In March 2020, just as we were all starting to feel the reality of the Covid pandemic, and we had suspended our disbelief, and really kicked into action to deal with the unfolding crisis, I wrote a blog called ‘Look After You’. At the time, we had no idea how long the pandemic would last; and now, despite vaccines and far better understanding, it...
Read MoreThe ancient Greek poet Archilocus of Paros wrote that “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing”. While the original story or intent behind that moral is lost to history, that little statement has been the source of considerable philosophical and psychological debate as its meaning, and more importantly its applicability to...
Read MoreI have often said that every business is a global business. We are too. I recently presented to 150 mechanical and manufacturing engineers in Latvia - well, many of them were in Lativia but attendees were a mix of in-person and on-line. The subject was international expansion. One of the key messages was the importance of selecting your new market...
Read MoreAlmost all our clients are running at maximum capacity at the moment. And likely you are too (if not – we must talk…). At times like these, the natural inclination is to keep your head down and try to keep up with demand. But maybe that’s not the best thing to do. Hear me out. We all know that the current business cycle is going to end when demand...
Read MoreWhen you enter a new market, the natural inclination is to figure out how the game is played there and then how you can play it better than the incumbents. This is a very poor way to enter a new market. A better way is to determine what the end users require and then start from a blank sheet to design your own way to serve the ‘best’ segment in tha...
Read MoreAs a business leader, you own your company’s strategy. But most of us get tied up in the day-to-day and, at best, are focusing on tactics that will see us through this quarter or this year. The next few years are guaranteed to be full of big changes and therefore will present equivalently large threats and opportunities.
Read MoreEach year I mentor a student in the Telfer School of Business at the University of Ottawa. This year the woman I am mentoring has been asked to participate in their Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. A truly noble cause. But… I am reminded of the great experiment underway at the moment to encourage the vaccine hesitant to rethink their opp...
Read MoreThe reason I bring this up is because of a more recent interaction with Bell. My internet stopped working and so I went online to try and resolve it… The first items on their phone tree are all about buying a new phone, a new TV service, faster internet etc… Eventually you get down to repairs and you again click through a long tree only to be put o...
Read MoreWe humans are paradoxical creatures. On the one hand, we like habits - good or bad - where we follow routines, and especially if we did something that worked really well, then we are quite happy to do the same again, and again, and keep doing it. Eating the same things, at the same times, going to the same place for vacation year after year, a...
Read MoreIt's amazing how often I see people in leadership positions doing one when the other would have been more appropriate. These 2 words are often used interchangeably, and you could say that to use one word rather than the other is a matter of semantics. But, for the moment, let's just entertain the notion that they are quite different and being ab...
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