Category: Business
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Success Is Possible
Not overnight. Not without hard work and creativity. Not without moments of doubt. Not inevitable. But possible. Possible for you. Success, for you, is possible.
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Just A Game?
Using gamelike elements to engage customers can produce real business value We are currently taking an online course on Gamification with Wharton’s Professor Kevin Werbach, which provides a fascinating insight into the world of games and how gamelike elements can be incorporated into the customer experience. The basic concept is that games provide a structure within which […]
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Finance vs Strategy
The financier cares about the next 3 months or less. The strategist cares about the next 3 years or more. The financier wants the deal to close as soon as possible so that he can earn his bonus. The strategist is open to taking action if it will strengthen the firm’s position over time, and a better outcome can’t be […]
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Excuses or Solutions
We each face obstacles at times that prevent us from achieving our goals as quickly and effortlessly as we would like. In your professional life, difficulties may result from factors outside your control: fierce competition, lack of customer demand, or a new well-heeled company entering your industry. Hurdles can also result from factors a little closer to home: outdated skills, insufficient experience, or a weak reputation. Obstacles may be unavoidable, but we […]
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Carrying out a good resolution
Happy new year, and best wishes for a prosperous and productive 2015. Cavett Robert, founder of America’s National Speakers Association, once said that “character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.” May you have the character and conviction to persevere with your plans for the year […]
For many of us, especially expectant young children, Christmas is a day of high expectations. It can often fall short of the mark. Santa may have brought you an Xbox when you had desperately wanted a Playstation. Or perhaps you got a new Samsung tablet, when you were busting for the new iPad instead. It can be painful when reality falls dismally […]
ALL too often, and especially when starting out on a new project, the things we don’t know outnumber the things we do. We may know very little and, in the absence of knowledge, we can become stuck. Paralysis, our inability or unwillingness to make forwards progress, is the surest road to stagnation, difficulty and ultimate demise. What can be done […]
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Customers Hold the Balance of Power
If you run a company, your customers hold the balance of power. Are you delighting them, or leaving an opening for somebody to cut your grass? IF you want to know which party holds the balance of power in a relationship, you just need to look at the direction in which the gifts are flowing. The gift […]
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Giving more than we expect of you
But what about when nobody is watching? GENEROSITY is the act of giving more than we expect of you. You are probably familiar with the most common form of generosity – public generosity. Giving more when people can see it. The public benefactor to a prestigious university foundation; the celebrity who campaigns to fight poverty; or the wealthy men on a quest to […]
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The Value of the “Truth”
Will set you free THIS expression has been a popular saying among business gurus like the late Jim Rohn, and has its origins in scripture. “The truth will set you free” has a nice ring to it and makes people feel good, but what does it really mean? Here are three practices that follow directly from the pursuit of truth, and which underpin sustainable business. 1. Accepting […]
WE are currently in Portugal and recently stayed at Home Hostel Lisbon, which was voted best medium-sized hostel in the world for the last two years running. Think about that for a second. There are thousands of hostels in the world across hundreds of countries, and many of them are excellent. Home Hostel Lisbon was voted “best hostel […]
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News or Noise
IF you are like most hard working professionals, then you probably make a habit of reading the news each day. The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Sydney Morning Herald. The Wall Street Journal, the FT or The Economist. There are many titles to choose from. You scan the headlines for an interesting story and then […]
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Free Is Never Free
Your time has value Economists are fond of telling us that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Whether it’s fish and chips for lunch, or something else, what they mean by this is that it’s not possible to get something for nothing. But hold on, you might be thinking, surely this isn’t true. Just think about Facebook. […]
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Simple, Appealing and Delicious
Fish and chips at the Golden Union Fish Bar WHEN it comes to project delivery it is said that the customer always wants it “fast, good and cheap”, but they can only have two. A project can be delivered quickly and cheaply, but the quality will suffer. It can be shipped cheaply and to perfection, but it will take a long time. Or it can be supplied quickly and with quality, but […]
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The Paradox of Our Age
“The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but […]
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You Don’t Have to be Interesting
You just have to be interested Interested in other people. Interested in what you can do for them. Interested in improving your approach. Interested in finding a new way forward. Interested in what’s next.
