mavSolve

As I continue to work with clients, the structure and makeup of todays organizations amazes me.   I see struggling organizations with layers and layers of beaurocrats in the middle layers.   Many corporations have become nearly as inefficient as our government.  When someone has an idea, it isn't received with optimism or even skepticism, but rather with a "brush-off" due to the realization that the recipient may actually have to do some work.  The only word that comes to mind when I see ... Read More

Wow, do I remember how to write? A lot has been going on.   We have a new president and he has been very busy.  The new year has brought with it a premonition of "bad things to come".  What should we be doing? We should be getting more efficient.  We, as business owners, operators, leaders and managers should be looking to eliminate waste in a systematic way.  We should take the foreboding as an opportunity to step back, get our "ducks in a row" ... Read More

A new year; new opportunities, right?  Well, those are just arbitrary milestones set by men to measure the distance traveled in a lifetime.  Still, emotionally, we all seem to think of these milestones in terms of progress.  So, it is with this newly found energy and outset that we embark on 2009. What are your resolutions?  Did you set resolutions in terms of objective and measurable goals?  We all have a tendency to make resolutions like:  "I'm going to lose weight in 2009" ... Read More

So, my final complaint with working in the "cloud" is contact management.   I was very excited this week to discover that Google Sync for Blackberry had added the capability to syncronize not only my calendar, but also my contacts.  Woo Hoo!!! Finally, all my email addresses and phone numbers TRULY in one place.  Oh man.  I've been through hours and hours of recovering from that adventure.  So, this is how it went: First, I thought, well... I'm going to sync my blackberry with ... Read More

And then congress wanted to see the plan for the bailout...because if it is a good plan, then it is worth investing...???  Say What? Does anyone remember that the government and private industry are supposed to be separate?  Does anyone remember that sometimes, principle is the reason we shouldn't do things?  If a plan for robbery and murder were "good enough" to be successful, would it then be acceptable to proceed with the plan?  Do the ends justify the means?  NO!  We should ... Read More

I'm not sure how many parts this will actually end up being.   It is a much bigger issue than I thought originally. What if we woke up tomorrow and walked into work and, suddenly, everyone in the organization was focused on thinking: "What can I do today which will make my company more margin, more profit, more efficient and more focused?"  Some of them would be focused on making your product or service better suited to your customers' needs.   Others would be focused ... Read More

I had a breakthrough; an epiphany of sorts this afternoon.   Sometimes, things roll along and they don't make sense, but I just figured something out.  How can the cartel we call the Federal Reserve continue expanding the money supply endlessly, including dumping over $1 trillion dollars into circulation in the last three months, and still claim low-single-digit inflation?   We economists know the truth, right?  With a limited amount of wealth creation, if money supply grows faster than real wealth, our dollars are ... Read More

Do you always purchase, or go for, the best thing you can afford, or do you prefer to purchase thrifty items?  If you purchase thrifty items, do you feel that you are getting sufficient value from them?  How do you judge? Not everyone can afford to always buy the "best" thing.  We can't all drive Ferrari's, Lamborghinis, or Cadillacs.  I realize that my question presupposes some bias in what is the "best", but the real question I'm asking is do you "compromise" on ... Read More

When it comes to leadership, which is better, building consensus or steering with conviction and trusting that others will follow? In many management circles, you will hear that consensus building is the appropriate target.  Management schools and books will teach you how  to listen to others' viewpoints and mirror their thoughts in order to gently persuade them to the group, or collective opinion.  The goal is to get everyone on the same page, so we are all marching to the same drum.   Then ... Read More

How do you know your performance is good enough? Ask for criticism. I didn't post yesterday because I was trying to figure out how to recover from some criticism I asked for and received. My critic is a well-polished editor whom I respect and admire, and I was hoping to get back glowing reviews. However, while she liked my ideas, she had some suggestions for improvement. Yesterday I was figuring out how to use those to make my writing ... Read More