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200,000 deliveries a day. 5,000 employees (many barely literate) and an enviable error rate without depending on electronic technology. And such dedication that when Royalty visits, Prince Charles (yes, THAT Prince Charles) adjusts his schedule to fit theirs, because they…

Why you should hire the best: In almost every category the best is way beyond good. You'll get 10 times the results from the best people than you will from really good people. It will be more fun to work…

The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither it's pipes nor its theories will hold…

Right after I tell you that you have a lot of bosses comes this article by Joel Spolsky about Seven Steps to Remarkable Customer Service. That's Seth Godin's definition of Remark-Able: Being so good, people remark. Takeaways: Fix every problem…

What a thrill it is when that day finally comes. That is the company founder's joy. Also the company founder's deception. Also (potentially) the company's destruction. Joy. Well duh! Now you can finally do what you know needs to be…

Among the many tasks of a CEO probably the hardest and most beneficial is to obliterate SHEEPWALKING. The term comes from this post by Seth Godin who defines it as what happens when you hire "people who have been raised…

Jessica Hagy's stuff is funny, clean, and shows you new ways of looking at the world. What more could you ask for?

You wouldn't ever spend a penny of your company's money without expecting some benefit. You spend advertising to get sales, you spend on inventory to have something to sell. You spend on sales people because they put money in your…

Maybe. Ben Stein worries. (Yes - the Ben Stein from Ferris Beuller's Day Off - he's a legitimate economist). Check out this article.

I came across this in a letter by Jim Womack, author of Lean Thinking and, to hear him tell it, one of the developers of the Toyota Way. The graphics are mine - which is why I'm not a graphic…

I agree with Peter Drucker that this one is overrated when running a company. Skill in management is much more important. Nevertheless, leadership can be a useful skill, and it's much simpler than you'd believe by reading or listening to…

I said last time that to function as a CEO, you need a team that doesn’t depend on you for day to day successes. It's hard to build a team like that. Impossible if you don't understand today's topic. Bigger…

I'm not advocating it - just asking you to think what the ramifications would be. Knowing how your absence would affect your company gives insight into what role you really play. The extremes are: Everything would go to hell in…

Solving problems is a typically American approach. We see the West to be conquered, the space race to be won, the journey as a destination, the problem to be solved. And to be sure, there are problems in your business.…

What does a CEO do all day? What do you do all day? Is it good or bad if the answers are not the same? Most business of our size get started because a person can make something or sell…

There's a real gulf between an entrepreneurial business where you can do anything through harder work and an ongoing sustainable business that is run through good management technique. - Bob Jones, owner The Chef's Garden. I think that says it…

"When you're up to your eyeballs in alligators, it's hard to remember that you set out to drain the swamp.". Many clients come to me in that situation. And they feel paralyzed with so many emergencies they don't see how…

Being a leaders means people follow you. That's all. If you look historically at the leaders that people followed fiercely, you'll find some of the most destructive, self-serving, and vicious leaders in government, religion and yes business. Hitler was Time…

I've been asked whether management is one or the other. How we ask a question often blinds us to a useful answer. Management, like most aspects of running a business involves both. My quick distinction is that the science of…

I read somewhere that many of the clients of Dominatrixes (what is the plural of dominatrix?) are CEOs - people who spend all day calling the shots and answering to no one. They have a psychological need to be bossed…

I was asked by the owner of a Micro-ISV (that a very small independent software vendor) how exactly should he spend his time marketing and selling. He knew he should devote more time to it, but he didn't know what…