While vacationing in northern Michigan, a management consultant decided to spend a week on the legendary Mackinac Island between the state’s upper and lower peninsulas. The rather small historic island covers a mere 3.8 square miles and is home to a population of just 523 residents. However, it plays host to as many as 15,000…
Seeing as how April is National Grilled Cheese Month, let’s see how creativity, innovation and “out-of-the-box thinking” can be applied to the most mundane of targets. By the way, mundane is not a bad thing. It simply means commonplace, and what’s more commonplace than a good ol’ grilled cheese sandwich? Mention that family favorite to…
“In tough economic times, you must cut advertising, reduce marketing, and decrease or even eliminate training to reduce expenses.” I was going to say that the above strategy has emerged as a growing trend in many industries. That would be inaccurate. It’s almost become an axiom for many organizations. (AXIOM: In traditional logic, an axiom…
As you may or may not know, Midnight Muses focuses on a variety of subject matter which evolves from the innermost recesses of my mind during the most productive time of my day. It’s going on 1 a.m., and my mind is in full gear pondering much of the political news with which I’ve been…
Culture Is Contagious I recently returned from facilitating my second annual Leadership Boot Camp at Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation (CFSC) in Nashville, Tennessee. CFSC is the financial arm of Caterpillar Inc., a Fortune 50 company, a technology leader and the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, natural gas and diesel engines, and industrial gas…
As I look back over my life, I must admit that I’ve had more than my share of ideas. I would venture to guess that I’ve had more ideas than the average person. I can attribute that to a number of unusual reasons. I’m pretty confident that I can hold my own with just about…
Questions often arise at this time of the year as to whether true “March Madness” takes place on the nation’s round ball courts or rather in corporate cubicles and board rooms from coast to coast. Consider the daily discussions of team selections and bracket comparisons. Now contemplate the actual number of hours which will be…
This story has been around for a very long time and really proves a point in a very humorous but realistic way. After a great deal of research, it was revealed that the story is not actually true. Nevertheless, it’s a great story, creates a fantastic punch-line visual, and makes a very important point. It…
It’s intriguing how easy it is to find examples of creativity in our everyday lives. We’re surrounded by evident situations which have evolved from creative thinking; however, we, for some reason, simply neglect to recognize and/or acknowledge them. Many examples are not necessarily related to business and/or organizations. You can find a great number of…