MOOC is an acronym for Massive Open Online Courses. This is the hottest topic of universities, as they provide broader access to top professors. Some courses have attracted 100,000 users, most from overseas, who pay nothing to access. Coursera, a for-profit entity, is comprised of 62 universities including Princeton, Stanford, UPenn, and University of Michigan. edX,…

  While some people are characterized as “lucky,” I propose that they are better at preparing for opportunities and then executing. Everyone has blind spots, as do businesses. The key is discovering what you do not know so that you can reduce these blind spots.  This again is preparation. No one knows everything; however, with…

85% of US patents do not turn into profitable ideas. It is not the idea/technology/product quality; instead it is that the intended decision maker does not understand the solution’s benefits. So many times, when we attempt to sell our innovation, we focus on the product. Instead, we should focus on the solutions’ benefit quality. If…

This book by Dave Logan & John King discusses leveraging natural groups to build a thriving organization. Teams are unified through five stages, and each stage has a unique set of leverage points:  Despair Hostility Apathetic Victim Lone Warrior How we teach at universities….knowledge is equated with power Employee seeks outside stimulation not provided at…

I recently read a quote from Victor Frankl that states, “The more one forgets himself – by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love – the more human he is.”  Samuel Johnson is quoted as saying, “[The] true measure of a person is how he treats someone who can do…

  In junior high, I gave a speech called “Optimism, A Way of Life.” Now in the business world, I continue to agree with that speech written so long ago. When one has an optimistic demeanor, he is capable of focusing his mind to notice the bright side of ambiguous events. After all, it is…

The top global companies target emerging markets for growth due to their potential rapid growth rate; however, they must consider their undeveloped industrial base and infrastructure, as well as their political and institutional instability.  Yet, they are creating their own multinational companies that compete against longstanding powerhouses, like IBM, GE, Exxon, Wal-Mart.  (Source: Emerging Markets…

  Developing a personal mission statement is important; yet, it is only the first step. While this first step provides clarity and focus, you must act on this mission in order to change your behavior and people’s perceptions. Only then, do you have the opportunity to achieve your mission. Do your employees know what your…

Most change management models discuss what to do to prepare for change; however, they neglect what happens after things “Go Live.” Sustaining your change successfully is a challenge, as you do not want to slide back to the baseline. For example, large scale technology implementations require employees to learn different skills, use different information, make…

There are many laws that seem unnecessary to me.  However, do I have the right to break these? The answer is no, so, we need better written laws with which to comply, right? Would you agree with me that it if you were in a car with no breaks, it would be better to turn the…