Musings

Approximately 1/3 of Basecamp’s staff (18 of 57 people) have resigned or given notice after management banned social and political discussions on company email accounts. Has Basecamp “imploded,” or do the departures represent “addition by subtraction”? Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right My previous column discussed the rationale and details of Basecamp’s new policy. More …

Wokeness At Work II. Basecamp: Implosion, Or Addition By Subtraction? Read More »

Just before I started my first job after college, my grandmother pulled me aside and told me, “Don’t talk about religion or politics at work.” That was 35 years ago. Is her advice coming back into fashion? Once Is An Accident. Twice Is A Coincidence. Three Times Is A Trend Coinbase: Focus On Core Mission …

Wokeness At Work: Is The Pendulum Swinging Back? Coinbase, Basecamp & Google Read More »

Shareholders of the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (“SPAC”) Multiplan Corp. are suing deal sponsors, who made millions while regular investors lost big. Should we pity these investors, or chalk up another case of fools and their money being soon parted? Experience Is The Best Teacher — A Fool Can Learn No Other Way The plaintiffs’ …

Red-Flagging SPACs: The Lawsuit Against Multiplan Corp. Read More »

Dozens of CEOs and other senior leaders conferred via Zoom this past weekend to explore responses to draft voting-law reforms in various U.S. states. The Zoom call followed Major League Baseball’s pulling its 2021 All Star Game from Atlanta in response to Georgia’s recent voting law. Voting access and voting integrity lie at the heart …

Voting Laws: When Should CEOs Lead Their Companies Into Crossfires? Read More »

Picking through the charred remains of a Tesla crash last weekend, first responders found two bodies in passenger seats, but none at the wheel. It’s possible they incorrectly used Tesla’s much-touted “Autopilot” feature. If so, did they die from their own folly, or from overhyped marketing? Electric Cars Are Not Carbon Neutral When They Burn …

Did Overhyped Marketing Kill Two Tesla Passengers? “Autopilot” That Isn’t Read More »

Dozens of CEOs and other senior leaders conferred via Zoom this past weekend to explore responses to draft voting-law reforms in various U.S. states. The Zoom call followed Major League Baseball’s pulling its 2021 All Star Game from Atlanta in response to Georgia’s recent voting law. Voting access and voting integrity lie at the heart …

Voting Laws: When Should CEOs Lead Their Companies Into Crossfires? Read More »

Want to test your ability to tell fact from opinion? Start by picking test maker who can. Slightly Better Than Guesswork A Pew Research Center survey asked just over 5,000 U.S. adults to categorize as either factual or opinion each of 10 statements relating to policy and current affairs. Researchers found that only one quarter …

Pew Research Says Americans Can’t Tell Fact From Opinion; Neither Can Pew Read More »

A just society prizes equity. Seeking it — achieving it — require careful thought and effort. Unfortunately, that does not always happen. How can we prevent a concept as important as “equity” from devolving into a catchphrase? “I Put That S**t On Everything” One measure of a catchphrase is its memorability. Here, Frank’s Red Hot …

What Do ‘Equity’ And Frank’s Red Hot Sauce Have In Common? Read More »

High-level deal making is an art. Now, some top entrepreneurs are partnering with a Nobel-winning contract theorist and other academics to combine art and theory into new best practices. How can we turn such innovation into advantage? In Deal Making, The Contract Comes Last And Least Deal making is too important to be left to …

Better Deal Making: Turning Art & Theory Into New Best Practices Read More »

Environmental impact has become a key metric for business ethics and governance. It’s also an issue that should concern everyone. Duty calls for digging into the numbers. Does recent data on electric vehicles (“EVs”) suggest that they will pull us back from the climate brink — or push us over it? What Time Does the …

Will Electric Vehicles Pull Us Back From The Climate Brink — Or Push Us Over It? Read More »