Buzzwords: Pivot
Generally refers to a shift in entrepreneurial approach; describes the strategy most businesses employ to find the right customer, value proposition and positioning
For this month’s column, I thought I’d reach out to people who made multi-tasking an artform and get them to explain how they so easily “pivot” from one task to another on a daily basis. But I found out that’s only one definition of pivot, and so I pivoted this column to another, more business-oriented version. (See what I did there?)
A Space for Serenity
The first land to create the parkway was purchased in 1949. In 1961, Sacramento County adopted the Master Plan for the parkway as we know it now. Building out that plan took decades as it covers 4,800 acres with a modern bike trail, nine major parks, picnic areas and a nature center.
Dilemma of the Month: Abruptly Made a Manager
Yesterday, I was an individual contributor who did technical work. This morning, a group of my coworkers and I found out that we are now expected to manage about 10 non-exempt staff each. Overnight! There’s no title change, no increase in salary — just added work and stress. We are told we have no choice and have to take on that extra work because the company’s success or failure depends on us. Can they just make us managers without asking? Do we have the right to turn down these positions?
From the Editors: May Business Recap
Comstock’s monthly look at the business news in the Capital Region. We fondly remember what happened in May.
Back and Forward: Harvey Correia on Working in the World of Figs
Harvey Correia, a third-generation Delta resident, has one of the most diverse collections of the common fig in the world. Correia offers his perspective on this very particular industry. For more from Correia, check out “Gettin’ Figgy With It” in our June issue. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email you when it’s available online.
Tiny Houses Offer One Solution for Housing the Homeless
Communities in the Capital Region are struggling with the increasing numbers of homeless in their streets and parks and have realized that the problem has to be addressed. Local programs help by providing meals and winter shelter. But the primary need is year-round, permanent supportive housing, because living in tents or on park benches is not a sustainable way of life.
Resurgent Housing Market Brings Labor Shortage into Focus for Homebuilders
Through the first four months of 2017, our industry has completed an impressive 1,888 new home sales. Underscoring the uptick in the homebuilding industry’s economic fortunes, in March we sold more than 500 — 527 to be exact — homes in a single month for the first time in a decade.
Buzzwords: Empower
To make someone stronger and more confident; to give (someone) the authority or power to do something.
The word is overused, and overuse leads to misuse. (Misuse leads to annoyance, and then we’re at a place where no one even understands or cares what you mean.)
But “empower” is not just another piece of jargon to be casually tossed around:
Fix ‘Er Up
Andy Stone, head mechanic for Team Novo Nordisk, prepares a bike during training camp for the Amgen Tour of California’s Sacramento stage in May. A Sacramento native, Stone attended Encina High School where he took a Regional Occupation Program bicycle mechanic class. He worked at bike shops for several years before getting into race mechanics.
Women Can’t Let A Desire to Please Inhibit Our Ability to Lead
Women’s desire to please can inhibit their ability to take charge. That is one of the many factors that contribute to women comprising more than half of the American workforce, yet only a small fraction of executives.