In manufacturing, one measure of the efficiency and quality of a process is its sigma rating – which can refer either to yield or the percentage of defect-free products it creates. The number in front of the sigma symbol (σ) indicates where the process’s output lies on the bell curve of standard deviation. 1σ is terrible, with 69% of products coming off the production line with defects – a massive waste of resources. 2σ would see around a 31% defect rate. 3σ would be about 7%.

Business is all about calculated risk. The key word there is ‘calculated’. In order for a business to prosper in the long term, it needs to identify, quantify and manage the risks it faces. In the mind of the astute businessperson ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ is not a rhetorical question. If it IS used as a rhetorical question, it often heralds disaster in the same way as the words ’Here, hold my beer!’ often herald some kind of pratfall that delights YouTube viewers.

The #MeToo movement has brought all forms of sexual harassment into the spotlight and there has been a corresponding spike in subscriptions to online workplace harassment training videos and eLearning courses for staff training.

May 25th, 2018 is going to be an interesting day. It’s when the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force, and it affects anyone, globally, who deals with the personal data of EU citizens. That might come as a shock to organizations outside the EU who thought it didn’t affect them. The new rules were announced two years ago so there has been plenty of time to prepare, but human nature and the not-particularly-interesting subject matter have made sure that there is now a rush to get compliance before the May deadline.

In recent years a series of legal dominoes have toppled in the United States surrounding the supply and consumption of a well-known herb with serrated leaves. In 2016 alone Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts legalized recreational cannabis, joining other legalized states like Oregon, Colorado, Alaska and, most recently, California. As the dominoes topple, an industry is being created that has already netted billions of dollars, not only in the supply of cannabis as a commodity but also in the education sector.

Why are business phone bills so hard to understand? They contain either too much detail or not enough, which usually leads business owners and accountants to give up and just pay the bill, as long as it’s within 10 to 20% of last quarter’s bill. The bills are so hard to figure out, it’s almost as if the phone companies have something to hide.