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You can have too much friction, but can you also have too little?

Linda Popky Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Friction-free. Smooth sailing. Highly collaborative organizations. Harmonious team dynamics. These are all sought-after states for most organizations. After all, who wants to introduce tension or friction when you could have a calm, stable organization, right? You do, of course. That’s because calm, smooth, friction-free organizations don’t push the envelope to try new and creative ideas, they don’t fully explore possibilities, and they don’t use internal dialogue to vet ideas and concepts before they hit the external market.

Human-centered design is the secret sauce for open-plan success

Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & Fixtures

Open-plan workspaces have been given quite a thrashing in recent years. The more ubiquitous they become, the more employees and critics complain about how awful they are to work in. What makes the difference? Designers will not be surprised to learn that, according to recent research, the major factor is the quality of the interior design. Drawing on what is now an extensive body of research, most workspaces now are designed to promote certain kinds of employee behaviors found to be linked to important business goals, such as more rapid innovation and increased productivity.

New hospital quality and safety ratings released, show improvements from…

Christina Thielst Healthcare Administration

The Leapfrog Group, which represents employers and other purchasers of healthcare services, has released its new spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. Overall, there has been a significant improvement in 2019 (160,000) from its 2016 estimate (205,000) of lives lost from avoidable medical errors. Through its affiliation with the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, it has also updated its estimate of deaths due to errors, accidents, injuries and infections at hospitals. Like other hospital rating systems, the grades can be viewed as triggers for asking questions for more informed patients.

Why we need more graduates to enter the trades

Brian Stack Education

Every month or so, a community member or parent in my high school sends me an article that talks about how schools need to spend more time investing in the trades. The latest share came from the Hechinger Report’s Matt Krupnick, who wrote about how after decades of pushing bachelor’s degrees, the U.S. needs more tradespeople. Krupnick went on to share how states like California are spending millions of dollars on campaigns to revive the reputation of vocational education. California’s efforts are at the heart of a debate raging across our country. Trades have often had an "image" problem, being seen as a less-desirable alternative to college. This is wrong.

Travel2020: Summer travel at airports may be heading for slowdowns, showdowns

Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

It may be the summer of love in some parts of the country, but it could also be the summer of slowdowns as well, especially for passengers flying on American Airlines or anyone trying to snake through U.S. airport security lines. American is in a standoff with its mechanics union, waging accusations of staging slowdowns in the midst of contract talks happening between the two entities. Meanwhile, as the Trump administration moves manpower to the southern border, U.S. flyers stand to see slowdowns at TSA checkpoints as they try to catch their flights.

Changing consumer needs in food and beverage will impact real estate

Bambi Majumdar Food & Beverage

CBRE recently reported that massive shifts in the food and beverage industry will impact the real estate market in a big way. Millennial consumers are pushing for prepared food and ready-made, convenient meals that they can pick off the shelves. U.S. restaurants and grocery operators are reinventing themselves to meet these new demands. The real estate these businesses occupy will be revisited as well.

Urban farming in the US: Breaching the urban-rural divide

Lucy Wallwork Waste Management & Environmental

Farming is one of the oldest professions there is. But as society has urbanized, we have gradually lost our connection with the industry that puts food on our plates. One jarring survey in the U.K. found that nearly 1 in 10 elementary school children think that tomatoes grow under the ground. In parallel with urbanization has come the severing of our relationship with the people and land that grows our food. But now we are hearing that a new urban revolution in food is apparently sweeping through our city centers… so, can urban farming change our relationship with food?

Do you have a ‘Real ID’ yet?

Dave G. Houser Recreation & Leisure

Enacted in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, a federal law called the Real ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005. It established minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards. It has taken the federal government 15 years now to implement the act fully — a gradual process that has been met by some confusion and foot-dragging as each of the 50 states has approached the process in its own way. However, all states need to be in compliance by Oct. 1, 2020. The act could present a dilemma for full-time RVers — and here’s why.

Enjoy these lesser-known national parks

Cindy Belt Recreation & Leisure

We constantly hear about record attendance at our national parks. This is great, since it means more people are enjoying the outdoors. But it is difficult to really enjoy a park that is full of people with long lines for everything, including hiking trails. There were 81 parks with over 1,000,000 visits in 2017. Instead of these popular parks, I enjoy visiting the lesser-known national parks where I can still get some privacy and enjoy the peace and quiet. Here are some of my favorites with both historical significance and/or great hiking.

Climate science’s growing bipartisan appeal

Michelle R. Matisons Civil & Government

Florida became embroiled in an interesting controversy a few years back. It was widely reported that then-Gov. Rick Scott placed a cabinetwide moratorium on using climate change terminology. Now, in an informative about-face, the Sunshine State’s current governor, Ron DeSantis, has instituted a new climate science position held by Florida Chief Science Officer Dr. Tom Frazer. This position is just one example of the growing appeal of climate science across party lines.

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