Ramblings From a Glass Half Full
When you typically think of a “business”, the image that comes to mind is an enterprise existing for the purpose of profit – and the more profit the better. That’s what capitalism is all about, right? The entrepreneurial dream of starting from nothing and making it big – like Ray Kroc did with McDonald’s, or Michael …
“It’s sad, so sad It’s a sad, sad situation And it’s getting more and more absurd” – Bernie Taupin I am now in Day 19 of my sports embargo, and so when I amble onto my treadmill every weekday morning, my TV of choice has become CNBC instead of ESPN. It had been a long time since I really …
I was reading the NY Times yesterday and noted an article that presented three questions posed by KKR managing partner Kenneth Freeman that, on the basis of their answers, can “spot (business) problems before they get totally out of control”. While you can read the article to see all three of the questions, I focused on …
I’m back home now after a great week in Colorado, and it was really great to settle back into my Sunday morning ritual of reading the NY Times. When I first started blogging I posted a weekly reflection on those Sunday readings in a feature called the “Sunday Papers”. I kept doing it until last March …
One of my old bosses used to warn me about “nattering nabobs” and “naysayers” – in other words, people that liked to throw cold water on things, especially trends and concepts that were gaining traction with more and more people. Or, folks in the “it can’t be done” crowd, who were also more than likely …
Early on in my blogging journey I expressed my admiration for the leadership style of Jeff Immelt of GE – in fact, I inducted him into the “Half-Full Hall of Fame”. Here was the quote that hooked me: “I’m an optimist. I’ve always believed the future is going to be better than the past. And I …
I was reading the NY Times business section this morning and read a piece by G. Pascal Zachary entitled “Genius and Misfit Aren’t Synonyms, or Are They? The article looks at so-called “misfits” who turn out to be technological innovators” (like Bill Gates) who succeed by “resenting and resisting established authority and its prejudices”. In other …
Picture this: You are an executive for a service company in the corporate boardroom reviewing 1st Quarter performance. While things are going OK, the Board is pushing for further expense reductions, and has their eye on several discretionary items on the customer service side, especially those where the financial return on those investments is not readily …
I’ve noted before my “addiction” to my Blackberry – that blinking and vibrating device on my right hip that I can’t seem to live without (illustration at left courtesy of the NY Times). I’ve also put the reliance on this object in the half-full perspective, putting it this way – “it shouldn’t be the center of …
I just arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, where I’ll be attending a conference for a few days. Meantime, I did manage to keep up with the Sunday Papers. The chatter on the future of Starbucks continues – on Saturday in the NY Times, Joe Nocera, in his piece entitled “Give Me a Double Shot of Starbucks …
subscribe to the 
follow Terry on