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When it comes to how decision makers understand problems, Nietzsche’s insights are as valuable to executives today as any lesson offered by modern business schools.

Future annual growth prospects for the Canadian economy remain under two per cent, which is a far cry from the over three per cent growth during much of Canada’s history. But it doesn’t have to be this way. All roads to productivity growth go through workers having the best, most innovative facilities and tools—that is, business investment. In Canada, consumer spending, at about 60 per cent of GDP, swamps business investment, at about 12 per cent. But it is business investment that shapes the economy for the longer term. Unfortunately, Canada’s record on business investment borders on serious neglect. The lamentable business investment situation has multiple causes. First, the economy has struggled since the 2008 financial crisis. Second, household credit is near a record 175 per cent of disposable income. Third, Canadian business investment is biased towards resource sectors like oil and gas. Fourth, when the Trump Administration cut the U.S. corporate tax rate, this ended a significant Canadian economic advantage. Fifth, Trump has gotten rid of many government regulations. Finally, Canada’s federal deficit is unfavourable to business investment. Government rhetoric on business investment must be backed up by monetary and non-financial incentives that will significantly change corporate behavior, such as a much bigger tax package. Unfortunately, business investment isn’t a headline story, which is why executives need to press the business investment agenda with the government at every opportunity.

Canada’s economy could use a blast of innovation. After all, between 2005 and 2015, productivity averaged only 1 per cent per year, while economic growth averaged under 2 per cent. Unfortunately, despite public policy talk of supporting innovation, the government does not go far enough to provide innovation incentives. Indeed, the stimulants currently in place are inadequate to produce the high-performance economy that Canada requires. To help the Canadian economy return to the 3–4 per cent growth rates of our past, policymakers should consider three strategies. 1) Improve returns on innovation by lowering taxes and freezing or lowering capital gains and options gains tax rates. 2) Improve the regulatory environment: Excessive and poorly conceived regulations serve as an innovation killer, especially for small businesses that lack the financial resources to manage an excessive compliance process. 3) Innovate government services: One approach is to take the shackles off government-sector incentive systems and specifically reward efforts at innovation. Another, less controversial approach is a competitive grant program aimed at would-be government-sector innovators. Finally, universities and colleges through their teaching and research programs are a hotbed of innovation. Enhanced post-secondary education funding with proper targets and controls could be a boon to innovation.

Want an easy way to become a better leader in the age of uncertainty? Read philosophy. It helps remind us about what we should instinctively already know: to never be afraid to ask questions. As Bertrand Russell said: “To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being paralyzed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can still do for those who study it.” Brexit should drive business leaders to review existing strategies and pay extra attention to agility when planning business models. This, of course, requires facing the unknown. And the most powerful weapon for senior managers today is being comfortable in facing uncertainty. After all, unless you’re willing to put decision making on indefinite hold, you must learn to calmly get over the challenges of the unknown and make a call. But just being able to boldly move forward isn’t enough because no organization benefits from blind leaps forward. The key is finding the prudent middle ground between being reckless and timid when facing the unknown. And one of the best ways to learn how to do that well is through understanding philosophy, which complements business smarts and other skills taught in business programs. Philosophy is the study of knowledge through critical thinking and questioning — and that’s where the return on time invested for executives sits, because philosophy sharpens their questioning technique and answer-interpretation skills.

Today’s official interest rates are unprecedented, thanks to the spread of negative interest rate policy around the world. Negative interest rate policy is not an academic abstraction to be ignored by the corporate world. Indeed, negative rates come with negative implications for running a business. Until recently, zero was the lower bound on policy rates. But lately, various central banks representing about 25 per cent of global GDP have gone negative. Negative policy interest rates were even discussed in Canada last year by the Bank of Canada’s governor. The goal of negative rates is to make not using money costly for banks and to get them to lend it out, thereby stoking economic growth, job creation, consumption, investment, exports, a lower currency value, and inflation. <br><br> If the Bank of Canada looks like it might be headed negative on its policy rate, this means it is very worried about the macroeconomic conditions that make or break businesses. It also means the Bank of Canada may not be confident that politically motivated fiscal policies involving deficits, government spending and taxation will support economic growth. As a result, executives should be prepared to consider comprehensive reviews of important aspects of their businesses, including working capital, capital spending, financing, acquisitions, product pricing, compensation, and long-term contracting. Negative policy rates are very tough on bank margins and profitability, and weakened banks are no help in a stagnant economy; they encourage people to do unusual things with their money like storing it in a safe or hiding it. Finally, negative policy rates turn time-honoured accounts receivable and accounts payable policies upside down such that you may now want to receive money as late as possible and pay it out as soon as possible.

Being a business executive is about leading, competing and winning — which is why sports stories can be valuable reference points for decision making and motivating. Take, for example, the National Football League’s Super Bowl XLIX, which was lost due to a terrible judgement call by the Seattle Seahawks coaches that provides a vivid illustration of something that is critical to business success — the willingness of leaders to listen, and the willingness of staff to speak up when they disagree with the boss. History is full of mistakes caused by leaders who set courses of action that went unchallenged even when everyone else saw them as folly. Leaders should ask for feedback before taking courses of action, because it is easier for staff to be critical of a position the leader has not yet taken. The viewpoints of staff should be carefully listened to, and private conversations should be initiated with those staff members who do not speak up. Staff can be heard more effectively if they are prepared and well-informed, because nothing makes a leader stop listening faster than half-baked criticism.

Examining texts by William Lewis Safire and Garth Stein, this article puts forward the value of persuasion and rhetoric for executives. A significant task of executives is persuading people to commit to a corporate plan. Shareholders must be convinced to buy stock. Lenders must commit to loans and debt. Customers need to commit to products. Employees and suppliers must give their best efforts. To get commitments from stakeholders, executives can use the power of their position, logic, charisma and incentives, not to mention fear and threats. But ultimately, when the goal is to persuade people, whatever an executive wants must be communicated. As this article shows, language and its delivery is at the core of persuasion and executives can leverage rhetoric to great advantage.

If leadership is important to performance, then followership must be too, yet followership is a comparatively neglected concept. This article defines followership as the ability to take direction well, adhere to a program, be part of a team and deliver what is expected. In fact, how well followers follow is almost as important as how well leaders lead. The article identifies eight qualities of followers. 1) Judgment: The key is knowing the difference between a directive that a leader gives that is questionable and a directive that is truly wrong. 2) Work Ethic: This includes diligence, motivation, commitment, attention to detail, and effort. 3) Competence: Followers must be competent, although leaders are obligated to assure this. 4) Honesty: Followers owe leaders honest and forthright assessments, especially when a leader’s agenda seems flawed. 5) Courage: Followers need the courage to be honest. 6) Discretion: Gossiping and speaking inappropriately about work matters is unhelpful and often harmful. 7) Loyalty: This is particularly important when problems exist with leaders. 8) Ego Management: Followers need to remember that they are team players.