Do Nothing

Most people have high regard for Warren Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. For decades he and Vice-Chairman Charlie Munger have been making quite a bit of money for those lucky enough to own a few shares of their enterprise. They’ve been so successful that the annual meeting these low...

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Failure Is An Option

The launch followed intensive product research and development and extensive consumer testing. It was backed by huge marketing and advertising campaigns. Millions of dollars were spent getting the product manufactured and distributed worldwide, just in time for the launch date. Finally, after all this preparation and expense, April 23, 1985...

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Leading Into The New Year

The new year has come. Consultants and executives are huddling together working on strategies to drive business forward and achieve the lofty goals they’ve proclaimed to everyone who will listen. And yet, as General Norman Schwarzkopf said, “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you...

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Rejuvenate Your Thinking…Let Your Mind Roam Free

The year is ending. The year is beginning. This happens around this time on a regular basis. Each and every time it does we’re all inundated by people telling us how to review the year now ending and prepare for the year to come. Some talk about personal growth and renewal....

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Truth or Confabulation

“When campaigning for vice president in 2012, Paul Ryan, now Speaker of the House of Representatives, was asked if he had run a marathon. He replied that he had completed one 26.2 mile race in less than three hours: ‘two hours and fifty something’. Unfortunately for him, the race,...

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Tyranny of False Assumptions

  I recently met with a company with a high profit margin for their industry. They hired me to help with a growth strategy. During my meetings with the senior people I heard again and again about their high margin and discerned an underlying worry that growth would only lower...

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Prepare For Turbulence

In the last few weeks I've completed short trips to Monaco, Nice, Barcelona, and Marrakech. Along the way, I ended up spending time in London and Madrid as well, due to weather delays. Tel Aviv, Dakar, and Accra are in my immediate future. Not surprisingly, all of this travel...

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Gratitude Not Greeditude

It's that time of year again in the United States. The time when we are bombarded by non-ending entreaties to overspend on just about anything they can squeeze into a mall or on the webpages of internet retailers, and that’s a lot of space. The big day of the...

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