How to Make Your Matrix Organization Really Work
Much has been written about why matrix organizations are needed and what they look like at a surface level. Far less advice is available about what it takes to make them work. This information gap sets many teams up for disappointment because matrix organizations flourish or fail based on attention to their design and dynamics. Consider the case of Juan, a regional supply chain leader in a large health care system who was caught between competing agendas from multiple bosses in his organization. Juan reports to Brenda, his enterprise-level boss in the supply chain organization, but he also has a reporting relationship to Steve, a regional operations executive. (Note: All names have been changed for anonymity.) Brenda’s goals for Juan included implementing a new supplier network model with ambitious timelines. Meeting her goals would require a substantial time investment for Juan and his small team. Meanwhile, Steve was grappling with critical materials and staffing shortages and had asked Juan to optimize workforce and supply costs. Steve expected Juan to meet a tight schedule for opening a new clinical facility to help reach regional volume targets. Continued here |
China's influence in Myanmar could tip the scales towards war in the South China Sea
An undemocratic Myanmar serves no one’s interests except China, which is consolidating its economic and strategic influence in its smaller neighbour in pursuit of its two-ocean strategy. Read more: Friday essay: if growing US-China rivalry leads to 'the worst war ever', what should Australia do? Continued here |
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I’ve Made More Than 1,700 Wikipedia Entries on Women Scientists and I’m Not Yet Done
“The job that pays me,” Jessica Wade told VICE, smiling, “is that of a material scientist who works on new material technology for a more sustainable future.” So, what’s the non-paying job for the 34-year-old British scientist who works as a research fellow in the Department of Materials at the Imperial College in London? Continued here |
Amazon keeps selling out of these genius things that you've probably never heard of
The internet is a wonderful invention. Aside from work and socialization, it’s also a great way to learn how to get through life easier. Apparently, everyone on the internet has discovered a better way to de-fur the couch, a brilliant way to take notes, and so much more. In fact, Amazon is full of so many genius products that achieve tasks like those, and you might not have ever heard of them. Take, for instance, the blanket that’s designed to cool you down — and even the mini vacuum for your desk. And did I mention the alarm clock that projects the time on your wall? Because that’s out there, too. Genius. Continued here |
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Italian Cops Take Down Occult Neo-Nazi Group Preparing Violent Attacks
A militant neo-Nazi group raided by Italian anti-terror police this week was ready to carry out violent attacks and had numerous transnational connections, including a member who claimed to have met with Donald Trump’s former adviser, Steve Bannon, according to media reports citing police. Italian police said on Tuesday they had arrested five members of a white supremacist terror organisation called the Order of Hagal, which was based in Marigliano in the province of Naples and promoted occult neo-Nazi, Holocaust-denial and anti-vax ideology. Continued here |
CRISPR could help bacteria destroy cancer and gulp up methane
As it turns out, the most powerful tool for tinkering with nature’s blueprints came from nature itself. Developed in the early 2010s, CRISPR is a technique for editing DNA with painstaking precision. But as high-tech as it sounds, CRISPR wasn’t dreamed up in a lab. The basic machinery — a protein that targets and cuts specific DNA sequences — evolved naturally in bacteria, where it’s part of a simple immune system that fends off viruses and other threats. Continued here |
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Flushing toilets aren't the solution to South Africa's sanitation problem
Around 65% of South Africa’s population have access to waterborne sanitation such as flushing toilets connected to a sewer network, septic tank or conservancy tank. Another 19% have ventilated improved pit latrines, while 13% have pit toilets with no ventilation pipes. The remaining population either have pour flush toilets, chemical toilets or composting toilets, or they use buckets. Unfortunately, about 1% of the population still practise open defecation because they have no access to any sort of toilet facility. South Africa is a water scarce country that has faced extreme weather events in recent years. For example in 2018 Cape Town faced severe drought and the possibility of running out of water. More recently, the east coast city of Durban was hit by floods which damaged bulk water and sanitation infrastructure. With the country’s challenges around water management and availability, it’s just not feasible and viable to continue with waterborne sanitation. Continued here |
MH17 convictions pave the way for war crime prosecutions from Ukrainian invasion
