The Trouble with Optionality Over the past several years, I’ve done quite a few “info interviews” with MBA or undergrad business students who want to chat about career advice. One of the things that has always seemed odd to me about these conversations is how many students say, without any sense of irony, that they […]
S, M, or L? – Picking the Right Company Size for Your Career Read More »
My History with Interns Full disclosure: I have a soft spot for interns. Perhaps it’s because I have had 4 internships that deeply impacted my career. Perhaps it’s because I’m a university professor and see students stressing about getting internships. Perhaps it’s because managing interns led to me eventually managing full time employees. Or perhaps
Why You Should Create an Intern Position this Year Read More »
“What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders” That was the blunt and bleak answer Michael Dell (legendary founder & CEO of Dell Technologies) gave to a reporter on Oct 6, 1997 when asked what he would do to solve Apple’s then seemingly insurmountable problems. 27
How a Simple 2X2 Matrix Saved the World’s Most Valuable Company Read More »
Numbers Matter. Here’s How to Use Them More Effectively. The Stickiness of Comparisons: Peru vs Texas Rapid fire: what is more sticky? A) We lost 25% of our customers this year. B) We are losing 1 in 4 customers; that’s worse than Blockbuster when Netflix came out. A) Peru is 496,000 square miles. B) Peru is almost twice as
A Puzzle to Solve… A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a friend who is looking to make a jump in his career. He asked a question that everyone confronts at some point (especially after they’ve spent several years developing a unique expertise or skill set). “How does anyone get a position managing people
The Job Experience Paradox Read More »
Sprints vs Marathons This last year I ran my first ultramarathon. It was 50 kilometers (32 miles) of mostly fun, mixed with some pain and anguish. Here’s my summarized training plan: Marathon Race Training Half a year of progressively longer and harder runs Healthy eating, which included cutting out most sugars Cross-training at the gym,
Why Teams Need to Run in Sprints, from a Marathon Runner Read More »
The Wine Experiment A little over a year ago I was in Los Angeles at a bougie restaurant with coworkers who all claimed they were expert sommeliers (wine experts). Being a market researcher I thought I’d run a little experiment. I told them I’d order 4 glasses of wine and they would rank order them from least
6 Ways to Make Business Travel Actually Fun Read More »
Why We’re (Often) Behind and What We Can Do About It One of the (few) perks of having a ~45-minute commute to work is that it’s afforded me the chance to regularly listen to a wide variety of audiobooks and podcasts. Since personal reading time has become scarce while raising 4 young kids + building
“I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” Read More »
Jill: An Expert at Managing Up Let me tell you about my former coworker, Jill. I hired her as a consumer insights & strategy intern years ago. During her internship she did some truly fantastic work – a comprehensive study, helped with an offsite, and brought a fresh perspective. But beyond all that, Jill was
The Unwritten Guide to Managing Up Read More »
“From Out of the Mouth of Babes”… A few weeks ago I was eating dinner with my family when I made a mistake. It had been a stressful/long day at work; the kind where you feel a lot of sympathy for Bilbo Baggin’s comment about feeling “like butter stretched over too much bread”. I was adjusting to
“When You’re Home, Be Home” Read More »
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