By Matt Ranen, on Fri Jul 4, 2014 at 1:30 PM ET  When business leaders talk about the ‘race for talent,’ you naturally want to know more about where the contestants in that race are going to come from, and exactly how they are training for the race. The answer, at least in the US, has for a very long time belonged to the higher education sector.
But there’s a significant disconnect here. Come June (graduation season) and then again come September (tuition check writing season), you can pick up any major newspaper and get even odds on finding an article or editorial that asks if a college education is worth the time and cost. If the race for talent were quite so intense, would anyone wonder about the value of college?
Today it’s absolutely fair to wonder. College education is one of the largest expenditures and investments that most people make in the course of their lives, with the possible exception of their primary real estate. These days, of course, a decent college education can cost a lot more than a decent apartment in most cities. And don’t forget the four (or more) years of opportunity cost, when the student is being a student and not something else that could earn him or her a salary.
And yet for a long time, at least in the United States, ‘is college worth it’ wasn’t even a question, or at least not a question you would pose in polite conversation. The economics of higher education seemed definitive: the more schooling you had, the more the labor market valued you and the more money you made over the course of your life (the only exception to that rule being non-professional PhD degrees). For most of the post-World War II period (and it’s still true today) a college degree was one of the best guarantees against unemployment during labor market downturns. And all of this, without even mentioning the inherent value of learning and socialization that happens during those four ‘wonderful’ years. Even electrical engineering students take a philosophy or art history course now and again, and human beings are indeed much more than simply labor market inputs. College was supposed to make them better at both.
Read the rest of…
Matt Ranen: LABOR MARKETS, HIGHER EDUCATION, AND THE RACE FOR TALENT
By Julie Rath, on Fri Jul 4, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET n our search for dashing rehearsal dinner options for grooms, Brian Leahy (founder of The Groom Says blog) and I start the day at Kmart and end up at Michael Andrews Bespoke. Part I of the interview (at Kmart) can be read on Brian’s blog here, and Part II (at MAB) here.
Special thanks to our gorgeous models, Alex and Adam, and to Michael Andrews Bespoke.
Images courtesy of Joanna Wilson Photography.
By Will Meyerhofer, on Thu Jul 3, 2014 at 1:30 PM ET “I never thought I’d end up working as a contract attorney doing doc review in a windowless basement,” my client bemoaned. “But then I read that piece about the lawyer who’s working as a clerk at WalMart. At least I’ve still got it over him in terms of job prestige.”
 Well, you know how obsessed lawyers are with job prestige.
There’s a phrase, “The Downward Drift,” that crops up in discussions of serious mental health diagnoses like schizophrenia, and/or chronic substance abuse. The idea is that you are afflicted with serious mental illness, or become addicted to a harmful substance, which in turn leads to a slow, inevitable slide downward in terms of social class. Before long, the wealthy, Upper East Side business executive suffering from schizophrenia and/or severe alcoholism finds himself jobless, friendless and eventually even homeless, sleeping in shelters and begging for change.
Weirdly, the same phenomenon – the Downward Drift – affects people who acquire Juris Doctor degrees. It sort of makes sense, since – at least nowadays, with people like me bellowing jeremiads on every street corner, it would be evidence of utter madness – textbook psychosis, perhaps – for anyone to head in the direction of law school, at least unless that law school is one of the top three in the country and someone else is footing the bill. But try to persuade a kid with a high LSAT score not to apply to law school – it’s nearly as tough as persuading a kid who’s gotten into a “top-500” (or whatever) law school into not attending (especially if he’s “won” one of those risible $20,000 so-called “scholarships” they hand out like pushers showering crack vials on newbie users.) If that task sounds Herculean (or Sisyphean), try talking a kid who’s blown $80,000 on his first year of law school out of “finishing up” the other two (useless) years – even if he’s hated every moment of the experience so far. This is where the parallel with addiction comes in because I guarantee you it’s no easier than convincing a chronic alcoholic that ten martinis is really enough. Even my own much-vaunted powers of persuasion come up short at that juncture. Because it’s impossible. An addict will keep drinking and drugging until he passes out face down in a puddle on the sidewalk. And a law student will blow that additional $160,000 to finish those two more pointless years. It’s a sure thing – just like zombies like eating flesh, the sun likes rising in the morning and Pat Robertson likes blaming bad weather on the homosexual agenda.
So how does the “Downward Drift” work, at least for lawyers?
Read the rest of…
Will Meyerhofer: The Downward Drift
By Josh Bowen, on Thu Jul 3, 2014 at 10:00 AM ET Globally-recognized personal trainer Josh Bowen will this week be providing intensive physical workout routines for The RP as he prepares to compete in the World Series of Poker.
