Are Your Customers Finding You Dispensable?
I just got off the phone with a colleague who was complaining (whining, really) about the fact that nobody seemed to have any money to hire him. It’s the economy, of course. A few years ago, people had...
View ArticleDoes Your Business Have a “Hook”?
You’ve got a nice little business with all the things that a nice little business requires: a great product or service, a company web site, maybe even an expensive sales and marketing campaign. The...
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A Success Lesson from Paul McCartney
I’ve had the good fortune to meet Paul McCartney a few times. And I say “good fortune” not just because it’s cool meeting famous people; I say “good fortune” because of the lesson I learned—and...
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Don’t Be Like Netflix!
So I got a Roku for Christmas. Now, I know that “a Roku” sounds like one of those yappy little dogs that Paris Hilton would carry around in a purse, but it’s not. It’s actually a very cool little...
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Who Moved My Peas?
First, a status report. My cheese is fine. Nobody’s moved my cheese; my cheese is right where it’s always been. Cheese, you see, is the reward you get for making it through the maze. It’s the fun...
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Would You Hire You?
Would you hire you? A friend and I were talking recently about Michael Gerber’s seminal book, The E-Myth Revisited, and that got us talking about the by-now-almost-cliched concept of “working on the...
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An Award-Winning Performance…Every Time
Some of you know that I used to produce a sketch comedy TV show in Seattle called Almost Live! It was on the air for fifteen years, and number one in its time slot for ten straight years. During those...
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It’s Okay to Say “No” to the Wrong Customer
I was at an event recently where one business speaker asserted that there were four words you should never tell a customer: “I can’t do that.” And he had some very good reasons for this assertion: Your...
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Play a Bigger Game
What would “playing a bigger game” look like in your business? In many cases, it looks pretty much the same as playing a regular game — only with a different mindset. Let me give you an example. I’m a...
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Wanna Buy a Fake Egg? Neither Do Your Customers!
I’m a geek. How much of a geek? I am a card-carrying member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM). Need I say more? IBM has a monthly magazine called The Linking Ring, and there’s a...
View ArticleHow a Different Perspective Can Make You a Better Leader
I spent several hours yesterday helping a colleague (whom I’ll call Poppy, because it’s fun) rewrite her website. She was concerned—rightly so—that her site was too wordy, didn’t really capture who she...
View ArticleAre You Missing Out On the Most Important Business Tool?
Quick Quiz: What do the following have in common? The iPhone The Tesla Model S Spanx The self-cleaning litter box The Sputnik 1 satellite Answer: They were all the product of a creative idea. As was...
View ArticleBreakthrough Ideas Are Not Created In a Vacuum
Your next great idea will not come to you out of thin air. I can say this with near 100% certainty because that’s not how ideas work. That breakthrough idea—the one that will make you rich and famous...
View ArticleHow to Be a Great Little-Known Leader
John Wooden. Nelson Mandela. Richard Branson. Abraham Lincoln. Great leaders, all of them. Their words and actions inspired and motivated thousands upon thousands of people. But probably not you. At...
View ArticleHow To Make Your Team Hate You In One Easy Step
A friend of mine has a cat that she affectionately refers to as her “barnacle,” because he’s always there. Wherever she goes, there he is. The kitchen, the living room, the office, on the stairs—he is...
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How Dots Will Make You a More Creative Leader
In my new TEDx Talk, I talk a lot about dots. Dots, dots, dots. Why would I waste so much of my precious 18 minutes talking about dots? Because dots are the building blocks of creativity, and...
View ArticleHow To Be Better Than Saturday Night Live
“You guys are better than Saturday Night Live!” I used to hear that all the time. I still do, although now “are” has changed to “were.” For 15 years, I was the Executive Producer of a sketch comedy TV...
View ArticleWhy The Best Leaders Are Out Of Control
I recently read an interview with Marija Ringwelsky, the co-founder and COO of Remedy, a company that helps protect people from medical overcharges and billing errors. In it, Ms. Ringwelsky said:...
View ArticleTo Think Out of the Box, Make the Box Smaller
QUICK QUIZ: Which assignment do you think a creative person would like more: Write a story about anything. Write a story about a duck. If you’re like most people (which, of course, you’re not—you’re...
View ArticleIt’s Not About You And Your Stupid Little Problems
For fifteen years, I was not allowed to get sick on Saturday. Sunday and Monday were fine; I could be sick then. Tuesday through Friday weren’t ideal, although if push came to shove, I could be sick...
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