Recently, I spent an afternoon with the John Bradford, the chief innovation officer of Interface carpet. I can only say, “Wow,” to everything they’re doing and how they’re doing it. Interface was founded some 4 decades ago by Ray Anderson, a visionary in the carpet industry who, among other things, developed the concept of carpet tiles. …
On Christmas morning, my 21-year-old daughter, who is home from college, asked me and her sister if we had seen this video: She said she had watched it several times, and I can see why. It’s a simple story of a family on Christmas day. There’s no dialogue, just music and “Happy Holidays” text at the …
Time. It seems that these days, none of us have enough. When I was a child, my father worked with Southern Bell. I clearly remember the slogan, “Let your fingers do the walking,” and the accompanying “two fingers” mark. [Interestingly, neither the text or the symbol was ever copyrighted, and AT&T allowed any company — even …
To me, most service businesses–whether construction, real estate, legal, financial or other–are like buses traveling the road. If you do not like the bus you are on, just get off. There will be another bus to pick you up in a few minutes. We all think we’re better than the competition. That’s true for some, not …
You have heard it a million times: We never get a second chance to make a good first impression. While initial thoughts might take us toward in-person meetings, this adage is true even in written communication. Our word choices and how they string together into sentences, paragraphs and language as a whole have a lasting …
In the 1960s, the amount of office space allocated to an individual was a direct indicator of your status at a company. Bigger was better, with CEOS working in sprawling square footage, and folks lower on the totem pole being relegated to large “bullpens.” Furniture maker Herman Miller made a dent in this philosophy when …
Over the last few days, unusually high winds and a lot of rain overtaxed the storm water controls of a recently completed building in Kansas. Water infiltrated the first level of the structure. We studied the problem a few days ago, making recommendations to our customer and the civil engineer. There was still more wind …
While they were strangers in the past, it seems to me that bricks and mortar commerce and the e-commerce experience are coming closer together, two strangers no more. I’m convinced that before long, a combination of the two experiences will just be “retail.” A few years ago, everyone was “shorting the stock,” counting the demise …
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with several senior advisors to the National Economic Council in Washington DC. Our “Gang of Nine” business leaders from the South included people involved in construction, agriculture and the food industry. We were invited to the Capital to discuss immigration reform. Interestingly, we all found fairly common ground. After …
Retirement is a strange word to me, as it seems few people ever really stop working. Perhaps we just shift our interests a bit. Last week, I was talking with the recently “retired” Mike Prior, who formerly managed a mortgage loan investment portfolio of $5-6 billion for a major life insurance company. Mike now offices in our quiet …
There are a zillion books out there on business that we all think we need to read to be successful. To me, the standouts are those that help us in business and in life, like Good to Great by Jim Collins and The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Who can ever forget the impact of fixing broken …
The purpose of any businesses is to grow. The last few years have been tough in this department, but remember how it was in the good ole days of last decade? We saw speed, revenue, market share and profit. Most business owners are wired with a desire to get “back to the future.” Not so fast. For …