As I’m writing this, yet another Earth Day has rolled around – but I must admit that this year I’m seeing things from a somewhat different perspective. That is to say, I’ve come to the conclusion that merely focusing on “pure” sustainability efforts is currently the wrong approach to preserving the planet. While it has

Recently I was talking with a friend about his business and couldn’t help asking him why his expectations for it were so low. It made me realize how important it is for us to set our sights high and not put limits on what we expect to accomplish, because, quite frankly,  if you can’t visualize

This past week I was visiting with an old colleague who was contemplating a career change. He was especially interested in a particular opportunity that had arisen, but didn’t feel he had the right qualifications. So I told him a favorite story of mine about one of our top guys at Greenopolis who took it

I recently attended a major meeting where there was a lot going on. The next day three of us who were there did independent recaps. I did mine last, without knowing what the other two had said. The report I ended up turning in was not so much content-related as an appraisal of how I

As an ‘early-to-rise’ type of individual, I like nothing better than to get up at the crack of dawn and have breakfast to the accompaniment of the birds. In fact, I’m usually at my best about the time when other folks require two or three cups of java to wash away the cobwebs, and love

If you’re among those who watched the Academy Awards, or at least the news clip featured on the awards telecast,  I wonder – what would you consider its most arresting moment? Most viewers, I believe, would say the sequence in which Sasha Baron Cohen pours what he says are the ashes of the dead North

Lately I have been contemplating business models – what makes them unique, and what attributes are apt to produce really big wins. A few of these, such as Bubba Gump Shrimp and Crocs, I have discussed in past blogs, but today I want to talk about what I call the “crazy” factor. I am coming

This week, I was privileged to take part in a exercise the object of which was to help determine what brands can do to turn consumers into loyal followers and enthusiasts.  Now, this particular meeting was conducted in accordance with the “Chatham House Rule,” which specifies that participants are free to use any information they

In the course of our careers, there are certain key events that change our outlook or approach to what we’re doing, or, in some cases, enhance our social or professional status. For me at least, such episodes typically have never been planned or scheduled, but have rather presented themselves as pure impromptu opportunities. The best

A couple days ago, I had a phone conversation with a senior executive who spent decades in the auto business in Detroit and now has his own business. He never mentioned it, but it soon became apparent to me that things weren’t going all that well in his business, and he needed to have a