Got a Problem? First, Make Toast!….The Last Pass Hack….Let Your Employees Know You Hate them….Let go, THEN Lead….Econ Recon: Your Seven Year Old Economist….The Bull has a Ways to Run

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

 When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

Thomas Jefferson

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“Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.”

Albert Camus

 Got a Problem? First Make Toast!

Sometimes the best way to learn how to use a new tool is to apply it to a problem you think you’ve already solved. Tom Wujec, visualization expert and Fellow at Autodesk offers a tool for your team that everyone can learn and apply together; but first he wants to know how you make toast!  In this 9 minute TED video, he demonstrates how to use visualization tools to tackle the problem of making toast….and then shows how to use these tools on far more “wicked” problems.

The Last Pass Hack

Attached to last week’s newsletter was Vistage Speaker and Ethical Hacker Mike Foster’s Cyber Security update which was posted after the government announced a near total hack of its personal records. The next hack is popular password manager Last Pass announcing that it had also been hacked. Check out  Mr. Foster’s analysis of this situation and his recommendation whether you are using Last Pass (or some other password manager).

Five Ways To Let Your Employees Know How Much You Hate Them

It’s the little things that get you….Forbes has a good article on the five company policies that scream “We Hate Our Employees!” How many are on your books? Click here to find out.

Let Go…. then Lead

“Unfortunately what feels good for us feels bad for our people. No one ever did anything awesome or great because they were told to. The degree to which we order people around suppresses any opportunity for greatness…” so begins a recent article by Vistage Speaker and former nuclear submarine commander Captain David Marquet. Leaders want empowered and engaged employees, but often get in the way of achieving this goal because they can’t “let go.” Captain Marquet shares the techniques that helped him turn an under-performing ship into the best ship in his squadron in his recent article, “The Counter Intuitive Art of Leading by Letting Go.”

Econ Recon:

Seven Year Old Economists: Economists Alan and Brian Beaulieu have turned their talent of making economics fun and understandable to help the younger children in your life. They’ve written a book for kids under 10 that will help them learn about money, saving and deferred gratification. Turn your youngster into an economist with their new book bearing a title you’ve no doubt heard from a child before:  “But I Want It!.”

The Bull has a Ways to Run: The Dow continues to dance around 18,000….but economist Brian Wesbury says the stock market is still undervalued and still has a long ways to run. Is he right? Check out his one page missive: “Stocks are still cheap.”