It’s those last couple hours when you’re tired, unfocused and stressed that really take the biggest toll…

Marketers are the chasers of shiny things. In this field, flexibility can be a more desired trait than being a good planner. Why? Because it’s generally accepted that we work in a chaotic environment. Therefore constant triage is more of the day-to-day experience than dilligent execution of a strategic plan. This is not ideal. Here’s […]

Wait what? Hear me out. I spend a lot of time crafting marketing messaging. Always considering the mighty unique value proposition or the key differentiators or the Why-To-Buy statement. You know, standard marketing best practices. And I can’t help but think we might be losing something in the process. What is lost is the reason […]

Sometimes the ideas just pour out, and sometimes they don’t. When you’re coming up empty, it’s helpful to have some inspiration. I dare you to read through these four approaches to persuation and not have a new marketing idea by the end of the post.

While reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, I was struck by how important the first dysfunction (“Absence of Trust”) is. At first glance it seems straightforward, but it’s not. It’s not one of those touchy-feely issues. And it doesn’t have anything to do with trust falls. It’s a foundational issue that’s commonly ignored as […]

There’s a lot of talk about “company culture” these days. Generally companies believe they have culture if they offer employees perks like Ping-Pong tables, Nerf guns, flex time or beer Fridays. But companies who feel they can create culture by simply offering frat-house-style perks, are missing a fundamental understanding of what productive company culture is.

I’ve been thinking a lot about quitting. The idea of quitting. When people first hear the word “quitting,” they think of acquiescence, of giving up. They think of quitting jobs, and sports teams, and relationships. But, what about quitting in terms of focus? In terms of how much energy and mind space is taken up […]

If you manage projects of any type, you know what thrashing is. Thrashing is changing things on a project. It’s to beat on a design (or concept) via criticism and feedback. With thrashing, timing is everything. There’s an appropriate time for edits and then there’s a terrible (and expensive) time for edits. If thrashing happens early […]

We tackle problems every day. Different people solve problems differently. Some tackle them head on, some take a step back and ponder, and some simply react with the first solution that pops into their head. None of these approaches are always right and none of these are always wrong. Different problems call for different approaches.