Techonomics

Robert Half talent agencyHeather Johnston, regional president, Robert Half By Jason Middleton If, and only if, the war for top tier talent ever cools off in the Bay Area it will be because other areas of the country have been able to lure away said top tier talent. And some new numbers are creeping up from a top tier talent placement agency that show skilled workers are more and more willing to relocate OUT of the Bay Area - and not only because it's pricey to live here. First, a tight Bay Area labor market: San Francisco unemployment rate is at a record low of 2.1% (California: 4.1%) for the month of Nov. 2018.  That means the war for talent gets expensive for companies, too. Now pair that data point with this: 64% of San Francisco professionals said they would relocate for a job.  Robert Half is a talent placement agency that handles both ends of the battle for good, skilled workers - from designers to engineers to C-level officers.  Please click through on any of these links for more information, as well as our show page, Facebook page or follow me on the Twitter. The podcasts also live on iTunes and Stitcher. Have great weeks, everybody. --30--

Author: Fran SmithArticle: How personalized medicine is transforming your health careNational GeographicBrigham & Women's Cancer Center By Jason Middleton The buzzword or phrase is 'med tech' -- technological advances in the research and development of new medical treatments, whether its new hardware devices or diagnostic software, like artificial intelligence.  Precision medicine falls under this category. Here's a definition of precision medicine from cancer.gov: Precision medicine is an approach to patient care that allows doctors to select treatments that are most likely to help patients based on a genetic understanding of their disease. Here's a human definition:  Judy Perkins went under experimental precision medicine cancer treatment with tumor-infiltrating-lymphocytes and two years later shows no signs of the disease. That's the discussion we're about to hear.  Please click through on any of these links for more information, as well as our show page, Facebook page or follow me on the Twitter. The podcasts also live on iTunes and Stitcher. Have great weeks, everybody.

Author: Karen WalkerTitle: No Dumbing Down: A No-Nonsense Guide for CEOs on Organization Growth By Jason Middleton Alignment is a business term that can be overused, for sure, but to my mind it is undervalued as a concept.  Basically, it means: is my team on the same page, driving toward the same message and goals. And it starts at the top of an organization.  If everyone along the line in an enterprise is in alignment, the company is better positioned to not only succeed in the market, but it can quickly respond to unforeseen changes in the market. This week we talk with a veteran of the tech industry. She was on the early team at Compaq, a legendary startup success story. Karen Walker's new book, No Dumbing Down: A No-Nonsense Guide for CEOs on Organization Growth, is aimed at the senior executives at companies, but the takeaways are universal. Please click through on any of these links for more information, as well as our show page, Facebook page or follow me on the Twitter. The podcasts also live on iTunes and Stitcher. Have great weeks, everybody.

Author: Daniel Pink

Twitter: @DanielPink

Facebook: @DanielHPink

Book: "​WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing​"​

By Jason Middleton

They say, timing is everything. They say a lot of things, but in this case it is often very true. 

Thing is, when THEY say that, it's usually retroactively - looking back on a successful something and valuing the timing of the event, as much as the event itself. 

We don’t take “when” as seriously as we take questions of “what”—and we should.

We believe timing is an art. But it’s really a science. And author Daniel Pink has pulled together research from dozens of disciplines to help make systematically better “when” decisions at work, at school, and at home.

Timing has a profound effect on everything from education to the criminal justice system; job performance to team success; relationships to health.

Please click through on any of these links for more information, as well as our show page, Facebook page or follow me on the Twitter. The podcasts also live on iTunes and Stitcher.

Have great weeks, everybody.

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National GeographicChinese Medicine story in NatGeo (and digital apothecary)Peter Gwin bio By Jason Middleton Chinese medicine is often seen as more art than science. Not necessarily in a judgmental or negative way - it can seem mysterious to those not reared in a culture that leans into herbal and organic cures.  Actually, the interesting twist in the past 100 years or so is that Western medicine is actually favored in China more than traditional Chinese cures.  But, those ancient Chinese medical texts hold some secrets for modern-era researchers, and the effects could touch millions of lives.  This week, we speak with an editor and writer at National Geographic, Peter Gwin, about his story around a Yale University professor who is working on nausea during chemotherapy and some other stunning results. Please click through on any of these links for more information, as well as our show page, Facebook page or follow me on the Twitter. The podcasts also live on iTunes and Stitcher. Have great weeks, everybody.

