One of the benefits of living longer is you get to see patterns that you couldn’t have seen in less time, because the pattern frequency was on a time scale longer than your span on the planet to that point. The downside is that by the time you recognize the business pattern you may no longer be able or willing to take advantage of the knowledge. So a student of business and human behavior is thus compelled to describe the observation and hope that some of you may send me fractional royalties upon successful implementation. Or my heirs, more likely.
A lesson in business evolution
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Fresh new graduates for hire
I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon last weekend with a group of young men, recently graduated or soon to be from San Diego State University. The topic was career planning and how to go about getting that first job after college. I and another alumnus served as living fossils from whom these newly minted adults could learn the archeology of a life’s work.
Posted in The People
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Fear and loathing in the board room
[Note: This column appeared in the San Diego Daily Transcript in May of 2009. Nearly five years later, it still seems relevant.]
With apologies to Hunter S. Thompson for ripping off the title of his seminal book on the political and social zeitgeist of the early 1970’s, it seems overdue for a look at this era’s fear-based milieu, and a comparison to Thompson’s time.
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The price of respect
“Stan, they could pay me a whole lot less if they treated me better”, Jacob said as he sipped his standard morning black coffee at what we call Starbucks North. Jacob and I have been meeting at one or the other of two Starbucks about once a month for the last three years. The subject of our regular meetings has been an ongoing project to create a life that combines the best of what he loves about his work with a feeling of being appreciated and respected for his significant contributions.
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