Commentaries

Achieving business impact with data

May 20, 2018

The best analytics are worth nothing with bad data. The importance of understanding and working on all components of the insights value chain is mission critical. Here is a brief excerpt from an article written by Holger Hürtgen and Niko…

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John D. Rockefeller, Sr: Invaluable business lessons from Ron Chernow’s Biography

May 19, 2018

In 50 Business Classics, Tom Butler-Bowdon includes a discussion of Ron Chernow’s classic biography of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. These are among the dozens of business lessons that caught my eye: o “John Davis Rockefeller was fortunate in the timing of his…

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3 Ways Senior Leaders Create a Toxic Culture

May 19, 2018

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Ron Carucci for Harvard Business Review and the HBR Blog Network. To read the complete article, check out the wealth of free resources, obtain subscription information, and receive HBR email alerts,…

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Research Shows a Simple Way to Increase Your Engagement at Work

May 18, 2018

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Michael Parke and Justin Weinhardt for Harvard Business Review and the HBR Blog Network. To read the complete article, check out the wealth of free resources, obtain subscription information, and receive…

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How to Spot and Overcome Your Hidden Weaknesses

May 17, 2018

Here is a brief excerpt from an article by Tim Herrera for The New York Times. To read the complete article, check out others, and obtain subscription information, please click here. * * * One of my favorite story arcs…

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“People don’t want quarter-inch drills. They want quarter-inch holes.” Theodore Levitt

May 17, 2018

In 50 Business Classics series, Tom Butler-Bowdon includes a discussion of Theodore (“Ted”) Levitt and his concept of marketing myopia, introduced in an HBR article (1960) and then featured in Levitt’s The Marketing Imagination (1983). These are among the dozens of…

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EDNA: Narration

May 16, 2018

Many years ago when I began to teach English at the Kent School in Connecticut, I devised an acronym for my students based on two primary sources: Aristotle’s Rhetoric (4th century BCE) and Modern Rhetoric (1949) co-authored by Cleanth Brooks…

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25 Biggest and Most Embarrassing Mistakes Ever Made

May 15, 2018

Years ago, Washington Redskins’ QB Joe Thiesman objected to a sportswriter’s reference to “dumb jocks.” “Hey look, we can’t all be Fred Einstein!” Here is a brief excerpt from one of the dozens of interesting lists featured at the 25…

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Business Nuggets from Simon SInek

May 14, 2018

In 50 Business Classics, Tom Butler-Bowdon includes a discussion of Simon Sinek’s bestseller, Start with Why. These are among the dozens of insights that caught my eye: o “Every company knows what it does — the products or services it sells.…

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Addenda for Lexophiles….

May 14, 2018

These are also worth sharing…. I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me. Police were called to a day care, where a three-year-old was resisting a rest. Did you hear about the guy whose whole left…

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