At work, one person can unleash the power of many.  Take toy drives for local charities:  By yourself, you can fill up a trunk.  Take your cause to work and you'll fill up a truck.  I was in Palo Alto on Weds to give a talk at Facebook. Several of the Facebookers were previous colleagues …

Here's an excerpt from one of my email training videos. It covers an important topic: Your bloated email database file.   Get more information, and find out how to bring email training to your company at EmailAtoZ. Drop a few pounds of email every 90 days on YouTube

Innovation is all about creative solutions to pressing problems.  During this economic environment, we need to innovate (cut costs without killing quality) to survive. Layoffs are an easy (non-innovative) way to do that.   But at what social, moral, financial and long-term cost?   Cari Tuna wrote an excellent article that shows how companies have …

Here's another trusty tip from my speech coach:  Rehearse your essentials.   I'm frequently booked to give a short talk about a long subject.  It can be nerve wracking, trying to figure our which points I'll cover and which ones I'll cut.  For years, I'd focus on developing an outline, then cutting out the fat …

I swear, digital video recorders have changed my life.  Take last night (Sunday).  I could go to KROQ's holiday party at the Gibson Amphitheatre and see The Killers, Death Cab, The Cure and Franz Ferdinand OR I could watch the Cowboys play the Giants.   I chose to do both.  I TIVO'd (the verb, not …

Every year I stumble upon a new downtempo, chillout band that rocks.  This year, I found Bitter:Sweet while shopping at Fred Segal's in LA. Their 2006 classic (Mating Game) was playing in the store (and on sale for way to much money), so I went home a sampled a track via iTunes (Don't Forget To …

I think it's socially irresponsible to hire too many people during good times, only to lay them off when the business cycle goes South.  It happens all the time, I've seen it firsthand.  Today, many firms use layoffs as a way of telling Wall Street that they are being responsible – and frequently they get …

John Livesay sent me this article, posted just yesterday, <snip>:  By Lisa Lockwood “Being green and generating a profit are not mutually exclusive, competing values for businesses. They have to exist in harmony. It must be a win-win,” said Tom Cole, vice chairman of Macy’s Inc., discussing the retailer’s sustainability action plan at the Initiatives in …

This year, every gift needs to really count.  Gifts can reward, validate or challenge people.  This year, I'm recommending that we use our gifts to make a difference.   The first list I've seen so far comes from the community news feed at my knowledge networking site (SavingTheWorld).  The list covers obvious, and not so …