Book: A Bright FutureCommonwealth Club Appearance on Jan. 17Green Electricity MapNuScale Nuclear PowerCo-author Prof. Joshua GoldsteinCo-author Staffan Qvist By Jason Middleton Climate change walks, talks and is an existential threat not only to civilization, but also the biosphere.  That's an imposing sentence, and can seem so daunting as to cause paralyzing fear and inaction. But ... two professors have written an optimistic, data-driven book called "A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow." Professor emeritus at American University Joshua Goldstein and Swedish engineer, scientist and consultant Staffan Qvist are the co-authors. They are appearing at the Commonwealth Club on Jan. 17 in San Francisco. One of the sub-fears or fear threads around solving climate change is the adoption of nuclear energy. While a million times more efficient than coal, literally, the bad press around nuclear power has been earned over time.  But there are newer technologies that can more safely be introduced. I was a nuclear skeptic going into this interview, and was disabused of two major fears.  Please click through on any of these links for more information, as well as our show page, Facebook page or follow me on the Twitter. The podcasts also live on iTunes and Stitcher. Have great weeks, everybody.

+Book: Humanity Works+Author bio+Consultancy: People Results By Jason Middleton If you have one of those voice-activated devices like Google Home or Amazon Echo in your house, you either have one at work, or you will soon.  The integration of machines and humanity to create the work force of the future is already happening, that's not news.  The fact that we have a chance to FORM how that integration looks and feels - and produces results - is something we're running a little behind on, frankly. That's Alexandra Levit. Her new book is titled HUMANITY WORKS:  Merging Technologies And People In The Workplace Of The Future. During the interview we took a hard right into another existential change to working and society: the gig economy. Ms Levit has also conducted proprietary research on the future of work, technology adoption, the millennial generation, gender differences and bias, and the skills gap.  She also served as a member of Business Roundtable’s Springboard Project, which advised the Obama administration, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Defense on current employment issues. Please click through on any of these links for more information, as well as our show page, Facebook page or follow me on the Twitter. The podcasts also live on iTunes and Stitcher. Have great weeks, everybody. --30--

Book: 'The Surprising Science of Meetings'Bio: Prof. Steven RogelbergWaPo article By Jason Middleton "What we've got here is failure to communicate."

- The Captain from 'Cool Hand Luke' This week's topic touches just about all of us who work -- meetings.  Whether you're attending one, arranging one or orchestrating one, the next interview will be of value to you, I promise. As someone who discovered, mid interview, that I had been running my meetings wrong for years, I'll attest to the veracity and efficacy of Professor Steven Rogelberg's new book, titled 'THE SURPRISING SCIENCE OF MEETINGS: How You Can Lead Your Team to Peak Performance' from Oxford Press. On the very day we recorded, the Washington Post listed The Surprising Science of Meetings as the number one business book to read this year. Professor Rogelberg is a researcher and meetings expert who offers an evidence-based approach to solving the common failures of workplace meetings—inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and a lack of engagement. Please click through on any of these links for more information, as well as our show page, Facebook page or follow me on the Twitter. The podcasts also live on iTunes and Stitcher. Have great weeks, everybody.

Mike Swift bioTwitterMLex Market Insight By Jason Middleton It sure seems like 2019 is the year things get very real for the technology industry.  Whether its the weaponization of platforms like Facebook and Twitter, or the digital security breaches that seem to all too commonplace -- Once again, here's a tip from Uncle Jason: please use two-step authentication on your accounts when you can.  Some of the big fights that are already teed up are in the courtroom. Mainly Qualcomm versus Apple - that's a global showdown.  We asked MLex Market Insight's chief global digital risk correspondent, Mike Swift, to help us map just some of the doings will be in 2019.  Please click through on any of these links for more information, as well as our show page, Facebook page or follow me on the Twitter. The podcasts also live on iTunes and Stitcher. Have great weeks, everybody. --30--

Compass Real Estate Brokerage Editor's note: The analysis discussed here, and future analyses, will be available from Compass later this year.   By Jason Middleton Let's face it, the real estate market in the Bay Area has been bananas for so long it's more like a whole bushel of bananas.  We asked a decades-long veteran real estate analyst, Patrick Carlisle of Compass, to share his data from how the market performed in 2018 - and then he helped us look ahead into 2019 - quite reluctantly I might add, but helpful to its core. Please click through on any of these links for more information, as well as our show page, Facebook page or follow me on the Twitter. The podcasts also live on iTunes and Stitcher. Have great weeks, everybody. --30--