On November 17 2022, the Hague District Court in the Netherlands convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian of murder in relation to the downing of flight MH17 by a Buk-TELAR surface-to-air missile in 2014 over rebel-held territory in Ukraine. This conviction is the first concluded legal action in relation to the incident. It is important not only because it provides some answers for the families of the 298 people killed on that flight, but because it demonstrates that states intend to pursue justice against Russian acts of violence connected with the Ukrainian conflict, regardless of the time or cost involved. Continued here |
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VAR and peace? Why tech-assisted refereeing won't do away with disputed decisions at the World Cup
The football teams of 32 nations are gathered in Qatar for the quadrennial FIFA World Cup. Some 5 billion people around the world are expected to tune in to watch matches over the course of the month-long tournament. These enormous audiences will be ready to applaud great play – and to howl ferociously when a referee’s decision goes against their team. To ensure the tough decisions are fair and accurate, FIFA (the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the sport’s global governing body) has invested not only in the best human referees but also in the latest and greatest in technological tools. Continued here |
A groundbreaking Hollywood alliance could change horror movies forever On November 16, The New York Times published interviews with Blum, the prolific horror producer, and Wan, the director and screenwriter responsible for a slew of hits, about an impending merger of their companies: Blum’s Blumhouse and Wan’s Atomic Monster. The companies have shaped mainstream and indie horror cinema over the last 20 years, and a merger could further decide the genre's future. While the outcomes of the Blumhouse-Atomic Monster merger aren’t immediately apparent, it could be a moment fans will look back on as a turning point. Continued here |
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These Tiny Greek Islands Have Become Unlikely Laboratories for Global Corporations
ASTYPALEA, Greece – On a small island in the middle of the Aegean Sea, there’s an unfamiliar but distinctive sound behind the bleating of goats and sheep, and the clanging of their bells: the faint hum of electric cars. The hills of Astypalea, which has a population of just 1,300 and where goats and sheep outnumber people 10 to 1, now thrum to the sound of electric vehicles (EVs) from Volkswagen. Continued here |
My Dad Was Jailed for 16 Years in Saudi Arabia Over a Bunch of Tweets
Ibrahim Almadi last spoke to his father over the phone on the 21st of November, 2021. It was the same day his father arrived in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh to visit family. But his dad never made it out of the airport, as when he landed he was, in Ibrahim’s words, “kidnapped”. Continued here |
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Why Jerome Powell Could Be the Most Important Person in Washington Between Now and 2024
As Nancy Pelosi’s tenure as the Speaker of the House of Representatives ends, and newly empowered Republicans prepare to launch investigations of Hunter Biden’s business dealings, it’s clear that the next Congress won’t get much done. The midterms have further hollowed out the ranks of moderate Republicans who are willing to work with Democrats on bipartisan legislation. And the new Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, thanks to the Republicans’ narrow majority, will be largely beholden to the Freedom Caucus, which represents the (let’s be polite) populist, fruitcake wing of the G.O.P. The Biden Administration won’t be entirely blocked. With the Democrats having retained control of the Senate, they should be able to get more nominations to the judiciary and other offices confirmed, which is significant. Plus, the President will still be able to conduct foreign policy and issue executive orders. But this week’s ruling from a federal appeals court that halted the Administration’s student-loan plan—a ruling that seems likely to go all the way to the Supreme Court—highlighted some of the constraints that Joe Biden will be operating under. Continued here |
Why Corporate Success Requires Dealing With the Past
Between the 17th and 19th centuries, the venerable British company Lloyd’s of London sold insurance policies on enslaved people and the ships that transported them.1 In recent times, events such as the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, together with ongoing concerns about racism and racial injustices, have intensified the pressure on companies to recognize their contributions to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In June 2020, Lloyd’s of London issued a direct and unambiguous apology: “We are sorry for the role played by the Lloyd’s market in the 18th- and 19th-century slave trade. This was an appalling and shameful period of English history, as well as our own, and we condemn the indefensible wrongdoing that occurred during this period.” Since then, the company has hired an archivist to examine its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade more thoroughly and opened