Learning to Expect the Unexpected

A black swan is an outlier, an event that lies beyond the realm of normal expectations. Most people expect all swans to be white because that’s what their experience tells them; a black swan is by definition a surprise. Nevertheless, people tend to concoct explanations for them after the fact, which makes them appear more predictable, and less random, than they are. Our minds are … [ Read more ]

Global Migration Patterns and Job Creation

Gallup’s World Poll reveals new findings on the “great global dream” and how it will affect the rise of the next economic empire.

Rotman Magazine – Spring 2007

The Spring 2007 issue of Rotman magazine contains 124 pages of varying quality articles and other information. I personally recommend reading the following:
– Thought Leader Interview: Daniel Kahneman
– Countering the Biggest Risk of All by Adrian Slywotzky and John Drzik
– Bounded Awareness by Dolly Chugh and Max Bazerman
– Hull’s Laws: What we can learn from derivatives mishaps by John Hull
– A Primer on the Management … [ Read more ]

Addressing the Muslim Market

Can You Afford Not To? Throughout the world, Muslims are becoming increasingly active as investors and manufacturers, bankers and traders, competitors and suppliers, and becoming real partners in a global economic system. Muslims comprise one of the fastest growing consumer markets in the world and, hence, represent a major growth opportunity for businesses around the world.

From Reciprocity to Reputation

The basis of trust may be changing. It used to be based on reciprocity and as such was fragile and personal. Because of technology, trust is now based on reputation among people who don’t know each. It is both less personal and more robust.

PowerPoint, Warts and All: Relearning to Communicate

PowerPoint recently (and quietly) celebrated its 20th birthday. Why do some people love it while others passionately hate it?

And how can we learn from its strength and its limitations, to be better and more effective communicators?

Age and the entrepreneur, part 1: Some data

Marc Andreessen summarizes some research by Dean Simonton on age and creativity across many fields.

Luck and the entrepreneur, part 1: The four kinds of luck

Marc Andreessen takes a look at luck and the entrepreneur, focusing on the work of Dr. James Austin, who developed a theory of four kinds of luck (chance).

Rotman Magazine – Winter 2007

The Winter 2007 issue of Rotman magazine contains 124 pages of varying quality articles and other information. I personally recommend reading the following:
– Peripheral Vision: An Interview with George Day
– Drivers of Economic Growth by Robert Ayres
– Time for Design by Jeanne Liedtka and Henry Mintzberg
– The Big Picture: Howard Gardner (The Five Minds of the Future)
– Neuroeconomics by … [ Read more ]

Do business books work?

Seth Godin blogs about whether business books work or are they an utter waste of time.

Editor’s Note: the blog post itself is fine, but if the topic interests you will will find quite a number of related trackback posts to further your reading…

Business Magazine Covers as Contrarian Indicators

Marc Andreessen summarizes and provides a copy of a 2007 paper in the Financial Analysts Journal by Tom Arnold, John Earl, and David North:

“Headlines from featured stories in Business Week, Fortune, and Forbes were collected for a 20-year period to determine whether positive stories are associated with superior future performance and negative stories are associated with inferior future performance for the featured company. “Superior” and … [ Read more ]

A Small Circle Of Friends

Some self-help groups save lives, and some just drift apart. What makes a personal network click?

Rotman Magazine – Fall 2006

The Fall 2006 issue of Rotman magazine contains 120 pages of varying quality articles and other information. I personally recommend reading the following:
– Identity and the Economics of Organizations by George Akerlof and Rachel Kranton
– Loyalty Myths by Timothy Keiningham,Terry Vavra, Lerzan Aksoy and Henri Wallard
– The Big Picture:Tom Stewart
– The Trust Development Process by Mark Weber, Deepak Malhotra and … [ Read more ]

Blinded by the Light

How the “halo effect” distorts our view of company performance.

Why Management Consultants

The management consultant has come to be taken for granted. But the management consultant is an extraordinary and indeed a truly unique phenomenon.

Alvin Toffler: The Thought Leader Interview

Thirty-six years after his book Future Shock, the world’s most influential futurist sees the informal economy as a basis of revolutionary wealth.

Controversy Incorporated

Some of the best growth opportunities are found in fields loaded with ethical and moral difficulties, including biotechnology, providing public services for profit, serving low-income consumers in poor countries, and developing newly legal activities such as gaming. Companies working in these fields have had to make themselves more socially responsible to satisfy not only political activists but also their own shareholders. To make the most … [ Read more ]

The 80-19-1 Rule

Brad Feld postulates a different way to view the Pareto principle.

Editor’s Note: you’ll probably want to read the prior and external posts he mentions to get the full benefit of this entry.

Eight Questions Customers Should Ask Suppliers

Just as a supplier needs to do his or her homework to earn the right to do business with a client, training directors need to know how to do the right kind of due diligence about a supplier. One should understand a supplier’s basic capabilities, its content, and what is behind its pricing. But, the most important questions concern what it will be like to … [ Read more ]