The Blue Screen of Death
A tech outage knocked out operations for banks, media companies, and emergency services, and forced airlines to ground flights.
Good Morning!
Here are today’s highlights:
Lou Mosca wants you to do what you know you need to do.
Businesses are turning to a family-owned lumberyard for management advice.
Massive spending is fueling a surge in American manufacturing.
The Age of Ozempic is already producing big changes in the economy.
MANAGEMENT
In this week’s video, Lou Mosca says that he’s seeing more business owners fall into patterns of procrastination, and he lists some of the decisions they tend to struggle with: “I’ve seen this a lot more post-pandemic, where owners delay making tough decisions. It’s dangerous for owners and their companies because it leads to missed opportunities and shoddy operations. If you know something is wrong, and you can’t bring yourself to address it, that’s a problem.” CONNECT WITH LOU
Businesses are turning to a 175-year-old, family-owned lumberyard for management advice: “Lately, the company has taken on another reputation: a working example of something [Kevin] Hancock calls shared leadership, a philosophy he's spent years carving out of his own lived experience. Basically, it means that leadership is about dispersing power and amplifying employees' voices at all levels of the organization. ‘I have seen first-hand what this approach to shared leadership, dispersed power, and a deep focus on the employee experience could do for a company and the people who work there,’ says Hancock. As a result, Hancock's built a consulting practice that runs parallel to the lumberyard, drawing organizations of all stripes to learn about shared leadership and how it manifests at Hancock Lumber.”
“Hancock has written two books: Not for Sale and The Seventh Power. Combined, they are an account of his life experience outside of running a lumberyard, specifically his developing a rare neurological voice disorder called spasmodic dysphonia, which makes speaking difficult.”
“Hancock, whose company reported $350 million in revenue last year, offers advice and clear examples of the philosophy he's developed in the past 20 years. For instance, when the company decided to renovate a building, nearly every employee inside the building had an opportunity to walk the site and offer suggestions on how to make the new space more efficient and useful.”
“‘We do this exercise called yes, and or yes, but,’ says Baldwin. ‘Employees have ideas, but there is nowhere for the idea to go or get to the right person to make a decision. A brand-new employee is so excited about an idea [only to be told], Yes, but you've only been here three months. Yes, but we tried that and it didn't work. Hancock does a great job of yes and. It is very fluid.’” READ MORE
TECHNOLOGY
A major IT outage is causing chaos around the world: “A massive tech outage swept the globe, knocking out operations for banks, media companies and emergency services, and forcing airlines to ground flights. An update from cybersecurity-software company CrowdStrike caused outages for millions of users of Windows devices worldwide. CrowdStrike Chief Executive George Kurtz said in a post on X that the issue had been identified and a fix had been deployed, adding that ‘this is not a security incident or cyberattack.’”
“Major airlines including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines halted departures, according to advisories issued by the Federal Aviation Administration. Windows computers and tablets crashed in countries from the U.S. to China and Australia, with reports of forced restarts of devices spreading across social media.”
“Austin-based CrowdStrike told customers in a status update seen by the Journal that the problem was with a software change it had pushed out to clients’ computers. The company said its engineers had undone the change but clients would need to use a workaround to download a fix to affected computers.”
“Many affected machines were unable to restart, instead showing a blue error screen sometimes called the ‘blue screen of death.’” READ MORE
MANUFACTURING
American manufacturing is surging: “Reston, Virginia-based defense and technology firm Leidos Holdings Inc. is spending $31.7 million to build a new manufacturing hub for its security systems in North Charleston, South Carolina. The 150,000-square-foot-facility is the third of its kind in the United States and built with the express goal of bringing the company’s manufacturing abilities back to the United States. It will produce items for the company’s infrastructure customers, including in aviation, shipping ports and border crossings, when it is completed in 2024. The Leidos project is among hundreds of manufacturing projects popping up across the country, partially the result of a series of massive spending bills passed under the Biden administration that has created the potential for what some experts are calling a manufacturing ‘supercycle’ and manufacturing resurgence.”
“Manufacturing construction spending across the United States continues to smash through 20-year highs, hitting a $194 billion annual rate in April, nearly double the $107 billion annual rate from a year ago, according to the St. Louis branch of the Federal Reserve.”
