I hear a lot of talk about economic recessions and downturns. I’ll always remember a saying I heard (not sure who said it first), and to paraphrase - “economists have successfully predicted 8 of the last 3 recessions”.

Now, I’m not sure which way the economy will go in 2008 and 2009 - the latest figures show a slight growth in the last quarter. I do know, though, that like always some businesses will use whatever the economic outlook is to get stronger and others will grow weaker.

Whether you are trying to do more with less or trying to dominate by just doing more, your human resources will always play a huge role. Well selected, well trained and appropriated compensated employees will be leading the charge or holding strong while companies around you retreat. I’ve put up a new article - “Human Capital - A Positive Exchange Rate“, on our main site under the Resources - Industry Information section. Check it out.

Lists:  the internet is full of them.  Not without reasons, since lists are fun, and little-known facts can be compelling.  For instance, did you know that:

• By triple-concentrating their detergent, Unilever has saved 1.3 million gallons of diesel fuel, 10 million pounds of plastic resin, and 80 million square feet of cardboard since 2005?
• Or that by redesigning the Hamburger Helper Box (reducing its size, without reducing the contents), General Mills has taken 500 distribution trucks off the road each year?

In their article 50 Ways to Green Your Business, FastCompany.com has listed these and 48 other interesting ways that some of the biggest companies are going green.  You might be surprised by some of the names on the list, everyone from Otis Elevators to the Philadelphia Eagles, from Bank of America to Columbia Records.

I address some of the top reasons for going green on the resources page of the ACI Consulting website, things like saving money, enhancing image, improving employee morale.  Just after writing it, the Orange County Register writer, Jan Norman, had a great article on profiting through lightening landfills.  Check out Jan’s blog for other small business stories.

But it occurs to me that there is something else going on here, too:  greening spurs innovation, creative problem solving that can have a ripple effect throughout your organization.  Something to think about.  Add it to your list.

We’ve moved from reality TV to reality journalism. UPS, Gap, Starbucks, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the Apple Store get a surprise, undercover look at their employee training methods with the publication this month of the new book Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee, by Alex Frankel.  This journalist spent two years getting himself hired on and trained by these big companies, and he offers a very frank evaluation of their employee training and who he feels is best at hiring and fostering loyal employees (UPS and the Apple Store, for instance) and which work environments he found stifling and uninspired (ahem, Gap.)

I wrote recently about the challenge of business training (on the main ACI Consulting website), and the difficulty of bringing together motivated employees and an effective training system.  It takes momentum and good technology to launch and maintain this kind of a program.

If you happen to read the book, let me know what you think.

As you have probably gathered by now, I do a lot of reading, and I’m not talking about The DaVinci Code. Reading relevant business journals, as well as broader news sources, is a tool I use to keep in touch with issues that can affect my clients. This article from the Portland Business Journal is a case in point. It is a wake-up call for the leaders of a growing business, be it an entrepreneur, a mom and pop shop, or a middle manager: know the warning signs.

Know when you need help. Know when growth means delegating work or adding another layer of leadership.

This struck a chord with me because I recently talked to a number of potential clients who were still using QuickBooks and it inspired me to add a new resource page on our main website about the warning signs of staying with QuickBooks for too long. Now QuickBooks is an excellent product, but sometimes you just have to know when to let go – when it’s time, because your company has grown, to move on to more sophisticated accounting software.

I laughed as I read the headline of a Between the Lines post talking about who isn’t targeting Microsoft Office.

The days when the only choice for office productivity software is Microsoft are apparently ending, and that’s probably a good thing. But it’s an interesting thing about choices. We all think we want more, but when there are too many choices, it can be overwhelming. The more choices we have, the more time and energy we must put into making the right choice.

This has been the case with accounting software for a long, long time. There are literally hundreds of publishers of accounting software, as well as thousands of system implementers. There are hosted solutions, web-based solutions, pc-based solutions – the choices are mind-boggling. This is when finding a partner – a solution consultant – can streamline the process .

Here are a couple of pages on the ACI Consulting site that will give you some further insight:

• Choosing a New Accounting Software
• Top Ten Criteria for Selecting Accounting Software (a .pdf)