We're All Going To Be Hacked!

No, I am not talking about the likely chance of getting your computer hacked at the Olympic games in Sochi. Rather, I'm referring to the "hacking" that is a mindset and term of change that a small group of innovators are implementing, and we should get used to it.

Hacking is essentially changing, revising, and morphing the limits of an idea, item or event into another. The idea of "hacking" something traditional and creating something innovative began with the invention of "hackschooling."

I have never included a video in my postings but you need to watch this TED talk. It explains the idea of "hacking" applied to education - ie, "hackschooling." According to hackschooling.net, "the most innovative entrepreneurs are people who are able to hack the status quo and create something completely new."

So, how can hacking help you achieve your goals? While your ambitions may not necessarily be the same as Logan's, the hacking mindset is definitely one that can be used for any goal.

Hackschooling makes me happy: 

Logan LaPlante at TEDxUniversityofNevada

Now I'm not asking you to go reinvent the wheel, but it might be a good time to actively seek out new options, consciously look at things with a new perspective, and work towards a healthier and happier outcome for all.

I've compiled a list of "mind-sets" and actions that can help you and your coworkers a happier and more innovative bunch:

Basically, I want the takeaway to be this: Getting out of our comfort zones invites both risk and possibility, and true innovators love both.

New Soho Crime Novel, "Cold Storage, Alaska" is Reviewed by the New York Times

Benay Client, Soho Press, has a new crime novel in the New York Times book review. Cold Storage, Alaska is written by John Straley who has written three other books about the snowy northern state for Soho Crime.

Straley’s bold combination of the Church and State-prison may be viewed by the truly religious as a crime in itself, regardless of his story-line and plot. However, when you add in the fact that this novel is based in a small village in northern Alaska that thrives off of booze and survives off of the antique economy of fishing, readers will begin to realize that this book is more inclined to highlight our human struggles rather than disrespect anyone’s God or Church.

Despite the fact that Straley is not the first nor will be the last to tackle the secularization of our once sacred institutions, Straley is nothing short of brilliant when it comes to making the characters very human, and therefore the story that much more believable. Readers can only hope and pray for a better synthesis of vice and religion, two worlds that may not be that far apart.

You can purchase the book on Soho Press’ website.

-Antonio Rivera

The Good, The Bad, and The Young: Letting the Younger Generations Prove Themselves in the Workplace

Photo Credit: Koren Shadmi - NY Times

On Sunday, there was an article in the New York Times, which hit close to home.  As a Millenial who graduated with a Liberal Arts degree, I can sympathize with the trials young people face in the job market. We’re not only competing against each other, but also with those from older generations who were hit by the Great Recession and are thus willing to take an entry-level salary.

Robert Goldfarb, a management consultant for corporations and the author of the aforementioned article, has noted a peculiar bias against the Millenial generation by upper management. He found that many executives are frustrated by their own anecdotal interactions with Millenials and thus transpose these on an entire generation.

For example, executives have told Goldfarb anecdotes such as “’When I was my grandson’s age, I started at the bottom and worked my way up; he’s not willing to do that.’ Or, ‘My daughter majored in philosophy, of all things — how will that get her anywhere?’” Goldfarb explains that even if they don’t have a personal experience, Gen-Yers are usually slumped into the description (the one we’ve heard repeated time and time again) of being self-absorbed and lazy.

“The general message from these leaders is this: More young people would be hired if they had the right qualifications, but too few have the skills and discipline needed to succeed in today’s demanding workplace.”

The Millenials are often slated as the “entitled generation” but are never given the chance to prove themselves as a competent and intelligent bunch. However, most of us are ready to prove ourselves in the work environment. We may appear overeager but that’s certainly better than being apathetic, right?

According to Goldfarb it is. “Rather than waiting for educational institutions or the government to bridge this generation gap, employers should consider accepting some responsibility for introducing young people into the work force.”

Goldfarb explains that hiring and training young people, even those with liberal arts degrees or those who never graduated college, can give employers a leg up when the economy finally rebounds.  After all, we are “a population hungry to prove its value.”


- Marcie Gainer, Executive Assistant

Unconscious Biases: In Your Biased Opinion...

