A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted the different yet intertwined paths of Xerox and Fujifilm. Xerox, once one of the world’s most admired companies, now has a market value that is less than 20% of what it used to be. As a former executive at Kinko’s, I used to rub elbows with […]
Being tagged as “strategic” thinker or a “not very strategic” thinker can be a boon or a bust for your career in the business world. Unfortunately, you must dig deeper to understand what the compliment or curse means. Have you ever met a strategic payroll clerk? Probably not, though I bet there are some. Some […]
Business and math are inextricably linked. Big data, income statements, turnover, weighted average cost of capital, customer satisfaction scores and quotas — just to name a few. And accuracy is vital. Don’t you dare make a miscalculation in a 10Q! But accuracy and efficacy are two different things. I may have a bang-on measure of […]
Working on one element of your strategy without the others is usually a waste of time “We tried, but it didn’t work,” said the CEO about his new strategy. What he didn’t say was that the general idea for how he’d win in his marketplace wasn’t wrong. He just didn’t understand that all the pieces […]
This is a picture of my wife’s kiln just after cracking the top. When the temperature drops from about 1,800 degrees to 150 degrees, she nervously opens the top to see what occurred. Each piece is fired at least twice, once to harden the clay (called bisque firing) and again after glazing. Ordinarily, she finds […]
One of the fascinating ways to generate loyalty, relationships and even income is by building communities. A great strategic question that you might ask about your business model is, “How could we develop a community (or multiple communities) that would allow people to connect and learn while allowing us to deepen the relationships, educate and […]
I am fortunate to live in an area that has lots of raptors—hawks and eagles. As I drove home recently, I witnessed some skillful aerial combat—a small bird, sparrow-sized, giving a large hawk the fight of his life. The smaller bird was tenacious, attacking the hawk from above and behind, probably pushing it away from […]
Runoff season is about over in the Front Range of Colorado as I write this, so fly-fishing season is ramping up. My recent feeble attempts at fishing the big water (when the snowmelt comes screaming down the canyons) were mostly frustrating. Trying to maintain my balance in the raging water when casting to a relatively […]
If you’re an executive and aren’t a bit anxious (or excited, if you’re an optimist!) about the rate of change in the business world, my guess is you’re just not paying attention. Either that or you sell toilet paper and aren’t worried about a new disruptive technology. Even a toilet paper company, however, could find […]
“In all the time I spent with him, I never once heard him refer to his ability to see the future. He couldn’t see it — that’s why he had to grope for it.” —Michael Lewis, “The New New Thing” (talking about entrepreneur Jim Clark) Jim Clark famously founded Netscape, Silicon Graphics, myCFO and Healtheon […]