Scrooge on Leadership….Rapport in Two Seconds….RE-Intermediation (or Just Add Humans and Stir)….The Toll of Our Tools….Econ Recon: The High Cost of Low Oil Prices

Click Here for this week’s dose of  Holiday Cheer!

 And because it’s Christmas, here’s another

 “Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge.
“But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change.”

Ebenezer Scrooge to the ‘Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come’
From  “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens

 Scrooge on Leadership : (or why “A Christmas Carol” Should be Required Reading in Business Schools)

If asked what work of fiction is most identified with the Holiday Season, most would immediately say Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” To the casual reader, Ebenezer Scrooge is portrayed as a despicable miser who does not well represent the private sector.

But it may be that a more thoughtful reading provides important lessons for executives and managers to take away from this classic Christmas story. Find out why one writer thinks that “One of the most powerful leadership books ever written is “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens.”

Rapport in Two Seconds

Have you ever wondered how some people can establish a relationship with a total stranger almost at will? It’s actually not hard according to some research summarized in “Business Insider.” Here’s a hint:  “Act as if……”  and you’ll be able to create rapport in two seconds.

RE-Intermediation (or Just Add Humans and Stir)

The population in general (and many economists in particular) have feared that the internet would eliminate many well-paying jobs. The travel business is a well-known example: the number of travel agents was cut in half between 2000 and 2015. Several start-ups, however, are seeing the value in adding back a human helper to business models that have shed so many.  This short New York Times article shares stories of several new companies innovating old business models by adding humans back to the formula. 

The Toll of our Tools

We have them, we love them, we can’t live without them: the smart phones in our pockets or purses. A big law of life seems to be that there are no unmixed blessings and this certainly applies to any new technology: television reduced reading and socializing; cars brought pollution and urban sprawl. Marketing guru Seth Godin shares a few paragraphs on the real cost of our communication devices….and how to reduce the toll these tools take.   

Econ Recon:  Oil-The Cost of Low Prices

The price of oil has plunged to under $40 per barrel. Great for consumers, say Alan and Brian Beaulieu of ITR Economics, but what about oil related businesses and the employment they provide? Their brief blog entry on the price of oil is worth reading for those directly or indirectly impacted by the fall in energy prices.