Trying is the first step toward failure – Homer Simpson Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average. – Garrison Keillor 86% of Harvard students believe they are more attractive than their classmates. 82% of drivers say they are in the top 30% […]
If we are software coders, we can get hypnotized by the killer hack. If sales professionals, we can be entranced by the nuance of well-run client meetings, and if project managers, it’s easy to be seduced by the latest task management app. But remember, while the devil is in the details, the beauty is in […]
Over five years ago my cycling partner and friend Erich contacted me and suggested we should ride in the three-day, 180 mile Trek Across Maine. It seemed like a reasonable and fun challenge, and all for a good cause to fight lung cancer. I was in. Then he added, “We’re taking the boys.” He had […]
Ever get excited about an idea and have it demolished, shot down, blown up, ridiculed, or just ignored? Here are a few of the innovation blocker personas you might find in your workplace, and a few ideas to get around, jump over, or jedi mind-trick them. The Bureaucrat builds consistency, and sets limits to ensure rule […]
Be the change you wish to see in the world – Mahatma Gandhi Let’s just agree – just for the moment – that your company cares more about your own personal and professional development and livelihood, your family’s health and well-being, your local community’s civic integrity, the broader environmental impact of the company’s footprint, building […]
“In category after category, companies have gotten so locked into a particular cadence of competition that they appear to have lost sight of their mandate – which is to create meaningful grooves of separation from one another. Consequently, the harder they compete, the less differentiated they become…Products are no longer competing against each other; they […]
“John Adams’ favorite form of conversation was an argument. He thought that arguments were the only form of conversation that really forced you into truth” – Joseph Ellis Over time we consistently find inconsistencies of advice. One minute we need a high-fat diet, the next it causes cancer. One decade we are advised to give […]
We do this constantly in our work: we figure out macros and hacks that streamline and accelerate our work. A routine we might perform numerous times a day, becomes a habit we learn how to tweak and accelerate and perform faster to increase our own performance. But what if our organizational cultures incentivized people to […]
“Time is the most important thing that you take from a person and I have to deserve it, give something, and spark some feelings in the viewer.” – Onur Senturk I’ve been collecting stories about how fast cool, new ideas, innovations, and talents can move from obscurity to world stage. Just a couple years ago […]
I had a conversation today with a VP of Human Resources at one of the largest, and still fastest growing consultancies in India. He described a practice of accelerating innovation you can borrow today, which they have already shown to work in their business. In the new frictionless economy, in which innovation in product and […]