A View from The Prairie, 2023

January 2023

Separate or Together?

Many people quit their job and go off on their own only later to get a board of advisors, join networking groups and trade associations. Britain left the European Union but a number of other countries are trying to join. The Texas Republicans voted to leave the US but thousands of others are trying to get in. Methodist churches are leaving the denomination. Separate or together, which is better? That all depends on what you value. "Network Effects" also play a role.

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Resilience

After years of drought, California is finally getting some rain. Some might say too much rain. Those who had adapted to the drought conditions watch their preparations float away. There are those who are destroyed by events and those who pivot, dance, and find a way out no matter what happened. Resilience is far more than having good defenses against calamity. Resilience is the ability to find a way forward through any and all circumstances.

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February 2023

Collaborative Management

News channels are full of the "back to the office" push. Yet, in the rush to go back to "the good old ways of business", many managers may do the effort in the wrong way generating more resentment and quitting. The push needs to be clearly needs based and done with the goal of furthering the mission of the business. A new and collaborative method of management may be needed.

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Fraud Not Detected

Now that the Federal Reserve is trying to stop the party, a lot of managers will be trying to keep the party going. Many will be tempted to "fudge" things to cover up how bad business really is. Over time, these efforts could lead them into outright fraud. The amount of fraud can be surprising. One estimate is that up to 10 percent of public corporations commit misrepresentations or fraud in any given year and 40% commit some kind of accounting violation.

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