Tippets by Taps - Issue #119
This week we look at the challenges with a cashless society, the life of Clay Christensen, changing hiring practices for hourly workers, Legos as a stress reliever and more. Enjoy!
It's cash v. class, and New York City has just joined the fight
We’ve talked previously about the rapid migration to a cashless economy thanks to the penetration of digital payments and credit cards. New York City joined Philadelphia and passed legislation from that bans stores from going cash free. Companies like Amazon, Shake Shack and Sweetgreen have all been fighting for cash-free checkout but are now forced to take good old dollars and cents. With 30% of all U.S. business is still done in cash, not credit cards, mostly by elderly, poor and immigrant individuals, the race to a cashless society is, appropriately, being evaluated.
Clayton Christensen dies at 67 after lifetime of business, spiritual influence
Clayton Christensen, the Harvard professor who’s theory of disruptive innovation made him a teacher sought after by the likes of Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Reed Hastings and Andy Grove, died this week at the age of 67. An influential management thinker, he coined the term ‘disruptive innovation’ but maligned what he saw as misuse.
Though he coined the term, Christensen grew uncomfortable with it as he saw it overused and misapplied. He utilized it narrowly to describe innovations that upended existing markets, but only if they fit a certain pattern he had discovered. A true disruptive innovation, he taught, first appealed only to a niche market and appeared less attractive than the powerful incumbent it eventually usurped. In fact, the incumbent typically looked down on it as inconsequential until it ate up huge swaths of its market share
This New Yorker profile from 2012 is well worth a read, as what some say is his famous his best book, “How You Measure Your Life”.
People will say Clay’s best book was his most famous one — but it wasn’t. It was “How Will You Measure Your Life” — a riff on his closing lecture each semester at HBS. It’s far more important. Here are his lecture notes: https://t.co/ITI9CTcQNL
3:36 PM - 24 Jan 2020
The Company of Second Chances
Low unemployment rates and the high cost of worker replacement is resulting in employers focusing more on employee benefits, training, and non-traditional recruiting. At Nehemiah Manufacturing, workers with a criminal past are the norm rather than the exception. This piece discusses the experiment that got off to a rocky start but has led to the manufacturing company finding only 15% turnover in their workforce (compared to an industry average of almost 40%).
Nehemiah’s hiring process typically includes a session with a member of the social-service team who scrutinizes applicants’ histories and current support systems. Applicants also sign a release that allows the team to contact the agencies that provide them with housing, drug treatment or other support.
Only half of applicants make it through that initial screening, according to the company. Those that do are taken on as temporary workers and assigned a job coach who helps them understand employer expectations. They typically spend a week or more in a job-readiness program that includes classes on how to create a résumé, interview for a job and manage in the workplace. After a probation period of three to six months or so, about 60% of the temp workers are elevated to full-time employees.
Nehemiah’s approach to hiring only works if the entire company is committed to it, from the chief executive down, said Matt Mooney, a vice president with nonprofit Cincinnati Works, which helps people with criminal records find work and navigate barriers to self-sufficiency. “If you have front-line supervisors who are not comfortable, it will collapse,” he said.
Legos for adults: The company is targeting stressed-out grown-ups
Legos are amazing. I remember when I was a kid, my dad and I bought a Lego set for a police station. Piece by piece we assembled the multi-story building, complete with a helipad, jail cell, cops and bad guys. One of the hidden benefits of having a kid is you get to play with all the sweet toys again. Well, now the world’s largest toymaker is pitching its bricks as a form of mindfulness.
Lego, the world’s largest and most profitable toymaker, is zeroing in on a growing demographic: stressed-out adults. The 87-year-old Danish company increasingly bills its brightly colored bricks as a way to drown out the noise of the day and perhaps achieve a measure of mindfulness. The company’s newest kits — which include the Central Perk cafe from the sitcom “Friends” and a vintage 1989 Batmobile — tap into Gen X nostalgia, while its Ideas and Forma lines are being targeted to adults who want to occupy their hands but keep their minds loosely engaged.
The company spent the past five years revamping instruction manuals to make kits foolproof for frazzled adults, she said. Last year, Lego introduced a line of koi fish and shark models with soothing movements to appeal to builders in search of a “joyful creative challenge.”
Lego’s instruction booklets…serve an important role, too: “We like to have structure and a clear path. The idea that ‘if you follow this, you’ll achieve that,’ is very appealing.”
For those of you looking for an more active way to decompress than meditation, yoga or a good run, Legos might be the way to go!
Fired salesman disrupts car-buying industry with word-of-mouth 'concierge' business
If there was any doubt of the power of curated experiences in the 21st century, this story should help reinforce the value. A car salesman in Detroit lost his job with no warning. After calling his wife in tears, he launched a car concierge company that’s thriving one year later. Selling upwards of 50+ cars a month, “[Brian] has transformed the car-buying experience for customers in Michigan, New York, Florida and Wyoming.”
Quote I’m thinking about: “Decide what you stand for. And then stand for it all the time.” ― Clayton Christensen