The average human brain isn’t trained to perform memorization tricks in front of an audience.
So maybe we should alter our language and our powers of persuasion to accommodate the vast majority of us drones who are comfortable holding three concepts in our head at a time.
A simpler approach has inherent advantages over a complex one.
1)  Things with fewer moving parts have fewer ways to break down.
2)  A single, simple thought has a better chance of being repeated accurately than binder full of strategic plans.
3)  Our eyes and ears seek out the single element that contrasts against the background. A complex …read more

How many times have you had a bad feeling about a situation or a person, only to have your concerns confirmed?
Top executives tend to be very decisive, and a lot of that certainty comes from their instincts, not their processes.

You gut instinct isn’t perfect, however. It can steer you away from situations that may not be comfortable for you, but that are necessary for your company’s success.
For example, cross-cultural hiring may take a deliberate effort to ignore some of the warning signals going off in your head.
The rest of the time, learn to trust your gut.
My favorite trick is …read more

If Microsoft doesn’t want to buy Yahoo, why do executives keep talking about the acquisition-gone-wrong?
The continued dribble of comments about potential side-deals and semi-deals must be distracting to Microsoft employees, who are in the middle of the company’s transformation from Bill Gates’ company to an entity that embraces open architectures and web-based apps interconnecting in a cloud.
Does MSFT even know what messages it wants to be sending investors, regulators, the public and customers?
Microsoft Says Chances of Yahoo Takeover Negligible (Reuters)
Shocker: Yahoo Shoots Carl Icahn as Microsoft Messenger (Kara Swisher)
For a mega-corporation, Microsoft is acting like a teenage boy at a …read more

If you needed a reason to categorize music companies as humorless corporate entities that have no heart, here’s a woman being ordered to remove a YouTube video of her kid, because there’s a Universal Music song playing in the background.
The average person has no idea how vigorously these companies pursue documentary makers, store owners and others who have the bad luck to have a song intrude on their work.
Even someone casually humming a song can lead to copyright problems. It’s gotten to the point that filmmakers treat an incidental bit of sound as a tragic occurrence, instead of serendipity.
Technorati Tags: …read more

The interconnectedness of public relations and marketing is evident when you see a company effectively differentiating itself from its competitors. But even the most coordinated efforts have to amplify something true about your company.
Revolutionary advertising teamed up with bland media relations won’t get you where you want to be.
Setting yourself apart in the public’s mind will fail miserably if the customer experience doesn’t live up to the billing.
If employees and business partners don’t buy into the idea that you really are a different company, they’ll pass on their skepticism  to customers.
Southwest Airlines and Canada’s WestJet have been very effective …read more

Reviews are hell.
Writers, actors, directors and restaurant owners hate them. And so do business owners.
It’s never easy observing or taking part in a discussion about your business, especially when customers are taking potshots at you.
Calley Nye writes on TechCrunch about businesses fighting back against the review site Yelp by creating “sucks”-type sites about the site that features local reviews.
She says: “The good news for Yelp is that when businesses are afraid of you, it’s only because they realize how much power you really have. See, for example, Paypal and Ebay, two of the most reviled and profitable businesses …read more

How can you comment about something, if you can’t provide a bit of background? Not very well.
Yet Associated Press is trying to unilaterally corral the World Wide Web herd of commenting cats.
Christopher Lynn sums up the dispute well:
“As a content creator, I’m all for intellectual property; copying content is the modern day stealing. But the law entitles “fair use.” Sure, the lines of fair use are blurry, but they are up for the judicial system to interpret. By setting their own restrictions, the AP takes the role of legislator and stifles legal discussion. When media companies become large enough …read more

The Canadian Autoworkers’ Union is appalled that GM is closing factories that produce trucks and performance cars.
Their showdown with management fizzled recently when the courts ruled they couldn’t blockade GM offices and plants just because they don’t like decisions made by management.
How utterly lame.
CAW head Buzz Hargrove was patting himself on the back a couple of years ago, when GM announced they would be producing Camaros in Canada.
Was the company’s increasing reliance on the high profit margins of SUVs, power cars and pick-up trucks a good long-term direction for the company?
Let’s see, gas prices steadily rising. Concern for …read more

I’m good at analyzing patterns.
I’m not so good at negotiating.
So you can guess where the average boss would put the emphasis for my development: negotiation skills!
My daughter’s a superb writer.
She has time management issues.
For every time I nag her about not getting something done, I should notice the great work she does in her fiction and non-fiction 10 times.
Do you build on your strengths often enough, or are you constantly trying to shore up your weak spots?
David Zinger conducted a survey recently about how much time managers spend on their strengths. He reports that only three out of 10 …read more

Everyone appreciates praise from a client, a supervisor or a co-worker.But vague compliments leave the (often correct) impression that you don’t really understand what that person does.
When you spot someone doing something right, provide immediate positive feedback that’s specific to the task.  If you aren’t sure about someone’s role, spend a few minutes finding out more before lavishing praise on them.

“You saved me from embarrassment this morning when you spotted that typo before I sent that document out,” communicates not just your appreciation, but also your understanding of what was done and how it helped.
“You do a great job! …read more