I’ll let you in on a little secret: I listen to audiobooks and podcasts at 1.25x speed. I’ve tried 1.5x—the speed one friend swears by—but that hurt my brain. At my preferred pace, most narrators sound like an expeditious New Yawker, accelerating to the punchline intelligibly yet well-ahead of the average. With this approach, I’m also able to power through business books, leaving my ...

Way back when, I used to dread the elemental ritual of sharing what I learned from my summer vacation. It wasn’t just that my vacations were relatively uneventful. In truth, even if I’d been interested in gleaning insights from day camp or Little League (which I most certainly wasn’t), I simply didn’t have the perspective to do so. But now, lucky readers, insights seem to ...

You may have already heard about the new privacy provision from the European Union called GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). It goes into effect on tomorrow, May 25 in the EU. This law is designed to provide European Union citizens with more control over and transparency around personal data that’s collected about them online. However, it would be a mistake to assume that this regulation is only something that ...

Chances are you know the old story about the woodcutter who hacked his way across the forest day and night. Lamenting that his work was increasingly difficult, a passing stranger asked, “Why don’t you take a break and sharpen your saw?” The devoted laborer quickly dismissed this suggestion, explaining, “I simply don’t have the time!”

Last week I witnessed more than 190 senior marketing execs sharpening ...

I take refuge in history. It’s not so much an escape as an exploration fueled by an optimistic search for precedents, good or bad, that could shed light on current challenges, big or little. Currently engrossed in Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, I’m struck by the remarkable leadership skills of Abraham Lincoln that, in the face of perhaps our country&...

Presented with a big spending request in the heat of the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant surprised an underling with the speed of his response. When asked how certain he was of his decision, Grant responded, “In war, anything is better than indecision. We must decide. Not to decide wastes both time and money and may ruin everything.” Grant, as most know, was one of the most effective ...

There are few public figures more associated with jaw dropping frankness than entrepreneur and author Peter Shankman. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Peter speak on a variety of topics including ADHD, one that he surprisingly champions as a gift not a curse. Having founded and sold three companies including HARO (Help A Reporter Out), Peter knows a thing or twenty about cutting through to get a brand’...

CES has long been a “must see” destination for B2C marketers in search of consumer trends but a simple substitution of the word “converging” for “consumer” and it’s easy to understand why forward-thinking B2B marketers will also be descending on Vegas this January. Should you need a little push, here are seven trends identified with the help of tech-guru Shelly Palmer that will have significant implications ...

When the phone rang on October 18, 1998, two guys were in their basement wondering how to tell the homeowner that his Eisenhower-era furnace was beyond repair. As he contemplated their predicament and watched his kindergartner, Grace, play with a friend, Chris Bohjalian answered the call that changed his life. It was none other than Oprah Winfrey, who announced she had just selected “Midwives,” his already-bestselling novel, for her book club. ...