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When it comes to the future of urban mobility, its not the sci-fi fantasies that will shape our cities. Its functional solutions for the everyday. While tech visionaries promote high-speed concepts like ET3s vacuum-sealed capsules, true transformation will come from transportation solutions that are accessible, reliable, and affordablelike modernizing existing transit infrastructure, digitizing bus routes, and reducing traffic congestion. Sexy, futuristic modes of transportation like autonomous vehicles may dominate the headlines, but what Americans really crave are reliable, inexpensive options to get them from point A to point Bnot a self-driving car. Public frustration around the future of transit is mounting. Waymos are crashing in Los Angeles, congestion pricing is contentious in New York City, and the U.S. lacks a reliable high-speed rail network. These realities make it clear that companies should rethink what the city of the future looks like and reprioritize achievable solutions to real needs. New data from Censuswide, commissioned by Diffusion, offers a closer look at the evolving sentiment on mobility in Americas biggest citiesand the findings highlight a pressing need for better solutions. Alarmingly, fewer than 18% of Americans describe their citys transit as highly efficient and nearly as many say its struggling. With American people driving around twice as much annually compared to their European counterparts, the overreliance on personal vehicles underscores the urgency for investments in reliable public transit that can reduce congestion, cut emissions and improve quality of life. While exciting, the novelty of new mobility tech, like the 2,000 new food delivery bots roaming around Los Angeles, wears off quickly when residents can depend more on their takeout delivery than the bus they take to work. In fact, bus delays are collectively costing L.A. residents more than a cumulative decade on the average weekday. Despite the ability to ask ChatGPT nearly any question and get the answer in seconds, Americans are understandably frustrated that they cant seem to get an accurate transit schedule. Back to the basics The top three priorities for Americans when it comes to urban mobility are affordability (50.8%), reliable public transit (47%), and accessibility (39.3%) demonstrating a need for options that reduce traffic congestion, provide economical alternatives, and are available to all. Visionaries in the urban mobility space need to focus on these core components before setting their sights on mass adoption. Without demonstrating a positive potential impact on cost, convenience, reliability, and ease of use, companies innovating in the space will only continue to be met with skepticism and resistance. Fears around AV Sentiment around automated vehicles (AVs), for example, perfectly illustrates the increasing skepticism and resistance to adapt. Despite AVs being at the forefront of the future and modern urban transit conversation, the public isnt on board, with over half (50.5%) of respondents disagreeing that AVs are the future. Furthermore, 74.5% of Americans said they dont trust the safety of AVs and 66% said that the technology isnt ready. Yet just this month, Waymo announced they are expanding to New York City. This move suggests that companies in the urban mobility space may be out of touch with what American commuters are ready to embrace. AVs still dont feel normal or comfortable to most, so now is the time to build trust. Rolling them out at scale without addressing fundamental mobility concerns risks missing the mark entirely, since commuters need confidence in the safety and reliability of the technology before theyll consider taking the risk themselves. Beyond issues of trust and comfort, however, concerns extend to the broader economic impact of AVs. Nearly 60% said theyre concerned about AVs impact on jobs, a sentiment that isnt surprising given growing fears about AIs effects on the American workforce and the disappearance of certain roles. While businesses race to advance AV technology, assuming widespread excitement for futuristic transportation options, they often overlook how these developments will directly affect everyday people. Job loss is not the only aspect of new technology that concerns Americansprivacy remains at the forefront of conversation, with over 60% of people reporting a concern for their digital safety. Many of these futuristic transport options require a certain amount of data about oneself, location, etc. which can be scary to the everyday commuter. Companies modernizing urban mobility should focus on transparency when it comes to data collection, to help ease users minds, and highlight the ways in which their technology will tangibly improve day-to-day lives. Otherwise, theyll face resistance in the pursuit of mass acceptance. The real ‘City of the Future’ Since what Americans truly want isnt flying cars or futuristic cities, efforts should focus on enhancing existing infrastructure through smart technology instead of pursuing a complete overhaul. Innovations that fail to get someone to their destination quickly and affordably are far less transformative than companies believe. The real future of urban mobility isnt about who has the flashiest new system, its about who solves the real problems. Progress is about improving upon how people live, work and move within cities, not making headlines for futuristic features that dont have real-world impact. Before we prioritize the city of the future, lets strengthen our cities in the present.
