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41 years later, what did University really teach me?
October 9, 2020
I recently read Dave McKay’s (President & CEO at RBC) post on “Why IBM’s Ginni Rometty has me thinking about the future of post-secondary learning”. In the post, “Ginni says the half-life of most specialized skills nowadays lasts just five years.” I recall being told a similar statement when I graduated engineering in 1979, that …
Read moreCOVID-19 Realities
September 17, 2020
Like many, I am trying to follow COVID guidelines to limit physical business and social interactions, keep my bubble small, wear a mask when out and about, hand wash and sanitize frequently, but I must admit that it is getting harder to stay as diligent as I was in the early months of the pandemic. …
Read moreGetting a job when you are in your 50’s, and what you need to do about it when you are in your 30’s
July 1, 2020
This story reoccurs about every other month. Someone whom I worked with 20, 25, 30 or 35 years ago but I haven’t talked to for ten plus years reaches out to me. Typically, they are now in their mid to late fifties and occasionally in their sixties; have had a very successful career; made big …
Read moreBusiness Hugging in the post-COVID world
May 5, 2020
I am not a “hugger”. It was not part of the cultural norm of the family that I grew up in to hug on greeting or departure. When I started work at IBM in late 1970’s, proper business etiquette was a firm handshake for any occasion, whether it be an introduction, a greeting, a good-bye …
Read moreWorking post-COVID… for the times, they are a-changin’
May 4, 2020
You may have seen the headline “OpenText won’t reopen half of its physical offices post COVID-19 pandemic”. In the article, the writer says Opentext’s CEO Mark Barrenechea “is saying out loud what a lot of C-level executives are thinking. The new normal will require less commercial real estate as the capital expenses required can be deployed …
Read moreManaging the Attrition Bubble during the COVID Downturn
April 9, 2020
If you are not managing your “Attrition Bubble” now, expect it to impact your ability to grow once a recovery starts. If you don’t know what an Attrition Bubble is, read on… In every business, there is a natural employee attrition of departing people that takes place every year. Generally, attrition is measured in two …
Read moreLeading and Managing through the COVID Downturn
March 29, 2020
Thank you all for your likes, comments and shares of my previous post, “What do Covid-19 and Y2K have in common”. As I read your comments, it struck me that it may be valuable to some share some of my learnings from other downturns. I have now been through six significant downturns or economic crises: the recession …
Read moreA middle manager’s guide to managing in an economic downturn
March 26, 2020
You are a manager or director in a small or medium sized company. This is your first or second management role and you have never experienced the business turmoil of the past two weeks. What should you do now and what should you be doing next? The answer to the first question is likely more …
Read moreWhat do COVID-19 and Y2K have in Common?
March 16, 2020
I am stepping out on a limb and predicting the future, but I think COVID-19 may cause some behaviours at tech companies like those just before and into the aftermath of Y2K. For those not into their business careers 25 years ago, the need to remediate or replace old software systems that were based on …
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