Happy Saturday! Here are your 5 things from the mind of Miles for this week.
The Good Jobs Strategy. Can you pay employees higher wages while offering customers lower cost and good service? Zeynep Ton argues yes! and backs it up with compelling logic, research and case studies. Companies who focus on operational excellence and investing in people can afford higher wages through a combination of lower operational cost and higher revenue. Examples she points to are Southwest and Costco. Important pieces of the strategy are standardization, cross-training, lower turnover, trust, continuous improvement, slack and fewer SKUs. Read the website or book for more.
Crypto Currency in War. In response to the attack on Ukraine, the US and other countries have imposed trade and financial sanctions against Russia. There is talk of kicking Russia out of SWIFT (the international payment network). The US has imposed sanctions against Russia before (Crimea and 2016 election for example). The Russians likely anticipated the sanctions. Will crypto currency allow some Russians to avoid the worst economic effects of sanctions? Also, I heard from a friend that many key software developers live in Ukraine. Is that true? Will that have any impact? I’m also wondering will crypto serve as digital gold in a time of war? Or is it still a speculative asset?
Inputs and Outputs. Last week I touched on the price dynamics in different industries. In that vein, I’m wondering which industries we judge by inputs and which by outputs. For example, producers market the time cheese and wine spends aging as a mark of quality. For some services, the number of hours someone spent in training is meant as another mark of quality. Many managers used to evaluate knowledge worker output by the number of hours spent at the workplace. Where else do we focus on inputs because we don’t know how to measure results?
Fiction and Science. I’ve heard that the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics is not popular with scientists. Are there more novels based on alternative time streams? Recent examples I’ve read include Dark Matter, Midnight Library, Recursion, and Wakers. Does fiction play a role in the rise of popularity of scientific theories or is it a lagging indicator?
Routine. The right amount of routine increases my effectiveness. My weekly routine includes walks with key people, the rhythm of my workouts, new business ideation one day and idea rating another, weekly reflection and goal setting. The rhythm of publishing this newsletter and the podcast pulse through the week, as well. On my daily routine, cheesy yes, but I use much of the Miracle Morning. Many mornings I use affirmations, silence/breathing, writing, reading and movement. My sister encourages me to get morning sun for hormone health and good sleep. During the day, I try to schedule activities in line with my energy (a la The Power of Full Engagement). One of my goals is to get back to a weekly date night with my wife. How do you think about the role of routine in your life?
Until next week,
Miles