NOVEMBER 2008

Automakers:

I understand it's a very tough time to be in the car business. First it was high gas prices. You were building cars people wanted and conditions changed. You got caught by an unexpected, radical and rapid market shift. Understood.

Then you got slammed with a credit crunch. That took the buyers out of the market in spite of falling gas prices.

You got hit with 2 Black Swans in one year.

But the real problem is two-fold. ...
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The campaign started when Dr Pepper, which is part of Plano, Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group, said it would give every American a free 20 oz. Dr Pepper if the rock band Guns N’Roses released its anticipated “Chinese Democracy” album by the end of 2008. Guns N'Roses delivered, Dr Pepper did not. To get the "free" 20 oz. Dr Pepper, you had log on to drpepper.com and register. The company would then send you a ...
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If your business is in trouble and you can only blame the economy, may I assert the captain of the ship matters most?

Let's consider the Titanic.

A different captain may have refused to sail without adequate life boats.
A different captain might have heeded the warnings of ice-berg sightings and changed course in spite of the pressure to stay on schedule.
A different captain might have halted the ship after it hit the ice-berg (or when the sound ...
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What I liked best about Barack Obama is that he was not Hillary Clinton. Or George Bush. Or John McCain.

Second on my list of things I liked was his message of CHANGE.

Well, so far he's dipped into the dregs of the OLD Democratic Party to fill posts. Really now, Tom Daschle?

We're past the rumor stage that he's "vetting" Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. There's a laugh. That's really political code for "we're giving ...
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As a business improvement consultant, this makes me sick.

Shame on Ford, GM & Chrysler management. Shame. Shame. Shame.

Bail them out? Sure, on condition that the entire upper management of all three companies is canned with no further bonuses, golden parachutes, stock options or any other perks. Give the whole lot pink slips and a month's pay at the average salary of those they laid off.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6287469

Listen closely. If we continue to tolerate lousy, inept and dare ...
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Remember the real Airport movie? The food was contaminated on the airliner and people became so sick they became unconscious and some died. Two different meals were served---fish and chicken as I recall. All those who ate the fish passed out. Naturally, the pilot and Co-pilot ate the fish. Before dropping dead, the pilot flipped on the auto-pilot switch. The "stewardess" (I don't think we're allowed that term today) took control and landed the plane ...
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Mateship. I've just finished Peter Fiztsimmons, "Tobruk". Out numbered and under equipped, the Aussies held Tobruk for 8 months. At the time, it was considered nearly impossible for the Australian forces to hold Tobruk for two months against the far superior forces of Rommel.

At the end of the siege, as generals and journalists tried to come up with the answer as to how the feat was achieved, the victory was attributed to Australian "mateship".

The ...
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Today's post is inspired by one of my "virtual" mentors, Seth Godin.  He's put up a very eloquent post about making a quick buck---a lot of bucks actually. I'm posting his entire piece with his permission as stated in his Blog but I encourage you to visit his site.

There are two guiding principles to always keep in mind when you see an offer that just seems incredible:

1. If sounds too good to be true, it ...
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