There is a growing movement of people who are anti-business. They dwell on the damage, both real and perceived, done by businesses to individuals, communities, and the planet. They are wrong. Well, kinda. They make many immensely important observations about less than productive behaviors. It’s their conclusion that is wrong. Business is the only real […]
THE CURIOUS NATURE OF SUCCESS
There are two main phases of success: before you’re successful and after you’re successful. Before you make it, you’re successful in spite of what you don’t have. That’s the defining characteristic of life before success. You fake it until you make it. You stretch resources and get creative. You clock major hours. You take risks. […]
BE MORE
[I was thinking about my two boys yesterday. They are amazing, and also normal and sometimes lazy – hey, they’re teenagers. It amazes me how much time they spend doing nothing (i.e., gaming, watching videos). I fight to remind myself that I too did a lot of nothing at their age. Then my inner pontificator […]
A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO SELF-IMPROVEMENT
Sometimes, when I watch people engage self-improvement efforts, it reminds me of dieting. You have the crazies who are super self-motivated and never seem to stop trying things, always improving a little, reading, thinking, measuring, and striving. They are inspirational, and possibly even annoying (as all superstars can be from time to time). Then you […]
CHANGE IS DANGEROUS
We often make heroes out of our innovators. They are activists, change agents, and provocateurs. Following their big wins, they are celebrated. But how accurate is our portrait? Not very. They always experience strife we forget. It’s true in business as it is in society. When a new gadget comes out, a fancy piece of […]
THREE STAGES OF YOU
Many people embrace personal improvement, but the process can be difficult. You see, there are only three stages of personal growth: indulging ignorance, building independence, and chasing potential. All lives begin in ignorance. Too many never escape. It’s so easy. A person is born, told what to believe as a child, and never learns to […]
THANK YOU, FERRIS
[I am about to launch my latest book The Ten Delusions, but I’ve already jump-started work on the next book too. It’s called Live Hard. It’s intended to be inspiration for living more fully, thinking outside the box, taking principled risks, etc. One possible story I’m working on for the book, draft below, deals with […]
JOIN THE REVOLUTION!
What a fascinating time to watch the shift in generations across the modern talent pool. To put it mildly, what was considered progressive just a few years ago will become an absolute expectation in the next few years. Much has been said about what the younger generations value and what we must do to make […]
SHOULD YOU JUMP?
In the past, professionals worked for a few companies over the course of a career. Today, increasingly, they work for many – easily ten or more employers in a career. Unfortunately, many of these “jump” decisions are not smart. They are well-intentioned, but not necessarily productive. There are very real costs associated with making bad […]
FACING DEATH, FACING LIFE
So far, death almost got me three times. If you’ve ever looked death in the face or been with someone who has, you know what I’m talking about. Nothing helps you realize how beautiful, amazing, and precious life is like facing death. The first time I almost died I was in the third grade. A […]
