From a Briefing on Our Alternative Data, Augmented Analytics Platform
COVID-19 uncovered and amplified structural and emerging issues at American companies of all sizes. These span employee-employer and peer-to-peer relationships. These problems require simple, useful, and practical ideas plus experiments. And a balance between employee well-being and employer profits under cultural norms and extreme change is key.
During the Great Depression — a most frightening time — President Franklin Roosevelt made this memorable statement during his First Inaugural Address:
Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
As leaders, we confront comparable fear, anxiety, divisive tendencies, and anger of our employees. How do we deal with it?
We remember that we have been here many times before.
Any American over 70 would have lived through all these frightening times. Younger Americans have lived through many of them.
In the early 1950’s, Americans were so fearful of children contracting the deadly and debilitating polio virus that swimming pools were closed during the summers and parents did not take their children to public beaches. That threat abated when the Salk vaccine was developed.
The Ides of March, famous as the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated, is noteworthy for me as it’s the day I was born. On that day, God gave me breath... and a monkey. I’m thankful for the breath...not so much for the monkey.
— Alan Steelman
Alan Steelman is a Charter Member of the MakeUsWell Network. He has enjoyed success in the political and business arena and is now in the third interaction of a career: helping people be well. He is the author of Managing Your Monkey: Mind Fitness (2022).
MakeUsWell reviewed his book and found it compelling, insightful, and practical. Alan tells an engrossing story while providing useful suggestions to manage the day-to-day stressors of life.
MakeUsWell highly recommends this book!
Over the past several weeks, when sharing what I’ve learned about the expanding and compelling body of research on the harmful effects of social media, I encountered bewilderment, denial, and highly confident—but misguided—responses from many well-educated people.
We are in the midst of multiple societal crises that manifest themselves in an explosive growth of mental illness, substance abuse, alienation from work, political and cultural division, and increased violence. But most of us are unable to step back and diagnose the potential root causes of these crises.
Family man and entrepreneur David Joosten’s ability to measure probability and recognize trends started at a young age. While most students in high school are busy with the banality of adolescence, David found his passion for entrepreneurship early and started a business as a PowerSeller on Ebay. Clearing six figures selling video games and DVDs led to studying economics at Harvard.
After graduation, he joined marketing at Google. There he learned how data-driven marketing worked at scale—making growth systematic—with a team that was eclectic and inspiring.