Dr. Kingsley Chin and Knowing Your Why

Upon arrival in Jamaica, I was alerted that one of the Destination Experience advisory board members would come to the airport and pick us up for the long ride from Montego Bay to Kingston. This saved us from an even longer bus ride. We met up with Ron McKay and during that 3-hour drive, I got […]

Sailing Through Customs

I had a planned business trip from Atlanta to Montego Bay Jamaica to speak at The Destination Experience. During the meeting with the planner before this, I began asking about issues involving getting in and out of Jamaica customs: “Is there any option available that would assist us in getting through customs in a streamlined fashion”? Now, […]

A BMW’r? For Me? OK!

I traveled to Austin for a consulting engagement and arrived at AVIS Preferred to pick up my rental car. Normally, my name is on the Preferred board, where you can just find your name, identify the space in which your car is waiting, and off you go. Every now and then, however, I find my […]

Innovative Thinking and… CDs?

I work primarily with financial institutions, which are nothing if not bound by tradition. The basics of banking have remained virtually unchanged in the last 50 years. As I speak on innovation at many of the nation’s state banking associations, I am insistent that bankers must change their thinking about their products and services and […]

How to Not Get Run Over By a Tank – From Tradition to ExoMorphosis

I was recently talking with David Frankil, President of the NJ Credit Union League. We were chatting about a keynote which I’ll be doing for him in March at the CU Reality Check. I was talking about innovation and my drive to get financial executives to “think about how they think.” Since financial institutions are […]

Strategic Planning and Cutting up the Last Donut

I walked into church yesterday and immediately went to get a cup of Beanery coffee. As I was pouring my cup, I noticed a box of donuts on the counter with a partial donut and a knife inside it. My assumption is that this box was full at the time it was placed on the […]

This Page Intentionally Left Blank

You’ve seen this a hundred times, in a service manual or textbook – a blank page. Only, it’s not really blank. On it are these words: “This Page Intentionally Left Blank.” I recently got a letter from an insurance company. In the envelope, there were two pages. One of them was a letter that had information […]

Does Experience Negate the Need for a Coach? No Way!

I was blown away by this comment of his and realized that regardless of our current state of proficiency, there will always be someone better than us. I wrapped up a strategy call with my speaking coach today. You might ask why someone who is a member of the National Speakers Association and has performed […]

Getting Screws Without Getting Screwed

A small project required me to make a trip to the hardware store for some special screws. Instead of going to one of the big-box stores, I went to a local hardware store that I frequent, called Miller Hardware. While their total inventory doesn’t match that of their much larger competitors, I have yet to […]

Fortune Favors those who Act

I probably have no bigger fan (and critic) than my mom. Although she devours every single blog post, article or news of my speaking or consulting, she will still call me out when she feels it most warranted, and I am amazed at both her energy and passion. Just recently, she sent me a message […]