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21 Undisputed Rules for a Leader of the 21st Century
Working with organizations for the last two decades across the globe, I have derived 21 undisputed qualities of a leader (not a manager). Sharing with community of at least 42 countries I have learn that leadership is everything (not managerial effectiveness). A leader can be a manager but a manager cannot be a leader.

Stop Ignoring the Single Most Important Skill in Business
Every entrepreneur needs skill in selling, strategic planning, and creativity. More importantly, and often overlooked, is the skill of handling conflict during the process. It’s about how to handle relationships to get to the common goal-building your business. Learn more about the 13 common patterns in the workplace that disrupt the ability to work through conflict to innovation. Read on!

The Four Magic Business Bullets – Strategy, Intellectual Capital, Innovation, Implementation
When a serious attempt is made to transform any organization, the return on investment in the building and linking of strategies to accomplish the mission and vision of the organization will be substantial. Strategic thinking and planning will allow the organization to both sustain itself and grow. Strategy is where the rubber meets the road. Great strategies begin with solid leadership!

Innovation, Learning and Motivation
Developing Leaders- the key driving force behind business success is people. Tap into the potential of your most important asset

2010 Global Brand Trends Letter
In his yearly overview, Stanley Moss considers international branding, emerging economies, the luxury category, innovation and co-creation, new vocabularies, cultural trends, new vocabularies and the cult of celebrity. The letter ends with a group of interdisciplinary professionals answering the question, "What is a brand?"

Drama Sells, Even When it's BULLoney!
When supposedly brilliant gurus resort to name-calling to diss a product - I've had enough. Drama queens - go home so I can enjoy my iPad.

Leaders - You Can’t Schedule Innovation!
If any organization is to be successful they need to be serious about providing an environment in which innovation can thrive. The talented people need game time, time to think and time to create.

Involvement Creates Commitment

A well-trained Leadership team and a talented staff will be able to provide more meaningful input and higher quality solutions than an individual. Add "commitment" to the success formula, the leaders, staff and team members then becomes a powerful agent of quantum change, innovation, and in some cases, the revolutionary invention of a product, service or process which are the ingredients needed for success.

Book Review: Start-Up Nation

“The Story Of Israel’s Economic Miracle” can also become the story of how to launch/wildly succeed your own business. Dan Senor & Saul Singer answer the question, “How does a country of 7.1 million – surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, and with no natural resources - produce more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada and the UK?”

Management and Leadership
James Dicks examines the differences between management and leadership

Compassion vs. Cost: How Franchising could improve India's Healthcare

"How can health care and innovation in India be translated into measurable outcomes?" Pervez Ahmed, CEO and managing director of Max Healthcare, a leading hospital chain based in New Delhi, asked a lecture hall filled with medical executives one recent afternoon in Hyderabad. India's US$40 billion-a-year health care industry has grown rapidly and is now the second-largest service-sector employer in the country (after education), providing jobs for about 4.5 million people directly or indirectly. Highly qualified doctors and scientists, state-of-the-art technology and low costs have helped India become an attractive global hub for medical tourism, clinical studies, and research and development programs.

The Idea Harvester
A short article on how usability evolves products; how exploitation of customer brains moves innovation within industry. This article deals with the basic principles of "usability" -- the new computer science buzzword of the past two decades. Remember when people actually owned the things they made? Not anymore...

First Comes Talent, Then Comes Success
Developing a system and judging success by how well someone follows that system, requires a perfect process that everyone can master. The reality is that the most successful people achieve their success either by not following the system or by being unaware of its existence.

34 Ways to Encourage "Intrapreneurship"
This tool lists 34 ways to help people in your organization think creatively and become in-house entrepreneurs – or “intrapreneurs.”

The Entrepreneurial Life Style

It may seem impossible to consider changing career paths in the midst of this economic decline however entrepreneurship is one career option that has withstood the trials of time and recession. Through the decades, those individuals who have taken on the daring task of creating new business strategies and starting their own business endeavors are the ones who have benefited the most in the face of a waning economy. Economic crisis may prevent a salary increase or retirement security, however it does not prevent innovation.

Detox Your Corporate Culture

Just because people don't leave your organization doesn't mean the culture is constructive. In high-paying, benefit-rich industries employees can feel obligated to stay even though they are dying on the inside. Instead judge your culture on the level of sick days taken, the enthusiasm with which employees conduct themselves, the amount and pace of change and innovation. If these areas are lower than you like, chances are your corporate culture is sapping the life out of your employees.

Need More Innovation? Foster a Culture of Curiosity
In organizations, curiosity fuels innovation and the solving of stubborn problems. Foster curiosity in yourself and others and you will be on the way to getting breakthrough results.

Open Innovation

For smaller companies particularly, the resources inside the company might be too small to allow real innovation to flourish. The principle behind Open Innovation is that you can partner with others to exploit greater thinking power ... and you can exploit the intellectual property of others. So if you can work with others to mutual advantage (perhaps many others ... and hence the term 'crowdsourcing') why would you not?

Innovation - it's easier than you think
Innovation is not the 'big idea' that transforms your business or how you do it. Well, it might be but innovations can be small - but still important. If you try to hard for the revolution, you might miss the small but crucial improvements that can change your business.

Innovation is simple!
Innovation can be simple - but we have to put in place the processes that make it so. Otherwise, our employees remain disengaged and non-creative.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Expect innovation to become increasingly important, as the nations of the world look for answers.

Creativity - Of Course You Have it In You!
Creativity - Of Course You Have it In You! OK, you might call it problem solving, but it's also called creativity. Any time you start with nothing and create something, voila! Creativity at work! The idea applies to business building and marketing as much as it applies to making art. If you think about it, it can even be applied to marketing art.

