Pioneer Columbus Day! Italian pioneer, Christopher Columbus ‘discovered’ America on 12 Oct 1492 while heading for the gold & spices of the Far East. His trips trading people, animals & food between Europe & America spread diseases – smallpox, measles, influenza – which decimated indigenous people, who had no immunity to them. Travel & trade…
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Plague How to trade during plague? See past precedents. Plague stone receptacles at parish & quarantine boundaries sterilised coins in vinegar, in exchange for goods. 1348-50 Black Death took 1/3 of Englanders. 1665-66 Great Plague killed 100,000 Londoners (1/4 of the city). Then & now: Panic buyers welcome! But disinfect before entry Guessed the Word? …
Positioning Coronavirus: agile firms shift gear fast & position themselves differently Think laterally, pivot & step out with more. Flex business assets & service delivery. Vans can take groceries from local shops to customers stuck indoors. Face-to-face courses morph into webinars. Cafes can take online orders. Hotel rooms can store goods. Warehouses can be healthcare…
Ploughman’s lunch The ploughman’s lunch – all porky pies? Alludes to rustic, outdoor, bygone times, but actually dates from 1950s promotion in pubs to boost cheese sales. Sounds hot, sophisticated & substantial, when it’s a simple, light meal – bread, cheese, pickle, maybe added pie, egg & salad – eaten cold, with a glass of…
Private equity What’s the big deal with private equity (PE)? PE firms use debt to buy weak companies, turn them around & sell them. They load the debt on to the acquired company & sell off its assets to create massive returns for investors quickly, while charging huge fees. PE is changing finance & the…
Posturing Politicians posturing isn’t new – in 41BC, Cleopatra used a golden barge with purple sails to get Mark Antony’s attention. Politics is part show business. But it’s workers & owners who keep the real show on the road. “Must do, should do, could do & won’t do” helps avoid distraction by political melodrama. There’s no…
Password A good, memorable password is long, not complex. Like ‘Snow White & the 7 dwarfs’ (rather than 8 characters). Even better – 3 random words which are easy to recall. Average person has 19 passwords! No need to change a password (unless it’s compromised) nor mix capital letters, numbers & symbols. Password managers don’t…
Pounce Who will bell the cat? Take a risk – fortune favours the brave. Curiosity & publicly available information are enough to unmask new facts – about products, services, customers, suppliers. Or even to pounce on secret agents who poison former spies. No training needed Guessed the Word? Series 31…
Pink chocolate Coming soon – pink chocolate. The 4th type after dark, milk and white. 1st new type for 80 years, since white was invented in 1930s. Is pink naturally, and has a smooth berry taste – fruit/ cream/ sour combined. Made by innovative Swiss manufacturing process after a decade of research, from ruby cocoa…
Play Board games teach strategic thinking & entrepreneurship. De-stress with dice & do an off-duty MBA! Plus faster networking than golf. 2017 US board game sales $1.17bn – up 7% in a year Guessed the Word? Series 23 (8/8) [pic: catan/ Eric Chamberland]