Warren Buffett claims the secret to his success is that he sits in his office and reads all day. Can it really be that simple? I found an interesting article this week arguing that while the knowledge Buffett references is an important piece of the puzzle, there’s more. I have to agree. Sometimes the best …
Recently, I was visiting with a friend who has a promising business concept in the works but is lacking cash. As many in the business world know, a startup usually takes twice as much cash and twice as long to get to a profit than the initial forecast. Most people won’t go broke because they …
This week, I had lunch with a couple of longtime acquaintances. One is a banker with a Fortune 100 company, and the other is a successful multifamily developer. Our conversation drifted to hiring great talent in this tight market, and what we look for in new team members. Having the necessary background and experience is …
We’ve all been on the receiving end of written communication that can be interpreted as condescending, making us feel disrespected. Often, the communication intensifies the original problem, the opposite of the desired effect. Perhaps the sender’s attempts at being direct and straightforward were misinterpreted, or maybe they were in a hurry and didn’t consider the …
Our garden is as old as our building, and we’ve learned a few things over the 15 years we’ve been growing. We began with tomatoes, and we seem to expand and refine our processes a little each year. We start our vegetables from seeds under grow lights out in the barn. We’ve worked flowers into …
This week, I was a guest of the 2023 National Scout Jamboree, a flagship event that’s held every four years. It spans 10 days, and several thousand Scouts and leaders gather at the high adventure location. This was my sixth time to attend, and I recall it being held in different spots over the years, …
I was recently reacquainted with an old trick for becoming more persuasive. Instead of just making a request, add the word “because” to your sentence. Giving a little context gets a much more positive response, with 55% more compliance than if you omitted it, according to a classic Harvard study conducted in a traditional office setting. …
A few years ago, I met Joe Zidle, a leader at Blackstone, and have followed his posts since. He wrote an interesting article recently, sharing his take on the trajectory of generative AI, as a bubble or the way of the future. He talked about the exponential growth of data on the Internet, snowballing by …
My team often hears me say that everyone is responsible for maintaining customer relationships, and thus sales. We are a mid-sized company, and we take pride in our commitment to involve our project management and field leadership teams in this process. Selling comes more easily to some of us, but I’m a firm believer that, …
A couple of years ago, I mentioned a measurement standard that was new at the time called ESG.This stands for Environmental, Social and Governance, and it considers impacts way beyond just the financial factors. What repercussions might the project or business activities have on the environment? Is it good for the community? And is the …
For those of us who weathered the Financial Crisis, it seems like just yesterday. In truth, it started some 15 years ago, and a lot has changed in the meantime. For starters, our relationship with China has grown more volatile, there is war in Eastern Europe and Covid has disrupted countless systems and practices. Many …
We recently listened to a webinar about ChatGPT, a hot topic right now. To get you up to speed, GPT means “Generative Pre-Trained Transformer,” and it’s the framework for artificial intelligence. ChatGPT currently has more than 100 million users, gained in just 3 months. It took Google 1 year and 2 months to reach the …