Today, Walter Issacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs will be released to the general public. Many interesting "leaks" from pre-lease copies have been published over the past few days. Steve Jobs excelled in thinking differently. Apple iPods changed how we listen to music, iTunes disrupted the music business, iPhones put the mobile telecommunications business into a new [...]
Or not. At least one organization (the Economic Cycle Research Institute, ECRI) with an exceptionally good track record says another recession may already be here. Over the last 15 years, it has gotten all of its recession calls right, while issuing no false alarms. Whatever the case - weak economy, recession, improving economy - your [...]
During a recent conversation a good friend of mine, a business leader, said, "Strategy is the biggest waste of time I can imagine. Nothing ever happens because of a strategic plan!" Once you get past the emotion in the statement, the bad experiences with strategic planning in my friend's past, and take his comment purely [...]
When the conversation heads towards professional boxing, it frequently involves the heavyweight division. These are the people who have the potential for a sudden, surprising or even spectacular ending to any fight. Foreman. Frazier. Louis. Liston. Marciano. Ali. Tyson. These guys give new meaning to "heavy hitters." ESPN Boxing recounts a 1988 match between Michael [...]
"There was a time not so long ago when giants roamed the countryside. Enormous smoke-belching, fire-breathing giants that roared like rolling thunder as they tore through the night, stitching the nation together with shining ribands of steel. We called these monsters trains. Few who have heard the whistle of a speeding train in the night [...]
In A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Mark Twain wrote, “The best swordsman in the world doesn’t need to fear the second best swordsman in the world; no, the person for him to be afraid of is some ignorant antagonist who has never had a sword in his hand before; he doesn’t do the [...]
My boss had the corner office. From his lofty vantage point, with it's windowed walls, he could look out on a large section of the St. John's river. My office was next to his. One day the Boss had his chair wheeled around and was gazing down the river when one of my employees walked [...]
My friend and colleague, Jim Kranzusch, is a chimp. I'm pretty sure he's always been a chimp. He has even turned "chimp" into a verb ("I chimped him."). Jim has a track record of being an effective manager, a natural leader, and a wise counselor - all due in no small part to the fact that [...]
Years ago at IBM I was promoted to a job in division headquarters. It was a nice step up on the corporate ladder, a chance to get some "inside baseball" and learn how the business worked from that side of a paycheck. One of my first assignments was to design a "platform" to better support [...]
Monty Roberts is a horse whisperer. He is one of a few horse trainers that use specific methods to start horses rather than break them. Roberts notes that the “secret” to his process is clear and in the open for any and all to see: horses have their own ways of communicating, el lenguaje del [...]
