David L. Peterson

International Speaker, Bestselling Author, Serial Entrepreneur, Shipwreck Survivor

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Innovation ThinkTime

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How Hard is it to Just Say “I’m Sorry …”

Mistakes happen. I know that I make my fair share. And it happens from time to time as we interact with physical and online merchants. I am very tolerant of mistakes but I also do take note of how companies remediate these issues. Two recent examples come to mind. I had a reservation at a Fairfield Inn in Westminster, CO. Upon arriving at the lobby, I was informed by Stephen at the desk, that he did not have a room for me, but that he had already made arrangements with the adjacent La Quinta for a room. Upon arrival at the La Quinta, the real story was revealed. Stephen had made a reservation, but there was no previous arrangement for La Quinta to give up a room without prior payment. Instead of Stephen making a reservation at a hotel where they did have an agreement (there were …

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Counting the Apples in a Single Seed …

Every July, I teach at the University of Colorado’s Graduate School of Banking for two weeks. This is an amazing experience for these bankers since they are being groomed by their institutions to become future leaders. Many of the students I teach will become C-Suite members in the years to come, so I take my role in this school very seriously--myself, not so much. These students have so many hard classes covering the nuts and bolts of banking, and they are learning from university professors, former bankers, and regulators. This is heavy stuff, so I try to make my classes fun while still informative. And yet, even though I generally receive good comments from students about how much they enjoyed my class, I really don’t know how effective I have been. I want them to think differently …

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AVIS Trying Harder to Not Try Hard

I was in Boston for a business trip and flew in two days early to meet my wife for a couple of summer days in the city. The first day was idyllic--my wife Samantha had planned it in advance, starting with a city bike tour, followed by a quick lunch at Legal Seafood, an afternoon sail on a tall ship, and ending with dinner at The Original Oyster House. There, my beautiful bride and a three-pound lobster had an encounter: The next day, we decided to drive up the Massachusetts coast. I had reserved a car from an AVIS  near our hotel, so we packed all our stuff and took an Uber to the location. Upon entering the office, I sensed something was awry. There were three groups of people waiting ahead of us, and the usual AVIS efficiency seemed absent from this location. The AVIS staffer was …

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How to Convert a Favor Into a Win

I recently emceed a conference where the president of the association asked if I would organize a rock group with members of the association. Since I was driving from Georgia to Alabama, where the conference was held, it would be possible for me to bring the equipment necessary to make this happen.   Over the ensuing weeks, I started an email chain with the bankers, who responded that they played an instrument and would participate. It was coming together. However, there was going to be no time to practice beforehand, meaning it would be more of a jam session. We would show up, decide what to play, and just go for it. We knew the audience would give us grace, and we knew we wouldn’t be giving up our day jobs anytime soon--we would just have some fun in the process. The date was …

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Small Innovations Matter… Even in the Bathroom

We’ve all seen it--a wall-mounted, liquid soap dispenser, dripping onto the counter of a public restroom. Regardless of the preventative efforts of engineers, the dispenser leaks. At least, there always seem to be drips (or even puddles) of unused soap on the counters. I figured, if it were possible to prevent this additional soap from leaking, it would have been worked out by now. Soap is viscous, and we are impatient beings, so it is inevitable we pull our hands away before all of the soap succumbs to gravity. Over the hours before the bathroom is cleaned again, a veritable sea of soap can accumulate. This isn’t particularly problematic because… well, it’s soap. It’s not dirty, but it is unsightly and definitely an issue if you place your hand or anything else on that spot on the …

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