You likely have multiple “bosses.” These might include your spouse, a religious leader, the neighborhood homeowners’ association, the IRS, building inspectors or perhaps a fire chief if you’re a volunteer firefighter. I’d argue that, to a point, shedding bosses is as healthy as shedding pounds (keep the spouse). Nowhere is this more important than at […]
Investments in “growth” don’t always pay off in the year the investment occurs “For the farmer the calendar year is indeed much more than a convenient measurement; his production cycle actually runs from harvest to harvest. But to apply the farmer’s unit of economic life to an industrial economy, except as a conventional measurement, cannot […]
A recent Denver Business Journal article about the rapid growth of two Colorado-based companies — Snooze and Larkburger — caught my attention the other day. Not just because Snooze has great breakfast with a cool atmosphere and not because I’m envious of Larkburger for locating in ski areas. It’s because of their methods of expansion — not […]
I bent over to fill the cat bowl the other night and vaguely remember slipping on a rug. The next thing I remember is waking up with my wife holding my head and my brain doing flip-flops. I’m still not sure exactly what happened, but am sure—based upon my head pain—that I smacked my noggin […]
Learning from the rest of the universe Years ago when Kinko’s was growing rapidly, our founder took the senior people to the graduate business school at the University of Southern California for an annual week of development. If you have been through an MBA program, you’ve likely encountered the case study format of learning—nothing new […]
A friend sent me an email the other day with some quotes from Will Rogers, the famous cowboy cutup from the early 1900s. My father-in-law, whom I admired, used to say things like, “Let’s mount up!” when we were supposed to get in the car to go to dinner, so it struck a chord with […]
Meryl Streep once famously remarked in a commencement address to college students: “You have been told that real life is not like college, and you have been correctly informed. Real life is more like high school.” Remember the important stuff you used to worry about in high school, such as where you sat, with whom […]
Companies that try to serve multiple masters with one model get into trouble Years ago, I got a call from a customer who was mad as hell. She was from Dearborn, Michigan, and frequented a store we had there. At the time, I was in charge of 350 Kinko’s stores. (For you youngsters who weren’t […]
I’m fortunate to be staying at the W Hotel in Hoboken, N. J., for a meeting as I write this. If you haven’t recently been on this side of the Hudson River, it ain’t the New Jersey from years ago! Looking at the Manhattan skyline from my window, I realize I’ve never had an opportunity […]
Everyone encounters the need to break inertia When organizations “stand still” for very long, they become stuck. This isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, the execution of strategy is really about building structure (for example, systems, rewards and organizational design) to make sure the organization is aligned and focused. When change is required, however, […]