—Catherine Aird
“You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses.”
—Ziggy, acartoon by Tom Wilson
via Robert Scobles and Shell Israel
Wisdom of Kulcha Vulchas and how we think
Five ways to promote innovation at work
WORKPLACE: Not all innovation hurdles can be blamed on resistance to change ‒ for good reasons, organisational routines can get in the way. Dr Mary Tate on 'flexing' routines vs disrupting them.
We've become indifferent to memory, allergic to tradition. Truth has been eclipsed by useful knowledge. Technocracy reigns, humanism wanes. Deep thoughts with Ross Douthat... Solution
THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED: NEW STUDY SAYS WATCHING THE KARDASHIANS ACTUALLY MAKES YOU A WORSE PERSON
↩︎ The Daily Mail
↩︎ Best TV shows - The Ringer
These utes attract no luxury car tax – even when their cabins are lined with leather and polished wood ...Time for a new car? How about an $80000 ute?
Fortress government: collaboration key to breaching the ministerial walls
PUBLIC POLICY: Public servants rely on a lot of empirical research, but they face a lot of constraints and challenges
'Right of return', payouts cut for axed WA senior officials
WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Some fear the changes will stop public servants raising 'inconvenient truths' with ministers.
Complex systems to simplify workflows
"Not all of your workload is going to reside in one place ... what matters is how you manage it and what control and visibility of the environment you have."
Sharp wake-up call for core information security
Whether it’s laptops, smartphones or compromised documents ferried by email or persistent messaging, what really counts today is how far an intruder can burrow
Top female executive leaves Amazon after being accused of ‘inappropriate’ comments in meetings and ‘abuse of power’, nine months after getting promoted in sex harassment reshuffle.
↩︎ Best TV shows - The Ringer
These utes attract no luxury car tax – even when their cabins are lined with leather and polished wood ...Time for a new car? How about an $80000 ute?
Fortress government: collaboration key to breaching the ministerial walls
PUBLIC POLICY: Public servants rely on a lot of empirical research, but they face a lot of constraints and challenges
'Right of return', payouts cut for axed WA senior officials
WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Some fear the changes will stop public servants raising 'inconvenient truths' with ministers.
Complex systems to simplify workflows
"Not all of your workload is going to reside in one place ... what matters is how you manage it and what control and visibility of the environment you have."
Sharp wake-up call for core information security
Whether it’s laptops, smartphones or compromised documents ferried by email or persistent messaging, what really counts today is how far an intruder can burrow
Top female executive leaves Amazon after being accused of ‘inappropriate’ comments in meetings and ‘abuse of power’, nine months after getting promoted in sex harassment reshuffle.
Some very useful advice from Valet magazine (which I confess I don’t read — thanks Yuri Victor!) on how to ask for a favor. It’s step by step and super simple:
- Be direct with your request;
- Give your reason why;
- Provide an opportunity for escape.
This last step, in particular, is nicely articulated:
This is really just good manners and keeps your relationship in good standing. It shows the other person you respect their time and that this isn’t a guilt trip. When you ask a favor, always offer the other person the opportunity to easily and graciously decline. End your request with something like, “I understand if you can’t do this now,” or “Please don’t feel obligated, if you aren’t comfortable with this.” Say this and mean it. Because a favor you aren’t able to refuse isn’t a favor at all. It’s an order or a command.
You can embroider this with lots of detail specific to the kind of behavior you’re asking for, but the core here is pretty spot-on. There’s also a nice bit of advice for folks granting a favor, that basically boils down to “do it or don’t do it, but don’t be a jerk about it.”
The importance of face-to-face communication for leaders
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: Face-to-face communication is a powerful tool for leaders to connect with staff, but quickly becomes difficult in large organisations. There is hope for big departments, however.
What's a media company’s first-ever director of public policy up against?
"We can’t say that Facebook is destroying democracy, but then have our newspapers collaborate with them very, very closely, and rely on them for traffic and distribution." (Nieman Lab)
The purpose of companies in the age of AI
"What can firms do better than markets? And what are the distinctive qualities of firms in a world of smart contracts and AI?" (Harvard Business Review)
The importance of face-to-face communication for leaders
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: Face-to-face communication is a powerful tool for leaders to connect with staff, but quickly becomes difficult in large organisations. There is hope for big departments, however.
What's a media company’s first-ever director of public policy up against?
"We can’t say that Facebook is destroying democracy, but then have our newspapers collaborate with them very, very closely, and rely on them for traffic and distribution." (Nieman Lab)
The purpose of companies in the age of AI
"What can firms do better than markets? And what are the distinctive qualities of firms in a world of smart contracts and AI?" (Harvard Business Review)
Why The Social Media Platforms Are Going To Lose Their InfoWars Battles
The battle over InfoWars illustrates how what was once these tech giants' greatest strength has become their greatest weakness. For years, Facebook and YouTube spent so much time defending anyone's right to say almost anything on their platforms, they forgot to remind users that it wasn't really a question of rights at all. Only the government can violate a person's First Amendment rights, however wrong or hateful that person may be. … Read More
For years, Jerry Jacobson was in charge of the security of the game pieces forMcDonald’s Monopoly, one of the most successful marketing promotions in the fast food giant’s history. And for almost as long, Jacobson had been passing off winning pieces to family, friends, and “a sprawling network of mobsters, psychics, strip club owners, convicts, drug traffickers”, to the tune of more than million in cash & prizes.
Dent’s investigation had started in 2000, when a mysterious informant called the FBI and claimed that McDonald’s games had been rigged by an insider known as “Uncle Jerry.” The person revealed that “winners” paid Uncle Jerry for stolen game pieces in various ways. The $1 million winners, for example, passed the first $50,000 installment to Uncle Jerry in cash. Sometimes Uncle Jerry would demand cash up front, requiring winners to mortgage their homes to come up with the money. According to the informant, members of one close-knit family in Jacksonville had claimed three $1 million dollar prizes and a Dodge Viper.When Dent alerted the McDonald’s headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, executives were deeply concerned. The company’s top lawyers pledged to help the FBI, and faxed Dent a list of past winners. They explained that their game pieces were produced by a Los Angeles company, Simon Marketing, and printed by Dittler Brothers in Oakwood, Georgia, a firm trusted with printing U.S. mail stamps and lotto scratch-offs. The person in charge of the game pieces was Simon’s director of security, Jerry Jacobson.
One of the winners, Jerry Columbo, a partner of Jacobson’s who was allegedly a member of the Mafia, even appeared in this TV commercial holding an oversized novelty key to a car he had “won”:
