It’s fascinating how two people can see and experience the same situation and come away with completely different perspectives. As I’ve been discussing the impact of the coronavirus with business leaders, I frequently hear a surprising, but optimistic, view! Some business leaders look at problems with positive attitudes, looking for opportunities amid the trials in life. Others, however, only see ...
As I write this broadcast, crude oil prices went negative for the first time ever. Sellers of oil are paying others to take their oil rather than find a place to store it. This is an unintended consequence of the stay-at-home orders of the coronavirus. Gas demand has plummeted, and the oil companies have more oil than they can possibly ...
According to a thesis written by retired nurse, Susan Berry, called Politics and Pandemic in 1918 Kansas City, the Spanish Flu struck Kansas City in September 1918 beginning a battle of profit over people. Kansas City leadership wrestled for months over how much economic pain to withstand versus preventing additional deaths. Due to political pressure, the leadership pursued profits and ...
When the Coronavirus first became public, I was in Costco visiting with a store manager. He said, “What a day. We had a run on toilet paper!” “Why are people hoarding toilet paper?” I asked. “This virus doesn’t impact the stomach.” His only explanation was that panic had swept our country. Panic means a sudden overwhelming fear, with or without ...
At 25 years old I foolishly started a car rental agency during the most challenging economic time in my lifetime. Within a year I had closed the business, feeling like a failure. That fostered a fear of failure that almost prevented me from launching what today is Unconventional Business Network. In retrospect, I learned my failure had better prepared me ...
As somewhat of an optimistic visionary, I create chaos at times as I push forward a new idea before its time, sometimes leaving important projects undone. This can cause frustration for those around me as they fight fires rather than working a methodical plan. Although I’m still not as good at putting order to my chaos as I’d like, what ...
Roger, a new friend of mine, recently shared with me about how his company handled the economic downturn in 2009. Their business was significantly impacted and needed to slash payroll. But, leadership chose to look beyond the conventional employee layoffs. After much thought, leadership chose to retain all employees by cutting wages. The highest paid workers took the biggest pay ...
Many years ago, a friend and I bought an investment property at a courthouse auction that the IRS was selling for back taxes. Surprisingly, days later the IRS informed us that they were exercising their legal right to redeem the house to sell it back to the family who lost their home. This law allowing redemption was bad for us, ...
Mary Andringa wrote a book as a tribute to her father, Gary Vermeer., a book. As the founder of Vermeer Corporation, a large manufacturing company, Gary knew the importance of keeping an eye out for those who were disruptive to others. When Gary entered the manufacturing plant and saw three or more employees talking together, he noted that they were ...
In this series on how much work is enough, we’ve discussed some thoughts on determining your work schedule. In a Wall Street Journal article, Dr. Pang discovered that shorter work weeks has proven successful for many businesses. For instance, Microsoft Japan turned heads when they announced that productivity increased by 40% and electricity dropped 23% when they shifted to four-day ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
