Archive for Strategy
Smiles and Laughter as a Corporate Goal
Twenty years ago, my colleague Dan* told me, “gettin’ paid and not being miserable is my goal. If I can get those two things, work is alright. I don’t expect to like my job, but if I do, that’s great.” Damn! I don’t think that’s the way most people experience their jobs, but I do [...]
Triple Bottom Line: Do Good. Have Fun. Make Money. (Part 1 of many)
Do Good. Have Fun. Make Money. That’s the triple bottom line for my business. In some form or another, most of my clients evaluate their business success similarly as they ask, “Are we making money? Are we enjoying ourselves? Are we creating real value for our customers without lying, cheating, or making a mess of [...]
Dreaming, Conversing and Doing math
In general, I find that business owners spend many hours a day working on tasks and talking at other people or being talked at. In general, I think that business owners are running a deficit on daily time spent: dreaming (the imagining kind more than the daydreaming kind, though that part is also useful, conversing [...]
Just Enough Anxiety
“What exactly is just enough anxiety? It is the right level of anxiety—at any given moment in time—that drives you forward without causing you to resist, give up, or try to control what happens. It unleashes your productive energy and makes you want to do better. Just enough anxiety produces the optimal state of arousal [...]
First Focus, Then Expand
“First focus, then expand” reminds me of the old adage: “The only place that Success comes before Work is in the dictionary.” You don’t hear that one too often any more. Too old-fashioned and Calvinist even if it’s still true. But Work isn’t the problem for most people I know. Most people I know are [...]
Discipline is Remembering What You Want
Coincidentally related to my last post, here’s the current mantra of my friend Jen: Discipline is remembering what you want. Discipline is remembering what you want. Discipline is remembering what you want. And, of course, doing what it takes to get what you want.
Discipline and Wisdom
Discipline without wisdom is pointless. Wisdom without discipline is fruitless.
My Balanced Scorecard — Have Fun. Do Good. Make Money.
Have fun. Do good. Make money. These are the things on my scorecard, and the first among them is all three. Today I was talking with some business friends including one fellow who’s trying to decide what to do with the valuable remnants of a business that recently collapsed. He had many ideas, any of [...]
Paul Krugman on Unsustainable Conditions
…unsustainable situations usually go on longer than most economists think possible. But they always end, and when they do, it’s often painful. – Paul Krugman The quote, above, has been around for a while but now seems like a good time to mention it. Krugman has long been a critic of the Bush Administration’s economic [...]
Lowell on the Inevitable
There is no good in arguing with the inevitable. The only argument available with an east wind is to put on your overcoat. – James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)
