Anyone born before 1985 is lucky. They have experienced life before and after the Internet. They remember what happened when their ride didn’t show up, and when they had to kill three hours in an airport. Instead of idly reaching for a device, they waited. They read a good thriller, or watched airplanes take off, or did a crossword puzzle. Sometimes, they did nothing. (Fast Company)
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The price of cassava, a root vegetable that is a staple ingredient in Liberian diets, shot up in August. In the Redlight Markets of Monrovia, the Ebola-stricken country's capital, Liberians were forced to pay 150% more for cassava, a basic for flour and bread. It's a small example, noted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, which represents massive economic pain hitting the countries of West Africa. (CNN International)
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In a world already weighed down by too much debt, new troubles are bubbling up. The Ebola virus, terrorist attacks and war are undermining many countries, which means "downside risks have increased" for the global economy. That gloomy assessment was released Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund. (NPR)
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Some days the to-do list seems bottomless. Just looking at it is exhausting. We all want to know how to stop being lazy and get more done. I certainly want the answer. So I decided to call a friend who manages to do this – and more. Cal Newport impresses the heck out of me. Why? Well, I'm glad you asked. He's insanely productive. (The Week)
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The conversation stops when you enter the room. Colleagues shoot sidelong glances as you pass. The office is abuzz but nobody is talking to you about it—because you’re at the center of the rumors. Office gossip can be a welcome distraction. It just can be hard to know what to do when you become the focal point. (The Wall Street Journal)
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To succeed in this sunnier market, though, you need a firm grasp on today’s hiring process, one that may be far different from what you faced the last time you hit the circuit. For starters, businesses are going slow, spending an average of 23 days to fill a slot in 2013, vs. 12 days in 2010, according to employer review website Glassdoor. And many are replacing antiquated hiring methods with more offbeat ways to vet job seekers. (Money Magazine)
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Workers who apply online at RadioShack Corp. must say if they agree with the statement: "Over the course of the day, I can experience many mood changes." Lowe's Cos. asks job seekers if they "believe that others have good intentions." A test at McDonald's Corp. said: "If something very bad happens, it takes some time before I feel happy again." The use of online personality tests by employers has surged in the past decade as they try to streamline the hiring process, especially for customer-service jobs. (The Wall Street Journal)
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Upon reaching out to several companies for this post about campus recruiting, it’s clear the nation’s top companies are seeking diverse talent pools. Technically, we’re all diverse. Is anyone completely defined by a box? Executives' approach to recruiting and ramping up their numbers – whether it’s women in tech roles, veterans, disabled or multiracial employees and more – isn't much different than recruiting as a whole: Hire the most qualified candidate. Diversity recruiting strategies, in turn, boil down to finding the best, most qualified candidates. (US News and World Report)
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As Europe confronts new signs of economic trouble, national leaders, policy makers and economists are starting to challenge as never before the guiding principle of the Continent’s response to six years of crisis: Germany’s insistence on budget austerity as a precondition to healthy growth. (The New York Times)
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Mobile phone users in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda will soon enjoy cheaper cross border calls, after telecom operators agreed to cut roaming charges.Charges for making or receiving calls in other countries in East Africa will be cut by more than 60%. (BBC News)
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Based on the props, you could be forgiven for assuming that kindergardeners, rather than business students, had gathered in a vast room at Stanford University this Monday. Oversize markers were strewn across tables, colorful sticky notes adorned white boards, and little baggies of gummy candies and M&Ms dotted desks. MBAs at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business were using the arts and crafts supplies to develop the plans for their future companies. (Businessweek)
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When you look back on your best teachers, what do they have in common? Did they inspire you to become something more? Did their questions shake you out of complacency? Did they challenge you to think for yourself? And did they prepare you to overcome the adversity you’d ultimately face? Like most schools, the University of Wisconsin’s School of Business has wrestled with what truly constitutes great teaching and real learning. (Poets & Quants)
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National Black MBA Association works year-round to serve communities. "Our chapter believes that we have to give more than we take," said Elaina Livings, vice president of operations for the association’s Atlanta chapter, about the importance of the chapter’s mission to give back to the Atlanta community. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
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The Pocket Drone – a collapsible, three-rotor aerial vehicle – folds up small enough to fit in a backpack easily, but its three independent propeller motors are powerful enough to carry a GoPro camera. Johnson and his partners think it could be the first in a huge, new category of personal electronics – the small, easily portable flying robot that goes everywhere with you to capture overhead imagery on demand. (Fortune)
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Not far inland from where India’s west coast meets the Arabian Sea, a modern high-rise building that looks a bit like a stack of hastily piled-up boxes grows from the streets of Mumbai. Called Antilia, it is the private residence of Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries and reportedly the richest man in India. On a clear day, from the higher floors of his home, Mr Ambani can see the neighbourhood of Dharavi, about six miles to the north-east. (The Economist)
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I have spoken with several wives about their marriage and business lives. I learned from them and from my own experience that owning a business with your spouse is not all romance. It is an adventure though. I asked them about the secrets to growing a family business that doesn't destroy the marriage. (Entrepreneur)
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Considering the stature of these entrepreneurs, you can be sure that most, if not all, have had some kind of coaching on how best to present themselves. So take a few easy lessons from their book. Some of these body language practices – such as mirroring another's gestures during a conversation – might not feel all that natural at first. But not to worry – they'll appear ordinary to others. (Inc.)