Motivating Your Workers for Peak Perfomance
I was asked by a manager: How do I define my role? They were having trouble inspiring creativity, and wanted their staff to be innovative without their help.

Keep Sharpening the Saw
As a manager, you must always be looking for ways to improve your company.

Innovation and Leadership Tips from Jack Welch
Jack Welch may be the most talked about and widely emulated manager in business history. Using instincts and unique leadership strategies, he increased the market value of General Electric by more than $400 billion over two decades. So when Jack talks, I listen.

Crowdsourcing
Want the widest set of ideas to solve your problem or design your new product? Try crowdsourcing - a way of getting lots of people to contribute ideas. its easy, cheap - and effective.

Imitating Innovators is Smart Business
The truth is, making an innovation better or taking it to market in a more effective way is often what brings greater success than coming up with the innovation itself.

Convert an Asteroid into a Think Tank
Today's business leaders need to focus on what's above their head. Set high standards and reach for the stars.

Designing for Power: Rapid Development, Scale and Usability

You want to be able to control power. You want to wield it like a weapon, or perhaps a tool, against beyond-human forces (forces of nature, commerce and the meta-human). How can we extend business into space? When will our organizations evolve to provide us with the depth needed to evolve further? What is the role of customer, organization, capitalist, super-capitalist and human being? Does negative marketing help or hurt? Some people say it does both. What are the psychological factors of failure? Why do we need organizations?

Idea Versus Execution
An article that addresses the common issues of "idea versus execution" and getting the credit you deserve. This article is partially a response to the Tech Crunch article, "If Execution is What Matters, Where Does That Leave Ideas?"

Lesson #2: Always Leave the Doors to Innovation Open

“I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money,” said Packard during an HP management training session in 1960. “While this is an important result of a company’s existence, we have to go deeper to find our real reason for being…A group of people get together and exist as an institution that we call a company…to do something worthwhile – they make a contribution to society.”

Lesson #4: Stay Ahead Of The Pack
“Innovation is the distinction between a leader and a follower,” says Jobs.

Lesson #1: Build Byte By Byte
“I've learned from experience that a company can grow too fast,” says Dell. “You have to be careful about expanding into new businesses because if you get into too many too quickly, you won't have the experience or the infrastructure to succeed.”

Searching for Success: How Google Became Great

“When Sergey and I founded Google, we hoped, but did not expect, it would reach its current size and influence,” says Page. “Our intense and enduring interest was to objectively help people find information efficiently.” Indeed, for the past ten years, Google has been helping people navigate the Internet and find precisely what they were looking for. From providing people with life-saving information to helping breakdown global barriers, Google’s impact on the world is undeniable. How did two university dropouts transform their simple idea into a billion dollar company?

Larry Ellison Quotes
Larry Ellison Quotes

Steve Jobs Quotes
Steve Jobs Quotes

Lesson #3: See the Forest Through the Trees
“I think the more you have a generalist perspective, I think sometimes the more you can kind of see through the forest and the trees,” says Case. “And when it gets a little bit cloudy, you know, have some sense of, ‘Well, maybe this might happen or maybe that might happen.’”

Lesson #4: In Order to Get Ahead, You Must Take the Lead
“It's not like you just sit back and eventually it's going to happen,” says Case. “It's going to happen when people make it happen, and you have to kind of have a strategy that is pragmatic at one level, so you can hang in for the long run, but proactive in another level, so you can actually try to accelerate the pace that it's going to take for something to take off.”

Lesson #3: Own Your Competitive Advantage
When Schwab first launched his discount stock brokerage company, he made it a habit to outsource his back office information technology to other companies. At the time, that was the standard practice throughout the industry. But by 1979, Schwab began to realize that if he was going to grow and gain competitive advantage, he was going to have to own that very technology.

Lesson #4: Plan Today So You Can Act Fast Tomorrow

Schwab took his company from being a one-man startup to the world’s largest financial services firm in record-setting time. How? Early on, Schwab decided to establish a number of guiding principles that would allow him to make quick decisions. He believed that by following a strict process and adhering to strict requirements, he would be well-prepared ahead of time in order to act with lightening speed.

Leaving His Mark: Hall’s Company Takes Off
Hall’s postcard company was doing well, but he quickly began to worry about his future. Could sales keep indefinitely? No, he decided. It was time for a change.

Lesson #2: “Great companies are built by people who never stop thinking about ways to improve the business.”
Marriott was born into a household poor enough to know that success is never final. No matter how hard he worked, or how much he wanted something to work, the only thing Marriott could be assured of was that change was going to come. To that end, Marriott learned early on how to use that change to his advantage. He did it by focusing on innovation.

Lesson #5: “Hard times are an opportunity for growth”
If there is one lesson that Wilson has carried with him since he was a young boy it is this: every opportunity, whether missed or taken, represents another lesson to be learned.

Sustainability Driven Innovation

Sustainable innovations are creating new business models, opening up new markets and providing competitive advantages. Sustainable innovation is also improving profitability. Companies around the world are demonstrating how innovative sustainable practices are bettering their bottom line. A focus on sustainability is enabling organisations to innovate, differentiate themselves and succeed. Although sustainable practices were once dismissed for being too costly, increasing numbers of companies are coming to the realization that sustainable innovations are a gateway to growth. Visionary business leaders who anticipate the winds of change and creatively develop sustainable products and processes will thrive in the rapidly changing economic landscape.

