How to Listen Better

Friday evening, on JetBlue flight #1696 from Orlando to Boston, we had a bit of a problem. About an hour outside of Boston, the pilot got on the intercom and told us that the main braking system was not working.  Although the back-up system would probably work just fine, they were preparing us for the […]

Innovation Costs on $0.50

I saw this sign while driving in Orlando.  It caught my attention.  As it turns out, there is very little innovation going on at Innovation Way.  Maybe they need to raise the toll.

Reframe the Framework to Generate More Cash

This article originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum The way we frame our business world can significantly impact our success. Frameworks are useful, but they can also be limiting. Perhaps it’s time to rethink the way things have been done in the past. One useful framework is often called the product funnel or […]

The Three-Step Formula for Innovation Success

A lot of theories circulate on how organizations make innovation a reality. Over the past 20 years, I have found a very simple formula that helps a company transform the way it innovates. Here’s the key: Ask the right question, the right way, of the right people. Let’s break that down into the three core components. […]

Innovative Advertising

Today I received an email from the owner of a furniture store who read my “Best Practices Are Stupid” book. He asked (paraphrased)… In all my years of furniture advertising, I have been showing pictures of nice living room, bedroom, mattress, and dinette furniture on sale. In your book you suggest advertising pain. Should I change the […]

How Candy Makers Helped Develop the iMac

I love it when companies are able to find solutions to problems in non-traditional places. I was recently at a conference where someone said that Apple was having difficulty making the clear, colored plastic that adorns the iMac. None of the plastic manufacturers could find a solution that could make the product hard and durable […]

Lessons of Pawn Stars

Yes, you read that correctly.  PAWN Stars. This reality television show on The History Channel chronicles a pawn shop outside of Las Vegas.  I enjoy the show because of the history associated with the pieces that are brought in for sale.  In addition to rifles from the revolutionary war and antique political documents, people bring […]

One Small Step for Your Business, One Giant Leap for Success

Quite a few books and studies recently have touted the power of incremental change. Small actions can have a huge impact on long-term business growth. The appropriate degree of change needed for innovating within organizations is, in general, a 45-degree change, consistent but not too radical. That tends to be more effective than a 5-degree change (purely […]

You Don’t Hear Your Customers

The other day, I asked my business manager to follow up with a client about an unpaid invoice.  She contacted the company’s accounts payable department and was told that the invoice was paid on June 1st, 2012. (italics added for emphasis) OK, I have some pretty talented clients, but I don’t think any have mastered […]

Are You Asking the Right Question?

For many years, I was a loyal BlackBerry fan.  More accurately I was a CrackBerry addict. A year ago a got a MacBook Pro and six month layer I acquired an iPad.  It felt like I should switch to the iPhone.  But I was not ready for two reasons: I wanted a Verizon phone that could […]