Balancing Act^®: The Newsletter

(No. 320, March 2026)

BALANCING ACT: BLENDING LIFE, WORK, AND RELATIONSHIPS®

A free monthly newsletter about balancing life, work, and relationships based on the books and popular workshops conducted by Alan Weiss, Ph.D. Past copies are archived on our web site: http://www.summitconsulting.com

Copyright 2026 Alan Weiss. All rights reserved. 

ISSN 1934-3116

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Balancing Act is in four sections:

1. Essays
2. Musings
3. Developmental Stuff
4. ORTIYKMWOYBNT-O Department

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“Best practices” can kill you. The best practices used to be “bleeding” people who had wounds or illnesses. Doctors on rounds visiting various patients without washing their hands. “Don’t rock the boat” (or make waves) certainly didn’t lead to Facebook, Amazon, or smart phones.

Organizations have employed a surfeit of nonsensical approaches: holacracy, open book management, one-minute management, management by walking around, reengineering, quality circles, yada, yada, yada.

The problem with “best practices” is that the supposition and implication are that you can’t beat “best.” Hence, you arrive on a plateau of “best” and there’s no need to examine alternatives, suggestions, or innovative ideas. The problem with plateaus is that they always erode (the laws of entropy) and eventually decline.

What we should pursue are “better practices” because I believe we can all constantly improve. Uber is a better taxi service. FedEx is a better delivery system. Amazon started out as a book seller. Smallpox was effectively treated during the American Revolution by injecting the disease itself into American troops.

We thrive in life by growing, and we grow through innovation, and innovation is the constant search for better solutions and resolutions. I guess you can sit smugly on the side with your “best” practice, but you’d eventually have to ask yourself why so many people are so much higher up the mountain than you.

My newest book

The Seven-Figure Consultant has been released by Wiley. You can find it here: www.amazon.com If you purchase two copies and inform me, I’ll include you as my guest in my $400 Zoom session about becoming and sustaining a seven-figure practice on March 9 at 10:30 eastern US time. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/becoming-and-sustaining-the-seven-figure-consultant/ And, of course, I always appreciate a good review on Amazon!

