We all need to innovate to stand out from the crowd. But what is the key to innovation? The answer, or at least an important answer, is becoming an observer. By observing how we and other people do things, we will spot opportunities for improvements. The more we observe, the more opportunities we will find…

“If you wanna run with the big dogs, you’ve gotta get off the porch.” This was the sage advice given to me some years ago as I considered my first entrepreneurial venture. You’ve got to take risks. Be gutsy. All of which led me to wonder what guts really is…

Turning a good idea into a successful innovation requires the glass to be full. A half full glass simply isn’t enough. There are many things involved in bringing a product to market successfully or turning an idea into reality and each one of them needs to be right, or at least close enough. The innovator…

Teachers, business people, and just about everyone else it seems complain often and loudly that people today (usually “kids today”) don’t know how to write. I’m convinced, though, that a big part of the problem (perhaps the biggest part of the problem) is that people don’t know how to edit. We labor under…

Two of the greatest influences on management thinking and practice have been the militaristic politics of the Roman Empire (via the Roman Catholic Church—a masterpiece of top-down, centralized, hierarchical control) and the world’s armies. Look at the words we use: “command and control,” “stuck in the trenches,” “didn’t have the firepower.” We “attack the issues head-on.”…

Breaking down human behavior into rules might seem like a gross simplification. But even with the complexities, it is easy to fall into the same mistakes. I’d argue that many heated fights, lost sales and broken hearts are caused by a few critical errors. If you make the wrong assumptions, you’ve lost…

Ponn M. Sabra, author of Empowering Women To Power Network, outlines seven ways to better business [and living]. You need to encourage others to succeed within their own abilities, and empower them to strive forward by taking initiative so they can succeed as individuals as well as an integral part of your team. You need to…

Why would you want to do that? Turn your fun, enjoyable hobby into a dreary job? Or maybe turn your everyday job into something you would do for free? Roberta Chinsky Matuson at Monster Career Advice discusses how you could start doing what you love for a living. Your first step in attempting to make a job…

BNet have thrown in their two cents on some of the more popular business reads out there. From Steven Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People to Rich Dad, Poor Dad. 6. “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Steven Covey (Free Press, 1989) Publisher’s blurb: “Presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal…

Business cards shouldn’t only be a representation of your business, but also an indicator of the type of person you are. Obviously a distinction between your business and personal side should be made, but what does your business card really say about you? For example if I were to hand you my business card you would…

Chris Brogan: I’m on a kick. I just finished reading Marcus Buckingham’s, NOW, DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS, and found that I agreed with their premise that working on your strengths is much more productive than throwing time and effort at changing your weaknesses. One example given was a school report card. If you have one A…

If you’re in the business of creating websites and registering domain names you will have encountered the all important question: What do we call it? When starting a business, now-a-days, thinking of a name that could be registered as a domain is very important [if you will operate a lot on the web]. That said, availability…

Something Old, Something New: The Press Release Businesses have been using the press release as a marketing tactic for forever. So why haven’t you used it for your blog or business yet? Maybe because the press release lives in the old offline world. It’s important to remember that there are many people who are still plugged…

Having trouble increasing the size of your business? The problem might lie in vision. Are you trying to grow out of a constrictive space, figuratively speaking? Like the goldfish that will only grow to the size of it’s bowl, maybe you should increase the size of your bowl. If you want to grow, it’s not enough…

California Closets, Closets By Design, and a multitude of other closet companies are offering a simplified life and all of the wonderful benefits of new closets. Builders typically put in a simple rod and shelf, and these companies can make drastic improvements. If you are interested in having more…