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The Best Innovations
There’s innovation that helps increase an organization’s effectiveness. And there’s innovation that enhances the customer experience. The best innovations do both. As Merriam Webster explains, Innovation, for its part, can refer to something new or to a change made to an existing product, idea, or field. Reading a postcard about an upcoming play, I noticed…
How People Fall in Love with Your Business — and Why It Matters
I fell more in love with Apple when I left my laptop cord at a relative’s house hours away from home. The local Apple store told me I could buy a new cord — and return it for a full refund if I recovered the original within a month. They have a no-questions-asked month long…
Is your Life a Marathon or a Sprint (Personal & Work)
After yesterday’s Boston Marathon, a local media source reported “Running shoulder to shoulder for most of the course, the reigning Olympic champion and Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh traded places eight times in the final mile, with Jepchirchir pulling ahead for good in the final 385 yards.” It’s fascinating how many marathons end with similar sprints!!! As…
Taxes and To Do Lists
Ever notice how there are certain deadlines you don’t miss? Filing taxes — and tax estimates. Packing for a trip. For most of us, these deadlines are going to be met. The process may not be pretty, but the actions will happen. Deadlines pretty much force us to check off a to-do. The downside of…
Odds of Success
A friend of mine shared they stopped buying lottery tickets when they realized that money wouldn’t solve their problems. Hmmmm. There’s a lesson in there. A few months ago, I gave the maintenance crew where I live holiday cards. Tucked into each card was cash — and a lottery ticket. One crew member thanked me…
Why, That’s Funny!
One of my favorite copywriters is Bob Bly. His newsletters are normally full of advice, tools, etc. for copywriters and wannabe copywriters. They are supercalifragilisticexpialidociously good. However, March 3 his newsletter was aptly titled Something Completely Different. I wondered what Bob would serve up. A fundraiser for Ukraine? Personal news? No matter the topic, I knew it would be well…
A Dancing Wolverine
Earlier this month, I was lucky to see Hugh Jackman* on Broadway in The Music Man. You may recall I recently shared with you my philosophy on naming things. This musical name is delightful. Yup, it’s a musical, about a dude! Highly descriptive, great title! I can’t help myself from evaluating names. Speech and book…
Huffin’ and Puffin’
Sunday afternoon I played indoor badminton with a regular opponent: a man 25 years my junior. Neither one of us left anything on the court; our games are an always exciting neck and neck competition to the end. They bear little resemblance to what most people know as the sport. You know — when at…
A Yurt by any other name…
Last time I was at this hotel in New York I had seen the brick-walled private outdoor garden, festooned with twinkling lights, tables and heaters. Waiters scurrying in bearing goodies and drinks for the diners in their what-are-those-thingees-called? So I was delighted to finally put a name to the dinner service. It was “Winter Garden Private…
The Next Thing
It’s said if you keep doing the same thing you can expect the same result. Makes sense. As much as our past determines where we are, our future is determined by what we do next. The next call. The next purchase. The next email. The next good nights sleep. The next business you start, or…
Lotsa Love
I returned from vacation early last week and promptly went to visit my 91-year-old mother. She wondered aloud why I wasn’t with my boyfriend on Valentine’s Day. That answer was easy: we had just spent a vacation together, and mom needed to be taken to a doctor’s appointment on Valentine’s Day. So, albeit a little late…
Clarity in Communication
A friend of mine studies Ancient Greek. When he says “It’s Greek to me!”…well, that means he totally understands it. Communication can be like that. Sometimes we think we are being so clear, or that something is so obvious. I’ve learned that one of the ways we can show courtesy and respect is by assuming nothing, and making…
Right time
Photo by fauxels from Pexels Things take time. Usually, much longer than this very impatient human would like. I’m a bottom line kinda gal. My brain is always thinking 5-6 steps ahead. I’m focused on what’s down the road. That’s great for strategy – and for much of my work with clients. But, truth is, while we control…
Deceptively simple
In the past week I hurt my back and spent two days on the floor because it was the only place I was comfortable. Needless to say, not much work got done. However, it was enlightening. As I cancelled everything that could be cancelled, a clarity descended. Was each task on my to-do list worthwhile…
The (very special) light of the specialist
Maybe you’ve seen a Batteries And Bulbs store. When I saw one my first impression was to roll my eyes. Then came the day I needed a replacement for a 3-way bulb. What were my options? Walmart. Walgreens. Dollar Store. Supermarket? Home Depot or Lowes? I remembered Batteries and Bulbs. Half expecting to be laughing,…
Ideas are Slippery Little Rascals
When do you get your best ideas? Solutions to dogged problems? The perfect book title? Idea for a new service (or the rebranding of an old service)? The angle on something that made the neurons in your brain explode with delight? I’ll bet it’s not when you’re at your desk trying to make it happen.…
Should it be this hard?
