Days of Disruption No. 24 – Both Ends Against the Middle
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAmazon rocked the grocery world two years ago when it bought premium grocer Whole Foods. The distribution giant is now looking to secure the other end of the grocery market with a new format that is sure to disrupt mainstream grocers like Kroger and Wal-Mart. Amazon offers interesting lessons in strategy for
A Gratitude Sampler
Reading Time: 2 minutesThis week, Thanksgiving Week in the USA, take some time to be thankful ….and hopefully acquire the habit of doing so every day going forward. To assist you in your reflections, here are a dozen of my favorite quotations: “My wish for you Is that you continue
A Pocketful of Mentors
Reading Time: < 1 minuteMotivational speaker Jim Rohn famously remarked that “you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” ( Or, alternatively, as James Michener wrote, “Bad companions bring bad luck”) The question is: who should these five people be? One answer, and maybe the best one, is “mentors.” Clearly, having
Good help is hard to find….and keep
Reading Time: < 1 minuteEveryone knows there’s a war for talent, but there are some aspects of it that may surprise you. For example, despite the hot economy, many workers are finding their wages not keeping pace….unless they quit. A recent Associated Press article indicates that workers who leave their jobs are enjoying raises that are
An Ode to Opening Day
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe baseball season is here! Not everyone agrees with George Will’s take on politics and other aspects of American life, but most baseball fans regardless of their political stripe would acknowledge that few students of the game are more passionate or informed about the sport than the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist
The Core of Leadership – Trust
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTrust is the glue that holds our leadership together. In a world of science and big data, we’d like to be able to reduce “trust” to an equation; but according to master marketer Seth Godin, that level of objectivity is not to be expected. Godin suggests that “trust” comes from some
“Exactly the Right Words, Exactly the Right Way”
Reading Time: < 1 minuteSpeaking of Presidents…..It’s hard to believe that it’s been thirty years since the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986, when seven astronauts, including the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe, died tragically when the space shuttle exploded minutes after liftoff. That evening, then president Ronald Reagan delivered an unforgettable 4-minute
New Year’s Resolutions: What Does It Take to Keep Them Intact?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWe’re just over a week into the new year…how are your resolutions doing? If you’re already in ‘resolution recovery’, here are two suggestions for you: First, check out a few tips from Dr. Robert Cialdini, who may be the world’s reigning expert on the art and science of influence. When
HAPPINESS: The Data Are In!
Reading Time: < 1 minuteHow will 2016 be different from the years before it for you? Would you settle for being happy as well as being productive and effective? If so, this 12 minute TED Talk summarizes 70 years of research on what made people happy whether rich or poor. A group of young
FAO Schwarz: Another Rise and Fall
Reading Time: < 1 minuteFAO Schwarz, the legendary toy story in New York that was immortalized by Tom Hanks playing the “ floor piano” with his feet in the movie “Big,” closed this week after operating since 1870 and boasting 40 stores at its peak. Its demise is attributed to some of the same