Globalization, that nasty word

Globalization is a term that has come to mean negative things, for some reason.  I’m not exactly sure when it started, but sometime in the last ten years or so, a concept that used to be viewed as beneficial somehow came to represent oppression, confinement, intolerance of diversity, condensation of power and exploitation.  While I think these horrendous realities are indeed of concern, and do occur within the context of human behavior around the world, I don’t think they are the result of global trends that are typically inferred by the word “globalization”.

Continue reading

Posted in Strategy and the Big Picture | Comments Off on Globalization, that nasty word

Over the hedge

It seems that much of the business language we hear (and use) is hard to understand.   The Rosetta Stone of business jargon hasn’t been discovered which would allow translation to an easily understood form. I love to study jargon, “terms of art” and language which are unique to the business world.  One can discover a great deal about underlying motivations to use such language if you approach the study with a key question in mind:  “Does the speaker gain more from my comprehension or from my confusion?”  Why would confusion be advantageous to players of the game of business?  We can learn by examining one particular word:  hedging.

Continue reading

Posted in Politics and Business | Tagged | Comments Off on Over the hedge

The conflict in conflict minerals

“When my wife opened the box and took out the ear rings, I noticed a flaw in one of the stud diamonds that I hadn’t seen here in the store yesterday,” the man said earnestly to the attentive sales woman, Jill.  “Can you take a look?”

Continue reading

Posted in The People | Comments Off on The conflict in conflict minerals

One every minute

It’s been some time since the birth rate of suckers was originally estimated.  I have not been able to find peer-reviewed, published research either supporting or refuting the rate attributed (inconclusively) to P.T. Barnum.  With or without confirming evidence, we can be assured that the species is indeed procreating, and at a rate that is altogether too high.

Continue reading

Posted in The People | Comments Off on One every minute