One day you’re on top of your game and the next you’re not. It can happen to anyone. All of a sudden the simple day to day tasks that must be done loom as gigantic obstacles. You’re overwhelmed with self-pity and hopelessness. You are your most important asset and you’re letting yourself down. Watch how...
Imagine a room full of shouting people; walls plastered with large sheets of paper covered with scrawls. What is it? A kindergarten for children with poor social skills? No, it is a typical brainstorming session. Originated in the 1940s by advertising man Alex Osborn, brainstorming with its freewheeling tossing out of ideas and absence of...
Every year or two there is one person you really, really want to reach. Perhaps it’s the potential major donor for your charitable organization; the executive who could say ‘yes’ to the transaction that would change your life; or the aloof relative with the power to restore family harmony. Say, Oscar-winning actress, Gwyneth Paltrow, wanted...
How easy it is to become impatient with a long story being recounted to us by a toddler, colleague, client, customer, or patient. Unfortunately, leadership, whether in business or the family, sometimes depends upon making the best decision after receiving nothing more than a written or verbal report. When we are the ones relaying information,...
In 2002, after six years in business, Amazon became profitable. How did they keep their doors open for so long without profits? Amazon had cash flow. A year earlier two famous Internet high-flyers, Webvan and Pets.com, collapsed. Why did they fail in spite of operating in profitable niches? They had no cash flow. A business...
A certain Passover image is burned into the memories of many American Jews. They remember Grandpa droning his way through the standardized text of the Seder (Passover evening program) while his children make a dutiful effort to listen. His grandchildren succumb to abject boredom. Today, that picture has become rare. Those grandchildren have grown up....
Have you ever been in an audience listening to a speech that never ends? It is an even more ghastly experience for the speaker who plainly wants to finish but just doesn’t seem to be able to wrap it up. The sweat beads on his brow, his eyes dart around frantically seeking a savior, his...
