Next week marks the publication of my new paperback – How To Relax Without Getting The Axe. It’s a thorough rethinking and repositioning of my seminal work on executive life, Executricks, or How To Retire While You’re Still Working, published about six seconds before the recession hit over a year or so ago. The premise of that book was that he or she who perfects an executive lifestyle can emulate the existence of an affluent retiree. The basic concept of that book,

But as it turns out, the amount of time primary-care docs spend with each patient actually increased a little bit between 1997 and 2005, according to an analysis published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

This may have been driven in part by the aging population, because older people tend to be sicker and require more complex treatment. But even within each age group, the average time docs spent with patients increased, the authors said.

Another possible driver, they suggest, is an

Ninety-nine percent of hospital board chairmen think their hospital fares at least as well as a typical hospital on standard quality measures. Among the chairmen of hospitals that perform worst, 100% say their hospital performs at least as well as a typical hospital.

The figures are from a survey published in the journal Health Affairs, based on responses from 722 people who chair the boards of nonprofit hospitals.

Yes, measuring quality can be a tricky thing. Yes, some hospitals treat sicker patients, on average, than others. Still, the quality data the authors used are drawn from those reported on the feds’

One of the more promising areas of focus for social business transformation is customer service. This week at e2.0 I attended a panel discussion of social customer service moderated by Clara Shih. It was an interesting discussion and I think there are some good solid practices growing up, enabled by some new tools. Since I've managed support organizations for a few software vendors in the past and I've done a lot of research on social business I started thinking about some of the possibilities for changing the way we think about customer service.

You

I stumbled upon a ridiculous blog post about a human resources manager posting a notice in the company cafeteria warning employees not to steal each others' food.   What I found most appalling was not that the employees were stealing each others' food but that the HR manager felt that he/she "had to" post a notice governing refrigerator behavior.  What fools think that it is HR's responsibility to monitor the refrigerator in the employee cafeteria?  And, let me guess, these are the same fools that are upset that they "don't have a seat at the table," that they are "underpaid"

Contribution limits for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and deductible and out-of-pocket expense limits for HSA-qualified High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) will change effective January 1, 2010.

Jody Lee, Compliance Manager, Johnson & Dugan

The first $50,000 of Group-Term Life Insurance is excluded from gross income pursuant to Section 79 of the IRS Code. Any Group-Term Life Insurance coverage in excess of that amount is taxed as imputed income under Table I of the section 79 regulations. The first Table I was published in 1966 and has been subsequently revised in 1983, 1988 and

I’ve been in a good mood all week about the announcement that Warren Buffett was investing $32 billion in Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the nation’s 2nd largest railroad. “From my standpoint, it’s a lot easier to make a $32 billion investment than 10 $3 billion investments,” Mr. Buffett said, and also noted, with his customary dry wit, that he was probably doing it because his dad never bought him a train set as a kid.

At first blush, this is so radically counter-intuitive a move that you just don’t know what to say about it.  A railroad? Really? Isn’t that hopelessly brick-and-mortar? And so 19th century? Why not an investment in this and that? High-tech wazoos or something? Synthetic

The move seems a bit odd, that it was only July when the company rolled out the new claim, which went along with a new formulation of the cereal that included higher amounts of vitamins A, B, C and E. In a brief statement announcing the end of the immunity banner, Kellogg said:

While science shows that these antioxidants help support the immune system, given the public attention on H1N1, the

I’ve been helping several executive teams chart their customer experience journeys. The work typically centers around strategy, culture, organization, processes, and leadership. So I am almost always discussing the role of the executive team; which is a critical component of the journey.

I wonder, what else can a boss do to help people anticipate, cope with, and flourish in the face of change?

First of all, small businesses may not clearly understand how social media can help them. Nor, do they know how to measure the impact of social