The Rapid Response Institute

Tag: Great Depression

  • Hierarchy of Team Needs in Challenging Times

    Hierarchy of Team Needs in Challenging Times

    First it was Covid-19 and now a Recession?  Is a Global Military Conflict on the Horizon as well?

     

    Social, economic and personal pressures continue to mount.  There is already evidence of Reductions in Force, (RIF) aka layoffs are underway or planned.  With consumers stretched to the max, higher interest rates, equity markets in retreat and a struggling real estate environment, one wonders what the holiday season will bring.

    Cross Cultural (Diverse) Teams

    Ronald Reagan is credited with saying, “Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.”  Would that it would be that simple.

    As we have addressed in the series on several occasions organizational teams consists of different types of people with diverse background and perspectives on life.  More importantly team members can be at different levels of maturity (both personally and organizationally).  We will address this in more detail.

    Maslow’s Hierarchy

    Many are familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  While a simple physiological (group level) safety model and as my colleague Rob Jones discusses in his new book, A Hole In Science–Grammar of The Sociological Problem.  He takes a very sophisticated and well thought out approach to addressing this group dynamic problem.  For our purposes in the blog, his in-depth analysis is really for professionals and not the casual reader.  However, for those interested, I highly recommend this newly released publication.

    Released in the early 1940s, the hierarchy consists of these five levels of needs that humans progressively move through (these levels were take directly from the aforementioned linked article and should be treated as direct quotations):

    1. Physiological–Air, water, food, sleep, health, clothes, and shelter, etc.
    2. Safety–Include personal and emotional security (e.g., safety from abuse), financial security, and wellbeing.
    3. Belongingness and Love–Family connections, friendship, and intimacy.
    4. Esteem–According to Maslow, there are two subtypes of esteem.  The first is esteem reflected in others’ perceptions of us.  That is, esteem in the form of prestige, status, recognition, attention, appreciation, or admiration.  The second form of esteem is rooted in a desire for confidence, strength, independence, and the ability to achieve.
    5. Self-Actualization–Examples include the acquisition of a romantic partner, parenting, the utilization and development of one’s talents and abilities, and goal pursuit 

    Maslow and others continued to advance the model, but readers can get the gist of it from these definitions.  Moreover, the following short (2.17 min) video covers this model very effectively.

    We can look at Maslow through the lens of a Maturity Model.  For example, certain Teams and/or Individuals might be higher up the hierarchy than others.

    This may change team interactions.  Usually, such models reflect the maturity of the lowest member.

    With the stress of an economic setback, some members may move from of a position of feeling good to one of Safety if jobs or personal cash flow are threatened.

    Guidelines for Going Forward

    In one sense,, teams composed of individuals in different phases of the Hierarchy are no different than other diverse teams.  Teambuilding techniques such as found in our Cross Cultural Serious Games are good tools to teach team member about the state of mind of their team members and/or competitors.

    We have been through tough times before and we will all get through this one as well.  Be sure to learn from history so as not to repeat it.

    How are you helping your family and organization deal with challenging times?

    Note: The definition of a recession is a political football and this is a blog about organizational excellence and not politics.  Investopedia has a good and generally accepted definition of the term (recession) and it is provided herein for completeness.  Readers can decide for themselves as to  its relevance to their individual situation.

    For More Information

    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials herein.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    The author’s credentials in this field are available on his LinkedIn page.

    “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” (Martin Luther King speech at Cornell College, 1962).  For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game.  You can contact this author as well.

    For more insight regarding the economics of Climate Change, check out our recent blog, Crippling Green.

    For those start-up firms addressing energy (including renewables) challenges, the author is a member of Global Energy Mentors which provide no-cost mentoring services from energy experts.  If interested, check it out and give us a shout.

  • Will Price Controls Work This Time?

    Will Price Controls Work This Time?

    Update: Just after we published this edition, Goldman Sachs released this comprehensive research piece; Stagflation Risk.

    Recently, one media outlet raised the suggestion of government price controls.  Generally, seen as a bad idea, none-the-less in this inflationary environment, some may perceive value from an action of this kind.

    Additionally, in the current environment some politicians favor cancelling the gasoline tax at both the state and federal levels.  This might beg the question, if these taxes can be abated, why are they in place anyway?

    In 1971, President Nixon implemented price and wage controls.   Some saw this as an election ploy and if so, it worked as he was reelected.  In 2008, the free market Republican George W. Bush stated that sometimes you have to, “abandon free‐​market principles to save the free‐​market system.”  WHAT?