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Overcoming Hopelessness
Changing obstacles into opportunities – be thankful for what you have, if you don’t get a miracle you can be a miracle for someone else
In an infinite channel world, not-for-profit may just be the new normal We were recently invited to attend Professor Donnie Maclurcan’s talk in Islington, London entitled “Not-for-profit enterprise will be at the heart of the global economy by 2050”. We were unfortunately unable to attend Donnie’s talk, and haven’t yet read the book, but on first […]
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5 Ways to Foster Learning
Learning is a natural process, but management still has a role to play (Source: Flickr) FOLLOWING on from our post on learning from experience, in which we discovered that learning by doing is a natural process, we are finally delivering what we promised – a post which explores some ways that management can help. Learning may […]
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Courage
The hard part about pursuing a new idea is not the idea itself. There are thousands of good ideas shared every day online for free. Nor is it the risk of financial failure since it is easier than ever to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start again. The real risk that the trail blazers face is a […]
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Boldness
“All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.” ~ Niccolò Machiavelli
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7 Keys to Success
Success is what you attract by the person you become (Source: Flickr) THE late Jim Rohn once said, “success is what you attract by the person you become”. A pithy saying, but how do you become a person who attracts success? Here are seven thoughts to get you going: Skill development – It is natural to learn from experience and […]
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Humility
Subtitle: Get over yourself. Great business ideas are usually created by others. Are you ready to receive them? (Source: Flickr) IF you counsel a young child (or grown adult) on the merits of humility, we will not raise an eyebrow. Humility is an admirable quality and has an endearing appeal, much like a puppy dog or a baby in a bassinet. We approve, and quickly […]
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Learning From Experience
A natural and unstructured process that results from doing the work LAST week we looked at the value of breaking with experience, which followed on nicely from our initial article on the Experience Curve. This week we focus on learning from experience. What does it mean to learn from experience? And what role does management have to […]
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Tolerance
Independence of thought, acceptance of difference “Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.” ~ John F. Kennedy “In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.” ~ Dalai Lama “Religion is like a pair of shoes … Find one that fits […]
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Breaking with Experience
Innovation involves breaking with the past to create something even more remarkable (Source: Flickr) THE traditional Experience Curve focuses on increasing production experience which leads to predictable cost reductions. This kind of experience is relevant in industries that are relatively stable, competitive, and production-intensive. (Source: Wikipedia) But what about high tech and creative industries where the lifecycle […]
THE wonderful thing about humans is our ability to move through time and space, without going anywhere at all. The ability to think about the past allows us to reflect on experiences, our own or those of others, and to learn from them. Your author used to wonder at length during his high school history classes about the […]
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Persistence
The night is darkest before the dawn. Keep moving. You’re closer than you think. “You will make mistakes. Are you going to be able to get up off the ground when you get smacked down, and keep driving. Persistence and resilience are very important, and there are going to be very difficult trade-offs to make, […]
The Experience Curve captures the relationship between increasing production experience and declining costs (Source: Flickr) Background The Learning Curve, the concept which predates the Experience Curve, was first described by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885 as part of his studies into human memory. In 1936, T.P. Wright described the effect of learning on production […]
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The Value of Meditation
The mind is a muscle, and meditation is a form of stretching MOST PEOPLE wouldn’t find it strange if you told them to stretch their muscles before running a race. Stretching limbers up the muscles, increases performance, and reduces the risk of injury. And yet, and yet, every day people around the world turn up for work and run a mental […]
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Building An Asset
Or just getting paid? IF you continue with your current line of work, will you be more capable, better known and have a stronger network in 12 months time? Or will you just be one year older, one pay grade higher, and one step closer to that “promised” promotion? Financially richer, yet one year poorer at the same time. […]
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Acceptance
Making the most of right now ANGER and hatred result from clinging to past experiences. By refusing to accept things you cannot change, you lose your peace of mind, waste mental energy, and remain trapped by events which didn’t kill you yet leave you permanently diminished. Better to let the bad stuff go. Ambition and anxiety result from restlessly anticipating the future. […]
