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Bill Swanson’s ‘25 Unwritten Rules of Management’

June 29th, 2005 | Comments Off | Posted in Leadership

“1. Learn to say, “I don’t know.” If used when appropriate, it will be often. 2. It is easier to get into something than it is to get out of it. 3. If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much…”

How to Make Great Decisions

June 29th, 2005 | Comments Off | Posted in Life

“In Fortune 75 Special Edition online, it has a series of articles and interviews on ‘How to Make Great Decisions.’”

Going Visual: Using Images to Enhance Productivity, Decisionmaking and Profits

June 29th, 2005 | Comments Off | Posted in Business

“Going Visual is the first book to make the crucial link between images and business productivity, decision-making, profitability and competitive edge. It describes the profound changes and improvements to interpersonal communications that occur when businesspeople make everyday use of simple imaging devices such as digital cameras or camera-phones to create and communicate with information-rich images.”

Death by Meeting

June 27th, 2005 | Comments Off | Posted in Meetings

“I have enjoyed Patrick Lencioni’s books The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable… so I was intrigued by the title of his 2004 work: Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable…About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business. Like all of his books it is an easy read in an allegorical style. In Death by Meeting Lencioni tackles the problem of ineffective meetings. He suggests that like movies or television shows, meetings should have drama that is born primarily out of healthy conflict…”

Ten Things You Can Do Today to Jump-start Success

June 27th, 2005 | Comments Off | Posted in Life

“1. Read or listen to something that motivates you every single day. If you don’t read another item on this list, take this to heart. Don’t let a single day go by without providing yourself external motivation.”

Advertising, Under Review

June 27th, 2005 | Comments Off | Posted in Advertising

“Never mind the blank TV — someone unplugged the entire ad business! When it comes to spending — whether the medium is television, print, or the Internet — the boom times are over. Clients wonder if agencies understand their problems, and consumers wonder why they should pay attention to what Madison Avenue produces. Six advertising insiders take the industry to account.”

AdJab

June 27th, 2005 | Comments Off | Posted in Advertising

A new weblog about the advertising industry from Weblogs Inc.

Planning and Facilitating Meetings

June 24th, 2005 | Comments Off | Posted in Meetings

“Meetings can make or break an organization. If your meetings are well prepared, focused on planning for action, and facilitated in an efficient, yet involving and upbeat manner, they help build your organization. On the other hand, if your meetings are poorly planned, poorly run. and don’t focus on planning for action, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to build an organization.”

Hold or Fold? Sizing Up Business Risk

June 24th, 2005 | Comments Off | Posted in Business

“According to Eileen C. Shapiro and HBS professor Howard H. Stevenson, three key elements help you size up an option: your satisfaction to date, predictions about likely results, and future intentions. A book excerpt from ‘Make Your Own Luck.’”

Commandment #10: Control the Meeting (But Be Smart About It)

June 24th, 2005 | Comments Off | Posted in Finance/VC

“In a VC meeting, first thing to remember: Your goal is to get the next meeting (See: Commandment #3). Second thing to remember: That’s not your audience’s goal. The goal of the audience is to decide whether it’s ‘worth it’ (see below) to schedule a second meeting (their opportunity cost, and, to a limited degree, yours). For this, they will inevitably ask a bunch of questions (see Commandment #8: Know what you don’t know, and admit it). Questions can be good, bad or distracting (a form of ‘bad’). The wrong approach to answering questions can be fatal to the second meeting. This Commandment offers advice on ways to handle this situation.”