Seven C’s (and one D)
Forty years of management and membership in professional teams has allowed me to observe valuable leadership skills and characteristics in diverse environments including Banking, Sales, IT, Community Services, and Academia. A hoped-for "C"-based mnemonic for those...
Hugs & CRM
My father supervised electronic and communications applications for a busy Air Traffic Control centre when I was a kid and sometimes I was able to observe him in action (these were days before the current high security on air navigation control centres). I was...
Square Pegs & Round Holes
A few years ago I attended a conference for SMEs seeking eBusiness advice for their operations. The speaker (a self-professed expert on eBusiness) suggested that building a custom application in this day and age makes no sense when off-the-shelf (OTS) applications are...
Web-based Applications: The Emperor’s New Clothes
Sometimes the value of eBusiness web services can seem a little ethereal. The inspiration for today's column title comes from a conversation I had with a visitor to a recent business networking event. "So what is it your company does?" he asks."We develop...
In Bed With a Mosquito
My wife placed an Anita Roddick quote under a magnet on our fridge. It reads "If you think yourself too small to be effective, you've never been in bed with a mosquito". It got me thinking again about the many small businesses we have consulted with and for whom we...
Rambler Mansions & The Butterfly Effect
When my wife and I began looking for a house about 20 years ago, we visited a number of century homes and "rambler mansions"-- you know the ones that were built in the early 20th century, added a wing in the 1920s, a garage in the 40s, a new porch and veranda in the...
The Devil You Know
An old joke tells of the dandy who won a sheep, betting a farmer that he could use his technical gadgetry to determine the exact number of animals in his flock. Combining technology from his laptop, a handheld, cell connection, satellite imagery and an artificial...
ROI and Decision-based Evidence-Making
I was a sales representative for the fledgling Atlantic Lottery Corporation in Newfoundland in the 1980's (a lifetime ago, it seems). I recognize that experience provided more real "education" than three university degrees have done for me since. One great lesson...