We are born with insatiable curiosity. In our youth, everything was a question as we tried to figure out a world filled with mystery. Paul Harris, an authority on early childhood education, says that between the ages of two and five, children pose over 100 questions an hour – two-thirds of which are efforts to […]
Read MoreFailure is inevitable. It’s the distinguishing feature of economies, businesses, governments and relationships. Almost 98% of all new products fail; 97% of all patents never make money; 90% of oil wells drilled are dry; 80% of venture-capital funded firms go under; 80% of corporate mergers and acquisitions add no new value; 70% of new drugs […]
Read MoreRecently, I was interviewed about “the games people play” for an Australian television production. The host was well informed and his questions well researched. Watch below if you have an interest in my answers. Hope you find it enjoyable. Jim You can get your copy of The Game of Life by visiting our Books page, or […]
Read MoreTo achieve their unscrupulous objectives, skillful manipulators prey upon our fears, sense of obligation to those we admire or feelings of guilt about what we’ve done. They’re usually quite friendly, sometimes even intimate, when they get what they want. But they use their familiarity with our vulnerabilities to shape their strategies for seeking advantage. That […]
Read MoreYou stream a new movie on Netflix and the next day discuss it with a friend who also saw it. A particular scene, pivotal to the plot, excites you and you seek her thoughts on it. That’s when you discover you must have watched a different film. She saw details you didn’t even notice, had […]
Read MoreThe brain is designed for mimicry – we learn by copying the behaviour of others. This determines in large measure who we are and what we seek in life. We have an innate need to belong. Our mindset is more one of dependency than independency. Early in our lives, we connect with our parents, siblings […]
Read MoreI have several heroes whose lives I have studied in depth and whose thinking gives me inspiration and guidance. Among them, for different reasons, are Albert Einstein and Walt Disney. What intrigues and informs me about their remarkable accomplishments is how they each, in their own unique way, approached and solved the problems and addressed […]
Read MoreOysters are the silent, non-responsive players in the game of life. I chose the label for an obvious reason: when we know how to expertly open them up without damaging their fragile egos, we may discover a pearl and the kind of communication that could lead to more productive encounters in future. For this to […]
Read MoreLuck happens. Just as the reverse is true. Unexpected and unpredictable occurrences we had nothing to do with can be both good and bad. The trick is to know what to do when the good appears and it’s consequential. At least half of smart leadership (or anything else for that matter) is knowing how to […]
Read MoreBusiness leaders need to understand that creativity is not the enemy of efficiency. It’s simply the ability to think differently. This can be time-consuming, disruptive or even repugnant in corporate cultures that pride metrics, spreadsheets, speed and bottom-line proficiency. But it’s skills-based hard work. And, in today’s unpredictable, hyper-competitive world, where better, faster and cheaper […]
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