3 things I’m thinking about this week…
1 – Tis The Season...For Earnings! No, it’s not quite Christmas season, though you know that’s right around the corner as it starts earlier and earlier…it’s corporate earnings report “season,” where we read transcripts of company executive and Q&A comments. What these calls are good at: giving a sense of the current environment a company is facing. And detailing the quarter’s results.
What they aren’t as good at: Little discussion about changes to their competitive position, long-term strategy, and how management is compensated. In other words, they don’t spend enough time talking about things that truly matter to an investor.
2. - Deepfake Dangers. Deepfakes are AI-generated videos or audio that manipulate content to deceive people. Deepfakes of voices, videos, and images are getting much higher in quality and, as a result, becoming much harder to detect. A single photo can be artificially brought to life as a video. This blog from Matthew Kaufman is a good reminder. 3 ways to help reduce your risk: Be aware of deepfakes and less trusting of voice and videos especially when they are asking you for something. Have agreed-upon ways to verify exactly who you are talking with. And use two-factor authentication on all your online accounts.
3. - Slow Productivity. You’re busy – team meetings, Zooms, and phone calls. But are you getting any real work done?
The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed Cal Newport who has a new book out on the subject, Slow Productivity. He advocates for work quality over quantity – tough when many workplaces tends to value facetime and a long list of projects. He notes that we spend the equivalent of two workdays a week on meetings & email. How to solve? Basic ideas…but we still don’t do them - prioritize top projects, let your team know your priorities and excel at the part of your job that matters the most.
…and one more thing
Shrink-flation taken to its logical end:
-Dave