2nd Recession Opportunity

How to overcome the (new) coming recession

With all the noises in the media about the  end of this recession, it’s tempting to think that we are getting back to normal. The light at the end of the tunnel – we’d like to convince ourselves that it is indeed there. While it is natural to hope that a nice and juicy steak awaits us at the end of what has been a bread-and-water period for most businesses, the reality is more sobering. Not only is the recession not over yet, the recovery too comes with its own set of challenges for the economy.

Business Strategy from the Pilgrims

As Thursday’s tryptophan wears off…

Less is more… in ways you don’t expect!

What Jeff Bezos Knows

Let’s not ‘turtle’ our way through the recession

Millennia of shared experience and painful years of direct experience have taught us to keep our heads down in times of crisis, lest we draw attention to ourselves. All this conditioning has trained us to think that if we don’t rock the boat, we might get through the storm OK.

From our herd instinct we have learned “there’s safety in numbers”. But marketers know that in order to get heard, this is a death wish. Only by standing out will we remain standing.

Is your company’s future frozen?

Guy Kawasaki has a question

The Ice Man Cometh… and Stayeth

In the 1880′s a new industry evolved: ice. Folks had these fancy new contraptions dubbed “ice boxes” to prevent their perishable food from spoiling. Milk, eggs, meat – all the foods that contributed to better health needed special preservation. The answer came in the form of the icebox. Its only drawback was the ongoing need for ice blocks.

That gave rise to ice harvesters who spent the winters cutting ice from frozen lakes and storing it for later delivery. No matter where you lived, you could get ice delivered. And no need to struggle with ice preservation. The iceman took care of that.

From Disaster to Domination

An Afternoon of Desperation

You probably don’t remember it, but the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 in St. Louis was celebrated in a terrific heat wave. And July 23 was particularly hot — which is why it is such an important date in innovation history.

It was especially terrific for one immigrant, Arnold Fornachou, who was fortunate enough to scrape together enough funds to purchase a vendor booth selling ice cream. He was thrilled to be selling at such a prestigious international event… and he wasn’t disappointed! In fact, business was so brisk, he ran out of the glass dishes in which the ice cream was served! Disaster!

Customer to Competitor

Old Wine in a New Bottle

As late as 1999, Kodak clung to its belief in the permanence of film cameras, slowing down its foray into digital technology. The company had to fight back its way into the market when rivals from outside photography like Canon and Sony had already established an advantage. Kodak simply did not “get” the customer need for convenience that digital cameras catered to.

Power of Passion

The search for Excellence takes us back to Kindergarten

Learning the ABC’s

In the highly technical fields of information technology and medicine, there’s nothing short of a quagmire of acronyms and complex detail. When the two intersect, the swamp grows exponentially. You might think you’d need a number of advanced degrees to create success, but as it turns out, with a nod to Robert Fulghum, all you really need to know you learned in kindergarten.