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Even though the largest Ebola outbreak in history has been dominating headlines, few Americans are opening their wallets to help. Last month, the United Nations announced it would need nearly $1 billion to effectively fight the virus, which has killed more than 3,400 people across West Africa since March. If it is not contained, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there could be hundreds of thousands of Ebola cases in coming months. (CNN/Money)
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The International Monetary Fund has just released the full update to its fall World Economic Outlook, which includes its latest forecast for global growth. The picture is not pretty. Back in January the IMF thought the world might manage growth of 3.7% this year. That dropped to 3.6% in April, to 3.4% in July, and to 3.3% in the new report. If growth is written down any more then this year's performance will come in below that in 2013, of 3.3%, making 2014 the fourth consecutive year in which global output has slowed relative to the prior year's showing. (The Economist)
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In the coming year, banks in the United States are likely to replace debit or credit cards with versions that have tiny computer chips embedded in them, a move aimed at making shopping in stores more secure. (The New York Times)
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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report recently showing that more than 630,000 IRAs had balances greater than $1 million – and 314 had balances of more than $25 million. I’ll leave the policy discussions to others. This column is for people who might be interested in joining the ranks of the IRA millionaires and are wondering: Can a regular Joe really save enough to end up with a $1 million IRA? (Money Magazine)
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Massive, open, online courses are coming to the office. Providers of so-called MOOCs are joining with academics and experts to attract millions of users to their free or low-cost Web courses on subjects ranging from Android app development to Buddhist meditation. (The Wall Street Journal)
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Take a MOOC and win $100,000? Sounds like a win-win situation to most. And it’s technically true...if you’re in a charitable mood. In October, Stanford’s Giving 2.0 MOOC breaks new ground in education. As part of Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen’s course, students will assess various nonprofits, identifying those worthy of funding from a $100,000 grant by the Learning By Giving Foundation. From there, students actually vote on the nonprofits who’ll receive grants. Talk about Democracy in action! (Poets & Quants)
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Apple has sent out invitations for a media event on Oct. 16, when it is expected to introduce new versions of the iPad. "It’s been way too long," the invitation says. The big event of each fall for Apple is the release of the new iPhones, which account for a bit more that half of the company’s revenue, but the company also regularly holds a second event for tablets and computers. (Businessweek)
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Consultants, classes, software abound – when some executives need an answer big or small, sometimes the place to go is surprisingly simple: the web. (Fortune)
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The value of failure has become a mantra in Silicon Valley, with the rise of events like FailCon, a conference "for startup founders to study their own and others’ failures and prepare for success." Failure, the thinking goes, is an intense form of hands-on education that – when done right – enables you to learn quickly and grow. Despite the startup world’s enthusiasm, however, there’s often a lingering stigma: it’s less that you’ve tried and failed, and more that you are "a failure." (Harvard Business Review)
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Researchers at the University of Illinois sought to understand the science of leadership, and what they came up with is a metaphor involving a stool. Past research in this field generally breaks leadership down to 30% genetics (certain traits, such as height, inherently shape our perception of what a leader is) and 70% lessons learned through life experience. (Fast Company)
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How much sleep do you get every night? Studies show that most people try to muddle by on less than seven hours, but new research claims to have found the exact amount of time we need. Men need 7.8 hours per night and women need 7.6 hours, according to a study that tracked 3,760 people over seven years and published in the September issue of the journal Sleep. (MarketWatch)
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