How many consultants does it take to deliver a presentation? Last October the answer was three. The topic was so big and so cool–the future of customer experiences–that me and two of my good friends teamed up to give talk on the various forces creating the next chapter in serving customers. It went well, so much that we were
I got a flat tire a couple of weeks ago. No, you are not having deja vu. This is my second flat tire post in a two months because I this is a second flat tire I’ve had in a two months. Seriously. 🙁 In that post, I discovered that while I had a full
My last post mentioned how crucial it is to keep contaminants out of our “fuel tanks”. I was asked, “How do you do that if the problem is a person, especially one hard to keep out like family?” My answer: Read the book Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control
Every Christmas, my family loads up our minivan to drive thirteen hours to visit extended family. This year we almost made it. Around 1:00am, I exited the interstate to refuel our gas tank. The kids were still asleep, a minor miracle for my family. And as I drove away from the pump, the car died. Steering onto
The story of Icarus is one of the most famous Greek myths. He was imprisoned with his father, a great inventor who made a king angry. His father used feathers and wax to create wings. They escaped out a window overlooking the ocean. Icarus ignored his father’s warnings to stay low. As he neared the
I recently read the biography of John D Rockefeller, who grew up dirt floor poor just before the American Civil War (born 1839), founded Standard Oil Company, created one of the first major monopolies, and ended up one of the wealthiest men in the world. It was well written, full of quirky characters and surprising
Merry Christmas! The big things are all done now. Now it’s time to make the little things count. Slow down and listen to the laughter and squeals of the children. Hug someone—for longer than a second. Close your eyes and smell the food. Take a big, deep breath and release it. Be fully in this
The Christmas season magnifies our emotions, the good and the bad. When life is going well, it’s a magical time of joy. But when trouble strikes, it seems to hurt worse during the Christmas holidays. We can feel like the woman who set out to row across the Atlantic ocean. After rigorous training, she stockpiled
Too often we try to help others by telling them what to do when we should be asking them questions. And too often we ask questions when we need to tell them what to do. Neither is right in every situation. Here’s how I choose when to do what (not that I always get this right).
My life’s aim—put very generically—is to help people as much as I can. (The full version addresses my relationship to God, my family, leadership, and adventure). For a long while, I thought being helpful meant giving great advice. So I began to learn as much as I could, growing my stockpile of valuable knowledge. But