This short video was sent to me by a friend a couple of years ago
It really resonated with me, so continuing a tradition, I like to share it at Christmas time.
… back with you after the New Year
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click to view (best with audio on)
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As loyal readers know, I take this identity theft stuff pretty seriously, having been hacked a couple of times in the pass few years.
We rarely shop at Target.
Nothing against the place, just no reason to shop there.
So, wouldn’t you know it … a rare shopping trip to Target during the recent hacking of all credit & debit card numbers.
Ouch.
Here are a couple of observations and some advice …
There’s been a lot of ObamaCare chatter related to the Administration’s unilateral modifications of the law.
You know, the special favors and waivers that the President has been granting via HHS rules and executive orders.
I hear a lot about how the President is acing unconstitutionally by by simply changing a law enacted by Congress, but …
I haven’t heard any pundits flashing the 14th Amendment – the so-called “equal protection” clause.
The flap over the budget deal that cut military pensions – including those for disabled vets — resurrected an old question of mine: I’ve always wondered what retired members of the Congress and Senate got to live on when they retired.
Here’s the scoop …
Recently finished a book called A whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the World.
As a hard core left-brainer, I figured I’d better pay attention to this one.
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Here’s the crux of the book …
The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind — computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers.
But, the future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind — creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers.
We are moving from an economy and a society built on the logical, linear, computerlike capabilities of the Information Age …
… to an economy and a society built on the inventive, empathic, big-picture capabilities of what’s rising in its place, the Conceptual Age.
Why the shift?
Because any kind of work that be reduced to repeatable rules and defined processes can be automated or shipped off-shore – even so-called knowledge work
Survival in the Conceptual Age requires thinking skills utilizing the right-side of the brain.
Specifically, “high concept” involves the capacity to:
- detect patterns and opportunities
- create artistic and emotional beauty
- craft a satisfying narrative
…. and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into something new and distinctive.
Amazon link
What’s required to to succeed in Conceptual Age?
Punch line: Major retailers are customizing online prices for each user, using users’ information (such as location) to determine different prices for identical items. The goal”higher price realization and higher profits.
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Excerpted from WSJ’s, “Websites Vary Prices, Deals Based On Users’ Information”
It was the same Swingline stapler, on the same Staples.com website.
But for Kim Wamble, the price was $15.79, while the price on Trude Frizzell’s screen, just a few miles away, was $14.29.
In the old days, folks fretted (or dreamed) about the effect of computerized automation in factories and ATMs replacing bank tellers.
According to a recent McKinsey report:
Physical labor and transactional tasks have been widely automated …
Now, advances in data analytics, low-cost computer power, machine learning, and interfaces that “understand” humans are moving the automation frontier rapidly towards “knowledge work”..
Developments in how machines process language and understand context are allowing computers to search for information and find patterns of meaning at superhuman speed.
Here are a couple of examples …
President Obama is clearly perplexed on why the dogs aren’t eating the ObamaCare food.
He’s trying to give people a better “product” … and they just don’t get it.
What the heck is going on?
Well, shoving the roll-out snafus aside, much of the answer lies in good old behavioral economics.
Last week we talked “loss aversion” and the “endowment effect”.
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Today, let’s look at the “developers curse” …
Hot off the presses …
A Pew Research analysis of survey and census data concludes that that “today’s young women are the first in modern history to start their work lives at near parity with men.”
That’s good news.
Specifically, in 2012, among workers ages 25 to 34, women’s hourly earnings were 93% those of men …. that’s up from about 85% in 2000.
The bad news is that there’s still a 7% gap.
And, that’s despite the fact that “women in the younger age cohort were significantly more likely than their male counterparts to have completed a bachelor’s degree — 38% versus 31% in 2013.”
At least the trend is right.
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OK, I.m a control freak.
There, I said it.
Along the way, somebody passed along a memorable observations:
“You can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can always control the the way you respond to it.”
Fast forward.
A couple of night’s ago, I was watching a replay of an Ohio State football game..
The announcers said that Urban Meyer – OSU’s head coach — preaches the E+R=O principle to his players … even has them wear wristbands.
Say, what?
I ran and googled E+R=O
Answer: Event + Response = Outcome
Hmmmm … sounds familiar.
