Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

You have to let people come to their own conclusions and realizations.  That holds true, not matter how old you are. My 3 year old has to come to the conclusion that when he kicks a door with his bare foot, it's going to hurt.  The consultant that comes into an environment that is counter to what they expected has to learn through experience. It doesn't matter that other like-minded and similar skilled people have done and tried to accomplish before him. Everyone believes that he or she is different. "Just because the person before me couldn't succeed, doesn't mean that I can't!" But the reality is that the person before you had the same "I'm going to rule the world!" attitude - and ended up failing fast. Now they are despondent, unmotivated, and apathetic.  You can't fight culture.  So here's a thought. When someone offers you his or her opinion, it may genuinely be because they want to help you avoid the same mistakes that ...

With technology all around us, it's hard to imagine how people can fail to communicate.  I could list the multiple ways to get to someone without actually picking up the phone and calling them, but that would be pointless. At my previous firm, I remember how promptly my colleagues - the ones that I knew and even the ones that I didn't know - would respond. An email, a phone call, a text, and even a fax would elicit a response in a time frame that seemed somewhat reasonable.  It didn't matter what level within the organization that I was corresponding with, I would get a response.  Let's fast forward to today. In my current environment- generally speaking- I often wonder if my emails in particular get to where they need to go. I don't get responses. Most of the ones I do get are either spam or someone giving me information where I'm trying to figure out if I need to do something or not. It can all be very surreal because I've grown accustomed to con...

Ask a person what the brand of a company is and you'll get something like, "We get sh*t done."  Is that a sustainable brand- much less profitable?  According to Michael Porter it is if you can get sh*t done at a comparable value for a lower price or you can get sh*t done that differentiates yourself in such a way that you can charge a premium price. Maybe it's both. My landscaper gets sh*t done and he's charging me more then my previous landscaper who did better quality work. My previous landscaper did higher quality work for a lower price. Same thing with our house cleaner (I know that this is starting to get a little snooty now - but stay with me). Our previous house cleaner did a premium job for a lower cost. Our new house cleaner could use a little coaching.  Here's the thing - if you get sh*t done but it's not of any quality, that type of work can only last for so long. Over time, distaste builds up with the customer and you'll eventually get ...