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E-Commerce
More and more senior executives are stepping out of high-powered roles and opting to work for multiple companies on an access pay-as-you-go basis as fractional leaders. This raises the question: Why are executives taking this step, and why is it booming now? Post-pandemic shifts have altered how senior leadership thinks about time, value, and work. The profound shift in how we worked allowed senior leaders to reflect on their lives. It also encouraged more reflection, which gave rise to a desire to have more meaningful and purposeful work. It fostered a sense of agencyto decide what work they do, when, and with whom. The rise of fractional leadership As leaders sought to regain more control over their working lives, many viewed fractional leadership as the logical next step to achieve this freedom in their careers. But what is fractional leadershipand why is it still gaining momentum? Fractional leaders work in part-time, high-impact roles across multiple companies. They are self-employed and operate on an access pay-as-you-go basis, often supporting a portfolio of organizations and adjusting their support based on each company’s needs at any given time. They frequently sit at the head of various functions, such as finance, marketing, or technology. Organizations often hire them to help grow the company during stages when it doesnt require a full-time leader in that area. Most fractional leaders have previously held full-time C-suite positions, but have transitioned into fractional roles while seeking more purpose and autonomy. For some, it’s the allure of a better work-life balance and no longer being tied to the nine-to-five. They want to work around family priorities and travel desires. For others, the variety offered by fractional work is appealing. Working with three to seven businesses at exciting stages of growth can provide more challenge and excitement than some full-time roles. Typically, fractional leaders have long careers in full-time C-suite roles, but fractional work offers them the chance to make a positive impact on growing small to medium-sized businesses. They feel like they can have a greater impact on a small organization than within the constraints of a large corporation. Why is the fractional boom in the C-suite happening now? The concept of the C-suite has remained largely unchanged since the 1980s. Many view it as a static structure. However, were now facing a seismic shift as global megatrends begin to reshape how we work. Adopting experienced, agile leaders may be essential for businesses navigating challenges like climate change, political and economic instability, demographic shifts, and energy scarcity. Fractional leadership allows businesses to be more agile by accessing the skills needed to address these megatrends. This includes bringing in leaders with experience in managing new technological changes, like AI implementation. Most fractional leaders also have access to a network of peers who can help inform decision-making when responding to global challenges. Fractional leadership has grown from the realization that full-time presence in an office isn’t always necessary to perform valuable and important work. A few years ago, many companies were reluctant to hire leaders who couldnt be physically present daily. Even with efforts to return-to-office mandates, the modern workplace has demonstrated that presence doesnt necessarily equate to impact. Fractional leaders will mirror the culture of each business they work with to build trust and rapport. That might mean being onsite regularly with those full-time back in the office, to matching a hybrid or remote work structure. For years, weve seen the rise of the independent contractor economy. Small businesses have tapped this model for services like design, marketing, and accounting. The idea isn’t new. Fractional leadership is the next evolution of this trend. It will enable businesses to access the right talent at the right time to support growth without the overhead of a full-time hire but through a committed relationship for as long as the business needs. This shift is also influenced by advancements in technology, which facilitate unbundling traditional job roles. Organizations are adopting more adaptive, problem-focused work models instead of conventional job-centric thinking. Fractional leadership provides the opportunity to outsource these unbundled roles, providing businesses with access to dynamic, fit-for-purpose skill sets. It will also allow senior leaders to integrate work with their personal lives. The future of work with fractional leaders? Right now, we are witnessing the rise of a blended workforce. Its no longer the norm to be a full-time employee working nine-to-five, five days a week in a physical office. Instead, the workforce comprises employees, fractional leaders, project freelancers, and gig economy workersall contributing valuable work. The onset of AI is only going to accelerate this trend of unbundling roles. Fractional leaders will be ahead of these trends, from working with multiple companies, theyll be able to help businesses prioritize the human skills needed to grow a business alongside this blended future. While businesses rely on fractional leaders, freelancers, and gig economy workers, the next question for businesses to tackle is how to shift their thinking from leading their employees to leading their whole blended workforce effectively. If they can learn to do this, business leaders can look forward to a more agile and nimble workforce to weather the future.