This morning’s workout is below.
Visit Josh’s web site here and sign up for his newsletter here.
By Josh Bowen, on Thu Jul 3, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET 
Do me a favor and Google “ab workout” and see what the response will be. 59,000,000 results for “ab workout!” That is astounding and also very scary. The general consensus of anyone with a great stomach (both male and female) is they must do thousands of crunches and/or sit-ups. When in all reality the best stomach physiques have less to do with how often they exercises their “core” and more to do with what they fueled their body with i.e. what they ate.
Shocking huh? You were under the impression that a six pack came from doing tons of crunches? Wrong. In fact, let me show you how ineffective doing sit-ups and crunches can be, per the American Council on Exercise burning 3,500 calories through situps alone requires you to perform an impossible number of reps. If a 145-pound person performs situps at a moderate pace of 20 per minute, she burns about 4 calories per minute. To burn 3,500 calories, this person would need to perform situps for 875 minutes — and perform an unattainable total of 17,500 sit-ups.
I don’t know about you but the rate of return is not in your favor. So you may now be asking yourself how do I achieve a great abdominal physique? Simple answer; eat better.
However, the article today has nothing to do with how to make your abs pop and everything to do with alternatives to work your midsection and strengthen the muscles involved to reduce lower back pain and combined with a great strength training program and proper nutrition can give you the body you have always wanted.
Below is a select group of my favorite “core” exercises. Each one involves multiple muscle groups and can be added to most every program. I have included videos of each of these exercises with a brief (very brief) description.
*Since my audience is the general population, I did not feel the need to go over everyone’s head with complicated anatomy, physics and biomechanics. Most people’s attention span is very short, the videos are straight to the point but if you need more explanation on any of the below, please feel free to email me at jbtrainer21@gmail.com.
Anti-Crunch Exercises
The Plank
Variation: Reaching Plank
With proper alignment, straighten your body to 180 degrees with hips facing down and no excessive curve in the back. Slowly extend one arm out and then place it back on the table or ground.
Variation: Plank Rotation
Same as above, however this time rotate at the shoulders and hips from left to right touching the ground or table slowly. Rotate through the shoulders not the lower back.
Read the rest of…
Josh Bowen: The Anti-Crunch — 10 Better Exercises than Crunches or Sit-ups
By Brooke Masters, on Wed Jul 2, 2014 at 1:30 PM ET  The US financial regulatory system can be described as a bowl of spaghetti. Multiple watchdogs with overlapping jurisdictions routinely tangle with each other over how best to keep markets safe and honest.
Financial groups routinely moan about the contradictory requests and soaring compliance costs that result.
This week, Eric Schneiderman, the New York attorney-general, reminded investors why the US system of competitive regulation can sometimes work in their best interests. Mr Schneiderman fired a warning shot on Wednesday into the murky world of dark pools – trading venues where investors buy and sell large blocks of shares anonymously, with prices posted publicly only after deals are done.
He alleged that Barclays’ pool, Barclays LX, favoured high-speed traders while misleading institutional investors.
Click here to read the rest of the piece in Financial Times.
By Lauren Mayer, on Wed Jul 2, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET Lawyer jokes are low-hanging-fruit – everyone knows at least a few, and it’s far too easy to make fun of ambulance-chasing caricatures or frivolous lawsuits against fast food outlets when people spill things on themselves. (Although I do have one favorite: A priest, a rabbi, a nun and a lawyer walk into a bar, and the bartender says, “What is this, some kind of a joke?” But I digress . . . )
Some of my best friends really are lawyers, and they do everything from defending homeowners against wrongful evictions to the mind-numbingly-dull paperwork on which most small businesses depend. (Admission: My father was a small business contract lawyer, and when I was trying to decide whether to go into law or show business, he informed me that while law was a noble profession, “what separates humans from animals is our ability to appreciate art.” He then added “plus you don’t get applause in court.”)
Suffice to say, while I didn’t end up going to law school, I firmly believe in the power of law to protect people, and I understand the vital role played by lawsuits. However, John Boehner’s threat to sue President Obama for some yet-to-be-specified-disregard-of-something-he-hasn’t-figured-out-yet bears no resemblance to a valid lawsuit – instead, it sounds like when a 10-year-old threatens to run away from home because his parents are so mean, they won’t let him do, uh, whatever it was he wanted to do but forgot.
So this week’s song combines my general understanding of law with the show business career toward which my lawyer father pointed me . . .
Note: Show Lauren we need more entertainers and fewer lawyers by supporting her new CD, a compilation of greatest hits from these videos. You can hear clips and learn more here.
