In which we discuss the dangers of “just assuming” we know what our clients prefer. My son’s recovery from wisdom teeth removal included a “dry socket” which, for the uninitiated, translates as dull, throbbing pain at an extraction site accompanied by more than the usual swelling two to three days after the extraction.  Read more »

In which we remind ourselves that clients don’t always want our advice. A friend called a couple of weeks ago to check in. We hadn’t spoken for a while, so he asked, “What’s new with  Clarity?” I responded — business has been good, we have two new articles out, and we’ve just launched our refreshed … Read more »

In which we describe a simple technique which opens the door to differentiation and higher value added. I walk hills for fun and exercise.  Midway through Saturday’s walk, I could hear a car approaching me from the rear, slowing down… stopping…. rolling again…. stopping…coming closer… stopping.  Remembering Spiro Agnew’s observation that “Just because you’re paranoid … Read more »

In which we learn to ask a specific question to ensure the solutions we propose don’t draw out an immediate objection. In the midst of a spectacularly beautiful snow storm, I joined a Christmas party that included immediate neighbors. As I glided past a small gaggle of them to grab a grape, I overheard the … Read more »

In which we’re reminded that our value comes from our ability to learn, synthesize, and put ideas together.   Our visit to our son’s college for Freshman Parents Weekend included reading an article, Secrets of the Super-Learners, from which: Read more »

….In which we remind ourselves to understand how our clients are measured so we can help them be successful. My children’s’ rooms are disheveled. This state has been an ongoing source of friction between the children and their mother who will, for days at a time, ignore the dishevelment and then, without any apparent triggering … Read more »

I received a prospecting phone call from a telephone service company last week. The guy made a solid “results” approach, offering to reduce our telephone costs 20% to 40%. While that sounded attractive, I told him we are locked into a contract with our phone company. He said, “OK, thanks” and terminated the call.  I … Read more »

School’s out at last in Massachusetts.  On Saturday, I drove my newly graduated son for several hours to his job  in the White Mountains.   On the way there, while he unselfconsciously  dozed next to me in positions that only teenaged bodies can assume,  I listened to Chris Matthews’  book , Life’s A Campaign:  What Politics … Read more »

As we were driving along I listened to my children start a scrap. My daughter made a provocative statement that pricked my son’s adolescent sensitivities. He rumbled, in an increasingly threatening tone, “What do you MEAN?” Kati’s tail feathers immediately went up — FWIP! — and the next step was clear. I could see a … Read more »