Models Matter
Reading Time: < 1 minute “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” wrote the Russian novelist Tolstoy. The same seems to be true for “happy” (successful) businesses. Regardless of the nature of the product or service offered, the most successful companies today can be considered “software” companies in that
“A Trillion Here, A Trillion There”
Reading Time: < 1 minute The late Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen is reputed to have characterized the “Great Society” fiscal policy of the 1960s with the wry observation that “ A billion here, a billion there….and after a while it adds up to real money.” Fifty years later we add a few zeros and we’re talking trillions.
The Passion Trap
Reading Time: < 1 minute “Follow your passion” may be in the top ten entries for career advice. It may also be the most dangerous. This short article from Forbes, “Why Following Your Passion is Dead”, takes this advice to task as nearly certain to ruin or at least damage lives and careers. The author’s challenge
Hard is Soft, Soft is Hard
Reading Time: < 1 minute Tom Peters is one of the great management writers of all time, best known for his groundbreaking, “In Search of Excellence.” Over a long career, Peters has distilled and shared significant wisdom from observing a wide range companies. In a recent short blog posting, he summarizes nearly four decades of work in six
Days of Disruption (No. 6)
Reading Time: < 1 minute With all the disruption being wrecked on traditional businesses by newcomers with new business models, it’s important to remember that the disruptors are sometimes disrupted before they can displace their competitors. To wit: Movie Pass: This much touted start up offered a monthly subscription model for movie fans which, as a recent
Are You Under the Disfluence?
Reading Time: < 1 minute Fairly or not, life is a first impression business, and as the saying goes we rarely get a second chance to make a first impression. Part of this is how we speak, especially in front of groups and how we rely on “fillers” or “crutch words” such as “Um, “Ah”, “You know” and many others
What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been
Reading Time: < 1 minute Apple made history this week by becoming the first company to achieve a trillion dollar market cap. Given Apple’s success in recent years, you might not be surprised that it passed this milestone, but it’s 40 year history has not been a straight upward sloping line. There was a time
Days of Disruption (No. 4): The Truly World Wide Web, at last
Reading Time: < 1 minute Most of us have heard of Moore’s law, named after legendary Intel founder Gordon Moore who predicted, correctly, decades ago that microprocessor speeds would double every 18 months and be accompanied by a halving of costs. Equally impressive is the progress that has been made in the speed of communication between