Marshmallows and a Child’s Success…Econ Recon: Lessons from France and Wisconsin, and Election Musings, and The Cost of National Health Care….Hiring Those Who Have Failed

“The man who always knows “how” will always have a job;

The man who also knows “why” will always be his boss.”

 Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Essayist, 1803-1882

A little holiday fun with Bill Pinkney, Clyde McPhatter, and the Drifters

MARSHMALLOWS AND A CHILD’S SUCCESS

Recently I worked with a group of previously incarcerated adults who are trying to turn their lives around.  Many of them have to deal on a daily basis with temptations that can derail them.  As a kick-off for our discussions, I used this 6 minute video of a TED Talk on research that focused on the ability of a child to resist a marshmallow and the implications for his or her future success. The research indicates that the ability to delay gratification is one of the keys to success in life. If you have young children or grandchildren, this is a must watch video.  Check out “Don’t Eat the Marshmallow”  If after watching the video you want to learn more, here’s a deeper treatment of this topic.

ECON RECON

Election Musings:   Economist Brian Wesbury deconstructs the economic aspects of the election, the Fiscal Cliff and the future of the stock market and finds reasons to be thankful in his most recent 7 minute Wesbury 101 Video.

Lessons from France and Wisconsin:   Vistage Staff Economist and ITR Economics Principal  Alan Beaulieu advises those concerned about Moody’s stripping France of its AAA to avoid similar negative fantasies about Moody’s doing the same to the US  .  In another blog he shares a heartening conversation with CEOs who are making it in the not always business friendly state of Wisconsin.

The Cost of National Health Care: Election results confirmed that the “Affordable Care Act” will be the law of the land for at least the next 4 years.  The problem is that while the solutions in the law could be considered “affordable” for some individuals, there are no solutions in the works to the problem of unaffordability at a national budget level.  In a recent blog post, I discuss the macroeconomic math and what I believe to be the oxymoron of “affordable health care insurance” in America (my solution will be unpopular – we’re going to have to limit benefits and “entitlements” or the math doesn’t work).  The person who can figure out a solution that provides an open-ended benefit that doesn’t bankrupt the nation would get my vote, for sure.

HIRING THOSE WHO HAVE FAILED

Everybody loves a winner…so when we recruit new hires we tend to look for the winners and filter out anyone who’s not currently working or moved on one too many times    One CEO thinks this is short sighted.  HomeAway founder Brian Sharples looks for people who are not strangers to failure and suggests four benefits that those who have lost a few battles can bring to your company.  Check out this one page article from INC magazine for more.