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Toons, Love, and Letting Go
Earlier this month the curtain finally fell on Toontown Online. I am guessing that 90% of the people who read this post will have no idea what that is, was, or means. I won’t spend a lot of time...
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To Say or Not to Say
Experiments are the fuel of innovation. Creative risk is the path of reinvention. Writing a novel is just weird. This week my first novel, This is Rage, is being released to the public by my...
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Help, You Need Someone
“Hope you are well.” We are all guilty of typing those words. It’s the email equivalent of “Have a nice day,” though usually as a salutation. It means that in a few sentences someone is going to ask...
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How Fragile Is a Brand?
Apple unveiled a bunch of new products last week, including numerous options in shape, size, and price point for a fuller line of iPads. Many of these products are desirable and will make great...
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16 New Things I’m Thankful For (2013 Edition)
With Thanksgiving on the horizon, it’s time again to take a step back from our daily grind and consider the rejuvenating goodness that dots the landscape all around us. Last year I kicked off my own...
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Wings: Remastered and Revisited
A few decades back, before I became a software and media executive and long before I returned to writing, I wrote the “screenplay” for a succesful computer game called Wings. That “interactive movie”...
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Brands in Memoriam 2013
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos made a spectacular impact recently when he went on 60 Minutes the day before Cyber Monday and gave us a glimpse at the future — a fleet of small delivery drones he branded Prime...
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Fully Unfinished Business
The original title of this post was Nasty, Messy, Murky, and Looming. Maybe I should have stuck with that! As we turn the corner on 2013, a number of problematic, complex issues stand out for me as...
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Not Amused by the Dolled Up Wolf
As I have been out discussing my debut novel, This is Rage, over the past few months in bookstore readings and radio interviews, the question often comes up as to whether it is similar to the latest...
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A Very Good Year for Good Men
I started writing for The Good Men Project in its second year of life, offering to share some of my thoughts on business, creative leadership, and management also published on my own blog. In its third...
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Public Service Made Customer Service
Earlier this year on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart asked Nancy Pelosi a rather awkward question: In effect, can our government still do big things? She never really answered the question, which was also...
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Park the Snark
We talk a good game about bullying. Then the claws come out. Maybe we can’t help ourselves. Maybe we should try harder. Last weekend a good portion of the globe enjoyed the annual late winter Sunday...
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Dear RadioShack
Greetings, my fellow nerdy friends. I read with concern last week in the business press that you are closing as many as 1100 stores, following your well-received Super Bowl commercial earlier this...
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Piercing the Bubble
Almost daily now I’m asked my opinion of whether we are in a stock market bubble. It’s a curious line of inquiry, and inevitably leads to any number of further ponderous meditations that follow: “What...
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I Was On Fox Business Network
Last week I was invited to appear on Varney & Company, the midday (EDT) market commentary on Fox Business Network hosted by Stuart Varney. It was an opportunity to talk about my novel, This is...
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Elon Musk Blows My Mind
I don’t know Elon Musk. I wish I did. This guy knows stuff. He’s the real deal. If there is a possible next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, it could be him. He’s not goofing around with thin stuff that’s...
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When Reunions Work
High school and college reunions can be terrifying. When former classmates tell you that “you look the same,” how can that be? It might be a nice way of saying you look marvelous now, but does it also...
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Stop Dropping the Ball
I get called frequently to help companies with their brands. Usually this involves helping identify the competitive advantages in products and services, articulating the unique selling proposition...
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Mentoring is the Secret Sauce
Last month I gave a talk at Innovate Pasadena on mentoring. I shared some reflections on what it has meant to me to have mentors in my personal and work life, and what it means to me to be a mentor...
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How to Lose a Customer for Life for Ten Bucks
Steve Martin in his heyday had a funny routine called Let’s Get Small. Today I am going to ask you to do the opposite. I am going to ask you not to be small. A while back I wrote an article called the...
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