by Mark O'Brien | Dec 5, 2016
Seth Godin published a recent post that said this, in part: There are plenty of people who will pander, race to the bottom, and figure out how to, “give the public what it wants.” But that doesn’t have to be you. Professionals have standards....
by Mark O'Brien | Aug 1, 2016
The other day, I saw the LinkedIn profile of a person who’d given himself the title, Freelance Conceptor. When I saw it, I thought, as Robbie Robertson says, “Oh, this is sure stirrin’ up some ghosts for me.” Contemplate that for a moment. For...
by Mark O'Brien | May 31, 2016
Some 20-plus years ago, I was asked by the company for which I worked to fly from Connecticut to Virginia for a meeting on a Friday afternoon. It turned out to be the most amateurish, unprofessional, and bureaucratically typical exercise in passive-aggressive...
by Mark O'Brien | Jan 12, 2016
Why in the world do we think we’ll see, perceive, or even recognize innovation? That question leapt to mind, yet again, when I read this: “Why Real Innovation Will Not Come From Within Your Own Industry”. Outside your own industry? If real innovation...
by Mark O'Brien | Dec 3, 2015
The story you’re about to read is true. The names have been changed to protect the guilty. In my entire working life, only one attempt has been made to stiff me for an invoice. It was the mid-1990s. Having been cut loose from The Travelers Managed Care and...