Queen Mary Speaks! Crazy Enough to Work? Bill’s Summer Reading; Quiet Leadership; CEO “Cyberstitions”; ECON RECON: Pessimism and Optimism?

Today is Father’s Day

“I want to congratulate all the men out there who are working diligently to be good fathers, whether they are stepfathers, or biological fathers or just spiritual fathers.”

T.D. Jakes
Founder and Pastor of the
“The Potters House” megachurch

Queen Mary Speaks!

The “Queen of the Internet”, Mary Meeker of venture firm Kleiner Perkins, has recently shared her annual pronouncements on the state of the internet, usage trends and impacts on various industries at the annual Recode Conference. Click here for the video of her presentation, a summary of highlights, link to a full transcript of her talk and what is called “the most highly anticipated slide deck in Silicon Valley.”

The last 10 minutes of her talk have important economic aspects. Be sure to have your marketing, sales and planning teams study the 294 slide deck, which contains extraordinarily valuable data. It’s a real gift for those who invest the time to study it.

Crazy Enough to Work?

The great Danish physicist Niels Bohr once remarked to a young scientist who had presented a new idea to him that “Your idea is crazy. The problem is that it’s not crazy enough to work.”

Many new businesses start out with a business model and/or strategies that are dismissed as “too crazy to work.” Many of these new ideas, of course, are ill conceived and their founders sadly pay the price. But the ones that make it big seem to fit that description as well. How do you tell the difference?

This short article from Entrepreneur Magazine summarizes “10 Insanely Clever Ways These Companies Grew Their Businesses.” It may help you understand if your plan is “crazy enough to work.”

Bill’s Summer Reading

Headed to the beach this summer? Many C-Level people use at least part of this time to catch up with their reading. If you’re wondering what to take with you, Microsoft founder Bill Gates offers “Five Books Worth Summer Reading.”

Of particular interest is Gates’ recommendation of Hans Robling’s book ”Factfulness” which Gates describes as “one of the best books I’ve ever read.” Gates’ wife, Melinda, adds that the book does a remarkable job of explaining why “progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly.”

Quiet Leadership

One trait many don’t associate with great leaders is introversion. Instead, leaders are often chosen for a winning, outgoing personality, which, sadly, sometimes is all that disguises an “empty suit.”

Recent research from the Harvard Business Review may give cheer to introverts and a new perspective to those hiring C-Level positions. This short article summarizes some of the data and offers 4 reasons why introverts make great leaders, plus a link to the HBR research.

CEO “Cyberstitions”

Directly or indirectly, intentionally or not, the CEO is responsible for nearly all that happens in a company. This includes the degree to which the firm’s IT structure is secure. This article from INC magazine by Vistage Research Chief Joe Galvin looks at some misconceptions CEOs have about IT Security. Find out what these four myths about cyber-attacks are, and what you can do to protect your company’s data.

ECON RECON: Pessimism and Optimism

The media often cites various confidence indices as auguring continuing economic growth. However, ITR Economics’ Alan Beaulieu isn’t so sure about these measures of optimism. Find out his answer to the question “Small Business Optimism- Does it Matter?”