Most Recent Articles
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Blog / ChangeThis
Adapt: The Benefits of Safe Mistakes
By Tim Harford
"We cling on to the idea that successful business people are talented leaders running objectively brilliant corporations. But the world is far too complex and changes far too rapidly for us to have any confidence that this fondly held idea is true. It's easy to list corporations which have enjoyed periods of great success, only to stumble and fail to adapt: think of US Steel and Cudahy Packing a hundred years ago, Atari and Pan Am in the 1970s, and General Motors and MySpace more recently. Or think of eBay, McDonald's, and the Nobel-prize winning Grameen Bank, which have suddenly sprung from nowhere, almost by accident, because somebody happened upon a brilliant idea. So does economic success happen despite business failure? I'd go further than that. Economic success happens because of business failure. It's the failure of once-dominant companies that makes space for new business ideas."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Sober Entrepreneurship: Why Modern Entrepreneurs Won't Succeed Under the Influence
By Carol Roth
"According to the Kauffman Foundation, we are seeing approximately 6 million new businesses created every year. Most of those aren't driven by innovation and if recent history is an indicator, they won't grow or even exist five years from now. If we are going to hang our hat on entrepreneurship, we need to ensure more successes, avoid the number of true failures and make sure that we have the right people pursuing the right opportunities at the right time with the right preparation. Friends don't let friends start businesses under the influence."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
The End of the Roundabout Way: Why Quality of Life Will Finally Take Center Stage
By Julia Valentine
"The next quantum leap will occur when a critical mass of people realizes that one of the major purposes of life is JOY. Until then, most people will accept an ersatz, an imitation, or a roundabout way of creating joy. Is JOY a BMW? (That's the advertising campaign the company has been running). Not really. Sorry, but no. With all due respect to BMW, joy has nothing to do with a (great!) metal box on wheels. That's transportation. And if you do not feel joy unless you have money to buy this car, you're really screwed. Because next year, joy is going to be your own private Boeing. Or a trip to Mars. Or watching shooting stars on Jupiter."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / News & Opinion
Healthy Competition
By 800-CEO-READ
Business books can deal with some very serious advice regarding competitive advantage, but sometimes it's fun to take the lighter side of things. We sell business books, and Stone Creek Coffee sells coffee. We never cross paths in the marketplace, but ping pong?
Categories: news-opinion
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Blog / Staff Picks
Super Mario
Book Review by 800-CEO-READ
Like most people my age, I spent a significant portion of my childhood pretending to be a Italian plumber. You see, we were the Nintendo generation, and regardless of what games you ended up getting later on, you had to find every warp pipe and explore all the secret worlds of Super Mario Bros. first.
Categories: staff-picks
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Blog / News & Opinion
Are You Prepared?
By 800-CEO-READ
I saw a bumper sticker on the drive to work today. It read: It is a terrible thing to see, yet have no vision. This is a quote from Helen Keller, and reading it can immediately make one think, "I need to have more vision.
Categories: news-opinion
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Blog / Staff Picks
World of the News
Book Review by 800-CEO-READ
I've been fascinated watching the phone-hacking scandal surrounding NewsCorp and the Murdoch family. It's not because I have strong views about Murdoch himself (though I do), but because I absolutely love newspapers and I'm fascinated by the news business. The very first amendment of our constitution gave us a free press, and that fundamental right has created what has become an institution whose business model has been in almost constant flux since its inception.
Categories: staff-picks
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Blog / News & Opinion
Breaking the Fear Barrier
By 800-CEO-READ
After battling numerous attempts by wasps to set up shop around our house, my fear of bees seems to have intensified. Each time a nest building was aborted, a new one appeared, and the fear became stronger. They cannot be stopped, it seemed.
Categories: news-opinion
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Blog / News & Opinion
Google Reader
By 800-CEO-READ
We were discussing the new Google eReader via email here last week, when Roy replied with the following: Big Shock: Roy has never used Google anything. I think it's a government conspiracy. Happy Tuesday!
Categories: news-opinion
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Blog / News & Opinion
Carol Roth + Phil Gerbyshak: Tips for Small Businesses
By 800-CEO-READ
I spent some time in Chicago yesterday with author and business strategist Carol Roth, and marketing technology strategist Phil Gerbyshak. We talked about a wide range of perspectives, from small business, to authors, bloggers, and more, and one central theme started to develop: small organizations have the flexibility to change, and the proximity to their customers, to make big things happen. Here's a glimpse into one of those conversations: Feeling inspired to start your own small business?
Categories: news-opinion