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E-Commerce
Douglas Adams brilliant novel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe describes Milliways, the fine dining establishment built in a time bubble and projected forward to the precise moment of the End of the Universe. Meals at such a singular restaurant are ridiculously expensivebut diners can easily pay for them. All you have to do is deposit one penny in a savings account in your own era, and when you arrive at the End of Time, the operation of compound interest means that the fabulous cost of your meal has been paid for, Adams wrote. When I read this novel as an impressionable 12-year-old, the Milliways-approved investing process appealed to me. With a little bit of money and a whole lot of time, compound interest could do the work for me while I sat back and looked forward to a truly world-shattering meal. I was reminded of this recently when my spouse asked if the investment decisions we had set-and-forget several years before were maximizing our returns. Instead of jumping at the chance to ensure our finances were living up to their potential, I was annoyed at the prospect of having to make changes to a system Id already set up. Until that moment, I thought I had a handle on my financial psychology. But apparently, I have some quirks of investment psychology that I wasnt even aware of. As do you. Heres how your investment psychology may be misdirecting your investing decisionsand what you can do to get back on track. What is investment psychology? Although we think of finance and investing as a rational activity, we are likely to react emotionally to money. This is partially because of mental shortcuts known as cognitive biases. These are systematic patterns in thinking that can lead us to irrational decisions or behavior that runs counter to our goals. For example, my preference to set-and-forget my investments is partially due to a cognitive bias known as the status quo bias. This cognitive bias describes a preference for the current state of affairs to remain the same. I dont like to think of myself as a stick in the mud, and I could have given my spouse a rational-sounding reason why I dont double check that our investments are maximized. But I can see that my lack of interest in revisiting old decisions reflects something about my investing psychology: I prefer to make a decision once and stick to it. Thats the specific aspect of the status quo that I dont want to change. This preference for once-and-done decision making isnt necessarily a bad thing, but it can cost me. If my spouse hadnt asked about our returns, I never would have thought to check and we could have lost years worth of potential returns. After this experience, my spouse and I have realized that he needs to occasionally nudge me to check back on old investing decisions. That will help me avoid the complacency of my status quo bias. Common investment psychology biases There are a number of cognitive biases that may be keeping your investments from growing. Which of these biases sound like you? Action bias The action bias could be seen as the opposite of the status quo bias. If you have this cognitive quirk, you will feel the need to do somethinganything!rather than nothing. If your portfolio drops in value, your action bias might lead you to sell in order to avoid a larger loss. Unfortunately, taking action at that time is often the worst option, since most losses are temporary, and selling makes the loss permanent. To avoid the action bias, commit to waiting 24 to 48 hours before taking any action with your portfolio. This will give the market some time to recover from momentary dips, and will not make a significant difference if action is called for. Additionally, find a trusted adviser or friend who can help you determine when action or inaction is appropriate. This can help keep you from developing an itchy trading finger. Disposition effect This cognitive bias describes the phenomenon where investors tend to sell a winning investment too soon while holding onto a tanking investment for too long. When you are experiencing the disposition effect, which combines a fear of losing out (in case the tanking investment suddenly goes gangbusters) plus a fear of regret (in case the winning investment takes a dive), you are trying to hedge your losses in both directions. But evidence has shown that selling the losing investment and holding onto the winning investment is the smarter strategy. The disposition effect is making an emotional decision to hedge loss, rather than a rational choice to try to maximize your returns. Researchers have found the best way to avoid the disposition effect is to implement long-term investment goals. Investors with a clear financial target not only successfully avoid the disposition effect, but they exhibit a reversal of the effect, selling the losing investments and keeping the winners. Familiarity bias Also known as the mere exposure effect, this cognitive bias leads investors to overinvest in assets they are familiar with. Specifically, American investors are more likely to put their money in domestic stocks, bonds, and funds, rather than getting international exposure in their portfolio. The familiarity bias can go even further, with investors buying shares of companies they recognize, or even the company that employs them. (You might remember that Lehman Brothers employees owned 30% of the companys shares at the time of the banks collapse.) But just because an investor is familiar with an asset doesnt make it the right investment for their portfolio. Diversification is typically the best way of combatting the familiarity bias. This may require the help of a financial adviser if you dont feel comfortable picking diverse international investments or other assets outside of your sphere of exposure. Dont panic: a rational guide to investing Humans arent great at making rational investment decisions, but were very good at lying to ourselves about that fact. To improve your investment choicesnot to mention your returnsstart by recognizing the ways in which your investing psychology may be leading you astray. Perhaps, like me, you suffer from the status quo bias, and prefer to avoid revisiting any decisions youve already made. Or you might experience the opposite quirk, the action bias, which tells you to do something! anytime there is the slightest movement in your portfolio. You may fall victim to the disposition effect, where you hold onto a stinkr and sell a winner, despite it being a losing strategy. Or you might just stick with the familiar companies, asset classes, and investments you know, rather than diversifying your portfolio. Heres the good news: once you know your brain is taking these shortcuts, youre better prepared to avoid them. As for me, Im still keeping my Milliways savings account open. Ive got the time.
Category:
E-Commerce
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