Working - What we do all day is a Netflix documentary that deals with American working life from top to bottom in three different companies. It shows how personal finances, meaning in working, security and future prospects are affected by industry and the employee's place in the job pyramid. In other words, it problematizes socio-economic effects of working life. The American adage that if you just work hard enough you will succeed is coming under pressure. The documentary shows that the picture is considerably more complex, and where the factors of ability, background and coincidences play significant roles. Producer and narrator is Barack Obama.
What is Narrative Economics?
Narrative economics is about how stories and perceptions are spread between people and how these can change perceptions of events and economic decisions. Just think of recessions, bubbles and so on. Such stories can go viral and reinforce beliefs such as that individual shares and house prices can only go up. Regardless of whether such beliefs are right or wrong, they will be able to influence how people and companies make financial decisions. Traditionally, the subject of economics has placed little emphasis on explaining and understanding this phenomenon, but, as the video below shows, understanding narrative economics can contribute to a greater understanding of economic events that lead to recession, inequality and so on.
Investment decisions
We've all been there. Worked our way through Excel sheet after Excel sheet with various assumptions and assessments of an investment decision. Such analyzes are, to put it mildly, not an exact science and the decision itself is very often driven by prejudice and bias. I have even experienced working with an investment analysis for a large Norwegian company that was to invest in a new, expensive digital platform, where the mandate was that the investment decision had already been made and that it should now only be considered home. Businesses make investments mainly based on the following goals: Increased business income: buy other businesses, invest in product development, invest in marketing, buy a customer base (SaaS). Increased efficiency/reduced costs: Invest in machinery and equipment, invest in efficiency projects, R&D. Increased quality: invest in increased quality in products, services, production, systems and organisation. Reduced risk: invest in HSE, management systems, control systems Sustainability: invest in measures that make the business more sustainable, such as reduced emissions and waste. This contributes to both improved reputation and sustainability in general
Finite games
Anyone who has studied economics and management has most likely learned about game theory. Game theory is a direction within the field that analyzes how actors (companies, states, individuals) act on each other's choices of action. The most famous game-theoretic situation is the Prisoner's Dilemma. In game theory, one operates with finite and infinite games. A finite game is a situation with a beginning and end, fixed participants, and defined rules. Examples of this are a football match or a single car sale. Infinite games, on the other hand, have both known and unknown participants. The rules can be changed during the game and the game has no clear end. Examples of infinite games are friendship, business and politics. Many companies operate with a mindset as if there is an end game. An example of this is companies where the aim is to beat the competition and become number 1 in the market. On the other side, you have companies that have a mindset where it operates in an endless game and where the only competitor is themselves and the focus is continuous improvement of their own products, services, culture and management. Overtime, you see that players with an infinite perspective eventually win over those with a finite perspective, simply because you survive longer. Here is a movie that tells strategies for achieving a final mindset:
What are Objectives and Key Results (OKR)?
Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a widely used method for setting the right goals for organisations, teams and individuals. Google is among the companies that use this. Objectives are WHAT you want to achieve, while Key Results are HOW to achieve the goals. To set the right goals, you can first ask yourself the question WHY or WHY to answer WHAT you want to achieve. The goals should be: significant, concrete, action-oriented and inspiring. Key Results should be specific & time-bound, ambitious, but realistic and measurable. Typical Key Results can be the number of users of a website or the number of members of a voluntary organisation.
Dollar Street: How to live for 10 dollar a day?
Imagine that the whole world lived in the same street and where people lived was sorted by income. The poorest on the left and the richest on the right. All the others somewhere in between. Welcome to Dollar Street.
The website Dollar Street is created by the organization Gapminder. The idea is to show what standard of living people around the world have, the dependence on family income, and how this affects how they live, what they eat and what material goods they have such as toys, toothbrushes, furniture etc. The website gives a wonderful insight into what do we mean by having different living standards.