In 2018 I attended a United Way Finance, Talent, & Technology conference in Houston, TX. Being the sort of personal branding/marketing savvy person that I am, I posted extensively about the event on our new corporate Facebook site before I…
A new appreciation
March 27, 2020 A week ago today I went into the hospital for what turned out to be appendicitis. While I was waiting for my CT scan that morning, my appendix burst. I got out Tuesday this week with a…
Everybody Out of the Pool!
Note: I started this post in late February 2020, before the pandemic lockdown, to remind and describe how companies have “pivoted” (hate that term) in the past due to societal mandates. Now I finally went back, post-surgery, to finish it……
Culture vs. Strategy in Iowa
February 4, 2020 It’s noon on the day after the Iowa caucuses, and we have yet to know who “won” thanks to a snafu with a smartphone app. Officials in Iowa have announced they’ll have an announcement by 5 pm.…
Happy New Decade!
Yesterday (when I started writing this) was New Year Adam — coined we believe by our friend Brooxie Crews Keary. Because Adam came before Eve, don’cha know. Brooxie used to have “Christmas Adam” parties on the 23rd, and since then…
Built to Last
I can’t begin to tell you when I became a Craftsman. I can tell you that it’s been a long road. I think it started when we bought our first house, built in 1922. In no time, you find yourself…
Move the Battlefield
Like any good business school student of the 80s/90s, I read all the classic works to explain how to get ahead. I’m sure many of you remember the Gordon Gekko line from the movie Wall Street that in some ways…
The Gypsy and the Farmer
Part of the fun of keeping a blog is putting little bits of oneself out there, and today I’m sharing one of my Dad’s favorite Gypsy jokes — without this, it may be lost to the mists of time. I…
The Essence of Team Building
I read a piece this week that illustrates the importance of building diversity into our teams. In the waning days of NASA’s Apollo program, the money was running out. Not to go deep into the why or politics, Apollo 18…
Sharpening one’s Edge
“Not Invented Here.” This is a popular corporate syndrome that was often mentioned as part of Microsoft’s organizational culture back in the late 90s/early 2000s. Being that it was org culture, it kept popping up in different ways. For example,…