Not long ago, toothpaste had an identity problem. If you remember, all tubes looked like this: They took up a lot of prime shelf space in the medicine cabinet. They’d only lay flat, unless you put it in a cup. Getting the last of the paste out of the tube was hard work. (Let’s not … Read more
Have you ever been washing the dishes and you were instantly hit with a flash of inspiration? Or maybe you were taking a shower, or going for a run, or commuting to work, or just about to fall asleep, and you suddenly came up with a great new idea? I’ve asked hundreds of leaders the … Read more
On a business trip to New York City this week, I stopped in at the newly opened Whole Foods Market at Bryant Park. In case you don’t know, Bryant Park sits smack dab in the middle of midtown Manhattan. It’s about as bustling a spot as you’ll find anywhere in NYC. It looked like everyone … Read more
Chess is not the easiest game to play. Chess also isn’t the easiest game to teach someone else how to play. I’ve spent the past two weeks trying to teach the fundamentals of chess to my nine year old daughter, Miranda. What’s particularly challenging is explaining the idea of long term thinking. Miranda … Read more
Innovation: Creating value by doing something better by doing it a new or different way. That “something better” could be many things: A new product A refined process An improved way to collaborate Innovation doesn’t have to mean a radical change -incremental tweaks are innovative, too. Given this broad definition of innovation, everyone can … Read more
There’s an archetype that’s been around for a long time in business: the Great Man. It’s based on the belief that an extraordinary individual can save the day. It’s personified by the work of the actor John Wayne: the hero rides into town, and makes everything okay. The End. Fade to black. Roll … Read more
Do you have to manage more information than ever before? Is change hitting you faster than ever before? Welcome to the two-headed monster of today’s work world. We’re living in an age of complexity—one that shows no signs of going away or slowing down. Everyone’s dealing with the challenges of more, faster and … Read more
My friend and neighbor Todd has two twin boys, Emmett and Leo. The boys are three years old and describing them as a “bundle of energy” doesn’t do them justice. I ran into the three of them (of all places) in the locker room of our local YMCA.They had just finished a swimming class and … Read more
Organizations, by their very nature, are designed to create processes and systems. There’s a good reason for this: there’s a need for the various parts to work together to create outputs. On one hand, this makes sense: without results, we won’t stay in business. But on the other hand, there’s a flaw in … Read more
The video below (if you haven’t seen it) may just blow your mind. It’s Aretha Franklin performing late last month at the Kennedy Center Honors. (You can start at about 1:02 in): What Aretha’s got is sprezzatura. Sprezzatura is an Italian word that roughly translates as ‘the seeming effortlessness in action that conceals the … Read more