If you’re finding something is really difficult to do*, that’s usually a symptom of a UFP. What’s a UFP? An unidentified frickin’ problem. Here are what typically makes something extraordinarily hard – a UFP you’re using the wrong system (could be the wrong software, or wrong meeting schedule, to name two examples) you need to…
Holiday Hangover
Winter holidays are funny. After Thanksgiving, we run around (even if only online) procuring presents, digging up favorite recipes and decorations. We’re like squirrels preparing for winter — all action and activity. No time to talk or reflect — “I’m busy!” Then, the holiday happens, and the stage is set — for a celebration with…
What I wish for you today…
My kids would laugh if they saw the boom box I’m using near the desk to play my CDs of Christmas music. Oh yea, I’ve got Apple Music, and plenty of other music sources, but this ritual is especially comforting on the first day of Winter. Starting now, ’til summer solstice, the days get longer.…
Lighten up!
I moved 14 months ago to a large apartment complex in a different state with new neighbors of different backgrounds. Right after Halloween, several of my new neighbors put up holiday lights. I’m familiar with this kind of behavior the day after Thanksgiving, but this was a whole different ballgame. I soon learned that the…
Good and Tired
There’s nothing as satisfying as being good tired. When you are good tired, you may have exhausted your energy, but you’d rarely complain “I’m exhausted!” Good tired is the result of making serious progress on accomplishing your work goals. Your life goals. Good tired can be physical: how you feel after vigorous sustained exercise. You…
The Love Imperative
Loving what you do is radical. It’s also critical to success. After all, to experience success at work requires years of effort and energy. That can be hard to do if you’re miserable. The work will suffer, as will you. Loving your work doesn’t actually make work necessarily easier. It can still be difficult, challenging,…
The Right Person
Have you ever had a bottle of wine and no corkscrew to open it? If you search on YouTube there are countless ways to get the job done — but nothing’s going to be less of a hassle than a corkscrew. It’s made for the job! And so it will always be a kitchen staple.…
Setting the Temperature
I’m not sure when I decided that 68 degrees was the right setting for the thermostat. There were many years growing up when 72 was the default. One day in one home 68 became the number that stuck. Now that I’m working next to a very large window, I’ve noticed 68 leaves me chilly. This…
As You Like It
I used to do something weird. In a typically-busy day, I’d think about how difficult it was to be so busy. How downtrodden I was! Most people who think similarly can blame their boss. However, having been self-employed for over 20 years, that scapegoat is far in the rear-view mirror. A happy thought skipped into…
This Might Be a Lot
So, what is your lot in life? Is it predetermined, even allotted? Perhaps by genetics and early childhood experiences…but what about free will? I had a friend who — once a terrorist attack happened in her city — declared “The city is ruined for me now. I have to move.” I pointed out that, in…
Want more mojo?
Last Thursday I saw this headline that got me thinking: I marveled at the thought. A deep well of mojo, suddenly run dry. Is that possible? How do you even know you’ve got mojo to lose? After consulting the dictionary and Google, I’ve settled on a definition for the word. Mojo is a magic power.…
Deliberately More Fun and Profit
Sometimes, what may look like an impulsive decision is actually quite the opposite. The decision-maker has been considering the move for awhile, doing research, examining motivations, considering. Deliberating. Then, when the time is right (or, good enough…just not wrong), they implement the decision that has – in reality – been waiting in the wings. So,…
From So-so to Sow! Sow!
One thing I know is you never know. I wrote an article about 10 years ago in an industry periodical. Someone cut it out, and it sat on his desk for 2 years. Eventually he called — asking if I could help him out. He’s now been a consulting client for more than 5 years.…
What if the simplest of words is gold?
Want better outcomes in work? In life? Make better decisions. Hard to believe, but you knew one of the best ways to make better decisions at around age 2 or 3. It involved saying the simplest of words. Back when you were a wee thing, one simple word allowed you to learn…to soak up language…
Curious about your next move?
A move can be anything from a relocation, a sale, an email response (and who is copied), a phone call, a new web site, starting a book, finishing a book, etc. etc. There’s scheduled moves…dictated by your calendar and your inbox, perhaps. Then there’s spirited moves. The spark appears and you know you need to…
Your Next Move Could Be Poetic Justice
Earlier this year I took a 6-week creative writing workshop. One of the more challenging assignments was to write not just a poem, but a specific type of poem. Here’s the prompt: Write a sonnet, a villanelle, or a pantoum. Think about your word choices as you proceed. Follow the guidelines. Share with fellow students…