Michaeldiamond.com Content Audit as of 2013-8-19

Posted by Michael on August 11, 2013 in Productivity, Technology Partnerships | ∞ People are always looking to cut the "middle man". Question: How do you know if you're a "middle man"? Answer: If your customers think of you that way. If you're viewed as a "distributor" or an "integrator", not a "manufacturer" or "product creator".

Posted by Michael on August 7, 2013 in Innovation, Productivity | ∞ For those of us interested in innovation, we notice in ourselves and others a tendency to work more on the answers than the questions. There are many aphorisms that remind us of the importance of questioning our actions: Look before you leap.

Posted by Michael on August 3, 2013 in Productivity | ∞ We've all been there. The eager presenter standing at the front of the room as we enter, the eerie luminescent glow of the projector, and the disquieting sense that you are about to spend one hour (or more) on a topic that should require 15 minutes (or less) of your time.

Posted by Michael on July 24, 2013 in Innovation, Leadership | ∞ How fast can you fail? Certain projects, by their very nature, require years of planning and many millions (or billions) of dollars before they are unveiled. It used to be that a project was de-risked by investing huge sums of money and spending thousands of man-years designing and executing.

Posted by Michael on July 15, 2013 in Life Balance, Productivity | ∞ "You have too much time on your hands" may be the worst reaction to any creative endeavor. Today, we have greater ability to create new things than ever before. You can create fun albums with your photos, or even decorate your walls with them.

Posted by Michael on July 4, 2013 in Productivity | ∞ How many terms & conditions have you accepted over the past few weeks? My guess is that if you're like everyone else, you hit "agree" quite often without wading through the legalese.

Posted by Michael on June 10, 2013 in Innovation, Leadership | ∞ How many times have you had a great idea? Let me be more specific: how many times have you had a GREAT idea? You know - the type of idea that, in a single instant, seems to slay a number of problems on the spot?

Posted by Michael on June 2, 2013 in Innovation | ∞ In many areas of our lives there are certain annual events that are anxiously awaited and bring a reassurance that the rhythm of life continues. Holidays are celebrated. The swallows return to Capistrano. Farmers and traders anxiously await crop reports.

Posted by Michael on May 28, 2013 in Innovation, Leadership | ∞ Many of us know the story that originated from the Indian sub-continent about a group of blind men who happen upon an elephant, and while holding different parts of it begin to argue about what the elephant most resembled.

Posted by Michael on May 13, 2013 in Leadership, Productivity | ∞ I recently read an insightful blog post from Michael Hyatt where he addresses the single biggest objection from his readers on delegation: they often look at a certain task and know they can do it faster themselves than if they delegate it to others.

Posted by Michael on May 2, 2013 in Innovation | ∞ Once upon a time there was a magical land named Newtopia. Newtopia was filled with busy people who were always thinking and talking about new things. They had a voracious appetite for the latest writings from "gurus" and "experts" who lived in distant lands.

Posted by Michael on April 24, 2013 in Leadership, Life Balance, Productivity | ∞ A number of years ago a close friend of mine, who was an executive at a public company with a large team reporting to him, was having a beer with his boss, who was the COO of the corporation.

Posted by Michael on April 17, 2013 in Innovation, Leadership | ∞ In sports, teams that are in danger of losing resort to high-risk strategies. Desperate football teams throw deep passes even though their opponents know it's coming. Hockey teams pull their goalie for an extra skater.

Posted by Michael on April 2, 2013 in Leadership | ∞ If mistakes lead to experience, and experience leads to wisdom, then let me share some wisdom with you, because I've certainly made some mistakes. This is about one of them.

Posted by Michael on March 25, 2013 in Innovation | ∞ I have had a long fascination with North Korea, although it's the sort of fascination experienced when driving past a car accident.

Posted by Michael on March 20, 2013 in Leadership | ∞ Last week I found myself on the flight deck of the USS Midway, a de-commissioned aircraft carrier that is now docked in San Diego and open to the public.

Posted by Michael on March 4, 2013 in Innovation, Technology Partnerships | ∞ This past week I attended the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The show has quickly taken on gargantuan proportions, with approximately 70,000 attendees at this year's event.

Posted by Michael on February 19, 2013 in Innovation | ∞ One of the conceits of the present age is the smug amusement we feel when we see written or recorded histories of past generations' predictions of the future.

Posted by Michael on February 2, 2013 in Leadership | ∞ To: CEO From: Business Consultant Regarding: Competition and You Hi! I thought I'd dash off a quick note to you to tell you something nobody else in the company is willing to tell you.

Posted by Michael on January 25, 2013 in Innovation, Leadership, Productivity | ∞ My friend James Oliver published an interesting article here on SteamFeed.com that artfully describes how perseverance is vital to the successful entrepreneur who wants to have any chance of getting his or her venture off the ground.

Posted by Michael on January 19, 2013 in Innovation, Leadership, Productivity | ∞ Three quick notes after a week of travel: First: Last week I posted about how Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of their first Boeing 787 airplanes before any other carrier in the US.

Posted by Michael on January 6, 2013 in Innovation | ∞ In late September, United Airlines became the first U.S. carrier to accept delivery of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. That delivery, and the plane itself, provide an interesting lens into innovation and how the world is changing in certain fundamental ways.

Posted by Michael on January 1, 2013 in Innovation | ∞ Note: I'm excited to join the featured authors at Steamfeed.com in 2013. This is my first post there. To link to the entire post, click here.

Posted by Michael on December 23, 2012 in Productivity | ∞ "There is no sound so sweet as the sound of one's own voice" The new year is a natural time to re-dedicate ourselves to those traits we know to be true, but we drift away from due to the intense activity cycle of daily living.

Posted by Michael on December 17, 2012 in Technology Partnerships | ∞ I was sitting in the hot sun one afternoon in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq in 1991.