Free Yourself from Conventional Thinking
Free Yourself from Conventional Thinking HBR.org Groundbreaking ideas are no longer a luxury when success is contingent upon an organization's ability to adapt, innovative, and improve. We need...
How the Internet of Things Changes Everything
How the Internet of Things Changes Everything HBR.org Currently in the business world we are witnessing something like the epic collision of two galaxies — a rapid convergence of two very unlike...
Good Employees Make Mistakes. Great Leaders Allow Them To.
As a business leader, I found that one of the scariest things to do was to give your people the freedom to make mistakes. While mistakes allow individuals to learn and grow, they can also be very...
How a Start-Up Can Succeed in a Mature Category
There are a lot of reasons not to try to break into the soda industry right now. Soda, or Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSD), is dominated by huge multinationals like Coca Cola — only the most...
If You Were a Stock, Would You Bet On Yourself?
My husband, Eric, is an armchair entrepreneur. He has ideated, seeded, started, funded, built, grown, and sold dozens of companies — 10 times over — all in his head. His best friend, Marc, is a...
Five Incredibly Important Lessons to Live By
Five incredibly important lessons to live by in your career, and in your business: First – Only do business dealings with people of character and integrity. No matter what, never let yourself...
The 5 Most Dangerous Creativity Killers
When it comes to doing creative work, it’s important to not only look for ways to let our creativity thrive, but to also be mindful of insidious “creativity killers” that can sneak up and strangle...
When to Quit Your Job
Posterous founder and Y Combinator Partner Gary Tan wrote a short review of what he wish he knew when he was 16. Now 32, the venture capitalist and angel investor has seen hundreds of companies...
Four People You NEED in Your Professional Network
You don’t have to convince most people there is value in having a professional network. When you network with others in the industry, you create a community of people you can reach out to for...
Why We Pay All Our Employees a Commission
Particularly in the current economy, how can a small company safely and effectively grow? Much has been said recently about the impact of higher taxes — should the company postpone hiring? Rely...
Don't Fix the Present, Create the Future
Creating an ideal future can often make present problems irrelevant. Here are five ideas to help you make your future fix-it free.The title for this column came from a trusted mentor, author, and...
How to Recover From Your Worst Mistakes
Leaders sometimes make big mistakes that threaten their careers and companies. Here's how they recover and survive to lead again.We all make mistakes. Over the course of your professional life,...
Ideas are a Dime a Dozen. People Who Implement Them are Priceless
“Ideas are a dime a dozen. People who implement them are priceless.” What a great quote by Mary Kay Ash, and so true! The world is full of incredible ideas that never go anywhere because great...
Would Customers Pay for Your Sales Calls?
When I speak to audiences of sales professionals and ask, "How many of you sell value versus price?" everyone raises their hand. But my next question "So how do you do that?" is frequently...
5 Indicators of Future Business Success
Measuring performance by looking at the P&L is like driving by looking in the rearview mirror. Here's a better way to predict performance. Arguably the most important element in building a...
The First Secret of Success Is Showing Up
Being in the right place at the right time can make or break careers and companies. A classic old film comedy, Being There, stars the late Peter Sellers as dimwitted Chance the Gardener, who...