I have been listening to and learning about economics from Russ Roberts’ EconTalk podcasts for years. Roberts is an economist and research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institute, and author of many books, the most recent being How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness. He’s also an […]
Today, December 5, is Walt Disney’s birthday. Born in 1901, Walt Disney passed away on December 15, 1966 at the age of 65. As a legendary and iconoclastic entrepreneur, his rags-to-riches life story is one of amazing and inspiring entrepreneurial courage and success. Walt Disney was a tenacious visionary who dedicated his life to the […]
I really like this quote below from Howard Schultz, executive chairman and former CEO of Starbucks, on the importance of a business mission, and how they used both a top-down and bottom-up process to ensure inclusiveness when developing their strategic framework. Note that what Schultz was seeking first and foremost was an expression of guiding […]
The Internet and platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have democratized the news business. Anyone can now participate as self-proclaimed media, regardless of their credentials, viewpoint, and moral integrity. As media consumers, we hope that the criteria for acceptability are the veracity of the story and quality of reporting, but that’s not always the case. In […]
High-level conceptual thinking is a critically important skill for successful business leaders. This skill consists primarily of the process of observation and logic to form concepts of increasing integration and complexity. When done right, lower-level concepts become embedded in higher-level concepts, with each rising conceptual level being an integration of appropriate and valid lower-level concepts. […]
We are all victims of far too many unnecessary and meaningless meetings. While managers always complain about this scourge of corporate life, they are themselves commonly the reason for bad meeting behaviour. Rising through the corporate ranks sometimes appears to be a license for engaging in and promoting such disruptive, unproductive, and costly behaviour.
While working in the Corporate Planning & Development division at Aetna Canada with SVP Dobri Stojsic in the early 1990s, our small team of strategists was charged with developing a customer service strategy for the organization that would help Aetna become “the recognized leader in service to targeted financial intermediaries and group sponsors.” This was […]
Shortly after completing my Fast-Track MBA at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Management in 1992 (now Rotman School of Management), I was invited to address the new incoming Fast-Track class to share my experiences and observations.
Having completed my book The Business of Walt Disney and the Nine Principles of His Success and building a website, I’ve been able to spend time this spring and summer between work assignments catching up on some reading in areas of professional and personal interest.
Looking back at the long and varied career of Walt Disney, it seems that almost everything he touched – from Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse to Disneyland and Florida’s Walt Disney World – resulted in success. Walt Disney surely had the golden touch. The truth isn’t quite as kind. Walt wasn’t always right […]