An important observation by Jim Collins in How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In: During its darkest days, Xerox faced the very real threat of bankruptcy, yet Mulcahy rebuffed with steely silence her advisors’ repeated suggestions that she consider Chapter 11. She also held fast against a torrent of advice from […]

A few months ago I blogged on how systems trump intentions because systems create behaviors. In discussing the attempted Christmas bombing plot, Dave Logan makes the good case that the reality goes one step further: culture trumps systems. Hence, no amount of systemic change will ultimately solve the problems that led to the security breach […]

Here’s a good word from a BusinessWeek article summarizing Peter Drucker’s insight on how to price a product: Properly pricing a product is no easy exercise. It involves a complex bit of calculus that must take into account not only a business’ up-front investment but also the ongoing costs it expects to incur (as it […]

Tom Peters writes: I see far too many of my clients, good people with good motives, obsessing on pleasing Wall Street analysts, and taking actions that may well reduce their stock’s value two to three years out. They have slashed budgets on many longer-term strategies, such as research and development, talent retention and development, even […]

Wired has a great article on recessions and the birth of big ideas. Recessions are a time to streamline in many ways for sure, but they are also a time to thoughtfully advance — not retreat. The article says this well in many places, including this one: When VCs from Foundation Capital met with their […]

Recessions are for recalibrating. Do not take the approach of waiting things out, only to come out on the other side doing the same things you were doing before. The world changes too fast. The recession is a chance to give more focus to adapting to how things have changed — things that have changed […]