Sagacious Think

I’ve seen this scenario, and it drives me bonkers.
Two people pitch their ideas to insert appropriate decision maker: upper management, venture capitalists, city council, and if you could put them on mute and study the ideas objectively you would see that one is clearly superior.   The problem is that on more than one occasion, [...]

In the last year and a half, I know of two personal instances where friends and acquaintances received direct mail from a hotel and the outcome could not have been what was intended.  In fact, one case, I can say they lost business as a result.  I cannot help but think that this is just [...]

I grew up in the Midwest, tornado country and we always had a plan, at school we trained by getting in the hall way, moving away from windows and making ourselves as small as possible.  At home we knew where the candles, and emergency supplies were kept and the safest room in the house.  Living [...]

From an article in the San Francisco Chronicle – Street-Sweeper Reduction Costing Muni Money
When city officials cut street sweeping in more than 20 neighborhoods in August to save cash, they knew that the change would lead to a loss in revenue from parking tickets.
They probably didn’t anticipate that the city would lose four times more [...]

The Economist has an article recently detailing the risk of corporate goal setting, and I found a great quote by the Academy of Management Perspectives, in the article noting that goal setting is widely considered “a benign, over-the-counter treatment” for improving corporate performance when in fact it is “a prescription-strength medication” that should be used [...]

I found this analysis of the NASA PowerPoints which comments on the PowerPoints used by NASA, and the possibility that they adversely influenced management decisions and led to the shuttle disaster. The author suggests that the information was buried in the slide so that Senior Management did not understand the message – interpreting the presentation [...]

Reading Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman afforded me many ‘ah-ha’ moments. This book offers good insight and compelling examples to common behaviors that should probably not be so common.
This “ah ha” moment centered on how test subjects, and real life examples reacted counter to the anticipated [...]

I love feel good stories, and this one hits home for me.
This story is about an artist, Bren Bataclan, who after loosing his job in 2000 decided to pickup his childhood habit of doodling and a career was born. In gratitude to the overwhelmingly favorable response he received for his first show, he decided to [...]

At a company I worked for, within the space of a few years, had acquired two other companies. While I was there, they made little, or belated attempts to merge the three companies. The different buildings still had the original logos, the benefits were different depending on the original company the employee was from. I [...]

When I assumed the role of Director of Operations for a telecommunications company, the development team was wrapping up the initial construction of the networks for which I assumed responsibility. Accolades flowed for the team, as they had completed the network early with customers were signed ahead of schedule. As I was new to the [...]