A year’s plan starts with the spring. Plan your whole day in the morning – this ageless wisdom helps us anchor ourselves before the onslaught of the busyness of life.

There are always multiple demands. The trick is to identify tradeoffs that are non-negotiable; don’t compromise over those. Seek breakthrough by reframing.

Effective leaders and future-ready companies win by embracing paradoxes. This month’s newsletter will focus on some examples of those who could and couldn’t.

• Amazon CEO is the ‘outside insider’ that can push the company to new heights. I was on Yahoo Finance discussing Amazon’s latest earnings and comparing them with Meta.

• Why the future of the metaverse matters to everyone – from Nike to Boeing. Metaverse, of course, doesn’t belong to Facebook alone. Here’s my commentary on SCMP. 

• Intel can’t even grow profits during a global chip shortage – where did it all go wrong? I wrote for Market Watch on how Intel is now running behind AMD and TSMC.

• The surging market capitalization of Tesla, Nio, and BYD demonstrates the reward of vertical integration – when it’s needed. But be careful. Its misapplication can be equally costly.

If you haven’t tried it yet, check out our Future Readiness Indicator for the Technology Industry. You can play with its interactive graphics. This ongoing research project at IMD produces many insights.