If you’re fascinated by business strategy, by how you can address a market differently than everyone else, you might enjoy this story. If you’re just trying to be like everyone else, skip this one and crawl back into your hole. I recently had coffee with the founder of a successful company in the outdoor product […]
What truths are you avoiding? It is important to be “all in” when you decide on a strategy. Alignment of your team and your investments is the quickest path towards success, as long as you choose a viable direction! However, you need to make sure that you are not ignoring the truth just because you […]
I had the business equivalent of the the chicken vs. the egg discussion with a colleague the other day. Which first, people or strategy? He voted egg, but I’m a chicken guy. Getting the right people on the bus, as author Jim Collins suggested in his book “Good to Great,” is imperative. But like all […]
If you spend any time in outdoor retailers, you’ve probably seen YETI coolers. If you’re part of the hook and bullet crowd, I bet you own one or two … and perhaps needed a second mortgage on your house to buy them! The first time I saw a YETI cooler price tag at REI, I […]
CEOs need to experience their product or service as a customer “Is this group two?” I was asked for the third time. “I don’t know about everyone one else here, but yes, I’m a two” I responded. I couldn’t help but be snarky after waiting for the delayed United flight. The guy ahead of me […]
Before 150 years ago, naval warfare looked like two columns of ships (imagine an 11) blasting away at each other’s broadside with uniform damage and loss incurred on each side — like two equal-sized drunks in a bar brawl. Lots of carnage, and the one with the most ships, the most guns per ship, or […]
Regulators recently pinched Wells Fargo, the country’s largest bank, for “scamming” some customers — signing them up for services they didn’t order. Management fired 5,300 people over a five-year period for “improper selling.” Lots of folks have already predictably jumped all over management, and they’re right to do so. But what else can we learn […]
I have a weakness for pasta and red sauce (Sunday Gravy, for you Italians), so on two recent business trips in the same week, I went out in search of a meal that would put a smile on Tony Soprano’s mug. The first restaurant was in an uptown environment, had a nice façade, an expansive wine list, […]
A recent story on NPR about Congress’ legislative action to try to manage the opioid epidemic caught my attention. Opioids kill more people than car crashes, and it seems that there are some good elements in the legislation (e.g., removing restrictions for doctors to certain therapeutic drugs), but Congress isn’t yet funding the efforts at […]
In an article from “Knowledge@ Wharton” a piece of research is cited from Daniel Kahneman—noted behavioral economist and author of “Thinking Slow and Thinking Fast”— where he articulates the challenge of “intuition” with a number of examples of how it fails us, from medical diagnosis, to ratings of performance in work settings. He points out […]