Orient Yourself Towards Others And Relieve Pressure In The Workplace
Do you orient yourself towards others or yourself? To inspire trust and innovation, it is obvious which type of person is most successful.

Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Psychopathologies
This has been said before and in different ways, but I was reading Eric Hoffer on mass movements this morning and I came across this gem of an epigram:

One On One with Pierre Omidyar
My preview of Woz’s book, I, Woz, got me thinking of engineers who embody purity. Another outstanding example of this is Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay. On September 5, 2000, I did a “fireside chat” with Pierre at a Garage event in London. Here is a video of this interview:

Top 10 Secrets of the Marketing Process
If my previous post confused you, it's because of the difference between tactics and innovation. Try these 10 ideas to get you started down the path of scientific marketing tactics:

The Value of Change
Marketing people can be divided into two categories: those who resist change and those who welcome change. Guerrillas are in the second category. They not only welcome change, but they also are ready for change and respond to change.

The Tale of the Toothache
"Think, then act" is the Mantra of "the strategy boys." I've long been an "act, then think" guy.

We need more Antonio Lucios in this world
Antonio Lucio, PepsiCo's Senior Vice President of Insights and Innovation, sent me this brief list of beliefs after reading Never Eat Alone.

Sheepwalking
I define "sheepwalking" as the outcome of hiring people who have been raised to be obedient and giving them a braindead job and enough fear to keep them in line.

The Exhilaration of Intention
I just had an amazing realization during a keynote address I gave to the Chabad of California annual rabbis’ conference.

Perceived Effort
I'm not going. Nonetheless ...

100 Ways to Succeed #93
Bottom Line

Go, Coach!
I must admit that, though a fanatic football fan, I find that most coaches' books leave me cold. Not so the recent offering from legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler: Bo's Lasting Lessons (with John Bacon).

When I Say Theme, What Do I Meme?
The newest blog post up on the Foundry Group web site is titled What Is "Thematic Investing?" In this post, we try to describe more deeply what we mean when we say "we are thematic investors" or "we like horizontal stuff."

Be the Red Leaf
So I come back from my chilly morning run and am greeted by the site of one lone red leaf popping out of a sea of green ivy and decaying brown leaves - and I can’t help but take notice.

Is Your Purpose Patent Still Pending?

Lots of business owners sit around the office tinkering with the notion of that one great innovation to be patented on the road to riches. Well, I think we’ve all got a patent in us but, for many, that patent remains forever pending. The patent I’m referring to is the “purpose patent” – your personal connection to work the serves a deeper purpose. That patent doesn’t need approval from the USPTO, it only needs approval from you.

Insightpreneurs and Differencemakers - leaders of our new world

For the longest time there were landowners and farm workers. For a couple of hundred years they were largely replaced by industrialists and factory workers. For less than a hundred years information experts and knowledge workers have led us. Their rule is over now because today we live in an age, largely due to the internet, where information is abundant and mostly cheap or free, yet time consuming and often energy sapping to access.

Recognize Success
To inspire innovation in your organization a leader must recognize the success of others.

Are We Addicted to Internet Bandwidth Like We Are to Petroleum
As worldwide demand for Internet connectivity rises, bandwidth will become an increasingly scarce commodity, suggests Mike Farrell with aspenIbiz. Read this short post about revolutionary technologies that make bandwidth usage more efficient with the potential to generate Information Revolution wealth opportunities.

Collaboration – The New Competition
Over the coming years, we will see collaboration become the new competition. Markets around the world are crying out for collaboration as innovation and differentiation become scarce in a sea of commoditised products and services. Sales people who see themselves as collaborators, both internally (colleagues, departments) and externally (customers, competitors), will prosper more than ever.

The Double-Win: Six Factors For Achieving Sustained Growth in the Top-line and Profitability

Achieving and then sustaining top-line growth requires sound strategy and a lot of hard work. Quarter-over-quarter revenue growth is strong evidence of an organization with a well-conceived strategy that has achieved operational excellence in areas like new customer acquisition, existing customer retention and innovation in product/service value creation. But what about achieving sustained profitability when growing the top line? That can be more challenging. This article explores six important factors needed for positioning your organization for the double-win of sustained growth and profitability.

Third Generation Leadership = Increased Profit
Improved profitability can be obtained through a very simple – yet very comprehensive 9 step process that is capable of harnessing the energies of everyone in the organisation.

The Beginning of a Second Space Age

Since recent federal budget proposals will cut out a new lunar program, space transportation activities will be shifting to commercial companies, suggests former rocket engineer Mike Farrell with aspenIbiz. Read this short post to obtain some background about powerful efforts underway to commercialize satellite production, rocket launches, and space technology that could make you a Space Age Millionaire.

How to Add Innovation to Your Business
Earlier this year a client in the executive search industry told me she was beginning to see the need for executives who can bring innovation to their position. Based on her research she chose to add innovation as a practice specialty. Doing a bit of my own research I learned there's an amazing body of knowledge on the subject.

Ten Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
We all make mistakes. Much of marketing is innovation, trying something to see how effective it will be in your market. Often we don’t even know we’ve made a mistake until afterwards when we see the cost and no return. Here are ten avoidable marketing mistakes you don’t need to make in your solo business.

Designing Web Sites for New Computers
Computers have the same basic components they have had for over twenty years. However, there are new ways to design a website to take advantage of these innovations. These innovations can bring new depth and innovation to web design. Staying on top of current trends separates an average web site from a great website.

