My Two-for-Tuesday morning WFH train reads:
• So You’ve Decided to Bungle Your Company’s Flexible Work Plan People had been working almost entirely from home for more than two years. They’d figured out their rhythms. Individual teams had decided out how and when to be present together. No number of Taco Tuesdays were going to bring people into the office unless there was an actually good, sensical reason to be there. (Culture Study) see also Big Cities Can’t Get Workers Back to the Office Occupancy is especially low in cities like New York, where workers are the engine of local economies. (Wall Street Journal)
• The Top CEOs: Kudos to 24 Game-Changing Corporate Leaders The focus throughout wasn’t on selecting the best stocks for investors to buy now, or even the most admired companies. It was on identifying CEOs whose recent actions have left their companies stronger and more competitive. We found two dozen standouts. (Barron’s)
• Home Sellers Are Slashing Prices in Sudden Halt to Pandemic Boom: The rapid rise in mortgage rates is cooling demand, jolting markets from coast to coast. (Bloomberg) see also Roaring US Rental Market Shows Early Signs of Slowing Down One-bedroom rents fell month-over-month in formerly hot cities like Miami, San Diego, Fort Lauderdale and Nashville. (Bloomberg)
• On Bullshit in Investing: The investing industry is ridden with bullshit. The most common and insidious form is over-optimism: offers of tantalizing risk/reward that defy any notion of reality, often based on misinformation or deception. Less common but even more dangerous are outright frauds. (Noahpinion)
• Even bosses are joining the Great Resignation: New data shows a growing number of managers are quitting (Vox) see also The “Great Resignation” in perspective: The rate of job quitting has reached highs not seen since December 2000. Dubbed the “Great Resignation,” the quit rates are too high to be explained solely by labor market tightening. Are workers taking new jobs or leaving the labor force entirely? (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Adapting to Endure: We believe this is a Crucible Moment, one that will present challenges and opportunities for many of you. First and foremost, we must recognize the changing environment and shift our mindset to respond with intention rather than regret. We can advise you on ways to prepare and get through to the other side. (Fortune)
• Forget the Apocalypse, Let’s Talk About What Happened to Music: Why Music Doesn’t Sound Like Music Anymore. (Eudaimonia) see also Why Music Has Lost Its Charms: There’s little doubt that corporations have stifled creativity. (Inc)
• Why Local Officials Are Facing Growing Harassment and Threats Anger over Covid measures and a polarized political landscape have fueled attacks against mayors and other local officials, especially women and people of color. (Citylab)
• The insurrectionists’ clubhouse: Former Trump aides find a home at a little-known MAGA hub. Nearly two dozen alleged members of the Jan. 6 plot are connected to a single Capitol Hill address. (Grid) see also Jan. 6 showed two identities of Secret Service: Gutsy heroes vs. Trump yes-men Testimony by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson put a spotlight on agents tasked with protecting then-President Trump. (Washington Post)
• ‘You’re looking for a lack of fluff’: Why Wimbledon uses 55,000 tennis balls a year Over the course of two weeks, Wimbledon goes through 55,000 balls, including the 1,700 per day delivered to the practice courts in unopened cans. “We have got a store that is absolutely rammed at the start of the tournament, and now even with a week left, it feels like all of the balls are gone,” said Andy Chevalier, Wimbledon’s ball distribution manager, who begins the storied event with 58,000 balls. (Los Angeles Times)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview last weekend with Spencer Jakab, editor of Heard on the Street column at the Wall Street Journal, and author of the Ahead of the Tape column. He began his career as an analyst at Credit Suisse, where he eventually became Director of Emerging Markets Equity Research. He is the author of “The Revolution That Wasn’t: GameStop, Reddit and the Fleecing of Small Investors.”
Led by China & Europe, Electric Car Sales Doubled Globally in 2021
Source: Statista
