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Don’t write for radio

“Do not ever write for radio. Ever.”

This was Neil Young’s advice to a young Jewel (before her music career took off) as she was feeling the pressure to switch from being true to her self, to some manufactured version for her record company.

Sometimes I wonder if the modern business equivalent could be: “Do not ever write for LinkedIn. Ever.”

Layoffs in 2024?

Always fun to read the headlines and analysis of where the job market is headed:

Mass layoffs are coming in 2024 (Newsweek)

92% of employers expect more layoffs in 2024 (ebn)

More than half of US companies plan to increase hiring in the first half of 2024 (Robert Half)

70.5% expect an increase in hiring needs (Randstad)

Pick your preferred outlook.

Detection Dogs

Who knew?

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have specially trained dogs that can sniff out electronic devices, mobile phones, SIM cards and USB sticks.

As well as drugs, currency, explosives and firearms (which you probably already knew).

Only found out about this after reading the latest news about the mushroom murders.

(via a daily email from The Sizzle)

Tim McDonald | The Cheap Seats

Whether you’re an Anthony Albanese fan or not, this interview by Tim McDonald is a masterclass in how to prepare, engage and cover (for a distracting co-host) when talking with a world leader (like it or not Albo is our country’s leader on the world stage). The interview coverage has been hijacked by the cohost’s antics (including dropping the F-bomb), which is a shame. Because...

Classic Example of Nothing to See Here

News report of WhatsApp mulling over putting ads into the app. And charging a subscription to hide ads. But WhatsApp says there’s no plans for it. There’s no actual news here. Of course they have considered it as an option. As every app and platform is currently doing. Of course they might do it. But when there’s nothing confirmed, it means the news article reporting it is as...

From Information to Insights

Information is plentiful, insight is not. We all produce a lot of information. But to be valuable and actionable we need to convert it into insights. The transformation usually follows this path: Information => Knowledge => Insights Let’s start with some simple descriptions and then an example to understand the process. Information is essentially data. It can be observations...

Credibility

Credibility doesn’t have much to do with skills these days…

It’s either how rich you are (perceived to be), or how many followers you have.

How much attention can you influence? A lot? Then you are credible.

Not saying this is good or bad. Just that it is. And it took me too long to appreciate how important it is.

Perspective Taking

What is empathy? It’s a word often used to describe… something. In Australia, our federal Government has practically diluted the word of any meaning as a result of their ’empathy training’ deflection of responsibility. Lately, there’s talk of replacing the term with the phrase ‘perspective taking’. I like this. I think it’s helpful. Yes, it has its...

How to search this site

It’s not intuitive I grant you, but you can click the hamburger menu (top right) to show a panel that includes a search bar, plus my complete archives – all the way back to 2004.

More WeWork

And yes, another link to another WeWork discussion, this time Ben Thompson’s insightful take. Of particular interest (which I haven’t seen highlighted elsewhere), is WeWork’s ability to abandon leases: The company also has another, rather unsavory, advantage in a recession: its opaque corporate structure. While there are many downsides to the fact that the “We Company” is a...

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