The Town of Sweet Pickles Recently a good friend of mine was reflecting on her childhood and a favorite book series called Sweet Pickles, written by Jacquelyn Reinach. What a Mess tells the story of Goof-Off-Goose who relaxed in her hammock while the entire town of Sweet Pickles was busy getting ready for the first snow…. Read More »
What Driverless Cars Have to Teach Us about Success
What Driverless Cars Have to Teach Us about Success In 2011 two top engineers from Google traveled to Detroit hoping to create a partnership to carry their project called Chauffeur. They had developed a car that could drive itself on a variety of 100-mile… Read More »
You Should Pay the Tax Man
You Should Pay the Tax Man It seems that more and more businesses are operating in tax-avoidance mode. I understand the desire to not pay The Tax Man more than your fair share, but in minimizing your tax burden, you may be creating bigger problem. The Problem As a business owner in tax-avoidance mode, you… Read More »
Put Your Calendar to Work
Business Breakthrough #3: Put Your Calendar to Work Never walk into your day with an empty calendar. Without priorities set ahead of time coupled with time set aside on the calendar, the day will simply take over. That’s exactly what you don’t want. Every night before you leave the office, make a list of six things… Read More »
Put Out the Fire
BUSINESS BREAKTHROUGH #2 Put Out the Fire Every day in our businesses we are burning through cash—and we don’t even know where it’s going! I can hear you now: I bet you think you’re… Read More »
Cash Flow
What Cash Flow Can Tell You Inadequate cash flow is like Kryptonite was to Superman; without cash your business will suffer and eventually die. Yet most business owners I meet are not tracking their cash flow. They look at their P&L and balance sheet, but they do not conduct… Read More »
The Pareto Principle
Business Breakthrough #1 May 2018 The Pareto Principle I frequently talk about the 80/20 rule, otherwise known as the Pareto principle, because it’s a powerful concept that illuminates the reality of our time… Read More »
Learning the Language of Business
Learning the Language of Business I was recently sitting at the chef’s counter of my favorite restaurant, the Hairy Lobster, watching the chef and sous chefs work their magic to produce what I consider the best food in Portland, I was thinking about mastery and the language required to achieve it. These chefs have learned… Read More »
How Pruning Produces Results
How Pruning Produces Results Recently I went home to southern California to visit my mother who is 89. It’s been a number of years since I’ve been home, and she was excited to show me her roses, which were blooming profusely. She explained… Read More »
ARE YOU TRYING TO GROW A TREE IN A FLOWERPOT?
ARE YOU TRYING TO GROW A TREE IN A FLOWERPOT? When I was Chief Operations Officer for the largest deciduous shade tree nursery in the U.S. Located on 4000 acres in Oregon, we also had 85 acres in container grown trees or trees in plastic pots. We would plant fully-grown trees from our fields… Read More »