Who should you blame for Covid-19?

Post author:Thomas Martin
Post published:15 April 2020
Post category:Politics Present

Blame flows freely when things get out of hand, people die, and economies collapse. We cannot blame a virus. So blame shifts to individuals, authorities, and institutions all the way up to the UN and EU. Blame is attributed to not preparing, not communicating, not acting, or doing it too late and insufficiently. I think we need to look at this differentiated and would like to suggest that we distinguish between politics and administrations as well as systems and individuals.…

Fake news is hard to come by

Post author:Thomas Martin
Post published:24 October 2017
Post category:Present Society Trends

This comprehensive analysis of the fake news situation by the Pew Research Center is a fascinating account of the complexity of the situation. They queried more than 1,000 experts about their opinion on the fake news situation: will it improve or not? The experts are divided: 51% for 49% against. The analysis goes deeply into the drivers, dependencies and also the history of the topic. It touches on political, economic, social, technology, and legal facts and trends and paints a very…

Edge execution requires guidance – an example from the US military

Post author:Thomas Martin
Post published:28 November 2014
Post category:Agile Decision-making Present

Edge execution requires guidance - an example from the US military Edge execution avoids long decision-making cycles and allows organizations to react to new developments quickly. It requires the delegation of decision making to font-line people who are likely to encounter new developments first. Traditionally, the new development would be reported up the command chain, probably altered in process and then subjected to a consent and planning-based decision-making process before the final decision is eventually communicated down for execution again.…

Do you work for free?

Post author:Thomas Martin
Post published:15 November 2014
Post category:Economy Present

I remember talking to a friend a couple of years ago about mobile applications. I was working at Microsoft at that time, a company that makes money with software. He waved his Android phone and said: "why should I pay for anything?". I tried to explain it to him. He is academic, highly intelligent and in a very senior position far away from the software industry. He didn't get it. He already was too deep into the "freebie economy". He…