Being different for the sake of being different is a losing proposition. So how do you stand out from the crowd? Find your true differentiator. In Atlantic City, New Jersey, a tourist destination known for its boardwalk and beach, you’ll find dozens of t-shirt shops, restaurants, massage parlors and palm readers. Each store offers pretty […]
If you want to grow your company, you’ve got to learn to let go of any task that doesn’t set you apart from the competition. *** I recently spoke at an event where attendees were mainly small-business owners and solopreneurs. One of the points of my talk addressed the need to “innovate where you differentiate.” […]
You’ve heard it before: To get more done, work smarter, not harder. One business innovator reveals what 3 things you can eliminate to help you do just that… For the past year, I’ve been experimenting with the concept of working less by telling myself that I only have one hour a day to get things […]
Do you run a small business? Or does your small business run you? As entrepreneurs, there are countless things we could do to grow or improve our businesses. It’s easy to keep busy 100 hours a week. I know—I’ve done so countless times throughout my career. Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who has convinced himself […]
The question, “Do you really think for yourself?” isn’t as easy to answer as you might think. When a challenge or problem arises at work and you’re unsure of an answer, you probably rely on the judgment of others. But what if you know the answer to the problem? How likely are you to be […]
I’ve had a recurring conversation with quite a few friends and colleagues lately. They’re unhappy in their current jobs and want to do something different. For many, this means becoming an entrepreneur and launching their own business. Conventional wisdom suggests they will follow one of two distinct paths: They’ll leave their current jobs and make […]
This article originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum site, and is today’s Wednesday Work Wisdom… I subscribe to the 20/80/80 principle. The idea behind this concept is to focus your energies on the 20 percent of those activities that create 80 percent of the value. This can mean concentrating on the customers that […]
You are alive today. You were alive yesterday. You were alive the day before that. This is good news from a survival perspective. Unfortunately it is bad news from an innovation perspective. Your brain is wired to keep you alive. Your brain makes the assumption that because you were alive yesterday, what you did previously is […]
Back in 1995, I was driving Accenture’s (then Andersen Consulting) business process reengineering practice. I traveled the world helping companies downsize. Although downsizing wasn’t the objective of reengineering, it was often the outcome. While working on one particular project, I knew that 10,000 people were going to lose their jobs as a result of our […]
“Work smarter not harder.” This dreadfully overused phrase is meant to address the apparent lack of time, money and resources we experience in our work and personal lives. But how do we translate these words into something actionable? Here are three methods I have used in my business to accomplish this: 1. Focus on what […]
