Hybrid is Here to Stay

October 30, 2023

Good morning! It’s the Eve of the Feast of All Hallow’s Eve. Love this weather! We had our first killing frost two days ago, about 45 days later, on average, than in the old days. Are you a leaf peeper?  If you haven’t been peeping, you would be smart to get started.

• We are fans of a tiny little start-up dairy farm/ creamery/ cheese shop, about an hour west of here, featuring Holsteins.
  • The Redhead Creamery (named after the entrepreneur) recently won a juried Gold at the World Championships in Norway.
  • Since we were cheesemakers ourselves at one point many years ago, we feel an affinity for this craft and this very rare, prestigious achievement.
  • From a field of 4,502 entries, the Redhead Creamery’s Clothbound, mild traditional cheddar earned the coveted top Gold Award in the world’s most distinguished competition.
  • Grab a bottle of your favourite red, a crostini or two, an autumn pear, some of this cheese, and savor!
• We’re told the traditional tried and true investment formula of 60% equities and 40% bonds no longer works.  (Wallerstein)
  • It didn’t work during other periods of time in history, either, but we apparently survived.  What have we learned?
• For the first time in four years there is a significant upward tick in the ratio of groceries purchased on-sale (reduced price) vs. sticker price.
• How long will it take to bring people, energy, and vibrancy back to downtowns?
  • Putzier has conducted an in-depth study on nearby Minneapolis, among the most negatively impacted of the post-plague ghost towns.
  • Anecdotally, for a recent meeting in that city I parked about seven blocks away, hiked the whole distance to see a client, and didn’t encounter another human.
  • It was a mid-morning meeting in the heart of downtown; on the hike back to the car there were a few people, maybe a dozen.
  • This is the city center for 3,000,000 people.
    • “What’s clear to us is hybrid is here to stay…
    • … the attendance rate we’ve seen has really stabilized,and it has stabilized for over a year now.
    • Second, actual attendance aligns quite closely with what workers want and expect from their employers.
    • Third, there’s a substantial number of knowledge workers who would rather resign or accept a pay cut than come in more days…
    • … and many of those folks are the executives in charge of making those decisions.”  (Sanghvi, Etc., et al., 2023)
  • “What workers want:  In the hybrid work era, employees want a space that is social, creative, and collaborative, which is against the old cubicle mindset.”  (Hickery)
• If you are among the wealthiest people living in the United States and if you have a child who takes the SAT and scores >1300…
  • …your child is ten times (10x) more likely to achieve that score than if you are in the bottom 20% income group.
  • Put another way, more than one-third (1/3) of youngsters from the wealthiest families who take the SAT score >1300.
• Less than half of companies worldwide are investing sufficiently in Responsible Artificial Intelligence. (MIT Sloan/ Boston Consulting Group, 2023)
  • Eleven out of thirteen of those same companies are reluctant to agree the investments made by their companies are adequate.
  • “…accept that investing in Responsible Artificial Intelligence is — and will be — an ongoing process…”.
  • “… develop metrics.”  (Where have you heard this?!)  (Kiron, 2023)
• Do you have a growth mindset?
  • Mistakes help me learn
  • Is this my best work? (Reflection/ Assessment)
  • I won’t give up
  • Feedback is valuable
  • I practice to improve
    • Or, do you have a fixed mindset?
      • I avoid mistakes
      • This is good enough
      • I give up
      • I’ll never be that smart
      • I know what’s best (don’t need help)
• There’s a difference between the most successful entrepreneurs and those who struggle.
  • And, it’s not what you think.
  • When the business person struggles, the default norm is to look outside yourself, to read a self-help book, to consider the latest trends, to watch the competition
  • Slow down, focus on your vision, face your fears, take care of your physical, social, and emotional health.  (Jones, 2023)
• Organizations implementing four broad elements: — Rigor, scope, skill, and will — are likelier to outperform peers whose transformations included just one of those elements, thirty-nine percent (39%) compared with sixteen percent (16%).
• Fostering understanding and conviction = 4.7 times more likely to outperform
• Role modeling = 1.7 times more likely to outperform
• Building skills = 2.2 times more likely to outperform
• Applying skills = 1.4 times more likely to outperform
• Moving quickly to realize impact = 1.7 times more likely to outperform
• Embedding reinforcement mechanisms (systematizing) = 4.3 times more likely to outperform peeers
• Striving for holistic impact = 1.7 times more likely to outperform peers (Krishnan, Etc., et al., 2023)