its archives. It has also made a commitment to develop Black and minority ethnic talent, increase its share of minority employees, and prevent its complicity in the use of slave labor in supply chains. Today, corporate success requires dealing with the past. Throughout history, companies have been complicit in human rights violations and mass atrocities such as slavery, genocide, wars, and harms related to colonialism. Businesses’ involvement in these events remains a great concern for stakeholders today as momentum for social justice and equity builds within society. Many people — including customers and employees — increasingly expect companies with these ties to acknowledge and respond to their historic transgressions, even when they are generations removed from culpability. We have conducted extensive research on historic corporate social responsibility, including interviews with corporate executives, legal professionals, and victims of mass atrocities and their descendants, plus reviews of news and corporate publication archives. What we have found is that managers who meaningfully engage with their company’s past can address the resulting harm while simultaneously contributing to their company’s successful future. Those who try to avoid historical issues, on the other hand, risk the company’s reputation and sometimes more. Continued here |
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Jeremy Hunt's autumn statement is a poisoned chalice for whoever wins the next election
UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has produced a highly political autumn statement that throws forward major cuts in public spending to after the next general election. The accompanying economic forecast by the government’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirms that the country is facing a recession, with unemployment rising, inflation still high, and the average person’s standard of living dropping by 7% – wiping out almost all the gains of last decade. The chancellor aims to ease the pain by increasing benefits and pensions in line with inflation. He is also raising spending on health, social care and education, while maintaining the spending levels already planned for all departments until 2024-25 in cash terms. Continued here |
Photos of the Week:Â Camel Race, Sea Horse, Illusion Room
Artwork by Banksy in the ruins of Ukraine, an American Indian Heritage celebration in San Francisco, a gaggle of geese in Prague, damage from Hurricane Nicole in Florida, liberation in Ukraine’s Kherson region, early Christmas decorations in Paris, a volcanic eruption in Chile, and much more Spectators watch as the Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket lifts off from launchpad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on November 16, 2022. Artemis I is on a 25-and-a-half-day mission, traveling beyond the far side of the moon and back to Earth. # Continued here |
The Year Virginia Rewrote the Rules of Popular Culture
At the peak of his powers, Michael Vick could make a broken play look like it was planned. In 2002, as quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, he was a newly minted NFL star, known for his ability to confound defenses with his deep passes and exhilarating runs. In my Virginia Beach high school, this was the year of the Michael Vick jersey; we were about a Vick-length scramble from his hometown of Newport News. Sure, Vick played in Atlanta, but we were keenly aware that he was bred from our soil, and we were proud of his ascension to the national stage. In December of that year, when the Falcons played the Minnesota Vikings, Vick more than confirmed his star status. The game was tied at 24 in overtime, and Vick had the ball. Facing an oncoming pass rush, he instinctively moved to the left, his strong side, and found a running lane. Most other quarterbacks of that era would likely have taken a few yards and slid to avoid a blow from an opposing linebacker. But Vick kept running. Two defenders closed in on him, one on each side. The defender to his left missed the tackle altogether, and the one to his right got just a handful of jersey. Vick charged on another 20-plus yards into the end zone for the touchdown, and the Falcons won. As the teams cleared the field, a television announcer said: “Is there any doubt as to who will be the most valuable player in the NFL this season?” Vick didn’t end up winning the award, but plays like this one made him a household name nonetheless. Continued here |
5 years ago, Netflix released Marvel's darkest superhero show ever
There’s recently been a lot of talk among Marvel fans about Netflix’s long-canceled superhero shows. Not only have some of their characters, like Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, begun to reappear in the MCU, but all of Netflix’s Marvel titles were recently added to Disney+. A renewed interest in revisiting Marvel’s Netflix TV era is understandable — and welcome. While it may not be quite as well-remembered as Daredevil and Jessica Jones, it’s impossible to discuss Netflix’s Marvel shows without mentioning The Punisher. The two-season series premiered in 2017, when the craze surrounding Netflix’s Marvel originals was already dying down. Five years later, however, it’s hard not to look back and be surprised by the experience The Punisher provides, especially given the lighter approach Marvel Studios has adopted for its Disney+ originals. Continued here |
