It seems cynical, but there is a body of managerial thought that says that helping co-workers can be bad for your career. It seems like an April Fool's joke, but I have met some workers of this mindset. A highly charged political environment that does not recognize cooperation as a value can become a toxic environment for workers and make reaching company goals difficult if not impossible. Consensus is not important: cooperation makes companies work well and requires a high level of trust among workers at all levels.

I saw a very interesting interview with Washington analyst Andy Laperriere on Consuelo Mack's WealthTrack. He explained the likely investment outcomes depending on the election of all four current major presidential candidates. It's good listening to hear his reasoning and his opinions, no matter your political preferences. See the video of the program, or download it as a podcast. Laperriere's original analysis for Cornerstone Macro was published in February and can be downloaded for free.

Global consulting firm McKinsey has a worthwhile interview “Digital Strategy: Understanding the Economics of Disruption.” A key paragraph is about “strategy” being used too loosely with the word “digital.” It tends to mean a set of priorities for digital implementation, rather that “the choices we’re going to make in terms of where we compete and how we compete in the face of a big disruptive force that we’ve faced before...” In my mind, it's that managers underestimate and underappreciate the larger trends around them and the displacement that can seem to come from unexpected places.