    Elected politicians often think they know more about running companies and economies than those who actually do.  Printing money and regulating commercial processes that they know nothing about, usually in the name of the people who may have put them in office.  Since most of these individuals do not have a working knowledge of the economy, is it any wonder that they bugger things up when they insert themselves?

    And Now!

    Self imposed, inflation is now higher than it has been since the 1970s.  Blamed on a third world country invading its neighbor, leadership states, I “can’t do much” about gasoline prices.  Need I say, malarkey!  The world is awash with ‘clean’ fossil fuels; societies just choose not to use them effectively.

    The concept of an Energy Basket is well defined and depending on geographical location, and need requirements any or all can be used as economically feasible.  Moreover, the concept of Energy Transition is not new.

    In  1993,  Theodore Modis published this diagram in his peer reviewed work, Technological Substitutions in the Computer Industry whereby he presented a technology substitution model that both energy and silicon mapped to very well.

    While renewables were not included in the model, readers will get the point that energy transition has always been an on going process.

    We further discussed this process in our 2015 book, Structural Dynamics: Foundation of Next Generation Management Science.  We defined, Structural Dynamics “the morphology or patterns of motion towards process equilibrium of interpersonal systems.”  In other words the nexus of structure and process whereby markets seek equilibrium if only for a time.

    Markets drive technology substitution.  Only when the economics of new energy sources are acceptable does the ‘take up’ move quickly.

    Volckerism

    Tough Love by the Fed kicked Stagflation in the gut and yes it hurt the US economy for years, but it saved the country from a worse fate.  From the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, “On Oct. 6, 1979, Fed Chairman Paul Volcker took dramatic steps to rein in the runaway inflation that had been sapping the strength of our economy since the mid-1960s.  Without his bold change in monetary policy and his determination to stick with it through several painful years, the U.S. economy would have continued its downward spiral.  By reversing the misguided policies of his predecessors, Volcker set the table for the long economic expansions of the 1980s and 1990s.”

    In 1965, the inflation rate was one percent.  By 1980, it had hit 14 percent.  Per Chairman Volcker’s statement, both Nixon and Carter implemented price controls with catastrophic effects on the nation.

    The Heavy Hand

    This  is not a piece on fiscal or monetary policy, rather it is meant as a wake up call from someone who lived through that period.  Distorted markets always correct, often rapidly and harshly.  The Great Depression comes to mind as well, as the Dotcom Bubble, Financial Crisis of  2008, etc.

    Those interested in the details and theory of human behavior in this period can follow up with the cited materials as well as a wealth of knowledge on  the subject of price controls.

    Bottom line, price controls did not work.  Markets became distorted.  Moreover, easy credit (very low interest rate) transformed to expensive credit (high interest rate) and eventually this painful process negatively transformed the marketplace in ways most contemporary readers have never known their whole life.

    Price controls are tempting.  It is easy to say, lets stop corporations from making obscene profits or gouging.  However, the downside negatively impacts those who need economic help the  most.

    One expects that in the coming months, especially as the election nears calls for price controls will become louder.  History has shown the results of such actions as economic suicide.

    How will your company prepare for mandated price freezes?

    For More Information

    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game.  You can contact this author as well.

    References:

    Modis, Theodore. (1993). Technological Substitutions in the Computer Industry. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 43. pp. 157-167.

  • The 1950s Were So Good Because the 1930s & 40s Were So Very Bad

    The 1950s Were So Good Because the 1930s & 40s Were So Very Bad

    An early Baby Boomer, born in 1948 this post war pundit watched (pun intended) the beginning of the broadcast television age, featuring I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, The Ozzie and Harriet show, Leave It To Beaver, Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club, The Roy Rogers Show, Superman, Looney Tunes, Captain Kangaroo, The Howdy Doody Show and more.  A technological wonder, no less an important marvel than today’s Smart devices.

    The 1950s were a time of a non-existent (TV) American family that has never been reproduced.  My generation was raised watching June Cleaver cleaning her house all dressed up and wearing pearls.  I do not recall my mother (of that peer group) dressed as such doing daily chores.

    After the horrors of World War II and coming off the Great Depression era, America needed a pause.  Europe and Asia needed to rebuild themselves after their self imposed stupidity.  The so-called Happy Days established an Americana right up there with Norman Rockwell‘s vision.

    The 1950s set the stage for our 21st Century.  It established a ‘can do’ approach that persists to this day.  Many do not know that the transistor, the basis of all modern Cloud solutions was invented in the late 1940s and came into fruition during the 1950s.  Enabling the Apollo moonshot ten years later.

    On the down side, the Korean War draw and the Cold War with potential Nuclear Holocaust loomed large and set the stage for defeat in Vietnam.  This first American rout would not be our last.  Afghanistan!

