Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 2/15/16
There is evidence that the European Community has not yet reached its productivity levels of 2008. It is still struggling from the Recession, and now faces a new bank crisis. China, Brazil, India—the "emerging economies"—are staggered with debt and infrastructure
Instant Rewards, Just Mix In Attentiveness
My coordinator at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas reacted immediately when I told her the bartender at the reception the prior evening was terrific. "That was Jimmy," she said, "and he'll get points for that immediately." She explained that any
Go Long
When I was young, we'd gather in the schoolyard to play a variety of games, one of the most popular of which was touch football. In the huddle, the quarterback would actually tell each kid what to do: "You block
My Son Is A PhD, Not the Kind of Doctor Who Helps People
The way the medical system is today, the traditional family doctor (now your "primary physician") can't do very much! The minor stuff is handled by a physician's assistant, who is empowered to treat patients and write prescriptions, and the major
The Not-So-Super Bowl
What you saw in the Super Bowl yesterday was absolute mediocrity. Two poor quarterback performances, unimaginative play calls, turnovers, just a mess. Yesterday, at least, a half-dozen other teams could have beaten either of the finalists. But the Broncos and Panthers
Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 2/8/16
I know this will generate letters that always begin, "I usually agree with you but
Overhead
Large organizations (and small ones) have bureaucracies, overhead, which eat into profit. Some of it is needed, much of it is not. I believe entire human resource departments, for example, are simply unnecessary overhead. The problem is that many solo consultants
Do They Have Budget?
Many people I coach are flummoxed that what they believed was complete agreement with the buyer fell to pieces when the buyer sees the fee for the first time—even modest fees. Some feel betrayed, others feel like failures. Whenever you're dealing