To Set Goals or Not Set Goals, That is the Question
Today’s Friday Fun Fact… My Monday Morning Movie discussed some concepts from my book, Goal-Free Living. I have long questioned the practice of goal setting. My book (published in 2006) challenged traditional thinking about goal setting and discusses how we can not only succeed in business (and life) but to do so while achieving great happiness and satisfaction. […]
Innovate Where You Differentiate
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 […]
Voices of Experience Transcription
Here is the transcription of my interview with Theo Androus on the “Voices of Experience” CD, which is sent to professional speakers around the world. Alternatively you can listen to the audio recording. THEO ANDROUS: We kickoff this month’s edition of VoE with speaker, author, and innovation expert Steve Shapiro. Steve’s latest book is titled […]
Meander With Purpose (transcript)
Here is the transcription for my Monday Morning Movie… Back in 2003, I took a cross country trip that would forever change my life. On June 5th of that year I hopped into my car, and I drove 11,000 miles over the next 90 days without any plans at all. It was totally unscripted. I […]
The Sum of the Parts is Not Always Greater When Working in Teams
Today’s Friday Fun Fact… I was recently at a seminar where the instructor asked a very straightforward question of the participants; one that everyone in the room should have been able to readily answer. However, what followed was complete silence. Crickets. Why is it that once we are assembled into a group such as this, […]
Creative Leverage for Professional Speakers
Today’s Wednesday Work Wisdom is an interview between me and Theo Androus where he asked me about the business model of my speaking business. We discussed the concepts of gamification and leverage and how they are important for creating a successful business (of any kind). This recording was part of the “Voices of Experience” CD […]
ABC News Transcription
Here’s the transcription of my ABC News interview posted on my blog yesterday… Tory Johnson: Best practices are supposed to help your business be more efficient, but our guest today says that your company guidelines could be wasting your time and stifling your growth. Stephen Shapiro is the author of “Best Practices are Stupid: 40 […]
ABC News to Celebrate 700 posts
Today’s Monday Morning Movie marks my 700th blog entry. To celebrate, I decided to share an older video of mine that many may not have seen: my ABC News interview. In this 5 minute video, Tory Johnson asks me about 5 tips from my book, Best Practices Are Stupid: 40 Ways to Out-Innovate the Competition. Here’s […]
Avoid Target Fixation (transcription)
Here is the transcription of my Monday Morning Movie… Although I’ve never been in the military, I’ve worked with military groups. There is a term that I believe they use called “Target Fixation.” Target Fixation basically means that if you focus too much on a target, you might end up hitting that target. If you […]
Avoid Target Fixation
Today’s Monday Morning Movie… The military knows the dangers of something called “target fixation.” This is where you overly focus on the enemy, and as a result you subconsciously end up crashing right into them. The same thing occurs in business. When we focus on the enemy (the competition) we subconsciously end up replicating what they […]