“No man ever listened himself out of a job.” — Calvin Coolidge A friend asked me what I thought was the reason some companies grow to a certain size and can’t seem to grow any further. I said it could be several reasons. ...
Read More »Be curious, creative to advance your company – Guest Opinion
Can global warming be meaningfully reduced by taxing cow burps? 
It is now well known that the phenomenon of global warming—also called climate change—is caused significantly by the emissions of the so-called greenhouse gases. The principal culprit here is carbon dioxide which is emitted into the atmosphere from the combustion ...
Read More »Marketing actions that work in inflationary times – Guest Opinion 
The recent upsurge in the cost of goods and services, owing to the recent inflation, has imposed pressure on businesses to increase the pricing of their offerings. Although this may appear as an obvious solution, in the current economic climate ...
Read More »More than ever, leadership matters 
While opinions vary about the type of change needed in our world, most agree that there’s a need for change. Significant change. And Rochester isn’t immune. Businesses here are challenged by supply chain hurdles, tight labor markets and economic uncertainty. ...
Read More »The importance of succession planning – Guest Opinion 
Rochester has seen its share of successful leadership succession planning, most recently the Paychex CEO transition from Marty Mucci to John Gibson, both long term veterans of the company.
Read More »Why is Europe more egalitarian than the United States? 
Egalitarian-minded Americans standardly look at Europe and many wish that we would import some of Europe’s best practices so that income inequality in the US is not as high as it is today. This raises the question of what “best practices” we ought to import so as to make us in the US, at least along the income equality dimension, more like them in Europe.
Read More »The brain drain is back 
Organizations in central and western New York are at an unfair competitive disadvantage. They will continue to find their experienced staff depleted and be forced to compete by raising prices, downsizing or selling out.
Read More »Good paying jobs will reduce violence 
This new year we must be intentional about treating economic development as an investment in public safety. I support tax incentives to bring new jobs to our state, but these employers must also ensure that the promised jobs are accessible to those families that need them most. Ribbon cuttings and photo-ops are not enough. We need specific strategies to remove hiring barriers by thinking about transportation, childcare, and workforce training as part of the job creation formula.
Tagged with: Edwards Vacuum jeremy cooney Micron
Read More »Technology can help transition away from fossil fuels: The case of wind energy 
There is now incontrovertible evidence that global warming is real and that humans have played a non-trivial role in giving rise to this phenomenon. As such, it is no surprise to learn that public policy is increasingly focused on getting ...
Read More »Supporting LGBTQ+ students in a dangerous national context 
When students go to school, what are they actually doing? On the one hand, they’re acquiring. They’re acquiring the knowledge associated with the academic disciplines, from English and History to STEM, the arts, languages, etc. The way we talk about ...
Read More »What is the value of free food? 
Food pantries clearly provide a valuable service to the general food assistance landscape in the United States. These pantries source food from food banks that are themselves frequently a part of the “Feeding America” network. The goal here is to ...
Read More »Americans need a national strategy on grief in 2023
The soaring demand for mental health services in the past couple of years, including therapy and counseling, further demonstrates that people need access to timely bereavement care provided by experts who are knowledgeable, experienced and trained in helping others cope with grief.
Read More »Dysfunctional boards and the psychology of group dynamics 
“Why do boards of directors or trustees, charged with protecting the healthy productive growth of an organization, become dysfunctional and ultimately damage the institution?”
Tagged with: group dynamics psychology Wilfred Bion
Read More »Leadership is born out of a crucible 
Leaders have integrity and never compromise it. Integrity is defined as your moral compass, the ability to judge between what is right and wrong and act accordingly
Tagged with: leadership Warren Bennis
Read More »Guest opinion: Processes, not incentives – what we need to address climate change now 
This means thinking seriously about geoengineering or climate engineering. This kind of engineering embraces two types of technologies: carbon dioxide removal and, most interestingly, sunlight reflection methods.
Tagged with: carbon dioxide climate change
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