    “Déjà Vu All Over Again”

    Apologies to Yogi Berra, it does feel sometimes like we are in a pre-1950s era.  Economic uncertainty, global political unrest, domestic turmoil, Covid-19, even pending European military hostilities, Asia etc. are all taking their toll on our collective psychic.  It all seems so similar to the late 1930s.

    The British Minister at the time, Neville Chamberlain, perceived as the appeaser did not live to the see the rout of 1940’s totalitarianism.  Had he, he might offer some thoughts about our current situation.  Winston Churchill most certainly would as would Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Abraham Lincoln and others.

    Economically, the world fell apart.  Since the safety nets of today that did not exist back then, the impact was massive.  However, our safety nets are under attack.  Inflation may destroy the middle and other classes.  Just like it did in the 1970s—Stagflation.  The worst of all possible economic worlds.

    Our parents and grandparents survived significant and in some cases life threatening problems.  Collectively, society emerged stronger and perhaps happier.  Paraphrasing from the TV series Mission Impossible, “Our mission, should we choose to accept it is to rise to the challenge and makes this world a better place for those who follow.”

    We also remember the 1950s as so good because the 60s and 70s were subsequently very bad.  This does not need to be the case with this social/economic cycle.  We are not doomed to repeat that history and can change our destiny.

    Seems that we are not really trying.  Have we become the nanny state?  Making our parents and grandparents so proud.

    And Yet

    The 1950s were by no means perfect.  Long simmering civil rights tensions began to manifest and certainly many did not enjoy the environment many of us fondly look back upon.  However, this period was a pause that would be rudely awakened, perhaps when JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963.  Or maybe earlier when Rosa Parks took her stand (or seat) on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 about the time Martin Luther King Jr. was coming into prominence.

    Throughout the 1960s a number of horrendous crimes would be committed against innocent children, activists and others–ultimately leading the assassination of Dr. King.  Moreover, the 1970s would start with Kent State and the Jackson State killings.

    Lessons Learned

    For many, the 1950s were happy days, for others not so much.  Guessing most readers were not alive during this period and perhaps even their parents were too young.

    History is the ultimate task master.  Dooming new generations to relive the past.  However, this need not be the case.  We can and should learn from the follies and successes of those who precede us.

    The 1950s were unique in many ways.  Many in my generation believe that to be true.  However, it seems we are reliving the 1930-1950s era and the outcome might be similar.

    Our challenge is to make sure that does not happen.  History need not repeat itself.  It is up to us.

    What Are Your Organization’s Future/Contingency Plans?

    For More Information

    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game

    We presented, Should Cross Cultural Serious Games Be Included in Your Diversity Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned at the Online Conference, New Diversity Summit 2020 the week of September 14, 2020.  Check Out this timely event and contact the organizer for access to the presentations!!

    For more on DEI Standards, see the newly released ISO-30415.

    You can contact this author as well.

  • Passing of the Greatest Generation

    Passing of the Greatest Generation

    Salute Ladies and Gentlemen!

    December 7, 1941 was 79 years ago.  A twenty-year-old at the time would be 99 today, almost a centenarian.  My father is 98 and not likely to see 2021.

    We live in a technological age, and despite the pandemic it is relatively easy living for many.  No one is asking our youth to go to foreign lands with the likelihood of not returning.

    If the Twentieth Century has taught us anything, it is that youth has stood up repeatedly despite the dithering of politicians.  Many of this century’s young warfighters continue this proud tradition of defending our nation and our freedoms.

    Born at the dawn of the last century, this generation saw the Great Depression and volunteered for the (hopefully) final global conflict; World War II.  Since Pearl Harbor, our world has changed dramatically and quickly.

    They saw the transformation of the United States into a global Super Power and slogged through some 45 years of the Cold War.  China moved from the backward nation occupied by Japan to its current position.

    The (possible) Chinese saying/curse, “May You Live In Interesting Times” applies to this selfless generation who laid the ground work for our modern world.  On way they invented the transistor in 1947—the foundation of our “Smart Technologies.”

    As they pass from the scene, in the words of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”

    We must pick up their gauntlet.  In one sense it is a heavy lift; however, those who came before us have lightened our load.

    What Are You Doing to Make Your Parents and Grandparents Proud?

    For More Information

    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game

    We presented, Should Cross Cultural Serious Games Be Included in Your Diversity Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned at the Online Conference, New Diversity Summit 2020 the week of September 14, 2020.  Check Out this timely event and contact the organizer for access to the presentations!!

    You can contact this author as well.