Pros and Cons; Your Constitution; Four More Predictions; Really Smart?; Got Peers?; Econ Recon: Is the Plow Horse Dead?

“It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into.  ”

 Jonathan Swift
1667 -1745
Author of “Gulliver’s Travels”

 “People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have
themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of others.”

Blaise Pascal
1623-1662
Philosopher, Scientist and Author

“People can maintain an unshakable faith in any proposition, however absurd, when they are sustained by a community of like-minded believers.”

Dr. Daniel Kahneman
Behaviorial Psychologist, Author, and Nobel Prize winner in economics
Developer of Prospect Theory

The Pros and Cons of Pros and Cons Lists

Over two hundred years ago Benjamin Franklin advised English scientist Joseph Priestly to analyze a problem by making a list of pros and cons. Known as the “Ben Franklin Balance Sheet Method” it has stood the test of time as a valuable aid in decision making. Recent research, however indicates that there are pitfalls to this technique that the good Dr. Franklin could not have anticipated. It will come as no surprise that the problem is that it’s a human being making the list of pros and cons!

Before you use this valuable technique again, check out this short HBR offering “The Pros and Cons of Pros and Cons Lists.”

How’s Your Constitution?

Many of us at one time or another have been surprised (dismayed?) to learn that something we would not have believed to be legal in fact is; and that something that we thought would surely be legal is not.

As we enter a new presidential administration, there will surely be contentious issues that will hinge on the Supreme Court’s view of them (to say nothing of the contentious battle looming over court nominees.) Now might be a good time to start learning more about the document that President Trump just swore to protect and defend. If it’s been a while since high school civics, check out this online quiz of YOUR constitutional acumen provided by Hillsdale College. Let’s hope the President, Congress and the Courts would take the quiz as well and quickly remedy any deficiencies of knowledge!

Four More Predictions

In an earlier edition technology watcher Robert X. Cringely unveiled his technology predictions for the coming year, along with a look at what he got right or wrong in 2016. (Click here if you missed it.) It turns out he’s got a few more predictions that should be reviewed by anyone in the business of technology as regards bitcoin, Apple Video, intercloud services and whether someone will claim Google’s Prize to the return to the moon. 

Are You REALLY Smart?

In recent years many types of intelligent have been proposed. One successful entrepreneur has kept track over time of the traits that really smart people he was dealt with commonly have. This Inc magazine article offers “12 Ways to tell if someone is really intelligent and not just faking it.”

Got Peers?

If you’re reading this and have not availed yourself of membership in Vistage or other C-Level Peer Group, take a few minutes for an overview of peer power by a man who literally wrote the book on the subject. Leo Bottary, author of  “The Power of Peers” was recently interviewed on a major Midwest radio station about his book and the edge that a peer group can give an executive. Take a listen to this short interview and then check out his podcast with Forbes Publisher Rich Karlgaard who shares his own unique perspective on how peer groups make a difference for those lucky enough to secure an invitation. (Shameless self-promotion alert: check out www.Vistage.com while you’re at it and let me know if now is the time to get an edge!)

Econ Recon:  The Plow Horse is Dead!….Long Live the Race Horse?

One of the economists I regularly feature is FirstTrust’s Brian Wesbury. Dr. Wesbury has long characterized the economy since the Great Recession of 2008 as a “Plow Horse” Economy that while growing, is doing so at a rate slower than it could be, and in his view, should be. In his latest Wesbury 101 video, he explains why he thinks the  “The Plow Horse is Dead” and what’s ahead.