Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud
Reading Time: < 1 minuteEvery CEO should remember the proverb that “every silver lining has a cloud.” The business translation of this adage was best put by Vistage Speaker Pat Murray who has warned thousands of Vistage members that the “second worst thing that can happened to a company is success.” In that spirit,
Second Order Consequences and the C-Suite
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBeing a C-Level Executive means having a point of view about the future. Many executives limit their thinking about the future to the initial impact of a particular change but don’t think about what happens after that. Business (and life) is often like a row of dominoes: we push one
Tectonic Tech
Reading Time: < 1 minute“Technological advancement is greatly overestimated in the short run and greatly underestimated in the long run,” remarked science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke. The Director of Industry Strategy for Adobe shares “6 Tectonic Shifts in Tech Every Executive Should Know” based on research at the World Economic Forum. You have probably
Crimes Against Pizza
Reading Time: < 1 minuteQuality isn’t everything. Case in point: Domino’s Pizza. Founder Tom Monaghan discovered that the key to success in the pizza business wasn’t great pizza, but free delivery. But no competitive advantage lasts forever and the company’s subpar pizza began to deliver subpar results, no matter how fast it’s delivered, especially
Econ Recon
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA Strange and Powerful Truth: Alan and Brian Beaulieu of ITR Economics in a short but important blog entry dispel some nonsense about declining American incomes…and issue a warning about the consequences for CEOs of rising ones. Find out what they have to say about Managing Your Labor Costs. Take
Surfer Dude Sales Advice
Reading Time: < 1 minuteGreat advice can come from unexpected quarters if we are ready for it. To wit: check out this short story about how a father’s advice created a great salesman and how we often make our jobs harder than they need to be. Consider some surfer dude sales advice before you
Got Peers?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIf you’re reading this and have not availed yourself of membership in Vistage or other C-Level Peer Group, take a few minutes for an overview of peer power by a man who literally wrote the book on the subject. Leo Bottary, author of “The Power of Peers” was recently interviewed
I, Pencil
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThose who are concerned that China’s economy will surpass ours should consider the following “required reading.” China just announced to great fanfare that after years of effort and millions in investment, it has managed to produce… a ballpoint pen! (This was accomplished in the US about 80 years ago). Before
Do the Exit Interview FIRST
Reading Time: < 1 minuteMost CEOs know that job tenure is far less today than the “lifetime employment” of generations past; but if so, why not find out what the prospect intends to do AFTER they leave your employment. That’s what LinkedIn’s head of recruiting was challenged to do by his CEO. Maybe you should
Walt Disney – His First Vision and His Future Vision
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe year 2016 will mark the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney’s passing (that makes a boomer feel old!). After his death, several CEOs tried various departures from Disney’s original vision. In recent years, the company has returned to its roots of focusing on great content in general, and superb storytelling in
