The Power of Transparency in Marketing
It's a temptation that lures almost all marketers and salespeople: the desire to limit and control information to consumers. It seems so obvious – lead with your best attributes, downplay…
Jack Welch, Chuck Todd, and the Erosion of Trust
NBC News White House correspondent Chuck Todd made some news himself the other day – but it's not what you think. He made a contribution to the analysis of trust. To see why,…
Three Things You Need to Know About Trust: Part 3
There are really only three things you need to know about trust. You can pretty much deduce the rest. The three parts are: Trust is a Two-player Game Trust Requires…
Think Like a Buddhist, Sell Like a Rock Star
We’ll get to sales. First: “Terrible drought, crops dead, sheep dying. Spring dried out. No water. The Hopi, or the Christian, maybe the Moslem, they pray for rain. The Navajo…
Playing a Losing Hand to Win
Four years and 9 months ago I wrote a blogpost called An Honest Wedding. It was about the nuptials in western Michigan of a cancer patient “Jane,” and the widower…
How (Not) to Ask for Recommendations, Referrals and References
I recently met a first-time author, who gave me a copy of their book. Shortly after, I got an email from the author’s publicist, saying: "...We’d appreciate it if you…
Trust Me, I’m Your Doctor
We all hear about health care. Usually it’s through the microcosm of someone’s illness, or the macro-view of dueling pundits and politicians. Frequently it’s adversarial, or negative. Thanks to long-time…
4 Behaviors that Help Delivery People Be Better Business Developers
It’s an age-old challenge in the consulting industry: how to get your delivery people to develop more business. After all, who’s in a better position to bring in more work…
What’s the Link Between Trust, High IQ and Investors?
A recent Journal of Finance article suggests there’s a high correlation between IQ and participation in the stock market. Now, what does that mean? Yale Economics Professor Robert Shiller explores…
Manufacturing in China: Back to the Future?
I talked to Joe in San Francisco recently. Joe is 96, living with his daughter and son-in-law Jean and Fred. He talked about what happened when he was 18 years…