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We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart. -- H. L. Mencken. We all love our own ideas.…

I almost called this post the ideal team for RUNNING your company. But that would be wrong. You can run it however you want. Some people want to be in charge of everything. Fine. Some want to just do stuff…

Pricing is a hard topic to deal with systematically. Especially for small companies without a lot of data to crunch. I'm preparing for a pricing session with a client, and thought I'd share a little with you here. We're using…

If the answer is NEVER then you're doing it wrong. Seriously. Check this out: Time Management: How an MIT postdoc writes 3 books, a PhD defence, and 6+ peer-reviews papers. And finishes by 5:30pm. You see you can't really manage…

Bill Bryson says it was done in large part by utilizing innovations and technologies that were invented in Europe. These were then scaled and perfected in America and the products sold back to the Europeans. Does that remind anyone else…

If you ever read anything about starting or running a business in the press; or if you go to hear people speak about the topic, in all likelihood you'll find they're probably not telling you the unvarnished truth. The Close…

It's simple: Give them what they want! Hey, just because it's simple doesn't mean it's easy. If you don't have happy employees this will change everything. I mean EVERYTHING. The good news is it works. And the better news is…

The title of this post is a play on the title of one of the best business books I know: Up The Organization by Robert Townsend. Townsend was president of Avis Car Rental in its prime and has some witty…

Then click on Lucky Day for a two and a half minute video of some of the luckiest people on earth - pedestrians, drivers, even bank robbers. Stay for the last one - I laughed out loud. On a serious…

I just asked for a meeting with the CEO of a start-up I've invested in. The reason? I just got their half-year report and there's no bad news! Andy, if you're reading this, I'm talking about you. Why is no…

Wow. That title ought to get me some hits on the Google - doncha think? But really this post is about ... How to Treat Your Customers Right. And about how I got get free drugs from people who are…

UPDATE: Tom Cooper has pointed me to this TED TALK by Eric Dishman. One of the most innovative ideas in health care that I've heard about. Spend 17 minutes and watch it. If you run an American business, check out…

Think for a minute about what would happen if your employees were better motivated. Would there be fewer problems at work? Would you get to spend your time doing different things? What kind of things? Would it mean more money…

And why that's a good thing! Just like a bicycle built for one doesn't usually grow into a bicycle built for two, there is not a linear continuum from small company to big company like there is from little kid…

It's a statistical fact that people with bigger feet are better at spelling than people with smaller feet. Why? ... They tend to be older! Sorry for the bad joke, but ask yourself what's the difference between big companies and…

This video of Dan Ariely from TED has several enlightening and surprising ideas you can use. It's 18 min long but the last 2 minutes are an ad. Why people cheat and steal and how this can be encouraged or…

"What's new since we talked last?" I asked. "Meetings," she said. "I'm doing one-on-ones with my people, like we talked about.". She is a client. Her company makes web sites and on-line products for a specialized industry. They've got a…

Here are two followups to two (unrelated) posts. Update to What Really Happened To The Economy? Michale Lewis, who wrote Liar's Poker has an article on Conde Nast Portfolio.com with an inside story about what went wrong and why. You'll…

1. Talk to people - Don't assume. Talk to your customers. Ask how the current situation will impact them. Ask how you can make it easier to keep their business. Talk to your vendors and suppliers (Look at point #2…

My apologies to non-US readers. We sometimes do things a little strangely here. Did you US readers know that in Australia there's a fine for not voting? or that in Canada the government just sends you a voter registration card…

And is the bailout bill a boondoggle? Spend an hour with Warren Buffett. Yes, he talks in a few cutsey sound bites, but he also talks so you can understand (at least I could) what really caused the problem and…