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The Dangers of Systems Illiteracy

This recent article makes a good point that we need to be reminded that our global activity and the related science and technology is all connected. In the early days of deep thinking, most thinkers were simply called “philosophers” or some variation of the term. Today, complex thought has been broken upon into countless disciplines…

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An Historic Look at the Stock Market

The latest news in the stock market is tough to swallow, but hardly new to most folks who follow such things. I wanted to get a better historical perspective, so I pulled up a table of the S&P 500 Index, a highly watched measure of a diverse range of stocks, along with the historical Consumer…

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Two Creative Problem Solving Pathways

McKinsey recently published this article about a 7-step process for structured, creative problem solving. It’s a classic “problem-backward” strategy. It’s good, but it’s NOT the only strategy. The McKinsey strategy is not unlike the “Jobs to be Done” strategy (popularized by Christensen, Ulwick, and the “design thinking” others) where a problem space is identified, observations…

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Why Good Arguments Make Better Strategy

Makes the right points that strategy is hard, but that simple structures (open debate and strategy maps) can help bring clarity, logic, and testability to any strategic concept. This is not unlike the structural processes for creative ideation (see Systematic Inventive Thinking). In both cases, folks tend to think these processes have a mystical or…

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The eight trends that will define 2021–and beyond

From: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-eight-trends-that-will-define-2021-and-beyond InnovationConsumer behaviorThe environmentHealthcareCoping with increased government involvementRestructuring of corporate portfoliosShifting supply chainsAir travel With the exception of the “corporate portfolios” comment (which is very vaguely discussed), most of these get a lot of play in the media, and I won’t belabor them. For a good take on making strategic R&D a part of…

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It’s Summer! How to Throw a Zero Waste Party or Event

I’ll admit up front that I’m a complete newbie at this. I was made sensitive to the issue of reducing waste when a local citizens group in Chester, Pennsylvania, who has been working for OVER 30 YEARS to stop, Covanta, the largest US incinerator from continuing to spew noxious gasses into the air and lungs…

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