Change is Coming… Except for Nintendo

Change management is a topic I discuss quite often in my keynotes so when I saw an article about Nintendo and their stance on mobile gaming, I thought this was a good opportunity to share my point of view. Enjoy!

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Do You Think ‘No’ Means ‘Try Harder’? Then Read This

Hi all.  That this article needs to be written makes me sad, but it’s the truth.  I was in Wichita, Kansas recently, which you might be surprised to learn is the airplane manufacturing capital of the world.  The Wichita airport would fit rather cozily into most suburban backyards, but Cessna, Lear, Airbus, and Boeing all…

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Costco Wants You To Spend Time With Your Family!!!?

Costco has really gone out on a limb with their plan to close on Thanksgiving day to allow their employees to spend time with their families. I’m not sure if they’re crazy or not, but I’ll give you my opinion in this short video!

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A Brief Case-Study in Laziness

  Hey guys.  You know how you sometimes are assigned a 5-page paper for a class, and instead of actually writing five pages you write three pages and then play with the font size, spacing, margins, and whatever else you can think of until you have a sentence and a half on that critical fifth…

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Laying the Smack Down! Speaking in Absolutes

Jeff Havens describes, in his backwards way, how to avoid absolute statements during your conflicts. The overwhelming majority of conflicts are the result of mutual miscommunication. When it comes to conflict resolution, very rarely is one side completely right and the other completely wrong.

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Choose Your Words Wisely

When choosing your words for any marketing campaign, it’s a good idea to consider that things can be taken the wrong way – like they did when I came across a news story mentioning that Panera Bread would be only using ‘clean ingredients’ from now on.

4 Ways to Guarantee Your New Business Dies a Sad and Lonely Death

If you’re a small business owner, then I’m sure some evil acquaintance of yours has told you that roughly half of all small businesses fail in their first five years.  Perhaps he or she went farther and informed you that two-thirds of all small businesses fail within ten years.  Perhaps he or she then went…

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How Not To Dress For Work

Apparently in the United States, there is a dress code problem with millennials coming to work looking like they just rolled out of bed. This video illustrates the opposite of how I hope you’ll show up to work!

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HP Hasty Investment Costs Billions

HP has decided to split into two companies, partially because they’ve made some bad investments and decisions. Here’s my take on one of them.

6 Ways to Make The Prospect of Retirement Significantly Less Terrifying

Recently Kobe Bryant admitted that he was scared of retiring from professional basketball.  I think he’ll end up being OK since he has enough money to buy a small country, and commissioning statues of yourself to display in village squares can keep you occupied for a while.  But I’ll admit, if I were suddenly in…

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Marriott Fined $600K for Blocking WiFi

Marriott hotels was recently fined $600K for blocking its guest’s wifi access. Jeff dissects this news story and offers up some customer service tips to the high-end hotel industry. Want more helpful and hilarious videos? Subscribe to my YouTube Channel! 

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The Compliment Sandwich

Here is a sure fire leadership technique to make certain that nobody listens to your constructive criticism – the compliment sandwich!! Want more helpful and hilarious videos? Subscribe to my YouTube Channel! 

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The Five Q’s of Killer Customer Service

October 6-10 is National Customer Service Week, so I thought I’d write something about how to do it well.  Why Qs?  Because it’s a fun letter to write, and it gets so little attention on my keyboard.  There it sits, lonely and desperate for love, way up there in the upper left where my pinky…

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