Category Archives: Miscellaneous

  January again! That time of year when we make resolutions, then likely promptly break them again. Resolutions, if we’re to believe what we hear, are rarely successful and frequently don’t even survive till mid-January. What’s so special about January 1 anyway? It’s just another day. Yet there is something about the turning of the… Continue reading →

For me, the main significance of Labour (or Labor – depending whether one is north or south of the 49th parallel!) Day has generally been that it is the last weekend of summer; a last ‘hoorah’ before returning to school or work. As such there’s a certain sadness about it, at least for those who enjoy summer and… Continue reading →

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about shorter working weeks resulting in increased productivity and happier employees. Along the same kind of theme, we would suggest that vacations are good for the soul – and productivity. We are in the middle of vacation season yet there are still many people in North America, apparently, who… Continue reading →

The North American work ethic pervades most businesses, with many people not even taking all of their meagre two-week annual vacation allowance and employees often at their desks long after 5 pm. Yet Europeans are frequently confounded by this attitude – vacation allowances of five or six weeks a year are common there, often coupled with long… Continue reading →

I was likely not alone, last night, in watching – in mounting disbelief – the progress of the UK’s Brexit vote. I wouldn’t normally allow politics to feature in a business blog but there was one thing (among many, many others) that seemed apparent in the process and immediate aftermath – there was no Plan… Continue reading →