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 of our businesses. Simple concept, Provocative Ideas. Free lemonade, anyone?
Saving that bottle of great wine for a special occasion ... but each time, setting it aside waiting for the NEXT great occasion? Don't take time to visit special places and landmarks in your own city because you're busy now but soon, you'll have more time? The NY Times recently…
Have I given you anything yet for Christmas, or maybe to celebrate the New Year? Well, I have now. Consider this part of the Exkalibur Stimulus Package for 2010.
I don’t know about you but there are occasions … and they seem to be increasing in my case … when I feel a nap coming on … yes, during the business day, around 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. if you have to ask. Traditionally, there’s nothing we can do about it, hang in there, head for the coffee pot, slip out early, frog around on the web … something other than work. (more…)
For those of you attempting to follow the meandering health care reform debate ... gold stars if you have any idea where this sits today ... you might be interested in the recent Business Week article, Radical Surgery, about a hospital that slashes costs AND delivers high quality with innovative…
Seth Godin, blogger extraordinaire, has compiled an interesting and FREE PDF download from 70 diverse thinkers in which each person provides ONE WORD to identify an important concept for 2010 ... and then writes a single page to describe why they chose that word. From GENEROSITY to DIGNITY to POKER…
How about that for a double negative … meaning that “Not Not Important” is actually “pretty damn important”. Some of you took English, right?
What do I mean? Many of the followers of Sword Tips know that I’m a big fan of GTD, the “Getting Things Done” framework promoted by David Allen. He wrote recently in Wired magazine about one phenomenon that comes up all the time in my work with CEOs. If like most of us you’re always struggling with priorities, you need to read this. If you’ve got some ideas that have worked for you, share them.
By any other name, it’s the “it’s just not a priority” syndrome! God knows we’ve all got too much to do, and most of us have probably tried the 1-2-3 system of prioritization at one time … soon realizing that everything was becoming a “1” because it wouldn’t get attention any other way … and then we realized we made everything a “1” … and then we realized we ended up right back where we started.
There is no avoiding the pain that arrives like a SCUD when something that needs to get done doesn’t get any attention (more…)
The Center for Creative Leadership recently completed a large survey to assess the leadership competencies need for success, both now and in the future.One of the skills that I highly regard is resourcefulness, the ability to deal skillfully and promptly with unexpected challenges, etc. Interestingly, resourcefulness was the only skill…
By now, you know that the Sunday NY Times Corner Office series is oft-quoted here to highlight varying aspects of leadership that flow from Adam Bryant’s conversations with notable CEOs and business leaders.
This week he interviewed William Green, Chairman and CEO of Accenture. Read it in its entirety as a refresher on important elements of leadership.
Green reminds us that there is an abundance of talent that we’re not mining … (more…)
Yeah, I know, just what we need ... another checklist of the 10 Stupid Things I can't stop doing ..or the Top 5 things I need to do before I brush my teeth (really, nothing, do that first ... please). Nonetheless, this is a good time of year to consider…