Digital Apps Will Not Save Us:
The Eminent Practicality of Basic Contact Tracing

Contact tracing has been used for decades to fight Tuberculous, Smallpox, Ebola, and STDs. Despite the vast success of contact tracing in eliminating the world’s most dangerous diseases, it has always been a delicate dance between public health and personal privacy. New smartphone technology for contact tracing raises the big-brother hackles of people who distrust the data practices of the big corporations building these apps. As stay-at-home restrictions in the… Read More »Digital Apps Will Not Save Us:
The Eminent Practicality of Basic Contact Tracing

Changing the Culture for Post-Corona Remote Work

Armchair prognosticators wax eloquent about the changes COVID-19 will bring to our future society. The absence of commutes, outside entertainment, and social events affords time aplenty for this sort of crystal balling. One of the most clichéd tropes is that employers who didn’t do so before Coronavirus will be forced to embrace remote work after witnessing how well we’ve functioned during our collective captivity. I call bullshit on this even… Read More »Changing the Culture for Post-Corona Remote Work

When Management Busyness is the Enemy of Productivity

Crew teams have Coxswains; Choirs have Leaders; Orchestras have Conductors. Virtually any endeavor where humans collaborate to create something greater than the individual, from fast food restaurants to launching a rocket, requires someone who choreographs the action. A leader is needed to steer the ship around obstacles and ensure that the workers are synchronized. Often, the most successful leaders are those who have also been workers and can empathize with… Read More »When Management Busyness is the Enemy of Productivity

Coronavirus Consequence: Disrupting the Warehousing of Seniors

Of all the horrors of the COVID-19 pandemic, among the most heartbreaking is the number of outbreaks in senior communities that house the population most likely to perish. The New York Times reports that as of April 14, more than 2,500 of 15,000 continuing care retirement communities across the country have experienced COVID-19 breakouts, and more than 3,800 residents have died. The cruel irony within the spectrum of services in… Read More »Coronavirus Consequence: Disrupting the Warehousing of Seniors

The Importance of Community in Innovation:
From the Royal Society to Meetup Groups

A previous post about Innovation during COVID-19 cited Washington Post Staff Writer, Gillian Brockell’s blog post about Isaac Newton’s innovation during the 1665 Black Plague when he socially distanced at his family’s estate 60 miles northwest of Cambridge. Newton’s quiet time at home gave him the space to think and, among other things, develop early calculus and get started with optics. Despite his preternatural abilities, Newton was gifted with some… Read More »The Importance of Community in Innovation:
From the Royal Society to Meetup Groups

Retooling Our Behavior for Effective Zoom Calls

Those of us who have spent years working on remote teams are veterans of Zoom for video conferencing. We elders react with amusement as this new wave of Coronavirus Zoom converts feels a giddy empowerment, believing that the tool will adequately substitute for person to person contact during this pandemic. There’s no question that Zoom provides an outstanding video conferencing experience, provided users have sufficient internet connections, adequate computer hardware,… Read More »Retooling Our Behavior for Effective Zoom Calls

Management Lessons from Honest Abe

Our forefathers have plenty of sound advice that’s easily applied to business. Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 2005 historical tome, “Team of Rivals” is about Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. She centers her narrative around Lincoln’s decision to bring his three vanquished presidential competitors (William Henry Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edward Bates) and others who opposed him into his Cabinet. History is rife with lessons applicable to all walks of life but, sadly, it’s… Read More »Management Lessons from Honest Abe

Innovate Like Hell During Coronavirus Downtime

Travel is curtailed. Conferences are cancelled. Employees are working from home. The sales process has stalled. What will happen when the Coronavirus pandemic’s grip on the world eases? Companies that aggressively move forward during a slowdown will eclipse competitors and emerge with newfound vigor. In her excellent March 13, 2020 Washington Post Retropolis history blog post, Staff Writer Gillian Brockell recounts how college student Isaac Newton used his “Social Distancing”… Read More »Innovate Like Hell During Coronavirus Downtime

Six Sensible Ways for Employers to Support Working From Home During Coronavirus and Beyond

Coronavirus panic is sweeping the country. Companies that already have a remote working culture opine that, eventually, all companies will be working remotely. Meanwhile, companies that frown upon teleworking scramble to prepare for the time, which may arrive sooner than later, when employees are ordered to work from home. How can a company that doesn’t have a remote culture pivot to protect employees against a highly contagious virus for which… Read More »Six Sensible Ways for Employers to Support Working From Home During Coronavirus and Beyond

Living in a Frank Lloyd Wright House

Sorry Frank Lloyd Wright fanboys and fangirls, but this post isn’t about Prairie style architecture. It’s actually about opinionated versus unopinionated software systems. The mercurial Frank Lloyd Wright serves as a convenient metaphor to illustrate the opinionated side. Not only did he design and build houses, but Frank Lloyd Wright also designed the furniture, light fixtures, built-ins, fabrics, and colors within the house – the whole enchilada. For the most… Read More »Living in a Frank Lloyd Wright House