“It is not a disgrace to fail. We need to teach the highly educated man that it is not a disgrace to fail and that he must analyze every failure to find its cause.  He must learn how to fail intelligently, for failing is one of the greatest arts in the world. “

Charles Kettering
Head of Research at General Motors 1920 to 1947

Malcolm Gladwell on David vs. Goliath

One of the most provocative writers around is New Yorker Magazine’s Malcolm Gladwell.  He shot to fame on his first book,  “The Tipping Point,”  followed by “Blink” and most recently “Outliers” in which he looked at the fundamentals of success.

I’ve just learned he has a new book coming out in 2013, “David vs. Goliath” in which he continues his examination of success by exploring the  nature of  “underdogs”  and why they are successful more often than you may think.   To take war as one example, Gladwell estimates that in armed conflicts in which one side has a 10 to 1 advantage in men and materiel, that the underdog still wins a surprising 33% of the time. He cites the US experience in Vietnam, Korea and terrorism as examples of this and shares some reasons why.

In a fascinating 17 minute video on the New Yorker website, Gladwell offers a preview of  his new book and shares other examples of how and why underdogs in war, business and other avenues of life become the top dogs and even suggests that top dogs may want to pursue a new career before they spend too much time at the top.!

Your Career: To Hop or Not To Hop

HR professionals constantly advise the Baby Boomers that the Millennials they are hiring not only need to be managed differently, they should expect them to job hop more than the Boomers ever did.  Some experts think that frequent job changes should not only be expected, but also encourage the Millennials to do so.  Other workplace watchers aren’t so sure.

Here are two recent articles from Forbes which look at both sides of this issue.   One holds that Job Hopping is the New Normal and provides some advice for HR professionals on how to cope with it.  Another suggests that the Millennials should consider  “The Ten Reasons to Stay at a Job for Ten or More Years.”

Econ Recon:  All Heat and No Light:… a Housing Relapse….Recession in 2013?

All Heat and No Light: The presidential election is less than 5 weeks away and the economy will figure significantly in the outcome.  The Federal Reserve has played a key role in the recovery since the recession started in terms of lowering interest rates  and increasing the money supply through what’s known as “Quantitative Easing”….right?   Not so says economist Brian Wesbury in his latest Wesbury 101 video   “The Futility of Quantitative Easing.”     Check it out for some unconventional wisdom.

A Housing Relapse?  The news in recent months has pointed to a  long awaited housing recovery.  Crisis Over?  Not so fast says Vistage Staff Economist and principal of the Institute for Trend Research Alan Beaulieu .  Alan steps back and looks at the housing cycle both in and of itself and against the backdrop of the overall economy and advises that we not overestimate going forward.   Visit his blog where he asks and answers the question  “Is the Recovery in Housing Sustainable? Not Likely.”

Recession in 2013:    The above mentioned Alan Beaulieu has been telling Vistage members to plan for a mid-2013 recession for well over a year. This past week WSJ contributor and former Bear Sterns Chief Economist David Malpass came out both in video and in the Wall Street Journal supporting Alan’s long-standing prediction with one of his own.

You have nine months….start planning.