Executive Coaching for Creating a State of Flow at Work

One of my CEO executive coaching clients is working with his executive leadership team to create an organizational culture that unleashes employees' intrinsic motivation and state of flow. I am coaching him to become more effective at appealing to employees' intrinsic motivation and core values, and helping leaders at all levels of the organization become more fully engaged in creating a culture that supports flow. The CEO knows that for the organization to thrive depends on creating an organizational culture and climate that nourishes constant innovation. Human Resources is partnering with me in supporting senior leaders to motivate people by building authentic relationships.

Significant Breakthroughs with Nanotech Lithography Drive Solar Power Generation

Right now, the vast majority of people have no idea how profound breakthrough developments are going to be in nanotech based materials technology and manufacturing processes, suggests Mike Farrell with aspenIbiz. Read this short post about exciting developments underway in how we make electronic devices, power our homes and collect and analyze information. These breakthroughs will be generating transformative wealth opportunities for those with vision and patience.

Charging Ahead with Next Generation Batteries

Many individuals all over the world have access to hand-held computing technologies more powerful than the Apollo astronauts had when they landed on the moon, yet portable power has not kept pace, suggests Mike Farrell with aspenIbiz. Read this short post to understand that breakthrough nanotechnologies are making reserve batteries more affordable and creating alternative investment opportunities in battery and energy storage devices.

Breakthrough Developments in the Robotics Revolution
As we begin a new decade, we need to look beyond the current pain and act on big trends that are powering future technology transformation, suggests Mike Farrell with aspenIbiz. Read this short post about exciting developments underway in the field of robotics that are gaining steam and will be generating transformative wealth opportunities for those with vision and patience.

10 Ways to Encourage Successful Business Innovation
Here are 10 ways to encourage successful business innovation.

Aligning Compensation and Rewards
Hereâ€™s a way to think about aligning compensation to help spark creative flow and innovation.

Balance Self-Confidence and Uncertainty
Researchers have revealed yet another key to flow.

Celebrate Failure
Leaders should not only celebrate successes, but failures as well.

The Secret of Silicon Valley's Magic with Technology and Innovation
Silicon Valley is a special place. Why is it so entrepreneurial? Why do start-ups sprout like weeds? Many have tried to copy this cradle of innovation and its success, and yet no one has been able to duplicate it. What makes Silicon Valley different?

4 Ways We Kill Innovation

Yet when we separate innovation from our core business, set it apart as a unique process or proposition - we position innovation as "outside" our core business. We make innovation the exception rather than the rule, treat it as a point in time exercise rather than an integral part of the way we operate on a daily basis. Only when we embrace innovation as a conscious and continuous part of our daily actions can we reap the will rewards of innovation.

Balance or the Big Bang?
I like to swing for the fence as much as anyone. For me, the key to winning with big change or innovation is to make the Big Shifts the exception rather than the rule. An exception that kicks into overdrive when the time and the opportunity is right, not as a standard business practice.

The Ultimate Alternative Energy
We have no energy shortage, suggests Mike Farrell with aspenIbiz. Read this short post to obtain some background about efforts underway in next generation nuclear power generation that could generate alternative wealth generation opportunities.

Your Local Pharmacist Will Not Just Fill Your Prescriptions, But Now Remind You To Take Them
In a recent Pharmacovigilance Breakthrough, Henry Ford Health System Partnered with Rexam and Med Time Technology to Remind Patients to Take Prescription Medication "As Prescribed" In a Bold Attempt To Reduce $300 Billion National Healthcare Problem

The NAYs Have It! - What's Wrong with Consensus Driven Leadership?
A lesson from Lincoln for driving innovation.

Trainers Can Use Creativity Skills Training Materials to Help Others Become More Creative

It is well known that we are extremely creative when we are children, but only a few people manage to remain creative when they reach adulthood. What goes wrong? This article explores the root of creativity and provides guidelines on how to become more creative. Our relative lack of creativity is perhaps best explained by the way we are brought up and also it is to do with our education system. The education system is geared towards guiding us to provide a perfect answer for every question. We are precisely measured and learn how to rigidly follow a set plan. Of course this leads to becoming qualified employees who can get a specific job done, but unfortunately does little to help us remain create let alone make us more creative than we were when we were a child.

FROM ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY BULBS TO DISASTROUS SPILLS
PR firms are accustomed to publicizing the good, the bad and the ugly. Some will say this is a self-serving, self-promoting, but the point I want to shed light on here is that it's breathtaking how many spotlights you can get an innovative product into.

Advancements in Atomically Precise Manufacturing
Nanotechnology is at the heart of a great number of breakthroughs that will power the future of our economy, suggests Mike Farrell with aspenIbiz. Read this short post to obtain some background about efforts underway with precise manufacturing that will offer performance and prices far superior to conventional materials and these efforts will generate alternative wealth generation opportunities.

Sales Longevity - Free Webinar Available Here
I hosted a Webinar to introduce Objective Management Group's (OMG) newest innovation, The Sales Longevity Finding. In a nutshell, Sales Longevity is the likelihood of being able to retain a particular sales candidate through ramp-up, break-even, and 5X ROI. The attendees thought it was VERY cool! You can view the recorded Webinar here.

Lesson #4: “When you are weak, you must act as if you are very strong”
Biver has built a reputation for himself by bringing companies back from the brink. Blancpain, Omega, Hublot – all three had fallen into relative obscurity before Biver stepped into the picture. After a short time there, each had risen to the top of the industry. Thus, when the recession hit in the late-2000s, Biver was qualified more than most in knowing how to get through it.

Does one quick campaign = thought leadership?
There are two types of thought leadership. Don't be fooled into thinking that just because you put out one white paper or commission one piece of research that you are now a thought leader in your industry. It is a step in the right direction but it takes more than that.

