Motivated Innovation

Earlier today, I read an article/presentation overview from 2006 entitled " How to Become a Thought Leader ".  The site RainToday.com interviewed established blogger/businessowner and marketing/lead generation thought leader Brian Carroll.  The article was great to read to learn more about how to establish oneself and one's organization amidst the realms of blogging, writing, and public speaking.  An interesting point was raised about "branding" and "reputation". Nowadays, the terms "branding" and "reputation" typically get lumped together.  The terms are often used synonymously in conversation.  Yet, Carroll comments that branding is more focused on a consumer's feeling--which impacts short-term transactions--while reputation comes into play for more complex decisions and purchases.  As such, reputation--which sounds less formal in business lingo--is more important than a brand name. When taking a look at the various aspec

People familiar with the field of Organizational Development are most likely familiar with the Burke-Litwin Model of Organizational Performance and Change.  Although people not familiar with OD are most likely not familiar with the Burke-Litwin Model, the model contains underlying principles for success that are discussed in business and society. A key component to the Burke-Litwin Model is that it distinguishes between transformational and transactional dimensions.  In layman's terms, organizations focus on both longer-term, bigger picture concepts and shorter-term, day-to-day tasks and details.  In business, sports, and military language, much is said about strategy and tactics.  Strategy deals more with mission, values, and overall goals, while tactics involve actions to achieve the goals and carry out the mission and values.  Other parallels include 'revolutionary vs. evolutionary' (radical change vs. gradual change) and 'leadership vs. management' (again, l

In today's business world, there are an innumerable amount of client relationships through partnerships and outsourced services.  While oftentimes the term 'outsourcing' brings up thoughts of overseas workers speaking different languages, a great deal of outsourcing actually occurs domestically.  Yet, while in the U.S. these different partners speak the English language, each company creates its own terminology.  Thus, there still is a need to understand other languages, even within one traditional language such as American English. Providing 'value add' to a client's or partner's operations goes beyond asserting position as an industry knowledge leader or collecting multitudes of information.  Yes, being an industry knowledge leader brings instant credibility to an organization.  Likewise, an organization able to gather a variety of useful information is one that can help itself and other organizations.  However, it can be quite damaging to a relationship