Business: Did you ever wonder what happens to all of the sports memorabilia that gets manufactured in advance of a big event with the name and logo of the losing team? Good news, it gets donated.

Energy: I have been interested in the path of energy use in this country, ever since I took a Senior Seminar on Energy in college. At that time, Amory Lovins was a leading voice of the doom and gloom prognosticators. In this easy to read article, he talks about the future of energy distribution. This reminds me of the change from central phone switching systems to cellular towers everywhere.
In other news, Google has started a pilot program that will develop energy solutions, starting with providing energy usage breakdowns for your house. If you knew the cost of using specific items, you would have an idea as to where to start conservation efforts, right?

Business: Jim Jacoby wrote a thoughtful piece comparing the macro economy to the community within a company or project team.

Entrepreneurship: OK folks, those of you with a great idea, step right on up. Mark Cuban is proposing his own stimulus plan called Open Source Funding. He will be reviewing business plans and looking to fund the most impressive. There are some ground rules, though. You must post your business plan for all to review. You will be funded month to month. You need to be cash flow positive in 60 days and profitable in 90 days. No advertising income. Still an interesting idea, if you have the business plan and the moxie to publish it.

Politics: Bob Woodward has some advice for President Barack Obama based on lessons learned during President George W. Bush‘s presidency.

Technology: Have a need to generate an org chart or flowchart but don’t want to shell out the big bucks for Visio? Check out an easy to use, free, web based alternative that is fun to play with called Lovely Charts.

Economy: Today’s “Wow, didn’t see that one coming award”. The CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, published an open letter to President Obama in the New York Times recently asking that his taxes be raised.

Big Picture: Paul Graham is a very strategic thinker. In his essay, “Keep Your Identity Small“, he compares religious and political arguments to most others. The key, he opines, is that you don’t have to be an expert to argue about either topic. In most other areas, one doesn’t usually participate in an discussion unless she has a minimum level of expertise. In religion and politics, anything goes. Paul advises us to keep our Identity small, so that we can be more tolerant of other’s positions.

Consulting: Ian Ayres talked about relational versus non-relational arrangements with large consulting companies. Pretty dull stuff, until Ian related these to Charlie Sheen‘s trial for using prostitutes and his quote “I don’t pay them for sex. I pay them to leave.”

Chicago: What if Oprah bought the Chicago Sun-Times?, Phil Rosenthal muses.

Business: Time Magazine discusses how this recession compares with others regarding job losses. It is scary out there folks.

Art: Something about the economy must be helping the Lego folks. There was a creative look at New York via Lego. And then this story about an artist who uses Lego bricks in his creations. And the inauguration in Lego.

The Advisor

Tag Archives: strategy

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