8 Best Practices for Online Learning
Many organizations are using online learning instead of classroom based training because they believe it is more cost effective, convenient, and less time consuming. For those of us that have sat through poorly designed online learning programs, however, it can be experienced as a form of torture.

Innovation minus Support = Zero Creation
There is an abundance of creativity in our world. Humanity is replete with inspirational people who have enormous value to contribute in their own ways - yet most are never seen or heard. As a collective society, we seldom encourage others to take a path of innovation because it's untested, risky, and breaks convention and related reputations.

Making The Rubber Hit The Road- "Re-Branding" HR
Description of how to rebrand Human Resources.

But We CAN'T
When "can't" enters the room - progress stops dead in its tracks.

7 Best Practices for Developing E-Learning Content
Despite the current tough economy, forward looking organizations continue to invest in developing their human capital. In the past, employees were trained in the skills needed for a specific job, however in this rapidly changing business environment, cross-training can help employees to be more versatile.

You're not that interesting!
Truth: You're not exciting or interesting enough for your customers go to the trouble of seeking you out. Why should they? You're predictable, measurable and safe - just like all your competitors. Your insights are second hand and you don't bring any WOW factor to the table. In fact, you're at the dinner table but you have nothing of any value to say.

Running Your Home Business While Traveling
One of the most commonly overlooked essential needs of someone with their own business is vacation time. Most entrepreneurs, knowing exactly how much their business makes when they're paying attention, see a vacation as a double hit - there's the cost of the vacation package itself, and then there's the cost of not running your business directly on top of it.

Study: U.S. outsourcing pace doubled in three years
Between 2005 and 2008, the number of American firms that employed an offshoring strategy increased by more than twofold, according to a new study.

SME's - why communication is good for innovation
A look at the link between communication and innovation

Make No Mistake, We Should Make More
Mistakes are anathema in our business culture, and actually our culture-at-large. Unfortunately, they are also a critical element of most successes, especially entrepreneurial ones. This article examines why and how we should embrace mistakes. Make no mistake, we should make more.

The Shape of Things to Come
We have already bet our future on a technical fix.

The next big things
Society is changing fast. Economic uncertainty, technology, climate change, extremism and the internet are all accelerating the pace of change. For many well established business models the writing is on the wall. Now more than ever constant innovation is the only route to sustained success.

Interview to Tim Delhaes President of First Tuesday Americas

Tim Delhaes is a serial entrepreneur and investor in Chile and Latin America. In this interview he conducted for the site emprevista he talks about his past, present and future. Tim is a great contributor to entrepreneurs of Chile and has been at the forefront of entrepreneurial events and seminars in Chile. He is now on a mission to spread this success to the rest of Latin America with his organization, First Tuesday.

How Strong is Your Customer Loyalty? What AT&T and Apple Can Teach You
I've recently run into an interesting dilemma -- will my loyalty to Apple win out against my disgust with AT&T? But more importantly, what can you learn from my story to increase your customer loyalty and decrease your customer problems.

How to Lose Customers Under Contract
You know that your competitors' top prospects are your existing customers that you have under contract, right?

How Small Business Owners Can Blog for Profits
A Blog, a contraction of the term “Web log”, is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Here’s what’s great about blogging:

Stop Blaming Sales!

If sales isn't responding - then marketing is responsible. Marketing's role is to give sales the tools and training they need to sell the company's solutions. It's also marketing's role to get them excited about the newest offerings. So the next time someone starts to blame sales for lack of product acceptance in your customer base or for discounting deals that don't generate the margin or results you expected - think again. It's most likely sales is doing the best they can with what they've been given.

How to Confront Without Conflict
Whenever we think about conflict, we tend to think of it in a negative connotation. Yet conflict can be good. Here's why. Conflict fuels innovation. It helps take good ideas and make them great...

The Problem With Plans
You'd change course rather than fly into a thunderstorm, wouldn't you? Even if that storm wasn't in your flight plan? Markets change, customers change, people change - plans should change too.

Financial Regulation: Necessary Evil or Evil Necessarily?
The article discusses the issues with newly proposed regulation for financial markets. It lists the possible implications of mistakes regarding new regulation, and cites past instances that support its claims.

The Value of Employee Engagement Surveys as Part of a Change Management Strategy
If you just change the paradigm from budget cuts... to opportunities, growth and involvement your organization's business results will be your barometer of employee engagement...

The One Word That Can Shift Your Thinking

Nothing stops initiative and innovation faster than “Yes, but….” Or, “We tried that before and it didn’t work.” You might as well say “No.” It’s not just about semantics. In fact, “Yes, but” may be the No. 1 phrase for killing personal hope, putting great ideas on ice and threatening innovation in organizations. The words we use reflect our thinking. Are your words positive and expansive or negative and restrictive? Try using the phrase 'yes, and' to shift your thinking and see new possibilities.

Listen and Learn

Listening isn't just a nice to have soft skill. With organizations and individuals so fervently focused on the bottom line, actively listening has never been as important as it is now. A focus on listening can lead to more effective teamwork, higher productivity, fewer conflicts and errors, enhanced innovation and problem-solving, improved recruiting and retention, superior customer relations and more. As authors on leadership development have noted through the years, listening is not just a nice thing to do, it’s essential!

Small Business Survival Tips For THIS Economy
Has the turbulent state of the economy got you and your business down? Why not change your perception and start CREATING instead of REACTING. Your business can not only survive in THIS economy, it can thrive! You can be "tougher than the times".

Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Before you start your business, think about...

The Case for Training and Development NOW!!

