I came across an interesting concept the other day. It was called “negative learning.” What is negative learning? An excellent example, of negative learning is President Clinton. Negative learning comes from executing a negative action that produces positive results. President Clinton, formerly Governor Clinton, formerly Attorney General Clinton, formerly private citizen Clinton, tells a lie [...]

As a practical matter, I never launch into any particular conversation without first and foremost setting it up. It’s important you set it up because, by setting it up, it gives you the opportunity to manage the perceptions and manage the environment within which the conversation is going to be held. By doing that, you [...]

This company’s all about grokking. Grokking. Listening with all pores. Whether it’s the market we’re listening to, or the associates, or the entire organization, or the customers: it’s all about grokking. In other words, our objective is to make sure we fully understand what’s happening around us at any particular time. It’s the environmental context [...]

Each year, I compose a poem for our annual holiday party, this year I’d like to share my poem with you. Happy holidays to all. I once found a river swift and sublime With powerful waters, serene and refined It flowed through the forest and overgrown vine Inviting a visit and a vision in rhyme [...]

It’s simply all about believing you can do it. Once you believe it, the logistics are easy. Original writing date: DECEMBER 21, 2004

What’s interesting is that at 2 years old, everything is “Bella’s.” So, for example, Bella’s clearly ascertained, always referring to herself in the third person, that there is such a thing as “Bella’s bath.” Or “Bella’s soda.” Or “Bella’s pool.” And so forth. In other words, everything is “Bella’s.” There’s a certain amount of ownership [...]

You know, Jared just celebrated his 7th birthday and, as one of his gifts in a Star Wars studded birthday party, he got a caterpillar on a little bush in a plastic container. The idea, I guess, is to see the caterpillar become a chrysalis and, from there, ultimately a butterfly. It was interesting to [...]

→ Know what you’re looking for → Make the most of talent → Create pride in the brand → Build community → Share the business context → Satisfy the soul Original writing date: June 13, 2005

Intelligent self-evaluation or intelligent self-criticism. The concept of incessantly reviewing your own procedures, processes, and results to determine if you are optimized: after all, our job means that we’re paid to get better each and every day, not get worse or stick to our guns. Original writing date: March 21, 2005

You know what? I was watching a Disney made-for-TV movie the other night, Buffalo Dreams. Maybe you saw it. As you know, Disney makes made-for-TV movies from time to time and usually includes some type of moral or moralistic theme. Inevitably, in all of the Disney movies, it’s pretty clear as to who’s good and [...]