“Spending has continued to rise as legislation such as the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the sweeping infrastructure legislation passed within the last few years continue to pump money and tax credits into manufacturing and related projects.” READ MORE
STARTUPS
An incubator believes food-waste soup can save the world: “Can the food industry get a bit of respect as an environmental game changer? Jen Faigel, co-founder and executive director of CommonWealth Kitchen, is asking herself this question as she tries to reverse climate change with soup made of surplus food waste. As Boston’s innovative food business incubator, CommonWealth Kitchen is demanding a wake-up call nationally when it comes to food waste. The organization is helping farmers and businesses transform their unused product into widely distributed, sustainable food. ‘We decided that we can help farmers, small businesses and integral parts of the food economy, by developing a set of recipes for them,’ said Faigel.”
“About 40 percent of food is thrown away, and food waste is the third largest cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Most of that food ends up in landfills which is another contributing factor to environmental degradation.”
“Faigel has already put CWK’s soup and other products of would-be food waste into approximately 15 of the largest hospitals and universities in the New England region like Brandeis University and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. CWK will continue to expand to places like New York as it furthers relationships with distributor partnerships with giants of the industry like Sodexo in the coming months.”
“Faigel’s mission of sustainability is in-line with the other aspects of CWK which focus on highlighting businesses through inclusion. The surplus soups incorporate ingredients from businesses that operate out of the shared kitchen at CWK. One business is Meal Mantra, an authentic Indian curry sauce brand whose simmer sauce ended up in the yellow split pea curry soup.” READ MORE
OPPORTUNITY
The age of Ozempic is revamping thinking throughout big swaths of the economy: “So far, the powerful new anti-diabetes and anti-obesity drugs — a fast-growing family that also includes Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda, Zepbound and dozens more in the works — have been expensive and difficult to obtain because of widespread shortages. But as availability increases and costs come down, GLP-1 medications threaten to upend the long-standing natural order for industries across the board. Executives and investors are nervously wondering whether droves of slimmed-down users will soon ditch their dieticians, skip the gym, order less at restaurants, and throw out their favorite snack brands.”
“Many companies, acknowledging that the blockbuster class of drugs are a medical breakthrough and not just a fad, are swiftly repositioning themselves with new products and services in a bid to persuade customers that they still have plenty to offer in the booming age of Ozempic.”
“‘We had to up our game,’ said Dr. Gary Foster, chief scientific officer at WeightWatchers. ‘A lot of people said, ‘Was it an existential crisis for you?’ Absolutely not. When science evolves, we evolve. What we have to do as a brand is think about how we incorporate that.’”
“Apparel retailers say they’ve noticed customers buying smaller sizes. Plastic surgeons are reporting a rise in facelifts and other procedures to correct so-called Ozempic face, the sagging skin that often accompanies rapid weight loss. In February, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, the chief executive of Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk, said food company leaders had called him because they were ‘scared.’”
“Gyms, too, are pivoting to retain clients who are now taking the drugs — and to attract people who might have felt too self-conscious to sign up for a membership before. Although it might seem counterintuitive, ‘I think [Ozempic] brings new people in,’ said Siegel, the analyst who tracks big-box fitness chains.” READ MORE
THE 21 HATS PODCAST
Family Businesses Aren’t Dysfunctional. They’re Disastrous: This week, in episode 204, Jay Goltz and special guest Cathy Caroll talk about family businesses, with Jay asserting that they are even more combustible than most people realize and with Cathy offering some smart coping strategies. We start with Cathy explaining how her own experiences in a family business propelled her to write a book, Hug of War, and to become a family business coach. Why are family businesses so difficult? Well, says Cathy, it’s because you’re trying to combine a family mindset with a business mindset, which she says, is like “living in socialism and capitalism simultaneously.”
Of course, she says, it also has to do with mixing love and money—“You’re just gonna get sparks”—and with the brutal challenge of transitioning from one generation to the next, when every decision can feel like a repudiation or rejection. Still, it was that stew of anxiety, resentment, and trauma that helped Cathy find her calling, which is to help others do in their family businesses what she could not in hers.
You can subscribe to the 21 Hats Podcast wherever you get podcasts.
Thanks for reading, everyone. — Loren