It is sure easy to delay, defer and cancel training programs in this economy. As a lot of training professionals will tell you, it is one of the first line items to be axed from any budget. Unfortunately, reductions in training also carry a significant penalty. It will prolong the length of time needed to recover from a downturn. It will limit the ability to capitalize on the faltering of competitors (in fact, they may prey on you). It will reduce your ability your ability to perform at the high levels required when staffing is cut. It will harm your ability to attract and retain good talent when the economy recovers.

Giving Customers Away
No one can take your customers from you. Not with a cheaper price. Not with better service. Not with better processes. Not even with more innovative products. You must first give them away. Obviously this is the one thing you don't want to do. This article helps introduce some easy steps you can take to ensure you won't be giving your customers away easily.

Connecting with your employees through Social Media

Today was an awesome day! It started off with my VP greeting me at the door and showing his appreciation for my efforts in 2008. Next, it was my Director pointing out the main successes that were achieved and finally I had the opportunity to show my gratitude to my staff. What a great way to connect with your employees and build sincere relationships by recognizing them for their contribution to the overall success of the corporation. Thanks to the organizing committee for pulling off a great “Employee Appreciation” day.

“Should I or shouldn’t I”
I have determined that there are many reasons why businesses haven’t adopted Social Media into their overall communications strategy. Be it skepticism, lack of funding or no internal support from upper management. These delays to jump into the Social Media world could be a blessing.

What Your Customers Want

Don't assume all of your customers are trying to grind you down to your last nickel. Some of them will do that...and you're going to have to ask yourself if that is a customer you need to keep. Many customers, many, many more than you can imagine would willingly walk with you to the "World of Oops. " They are looking for freshness, pilot projects, new ways to distribute and create new products and services. Yes - they want to be strategic. Yes - they want it to be measurable. And yes - they are still willing to try something new.

Suggestion boxes and schemes
The suggestion box might seem an out-of-date concept in this technological world ... and it is fair to say that many suggestion schemes have been less than successful. This article explains what might go wrong ... and how to overcome these problems (simply!) to create effective, successful ideas to improve your business.

What Innovation Can Do to Your Life
It's a talent that everyone has, yet they think they don't. The power of innovation. If you've ever marvelled at somebody's creative prowess, guess what, you can create and innovate too. It just takes time. Everyone is born creative. The box of crayons in kindergarten were not limited to those who possessed potential; because the truth is, everybody has potential.

You Choose To Be Affected By Outside Circumstances
Change is happening all around us all the time. The way in which we respond to change determines whether we succeed or fail. Business leaders during challenging times must remain focused on success, not just survival. Engaging the assistance of a business coach will cure the myopic view that prevents changing tactics and causes owners to ride their company all the way to bankruptcy.

Design Process - Define the Problem
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to present at the International Invention Expo on the subject of design as it relates to your invention. This was a great opportunity that led to some excellent questions on how you can better the process of inventing.

Cheap Promotional Products
In these tough economic times businesses are cutting back on their marketing budget and many are deciding not to spend on promotional products; what they really should be doing is re-evaluating the promotional products they are purchasing. There is a huge range of cheap promotional products such as pens or magnets that can make a big impact as part of your marketing campaign.

5 Top Success Factors for Today’s Entrepreneurs

Are you a go-for-it kind? Do you think out of the box, any box? Can you sell ice to Eskimos in winter? Is entrepreneur success mostly about innovation and the ability to convince others to do what you want them to do? If you answered Yes to the above questions you are on the right track. BUT WAIT! THERE IS MORE! One of the key parts of being an entrepreneur is keeping your eyes on the goal. Without the steadiness of staying with the program entrepreneurs are merely wishful folks whose dreams only manifest half way.

How to Position Your Company in the Minds of Consumers
In most industries there are no heroes, just choices. So rather than try to be all things to all people, business owners need to proactively position their company and define their points of differentiation to the consumer. Positioning draws the attention of your target market and reduces the chance that your competitors will define who you are, a situation no business owner wants to experience.

How Passion Unlocks Potential

You're at the office, working on a project you feel was made for you. You've become absorbed in your thoughts and the sheer enjoyment of the experience. You pour your natural talents, skills and abilities into a product that only you could create. It's a feeling sometimes described as a ‘state of flow'. It doesn't just happen at work. It can be triggered by any enjoyable experience, be it physical, passive, intellectual, social, manual, environmental, or spiritual. When you lose yourself in something you love, you find yourself.

Increase Sales by Surveying Your Customers Current and Future Needs
Do you know what your customers’ current and future needs really are? Possibly, you are just meeting their existing needs, but have not taken the time to survey future needs. By not truly knowing your customer needs, how much business are you leaving on the table?

What Is Leadership - What Is Management?
Two absolutely necessary things needed for the survival of any organization are leadership and management. Roles described in a million ways, in a million places. But what's the difference - and, why are both important, in their own way?

How to Increase Sales Is Process Driven and Begins with Existing Customers Not New Ones
So you want to know how to increase sales? Maybe you are looking in all the wrong places as that old song goes. Have you considered revisiting your existing customers to begin a process to help them grow instead of focusing on your sales growth?

Innovation in Place
Innovation only happens when we shift out of our knowns and into a new place - of thinking, seeing and believing. That’s a really hard thing for experts to do - after all, that’s why you’re an expert. Yet that’s exactly what leading innovators do. They throw their expertise to the wind and look at the world through fresh eyes.

Increase Sales by Becoming the Maytag Repairman of Your Niche Market
Have you ever considered that being the Maytag Repairman in sales is potentially a good thing? Learn why you may want to adopt this philosophy.

