Take It Or Leave It
I'm told that Cisco takes 120 days—four months—to pay its venders and suppliers. Of course, there's no sound reason for that except to maximize their cash flow by taking advantage of small businesses for whom cash flow is even more
Detour
Have you ever taken a detour to avoid traffic jams? The same tactic helps in business.
How Can They Do That?
When I was chair of the town planning board, we visited a cul-de-sac where a property owner was protesting a new subdivision that would create a road through the cul-de-sac. To make matters worse, he had chosen to build his
Swinging the Bat
I advised a coaching client to go see the editor of a major newspaper personally to pitch a story. He did, and his article was printed. I then told him to suggest a column. He did, and he now has
I Can Name That Tune in Three Notes
Most clients CAN do what consultants propose themselves. That's not the issue. The issue is: Should they do it themselves? The answer is usually "no" because: The project will take people away from their usual responsibilities; they tend to assign people who
Recency Bias
We've all seen clients unduly influenced by the last thing they heard—recency bias. I remember a consultant working with me in a Fortune 25 company saying this of our mutual buyer: "She's off to another seminar, meaning she's going to
Why You?
Think of several distinctive features or experiences that make you remarkable to others, not subjective (I'm a good listener) but objective (I've consulted with seven of the top ten newspapers in the country). Have someone help you if you're not
Nesting Syndrome
Some of us build nests that are so comfortable we try never to leave them. Here are the conditions: Unconscious competency: We have insufficient self-awareness to realize what must be changed and/or improved. Allowing the continuance of what merely works
Labor
Visiting the Acropolis, we learned that the machine used to lift vast marble blocks and columns worked on the exact same principles (double pulleys, swiveling base) that the modern one does in the restoration work. The only difference is manual
We Don’t Sell Bananas Here
You know how the secret of consulting is when the client says, "It hurts when I do that," and you say, "Stop doing that. That will be $50,000"? Well, if you want to provide only advisory services, stop offering anything other