GeoffreyJames. What strong emotions tell you at work. If you're not familiar with James as a writer and blogger, this is a great introduction. James knows how to draw strong, immensely practical and relevant conclusions without going off the reservation. Along with Linda Richardson, he also has some of the best stuff on sales. In this brief, substantial article, he gives definition to our emotions. But significantly his take advises you on the weakness driving the emotion and what a manager should do about it. Fascinating stuff!
Nelson Schwartz: The middle class is steadily eroding. Just ask the business world. This article summarizing the awareness of businesses, especially restaurants, that with the demise of the middle class their business is at risk, is the first shot across the bow. Sociologists have known for decades that the upper class is ultimately built upon the middle class. And that without a solid middle class, the opportunities for enrichment will eventually dry up. Schwartz' reporting gives indication of that issue by comparing the changes, sometimes massive, in business. It's not just restaurants. Retailers like Penney's and Sears, the middle-class giants. . .
The control of college athletics. One of my readers picked this up from The Spectator, a prescient article dating from 1905. Its forecast about athletics was spot-on then and still fundamental. If you're aware of all the stuff about paying college athletes, quitting college football or getting realistic about the different and conflicting objects between sports and academics, it was all laid out here. Thankfully, a huge number of colleges have dropped varsity football and not only for revenue reasons. Few seem aware that the University of Chicago was once a winning school of the Big 10 under the famous coach Amos Alonzo Stagg who retired in 1932. William Rainey Harper, the President of Chicago, dropped football in 1939 and bulldozed the stadium and field. It is now the location of one of the greatest research libraries in the world. Today we'd say that was gutsy. Well. . . whatever. Here's the article for its contemporary insight and your amusement.
The Economist. Mobility measured. America is no less socially mobile than it was a generation ago. This is not one of those articles denying inequality. It looks closely at mobility from a research perspective and rejects the public opinion on the issue. Its explanation of the problem is exceptionally insightful and valuable. Asking whether your town is a launchpad or a swamp, the article and research have a number of significant conclusions for parents with kids starting school. (My anecdotal info on this issue makes me cynical. Although some move to communities for the schools, some with the necessary resources just ignore the issue. I probably shouldn't write it, but ahhh hell! Why not? One of the reasons we left Arizona was the crappy public education.)
Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown. Cultivating the Imagination: Building learning environments for innovation. Recently I've been studying the relationship between imagination and creativity. I was surprised to pick up this fascinating article by JS Brown, one of my favorite writers in the field of organizational learning. The authors are exceptionally adept at putting a new face on the issue, defining the environment and creating tools. This is a keeper.
Flickr photo: by Nabucodorozor