If your business plan is based on the ignorance of your customer, you have a very short term plan. And yet, I see some very smart people using it. Car dealers love it. The internet has changed the way people shop and buy everything. Wal-Mart is very good at using it. Your mother always said, "Buy the large peanut butter. It's cheaper per ounce." Not so at Wal-Mart and other grocers. But they know old habits die hard. … [Read more...]
February 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment
John Cleese on Creativity
Have you ever tried to do business with a local, state or federal agency? Do you work for a large corporation? This video was created for you. Take the time to watch it all the way to the end. John Cleese hits the nail on the head when he outlines the reason for your frustrations when doing business with certain organizations. … [Read more...]
September 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A True American
What is a True American? by Kathie Lawrence I recently saw a reference made to of a Sioux Brave being a 'true American." Are the tribes that settled this country the true Americans? I think not. America is named after the Italian merchant, cartographer and explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512). As taken from to Wikipedia: Amerigo Vespucci (Italian pronunciation: [ame'ri'o ves'putt'i]) (March 9, 1454 – February 22, 1512) was an Italian who first demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies did not represent Asia's eastern outskirts as initially conjectured from Columbus' voyages, but instead constituted an entirely separate landmass hitherto unknown to Afro-Eurasians. Colloquially referred to as the New World, this second super continent came to be termed "America", probably deriving its name from the feminized Latin version of Vespucci's first name. Likewise, the … [Read more...]
August 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Do What Scares You
Please click on the image for a full size poster. Print and enjoy! … [Read more...]
July 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Steady in Jerks
Steady in jerks was a saying I picked up from one of my first non-family bosses. I went to work on a farm for two brothers down the road. I was around 13 years old at the time. I had been driving a tractor for my Granddad for a few years and had the experience they were looking for. We would be working on any number of chores that have to be done on a farm. It didn't matter if we were scooping chicken shit or working ground with those big Case tractors, someone would ask how we were coming along. Bill would say, "Steady in jerks." I thought he was being funny. He was describing life. Life is never smooth. It comes in jerks and starts. Long periods of boredom and frustration separated by shorts blasts of life affirming progress. That's how it happens from the day you're born. You enter this world kicking and screaming. Some days are good and some not so good. Steady in … [Read more...]
July 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The Libor Scandal and Why I Should Care
Most of us never heard of Libor before the latest scandal to hit the 24 hour news cycle. It is very easy to dismiss as something that doesn't effect me. Umair Haque defines Libor in a recent article in The Harverd Business Review. Take five minutes and read what Umair has to say. "To the long, dismal list of fatally broken institutions — GDP, governments, schools, corporations — we can add the mysterious Libor, and its conveniently comfortable calculation. It's difficult to overstate what a pillar of the global economy Libor is — it's used in setting interest rates that affect the daily lives of pretty much every citizen of every advanced economy across the globe. And it's difficult to overstate how troubling it is that this, too, is an institution rigged by the few, for the few; that this institution too, is, corrupted. This scandal isn't about price-fixing. … [Read more...]
