Archive for 'Business & Economy'
The Future of Outsourcing
Recently I had the chance to sit down with Kate Vitasek, author of the new book, Vested Outsourcing, with Mike Ledyard and Karl Manrodt. Outsourcing is a controversial but fundamental business activity – as Kate notes Peter Drucker used to say “Do what you do best and outsource the rest,” and the idea of [...]
Full StoryWhat is Smart Growth
January was the hottest month on record (going back to 1880) in Seattle, some 7 degrees F above normal You can see the evidence in this photo of my Iris’s that I just took. Kind of messes up the notion that because it was cold on the East Coast this year that global [...]
Full StoryRight on Economic Growth
Now and then it is nice, as a futurist, to see that something you forecast and expected is coming to fruition, especially when what you said ran counter to a lot of common wisdom. Two economic announcements today confirm what I was saying about Microsoft in the middle of last year, and about the [...]
Full StoryFuture of U.S. Health Insurance Costs
Recently my friend Mark Anderson was quoted as saying that rising health insurance costs were a key reason that General Motors faltered. This was my argument when I suggested to Business Week early this year that relieving business of the private insurance industry costs would be an innovation that would assist in getting beyond [...]
Full StoryZino Society Investment Forum – Winners and My Keynote Speech
I had a great time yesterday at the Zino Society Zillionaire Investment Forum, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle. I had the privilege of delivering a brief keynote speech. The Forum was an opportunity for 28 entrepreneurs to present the investment case for their companies, competing for two investment prizes of $50,000, [...]
Full StoryFuture of Travel and Tourism
Last week I spoke to the Travel and Tourism Research Association on alternative futures for travel and tourism. It was the 40th Annual Conference of the association, held in Honolulu, and my appearance was coordinated by Goldstar Speakers. The key slides from my brief program are available for download via Slideshare.
I asked where [...]
World on FiRe – Notes & Impressions from FiRe 2009
Last week included four eventful days at the annual Future In Review conference put on by the Strategic News Service. This year, the last at the San Diego Del Coronado was the best of the five I have attended, of the eight that have been held. (full disclosure – I am on [...]
Full StoryAt the Beginning of the Beginning
I had the opportunity to hear Peter Senge speak last week at the Northwest Leadership Summit, sponsored by Center for Leadership Formation in the Albers School of Business at Seattle University. The theme of the event was an exploration of how companies around the world and locally are leading the change from “business as usual.”
I [...]
What Comes After the Great Recession?
My year as a consulting futurist and speaker began on January 8, 2009 with a speech on future trends for Cobalt, a company that does websites and other marketing and computer services for the auto-dealer community, historically General Motors dealerships. They obviously face some big challenges in 2009.
In that speech I said, for the [...]
Economic Turn-Around Leads to Slow Recovery
Yesterday, on April 1, 2009, not as an April Fools Day gag but as a serious forecast I posted my Quarterly Forecast for 2009 Q2, titled “Economic Turn-Around Leads to Slow Recovery.” As far back as my 2009 annual Outlook article and video for 2009, I have run counter to the prevailing wisdom on [...]
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