The Culture Market

I’ve been thinking a lot about the money market on and off in the last year. I’m not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s been kind of interesting to notice some of the trends happening. For instance, in the last year, there has be a nearly global drop in the value of foreign currency, while the dollar comparatively has pretty much held it’s value. On top of that, just noting the fact that our current recession is, in fact, a global phenomenon, and not just a domestic problem makes me realize how connected the world economies are any more. A failure by a company like GM for example has an impact on several other countries throughout the world. Subsidiaries such as Opel are split off. Industrial plants in other countries are sold or scrapped. Workers are laid off or redistributed. When you look at the big picture, it’s difficult not to see the connections.

That said, as the value of foreign currency drops, many smaller countries are looking for more stability in their currency, some have turned to more Universal Currency such as the Euro, while others have relied on more traditional means such as reserve currency. In recent time, the dollar being the recommended reserve currency in use by the world.

That taken into account, it seems like we are really moving into a new world in regards to currency exchange, since it seems that as companies become more global, many of the stressors that cause economic turns are affecting us on a much more global level than ever before. A poorly performing industry for example could send world markets into a tumble before anyone even know what hit them or a lack of a certain resource could do the same. Whereas in the past, this was often considered more of a local event.

It’s kind of interesting to think about and makes me wonder what it’s leading up to. Could we be looking at the beginnings of a Universal Currency? As more and more countries become more dependent on any one currency, could the adoption of that currency be the eventual conclusion for everyone? What about the global impact of industrial and market wide failures? How do you even deal with a global wide failure, since the affects on the system as a whole could ultimately effect a much larger segment of the global market. It gives pause for thought.

An interesting take on the evolution of technology over time. The commercial was made for Saturn Electronics, a retail chain in Germany which I hadn’t heard of. Still, I was pretty blown away by the imagination of the ad as well as its poignancy in its observations about modern culture. As technology evolves, so does the way we use it. Simple, but relevant. Plus it looks cool. Enjoy.

I read an article about how Google, with the recent loss of some of it’s brightest minds to companies such as Twitter and Hulu, is planning on creating an algorithm to, in essence, read employees minds. The algorithm would help Google to synthesize employee surveys, promotions and pay to estimate which employees are most likely to quit the company. The goal of which is to predict which, according to the article is:

The purpose of the algorithm is to anticipate their best employees’ dissatisfaction, before their idle thumb-twirling begets a few extra-long lunch breaks and a drawn out process that ends with an all-company email that ends “It’s time to move on.” The company hopes that, with enough pre-warning, it can keep potentially dissatisfied workers from ever feeling that they were potentially dissatisfied.

It’s an interesting goal to say the least, but it brings to mind a few thoughts, such as why does a company known for providing it’s employees with the ability to develop their own projects and work in some of the most interesting and socially significant parts of the internet industry even require this ability?

Truth be told, the low tech solution is much much simpler, simply give management the tools they need to encourage their employees involvement and progression within the company, and even within their career path with other employers. As has been shown by several companies through the years, employees that feel supported in their career are more likely to have a sense of fulfillment in their job, be less likely to leave, and more likely to return if they move to other positions outside the company.

That said, once you take the human factor out of the equation, when management is more reliant on a computer model than actually paying attention to its employees needs, then we are seriously looking at an issue in our society. You’re essentiality telling people how to think. The computer says you are tired of your job, lets bump you over to accounting… Honestly, I’ve seen my share of job initiatives where employees were supposed to be moved to better…aka more successful…opportunities based on scoring systems and other peoples opinions, and in my experience, they often meet with failure. If you want to know people, then you have to know people, and you can’t really short change the simplest form of communication, how the hell are you?

With all the spending the government has been doing in the last few years, budget cuts kind of makes me laugh. Let’s face it, cutting the budget is not really high on most peoples wish list when 8-12% of the population doesn’t even have a steady job and everyone wants someone, namely the government, to do something about it. Still, it is kind of a good reminder, that at some point we have to step back and assess, and try to get all our spending under control. It’s the kind of thing all of us as Americans are having to do as well in our own lives. Kind of crazy that the government is trying it also.

Anyway, check out the video, it really gives a really good perspective.

A few inspirational words on Steve’s career, his firing from Apple in 1985, and his bout with cancer in 2005. Well worth the watch. Enjoy!

From the makers of This Land and the 2007 Year in Review comes one of the most creative and fun retrospectives I’ve seen for 2008. It’s been a big year in a lot of ways, and its hard to argue with anything Jib-Jab comes up with; they’re just too darned creative. I especially like the end.