Category: Industry News

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News You Can Use: 2/12/2020


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  • The Coronavirus Impact on Hardware Startups

    It seems like most people are expecting factories to open on 2/10 as planned. However, the expectation is being set that production will take two weeks to ramp back up to normal. And, there is some concern that larger companies will likely exert pressure to be at the front of the line.

    Another problem at this point is movement into and out of China. The Chinese border with Hong Kong is only open at a few places and many are afraid to enter China right now for fear that they won’t be able to leave.

    Everyone anticipates a big logistics clog once things start shipping, which will introduce delay and cost, although the magnitude of this is unknown.

    Finally, the downstream (or upstream – I never get that right) impact of long lead time items will add another wrinkle once people understand the volume and timing constraints when things settle down.

    https://feld.com/archives/2020/02/the-coronavirus-impact-on-hardware-startups.html

  • Quit Buying Coronavirus Masks You Don’t Need

    So what’s the harm? If supplies were unlimited, there wouldn’t be any. But there are only so many face masks manufactured every year, and a lot of them are actually made in China. As Maryn McKenna writes here, China is choosing not to export as many of their masks and other personal protective equipment, because they need them at home.

    At a press briefing today, the World Health Organization’s director-general noted that demand is up 100-fold for masks and related supplies, and prices are now up to 20 times higher than usual. Some of that is to be expected in an epidemic situation, but then he adds: “This situation has been exacerbated by widespread inappropriate use of [personal protective equipment such as masks] outside patient care.”

    https://vitals.lifehacker.com/quit-buying-coronavirus-masks-you-dont-need-1841521105

  • The Coronavirus’ Impact on Global Supply Chain
  • The Lost Art of Ambition: Debunking The 6 Lies Keeping You From Your Full Potential

    We might slow down but life is going to keep trundling relentlessly onwards. The world will keep on changing, and sooner or later that change is going to come back to bite us. Whether it’s in our relationships, in our work, in our knowledge, or even just in our perspectives, we will be made obsolete if we’re just standing still.

    Contentedness- true contentedness- is about making the most of what we do have, not convincing ourselves to be satisfied with the things we don’t. Trying to pretend that a lousy job, worse pay, and a nasty apartment are perfectly acceptable isn’t noble or commendable, it’s delusional. Never feel guilty about demanding more out of life.

    Real danger comes not from wanting too much, but in asking for so little.

    https://www.primermagazine.com/2015/live/the-lost-art-of-ambition-debunking-the-6-lies-keeping-you-from-your-full-potential

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News You Can Use: 2/5/2020


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  • U-Haul’s no-smokers hiring policy tests the boundaries of corporate wellness

    Workers give up some measure of privacy when they’re on the job, given the relative ease by which their email, phone and browsing habits can be tracked. But companies are increasingly bumping up against privacy concerns as technological advances give them the ability to collect personal data on employees through their apps, for example, or to use artificial intelligence to scan applicants. Some argue screening out smokers and not, say, those who drink creates an unfair hiring dynamic. U-Haul’s policy also would weed out applicants who use e-cigarettes and nicotine patches, which many smokers use while trying to quit.

    Data suggests such policies disproportionately affect those near the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans with low incomes, limited education and infrequent access to health care are at greater risk of developing smoking-related diseases.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/01/22/u-haul-smoking-policy/

  • How to tell a compelling story in a business setting

    This might sound counterintuitive, but a compelling story needs to start at the end. In the crime drama television series Columbo, each episode always began with the murder. Peter Falk, the actor who plays the police detective lieutenant, always got to the dead body immediately.

    In business, your “dead body” isn’t your data. You have to get to your issue and talk about what your data represents. In a status update—what does all this data mean? Are you doing well? Are you behind? Do you need to change? Should you keep going?

    https://www.fastcompany.com/90455649/how-to-tell-a-compelling-story-in-a-business-setting

  • What Actually Happens If You Get Coronavirus?
  • As New Coronavirus Spread, China’s Old Habits Delayed Fight

    In those weeks, the authorities silenced doctors and others for raising red flags. They played down the dangers to the public, leaving the city’s 11 million residents unaware they should protect themselves. They closed a food market where the virus was believed to have started, but didn’t broadly curb the wildlife trade.

    Their reluctance to go public, in part, played to political motivations as local officials prepared for their annual congresses in January. Even as cases climbed, officials declared repeatedly that there had likely been no more infections.

    By not moving aggressively to warn the public and medical professionals, public health experts say, the Chinese government lost one of its best chances to keep the disease from becoming an epidemic.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/01/world/asia/china-coronavirus.html

  • UK won’t adopt new EU copyright law and the dreaded Article 13

    The UK was one of the 19 nations who initially supported the new EU Copyright Directive, when the vote was cast last April. However, the Universities and Science Minister Chris Skidmore has now said it will not be implemented in the UK (via BBC).