AI: Alan Intelligence™ You can now hear responses to your questions in my voice on this platform on my site. As an incentive to use this incredible resource, I’m offering lifetime (yours, not mine) membership on the platformfor the original introductory fee of $450 (It is currently $1,250 so that’s a 65% discount.) The offer is good until March 15. This includes access to all of my books, and the site will respond in print in any language, as well. Use my Quick Pay and I’ll set this up for you: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/ London: On May 18-19 (1.5 days) I’m running a “cabaret style” session in my suite in London on how to create the identify, esteem, and market profile required to be a seven-figure consultant. The fee is $4,500, which includes a reception/dinner evening at a Michelin-star restaurant, a light breakfast and lunch. Write me: [email protected] or register here. I have two spaces available. Sentient Strategy Certification This will be live, at my home in my retreat center. You can read about it here: https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/sentient-strategy/ We already have four people and I like to keep the group small. The fee is $15,000 which includes my support for 90 days thereafter. It’s not uncommon for participants to introduce this approach to present clients or prospects and immediately close $35,000 to $75,000 in new business. The dates are June 9-10. You can register here: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/ New Zoom Session: How to become and sustain Being a Seven-Figure Consultant Consultant Based on my new book released this month, which hit Amazon at #4 in consulting immediately, I'll help you understand NOT the tactics but the Attitude to Gain Altitude and how to create and build upon the appropriate identity and build the right brand. Are you “stuck in the sixes”? If you're happy there, fine, but if not, come with me. It's only $400. If you can't afford that, then you need this more than you think. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/becoming-and-sustaining-the-seven-figure-consultant/ (Review my book, the Seven-Figure Consultant, on Amazon and I'll give you a free pass to the workshop. Or buy two copies and you get that same deal.) The No NOrmal® Newsletter Seeing what others don’t notice, acting when others don’t move, living a life others can’t dream Newsletter sections and examples of what will be included: WHAT I'M HEARING AND SEEING: WHAT'S HAPPENED AI is not taking over, it's actually underutilized TURN YOUR HEAD, LOOK AROUND: WHAT'S HAPPENING  The jobs and careers that are disappearing ASSUME ZEBRAS: WHAT'S COMING Removal of human judgment in almost all sports—and not merely for accuracy The No Normal Newsletter is a reflection on my trademarked idea that there will never be a “return to normal” nor a “new normal.” That’s because “normal” means “routine” or “average” and this is not an age of the mundane. Each month I’ll provide what I’ve been hearing globally, from clients and colleagues in my coaching and consulting practice. I’ll indicate what’s happening around us that is opportunity (or threat) for readers. And I’ll dispel the old trope that if you hear hoofbeats you should assume horses are coming, the most obvious probability. I’m going to show you how to, and why you should, assume zebras. $250 for a year (or $3,000 for a year plus six coaching calls during the year at your preference). Starts January 15. For about 20 bucks a month you’ll get the mix of my enormous perspective of four decades in this business, my current highly successful contacts and engagements around the world, and my keen insights into the zebras. Join me in 2026 and continue your journey into prosperity. You can sign up here until it’s on my site: https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/the-no-normal-newsletter/ If you don’t think 20 bucks a month is worth it for my guidance and insights, then poor you! 2026 Zoom Workshops January 6 Maximizing the coaching/advisory dynamic February 3 Maximizing speaking spin-off business March 3 Role-playing tough conversations April 7 Maximizing workshop effectiveness spin-off May 5 Maximizing current events potential June 9 Role-playing tougher conversations July 7 Maximizing low project labor practices August 13 Maximizing panels—participant/moderator September 8 Role-playing toughest conversations October 6 Maximizing publishing potential November 2 Maximizing lifestyle potential December 8 Maximizing 2027 personally and professionally All sessions are approximately 90 minutes beginning at 10:30 US eastern time. These sessions are $450 each, or the entire year for $5,000. Add three months of weekly 30-minute coaching for $2,500, a total of $7,500. (My cards are accepted for the full-year, and for the full-year and coaching options, not for individual sessions.) All sessions will include video recording, visual photos, and Zoom Companion summary. Register here: https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/zoom-workshops-2026/    AI: Alan Intelligence™ My unique AI resource which will direct you to the relevant aspects of my entire body of work to answer your “real time” questions about proposals, value based fees, conceptual agreement, avoiding “ghosting,” and thousands of other issues with text, audio, and video resources, all of which you can download. Please go here to gain lifelong, constantly growing access to my work, including referral to specific pages in my books which you can access online: https://alanweiss.com/ai-alan-intelligence/ If you decide at any time to engage in one of my two elite, personal coaching relationships, I'll deduct the full fee you've paid for this resource. IT'S NOW IN MY VOICE! IN RECOGNITION OF THAT SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT, I'M OFFERING A SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP: INSTEAD OF THE CURRENT $1,200, JOIN FOR THE ORIGINAL CHARTER PRICE OF $450, FOR TOTAL ACCESS INCLUDING MY LIBRARY. YOU CAN DO SO HERE: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/ No annual fee, you can use this resource forever!   Million Dollar Consulting® for the World I’ve provided 14 modules with videos from me, from your colleagues globally, slides, and text. They include everything from launch to self-esteem, proposals to fees, closing business to creating a brand. No upsells! It’s only $115. What do you think about a 10,000:1 ROI? We have over 500 people from 47 countries. https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com LEARN MORE   Million Dollar Consulting® for the World ADVANCED The new program contains over 60 videos and has 15 modules focusing on what to do in the buyer’s office, overcoming crises, financial planning, and much, much more. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/advanced-global-learning-program/ LEARN MORE   New: Million Dollar Consulting® for the World Graduate Another 12 modules with videos by me and your peers on contemporary issues such as Raising Fees Aggressively, How to Be Consistently Interviewed, Maximizing Happiness, and Managing Multiple projects. Join the people from 57 countries who are availing themselves of this inexpensive way to dramatically grow their businesses in any economic times. How does 100:1 ROI sound? https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com/graduate-learning-program/ LEARN MORE   I absent-mindedly pulled into one of the few full-service gas stations nearby, but had the pump on the left side while my fuel tank is on the right.(Remember when the hoses used to simply go over the trunk?) The attendant, who knows me, said, “You’re on the wrong side,” as he hurried to take care of another car. You don’t make U-Turns with a Rolls unless you’re on the main runway at Kennedy Airport, so I laboriously make a triple K-turn to go around to the other side, thereby facing the opposite direction. The attendant came back and said, “You’re kidding, right?” (If you don’t understand this, do not operate any heavy equipment and seek help.) Alan Weiss’s Balancing Act® Newsletter is a registered trademark of Alan Weiss and Summit Consulting Group, Inc. © Alan Weiss 2026 You are subscribed as: _email_ To REMOVE or CHANGE this address, click here: https://www.cctomany.com/lu/_ln_/_up_/_dp_/