Commentaries

In Harper Lee’s Letters: Books, Fame and a “Lying” Capote

May 3, 2017

Here is a brief excerpt from an article by Jennifer Crossley Howard for The New York Times in which she discusses a new book written by Wayne Flynt, Mockingbird Songs, in which he discusses his 25-year friendship with Harper Lee.…

Read More

Ganesh Sitaraman on “Why a republic government cannot succeed without a strong middle class”

May 3, 2017

In The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution, Ganesh Sitaraman explains how and why “the basic foundation upon which our middle-class constitution was based — the prerequisite of relative economic equality — is crumbling.” Obviously, economic inequality is inevitable whenever and…

Read More

Distortions and deceptions in strategic decisions

May 2, 2017

Here is a brief excerpt from an article written by Dan P. Lovallo and Olivier Sibony for the McKinsey Quarterly, published by McKinsey & Company. To read the complete article, check out other resources, learn more about the firm, obtain…

Read More

Another ten films that deserve more attention and appreciation

May 2, 2017

In a previous post, I identified what I characterized as “Ten of the best films that most people haven’t seen or even heard of.” Here’s another ten that, in my opinion, also deserve more attention and appreciation, listed in order…

Read More

Tim Wu on “The Importance of Being Famous”

May 1, 2017

In The Attention Merchants, Tim Wu examines with precision and eloquence “the mad scramble to get inside our heads.” For example, consider this brief passage: “The first great harvester of attention, it must never be forgotten, was religion. The impulse…

Read More

The power and flexibility of RFID

April 30, 2017

What do you know about radio frequency identification (RFID)? Most decision-makers in business know little (if anything) but they should. Why? Here’s a Wiki briefing: RFID “uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. The tags…

Read More

The halo effect and other managerial delusions

April 29, 2017

Companies cannot achieve superior and lasting business performance simply by following a specific set of steps. Here is a brief excerpt from an article written by Phil Rosenzweig for the McKinsey Quarterly, published by McKinsey & Company. To read the…

Read More

What is your core product?

April 29, 2017

These major businesses (listed in alpha order) no longer sell their original core product(s). o Apple: its core product was a circuit board o Corning: Technical and pharmaceutical glass o DuPont: gunpowder o The Gap: phonograph recordings in a retail…

Read More

Five Key Questions for Supervisors

April 28, 2017

These are among the questions in the minds of direct reports and other employees that supervisors must be willing and able to answer, NOT by what they say but rather by what they do and how they do it. “What’s…

Read More

Making Space: Women Artists and Postwar Abstraction

April 27, 2017

Here is an introduction to a superb exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art that will continue through August 13. You can purchase museum admission tickets by clicking here. The exhibition was organized by Starr Figura, Curator, Department of Drawings…

Read More