USA Memory Championships competitors provide tips for remembering the stuff we always forget | Unplugged Government 2.0 (August 16, 2011) Thanks to Todd Park, a federal agency has discovered that health care organizations can think more like nimble startups than like lumbering giants. (Illustration by Keith Negley) The great irony of the transformative health care reform legislation passed in 2010 is that although the law promises access to care for 30 million Americans, it relies on an outdated structure woefully ill prepared to serve them. Constrained resources, flawed economics, rising costs—how can a health care system under so much strain survive such an expansion? Over time, the most dynamic health care institutions have boosted their creative metabolisms, so to speak, with promising methods for vetting new ideas and technologies. Like all institutions in this era of reform, HHS is leveraging the entrepreneurial experience of people like Park to reinvent how it does business. The department can be thought of as the largest, most important health care institution in the country. It was a vague but daunting objective.
Economics How does today impact tomorrow’s success? Everyone wants to have a good day, but not many people know what a good day looks like – much less how to create one. And even fewer people understand how the way you live today impacts your tomorrow. Have you ever asked someone what he was doing and heard him respond, “Oh, I’m just killing time”? If we want to do something with our lives, then we must focus on today. The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda. It all comes down to what you do today. Make the decision once, then manage it daily. There are only a handful of important decisions that people need to make in their entire lifetimes. If you make decisions in those key areas once and for all – and then manage those decisions daily – you can create the kind of tomorrow you desire. Successful people make right decisions early and manage those decisions daily. Here are the twelve areas where I make decisions and then manage them on a day-to-day basis:
Reinventing Health Care Services (August 16, 2011) A doctor describes his groundbreaking, transdisciplinary effort to design more cost-effective care models for conditions that drive a large proportion of US health spending. (Illustration by Keith Negley) My professional life has revolved around a single question: How can doctors and other health professionals catalyze big leaps in the quality and affordability of health care? This ethical imperative has now become a fiscal imperative if the United States is to avoid what has been described in The New England Journal of Medicine as the “specter of financial Armageddon” for federal and state governments. In my work across the United States, I have observed physician groups and other health care organizations that deliver high-quality care at a cost roughly 20 percent lower than average. They are not alone. In the current climate, none of the players is willing to sufficiently strengthen either the market or the regulatory mechanisms required to improve the value of care.
TED Economics 12 Tips For Becoming Charismatic & Unforgettable Charisma is a great and wonderful talent to possess. A lot of people feel that Charisma is something only a handful are born with. Well they are wrong. You can learn it! That is why we have decided to share with you ‘ 12 Tips For Becoming Charismatic & Unforgettable ‘. 1. Here are the four different styles: - Focus . - Visionary. - Kindness . - Authority. 2. Intentionally put yourself in uncomfortable situations so that you can deal with internal discomfort more effectively, this way you come across more experienced and as someone who deserves to be honored for his or her fearlessness. 3. You need to make time before the big event to warm up. It’s important not to leave your physical out of this to, even if this means you switch your iPod playlist from Jazz to Hard Rock or Clubbing music with some added in push ups or sprints to get you pumped before hand, this will get you warmed up and ready for the challenge. 4. Those who suffer from self-doubt, reek of it! 5. 6. A great & 7. 8. 9. 10.
Gaypon Is The Gay Groupon A new daily deals site catering to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LBGT) and allied communities has just launched, and it’s called Gaypon. The site provides its subscribers with daily offers from local and regional businesses - but only those businesses known to be gay-friendly. In addition, Gaypon says a portion of its proceeds will be donated to local and national LGBT organizations and charities. Initially, you might imagine this site is just the latest to jump on the daily deals bandwagon. Before becoming a Gaypon merchant, businesses are put through a background check of sorts, where they are investigated for any bad marks, like complaints of discrimination from customers and employees, poor hiring practices, etc. The site promises that your personal data is kept private, too. By the way, Gaypon isn’t just for the LGBT and Allied communities – it’s for anyone who wants to support local businesses that stand up for equality.
Eight Products the Facebook Generation Will Not Buy Consumer tastes are changing at a greater rate than ever before. Not surprisingly, the purchasing habits of the youngest generation present the most dramatic shifts — a reflection of what they find important. 24/7 Wall St. has identified eight popular products that the “Facebook generation” is not buying. Generation Y, generally defined as those born between 1980 and 1999, have lost interest in many of the services and products their parents found important. For example, younger Americans are less interested in cars. In 1998, 64.4% of potential drivers 19-years old and younger had drivers licenses. [More from 24/7 Wall St.: America’s Nine Most Damaged Brands] What young adults care about has shifted. However, many products that have declined in popularity among the youth are more a result of the changing tastes across all ages than a generational shift. 1. 2. Light beer has become to the current generation of youth what regular beer was just a few decades ago. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
How Pepsi and Coke's Plant-Based Bottle Wars Affect Manufacturers | Business One of the best indirect results of the headlong rush companies are making into sustainability initiatives is the rise of green competition. We see it across sectors, as companies work to out-do each other on green efforts and green messaging Whether it's FedEx and UPS, Procter & Gamble and Unilever, or Coke and Pepsi, companies are increasingly pushing each other to do more, faster to reduce their impacts. That last example is especially relevant. For example, The Coca-Cola Company has recently taken its years of environmental initiatives -- from energy-efficient lighting to hybrid vehicle fleets -- to a new level, with the introduction in 2009 of the PlantBottle, a PET beverage bottle made of 30 percent plant-based plastics. The PlantBottle was a game-changer for green packaging on its own, giving a highly innovative product about the highest-profile platform it could have. But then its chief competitor raised the bar. Behind-the-Scenes Challenges to Manufacturing Green
10 Ways to Appear More Authoritative at Work If you want to be taken more seriously at work, take a look at how authoritative you appear. Many people, especially newer managers, undermine their own authority without realizing it, and then wonder why they're not more respected. Here are 10 ways to exude confidence and appear more authoritative at work: 1. Get clear on your own authority. Often, managers and others with authority squander it by acting as if it's not part of their role. [Related: Why Intelligence Is Overrated] 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. [Related: The Best Big Cities for Jobs] 8. 9. 10. Alison Green writes the popular Ask a Manager blog, where she dispenses advice on career, job search, and management issues. More From US News & World Report
Adidas to Work With Greenpeace to Remove Toxics from Global Supply Chain | Business Adidas has revealed it is talking to competing sportswear brands, including Nike and Puma, as part of efforts to develop an industry-wide commitment to detoxing the supply chain. The news comes as Greenpeace today stepped up its campaign against hazardous chemicals used in textile manufacturing with the release of a second report as part of its high-profile "Dirty Laundry" campaign. Today's report found the presence of nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) in items of clothing bought in the EU bearing labels from high-profile brands such as Adidas, H&M and Abercrombie & Fitch. NPE breaks down to form nonylphenol (NP), a persistent chemical with hormone-disrupting properties that builds up in the food chain and can prove hazardous even at very low levels. The study follows Greenpeace's first Dirty Laundry report last month, which found that a number of high street brands were linked to Chinese manufacturers that had been accused of spilling harmful chemicals into local water supplies.