The most popular business books seem to be on the “soft” topics. Things like managing people, setting your BHAG/mission/vision/values, creating happy employees; stuff like that. I’m an avid reader of this kind of stuff. But, at a certain point, don’t all of us as business people have get on with it and make money? Charlie […]
What Business Are You Really In? Who Are Your Bees?
During the course of business planning, did you or any of your advisers ask, “What business are you really in?” A few years ago I was touring wineries in Eastern Washington. These weren’t “foo foo” wineries with beautiful buildings and perfectly tended rows of vines. This particular winery was down a dirt road, through the vineyard, that […]
Steve Jobs
This official biography of Steve Jobs isn’t a new book; it was published in 2011. I finally got around to reading it after an associate gave it a high recommendation. Being a couple of years old, used copies are readily available. I went to the most efficient market I know of, eBay, and found a […]
Is Critical Thinking an Endangered Skill?
My premise is that there isn’t enough critical thinking. I’m here to promote more critical thinking. There are many enemies of critical thinking. One enemy of critical thinking is political correctness. The worst place for this is on college campuses, where critical thinking should be the order of the day. Instead, political correctness results in […]
Getting Naked
Getting Naked by Patrick Lencioni was recommended to me by a business associate. Lencioni is one of the most popular authors of business books. I had previously read just one of his books, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. While the book was well written, I wasn’t a fan. Perhaps because I read the book […]
Even Harder than Writing the Plan: Executing on that Plan
I have written of the difficulty of writing a Business Plan. This was based on experience with clients who have struggled to write their own plans. As a result, we are now collaborating and making good progress. The hard thought that goes into crafting a good Business Plan is real work. Usually, a good […]
Writing a Business Plan–Why is it so Hard?
My topics are often the result of recent experiences with clients. This is no exception. I am currently in the midst of writing Business Plans for three of my clients. And I’ve got two more that I will probably be starting soon. In all cases, we started with the business owner desiring to write the […]
The Seven Rules of Cash–Live By Them and Prosper
The cliché is that Cash is king. In this case, the cliché is correct. I am fond of saying that in the short-term, a business owner should be most concerned with cash. In the medium-term, the main concern should be profitability. And in the long-term, the owner should concentrate on building the value of the […]
The Lost Bank–The Story of Washington Mutual
I’m a member of RMA–Risk Management Associates. At a monthly meeting I got a chance to hear a presentation by Kirsten Grind, the author of The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual–The Biggest Bank Failure in American History. Kirsten was a writer for the Puget Sound Business Journal and covered the WaMu saga for […]
Simplicity is a Virtue
I see many business owners and managers who study their financial statements, chart KPIs, track trends and chase a percentage point here and there. I’ve been told one can’t have too much data. Really? Is this really that hard? I don’t think it needs to be. I prefer a simpler approach. I like one, or […]