Those of you who are willing to admit ...  or deserving ... of wearing this crown have probably stumbled down the staircase more than once trying to exert your control over every fiber of the carpet beneath your feet. Researchers...

Fast Company recently published a blog post called 10 Rules for Effective Conference Calls, which sounds about right ... and I think you'll agree that you've heard ... or did ... or thought ... these same things yourself.OK, now let’s...

Many of you have seen my earlier posts - the Stanford research or the NY Times summary about how multitasking fails to increase our productivity ... the very enemy it's sworn to eliminate.In an HBR blog, Peter Bregman reports what...

Like we need more bad news in or about California ... but the Chief Executive organization's survey of Best and Worst States for Business 2010 finds the Golden State's golden egg is actually something else that's been painted over ......

I'm a relentless advocate for outside board members in family businesses, in large part to divorce the value of objective business discussions from subjective family dynamics. I've seen a family member derail an important conversation because his baby brother ......

No news flash here ... except that many of us share the frustration over the relentless flood of email that washes ashore 24/7. There is a nugget somewhere in various ideas companies are trying to dam the waters, particularly with...

Many of you have seen articles about this general theme recently – in part a function of "The No A**hole Rule" published last year by Dr. Robert Sutton of Stanford University. Lars Dalgaard, President of Success Factors, a company with...

When someone tells you no one saw it coming ... you can usually assume they mean "I" didn't see it coming. By now, many of you are familiar with the story about Michael Burry, the Stanford Hospital surgeon who uncovered...

Does EBITDA really tell you what you need to know?“I have enough money to last me the rest of my life ... unless I buy something.”–         Jackie Mason  Does this sound like you?Someone recently told me...

"Incentives are the cornerstone of life." Remember that phrase? Many of you have read my posts, or heard me discuss the fascinating insights of Freakonomics, the best-selling book by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner about the power of incentives and...

Last time, we discussed how to create a responsible culture where each individual accepts accountability for their actions and decisions. In our discussion of this subject, we’ve ranged from the baseline of personal accountability to a broader organizational culture, to...

When does Accountability begin? “When is it no longer my responsibility to get people to complete their assignments … and where does their responsibility to perform begin?” a North Bay CEO asked me recently. “Your responsibility never ends … and...

Many years ago when we lived in the Midwest, we became very good friends with a young couple down the street.He was a fellow fraternity brother, from another college, but I remember him as a very capable physician with a...

As you know, Scott Brown, a Republican, defeated the Democratic candidate to fill Sen. Ted Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat, a stunning reversal of Massachusetts trends of the last 50 years, for a seat that the Dems thought they couldn't lose....

  “The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The truly dangerous thing is asking the wrong questions.”– Peter Drucker  I have been working recently with a young CEO-in-waiting who is eager to move into...

Seth Godin recently wrote about two lemonade stands and how simple things in the approach made such a big difference. My colleague, Jonathan Fields, also commented on this post, expanding upon some of the key differentiators that apply to all...