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Prize Inside
HAVE you ever wondered why cereal boxes often contain a free toy, prize or collectible? The answer is simpler than you might think. The children are the target audience, while the parents fund the purchase. The kids want the toy, while the parents want cereal for their children but are largely indifferent about which sort of cereal because they’re not going to eat it themselves. […]
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Chasing The Trend
Is Not A Strategy MANY FIRMS and many people live their lives by chasing the trend. They ask themselves questions like, what’s popular? What are other people doing? What’s the “it” thing? They then chase the trend in an attempt to ride the wave of prosperity and capture some of the growth, glory and profits for themselves. This may work […]
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Want to innovate? Become a “now-ist”
Watch Joi Ito’s TED Talk on innovation, connection and making the most of right now
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Forgiveness
An act of personal empowerment that gives you freedom from the past and allows you to retain the initiative (Source: Flickr) FORGIVENESS is a noble sentiment, but shouldn’t our tormentors be punished? What about truth? What about justice? What about revenge? Breathe, breathe, everything will be okay. The deceptions and betrayals of those around us can sometimes infect and overwhelm the mind. The […]
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Loyalty Games
If you are there for them, they will be there for you WHEN it comes to marketing, you have a choice. Chase new customers, or care for the ones you already have. Buy a million dollar Superbowl ad, or do the hard work of creating remarkable products for the people who care. Pursue the glittering promise of untold wealth by […]
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Let It Go
Holding a grudge is like drinking poison, and wishing your enemies would die. Let it go, keep moving, and retain your freedom. Or, as Oscar Wilde put it, “always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much.”
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Tourist or Adventurer
If you’re waiting for the bus, and missing it throws out your whole day, then you’re a tourist. Some people go through life this way. High school, university, respectable office job, marriage, house, children, death. A safe bus ride with a predictable number of stops. There is an alternative, but it won’t fit neatly on your itinerary. You […]
Late last year at the Oxford Union we had the opportunity to talk with Tim Ferris, author of the 4-Hour Workweek, about his tips for successful blogging. Tim’s key piece of advice, an echo of every good guidebook we’ve read, is that bloggers who are just starting out should focus on producing “evergreen content”. That […]
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Capacity versus Leverage
IN the quest for market dominance, companies often engage in a war for talent. They seek out new recruits with outstanding capacity, the chosen few who are able to demonstrate a track record of success, and an ability to solve new problems quickly and easily. Management consulting firms are the flag bearers in this war. In a clear […]
Are activist investors having a profound effect on American board rooms? McKinsey Director Larry Kanarek says, “I think the answer is absolutely yes.” How should executives respond? ACTIVIST investors are having a profound impact on American board rooms. Faced with this new situation, Larry Kanarek argues that executives should work with activists, rather than against […]
The real battle is not against competitors, but against ourselves. Morieux and Tollman make the case for a new approach to management that they call “smart simplicity” BCG partners Yves Morieux and Peter Tollman have written a new book called Six Simple Rules: How to Manage Complexity Without Getting Complicated, in which they make the case for a […]
Evans explains that business strategy is premised on assumptions about technology, that those assumptions are changing dramatically, and that this will lead to a different concept of what we mean by business strategy
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Pushing The Boundary
Are you excited, nervous or a little bit scared? Your comfort zone, as the name suggests, is a comfortable place. It feels safe and secure to be there, because you’ve been there many times before. Nothing unexpected is likely to happen. Nothing you haven’t seen before. And certainly nothing out of the ordinary. But ordinary […]
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Getting Your Point Across
Be engaging, have something to say, don’t have a stick up your a$$, make people laugh, and never generalize
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Selling is a process, not an event
Large consulting firms like McKinsey, Bain and BCG have huge marketing budgets and strong alumni networks that they can tap into to ensure a steady stream of work. This is not a reality for most people. If you are a small firm or a solo consultant then you might just need to pick up the […]
Greg McKeown shares his revelation that success can lead to failure and why doing less can often mean getting more
The illusion of permanence, and the persistence of innovation (Source: Tom Spencer) IN a recent FT article, Chairman of Risk Capital Partners Luke Johnson made some interesting comments about his alma mater, Oxford University: Oxford University, my alma mater, is a classic case of a complacent establishment that is refusing to reinvent itself. It will consequently […]