Topic

quirky

ideas and experiences with a selling angle that come from left-field

B&Q Driving Force

Always captivated by entrepreneurial vigour, one tale I enjoyed learning involved B&Q. They changed the face of their sector in the UK, and latterly all over the world, even opening their giant DIY retail warehouses in China. When delving into the story it’s clear that of the

Creating Conversation

I was a victim of the hype and wanted to watch the 1st-tee shot of Cheetah Woods from the US Masters last night. Unfortunately, and perhaps fittingly, the live feed from the golf course went down and pictures failed to reach across the globe. I tried to see if there

Wolfish Wisdom

I caught a glimpse of an entertaining niche in management and team training on a BBC World rolling news segment the other day. A group of German forest rangers teach leadership lessons based on how wolves behave. In lovely footage from the wolves natural habitat, one of the experts divulged

Personal Paradigm Shift

Losing deals? Not sure why? In denial perhaps? I came across a summary of 1962’s “landmark” The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions written by Thomas Kuhn, the lessons of which could help any sales person in a dip get back on track quicker. (Here’s a different overviewfrom wikipedia. [http:

Challenging Tekkies

In downtime lately I’ve been reading a couple of books that have an entertaining subtext; scientists can be wrong, you sometimes need to stand up to them. Sample quote: “…the arrogant side of science; a belief that it should have monopoly over the debate.”1 The precise context of

Occam's Razor

I can thank Michael Brooks [http://www.michaelbrooks.org/]‘ 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense for reacquainting me with Occam’s Razor. This is a principle that whenever you need to find or choose a solution, the simplest one tends to be the winner. It is reminiscent of the

Deal Clinching Drake Formula

Falling across one of the world’s longest running tv shows was a humblingly mind-boggling experience. Issues that The Sky At Night raises can make your head explode. Yet on the rare occasions I’ve tuned in you can’t help but admire how it tries to talk cosmology in

What A Client Values

One FT columnist I like reading when waiting in corporate receptions is Lucy Kellaway [http://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/lucykellaway]. She recently riffed typically irreverent thoughts on messages to give long standing clients. I was intrigued to see her document what she considered the four things that clients valued

Relentless Infomercial Zeal

Louis Theroux and his Weird Weekends [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Theroux%27s_Weird_Weekends]. Over a decade ago he poked his nose in the world of tv shopping channels, centring on an American station in Tampa. Our first exposure was to a room full of presenters, fully pumped

Stop Writing That Email

With a spate of Facebook related horrors involving crimes against children hitting the London press these past few days, one news show talking head stated a remarkable stat. Dr Aric Sigman [http://www.aricsigman.com/] mentioned a formula suggesting that for every one hour of time a child spends on