Molly Crockett: Financial hardship and chronic stress trigger cognitive biases that are ripe for exploitation by payday lenders such as Wonga
How payday lenders profit from our psychological vulnerabilities
All posts by Arjen Lentz
Does cutting company tax increase wages? > Check the facts
http://www.factsfightback.org.au/does-cutting-company-tax-increase-wages-check-the-facts/
“By cutting corporate taxes we…boost real wage growth,” The Coalition’s ‘Our Plan’.
[That claim is not supported by Australian facts and history.]
Google admits its famous job interview questions were a ‘complete waste of time’
[…] Another thing that has no bearing on your success? College Grade Point Average. “G.P.A.’s are worthless as a criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless,” says Bock. “Google famously used to ask everyone for a transcript and G.P.A.’s and test scores, but we don’t anymore, unless you’re just a few years out of school. We found that they don’t predict anything.”
So what does work for Google interviews? “What works well are structured behavioral interviews, where you have a consistent rubric for how you assess people,” Bock says. This includes asking a candidate to describe a real-life situation in which they solved a difficult analytical problem. This has the added benefit of showing the interviewer what the candidate considers to be a difficult analytical problem “rather than having each interviewer just make stuff up.”
The Plan
In the beginning, there was a Plan.
Then came Arseumptions.
And the Arseumptions were without form.
And the plan was without substance.
And darkness was on the face of the Workers.
And they spoke among themselves, saying
“It is a crock of shit, and it stinks.”
And the Workers went unto their Supervisors and said
“It is a pale of dung, and none may abide the odor thereof.”
And the Supervisors went unto their Managers, saying
“It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, such that none can abide by it.”
And the Managers went unto their Directors saying
“It is a vessel of fertiliser, and none may abide its strength.”
And the Directors spoke among themselves, saying one to another
“It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong.”
And the Directors went unto the Vice Presidents, saying unto them
“It promotes growth, and it is very powerful.”
And the Vice Presidents went unto President saying unto him
“This new Plan will actively promote growth and vigour of this company, with powerful effects.”
And the President looked upon the Plan, and said that it was good.
And the Plan became Policy.
And this, my friends, is how shit happens.
Business Plan
At Upstarta meetings we’ve explored the concept of business plans.
In a “traditional” business, you need a business plan because a bank will require you to present one. Since an Upstarta doesn’t go to the bank for a loan or credit, we can re-assess what a business plan should look like to work for us, or even whether to have one at all.
What we concluded is that it’s useful to define your general direction, but the level of detail that a bank would require in certain aspects is not something you need to waste time on. You need to, as always, consider the possible consequences of decisions and structures you set up.
We also know that markets tend to find products, so an early plan (before entering the market) to market/sell a particular product will quickly be obsolete or look like total nonsense. So you plan to explore in a low-cost manner, maintaining flexibility. Make failing steps cheap and fast, to focus on avenues that are promising/viable.
Do you have examples of this from your own experience? We’d like to hear!