The human side of business
If you want to know more about someone, participate in a naming exercise. You’ll learn a lot, and fast. Whereas in many other business interactions it is hard to decode individual and organizational motivation, the process of naming a company, product or brand is an easy tell about the stakeholders. One of my primary jobs is to name things. In…
This is a story about the benefit of intentionally limiting peripheral vision – for a finite period of time. A few years back, I was in the hospital with a contagious and (at the time) unknown condition that posed a public health issue (thanks to modern medicine, Victorian diseases are now curable.) I was quarantined in a negative pressure room…
When Alicia Keys started her #NoMakeup movement, like many of you, I said finally, a famous woman standing up to false ideals of feminine beauty standards and the quest for eternal youth – someone in the limelight, unapologetically showing her un-made up face. Her message was unequivocal: “I’m not going to cover myself up anymore; not my face, not my…
Does it matter? Is having a sense of familiarity or good vibe with a new colleague / client / customer a predictor of whether it will be a match made in (professional) heaven? We know working with people who finish our sentences, think we’re hilarious / brilliant / talented feels invigorating, at least at the outset of a working relationship….
On a recent call with the global marketing director of a major fitness brand – someone responsible for managing messaging across all channels – she paused to ask me a more philosophical question: “What do you think the secret to creating compelling content is? These days, everyone seems to be in the ‘game.’ ” It’s true, and admittedly, something that…
