I'm writing today inspired by a post I saw by Chris Walker - on LinkedIn . It resonated with me personally and professionally. There is a dichotomy between having a vision and seeing what others don't while also needing their approval and trying fit in. We are often asked to solve problems and come up with new and innovating solutions to what we see in front of us. Rarely are you asked to implement a dated and by the book strategy, everyone wants to be on the cutting edge. Oddly enough, the more your ideas or approach differ from the status quo, from what the people within the organization has succeeded on, the harder it gets to take those new roads. It feels like most of time, people want you to take the same path and miraculously see something that no one else before you saw, hang a right and boom ... you are at your perfect oasis. Ridiculous.   Here's a fun list for you: Apple Tesla AirBnB FedEx KFC Evernote Blogger Amazon   Wondering what the list is about? A...

Do you think that complicated and complex mean the same thing? It's probably a bit of an unfair question, considering the dictionary basically tells you they are! Complicated: Composed of elaborately interconnected parts; complex Complex: Characterized by a very complicated or involved arrangement of parts, units, etc. This idea however, that these two things mean the same, is one of the biggest challenges we face in the business world today. Why? Because it allows business leaders to use the wrong type of approach to 'solve' the type of problem identified (assuming of course that they have correctly identified the problem). Rick Nason, an associate professor of finance at Dalhousie University’s Rowe School of Business, explains the differences between these two types of problems clearly. Complicated problems may be hard to solve (or may even seem unsolvable at a particular point in time) however they are addressable with a systemic or process ...

  I have always loved the idea of time, which is probably why I have a solid sci-fi geek streak that runs through me (but you may have already guessed that if you recognized my title!). Really understanding and appreciating the nuances of time, isn't something I feel most people are really into. There's all kinds of authors and books who reference time and that it is just a man made creation that has infected our lives; something that stresses people out as they keep feeling like there isn't enough for all of the things they "have" to do. If you haven't seen them yet and want to twist your mind up with time, check out The Arrival & Interstellar . So the question ... why am I writing about time? With all of the talk of Supply Chains in the news lately, with story after story about the stress on them, how some are failing, pressure to perform, etc, talking about time resonated with me. Effectively managing any operation is about effectivel...

Where are we playing? How do we win? So many businesses these days don't see to really be able to answer these questions. Now, while they seem straight forward and simple, they are actually extremely powerful questions and answering them properly requires quite a bit of work; but for the companies that can answer them properly, they are successful in what they do. Businesses of all sizes struggle with really understanding where to play. A company that tries to be everything to everyone while being everywhere is a great example of a company that doesn't really know where to play (and how to win). The underlying premise of those two questions is to really understand where or what your competitive advantage is. For anyone who wants to read more, please see: Competitive Advantage . Simply put, a competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices (cost) or by providing greater benefit...