Day 301 – The General Consensus?
In a meeting with an executive, I heard the comment: “Well, the general consensus seems to be heading in that direction, so perhaps we should as well.” This got me thinking. The herd mentality. Is that always good? Perhaps the evaluation is not in the direction everyone else is going a good thing, but rather, […]
Day 300 – Swim Upstream
Recently, while backpacking in the Gila Wilderness, I had the opportunity to sit and watch a bunch of small fish in the flowing river. I was sitting on a rock, slowly filling water bottles with a backpacking filter. After 20 minutes of being still, the fish started resuming their regular activity, unaware of my presence. […]
Day 299 – Dealing with Bombastic Bob
Who is Bombastic Bob? He could be anyone, and his name does not necessarily have to be named Bob. They very well might be named Shelley, as in Sarcastic Shelley. However, there always seems to be at least one in an organization. They seem to have an aura of protection around them even though they […]
Day 298 – You Fear What You Pay For
If you want to understand what you are afraid of, then just take a look at who you are paying to do things for you. There will be one of two conclusions. This binary will be disagreeable to you at first look. It was to me. I came up with about ten reasons I might […]
Day 297 – Ignorance IS Bliss
It occurred to me today that the worst thing you can do to someone starting out is to sit down and “tell them like it is.” Take, for example, a new salesperson coming into a company. Your temptation might be to tell them the reality of the situation and what is and is not working. […]
Day 296 – The Danger behind Impressive Charts
We all love a good chart. When we open up a slide show and skim through it, we always stop at the impressive-looking chart. Nothing says, “I know what I am talking about,” quite like a sunburst, rose coxcomb, spider chart, wheel diagram, or circular bar plot. All of us when presented with something complicated, […]
Day 295 – Semantic Satiation or Bleaching?
I had yet another call today where someone was trying to convince me that I needed to transform my business. This, of course, was by buying their transformative subscription service that would transform the way I run my operation. After a while, I started counting the number of times the word transformation was used, andI […]
Day 294 – a Desk and a Phone
I remember visiting with a young man who had just been named as the Chief Operating Officer of a food processing company. His father was the CEO and still active in the company despite being 90+ years of age. His father insisted that he graduate with an MBA before he would allow his son to […]
Day 293 – But First, Pray
A popular church hymn that probably every Christian congregation has sung, regardless of denomination, is called “Did You Think to Pray?” The opening lines of this hymn, written by a Methodist woman, Mary Ann Kidder, asks a fundamental probing question: Ere you left your room this morning, Did you think to pray? Prayer is a […]
Day 292 – The Definition of Trust
Trust is a major factor in our lives. We underestimate its role in our relationships, business transactions, and negotiations. Trust is an intangible emotion that is really hard to quantify or measure. Yet, it might be the single most important consideration when it comes to success in life. Putting our own ego aside, we have […]