Economists, business leaders, individual contributors, and consumers are once again starting to worry about the potentially devastating impacts of inflation. As many businesses focus on building Business Acumen skills as a core competency to help them grow, Advantexe has developed this blog post for business professionals to understand the impending implications of inflation and some of the things they should be thinking and doing about it in this volatile business environment.

What is the root cause of inflation?

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to that question as this, like many other economic factors, has become too politicized. The simplest answer that I can provide is that inflation results from an increase in production costs or an increase in demand for products and services. The situation we find ourselves in today is a result of both these things happening simultaneously. Throw in the threat of World War III and at the very least the economic uncertainties of the global economy, you have a recipe for potentially devastating inflation.

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It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the business world. With the continued impacts of theglobal pandemic and the continued impacts of the global supply chain issues, the last thing we needed was the threat of World War III starting because Vladimir Putin has paranoid visions of “The West” invading Russia. But here we are…

People are on edge more than they have been in the last few years and the edginess is already making its way into the business environment. Last week I conducted a series of customizing interviews for several new business simulations we are building in the areas of Coaching and Resolving Business Conflicts and wow, did I get an earful from several senior-level leaders sharing their insights about the capability gaps of today’s managers.

“I don’t get it. Companies spend literally billions of dollars a year on training, and I am wondering why my managers still have no idea what to do,” shared one leader at a global pharmaceutical company. He continued, “We have all these courses like LinkedIn learning, but when it comes down to it, the managers, especially the new ones, avoid the hard conversations and decisions at all costs to the detriment of the business and their careers.”

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How can the Beatles and Mel Brooks, who started their careers in the 1950s, and had long  careers through multiple decades, provide insights into breakthrough innovation in 2022?

Over the past few weeks, I completed watching and reading three epic and fascinating pieces of entertainment; The Beatles Get Back on Disney+ a video chronology about the Beatle's last concert, “All About Me” a book by comedian Mel Brooks that chronicles his life in show business, and Paul McCartney – The Lyrics, an incredible book written by McCartney that provides the most intimate insights and details about the origins of more than 150 of his most influential songs. At first glance, you most likely wouldn’t think there are a lot of similarities between the four lads from Liverpool and a funny little kid who grew up in Brooklyn, but the more I watched and read, the more parallels I saw, and most importantly the more lessons about world-changing breakthrough innovation I learned.

How is it that Mel Brooks at 95 years old and Paul McCartney at 80 still have relevance and are still performing their crafts all these decades later? Because they are relentless innovators!

The video series and books shed interesting light on what it takes to be a breakthrough innovator and as I watched and read, I took notes on what truly differentiated them. I think the five primary similarities stand the test of time and are great insights for leaders and individual contributors looking at what it takes to create breakthrough innovation in 2022 and beyond.

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I will admit that about halfway through the 2021 Duke Mayo Bowl between the NorthCarolina Tar Heels and the South Carolina Gamecocks I had lost interest in the game. However, the non-stop, almost over-the-top conversation about the after-the-game mayonnaise bath for the winning coach had me on the edge of my seat. We’ve all seen the Gatorade bath, but a coach having a vat of mayonnaise dumped on his head? That was something I had to see. And it was well worth the wait…

It was a hysterical moment as Coach Shane Beamer got slathered in mayonnaise. And as he sat there, oozing in mayo, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Damn, that doesn’t look like the regular mayonnaise I put on my sandwiches. It looks so rich and creamy…” I guess while one is sitting and watching a football coach get a mayo bath, one’s mind starts to wander about brands and traditions of buying condiments.

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This past weekend gave us a unique opportunity to watch some of the most elite athletes in the world perform in their primes in both the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics.

These sporting events have been phenomenal, and it is such a pleasure watching these amazing athletes perform on the world’s stage under unfathomable pressure.

If there is one consistent theme that comes from these high-level performances is the absolute belief that every one of these athletes has reached their pinnacle of performance through practice, training, and coaching. Over and over, you hear them talking about getting in their “reps” (short for repetitions) and how many times they practiced their performances.

So, if the best athletes in the world can get better by practicing, we can’t business people?

In 2022 and beyond they can and more importantly they should!

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