Insights

Pitfalls of the Jackson Pollock Method

Jackson Pollock, the American-born artist, made splatter art by flinging paint at a canvas. His signature style served him well in artist circles, bringing him much acclaim.

Who Are You? (They Really Wanna Know)

In essence, branding establishes and defines your identity. It differentiates you from your competition. It says something about your company’s values. Good branding does the above, plus it evokes a positive emotional response.

Think Like an Outsider

I grew up on Long Island until I was 12, when my family moved to Southern California. That was the first of 10 moves in 15 years, which all left me feeling like I didn’t quite belong anywhere. I used to view this rootlessness as a negative. I now know it’s the underpinning of On Target Marketing.

Permission to Fail

If you’ve had a long enough career, you’ve picked up a few management lessons along the way. Good bosses teach by example but the shortest trip up the learning curve often comes courtesy of bad managers. I learned something pretty powerful from a former boss.

Listen Up

I just finished viewing Julian Treasure’s TED Talks lecture entitled “5 Ways to Listen Better.”
Treasure says “we are losing our listening,” thanks to competing demands on our attention, including cellphones, email and ambient noise, to name three of many culprits.

Managing the Leadership Shortage

A report from Manhattan-based Beeson Consulting Inc. caught my eye. What is your organization doing to prepare for the leadership shortage? What programs target specifically the promotion of women?

Don’t Put It in Writing

While large companies respond to thousands of customers a day, we smaller firms can outsmart the big boys by providing customer-facing staffers with some techniques, email and otherwise, to keep customers from making a complaint a public spectacle.

Lessons from My Closeup

If you’re called to do an on-air interview, whether it be radio or TV, consider engaging the services of a media trainer (we’ve got you covered there). No one is born knowing how to field interview questions and appear and sound natural doing it.

Designed to Succeed

My relationship with my travel mug is based on its good design. And good design, it turns out, creates loyal consumers.