Luman's Law of Change
“If you’re not exploiting change, it’s exploiting you.” –James R. Lucas Steve Forbes says: "Jim Lucas is an internationally recognized authority on leadership and organizational life…You can take what he says to the bank – both figuratively and literally."

Business Planning for Small Business

Every great invention, every work of art, every new innovation all starts with a thought. Thoughts are the most powerful forces in the universe – with the right thoughts and right focus you can achieve anything that you want to in life and in small business. So how do you tap into this power? In business just like in life you need to start with the end picture in mind. What do you want your business to do, be or achieve? Without this clarity all you will get is mixed results and muddled outcomes.

Starting Your Own Online Business Is Actually Too Darned Easy
How many things in life are just too darned easy? Unfortunately, starting your own online business is just that--too darned easy. Anyone can do it and be up and running in two days or less for anywhere from absolutely free to $100.00 or less (or thousands of dollars or more). That's the scary part--it's so darned easy and in most cases, so relatively inexpensive that "anyone" can do it!

Executive Leadership Strategies For The Imagination Age
Executives, managers and entrepreneurs must use Imagination Age leadership strategies to achieve significant, sustainable, strategic advantages through intelligent, instructive & innovative applications of their leadership power, practices and policies.

Succumbing to EVIL Shortcut-ish Temptations and Forgetting the “Social” In Social Media

Social media is turning marketing and public relations upside down. The rules of the game are changing and shifting, and amidst all of this wonderful, innovation-driven chaos, many get into social media without keeping a focus on the “social” in social media. How many times have you gotten onboard a social media website, went on an “adding friends” wild spree, starting sending links to these new so-called friends and wished for the best? I don’t know about you but I’ve had several attempts with different social media sites. Many failed, and some succeeded.

Entrepreneurs in India: Are they missing on creating differentiators?
The article focusses on how the Indian enterpreneurs need to differentiate or get differentiated to succeed! It covers examples of creADivity.com and how IIM A alumni differentiated themselves from the lot and have been able to build a more successful business plan. On the other hand how RedBus.in and Ticketwala.com are trying to differentiate to get each other's pie

Does This Business Strategy Make Me Look Fat?
“Innovate or die.” A widely-accepted rule of business states that if a company fails to continuously innovate it will fall behind and eventually die. From this, common wisdom says that organizations must gear their business strategy toward continually increasing customer value.

Innovative Knowledge Acquisition from Web Videos
This article showcases emerging strategies for learning through web based videos.

The Article that became the Book: Tips for gaining Quick and Effective Knowledge using Breadth and Depth
This article shows readers how to gain more knowledge in less time from some of the best books.

Why Are You In Business
Think about serving satisfied customers. If you do, innovation, production costs, marketing costs, and profits, will tend to take care of themselves in a very satisfying way.

The Great Business Discovery of 2007
One of the absolute BEST things any professional, business owner or manager can do is invest in seminars and conferences. The chance to get away and "see the forest for the trees" is incredibly valuable. Conferences generate new perspectives, and new ideas create vast new opportunities! Invest in yourself!

Ya Gotta Have a Plan
EVERY business must know who their best customers are. EVERY business must have a marketing plan, a budget, and an R&D team. EVERY business needs a business plan that is current and reviewed often.

CEO's are Becoming More Sustainable

CEO's taking on sustainable leadership and thinking will pierce the green ceiling opening the door tho innovation in the new economy that will produce sustainable organizations, energy efficiency, environmentally awareness, reduce waste, optimize capital (human, intellectual and economic)and optimize resources to produce value and a greater return on investment for companies and their supply chain.

Is the Government of Canada's Shared Services Strategy a Threat to Small Business (Survey Result 1)
Many key stakeholders both within and external to the Government of Canada (GoC) see a shared services strategy as a threat to the Small-Medium Enterprise community? Do you believe that the current GoC shared services is a threat? If yes, why? If no, why?

Spark Your Innovation IQ & Master Your Power to Create

Spark - Raise Your Mind to the Power of Infinity & Create Anything" Ting! Author, Arupa Tesolin's new book helps you learn to magnetize and magnify the things you want in life so they come rushing towards you like bees to a flower. Tap the inexhaustible supply of the infinite universe to fulfill your desires. In this article Arupa has a dialogue about the important feminine side of creative power.

How Positive Emotions Ignite Innovation
Positive emotions (enjoyment, happiness, joy, interest and anticipation) broaden our awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions. Over time, this expanded behavioral repertoire helps us build skills and resources.

Is the imagination genie out of the bottle at your place?

How we solve problems and meet our challenges is a great way to ensure imagination is alive and well. A typical scenario is this: We recognise a problem, and solve it. What has happened 9 times out of 10 is that what we have done is reinstated the status quo and haven’t really removed the cause of the problem in the first place! Every problem and challenge we have is a gift, for it is an opportunity for innovation, to change what’s normal.

Preparing for 2008
I haven't coded or blogged as much as I'd like to over the past few weeks because I've been working on ou strategy for 2008. I never really new hwo difficult or demanding it would be until when I decided to sit down and really assess when,how,why, and what I'm going to do for the next 12 months. The key resounding themes in everything I'm doing are:

The Leaders Role in Innovation
Ninety-eight percent of business leaders believe that innovation is important but less than thirty percent take an active involvement in making it happen! What do business leaders need to do?

Procrastination and JDI!
Getting better information makes for the more correct decisions. Yet the fear of 'getting it wrong' sometimes means that we use collating information and all sorts of other seemingly completely valid tactics as a good excuse for being slow to decide.

