by Mark O'Brien | Jan 8, 2015
For those of us who care about such things, it’s fascinating to note that keyboard design and composition have remained largely unchanged since Enrico Royal brought the first typewriter to the United States aboard Christopher Columbus’ flagship, Santa...
by Mark O'Brien | Jan 7, 2015
Here are the five most popular phrases uttered by business people — not at the end of their lives — but at the end of their professional livelihoods: Yeah, but I thought …. You mean it didn’t …? There’s only one way to …. I know I’m...
by Mark O'Brien | Jan 6, 2015
I left my last corporate job 20 years ago. Even then, I was aware of a phenomenon that continues to become more prevalent: Kleptus vocabularus — the stealing of a lexicon germane to one context for the purpose of deliberately misleading in another context. More...
by Mark O'Brien | Jan 5, 2015
My father passed away a year ago today. To say the occasion was life-changing is to do it — and my father — a disservice. It was more like a revelation — a precious, bittersweet reminder of who I am and why: I am my father’s son. All I am I owe to him. His...
by Mark O'Brien | Jan 2, 2015
Every year, in the eight weeks between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, a number of things can be counted on to take place. Each is a measure of our inexplicable humanity: First, the holiday season will vanish, leaving us to realize our spirits are none the kinder,...
by Mark O'Brien | Dec 31, 2014
In the good old days (when were those?), companies differentiated themselves by purporting to be the best at what they did. One specialization. One concentration. One reliable deliverable or set thereof. That was then. This is now. Can a company that did one thing...
