Business & The Complex System

Just like there are strategic and tactical activities in business, there are application features (i.e. features in a software application) that are strategic and there are those that are more tactical. In fact, some software solutions are entirely strategic whereas others are only tactical. Here’s the difference. A strategic feature is one that is used [...]

I can’t tell you how many ideas I’ve had in my life that have been shot down by people around me. As far back as I can remember I’ve been coming up with ideas that to a lot of people just don’t make sense. Fortunately that fact hasn’t completely shut down my radical thinking. Lucky [...]

Many people would probably say that I can be pretty scattered, in a micro level that may be true. Just ask anyone that’s ever gotten into a conversation with me via instant messenger while I’m on the road. I’m practically on to the next though before the other person has had time to respond to [...]

When growing a company, the bets we make and initiatives we bank on don’t always work out exactly like we planned. That’s ok. We do the best we can, with the information we have and the experience we can call upon to develop an execution plan that maximizes the likelihood of success. In my experience [...]

What’s your risk tolerance? If you aren’t regularly asking yourself this question your missing an opportunity to make better decisions. Whether you own your own business, your part of a management team, an investor or an employee at a company you don’t have any stake in at all, knowing your risk tolerance is a good [...]

One of the things I love about start-ups is the ability to get stuff done incredibly quickly. It’s a phenomenon really. When things are brand new several forces are driving that. First, people are just fired up to be part of something new. There is no history or politics that get in the way. Everyone [...]

I've talked about this before; I’m a pretty tactical guy. Of course it’s a skill and I’m glad to have the ability to just get things done, fast and with quality. However, since initially reading required business book Good to Great something hasn’t sat right with me. One of the mantra’s of the book is [...]

I’ve certainly encountered many styles in business and over time I’ve realized that the best way to make progress is to modify my style to better fit with those of others around me. I’ve had good success with this approach and because some people are better or more willing to do it than others, it’s [...]

Last week Leads360 was featured in the Wall Street Journal and I was personally interviewed and quoted. This one is in some ways more exciting than the recent exposure in Business Week and it seemed to get even more attention than the BW one. I'm pretty excited about how our marketing strategy around PR and [...]

Is that even a real role? It should be. The idea of a having someone who is evangelizing the company, both internally and externally, is synonymous the best companies like Amazon, Apple, Salesforce.com, Zappos, etc. they’ve all got someone at the top, most often the founder or CEO, that is the heart and soul of [...]