EDITION 754
25 FEBRUARY 2019

As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. This newsletter is sent to 50,000+ subscribers each Monday. Please share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can subscribe, learn and engage. I'd be very grateful if you did.

1. How to set goals you will want to accomplish. It is unlikely that you will make progress on your professional development goals if they feel like a chore. Instead of focusing on things you should do, choose one or two areas of focus that align with what really matters to you. [MORE]
    
2. Vicious cabinet war as May delays Brexit vote. Theresa May has shelved plans for a Commons vote on her deal until 12 March. A “vicious” cabinet war has erupted over a plot by senior ministers to delay Brexit, with five cabinet colleagues turning on Amber Rudd, calling for her to be sacked after she openly vowed to defy the PM by voting to delay article 50. The Sunday Times
    
3. Forever is over. About 34,000 people in the UK bought the £1 engagement ring from Poundland in the weeks running up to this year's Valentine’s Day. Argos are still selling a more upmarket £20 version for the less money conscious. It’s a far cry from the Taylor-Burton diamond that was so valuable that the strict insurance policy stipulated that Elizabeth Taylor could only wear it for 30 days a year, with armed guards accompanying her at all times. Editor
    
4. Most graduates will never repay their student loans. The earnings attached to a degree is in decline, and officials have been forced repeatedly to raise their estimate of how many students will never fully repay their tax-funded loans. The latest forecast is 60% to 65%, although the Institute of Fiscal Studies reckons it’s 83%. The value of outstanding loans was £105bn in March last year. This is expected to reach £450bn in 30 years, equal to more than a fifth of today’s GDP. Office for National Statistics
    
5. Employee satisfaction surveys are all the rage. A highly motivated workforce is seen as the secret sauce for corporate success: employee engagement has been shown to have a statistically significant relationship with such key metrics as profitability, productivity, staff retention and customer satisfaction. However, the most important factors are that employees know what’s expected of them, have supportive colleagues and are recognised when they do well. Companies that put effort into keeping their staff happy don’t need to conduct surveys: retention rates tell them all they need to know. It's inattentive organisations that need surveys to tell then where and how they are going wrong. [MORE]
    
6. One in 13 teens has experienced PTSD. One in 13 of all 18-year-olds in England and Wales has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder - half of them within the past year, a study by a team from King’s College London has found. Researchers said the findings should serve as a “wake-up call”, with many young people failing to get the support they need. The causes of trauma ranged from sexual assault and bullying to car accidents and the death of a loved one. The Guardian
    
7. BBC and ITV to announce a streaming rival to Netflix. The BBC and ITV are to charge viewers to stream thousands of their classic shows on a new “Britflix” rival to Netflix to be announced this week. The leading broadcasters have been in talks for more than a year about pooling their archives to compete with global streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Among the classics that could feature on the service are Fawlty Towers, Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders and Absolutely Fabulous. The Times
    
8. To toe the line. It is commonly and erroneously thought that the origins of this phrase lie in the British House of Commons where sword-strapped members were instructed to stand behind lines that were two sword-lengths apart from their political rivals in order to restore decorum. The red lines are clearly visible today, and the phrase has been in regular use during recent debates. However, the more likely origins of the term go back to the usage of the wooden ships in the Royal Navy [in which I served for 26 years]. Barefooted seamen had to stand at attention for inspection and had to line up on deck along the seams of the wooden planks, hence to "toe the line". Editor
    
9. We’re happiest at 16 and 70. There’s a lot of anxiety about adolescent mental health, but according to a new report, based on data collected by the ONS over seven years, people in Britain are happiest at 16. After that, it’s mainly downhill until they reach rock bottom in their early 50s; then, levels of overall contentment start to rise again, reaching a new peak at the age of 70. This U-shaped model has been found to be fairly pervasive in higher-income countries; but elsewhere in the world, the pattern is different. In the former Soviet Union happiness levels start lower in childhood and then decline steadily with age. In sub-Saharan countries, the levels remain low throughout. BBC
    
10. The bottom line. 68% of Britons feel there is currently no political party that represents them, up from 61% last July. Less than 10% of people closely identify with any leading political figure. The Observer