Blog
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Blog / ChangeThis
Redeeming Sisyphus: Get Out of Control! Get More Done!
By Porchlight
Walk into any company large or small and you will see employees who are suffering. These talented people hired for their breadth, imagination and initiative are not producing to their full potential. When they leave (and they do leave), their exit interviews most often cite an over controlling boss as the main reason for their departure. Task-oriented bosses under constant pressure to achieve increasing productivity goals rely too often on the "I think—You do" managerial style. Most of us know leaders like this. More of us than want to admit it (or even know it) ARE leaders like this.
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Workplace 2.0: Motivating and Managing Millennials
By Porchlight
Welcome to the 21st century. What motivates young people isn't the promise of a distant retirement check thirty or forty years after they've given all they have to a company that doesn't let them have a piece of the pie. The first thing you need to keep in mind is the fundamental idea of ownership. You don't have to give up stock in your company, to give a young worker a feeling that s(he) is contributing to themselves, as well as the firm's bottom line. But you do need to invest in their sense of desire to contribute in meaningful ways to institutions that matter. To them, coming to work is an exercise in mutual benefit.
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Open Innovation: Your On-Ramp to Creating a Better Product
By Dwayne Spradlin
For most companies the process of creating new, innovative products and getting them out the door starts with tapping the most talented members of the R&D team. Once they have arrived at an idea and decided it is feasible, R&D moves to determining the most effective way to develop it and bring it to market. It sounds logical; but what if there was a way to reinvent the process and bring better products to market faster and at a lower cost?
Categories: changethis
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Blog / News & Opinion
ChangeThis: Issue 52
By Porchlight
We've published the 52nd issue of ChangeThis for your reading pleasure. Excerpts and links below. ::::: The Brand Bubble: How Business Speculation in the Consumer Marketplace Threatens Our Economy by John Gerzema "Today's housing bubble and the tech stock bubble from the last decade reveal a widening gap between market speculation and how typical Americans value things.
Categories: news-opinion
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Blog / News & Opinion
POW! | Round 1
By Porchlight
Magicians, pop rocks and mini Coopers share one trait. The element of surprise. What does that have to do with business?
Categories: news-opinion
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Blog / News & Opinion
Amazon's Best of 2008
By Porchlight
Amazon has posted its editors' picks for 2008. In the Business & Investing category, they chose: The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder, Bantam A Sense of Urgency by John P. Kotter, Harvard Business School Press (Jack Covert Selects) The Brand Bubble: The Looming Crisis in Brand Value and How to Avoid It by John Gerzema, Jossey-Bass The Momentum Effect: How to Ignite Exceptional Growth by J.
Categories: news-opinion
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Blog / News & Opinion
We voted!
By Porchlight
Today we participated in a hugely significant election, and we at 800-CEO-READ were very excited. Wherever you are and whatever your political position, we wish you a Happy Election Day!
Categories: news-opinion, the-company
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Blog / News & Opinion
Michigan Tech's President Likes Collin's Good To Great
By Porchlight
I received the autumn issue of Michigan Tech Magazine (a publication of my alma mater) and it contains a Q&A with MTU President Glenn Mroz. The Q that matters for the audience here is: For alumni, if you could recommend one book to them, what would it be and why? I guess it would be Good To Great by Jim Collins.
Categories: news-opinion
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Blog / News & Opinion
That conversation.
By Porchlight
We had that conversation on Thursday. The one we're all having. About the economy.
Categories: news-opinion
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Blog / News & Opinion
When Ira Meets Dale.
By Porchlight
Ira Glass adds a spin on a classic business read -- Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Categories: news-opinion