Here are some stories I am watching today and other interesting tidbits that caught my attention.
ESPN has a wonderful article out today about the life of an NFL scout, with the subtitle 3,000 nights in a hotel, chain restaurants and lots of videos.
The article profiles Dave Sears who works for the Detroit Lions and it covers the ins-and-outs of what it's like to be a pro scout at the highest level of professional sports - great article check it out on ESPN.
Another story I am watching today, also from the world of professional sports.
This article comes to us from strategy and business, which is a wonderful newsletter and site that is put out by the people over there at PWC.
This article in particular looks at coaching the highest levels of professional soccer with the title, Better than right: Turning mistakes into an advantage.
Really what the article is focused on is how coaches are becoming much more human if you will, less top-down managers, all in an effort to show more of a human side.
The best coaches have the ability to be vulnerable and accessible.
In particular, the article looks at Jürgen Klopp, who of course had a long-playing career himself and is now the current coach at Liverpool.
His style of coaching really requires honesty, empathy, and authenticity.
It shows the power of connecting with players at a more human level and the success that it can produce.
This from the intersection of commerce and art, Jack Daniels will premiere a documentary that tells the history of the Tennessee whiskey brand and its place in pop culture.
Chasing whiskey: The Untold Story of Jack Daniels will be in theaters on May 11th for one night.
Obviously this is a great example of connecting film documentary storytelling with branding and it should be a powerful film.
I'm sure the most ardent fans of Jack Daniels will make a big effort to see the film and probably even celebrate before and after with a cocktail or two.
This is a really smart effort here and expands the communication tools employed by the team of Jack Daniels.
Another story that caught my eye today, this also from strategy and business, this article focuses on the Allied invasion of Normandy with the title: The most agile day.
The article explores how US soldiers who found themselves in unplanned locations and separated from the team members, spontaneously formed small combat units, assigned new leaders, and executed coherent actions to best continue the advance and the overall mission.
The article suggests that Allied invasion, one of the largest movements of human power we've ever seen on the planet, really has a lot to teach us about the utility of organizational agility and moving forward, even when plans become scrambled and not effective.
Some other stories were watching from the world of business and commerce:
GE shed about 78,000 workers in 2019. The new CEO Larry Culp sold off business united and also shrank the workforce by 28% - pretty impressive. The company now is basically back to 1950s employment levels.
Another story, Volkswagen’s chief executive has pledged to employ a young climate campaigner to aggressively challenge the company's environmental policies.
Is this more greenwashing by multinationals or is this a serious commitment of the world's largest automaker to move the company away from the internal combustion engine and to a more electrical vehicle future?
We will have to watch and see.
This one for globalization, Gideon Rachman writes in the Financial Times explores the dangers of annexation with the title: Do you lie awake at night dreaming about annexing part of your neighboring country? If so you're not alone.
Rachman points to a Pew opinion poll showing this is a startling number of Europeans who were are satisfied with their nation’s bounders is something interesting to watch and check out.
And finally, we close out with this - there continue to be a lot of coronavirus stories and President Trump will be having a news conference at 6 p.m. Eastern today.
More and more indications suggest the coronavirus will hit the United States in a big way with few thinking the nation is properly prepared.
Stock markets around the world continue to slow, all kinds of commercial and cultural activities are being scaled back, travel for executives is being halted.
This really is becoming a classic Black Swan economic event.
That's all I got for today.
I will be back tomorrow.
Enjoy the ride and plan accordingly.
-Marc A. Ross | Founder @ Caracal