    He said: “The Government has committed not to extend the implementation period. Therefore, the United Kingdom will not be required to implement the Directive, and the Government has no plans to do so.

    “Any future changes to the UK copyright framework will be considered as part of the usual domestic policy process.”

    https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/article-13-copyright-law-uk-3972873

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News You Can Use: 1/29/2020


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  • Away C.E.O. Is Back, Just Weeks After Stepping Down

    “Frankly, we let some inaccurate reporting influence the timeline of a transition plan that we had,” Ms. Korey said in an interview last week. With some time and perspective, she said, the company’s board members decided to reverse themselves. “All of us said, ‘It’s not right.’”

    The members of Away’s board say they feel as if they fell victim to management by Twitter mob.

    The company now says it disputes The Verge’s reporting and has hired Elizabeth M. Locke, the lawyer who successfully brought a defamation case against Rolling Stone magazine for a story about a supposed gang rape at the University of Virginia. It is unclear whether Away plans to bring a lawsuit.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/business/steph-korey-away.html

    Who is Steph Korey?

  • Worker burnout is real. Here’s how to spot it.

    Burnout isn’t necessarily due to a heavy workload or long hours; hard workers can be happy workers in the right conditions. And occasional short-term burnout is normal for humans, a sign we need a break. But in the case of chronic, pervasive burnout, Beckstrand says, the primary cause is usually a “negative workplace culture” with deficiencies in six areas: purpose, opportunity, success, appreciation, well-being and connection. To combat employee burnout, says Beckstrand, employers should make a regular practice of acknowledging workers for their unique contributions as individuals, and helping them feel connected to a larger purpose.

    But it’s not all on management to prevent burnout. Beckstrand recommends that workers take burnout as a sign to seek meaningful contact from supervisors and peers — not just to complain or vent, but to admit when they’re stuck, ask for input and seek a broader perspective on how their work supports the overall mission.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/01/16/worker-burnout-is-real-heres-how-spot-it/

  • The changing nature of work is changing our workspaces too

    But according to Macgadie, companies are becoming more sophisticated with how they think about that data. Rather than simply looking at real estate utilisation and the number of bodies that can be safely be squeezed into a certain square footage, they’re increasingly attempting to tie use of space to more tangible business outcomes and metrics.

    “It’s becoming less about efficiency and more about effectiveness. It’s not about density, it’s about whether a space performing a certain task really well. If the output from that space can be quantified and is exceedingly high then that space is really effective,” Macgadie says.

    https://digiday.com/media/office-space-changing-nature-work-quickly-changing-spaces-work/

  • Goodbye, Back Pain? This Office Chair Was Designed by a Trauma Surgeon

    Kneeling chairs emerged in the late-70s, claiming to reduce lower back pain. A few years later, everyone was taking conference calls on exercise balls, the bobbing blobs said to build core strength and zap calories. Various wobbly stools touted similar benefits.

    Then we heard sitting was problematic, so we stood. Contrary evidence emerged: One 2017 study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, followed more than 7,300 workers for 12 years and discovered those who stood for long periods had a twofold increase in heart disease risk.

    When Dr. Turner Osler transitioned from the operating room to an office job where he sat 60 hours a week conducting biostatistics research, the trendy chairs he tried left him achy and unsatisfied. So he decided to adapt the best parts of each for his own design, an active stool dubbed the QOR360 (from $350, qor360.com).

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/goodbye-back-pain-this-office-chair-was-designed-by-a-trauma-surgeon-11579282420

Posted on

News You Can Use: 1/22/2020


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  • ‘Culture of venting’: How agencies manage gossip in the workplace

    This culture of venting is also driven by another, more difficult to pin down, force: the very ways people are working today. People are spending more time at work. For individuals who are just entering the workforce, the lines between “work” and “not work” are blurred. Work friends are also regular friends. That means that work-life discussions are also discussions between friends. This can be good for workplace bonding but potentially problematic if it leads to the rapid spread of misinformation.

    Agencies have been doing more to detect and respond to problematic “gossip.” TBWA/Chiat/Day has purchased IBM’s Social Pulse software so as to monitor public channels and posts for potential red flags or specific sentiments. The Martin Agency uses a feedback survey tool called TinyPoll to ask employees quick anonymous questions to identify what exactly workers are concerned about. At another agency, its communications and PR teams peruse the app Fishbowl, as part of the morning routine.

    https://digiday.com/marketing/culture-venting-agencies-manage-gossip-workplace/

  • ‘Techlash’ Hits College Campuses

    At this year’s Golden Globes, Sacha Baron Cohen compared Mark Zuckerberg to the main character in “JoJo Rabbit”: a “naïve, misguided child who spreads Nazi propaganda and only has imaginary friends.”

