Occasionally you read a book and you immediately relate to it. Not only do you comprehend the words and concepts the author is trying to convey, but you can actually feel how it relates to you personally, your professional life, and your own journey of constant improvement. Surviving Your Serengeti, by Stefan Swanepoel is one…read more
A Stroke of Insight
Monday, November 1st, 2010
I’m asked to review a lot of business books, but will only endorse those that I feel have some real value to share and ones that take a unique and practical approach to business. Braden Kelley’s Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire, is one of those books. Plus, Braden is a really great guy, and the most…read more
The Power of Connectivity, Capitalism, and The Conceptual Age
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
When the mayhem in the financial world let loose in the fall of 2008, I was the COO of an international corporate finance company. It didn’t matter how long you had done business with a counterparty, how much money they had made with you in the past, or if they had introduced you as their…read more
Do They Really Think We’re That Stupid?
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
I don’t know about you, but I find it a little disturbing when I see politicians stand up and say that the administration’s entire economic team should be fired because they haven’t created enough jobs. First of all, governments don’t create jobs, businesses do. Secondly, governments can create environments that promote jobs, but its effectiveness…read more
Redeveloping the Real Estate Industry
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
The opportunity to redevelop the real estate industry such that it contributes to the solutions the world is seeking, instead of continuing to pile on to the multitude of challenges, is huge. Such challenges include the energy crisis, climate change, natural resource preservation, population growth, urban sprawl with ineffective infrastructure, and a lack of sustainable…read more
Are You Settling for a Pale Version of the Possible?
Monday, May 31st, 2010
“Settling for a pale version of the possible” is my favorite line in Tony Schwartz’ new book, The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working. It’s in essence the question that we so often avoid because it gets to the core of our most intimate desire to be the best that we can be. Those with the…read more
The Courage to Change the Healthcare Game
Monday, May 10th, 2010
As someone who dreams up creative ways to engage customers and helps companies update their business models to thrive in the 21st century, I find myself often thinking about the healthcare system and how desperately it needs an updated model. There have been a couple of news spots recently on healthcare providers starting to do…read more
People Risk: What Most Companies Fail to Understand
Sunday, April 18th, 2010
If you read my blog on a regular basis, you know that I feel strongly that the global financial crisis and ensuing economic recession was not necessarily due to too much risk taking, but more to do with a glut of certain types of risk taking and a real lack of other types of risk…read more
The 3 C’s of a Successful 21st Century Business
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
Overtime, many businesses end up evolving through the lens of problem solving and not through the lens of what they want to create. When you take the time to focus on what differentiates a company from its competition, what value it brings to its clients and the world, and what it really wants to become,…read more
7 Keys to Innovation – European Style
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Last month, I attended the Front End Innovation Europe Conference (FEI Europe) held in Amsterdam. One of the highlights was seeing the car in the picture above in person. Yes, they drove it into a large conference room inside the Hilton Hotel. It is the 2010 BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept car, and it is even…read more
