Higher and Hierarchy

Higher and Hierarchy

Here are five perennially perplexing questions, as intriguing as they are troubling and, as yet, unanswered: Why do so many organizations create the position, VP of Sales and Marketing? Why is the VP of Sales and Marketing typically a sales person? Is the chief...
Knowing Write from Wrong: Part 2

Knowing Write from Wrong: Part 2

At a large corporation for which I once worked, my boss’s boss told one of my internal clients (I love that phrase) — a gentleman who disagreed with my counsel on a matter of communication and went over my head to report his pique — to ignore me because,...
Knowing Write from Wrong: Part 1

Knowing Write from Wrong: Part 1

In the summer of 1964, my parents rented a small, red cottage on Cherry Street at Chapman Beach in Westbrook, Connecticut. Headed east along the shoreline, the next beach is Chalker Beach. The one after that is Indian Town. That matters because that same summer, my...
But That’s the Way We’ve Always Done It

But That’s the Way We’ve Always Done It

SASS (self-absorbed self-satisfaction), is a philosophy, not to be confused with its homonymic variant: SaaS (software as a service). SASS is the twin sibling of stubbornness and the bane of creative productivity. It can be stated in one simple sentence: “We do...
Let’s Put the “Ex” in Expert*

Let’s Put the “Ex” in Expert*

Someone once told me an expert is anyone paid to travel more than 50 miles to tell someone else what to do. Thanks to the blogosphere, the opinionsphere, and the ponitifisphere, the definition of expert has morphed a bit. An expert now is someone self-evidently...
Do-It-Yourself Marketing

Do-It-Yourself Marketing

I have four dental crowns cemented into my noggin. I’m completely familiar with every step of the procedure for getting them in there: the prepping of the tooth; the creation and application of the temporary crown; the molding of the permanent one; and the implanting...