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"It is an unquestioned truth of modern life: we are all starved for time. With the rise of 2-income families, extreme jobs, and the ability to log on to the world around the clock, we can barely find time to breathe.
At least that's the way the story goes. Yet there are some people who don't seem to feel this way. Not only do they have full personal and professional lives, they often claim they could fit more in if they wished!
How do these people do so much with their time? How do they do so much and not even feel stressed about it?"
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"The bubble began at the dawn of the 21st century, and fed off the elixir of ultra-low interest rates. Low rates had been orchestrated by the Fed chairman, Alan Greenspan, with the steadfast support of his then-fellow Fed governor, Ben Bernanke. With credit cheap, Americans flocked to refinance their homes and to bid up the prices of new ones. This much was predictable. But the mortgage boom of the early 2000s was unlike others. A wave of unorthodox lenders sought to lure customers whose credit was judged to be less than prime—that is, subprime. These eager lenders were hailed as suburban Johnny Appleseeds, planting a mortgage in every backyard. Instead of a mere boom, they incited a social upheaval, much as did the dot.com promoters a decade earlier."
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"We've reached the limits of what George W. Bush used to call the 'ownership society.' Owning your own home made sense when people could hope to hold a job for most or all of their lives. But in an economy that revolves around mobility and flexibility, a house that can't be sold becomes an economic trap, preventing people from moving freely to economic opportunity.
Not only has that piece of the American Dream grown dark, but it's also clear that financial excess in the housing sector was one of the central causes of the economic crisis. Housing sucked up far too much of the nation's and the world's capital, and too many people—already overextended by the purchase of outsized houses—used those homes like virtual ATMs to finance carefree consumption. Every Great Reset has seen our system of housing change, and this one is no different. The rate of home ownership has been on the decline for some time now. Many of those who still choose to buy
homes will choose smaller ones, while many more will opt for rental housing."
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"There is a fundamental 'profit disconnect' in business today. Companies work to bring a product to market by investing significant effort and money in research and development, distribution, and marketing strategies. But when it comes to setting a price - how businesses get compensated for their hard work and financial risk - most companies drop the ball. Critical pricing decisions are often made using arbitrary 'this is the way we've always done it' methods. Companies are shortchanging themselves every day."
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"What's often missing when leaders try to decide how open they should be is a coherent open strategy, something I call 'open-driven objectives.' With an open strategy, decision shifts from if you should be open—because social technology demands a certain amount of openness—to how open you need to be to accomplish your overall strategic goals. In today's world, organizations and their leaders must be open or suffer the consequences—distrust, leaks, resentment, and institutional sclerosis."
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