Blog
How to avoid business suicide–part 4a
There are big business tactics small businesses will never be able to use. That’s not true for one of the most powerful. Small businesses tend to let themselves be overwhelmed by the urgent, failing to anticipate, plan, and prepare for the inevitable changes they will face if they survive and succeed.
Are you waiting for trouble?
A business satisfied with its success that stops trying to improve screams “We’re patiently waiting to be overtaken.” and signals the competition to attack. Why would any business do that? Sadly, that’s what most do. When times are good, a business has the time, money, and resources to work on areas of weakness and look for ways to maintain its dominance. That’s when proactive changes should be made, not when times are tough and you have no choice. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Wordcount: 428, Time to read: 3 minutes
![Confidentiality [CONFIDENTIAL!]](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_lossy,ret_img,w_400,h_250/https://mandelberg.biz/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Confidential-shreddings-June-2021-400x250.jpg)
Confidentiality [CONFIDENTIAL!]
Wordcount: 723 Time to read: 4 minutes According to Martin Uzochukwu Ugwu, “Confidentiality is a delicate bargain of trust.” The world is a cauldron of information, hot and bubbling with juicy details from all corners of the planet. More...
How Communication Can Cause Conflict
Wordcount: 535 Time to read: ~3 minutes
According to George Bernard Shaw, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
The optimist, the pessimist, and the engineer
Wordcount: 543 Time to read: ~3 minutes
If an optimist sees a glass half full…
In business, most choices are clouded in grey while decisions are often reinforced by perspective. Don’t let your perspective obscure others and become your jail. Always be open to different ways of thinking.
Businesses don’t fail, leaders do
Wordcount: 814 Time to read: 4 minutes On New Year’s Day, 2021, CNN Senior Political Analyst John Avlon began a segment with “The pandemic touched every part of the economy in 2020.” What I heard on my head was every part of the economy suffered in 2020 because of the...
In Defense of Disruption
Wordcount: 810 Time to read: 4 minutes Over the years, I’ve had the unfortunate opportunity to watch too many large and small organizations at the top of their game suffer. When they side-stepped disruption, they were outflanked by competition free from tradition or...
What next? What now?
Three good bets with a little bit of wonkiness thrown in. Wordcount: 622 Time to read: 3 minutes This July 2020 issue of my newsletter has proven to be unusually difficult to write. Perhaps it’s the moment in time, perhaps the ubiquity of change, perhaps one of other...
The Big P
Purpose, not Pandemic Wordcount: 685 Time to read: 3½ minutesPlaceholder “Can a business have a mind, a sub-conscious, a knack for predicting the future, reflexes faster than the speed of thought? Can a business have a spirit? Can a business have a soul? Can a...
The Great Pause
Wordcount: 525 Time to read: 3 minutes “Our experiences always teach us something. If the experience is "bad", then the lesson is even more powerful and meaningful. Every unfortunate incident makes us stronger and better equipped to handle new challenges.” Miya...
The Pandemic Induced Economic Coma
If anybody has too much time these days, they’re just not paying attention.
Change is a state of mind
Life will only change when you become more committed to your dreams than you are to your comfort zone. Billy Cox Wordcount: 522 Time to read: 4 minutes As I’ve grown older and more experienced, two things stand out for me. First, the older I get, the dumber I feel....
Can you lead without a vision?
As Yogi Bera once said, “If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.” Wordcount: 427 Time to read: 3 minutes I find the volume of information delivered through social media and the pace of delivery exhausting. Meteoric growth has amped human...
You get to pick two
I want what I want when I want it Wordcount: 538 Time to read: 3½ minutes Last month, I wrote this BDF issue would be about balancing responsibility and authority. Sorry, I changed my mind. (sometimes that seems like it could be a wonderful experience, yes?) This...
Symptoms Masquerading as Issues
Symptoms masquerading as issues are one of the pitfalls of success.
The problem with being at the top of your game
“The conquerors rode in a triumphal chariot, … A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.” In the movie Patton, George C. Scott repeats a quote attributed to Gen. George S. Patton. As the...
5 Simple Change Rules the Pros Use to Put People in a Good Mood
Using “change” and “good mood” in a title makes most people’s eyes roll. “nobody likes change” is the common cry. Even though some people like some change, change is tough and disruptive. It takes work and effort. While making change happen and keeping people happy is...
Implementing Business Values
(Part 3 of 3) Reaping the benefits described in last month’s newsletter depends on your business’ values being respected, embraced, followed, and modeled by leadership and staff. Before values can impact culture, they must first be used consciously, consistently, and...
7 Ways Business Values Create Profits
(Part 2 of 3) The biggest problem I see with business values is when leadership puts them on a poster and ignores them. When staff and customers see no connection or correlation between company values and leadership behavior, or as basis for management decisions, you...
Culture by Design
(Part 1 of 3) When babies are borne, they come complete with their own set of fingers, toes, and, to their parents’ joy & frustration, their very own personality. So too, from the moment of conception, each business has its own culture. The simultaneous...