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Plato the Greek philosopher, is credited with the quotation: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Valuing something is truly a personal affair. Take my house pictured above. Last month it came to the market, at what my wife and I and our realtor believed was a fair price.
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As the economy gathers steam, I know many management teams are considering hitting the acquisition trail (some for the first time). Here are a few thoughts on some operational tricks to bear in mind. Read More

As the leader of a private company with 20 to 100 employees, you are in an elite class. To be precise, your company is in the top 2% of all companies (600,000 out of 27.3m). The business has done well. But what is the next stage for you? Read More

As Bernadette Jiwa noted in her new book, “difference”, it’s becoming more and more difficult to be different. In a world that’s constantly on, 24/7, how do you stand out? Well as she put it so succinctly, it’s not about being different; it’s about making a difference. Read More

I read a very insightful book over Easter – difference by Bernadette Jiwa. Standing on the shoulders of some very smart people, she offers a compelling approach to reimagining your business. This post offers an action oriented summary. Read More

Seth Godin published one of his mind-dismantling blog posts earlier this month: Search vs. Discovery. In the post, he was drawing a clear distinction between the two. I've taken this theme and expanded it into the world of selling. Read More

I’ve been delivering some presentations in February and March about scaling private companies. I’ve had great positive feedback from attendees. I thought it would be useful summarizing 10 quick reasons companies are failing to scale and what to do about it. Read More

Andrew Hill at the FT wrote an interesting column last week about “Purpose”. As he pointed out, it has become quite a buzzword in CEO circles. Ellen Kullman, CEO at Dupont wasn’t the only CEO to use it at the recent World Economic Forum. But he missed a point - purpose needs context. Read More

The Strategic Plan sounds like a big company tool. The sort of thing that IBM or Google might pull together. Well I’ve been involved in large and small companies, driving strategic plans for many years and I’m convinced they’ve become, ironically, the best tactical weapon at your disposal. Read More

Google acquired a thermostat company called Nest for $3.2 Billion this week. Shocker or was it? The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, was packed full of internet connected devices. I'd thought it might be useful to summarize recent articles and some actions you might consider. Read More