Tactics For Captivating Your Audience
I just returned from a fantastic weeklong cruise to the Southern Caribbean and noticed that it was structured similarly to others that I have enjoyed in the past. Immediately upon arrival, there is much fanfare: champagne as you board; a band rocking out tunes on the pool deck; the captain and crew shaking hands and […]
7 Strategies For Running Your Business While Pursuing Your Passions
People often live by the saying: if you want to get something done right, you need to do it yourself. While I have heard people toss this phrase around like a badge of honor, there is no philosophy more toxic for an organization, especially small businesses. Businesses of any size are complex and it is […]
Why Edison Was Wrong
Researchers often throw around the Edison quote, “I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.” Researchers use this quote because it “validates” […]
How Losing Personal Attachments Can Help You Realize Ambition
My friend Susanne and I were recently playing a trivia game, a game in which she excels. However, at one point, she got a couple wrong answers in row. “Urgh,” she blurted out, “every time I have a gut answer and change it, it was actually correct.” This made me curious. Malcolm Gladwell, in the […]
How to Be Selfless by Being Self-Centered
I travel the world extensively. And during these jaunts, I am always interested to hear of the differing points of view held by others about American culture. One commonly-held perception is that Americans are self-centered, believing that they are the center of the universe. There is some truth to this perspective. On the whole, American […]
How To Create Luck In Business And In Life
I know St. Patrick’s Day has passed, but it got me thinking about the concept of luck. Have you ever met people who are consistently lucky? It is as if they are always in the right place at the right time. Meanwhile, you feel as though the cards of fate have dealt you a bum […]
Before You Can Multiply You Must First Learn To Divide
Not too long ago, I was having a conversation with an event organizer about his revenue model. He told me that he hires speakers, paying them a flat fee for their time, and then launches an aggressive marketing campaign to put butts in seats. He also told me that most of his events lose money. […]
The Key to Overcoming Roadblocks: Innovation
In Wisconsin, the Republicans wanted to eliminate the collective bargaining rights of most public employees as a way of cutting the budget. This was hotly contested by the Democrats to the point where all 14 Democratic senators left the state, refusing to vote. They did this knowing that at least 20 senators needed to be […]
Is It OK To Marry Your Work? (part 1)
I was talking to a Thai friend of mine recently, someone who knows that I work a lot. She also knows that I love what I do. She said I am, “Thang kub ngaan.” This literally means “marry with work/job.” We sometimes jokingly say that we are married to our job, but we tend to […]
Tap Into Your Inner Innovation Child
I recently had the privilege of speaking to a group 400-plus senior executives from a very large organization. During my allotted 90 minutes, I conducted an activity used to demonstrate the power of divergent thinking. At the conclusion of the exercise, I asked for solutions to a specific problem. Twenty hands went up, if that. […]