For this week’s blog we are going to begin with an unusual declaration before asking you to read what we have to say: We do not really know much about semiconductors; in fact, the vast majority of people have very little understanding about semiconductors despite the enormous impact they have on all of our daily lives. The late British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke proposed a few adages that have come to be known as Clarke’s Three Laws: When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, they are almost certainly right. When they state that something…

While the wave of workplace turnover popularly called “The Great Resignation” still rolls on with no sign of cresting, it is important to remember that most of those people submitting their notices are also starting new jobs somewhere too. What does onboarding look like in the “New Normal” of work, particularly at the kind of forward-thinking employer who is attracting new employees who have decided to leave their old positions and applied for something more aligned with what is important to them? As you might imagine, onboarding involves a little more than introducing the new team member around the office…

“This meeting could have been an email.” Who has not had that thought at least once in their working lives? For many people it is a regular sentiment. A general disdain for business meetings is something everyone understands even if they are lucky enough not to experience it often themselves. “This could have been an email,” is printed on sassy coffee cups, captions popular internet memes, and is often fodder for business-related blogs like this one. Rather than linger on the popular distaste for meetings and the longing for the email alternative —well-trodden ground without much new to say— let’s…

A Luddite is someone who is opposed to new technologies and technological change. Admit it. You thought of someone just now, didn’t you? While many people resist change, this is a blog that explores business issues and ideas, so let’s talk about our coworkers, our colleagues, and our network of professional connections. Think about what some of those people say when their familiar piece of software or favourite equipment is replaced by something new. “If it’s not broke, why fix it? I don’t want to learn the ‘new way’ of doing things. There was nothing wrong with the way they…

We were talking about the trend that has come to be called ‘The Great Resignation’ before the term entered the popular imagination, and for the last seven months through our events and our network of senior leaders Executive Platforms has been part of every stage of the ongoing conversation as it grew to its present near-ubiquitous status. First, people debated whether it was even real. (It was and is.) Then they wondered whether it would impact all industries, or just a vulnerable few. (It hit the vulnerable ones hardest first —which to be fair is why we are identifying them…

“It doesn’t matter what you make. The technology has changed.” That’s what Brian Krinock, Toyota’s SVP, Vehicle Manufacturing & Production Engineering, said last spring at NAMES21. He was speaking virtually to an audience of manufacturing executives, but the sentiment carries across almost every profession you can imagine. Keeping up with that change —leveraging technology to do more faster and better for less time, money, and manpower— is one of the dominant forces in business today. While technological progress takes many forms, probably the largest category is Digital Transformation. In reviewing our records in preparation for today’s blog post we compiled…

The power of a brand cannot be overstated. People choose how to spend their time and money not just to satisfy their wants and needs, but also to say something about themselves, if only to themselves. If you reading this right now were offered to select from a list of soft drinks, of snack foods, of clothing brands, of sports franchises —of anything, really— you will have preferences that are not based on sampling all the options and making an informed and dispassionate decision. There is an emotional connection that goes much deeper and can steer people without conscious thought…

Almost a decade ago now, ADM, one of the largest food processing companies in the world, decided to get serious about its electricity consumption. With hundreds of factories, crop procurement collection points, and supply chain infrastructure facilities globally, it was an enormous task. A decision was made to treat the project in the same way manufacturers bring lean principles to their operations: Find the low-hanging fruit first; identify and eliminate waste and improve efficiencies in a series of easy wins and quick victories that convince people positive change can be achieved; encourage input from all levels of the workforce to…