It’s Not Your Mother’s Fault

What would you most complain to the boss about today to improve your life and job? Well, you are the boss, so take care of the employee and fix what's wrong.

Jack Welch, Steve Jobs, Ulysses Grant, Meryl Streep, Picasso, Willie Mays, Frank Sinatra, Steven Sondheim, Oprah Winfrey, John Adams: If we think about our candidates for mastery in any number of diverse fields, they all share one thing in common: They

My first grade teacher taught me that I can't just demand to have my way, I had to compromise with others. I soon had that beaten into me, and learned the arts of compromise and influence by the third grade. It

I once had a coaching client who took every bump and jostle in life as a personal insult. He  took offense at a client of his who was chewing on ice from his drink, and told him it was irritating.

Someone was reviewing my textual, audio, video, and electronic output. He was astonished. "You post on your blog every day," he asked, incredulous. "Yeah," I confirmed, "and I have two blogs, a public one and a private one for my community members." He was

Business is usually in a huge reactive mode, which is why there is so little innovation in most places. For example, how many major businesses do you suspect right now are doing a hasty forensic audit of their top executives'

My wife is gambling in the casino, sitting near a man and making casual conversation. He asks about the New England Patriots and Tom Brady, whom my wife loathes. "Well," says the guy, "they did name an airport after him." "What? Where?"

According to a study by Professor Joseph Ferrari (seriously) at DePaul University, cited in Current Psychology, clutter is tied to procrastination. People who create disorderly living spaces are more likely to procrastinate. About 20% of people are "chronic procrastinators."

I'm in the pool yesterday, when Bentley races to the gate and begins barking as if we're being invaded by jackals. I get out, barely dry off and rush over: There's a postal truck, and a woman mail carrier emerges

One of my original "brands" was as "the contrarian." For example, at the height of the quality movement, I preached that quality could be taken to a dysfunctional extreme, actually costing more money than necessary. I remember at one point