Science fiction authors imagined artificial intelligence (AI) using its superior computing power to conquer humanity. Lucky for us, that hasn’t come to pass (yet!). Instead, what we have is so much better: helpful AI capable of automating many key tasks involved in running your business.
The recent US college admissions scandal hit the news largely because a few celebrities were involved, but this kind of thing must be going on all the time. To recap the scandal:
The FBI says pushy parents paid $25m in bribes to get university places for their children.
Actress Lori Loughlin is alleged to have paid $500,000 for college places for her two daughters, in a deal which also got them on to the University of Southern California rowing team.
A family business can be anything from a single mom-and-pop store to a global corporation like Red Bull, BMW or Mittal Steel. What marks them out from other businesses is the family dynamics going on within the company and in the boardroom, which can sometimes lead to quirky management styles and unique cultures and procedures. All this is very old-school, but today’s family-run companies include some of the most innovative and successful business around. Wal-Mart, anyone? Ford? Toyota? The Tata Group? Samsung? All multi-generational family-run businesses.
LinkedIn Learning have published a list of the skills companies need most in 2019 and how to learn them. We’ll get to the list and provide course suggestions, but first it’s worth knowing that LinkedIn Learning is in fact the old Lynda.com, which LinkedIn acquired back in 2015 and re-skinned as LinkedIn Learning.
“I don’t have time for mindfulness and meditation!” says everyone with a job ever. “I’ve got too much to do!”
This is ironic. A mindful mind is more alert, efficient and productive than a non-mindful one, and this creates more ... guess what ... time in which to get things done. Plus an uncluttered mind doesn’t get stressed, feels better, listens better, and does better.
What skills do employers value most? The ones that fill a hot current skills gap, like blockchain or cybersecurity? Sure, you can snap up a job right now in one of those areas if you’re skilled up, and probably a well-paid one too. But if you start out now on the learning path hoping for a slice of the action, maybe by the time you’ve acquired the skills – which could take years – the market might be flooded with prospectors who’ve had the same idea and the opportunity could have flown the roost.
What did the Romans ever do for us? Well, they gave us roads, sanitation, a legal system, and lots of cool gadgets. The Greeks weren’t half bad either. Some of the great engineering feats of history were accomplished two millennia or so before our own era, which we tend rather arrogantly to consider the pinnacle of technology.
The Open College in the UK is offering a course in Dog Psychology. Upon completion you will have earned the right to have after your name the designatory letters Dip.Dog.Psy and will be awarded with a Diploma Certificate bearing the title.
It’s a cruel fact that the world’s call centres and fast food restaurants are full of workers who have an arts degree but don’t know how to capitalise on it. World famous Central Saint Martins arts and design college aims to change this. It doesn’t just train people to be arty and then release them into the wild to fend for themselves – it also offers a trio of courses in business skills aimed at helping students live their dream and make a living from it.
Despite globalization, each country and region has its own business systems and culture. From one country to another there can be dramatic differences in how people view authority, how much personal responsibility they take for their companies’ fortunes, and how organisations are structured. Finance and accounting methods vary widely. HR practices are by no means homogeneous around the globe. So executives working in global business need to be made aware of these regional differences and develop the ability to function effectively within them and transition smoothly between them.
Bletchley Park, a suburb of Milton Keynes in England, was central to World War Two intelligence efforts. Scientists including Alan Turing designed the first ever electric programmable computer there (Colossus) and used it to crack the Nazi’s Enigma Code. Bletchley Park is synonymous with British codebreaking and also now houses the National Museum of Computing.
