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How do you as an individual, “be different”?  As a company?  How do you create value that stands out from others providing your services?  And if your services fall in the same category as others, you must not be different, right?  Shouldn’t you then be in your own category?
Catching up on some blog reading, Brian […]

My friend Sam Duregger (@duregger) pointed me to an article about the obsessive-ness people have developed with their smartphones.
The article opens with a story about a man who was so engaged with his smartphone he didn’t notice the bathtub water he was filling for his daughter was overflowing onto the floor.  Why is this technology […]

Seems to me that “Depression 2.0” never happened, and probably isn’t likely to.
On the Forbes DigitalRules blog, Twenty Reasons for Optimism.
On the Value Acceleration blog, Mitch has noticed busy airports and cities.
And what’s fueling the turn around?  Innovative people like Jeremy Parker, who’s story is told on Mark Cuban’s blog.
I like Tom Peters’ synopsis:
Oracle and […]

Dan Roam of "The Back of the Napkin Blog" discusses a new book on his blog called Problem Solving 101 by Ken Watanabe.  The book was originally written in Japanese, but after great success in Japan there is now an English version selling in the US.  Here’s a brief snippet from the book’s web site:
Problem […]

This post was inspired by my wife and "On being nimble versus visionary" over at the Learning About Lean blog.
Now is certainly a time in the business environment to be flexible.  To be adaptable.  To grab opportunity when others sit back and watch.  And the airport shuttle guy in the airport in Mexico was […]

About to go on a rant…a rant about marketing speak.  I guess this isn’t the first time I’ve done this.  I guess what is probably frustrating for me is that seemingly a lot of people swoon and end up in a trance at the horse and pony show a lot of companies produce.  "Yes, oh […]

"We’re cutting R & D."
"We have money right now, we’re just not spending any of it." (something I heard from a potential client of mine in the last few months)
A VP I was speaking to at a large manufacturer said a mistake their organization made in 2001 was to not invest capital in the future, […]

Ford declined the bailout.  Gutsy move, and makes them stand out from the other two in the Big 3.  Also, makes the cartoon in this post look a little different.

Had to add "in a positive light" because being mentioned in an ISO audit may not be a good thing, but in this case it definitely was.  For those wondering about how Thrive can support your ISO certification, it is definitely a "value add".  Here’s what was said in a recent audit:
The investment in tools […]

All setup for Lean Tech’s first trade show.  At the Marriott in Schaumberg, IL for Lean Manufacturing 2008: Lean Tools for Maintenance & Reliability.  Here’s my booth!

Thanks to Tom Flynn of Lessing Flynn in Des Moines for the awesome booth design, Chuck Bloyer at Beeline and Blue in Des Moines for the booth printing and […]