With all of the issues surrounding Toyota and Honda as of late, a lot of attention has been put on the quality and consumer rating services, like Consumer Reports. There have been complaints about their evaluations, the process by which they review vehicles, and the validity of their testing — so much so, that in [...]

It’s that thing on your desk that has all the buttons. That’s the lifeline to the people you interact with day-to-day who are not in the office. It can clear up misunderstandings, clarify ideas and inspire action.
It’s the telephone I’m referring to. It can do just the opposite of what that other thing on your [...]

I was reading a Seth Godin post today and it reminded me of something a friend of mine says, “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.”  If you work in a company that is lost in a fear-based mentality or bureaucracy, this is especially good advice.  If you spend your whole life trying to [...]

When you have a team who works well together, is energized and has a common goal, there’s no stopping you. Respect is a big part of it, too. Each person on a team should bring value and be respected for that value. When that happens, you: 1) create a group of people who get along [...]

Back when I was a kid, there was a commercial nearly as famous as Life Cereal’s “Hey Mikey!”.  Here’s the setup—two people walking along accidentally collide: One eating chocolate, the other eating peanut butter. The result? “Hey, you got chocolate in my peanut butter! You got peanut butter in my chocolate!” And with that exchange, [...]

We’ve all heard in our professional careers something akin to: “If only I had (blank), THEN I could succeed, no problem…. Well, you don’t have (blank), and you may never get (blank). So, you can do a couple of things. You can use your “get out of jail free” card (an excuse) if you have [...]

When I was a kid, we’d take a family vacation every summer. Usually lasting a week, and on occasion lasting two, it became standard practice for me, my brother and sister to be given a chance to choose a restaurant for one of our lunches. The options were typically limited, if not by our middle-class [...]

I was working on a project yesterday and I had goose bumps because I was so excited to be a part of a working team.  Yesterday was a long day.  I came in very early, drank a whole pot of coffee myself, and dug in to work immediately.  I was back-to-back in meetings, tasks and [...]

Or it’s an excuse for either poor preparation or a lack of interest/motivation in the subject matter. The cure: prepare, get interested and—write. Just start writing. In this golden age of electronics, it’s very easy to brainstorm, free-think and stream-of-conscious on the computer. And edit as well. Nothing to it. Just keep those thoughts flowing [...]

How often do you get a receipt from a store and the clerk kindly points out a certain phone number or URL printed on the receipt that takes you to a survey about your purchase experience? Usually there’s an incentive tied to it. Take the survey and receive a certain amount off your next purchase. [...]