Posted on March 13, 2007
For the last few years, I have bragged about JetBlue’s inovative thinking to anyone who would listen to me. They segmented the flying experience, improved each link in the chain, and created the first real scale breakthrough in people flying since Southwest Airlines. And then the crash, not of a plane, but a system. Horror …
Posted on March 11, 2007
For Your Consideration is the latest edition of Christopher Guest’s twisted and cruel mind. Many of you might know him as half of the legendary Spinal Tap, and producer of all time sidesplitters such as Best In Show, Waiting For Guffman and The Might Wind. In their most recent romp, Guest and all-star troupe (Fred …
Posted on March 8, 2007
A few years ago, I read a brilliant book by Bill Jensen titled Simplicity. There are many great ideas in the book, but one of them changed my life for the better. At the time (2002), I was covered up in corporate emails (200 or more a day, not counting spam). With all the changes …
Posted on March 7, 2007
In Faith and Fortune, author Marc Gunther tells the story about Barbara Waugh, who as a non-executive, drove huge changes at HP. Barbara was a career activist for the environment and diversity who ended up at HP twenty years ago. She used street theatre techniques to demonstrate to HP execs issues within the company related …
Posted on March 1, 2007
This video clip contains a story that changed my outlook on life. I’ve shared this story about the power of recognition and praise with thousands on the lecture circuit and many report they have also been changed by this story. The premise is simple: You cannot let your people wither away and die at work. …
Posted on February 27, 2007
When I was leadership coach at Yahoo!, I often began manager orientation with the following saying: “You will accomplish more in the next two months, developing a sincere interest in two people, than you will accomplish in the next two years — trying to get two people interested in you.” (Adapted from Dale Carnegie). This …
Posted on February 26, 2007
Consider this a Marketing 401 lesson on positioning as a key component of good branding. Question: What is the difference between calamari and squid? Five bucks! Calamari is delicious and squid is slimy. The difference is perceived desireability between the two is the essence of position and word association as keys to modern branding. Two …
Posted on February 23, 2007
Did you know that the average office uses two times more paper today than in 1980, the golden age of copiers and the birth of the fax machine? That’s because the amount of information and data to be printed just keeps growing–as does our obsessively compulsive habit of printing everything we see on our screen. …
Posted on February 20, 2007
In business life you are often asked to choose a timeline or a strategic horizon. This timeline will help you take into account the plus and minus aspects of a particular product, project or initiative. If you take the short view, you are a weatherperson (tomorrow’s weather and maybe a five day forecast). If you …
Posted on February 19, 2007
Do you have any regrettable business relationships? You know, the up and down type of relationship that you wish was better? Maybe it is a Customer who is beating you up over a string of delivery issues (many outside of your control). Maybe it is a colleague that you are going back and forth with …
