Alanhargreaves

LATEST ARTICLES ( 172 )

• Do Entrepreneurs Have Psychological Disorders?

  

  The positive side of negative traits. Plenty of famous entrepreneurs display weird characteristics. Many have ugly personalities. Some appear neurotic. Others... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2014 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Getting Lucky

  

  Sometimes, the flip side is the better track In 1978 Gloria Gaynor was a moderately successful singer. That changed when she covered a Righteous Brothers... Read more

  Posted on 10 February 2014 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Investment and Life

  

  Too much info, too much fear. Got enough information? There’s plenty available. Search any idea and you’ll be overwhelmed in seconds. Little will be relevant;... Read more

  Posted on 09 December 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Why You Are Not Always a Great Leader

  

  Tuesday, November 26, 2013 at 10:00AM Sometimes it’s someone else’s job. Winston Churchill was a great wartime leader. If you took out the word “wartime”,... Read more

  Posted on 25 November 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Why Helping Others is Good for You

  

  Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at 10:00AM Treating colleagues like customers. I once spent a few months working as a kitchen hand in a ski resort. Read more

  Posted on 11 November 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Setting Realistic Goals

  

  Tuesday, October 29, 2013 at 10:00AM How fast can you grow? Posting impressive growth in a new startup shouldn’t be that hard. If you’ve got any traction at all... Read more

  Posted on 28 October 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Intuition: Friend Or Foe

  

  Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at 10:00AM What to do with those “hunches”. In 1977, three of us launched a truck driver’s tabloid. We got the idea while lying on a... Read more

  Posted on 15 October 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Dealing with Speed

  

  Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 10:00AM Constant evolution and competitive edge. My phone asked me to upgrade several apps today. It often does, and I dutifully... Read more

  Posted on 01 October 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Struggling to Get the Big Picture?

  

  Tuesday, September 17, 2013 at 10:00AM Try cycling. What will the issue be today? Cash flow? Customers? Operations? There’s always something going on. It’s not... Read more

  Posted on 17 September 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• When is the Right Strategy Wrong?

  

  Tuesday, September 3, 2013 at 10:00AM Planning Vs. The Plan There’s a lot to be said for strategic plans. Maybe too much. I Googled them a few moments ago and... Read more

  Posted on 03 September 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Fast Strategy

  

  Boost value with a quick health check. Amid the talk of strategy, vision, values and goals, there’s one constant that never changes. That’s the... Read more

  Posted on 20 August 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Delegation: the Power of Someone Else

  

  Smart Vs dumb. I’ve made some great decisions but also plenty that weren’t so great. What’s the difference between them? Try this. Write down... Read more

  Posted on 06 August 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Why You Need to Get out More

  

  Great ideas don’t show up at the office. “One damn thing after another.” According to a book called Managing by Harvard professor Henry... Read more

  Posted on 23 July 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• The Ugly Reality Behind Innovation

  

  Your job is to undermine the free market Odd, isn’t it? Business supports the idea of free competition but spends most of its time trying to undermine... Read more

  Posted on 09 July 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Startups and the Art of Surfing

  

  The right wave helps Startups remind me of surfing. That was my preferred activity after getting my first board on my fourteenth birthday. It was a great... Read more

  Posted on 25 June 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Leadership? No Worries

  

  Things to do about that fear stuff. The deep end can be scary. When I was sixteen, I led an advance party to prepare the site for our annual cadet camp. Small... Read more

  Posted on 11 June 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Beating Inertia

  

  What’s your big opportunity? You probably know that you or your firm can go better. You are aware of specific strengths and you know you could knock the cover... Read more

  Posted on 28 May 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Rewarding Work: Bonuses and Bailouts

  

  Output Vs Creativity I’ve handed out a few bonuses in my time. Some years our results were spectacular; other times poor. Payouts went up and down accordingly. Read more

  Posted on 14 May 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Charisma: Have You Got Any?

  

  Has the “celeb” thing plundered this old word? Charisma derives from Charis, an associate of Aphrodite in Homer’s Odyssey. Charis was beautiful, but not a... Read more

  Posted on 30 April 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Want Some Positive News?

  

  Disadvantaged families can save the government money I was abused by my own mother. She was abused by hers. I want it to stop now. I don’t want my children to g... Read more

  Posted on 16 April 2013 BUSINESS, CAREER, ECONOMICS, MARKETING & ADVERTISING