In a Harvard Business Review blog post, Ron Ashkenas asked the question “Can a Big Company Innovate Like a Start-up?”. At the time the post was written (a month ago), Google’s Eric Schmidt was stepping down as CEO and Google’s co-founder Larry Page was taking the role instead. Based on the official statements that followed, […]
Tag Archives: management
How to be a lazy serial entrepreneur (Part 1)
Starting businesses is fun. Growing them is also fun but it’s hard work too, especially if you want to grow them profitably. One client of mine, who is a serial entrepreneur, has a handful of businesses in various stages of start-up and operation. But they were running out of time and money, worn ragged by […]
A customer loyalty lesson learned from my friend’s emergency trip to the hospital
A friend of mine works at a Starbucks not too far from my house. I’ve known him for several years and he became a barista at Starbucks maybe a year or two ago. Well, earlier this week he was rushed to the hospital because his lung collapsed. He’s been at the hospital ever since, sometimes […]
Rethinking the consultant’s business strategy
I recently heard someone mention that a consultant’s job is to get fired. Although that sounds drastic, what they meant was that a consultant is hired to provide a service that, once delivered, should render the consultant redundant. For example, a company with an efficiency problem might hire an efficiency consultant who will get the […]
Top contingencies to plan for
I’m a big believer in contingency plans. In my business plan (which is a gigantic mindmap that I reference daily at MindMeister.com), I have a section that includes contingencies. I briefly describe the contingency (which could be a positive situation or a negative one) and then I list various actions or information that will be […]