Feldman's Faves: May 2, 2022

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

To quote our fearless leader Dale, “hope is not a strategy”. OK fine, so we didn’t beat Philly and we aren’t going to win the Finals this year. That’s ok, it was a fun series and we are building a really strong core for the future. The pain of losing on Thursday was mitigated (at least for me) in seeing Kyrie (the biggest a-@#@# in all of sports) and the Nets get swept. So for the rest of this season I am a Celtics fan.

In the wake of Staff Appreciation Day, I wanted take the opportunity to thank everyone for working so hard in the month of April (and frankly, all year). Everyone is consistently making great contributions this year and doing amazing work. Our section in particular is really doing spectacularly well –and your hard and smart work is very much appreciated. So thank you to everyone for your ongoing efforts. I hope as the weather gets nicer (if that actually ever happens) people can take some time for themselves and enjoy life outside.

This week’s theme looks at the extremes of business as both a force for good and a force for evil.

KOCHLAND THE SECRET HISTORY OF KOCH INDUSTRIES AND CORPORATE POWER IN AMERICA – By Christopher Leonard – Before 2015, when one thought of the power base of the Republican Party the name that always came up was Koch. Then Trump stepped in and took up all the oxygen (at least publicly) in that space. That said, the billionaire Koch brothers have been and continue to be among the most influential and powerful political players in America with most of what they do happening behind the scenes, which is how the term “dark money” became a well-known and often used phrase. As one example, they are big supporters and funders of the Tea Party. In Kochland, Chris Leonard, describes the full history of the Koch family, starting with the rise of their father (Fred) but with the main focus on the two power player sons, Charles and David (there is a third son, Freddy, but he was never really interested in the family business, just the money and lifestyle – my kind of guy…). In addition to the “Dynasty style” (or for our millennial audience “Succession style”) drama (e.g., Charles screwing over David on his ownership interest in the family business and the court battles that ensued), we learn about the various businesses owned by the Koch’s (such as Georgia Pacific, a notorious polluter of rivers) and various political arms and think tanks they have formed and funded in an effort to further their economic and political interests. They are also massive philanthropists (e.g., huge money spent in galleries around the world, at MIT on cancer research, etc.). If you want to understand how the modern day Medici family operates today in America this book is for you. It will be interesting to see what role the Koch family plays going forward, since I know they are no friends or fans of Trump – the next few election cycles will be very interesting. Here is a good review from the Financial Times - https://ig.ft.com/sites/business-book-award/books/2019/shortlist/kochland-by-christopher-leonard/

TED BUSINESS - What makes a job "good"—and the case for investing in people | Warren Valdmanis – We always talk about the importance of culture in the work place. Another favourite line of Dale (quoting Peter Drucker) is that “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. But what does that actually mean? In this PODCAST Warren Valdmanis reminds us that we all know what a BAD JOB is, but asks what us to consider the elements that constitute a GOOD JOB. In his view a good job has four main components, namely: (i) employees are fairly treated (wages/benefits), (ii) there is a promising future (training/growth and promotion opportunities), (iii) psychological safety is part of the culture (where you can avoid fear of failure/share points of view), and (iv) people are able to find purpose (feeling proud /useful in what they do). I believe that based on this framework, we at Goodmans are all very lucky and have really good jobs. Here is an excerpt from the PODCAST itself: “Businesses need to stop cutting labor costs and start investing in people, says social impact investor Warren Valdmanis. In this perspective-shifting talk, he breaks down the essential ingredients of a "good" job—which is more than just the size of a paycheck—and shares why they're key to building great companies”: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ted-business/id470622782?i=1000557877124

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon