Today’s screed is about dumbing it down and how it can improve your business thinking as you grow dumb. I’m pretty sure you’re aware that I’m not an advocate for the willfully stupid among us. They might be spending too much time behind the wheel of the car in front of you to be reading this anyway. However, I do find myself trying to reduce things to their most basic elements a great deal of the time. It’s not that I don’t care about detail – sometimes there’s a lot of important stuff in there. But I find that the details tend to clutter up one’s mind when you’re trying to have a basic understanding of something – it’s like worrying about what color the room will be before you’ve figured out the square footage and the amount of paint needed so you can budget properly. Continue reading
Tag Archives: advice
Learning Business From the Football Coach
They introduced the new football coach at the University of Michigan yesterday. His name is Brady Hoke and he seems like a cross between Bo (and if you have to ask who that is, you need college football 101) and Chris Farley. Based on the fact that he said he would have walked from San Diego to take the job and his history with the team, I think the Wolverines are headed back to glory.
During the news conference, Coach Hoke made an excellent business point even though I know that wasn’t his intention and I want to pass it on for your input. Continue reading
Filed under Reality checks, Thinking Aloud
An Insightful Minute
This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post on high-touch. 30 years ago, United Airlines put out a commercial which conveys what I said more succinctly (no shock there) and clearly. 
As you watch the commercial, which I’ve embedded below, I think all you need to do is change the words “phone call” and “fax” to “text” and “email” and you could run the spot today. The fact that the commercial has stayed with me for 30 years is testament to the message. Continue reading
Filed under Consulting, Helpful Hints
Consult Keith 