On Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. PDT and on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. PDT, we are hosting a FREE Live Webcast for CEO's and business leaders in the middle market.I believe middle market businesses need...
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Business Plans don’t matter?
Wow! According to a NY Times report, a recent study at the University of Maryland found that business plans really don't matter! Their study found that VC's pay little attention to the business plan and rely upon their instincts, networks...
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Cut Costs or Invest in Growth?
The Wall St. Journal reports today on growing tension at venture-backed companies over whether to save money to reduce risk or invest to take advantage of new opportunities. You can never gain enough perspective on this issue, which represents one...
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Obama Admin unveils small business help
The Obama administration has unveiled a program to help small businesses, including R&D and innovation credits, ELIMINATING capital gains on small business stock ... we really need to see those details because that will attract investment at an accelerated pace...
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Deliberate Practice – NOT Genius
The New York Times carried an Op-Ed piece today extolling the more mundane interpretations of genius. It turns out according to several new books cited there, that the appearance of "genius" is really more a function of "deliberate practice" than...
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PowerPoint? No. Complete sentences? Yes!
The New York Times feature, The Corner Office, generally provides practical advice from CEO's. This week's interview with Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines, stresses the value of communication and his belief ... correctly, I would say ... that...
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Short Term Solution – Long Term Problem?
The Wall Street Journal recently published further anecdotal evidence of the mixed messages that companies are receiving ... and giving ... about the expected upturn. While some 25% of companies reportedly expect more layoffs, about the same percentage think further...
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Changing the Bonus Structure?
The New York Times reported recently that some companies, like Xerox, are changing the bonus structure to eliminate revenue growth as one of the criteria. While the point is that growth is not the only important criteria ... and some...
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March 2009 Newsletter
Get More At Bats! A good hitter knows he has to get more hits to be great. A great hitter knows she has to get more at bats to get to the Hall of Fame. In the midst of a...
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Furloughs vs. Layoffs?
I have written frequently about personnel decisions and offered various references on the relative value of furloughs and layoffs. The WSJ today published another article on this subject that compares and contrasts these valuable tools.
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Difficult Conversations
Business Week summarized a book entitled Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen. It's a practical guide to challenging conversations in which you're required to deliver bad news, major screw-ups and other sensitive matters.
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V39: Government Intrusion can be fatal!
For almost two years, I have been writing a regular column for the North Bay Business Journal, a publication of the New York Times, a weekly business newspaper which covers the North Bay area of San Francisco - from the...
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Life Explained
On the first day, God created the dog and said: "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty...
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Inside Wall Street’s Armageddon
I overlooked posting this article earlier, entitled After the Fall. It was written by Michael Lewis of Liar's Poker fame and published in the Dec/Jan 09 issue of Portfolio magazine. It is an fascinating exposé of the sub-prime loan market,...
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What gives life meaning?
John Donahoe, the CEO of eBay, was interviewed in the NY Times and mentioned the laminated card he keeps in his wallet. It comes from a speech John W. Gardner delivered to the Hawaii Executive Conference in Kona, Hawaii, in...
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No substitute for unbiased feedback!
I have posted many items and reflections about the critical importance of regular, unbiased feedback as the linchpin to achieving accountability throughout your organization. The most recent example is the interview with Anne Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox. John Donahoe, the...
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The Peter Principle … redux
Business Week carries a fresh look at The Peter Principle, the seminal work that coined the phrase about people being promoted to their "level of incompetence". Still a worthy concept for evaluating talent and making sure that your greatest salesman...
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Failure the crucible of learning? Maybe not …
The NY Times reported on a recent study by a team at the Harvard Business School who found that failure in a first venture is an unreliable signpost of future success. The study looked at several thousand venture-backed companies over...
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We make a lot of mistakes … but
CBS Sunday Morning is a show I've watched since its beginning, almost 30 years now. (Man, am I getting old!). It is a welcome respite from the usual tumult of the business week as it concentrates on music, the arts,...
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Anne Mulcahy – Xerox CEO – Good Lessons!
The NY Times interviewed Anne Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox on Sunday in their Corner Office segment. She offered several keen observations on a wide range of subjects that are worth considering: Leadership is the essence of creating "followership" ... recognize...
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Key to Zappo’s Success? 10 Commandments
Fortune's February 2 edition carried an article about the remarkable success of Zappos, the online footwear and more retailer. You can find the Ten Commandments outlining the core values of CEO Tony Hsieh.
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Business Finance | Have you met the Scavenger’s Daughter?
Impressing your bank less important than being able to hit targets The Scavenger's Daughter? Might be the name of a lost Dickens novel ... or an indulgent misnomer for a the infamous rack that not only stretched but crushed its...
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Business Week Top 50 – Innovation Rules!
Business Week reports its Top 50 performers based on ROE and growth. Reminiscent of Good to Great by Jim Collins, I bet you won't recognize many of the company names, many of which shine as a result of relentless innovation....
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Attaboys are not enough …
Chief Executive magazine recently carried an insightful article furthering our conversation about the value of employee engagement.The CEO plays a major role in endorsing and support this effort. One way is to follow the Rules of Operational Excellence, which are...
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Shareholder Value is a Result NOT a Strategy!
Jack Welch couldn't have said it better in an interview for the Financial Times. For all the talk in the media about shareholder value, it's a good time to remember this simple mantra. Do the right things by your constituents...
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GTD – the Value of Checklists
A recent issue of the The New England Journal of Medicine reported on the tremendous safety value of a surgeon's checklist to reduce deaths. Adopting the simple technique of checklists - the value of which for me have always been...
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