What’s worse than having to ruthlessly fight for your next deal? Okay, global famine, dictatorships, and Jimmy Fallon are, but perhaps we can agree having to constantly compete (and concede) to win business is awful, exhausting. INSEAD professors of strategy W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne coined the term “blue ocean strategy” – and 13 years ago published an international bestseller by…
Book Report – Side Hustle by Chris Guillebeau
Chris Guillebeau defines a side hustle as “a moneymaking project you start on the side, usually while still working a day job.” It’s safer than telling your boss just where to shove it and then scrambling to replace that steady paycheck and those precious benefits. This is hardly the author’s first rodeo, having unleashed other popular books, ideas, and podcasts…
Six Business-y Things That Really Rankle Me
In memory of the late, great George Carlin, here’s some stuff in business that’s been going right up me of late: Blast email holiday cards. As a friend – let’s call him John, cuz that’s his name – said recently, if you have something to say, do so in a personal note. Getting your mass blanketed e-Thanksgiving card is not…
Book Report – The Power of Moments by Chip & Dan Heath
John Deere knows how to make its new hires feel welcome. You accept a job offer from the global machine manufacturer and you can expect an email that helps mitigate opening day jitters, explaining how to dress, where to park, etc. Show up and you’re greeted by your John Deere Friend, an enormous welcome banner, various co-workers, and your first…
Book Report – Life in Code by Ellen Ullman
Software engineer Ellen Ullman seems pretty cool and self-aware. Reading her latest book Life in Code, one is left with the indelible image of a woman who’s been taking risks her entire adult life, from piloting a plane (“the indescribable pleasure of holding a powerful machine while it held me”) to tackling new computer languages (“One must… find a ferocious determination,…