    That these attitudes are shared by undergraduates and graduate students — who are supposed to be imbued with high-minded idealism — is no surprise. In August, the reporter April Glaser wrote about campus techlash for Slate. She found that at Stanford, known for its competitive computer science program, some students said they had no interest in working for a major tech company, while others sought “to push for change from within.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/11/style/college-tech-recruiting.html

  • How to criticize, from a critic
  • The Humble Office ID Badge Is About to Be Unrecognizable

    Researchers are developing a technology called gait recognition, which uses cameras to identify people based on their body shape and how they move, and say it could one day be implemented in U.S. offices. In places with especially tight security, such as workplaces that handle hazardous materials or heavy machinery, several different ID technologies could be linked to repeatedly identify workers as they move around, says Vir Phoha, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Syracuse University. Video cameras might recognize people’s faces as they enter a building, and later analyze how they walk to identify them again. Software could assess an employee’s typing to verify whether it’s the same person identified earlier in the day.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-humble-office-id-badge-is-about-to-be-unrecognizable-11578333651

  • Sloped Toilet Aims to Curb Employee Bathroom Time

    In a recent Wired article (via BBC News), Mahabir Gill, the founder of the England-based company, StandardToilet, said that his company has created a toilet with a seat that slopes at a 13-degree angle, making it just uncomfortable enough to encourage sitters to vacate after about five minutes of use. Gill told Wired that there are many reasons a time-limiting toilet could be beneficial for people, but ultimately made no bones about it: The reason he and his team made this toilet is to cut down on the amount of time employees spend in the bathroom, and therefore improve a given company’s bottom line. (Insert “bottom line” pun here for all of you who can’t resist the urge.)

    The sloping toilet works exactly as one would expect it to, essentially forcing its occupant into a mild crouch position, which puts a low-level strain on a series of their muscles, including those in their thighs, hips, and calves. As time moves on, the position becomes less and less comfortable, thusly compelling a user to finish their business and stand. Gill told Wired that the mildly uncomfortable position encourages workers “to get off the seat quickly,” although he also said that it’s not steep enough “to cause health issues.” He did note, however, that any seat sloped more than 13 degrees “would cause wider problems.”

    https://nerdist.com/article/sloped-toilet-curb-bathroom-time/

Posted on

News You Can Use: 1/15/2020


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  • Even 4-year-olds dislike freeloaders

    Children from ages 4 to 10 were presented with scenarios in which they had to give up chocolates in order to get a cake or plant seeds in a garden to get tomatoes. All children expressed dislike for those who did not contribute and were even willing to give up stickers to punish them. The youngest subjects exhibited a stronger aversion to free-riders than 9- and 10-year-olds.

    However, when a freeloader has a good excuse for not contributing — e.g. her pet ate her chocolate — the aversion was greatly reduced, the researchers report.

    “Even young children expect cooperation and are willing to work to sustain it even at cost to themselves,” Dunham said. “I find this very positive. The seeds that sustain cooperation seem to emerge early on, and while as a society we need to sustain and nurture these values, we may not need to instill them in the first place.”

    https://news.yale.edu/2018/07/23/even-4-year-olds-dislike-freeloaders

  • Hiring hack: How to better evaluate your candidates | Simon Sinek
  • This Japanese Company Charges Its Staff $100 an Hour to Use Conference Rooms

    At the heart of the program is a compensation system that meticulously tracks how much every person and team contributes to earnings. Workers receive a base salary, which they augment by earning Will for completing tasks. Quarterly bonuses can rival a year’s pay for top performers, says Naito. “It’s enough to buy a foreign-brand car every year,” he says. “We call it the ‘Will Dream.’ ”

    Earning virtual currency begins at the team level, where bosses allocate a portion of the group’s Will budget to each task they must complete. Team members then use an app to bid in an auction for those jobs. Assignments that don’t attract any bids often turn out to be unnecessary, Naito says. And managers who’ve misused or abused the system have been abandoned by their workers, who are free to move to other teams.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-20/charging-employees-for-conference-rooms-helps-disco-boost-profit

  • How to write the best résumé for 2020

    Whether it’s accounts won, servers maintained, leads gained, or warehouses managed, all of our activities in our professional careers can be quantified. By sharing your specific high scores rather than vague duties, you give your future boss the ability to understand how far you can run, how high you can jump, in your career.

    When you start to think in high scores, you’ll banish boring phrases such as “seasoned executive,” “responsible for,” and “managed.” And you’ll recast your experiences to include the most exciting and impressive outcomes you’ve achieved in each area of your job. Share your high scores attained, achievements unlocked, and badges won to attract your future boss’s attention in 2020.

    https://www.fastcompany.com/90446884/how-to-write-the-best-resume-for-2020