I saw a diagram the other day that showed that RESULTS exist in the space between what you DEMAND and what you TOLERATE.  I think that there is some truth in this statement, but it is in conflict with our definition of leadership.
We believe that a LEADER is someone whom others CHOOSE to FOLLOW.  So [...]

Ernest Hemingway wrote, “The Circus is good for you. It is the only spectacle I know that while you watch, it gives the quality of a truly happy dream . . . ”
And he never watched Cirque du Soleil. What could be more of a happy dream than Cirque du Soleil?  I ask [...]

Yesterday’s USA Today reminded us of the United snafoo during the Christmas holidays when they diverted two planes originally bound for Denver to Cheyenne, Wyoming, because of weather. Diversion for safety reasons of course is not a snafoo. However in United’s case, they stranded the passengers in Cheyenne the next morning and flew [...]

As you know, the investment category, stocks, bonds, funds, etc., is about as fragmented a category as one can find. My book, KILLER BRANDS, notes that there are more mutual funds traded than there are even individual stocks.
How do you differentiate in such a crowded category?
If you drive up I95 between Ft. Lauderdale and Boca [...]

There is no way of estimating how many of New York’s sidewalk hot dog stands I have frequented in my career, but they are certainly a good deal. A hot dog on a fresh bun plus a soft drink for only two dollars in one of the World’s most expensive cities.
You have probably done [...]

Brand Equity is like basketball. Every brand gets one pivot foot. Every brand can keep its pivot foot still and take one step in any direction before it begins walking. Special K cereal’s pivot foot seems to have been weight loss for quite awhile. When they took one step towards having [...]

In 1974, Robert Pirsig’s book Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a best seller. My boss at the time gave me this book and asked that I read it and tell him in what way it related to marketing.
The book explains a motorcycle trip from Minneapolis to the Oregon coast. The [...]

I realized the other day that I spend a lot of time in my career dancing on the head of a pin to find the sharpest point. What does this mean?
In looking for the difference between 211 degrees when water is hot and 212 degrees when water boils and produces steam (referenced in the [...]

A CEO friend gave me a book worth your owning, 212°

The premise of this book is simple:
At 211 degrees water is hot. At 212 degrees water boils. This one degree difference produces steam and energy powerful enough to move a locomotive, in fact to pull a train.
This is worth remembering every day. [...]

Meaning “Not Invented Here,” a term you have probably heard and/or had to deal with before.
This insular way of thinking within companies never made sense to me when I was working on brands within major companies such as General Electric, Procter & Gamble, SCJohnson Wax and Neutrogena. For instance, my R&D teams were good, [...]