Dave's Blog - Page 4 of 68 - Wakeman Consulting Group

The Focusing Question

You know the feeling. You are stuck. Something needs to change. But every option feels important. So…you do nothing. That’s the Confidence Gap. You know what to do. But you hesitate anyway. There is a way out. It begins with one simple question. The Focusing Question This is the question that frames the work you […]

The Extraction Economy vs. Value Creating Organizations

Everyone seems to feel like the economy is broken. No hiring. Job losses. Everything costs more. Tough times all around. I have a name for what’s broken. The Extraction Economy. This is the system where insiders design the rules to capture value created by outsiders. Opacity, asymmetry, short-term optimization…all in service of building moats around […]

The Confidence Game

Why you know what to do…but don’t do it. Lately, we’ve been following a narrative arc. We started with CFA: Choice, Focus, Action. The operating system of strategy. We moved on to The Strategy Stack. Five questions every organization must answer to act effectively. Last we, I gave you The Strategic Health Scorecard. A diagnostic […]

Trading One Risk for Another

The Fed is proposing new rules to allow big banks to hold billions less in capital. The reason? To keep lending from migrating to private credit. Interesting timing. Private credit is having a moment. Blue Owl halted redemptions. Western Alliance is suing Jefferies. Investors are nervous. So…the plan is to make banks safer by…letting them […]

Must Be Nice Not to Know: Michael Rapino’s Testimony in NYC

Michael Rapino took the stand in Manhattan today. The Live Nation CEO had a simple answer for a lot of questions: I don’t know. The 2016 email where he admitted fees were too high? “I don’t remember that.” The Slack messages where employees joke about robbing fans blind? “I only learned about them last week.” The service […]

The Broker Debate: Three Voices…More Than One Truth?

This started on Tuesday. Randy Nichols drew a comparison between bootleggers and ticket brokers. (As the grandson of a famous Georgia bootlegger, I took no offense.) “The carry inventory, risk, need to deal with forecasting,” he wrote. “But at the end of the day, they aren’t a partner. They’re stealing.” Josh Ludwig jumped on that […]

Even if the States Win, Will It Be Enough?

Thirty-six states and DC returned to the courtroom Monday. They rejected the DOJ’s settlement. They hired a rock star of antitrust. They are presenting evidence. And the evidence is brutal. Bob Roux, Live Nation’s president of US concerts, took the stand on Monday. He claimed “more competition than ever.” He denied blocking artists from non-Ticketmaster […]