EDITION 775
22 JULY 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 succeed each and every day. Most new managers find that they rarely end a day having done what they planned to do. They spend most of their time solving unexpected problems and making sure work gets done. But there are three essential things that managers should be doing every day: building trust, building a team, and building a network. These are not discrete tasks for your to-do list; you can accomplish them through the ways you assign, review, and guide your team’s work. [MORE]
    
2. Five EU states try to woo Boris over new Brexit plan. Five EU countries are secretly speaking with Boris Johnson’s allies in the hope of agreeing a new Brexit plan that would avoid a no-deal disaster. Politicians and diplomats from Ireland, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands have held talks with two of Johnson’s cabinet allies in recent days. Johnson hopes to secure 60% or more of the vote when the results of the Tory leadership contest are announced on tomorrow. The Times
    
3. A toxic manager can ruin your health. People who work with a difficult boss run a greater risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, according to a study of 400,000 workers, published in the International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health. A problematic work environment raises stress levels and makes people more prone to smoking, diabetes and obesity, it finds. Employees with toxic managers are out sick more often and report higher levels of emotional exhaustion, another study shows. [MORE]
    
4. A bit unsettling. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's mission to the moon last week, LEGO surveyed 3,000 children in the US, China and the UK about space.And the results? A bit unsettling. When asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, about 3 in 10 American and British children said they aspired to be YouTubers or Vloggers. Becoming an astronaut was last on the list, at 11%, per Ars Technica. In China, on the other hand, 56% said they wanted to be astronauts. The Independent
    
5. Will the next great office revolution be to bring back calmness? A BBC Capital report argues that technology at work has led to multitasking and constant distraction, reducing the potential of workers and causing stress. Instead, knowledge workers may need to start taking cues from the manufacturing production lines of the 20th century, assembling workers for highly specific tasks without the noise and distraction of any side projects or noisy productivity tools. BBC
    
6. When political differences pay huge creative dividends: Given the right structure, teams with polarised political views can harness their differences to produce higher quality work than ideologically-aligned groups, according to new research. The study, which examined the work of teams of Wikipedia editors, found that the community’s clear policies on editorial collaboration helped participants focus on the strength of their ideas, not political mudslinging. And the opposing views ended up revealing useful information and perspectives. Nature Human Behaviour
    
7. Who’s the world’s biggest employer? The world’s biggest employer is the US Department of Defence, with 3.2 million people on its payroll. The People’s Liberation Army of China has 2.3 million and Walmart 2.1 million. Fourth equal are the NHS and McDonald’s, with 1.7 million each. The Times
    
8. Penalty points for drivers without seatbelts. The British government is considering introducing penalty points on driving licences for people caught not wearing seatbelts. Under the current system, motorists in England, Scotland and Wales who don’t buckle up only receive a fine. The use of front seat belts became compulsory in 1983, with the rule extended to cover adult passengers in back seats in 1991. Daily Mail
    
9. Snow Patrol song Chasing Cars most played in UK. The most played song on British radio so far this millennium is Snow Patrol’s ballad Chasing Cars, newly published figures reveal. The song was never No.1 and was only the 14th biggest-selling single in 2006, the year that the track was released. The second most-played song is I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas, followed by Pharrell’s Happy. The Guardian
    
10. The bottom line. A poll carried out by the Findoutnow company suggested that when asked, “How much to you trust Boris Johnson?”, a magnificent 51% replied with great vigour, “Not at all.” A further 23% said they didn’t trust him much. Only 7% trusted him entirely. The only plus point for Boris is that people who are perpetually rat-arsed trust him a lot. The Sunday Times