The Football Fans Boycotting the Qatar World Cup 2022
For many football fans, Qatar 2022 feels like a tainted tournament. It’s been beset by controversy from the beginning: the bidding process which led to Russia and Qatar being awarded consecutive World Cups in 2010 was overshadowed by allegations of bribery, with FIFA, the game’s world governing body, engulfed in a maelstrom of corruption scandals and investigations in the aftermath (albeit not all directly connected to the bidding process). In the time since, there has been intense scrutiny over Qatar’s human rights record. Human rights organisations have spent much of the last decade drawing attention to the treatment of the migrant workers labouring on the country’s World Cup infrastructure, much of which has had to be built from scratch at enormous financial, environmental and human cost. Same-sex relationships are also criminalised in Qatar, leaving many LGBTQ+ people anxious at the prospect of attending the tournament. Continued here |
Some of My Dream Jobs
Job going on walks and taking pictures with my phone of very small flowers growing by the street. Job where I go visit my friends for a few days and, while they’re at work, I wander around alone finding things to do and places they’ve never been before and then I tour them around town showing them my favorite spots. Continued here |
Star Wars is finally bringing back a storytelling tool that Disney ignored
There’s nothing Star Wars likes more than a new creature. From the first appearance of the Jawas to Freck, the star-nosed mole alien from Obi-Wan Kenobi who sounded an awful lot like Zach Braff, introducing an alien is a great way to nab a viewer’s attention and flesh out the galaxy. Andor takes a new approach to this, and Episode 11 is the perfect example. First, a whole new species was seen on Narkina Five after Melshi and Cassian escaped prison. Then, two other scenes use human characters to show alien practices, a technique that makes the world of Andor feel much more significant. Continued here |
Your Home Belongs to Renovation TV
In the new Netflix horror series The Watcher, which follows a family as a stalker turns their new suburban dream home into a nightmare, the first boogeyman the viewer meets is the home’s carrara-marble countertops. The house is, by all indicators, an impeccable domestic fantasy at the time of purchase, and its new owners had to empty their savings and investment accounts to fend off rival bidders and afford the final price. But the family finds the house’s gleaming white Italian counters so offensive—so five years ago—that they take out an additional loan in order to remove them immediately. The series edges into absurdity—in a bit of inspired casting, Jennifer Coolidge plays an aggressively divorced, Mercedes-driving New Jersey real-estate agent—but the family’s immediate desire to renovate an already lovely home is played completely straight. And for good reason: Real people do this all the time now. They do it on instructional HGTV shows, on social media, in publications such as Domino and Dwell and Architectural Digest. On real-estate TV, brokers and buyers wince and gag over dark cabinets and high-shine brass light fixtures and white appliances, all relics of trends past. Houses with idiosyncrasies or personality—or even just somewhat dated but easily changed design flourishes, such as a red accent wall—are mocked relentlessly, only to be turned into pristine, camera-ready monuments to sterility. Often, the transformations involve explicit calculations about how much has theoretically been added to a home’s potential market value. Continued here |
Could Psychedelics Open New Doors for Science and Business?
Psychedelics. Just mentioning the word triggers a wealth of opinions, stigmas, misconceptions, and judgments that are often based on loosely founded assumptions, Hollywood depictions, or stories of good or bad “trips” that linger in our social consciousness and mythology. Putting preconceptions aside, it’s fair to say we are entering what many are calling a psychedelic renaissance — a new science-driven wave of thinking about psychedelics’ use for psychiatry, mental health, and well-being. First, a primer. Psychedelics have been used by ancient societies across the globe for thousands of years, though rigorous scientific research didn’t begin in this field until the 19th and 20th centuries. They are psychoactive substances that affect several cognitive processes in the brain, leading to altered states of consciousness and influencing perceptions, thoughts, and emotions. By the 1950s and 1960s, there was an explosion of research into the use of psychedelics in mental health and illness. However, the counterculture movement, spikes in recreational use (and misuse), and political unrest led to such drugs’ stigmatization, which ultimately resulted in psychedelics being classified as Schedule 1 controlled substances in 1970. This made it nearly impossible to continue conducting clinical research. Continued here
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