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Death by Bricks and Mortar

The following options and positions are those of the author and not of any organization that he represents.

Yesterday (August 5, 2020) I read an article about the staggering effect that Covid19 is having on the retail operators.  This involves malls, shops, concessionaires and related operators that provide non-retail services like restaurants.  Malls have become vacant halls and all but a few…

Ten Years in Banana Land

2010 I made the journey from my homeland to a remote foreign island nation.  Although I had visited several times, the first in 1975, I was quite sure what to expect.  Maybe it was because I had traveled allot and knew that visiting vs. living are drastically different situations.

My decision wasn’t all that simple and was full of uncertainty, conflicts and long standing desires.  It involved…

Is IR4.0 Ready for Prime Time?

“We all get excited about a bit of newness. Captivated by examples and consumed by visions of use we wanted head long into the realities of life. Ambitious endeavors struggle to set sail and limited efforts become bottomless pits of despair. Can they be avoided or minimized?” – J. Durant

What Happened to Induce IR4.0

2012 in the quiet corners of the quaint city of Hannover a working group was…

Not Enough Intent… RPA

My youngest son is contemplating a career in robotics and since I embraced this topic in my advanced studies I was feeling a bit of pride. It also caused me to contemplate the various forms of robotic pursuits that can be undertaken. In doing so I came to this revelation that in some ways the whole use of robotics is following trends that had preceded it. The manual series of step wise…

“I would prefer to give you point for thought than to give  you answers, even when there are clearly objective direction that can be given.” – J. Durant

For most of my life I have been more of an answer man than one that sits idly by waiting to given a vote or opinion.  Yet today we see the convergences of answers with marketing in which the plausible becomes the definitive answer and the…

Your NEXT Lesson for Today…

Lesson 3:  Priorities

“Simplistically we prioritize things in life.  Drive by need we stack them on top of each other likes stones on a wall.” – J. Durant

What is a priority and why is it important.  Priorities are things we need to do and always has some purposeful value.  Even relaxation as a purposeful intent and needs to be taken in as a priority.  Prioritization unfortunately doesn’t get the…

Your NEXT Lesson for Today…

“Collaborate, team work, group exercises and the like are all conventions intended to generate value.  But how can you generate value when you don’t know what the dynamic is?” – J. Durant

Lesson 2:  Group Projects

It seems as though everyone is comfortable with the topic… teachers reduce a review of 10 papers down to 1, parents can abdicate their attention from support to allow a free range…

Your Lesson for Today Is…

“We send them off with hopes that the efforts of education will produce wisdom.  What we expose them to is a journey over rocky roads.” – J. Durant

Lesson 1:  Time Management

As a parent we trundle our children off to schools to be exposed to established historical wisdom.  From untied apron strings we see them take flight, some with a bit of sadness from leaving a comfortable nest while others…

“A journey is always a new path, whether you have traveled it a 1000 times before.” – J. Durant

May 2017 was a turning point, a change of outlook and a new directional path. At my age one would think I would know better. But since the question of “end” is not under consideration at the moment there is no reason to put restrictions. The last several months has been spent somewhat wisely by…

“Life has continued to change. I’m reluctant to use the word ‘progress’ given the clumsy way in which disruption has been dealt with.”

Over the course of time, we see things come and other things go. People, newfangled products, technologies, relationships and processes to name just a few. As individuals, we have our own way of dealing with change, at least in terms of acceptance, adoption or…

“On occasion, we are afforded a chance to participate and observe a rather through provoking discussion. Yesterday was one of those that gave rise to the question of market influence, brand and social responsibility.” – J. Durant

Every so often we read, observe and even participate in an interesting discussion on a point of interest. Yesterday was one of those days. It all started out at the…

“The battle cry of the troops is the rant of the troops. Yet in their midst emerges a leader, a person of trust who now raises the question as to how much trust was misguided.” – J. Durant

Present day the lament is about leadership. Its akin to children complaining about parents and how they lack permissiveness, trust, and privileges. Over the course of time, a person works from the bottom up to…

“There are two times each year when we return to our core senses and reassess our thinking, the appropriate religious holiday season and New Years.” – J. Durant

As we approach the end of the year we become removed from the months of routine existence to one poised on reflection.  We look at the events that have taken place over the course of the year and contemplate how we want to proceed into…

My VOTE For Sale

“The human privilege entitlement is manifested in the optimization of value.” – J. Durant

We live in a very confusing and conflicted point in time.  Liberties are used as both a stick and a tool to exemplify the invisible benefits that ours and outs alone.  We see governments from all corners of the globe involved in wholesale manipulation of the voters to achieve success.  There was actually a…

The Dangling Carrot… Law of Inverse

“The present creates focus but the shift in attention leaves prior points of view. Are we missing something important?” – J. Durant

On my return trip to home, I was still pumped up and motivated by the many exciting opportunities that exist. Whilst not so much a matter of the venue, region or people it was simply the stimulation created in the course of interchanges and quite stimulating…

The Entrepreneur Devil Made Me Do It!

“On a regular basis, we are apt to be confronted by someone who begs for work.  Most because of blind ignorance as to how a company generates revenue.” – J. Durant

Day-on-Day I receive emails, phone calls and messenger messages asking for work.  From a simple connection, it grows instantaneously to become a full-fledged, out in the open request for work.  Characteristically, it seems as though…

Innovation and it’s place with Emerging Disruptive Technologies

“We can barely get our heads around some of the new technologies coming to the forefront and now we are faced with adaptions. How can we make sense from all of this?” – J. Durant

Each and every day we wake up to a new day and a new set of technologies that land upon our plate for consideration. Enticing as they might be, and the promises that they advocate we have to make key strategic decisions.…