Are you biased towards employees or coworkers? You? Of course not, but I'm not only talking about gender or race bias. Biases can be much more nuanced than we think. In fact, they may be so nuanced that we don't even know they exist. According to The Wall Street Journal, we all have biases and they can often subconsciously affect decisions.

Biases we may not detect in ourselves that can affect our attitudes towards others include judgments on how people dress, look, speak, act, smell, sound, or even walk. One might think a quiet individual disengaged or disinterested, while they are actually intensely thinking or contemplating a comment or strategy. Many of us over a certain age may find tattoos, piercings, or other body jewelry surprising to see visible in the workplace while younger generations don't even notice.

Cook Ross, Inc. provides "Unconscious Bias" training for businesses: "For years it has been clear that people make decisions every day that impact some groups more negatively than others: decisions about hiring, about purchasing, about promotions, about job assignments."

Large corporations are catching on - "As many as 20% of large U.S. employers with diversity programs now provide unconscious bias training, up from 2% five years ago." With this upward trend, it's likely that this type of employee training will reach 50% in the next five years.

The take away from all of this is the old adage:

"Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged."

Men: A Correlation Between Personal Relationships with Women and Work Relationships with Women?

Poodlesrock/Corbis

As a first born daughter whose father was also my business partner and company founder, this article in December’s Atlantic resonated with me.

The article, “How Women Change Men,” reveals a correlation between men’s relationships with women at work based on their personal relationships with women.

For example “male CEOs with firstborn daughters actually pay their employees more, giving female employees the biggest raises.” Furthermore, “Men who have daughters also grow less attached to traditional gender roles…”

You can read the entire article here. Check it out and see if you agree with the findings.

- Dawn Reshen-Doty, President

The Consumer Electronics Show

If you can’t seem to find any of your tech friends this week, it’s likely because they’re attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. According the WSJ, wearable gadgets are flooding the CES. It might be time to start lifting weights to strengthen those wrists for these novelty gadgets. Read more about the future of this emerging technology.

Don't Start 2014 Off-Key: Why You Need Key Person Insurance

2014 is upon us. You and your partner(s) have created and now run a successful business. You have business insurance, liability insurance, property and casualty, health, unemployment, and what must seem like a mountain of other policy coverage depending upon your specific industry requirements. What's often overlooked in many instances is key person insurance, also known as key man insurance.

Colin Aiken, Assistant VP of the Life & Benefits Division of Emery & Webb, Inc. best sums up the objective of key man insurance; "It is to provide funds to recruit, select and train a key employee's

replacement, replace lost profits and continue the confidence of customers, creditors and employees." Simply put, it is life insurance to cover financial losses in case of the death or incapacity of an important or "key" member of the business. It typically is in place only during the tenure of a key individual, should their inability to work cause potential major financial losses or business interruption due to their absence or death.

Many members or partners bring a specific and often unique skill set to a business: one might be the rainmaker in the business, with substantial contacts and networks that feed the growth of the business; another with an extensive history or knowledge in a certain field, and another might be someone who handles a specific area of expertise or concentration of your business that would be hard to replace and therefore have an immediate or substantial impact to your bottom line should death or an accident occur.

Macabre as it might seem, it's essential to the stability and future planning of an organization with more than one partner, and is a business coverage and expense that you should not be without. Typically it's thought of as an economic bridge to tide over the company's potential loss of income until an individual can be replaced. The policy is always treated as an emergency coverage for lost earnings and is for specific amount of money rather than a revenue source. It is also usually paid for and owned by the business itself.

What's little known is that this type of insurance is often portable or convertible. The individual insured can take this life insurance policy with them if they should leave the organization. The policy, assuming it has been in place long enough to accrue value, can also be sold, which is a life settlement. Typically this is done by older individuals who are looking for an immediate cash settlement and their policies are considered a current asset. The prices paid for these policies can range from 10 to 75 percent of the death benefits.

Many of these policies, if in place for a longer period of time, are cheaper for an individual to request their company to release to them personally rather than going back into the insurance marketplace to acquire life insurance at an older age, which means a more expensive policy. Key person insurance can be also used as deferred executive compensation. Always check with your accountant when setting up these plans with your insurance agents as they are considered assets of your business and have tax ramifications both on the personal and business level.

So there actually is an insurance policy that can be used before you die-imagine that! But on that note: here's to your health and happiness in 2014. Happy New Year to all our clients, colleagues, and friends.