Greece had a referendum a week ago and voted “no” to accept the terms of a financial bailout from the European Union. The “no” vote stems from nationalistic pride, not common sense. While the Greeks were momentarily happy for “standing up to the EU,” Greece now needs to negotiate a Read more…
My wife and I only recently learned of a restaurant in Los Gatos when a restaurant closed and our usual waitress told us she was going to work there. Last night, we tried it: Billy’s Boston Chowder House in Los Gatos, California. It’s only 3,283 miles from Boston (as they Read more…
The accomplishment of Kim Chambers is extraordinary. Here are some excerpts from a story in SFGate.com: But in the world of extreme marathon swimming, the 30 miles of shark-infested waters between the Farallon Islands and San Francisco is the most difficult stretch to cross. Until today, only four people, all Read more…
I recently spoke with Dan Howard, a long-time friend and owner of DJ’s SCUBA Locker in the greater Chicago area. We met during a dive trip to Honduras back in the 1990’s. Dan’s business is thriving to the point he’s been able to leave the corporate world and focus on Read more…
People diagnosed with certain serious medical maladies today are lucky that they weren’t diagnosed 5, 10 pr 20 years ago. Why? Innovation. Constant innovation in medicine promotes better patient outcomes than were possible 5, 10 or 20 years ago. Constant innovation means: Not settling for treatments that have a certain Read more…
In a Wall Street Journal blog post, What Your CEO Is Reading: Pepsi Embraces Design Thinking, Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi offers: “In the past, user experience wasn’t part of our lexicon. Focusing on crunch, taste, and everything else now pushes up to rethink shape, packaging, form, and function,” she says. Read more…
A lesson in how to play small to lose. My father and I took up watching Stanford football after my mother’s passing in 2007. Stanford has had some pretty good years the past decade with Coach Jim Harbaugh (who went on to coach the San Francisco 49ers and now the Read more…
Too Many Emails to the Sales Team from the Marketing Team? When I consulted for a Fortune 50 company, I noticed the constant bombardment of emails to the sales team from the marketing team. The incoming emails had to feel like incoming missiles to be dodged on a daily basis. Read more…
The notion of an “ethical business” isn’t an oxymoron. Two automotive companies make me wonder: GM was just fined $900 million for the car ignition problem that killed over 100 people. People inside GM knew the truth and looked the other way. Right now, the Justice Department has no plans to Read more…
In this past week’s Wall Street Journal Today’s Top Supply Chain and Logistics from WSJ, I see this interesting tidbit: Coca-Cola Co. is overhauling its U.S. supply chain. The WSJ’s Mike Esterl and Chelsey Dulaney report that the beverage giant will sell all nine of its production plants in the Read more…