I love January 1st; for me it’s like sitting at a desk with a clean sheet of paper and a fountain pen. What wondrous words and ideas will appear? What amazing things will happen?
A Few Of My Favorite Things
Today is Christmas Day – and I hope you and and the people you love have a day filled with hugs and surprises and good cheer. We are spending the holiday with family: Christmas Eve in Boyceville, WI and Christmas Day in St. Paul. The picture to the right is Christmas 1954; my cousins and I were in my grandparents
Lousy Questions Give You Lousy Answers
One of the best bosses I ever worked for didn’t know a thing about technology, yet she supervised a department steeped in it. She was a professionally trained writer who loved words. What she didn’t love or know much about was computer hardware, software, connectivity, compatibility and gadgets. Suddenly she was thrust into a world inhabited by geeks all speaking
Where Do You Get Your Power?
I had the pleasure of sitting through two Strategic MAP presentations this week; both were exceptional. (Roundtable members prepare a Strategic MAP on their businesses each year.)
Okay. I Get It. I Get It.
I’m not much of a bowler; in fact, I’m tickled when I can bowl a score of 100; but I enjoy the game. I joined a local evening league recently to meet new women and to get a little exercise. Typically, bowling isn’t all that strenuous, you take three or four steps, bend down and throw the ball. With any
I’m Thankful I’m Not Sleeping In A Car
Thanksgiving is the time to feel gratitude and give thanks for the blessings in our lives – our life, our health, our friends and our families. It’s the time to acknowledge the good deeds of others and be thankful. Some of the most poignant Thanksgiving thoughts come from children:
Ask Your Customers These Questions
Every year about this time, company leaders start planning for the upcoming year. They look at equipment and technology needs. They make educated guesses about sales. If they’re lucky, they have a backlog of orders to carry into the next year. They add that backlog to historical sales data to produce a revenue target.
12 Questions To Help You Develop A “Kick-Ass” Strategic Plan
“As far as I’m concerned, strategic planning is a colossal waste of time and energy. I’m not doing one anymore”. Douglas made no bones about it, he was frustrated by the hours he and his staff poured into strategic planning only to have the document sit on the shelf unused and unviewed until the next year when it was time
Please Don’t Make Me!
My friend Susan isn’t very adventurous. In fact, when anyone suggests a trip to another country or even another state she turns them down flat. “I’m not much of a traveler,” she’ll say. The truth is, the very thought of traveling to a strange place makes her feel uncomfortable and pushes her out of her comfort zone.
No Succession Plan? It’s A Recipe For Disaster
I admit it. We didn’t have a succession plan for our business. We didn’t talk to our attorney or our CPA before we put our business on the market; we just talked to our broker who advised us to talk to our attorney and CPA. We were stupid-stupid-stupid and it cost us tens of thousands of dollars.