You have a new idea. You are uncertain of the consequences if it doesn’t work, and you are nervous about implementing it. Sometimes you don’t try it because you are nervous about the implications or the ramifications. Think about i…
Jack Gibson (coach of the Australian Rugby League Team of the Century) used to say, “In football, if you are standing still, you’re going backwards fast.” Jack was an innovative coach who also produced classic quotes. He used to use…
People laugh at me when they hear some of the “ridiculous” things that I have asked for. I admit that I have asked some outlandish questions in my time. I even once asked the greatest thinker of modern times, Edward de Bono, to wri…
I once visited a potential new client. Before the meeting, he had told me that he had poor IT infrastructure, and he needed to address a variety of issues with his equipment because it was hurting productivity. I attended the meeting and looked at th…
Our organisation was upgrading a client’s entire IT network. Unbeknownst to the staff at the organisation was the fact that all of them were to receive new 19-inch TFT monitors. One of the engineering staff approached the IT manager seve…
Do you remember the Cuil search engine? No? You are not alone. On 28 July 2008, a search engine was launched called Cuil that was going to beat Google at the search game. It didn’t, and many people questioned the logic of someone trying to take…
This famous quote, often attributed to Zig Ziglar, is a reflection on the indiscernible quality of attitude that is so desirable in a business and in individuals, but can’t be taught in our schooling system. I have always said give me someone w…
Steve Waugh (the world’s most capped Test cricketer and former Australian captain) once said: “When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it. 1. Admit it. 2. Learn from it. 3. Don’t repeat i…
Even before getting married, humans tend to have selective hearing. It is human nature to hear a conversation in a way that delivers the most favourable outcome for you. When you give a cost, a time, an estimation, or any information to a client, if …
Play a hypothetical game with me. Imagine that Queensland has just elected a crazy premier (as if that would ever happen!), who had decided to solve the problem of the exploding frog (cane toad) population in Queensland by passing a new law. E…
What gets measured gets done is perhaps the most famous aphorism of performance measurement. Keep in mind, though, that the structure you create will drive behaviour. Many years ago, before the advent of handheld and in-car satellite navigation devic…
In the battle of rock versus river, the river wins—eventually. Not through strength. Not through intelligence. Simply because the river perseveres against what seems like insurmountable odds. The Grand Canyon took five to six million years of p…
When Governor William Bligh arrived in Sydney in 1805, one of the first changes he made was to prohibit the use of rum as currency. The convict fleets had not brought any decent coin supplies, so from ~1792, the real currency of New South Wales was r…
In business, to a large extent as in life, if you give yourself a soft exit strategy, you will never be fully committed to the actions you need to take to go forward. When it comes time to make a decision to put the hard yards in…
Many people have approached me over the years and have asked for some advice on their business. “What am I doing wrong?” they often ask. In their opinion, their pricing is competitive, and their stock is at the right level and of t…
Listening is the greatest single action we can take to improve our businesses. Some say that great salespeople have the “gift of the gab,” but in contrast, great salespeople and leaders know how to listen. Handling complaints is a particu…
In a recent survey, university students were asked why they had chosen a particular course. To my amazement, over 60 percent had chosen their degree for the perceived financial benefits. In a separate survey, 48 percent of our current workforce wishe…
When I was in year nine (ninth grade), I was a proud member of our debating team (third speaker—the argumentative one), and one debate still sticks in my mind. It was SJC vs. Dubbo High, and the topic was “Bad news is better than no news….
Jack Ridley said, “There was a demon that lived in the air. They said whoever challenged him would die. His controls would freeze up, his plane would buffet wildly, and he would disintegrate. The demon lived at Mach 1 on the meter, 750 m…