Ask most people what they do, and they will tell you their job title.  Ask them what their employer does, they will tell you what the company sells.  But if you ask them what their employer is about or what they believe in or value, most people have no idea how to answer.  We are taught to think of companies in terms of products or services, instead of beliefs and values.  But today’s consumers want to engage with the companies they do business with and want to buy from companies that have shared values.  So it’s time to flip the narrative, and start treating a business as an entity that has a reputation, values, beliefs, a voice and an approach in what it does and why. Continue reading →

Given today’s global marketplace and ultra-fast pace of change, the maxim ‘differentiate or die’ is truer now than ever before.  Companies need to stand apart from competitors near and far.  Delivering a better product, better service or a better business model is often the difference between strife and success.  Continually bringing something new to the marketplace keeps customers engaged and interested.  But, being different is easier to say than do. Continue reading →

Creativity is a state in which the mind is filled with words, images and possibility.  Buried recollections are blasted into consciousness.  Distant unrelated thoughts become tied together.  In a creative burst, what were once just random considerations and scattered reflections connect in ways that might have otherwise passed unregistered, unfelt and unacknowledged.  In that moment, newly-generated ideas are recognized as important and worthy of being shared. Continue reading →

Great Minds.  Abundant Creativity.

Marie Curie.  Bill Gates.  Benjamin Franklin.  Barbara McClintock.  Pablo Picasso.  Leonardo DaVinci.  Georgia O’Keefe.  Orville and Wilbur Wright.  Ada Lovelace.  Alexander Graham Bell.  Walt Disney.   Florence Nightingale.  Louis Pasteur.  Hippocrates.  Sir Isaac Newton.  Amelia Earhart.  Michelangelo.  Thomas Alva Edison.  Steve Jobs.  Ludwig Beethoven.  Ada Yonath.  William Shakespeare.  Linda B. Buck.

What do all of these people have in common?  All of the names on this list are considered highly creative people who made great contributions to society.  And, this list of two dozen names is but a drop in the vast ocean of people deserving recognition for their creative gifts to humanity.   From inventors, scientists and scholars to musicians, artists and authors, people across a spectrum of disciplines have been using their imagination to elevate and innovate culture and society for thousands of years. Continue reading →

It is natural for a person to not want to lose something into which he/she has invested time, money, energy or emotions.  So the person devotes even more resources toward making the investment work, even when it is a bad decision.  That’s the Sunk Cost Effect.  On the one hand, self-protecting from a loss is a natural instinct and a valuable one for survival.  Some things do require just a bit more time, effort or support in order to turn a questionable decision or direction into a brilliant one.  After all, it took Amazon seven years just to break even and today is showing $60 Billion in annual revenue. Continue reading →

Standing by a Bad Decision

Your company’s leadership made a decision to open a new division or expand into a new territory. Or, the VP of Product Development decided to launch a new product or service.  Or, the COO decided to shift a fundamental process in the company from one department to another.  Or, the CTO made a decision to upgrade to a new software.  Or, VP of Business Development hired staff to try a new sales approach.   Or the business owner hired a new CEO to run the company. These are all major decisions, not made lightly or casually. Continue reading →

The amount of time business executives spend in meetings in the U.S. is substantial.   According to a 1998 MCI Conferencing white paper, U.S. workers attended about 11 million meetings (cumulatively) a year, spending an average of six hours per week.  Supervisors spent even more time in meetings, averaging about 23 hours in meetings per week.  That is about half of every work-week.   And, “people working for large organizations tend to have more meetings than those in smaller ones.”  So the bigger the company, the more meetings had and more time spent in them. Continue reading →

Even the most useful and productive meetings consume too much time and accomplish too little.  And the truth is that most meetings are often wasteful, disorganized, and unfocused.  Unresolved issues from meetings often languish.  And when meetings are used for decision-making, work is often postponed awaiting a time when everyone can meet.  Hence the question:  meet or don’t meet?   The answer is a simple one.  If the meeting is just to deliver information – a one-way information dump – don’t meet!  Put the info in a concise, clear memo and send it to everyone to read. Continue reading →

When Employees Don’t Work Out

Even the best companies have some ‘bad hires’ from time to time.  That doesn’t mean the person is bad… just not a good fit for the company or job.  Employee weaknesses – and every person has some — usually surface within weeks or months after being hired.   Sometimes a new hire simply cannot do essential parts of the job for which he was hired.  Or is too slow in their work speed.  Sometimes a new hire has a bad attitude and cannot get along with others.  Or a short time after being hired, the employee starts getting to work late and taking a lot of time off.  Or perhaps a long-term employee gets moved to a position that is beyond her ability.  Or maybe the company recruits a reputed superstar only to learn that the luminary’s reputation shines brighter than what he can actually do.  It doesn’t take long for the bad employee’s supervisor to know the employee is not performing adequately.  And yet, the person is not let go.  Why?  There are a multitude of reasons why a bad employee might still be on the job.  Some are legitimate considerations and others not.   Here are a few of the most common. Continue reading →

The Search for Spending Balance

Most companies – not including big tech companies like Google, Apple and Netflix — watch their expenses carefully to ensure that they aren’t leaking profits, like a boat with a hole.   After all, business owners should always be looking for ways to maximize revenue while minimizing expenses to ensure the business makes a profit.  That is obvious.  But, deciding how much money a company spends on a myriad of expenses is often an exercise similar to walking a tightrope.  A company that spends freely and lavishly can result in a culture of excess that leads to employee waste and carelessness, while a company that is excessively vigilant and tight with the purse strings can create a culture that is demoralized and discouraged, and ultimately unwilling to go the extra mile or contribute big ideas.  The goal, then, should be to spend adequately… enough to keep morale and motivation high while keeping turnover and frivolousness low.   That is great, in theory, but what does that look like in practice?  How money is allocated is a proxy or indicator for what the leadership values.   It sends a message.  The only question then is what message a company wants to send to its people through money.  There are various options, from one end of the generosity spectrum to the other. Continue reading →