The more I travel, the more impressed I am with Southwest Airlines. They have distinguished themselves in the transportation industry by doing two things we all would benefit from doing: 1. They focus on solving the biggest problems their customers face. When you survey air travelers these days and ask what their biggest annoyance is, […]

The holidays bring with them the potential for considerable stress and anxiety. Most folks can’t help but have hopes and expectations and if these aren’t met, upset feelings are right around the corner. Unmet expectations and thwarted intentions (the major causes of upsets) occur more frequently around family gatherings. So how can we be with […]

Over time, I have watched several big box electronics and appliance stores go out of business. I assumed it was because they couldn’t compete with their online competition. I’m here to tell you that Best Buy is not going down without a fight.

My dad, who will be 95 this summer, was the 9th of 10 children growing up and living through the great depression in Hampton, Virginia. He attended the University of Virginia for both College and Medical School before being shipped off to Okinawa during World War II.

My wife and I spent an unusual Valentine’s Day this year. There was an online offer for flowers that I took advantage of.  The flowers were kind of overpriced but they looked beautiful online and I decided to go for it. Since my wife doesn’t like surprises, I asked her to pick out the arrangement […]

Over the years, many of the companies for which I have consulted have tried some form of suggestion box to generate ideas on how to improve their processes and productivity.  In almost every case, the suggestion box has not brought about the anticipated results. In fact, I submit that the suggestion box, unless handled very […]

During the time that I was the customer service manager at Rosenthal Acura, I would meet weekly with all the department managers to identify problems and handle customer complaints.  Wherever possible, we would redesign our processes to resolve them. According to the sales managers, the salesmen, whose cash bonuses were directly affected by customer ratings, […]

  Try this as an experiment. The next time you are in your car trying to get somewhere, notice how you feel when traffic is stopped and then notice how differently you feel as the car accelerates down the highway. You may be tempted to conclude that speed feels good but the surprising thing is […]

One of the hardest things for us to do as leaders, spouses, or parents is to accept ourselves exactly the way we are and accepting our situation exactly the way it is. We are, as a society, very oriented toward self-improvement.  In many ways this is a good thing.  It’s natural for us to want […]

My good friend’s son has an entry level job at a big box store. Although he doesn’t make much an hour, he likes the steady paycheck and the non-rush hour shift he is on and enjoys his co-workers. He has a good relationship with his supervisor and appreciates certain perks that are provided with the […]