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 […]
I’m reading “The Vitality Imperative: How connected leaders and their teams achieve more with less time, money, and stress” by Mickey Connolly, Jim Motroni and Richard McDonald. I love an analogy they put forth. “Eons ago, humans valued fire and yet could not create it. When lightning struck (literally), people captured the fire and tended […]
I’m a fan of looking for examples of great strategy and leadership in unusual places. Although I focus on for-profit business leaders, I’ve seen some great examples from other venues such as the Girl Scouts and the United States Marine Corps. A recent story on NPR caught my attention. Ogden, Utah, has the highest percentage […]
Leaders are Paid to Make Hard Decisions Henry Kissinger said, “To plan policy on the assumption of the equal possibility of all contingencies is to confuse statesmanship with mathematics.” Let’s change three words to make this a brilliant statement regarding business strategy. “To craft strategy on the assumption of the equal possibility of all contingencies […]
A good friend of mine is the CEO of an early-stage company. After his arrival, he boosted sales to a profitable level and made many business improvements. He’s now looking for a round of financing to grow the organization and make some of the investment their operations require. The founder — someone who birthed several […]