And, there’s more …
According to the head of California’s largest medical association “seven out of every 10 physicians in California are rebelling against the state’s ObamaCare health insurance exchange and won’t participate”. Source
Why?
Simple economics: the reimbursement rates are too low.
ObamaCare Exchange reimbursement levels appear to mirror Medicare & Medicaid rates.
And, for example, Medicaid only reimburses doctors 72 cents out of each dollar of costs.
You can’t make it up in volume.
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Similarly, some high profile hospitals – e.g. Sloan-Kettering, Cedars Sinai – are opting out of the Exchange programs.
Why?
Reimbursements rates are too low.
Most conservative pundits are saying that the shrinking doctor & hospital networks will force ObamaCare to its knees … since people will revolt when they can’t use “their” doctors or the best hospitals.
Further, O’Reilly, et. al., have been saying “… and there’s nothing Obama can do about it.”
I beg to differ Mr. O’Reilly …
President Obama is clearly perplexed on why the dogs aren’t eating the ObamaCare food.
He’s trying to give people a better “product” … and they just don’t get it.
What the heck is going on?
Well, shoving the roll-out snafus aside, much of the answer lies in good old behavioral economics.
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Let me explain …
From the “you can’t make this stuff up” file …
Last year a fried filed his NJ income tax return using Turbo Tax,
Based on the TurboTax calculations, he filed for a refund of $2,582.
A few weeks later, the State sent him a refund check for $3,556.
Not quite Power Ball, but a nice surprise.
Now, a few months later, the story takes an odd twist …
Interesting chart from B of A – Merrill Lynch posted on Business Insider …
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Bottom line: Smart money is getting out of the stock market at an increasing rate … dumb (err, “individual”) money is trending back in.
And, the hedgers are, well, hedging.
Caveat investor.
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Some interesting nums from Gallup …
Based on recent polling, about 1 in 3 Americans are “not familiar” with ObamaCare-ACA.
Thefolks who are least likely to be familiar with the law are youngsters and DEMOCRATS … i.e. Obama’s prime constituency.
Go figure
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And, digging deeper, the numbers get even more interesting …
A couple of weeks ago, the Administration decided that ObamaCare need to be rebranded and remarketed since, in the words of CNN: “The name Obamacare – and the much maligned URL HealthCare.gov – have become associated with digital failure and government disorganization.”
Ouch.
In my post Rebranding ObamaCare … I suggested a new name: ObamACA™ … hoping that the name would catch traction and I could bag some royalties.
No such luck (so far).
Still, as a recovering marketer, I’m interested in the question: Would it help the administration sell the law if they ditched the ObamaCare name.
Source: Kaiser Health Foundation
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Well, it turns out that Gallup has already polled on the question …
As a recovering IT guy, I couldn’t resist.
Sunday morning I linked to HealthCare.gov …. mostly, I just wanted to see if the site was up & alive.
The landing page populated quickly.
So, I decided to play the “find a glitch” game … the kinda thing I’d do when IT teams would come to demo a new system for me.
It took less than 5 seconds … and I didn’t have to leave the home page
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Here’s what I did.
I certainly didn’t want to apply for anything, so I just ran the cursor over the “See plans in your area” section of the landing page.
Note that the cursor turned into a hand, indicating a live hyperlink.
I clicked and nothing happened,
Clicked again, nothing happened.
Then I clicked the “See plans now” and got linked to a process for taking a peek at plans.
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In tech terms, the hyperlink “hotspot” is wrong … either the apparent link where I originally clicked should be removed … or a single hotspot should extend over the entire “See plans” wording.
OK, I concede that this is a minor glitch.
But, it’s like the drill sergeant checking the back of shoes during inspections – figuring that if the backs are polished, so are the fronts.
Makes me wonder: Is anybody really testing this stuff?
I warn students: Make sure that the first slide in your pitch is error free – no typos, no arithmetic errors, etc. – otherwise, your credibility gets tarnished right out of the blocks.
That applies to web site landing pages, too.
I wonder how many folks will click like I did and conclude that they still can’t shop plans without registering?
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Update
Apparently the glitch was fixed overnite … there is a revised landing page this morning.
Which raises another question: how will site returnees react when the sit looks different each time they visit?
Gotta cause some folks some angst re: security issues.
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