Archive for Uncategorized
Goodwill and the Win/Win, Part II — Intention and Action
Some more about starting with the Other Person’s Win: When we plan to help another person Win, does it matter whether we start with Intention or Action? The MBA part of my brain is laughing at the question: ”Dude — ‘Help Someone Win’ is a big enough leap for most business people. Don’t waste time [...]
Goodwill and the Win/Win
I once reminded a client, “Don’t forget the Win/Win.” In her search for new ideas for her own business, she was about to schedule meetings with a dozen or more executives in other industries to see what insights she might glean from their experiences. “I know they accepted your invitation with the thought they’d [...]
Designed by Committee
Old joke: a camel is horse designed by committee.* By coincidence, I had two conversations this week about the perils of letting committees do picking that you should do on your own. In one case, a friend relied on a “committee of friends” to choose a mentor for her, and the result was lousy. In [...]
Dream and Believe
Pour accomplir de grandes choses il ne suffit pas d’agir il faut rêver; il ne suffit pas de calculer, il faut croire. To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. – Anatole France from Discours de réception, Séance De L’académie Française (introductory speech at a [...]
Churchill, Britain and Business
The maxim of the British people is “Business as usual.” – Winston Churchill, Speech, 9 November 1914
Compare and Contrast: Universities and Banks
A macroeconomist once told me that the two institutions with the longest investment horizons were university endowments and the Vatican. From Kevin Davis at Bull City Rising, an interesting intro to his article on what the Citi buyout of Wachovia may mean to Charlotte: Try to imagine, if you will, how it would feel to [...]
Satchel Paige and Zero Based Budgeting
How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were? – Satchel Paige It may seem strange, but Paige’s quote made me think of zero-based budgeting: creating each year’s budget from scratch instead of making incremental changes to last year’s budget. More importantly, it reminds me to ask on occasion, “Never mind [...]
“What’s Your Network Value?”
What’s the cash value of your network? The folks at XING.com (a business social networking resource like LinkedIn) have come up with a methodology that requires but 5 minutes of your time. Click here: mynetworkvalue.com Oh and mine? $1,222,000. High for my age and field. Hooray for me! If you are reading this, please send [...]