How Innovative are you?
Where is innovation in your organization? Is it high? Medium? Low? Or is it NOT? And what are you doing about it?

How to Increase Innovation & Creativity
We all want to increase the levels of innovation in our organisations – don’t we? Well, it won't just happen. you have to make it happen. Here are some simple tips.

Ideas and Innovation-The Engine and the Fuel of Entrepreneurship
Ideas and innovation are essential building blocks for a successful entrepreneurial or business start-up. Ideas are the engins and innovation the fuel. Capture seven ways you and your organization can encourage more and better ideas and innovation.

Innovation Means Looking Beyond What is to What Could Be

Customer and market research, competitive benchmarking, and focusing on market share could be detrimental to your organization's future performance. These approaches are critical improvement tools. Top performing organizations have turned them into a disciplined and useful science. But they can also lead to "me-too" followership or -- even worse -- commodity products and services that compete only on price.

Innovation Needs a Culture of Trust and Openness
The environment of most organizations is too poisonous for innovation and organizational learning to flourish. A mistake is generally a CLM - career-limiting move. Making a mistake in front of many managers is like cutting yourself in front of Dracula. So people become defensive. They cover up problems, set backs, and missed goals.

Innovation Through Accidents and \"Controlled Chaos\"
Mark Twain, once said, "name the greatest of all inventors. Accident." He was right. Most innovations and breakthroughs come from mistakes, serendipity, false starts, set backs, and misapplications. Many innovations were unplanned and unexpected.

Population Perspectives
If we want to be successful and relevant in the future, we've got to understand the way the world really is and, more importantly, the way it will be in the future. Unless you force yourself to step back and take a global look at everything around you, you will make the mistake of assuming everyone in the world looks, acts, and thinks like you.

The Role of Organizational Design in 21st Century Organizations.

The world is pressed on all sides by a diminishing full-time workforce, differing cultural, generational, political, and religious views and the organization of the 21st century must be more agile than its 19th and 20th century ancestors. The role of organizational design is imperative to how the organization deals with challenges it now faces. Today’s organizational design will require an ability to share ideas, knowledge, resources and skills across organizational, generational and cultural boundaries within and outside of the organizational system for the purpose of achieving desired goals. This article addresses the role of organizational design in 21st century organization.

Behavioral Attributes of leaders and followers within an Open Organization Structure.

Organizational design and its effects on employee behavior has become an important focus of the modern organization and its leaders. No longer can employers rely on the traditional models of design structure, function and employee interaction. The current business climate almost instinctively requires organizations and its members to become more agile in their response to the ever changing economic conditions. Organizations must learn to develop processes to share knowledge and resources across boundaries to achieve stated goals. The purpose of this article is to introduce the emerging concept of the Open Organization structure and the behavioral attributes of the leaders and followers within its system.

Setting Your Moral Compass to North. Why talking about ethics is not enough

Just mentioning the word ethics conjures up a number of thoughts on ethical and moral failings. The late 20th century and early 21st century is marked by an increase in discussions and scholarly debate of the subject. At times you cannot even so much as turn on the television or pick up a newspaper without some news on the ethical failings of an individual or organization. Could it be that we are less moral than we once were or do moral failings only appear more prevalent simply because there is an increase in awareness through education, training and discussion? This article discusses the potential reasons for such failings and what can be done to address the matter.

Results: Exploring entrepreneurship in a declining economy
A confirmatory factor analysis of the "reasons leading to start-up" items was performed to ascertain if a resolute set of start-up reasons or outcome factors existed.

6.5 Financing research to increase TFP: Economic Report on Africa 2007
The other major area in which new economic policies for diversification are required is in research. The majority of African countries, since the demise of diversification gain resorted to relying on factor accumulation as the main source of economic growth.

Cross-Cultural Communication and Change
When we recognize that cultural activities outside of the market create customized products relevant to the culture, we create innovation and cultural market viability.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Twin sisters Christa Pitts and Chanda Bell grew up in a house where their mother hid an elf named Fisbee somewhere each night between Thanksgiving and Christmas. A few years ago the sisters suggested they write a book about Fisbee. Every publisher turned them down. "It's been done - it's not practical to package a doll with a book - it's too expensive - no one will buy them." So they knew their idea was stupid and you’ve never heard of Elf on the Shelf.

How to Be Successful as a Creative Entrepreneur
Highly creative entrepreneurs are crucial in developing solutions to our social, environmental and economic challenges. Yet they are a special breed who warrant special structures to run a successful business.

Oh, The Mistakes We Make! How we end up moving backwards when we want to move forward.

In business you often run into two types - the fretter and the "I know better." The "I know betters" are career oriented and believe that they're smarter, more focused and more successful than other people. They believe that proven roads will better lead them to success. Fretters worry about their decisions. They're careful, cautious types. And so they go to the experts when they have a decision to make. Unfortunately, the experts and the Titans of industry are the wrong places to look for answers - especially when it comes to innovation and creativity.

Scientific Research & Experimental Development Program (SR &ED), going, going…..
This major innovation support program for small and medium (SME) businesses, appears to be on a soon-to-be-gone watch.

Getting Intuition Into Your Innovation Act
Expert Innovation Trainer Arupa Tesolin shows you the best ways to connect intuition to innovation in your business.

The Innovation Process - From Vision to Reality
Innovation is a collaborative process through which organizations abandon old paradigms and make significant advances. Innovative ideas come from several sources, including: unreasonable demands, goals and time pressures. An organization must cultivate innovation and link it to their business improvement strategies to realize benefit from innovation.

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