Resolution Recovery….Best of the Blue Ocean….Tech Bets….Econ Recon: Remain Calm….

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Calvin Coolidge
President of the United States

Resolution Recovery

We’re just over a couple of weeks into the new year…how are your resolutions doing? If you’re already in ‘resolution recovery’, here are two suggestions for you:

First, check out a few suggestions from Dr. Robert Cialdini who may be the world’s reigning expert on the art and science of influence. When it comes to resolutions, the most important person to influence is ourselves. Check out this short blog entry in which Cialdini shares three keys to keep your resolutions. 

Second, every resolution worth the name requires some effort to make it happen. Where does that come from? Increasingly, many success watchers cite a simple quality: Grit, as one writer puts it is “that ‘extra something’ that separates the most successful people from the rest. It’s the passion, perseverance, and stamina that we must channel in order to stick with our dreams until they become a reality.” This short article may help you determine if you have it.

Tech Bets

In a world dominated by fast moving technology change, predictions in this area are as much about business as they are about technology itself. Former PC World Columnist and PBS Technology commentator Robert X Cringely has for years made predictions about the tech world each year and revisited them a year later.

In his “ I, Cringely” column last week, he looks at his 2015 predictions made a year ago, analyzing what he got right or wrong, and why along with his first fearless projection for 2016 – the Beginning of the End for engineering workstations. As for what’s ahead, If you like to follow tech, or are in a business that demands you do,  check out his other musings about 2016 about what’s ahead for Microsoft, Apple, IBM, drones, driverless cars and other matters technological!

Best of the Blue Ocean

One of the most popular strategy books is “Blue Ocean Strategy. (BOS)” It has spawned a community of practitioners who’ve taken the authors’ original work on “BOS’ and added to it. Vistage Speaker, corporate anthropologist and Blue Ocean expert in her own right, Andrea Simon, has compiled a list of the best blogs on applying BOS in a variety of industries and situations including higher education, health care and technology.

Take a look…it may be a short cut to your own Blue Ocean.

Econ Recon:  Remain Calm

Remain Calm: The first week of the new year was a really tough one week in the stock market with the Dow off over 1,000 points. Many market watchers point to issues with the Chinese economy as the reason. It’s important to remember, as one economist famously observed, that the “the stock market has predicted 9 of the last 5 recessions.” Yet, last week we had a really good jobs report. So what’s really up for the year ahead?

Economist Brian Wesbury began the week (before the market plunge) with an overview of the year ahead. Despite all the negative trends (Isis, Iran, Russia, oil, et) he says We Remain Positive About 2016. In his latest Wesbury 101 video on Friday, he adds additional comment after the events of the week. Find out why he says “This Ain’t No Bust.”

Alan Beaulieu of ITR Economics told a group of business people in Denver earlier this week that after a soft patch, your 2016 will be a better year for most businesses than 2015. This one page recap of his remarks has some clear thinking about the price of oil, how China impacts the US, the 2019 recession….and ITR’s long predicted 2030 Great Depression.  

Note: Last weekend Dr. Beaulieu sent out the following update on the week’s events:

“There is angst out there stemming from the global market’s performance since the beginning of this year. Some are even comparing it to the crisis of 2008. We think this is incorrect because retail sales are GROWING. They were down in 2008. Huge difference.

Put your money and your faith on the US consumer. They are in great financial shape. Income is up, job growth is strong, and they are spending money. Unfortunately from a perspective standpoint, the world is consumed with China’s economy at the moment. China will pull out of its current cyclical decline in time. It is not heading for Armageddon.  In the meantime, keep in mind the following realities (using IMF and US Government data, both seasonally adjusted annualized rates): The US is 59.6% larger than China’s economy.

…and speaking of ITR’s predictions check out their year over year track record.