.
- “The fastest way to get customers to love your brand is to get employees to love their jobs.” (Bova)
- No surprise here, but those who regularly use artificial intelligence are much more bullish on it (62% express optimism) than those who never use it (36% optimistic).
- Boston Consulting Group surveyed 13,000 workers across 18 different countries.
- Workers are generally more optimistic than concerned about Artificial Intelligence and its effect on their jobs.
- But, senior leaders and middle management have vastly different perceptions of the technology than their non-management counterparts.
- The two best ways to make progress throughout the organization are to encourage non-management employees to use Artificial Intelligence responsibly…
- … and to (educate) them in the skills that the new era will require.
- To date, however, companies have tended to focus Artificial Intelligence (education) on leaders.
- In fact, 44% of leaders say they have received (education) to sharpen their skills and stay relevant, while only 14% of front-line employees say they have received similar training. (BSG, 2023)
- Over the last ten (10) years, Louis Vuitton has quadrupled annual income (+300%) in the fashion and leather goods segment. (S & P)
- The population of the United States is older than it has ever been.
- The median age in the U.S. reached a record high of 38.9 in 2022, according to data released recently by the U.S. Census Bureau.
- In 2000 the median age was 35 (half younger, half older), and in 1980, the median was 30.
- For those readers who love your math, that’s approximately a 30% increase in the median age — or a decrease if you prefer to look at it from the other direction.
- Look who toppled the King of Beers?! None other than our friends to the South, Mexico!
- In this tiny little village in Alaska it is not uncommon for someone to hike his/ her/ their hund by driving the car as the hund does all the hiking. (Ken, this is for you!)
- Also, it is not uncommon to observe a 50-foot length of sisal rope being used as a tow truck — just like back on the farm.
- Bottom line: The CEO of an organization must ADD value to that organization — and it should be obvious and measurable.
- Looking to add a little zing to your otherwise boring portfolio of assets?
- A new public exchange called Artex, located in Liechtenstein, will offer publicly traded shares of specific works of high-end art.
- So, for example, instead of 100 shares of IBM, you could own 100 shares of the Mona Lisa — IF Artex could somehow acquire it.
- Artex will own and control the works in its IPO offerings and then later traded… as we understand it.
- More likely, you will choose from a menu of lesser-known pieces with the thought of the shares of those pieces appreciating over time.
- According to Masterworks, the trailing average for high-end art the last quarter century is 12.6% vs. 9% on the S&P. (Ryan)
- (Oh, and by the way, none of this is either an offer to buy or to sell anything — nor to represent the quality or lack thereof of anything, anything at all.)