By David Goldberg, on Tue Jul 1, 2014 at 1:30 PM ET  Hemingway had it mostly right: “When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”
I’d actually take it a step further: most people never ask.
To be an effective leader, it’s crucial to develop a culture where employees feel consistently heard, and that their feedback is having an impact on the organization. A simple way to do this is to just start asking.
Think about it: how often do you ask your significant other, child, family members and friends, “How are you doing?” It’s probably more than once a year. Curiously, we don’t follow the same construct in the workplace. We usually only ask employees once a year.
Most companies typically do this through an annual employee survey, or worse, water cooler discussions at executive meetings where conjecture and subjective opinions are offered on how people are “feeling.” Multiple studies have proven that this type of infrequent, ad hoc means by which most solicit feedback from their workforce has an extremely negative impact on employee engagement. It’s probably why, in its 2013 State of the Global Workplace report, Gallup found only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work – a ridiculously low number.
Last year, we surveyed HR leaders in Silicon Valley to find out how they were keeping their employees happy, healthy and heard. Five key themes emerged:
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Money does matter
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Hands-on approach is key
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Employees want a voice
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Employees must feel valued
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Environment must be comfortable and positive
What’s interesting about the results is that 4 out of the 5 themes are centered on nurturing and building culture. This tells us that to really help employees thrive, listen to them. And, not just once a year. Culture isn’t an accident. It takes constant nurturing and work. One way to measure the health of your culture is through a series of employee engagement surveys.
At SurveyMonkey, we still do our annual employee survey. But we do it to identify a few key topics to explore deeper throughout the year. Then every three months, we solicit specific topic feedback and share the results with the team. For example, health benefits were an area that employees identified in the annual survey that they’d like improved. We followed up that annual survey with a specific benefits survey to all employees, and adjusted our offerings accordingly. The employees are part of the decision, feel heard, and we all feel a little bit wiser in the process. This ongoing survey dialogue allows your team leaders the ability to quickly identify issues and celebrate wins in real-time, not just once a year.
One parting word of wisdom. Don’t ask about things you’re not willing to change. Ignoring feedback is a sure way to disillusion a workforce. So, if you can’t change something, don’t ask. What you can change, involve employees. It will help build a healthy, thriving culture where everyone feels engaged and assured that their feedback has meaningful impact. So be wise. Stop talking. Ask and listen.
The author is the Founder and CEO of Survey Monkey
By Erica and Matt Chua, on Tue Jul 1, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET Before we had even unpacked our bags in our sixth floor room in Can Tho there was a knock at the door. Upon opening the door in came a short, fiery Vietnamese woman that we could tell wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer before we could even figure out what she was selling. She squatted down and started pulling out photos, maps, a notebook and testimonials from previous customers. She jumped right into her sales pitch for her boat tours on the Mekong Delta for “good price.” Her English was some of the best we had heard in Vietnam and she was talking a mile a minute while writing down pricing in her notebook to show us. $20 for a half day private tour and $40 for a full day private tour down the Mekong Delta. Before we even had time to respond to anything she had presented she was shoving testimonials written in every language at us, clearly proud of all her happy customers.
Her aggressive sales pitch and excellent English landed us on a small boat at 5:30 am the next morning in the Mekong Delta. Breakfast was included, coffee too, as well as a driver and English speaking guide. Our guide was an affable older gentleman who had fought in the South Vietnamese Military alongside the Americans in the Vietnam War, which is where he picked up his English. They were a great pair for giving us a glimpse into life on the Delta and for getting plastic bags out of the motor so that the tour could continue.
The first stop was Cai Rung floating market, the largest in the Mekong Delta. Most of the trading, selling and buying happens between 6-8 am, so we were right on time. Next we headed to a small rice paper making operation, which also seemed to be raising pigs and pythons. With all the rice noodles we had been eating we didn’t know how they were made, so this stop was of particular interest as they made rice paper that was then made into noodles.
We continued down the Delta observing how people lived along the rivers and watching as new bridges were being built and barge traffic made it’s way towards Saigon. Much of the Mekong Delta looks the same, but we were kept entertained as our driver made us bouquets of flowers, grasshoppers and jewelry out of coconut palm leaves. Our guide also made us some pineapple lollipops and attempted to teach us Vietnamese.
Read the rest of…
Erica and Matt Chua: Ms. Ha’s School of Marketing
By Josh Bowen, on Tue Jul 1, 2014 at 7:00 AM ET Globally-recognized personal trainer Josh Bowen will this week be providing intensive physical workout routines for The RP as he prepares to compete in the World Series of Poker.
This morning’s workout is below.
Visit Josh’s web site here and sign up for his newsletter here.
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