“We think of the cost of small mistakes as ìtuitionî on the way to learning more about how to make the business better. We even have an annual SureChoice Award that we give to the employee who made the best NEW mistake. This fosters a culture of learning from our mistakes since mistakes are inevitable in a growing business. We have a culture where it is okay to make a new mistake but not okay to make the same mistake twice.”

“Fast-paced decisions, though expedient at the time, often ignore the long-term implications. What does the decision mean for employees? How does it fit with the organization’s overall strategy and direction? What is the long-term cost vs. the short-term benefit?”

“Warning: Never say, “I know how you feel.” As soon as you do, the prospect will reflexively think, “You don’t have the foggiest idea how I feel!” and immediately stop listening. No matter how clever your patter, the connection will be damaged, so watch your words carefully.”

“Anita Sharpe makes an interesting connection between leaders who don’t sleep a lot and business success. One IBM exec sleeps five hours a night. Martha Stewart sleeps four hours a night (although I wonder how much of that lost sleep is because of, well, legal concerns and worrying about adjusting to prison life). Lifeway Foods’ CEO sleeps four hours a night. In the past, we’ve written about power-napping centers and hotel chain design strategies. But perhaps we’re on the wrong track. Do we need to sleep more? Or less?”

“ROI ANALYSIS IS AN important part of your due diligence for new IT investment. How could you even think of participating in a new business venture or investing in another company without it? While ROI analysis is a must-do for any self-respecting management team, ROI is often misused and little understood.” (Thanks Elegant Hack!)

“On Monday, new rules for receiving overtime pay went into effect, setting the maximum eligible salary level at $455 per week (that’s $23,660 per year, see Matt Quinn’s story for more details). That’s a steep hike from the previous $155 per week maximum, making it seem like a good thing for workers.”

“Serve others: When you live authentically, you may find that you develop an interconnected sense of being. When you are true to who you are, living your purpose and giving of your talents to the world around you, you give back in service what you came to share with othersóyour spiritóyour essence.” (Thanks The Occupational Adventure!)

“Most firms will agree that to sustain a company’s growth and progress into the future, it must produce products and services that are getting better all the time. What they have yet to realize is that entire organizations can actually be trained in the process of innovation so its members are constantly improving their way of producing and doing things.”

“Eighteen months after starting this column, business leadership still hasn’t reached perfection. Haven’t they been reading? Why is good leadership still so rare? Maybe it’s because we use a whacked-out definition of leadership. ‘Leader’ has become code for ‘rich guy with an impressive title who orders others around.’ But leading by giving orders left and right with no accountability doesn’t work. We’re living in a world of low loyalty, high mobility, and extreme uncertainty. ‘Push’ leadership will push people right out the door. We need leaders who inspire others to follow, who engender loyalty. We need leaders who practice ‘pull’ leadership.” (Thanks Fast Company Now!)

“Whether you’re searching for part-time MBA programs, full-time MBA programs, or online MBA programs ó or looking to get your bachelor’s degree in business or associate’s degree in business ó All Business Schools makes it easy to find the programs that interest you. Search for business schools by location, program type, or specialty. Then read detailed fact sheets on these programs and request admissions information.”

“More than a year ago, I wrote this for Fast Company: Here’s a question that you should clip out and tape to your bathroom mirror. It might save you some angst 15 years from now. The question is, What did you do back when interest rates were at their lowest in 50 years, crime was close to zero, great employees were looking for good jobs, computers made product development and marketing easier than ever, and there was almost no competition for good news about great ideas?”

“How would you feel if you received two relevant “customer support” e-mail letters just a few hours after writing something about some company in your blog (and not letting them know you wrote this!)? Just short hours after writing about ChangeThis and The Art of the Start (singing them praise:) I got an e-mail from both ChangeThis and the author of The Art of the Start.”

“As part of its anniversary celebration, BusinessWeek is presenting a series of weekly profiles for the greatest innovators of the past 75 years. Some made their mark in science or technology; others in management, finance, marketing, or government. In late September, 2004, BusinessWeek will publish a special commemorative issue on Innovation.”

“Recently, faced by new challenges in my own company, I hired a consultant to help me personally become a better leader. I chuckled a bit at the time: It’s a classic cobbler’s children syndrome…my team and I are so busy helping our clients, we fail to help ourselves. So I decided to hire someone to help us help ourselves.”

“This weblog is my way to objectify my trading activities, to add some dimensionality to my thought processes, to maintain discipline and to keep me honest. I’ll be discussing my trades and my rationale behind each of them.”