Sat.May 13, 2017 - Fri.May 19, 2017

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Does a Person Need Passion or Expertise to Start a Consulting Firm?

Steve Shu Consulting

Here are the situations regarding two people I know: Person 1 is terribly bored by the work he does in radiology, but he’s extremely good at it, and organizations like product companies, health systems, and providers seek out his consulting services. Person 2 is extremely excited and passionate about behavioral economics and wants to start a consulting firm.

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3 Steps to Building Trust in Your Firm (and You)

David A Fields

Trust is important for falling backwards into crowds, eating any food your grandfather prepares and winning consulting projects. No news there. But how important is a client’s trust in your consulting firm as opposed to trust in you as an individual consultant? Very.

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Setting Up a Foundation for Consulting Success

Successful Independent Consulting

This article covers two sides of the same coin for independent consultants: how to set up your business for success and what expenses to track to pay less tax. They're interrelated. Let’s tackle the tax question first. What do I need to keep track of so I pay less tax? Here’s a short list of the most important things and some tips to make it easier.

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Should Consultants Offer Guarantees? The Answer May Surprise You…

Consulting Success

“That would absolutely freak me out,” my client said. “Why is that?” I asked. “Well, because lots of things could happen…” the client responded. I went on to explain the reasons for considering offering a guarantee. And by the end of our coaching call, my client knew exactly what to do. You can find plenty of research that suggests the benefits of offering a guarantee.

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PowerPoint Best Practices for Creating Stellar Presentations

Mastering data visualization in PowerPoint will help accelerate your career because it positions you as someone who can present data that drives business decisions forward. think-cell's PowerPoint Best Practices eBook was created specifically for professionals aiming to master the art and science of data-driven storytelling. What’s inside: Practical Insights: Uncover valuable tips for crafting engaging and persuasive presentations.

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Reflecting on Your Consulting War Stories Builds Character

Steve Shu Consulting

I don’t claim this to be a good war story, but it is a war story has had a deep impression on me. Early on in my career, I was asked by the managing partner on the project to help a struggling manager to help develop their plan for the business. When I got into the weeds, the problem was essentially an operations strategy and planning project. I brought a little rigor to the analysis, and I worked with the manager to break down scenarios and workflows and applying Little’s Law (i.e., average inv

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Are CEOs Less Ethical Than in the Past?

Strategy+Business

This year's CEO Success study shows that boards of directors, institutional investors, governments, and the media are holding chief executive officers to a far higher level of accountability for corporate fraud and ethical lapses than in the past. Although the number of CEOs who are forced from office for ethical lapses remains quite small, firings for ethical lapses have been rising as a percentage of CEO successions: from 3.9 percent of all successions in 2007-11 to 5.3 percent in 2012-16.

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The Digital Marketing Revolution Has Only Just Begun

BCG

Article Tuesday, May 16, 2017 Classic marketing techniques have no place in digital marketing. If your company is still relying on ways of working that served you well ten years ago, it’s time to accelerate change.

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Reflecting on Heuristics

Steve Shu Consulting

I was recently asked on Quora, “Should one use heuristics at all as they are prone to cognitive biases?” What follows are my thoughts. Heuristics usually allow people to make quicker decisions. For example, when catching a fly baseball, sometimes people use a gaze heuristic to keep the ball at roughly the same inbound angle by adjusting their position and moving forward or backward.

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Ungoaling: Developing Habits Is The Way to Really Get Work Done

Actionable

I decided to end my focus on goals, something I’ve called ungoaling. This means developing habits for activities that will contribute to my overall success. The post Ungoaling: Developing Habits Is The Way to Really Get Work Done appeared first on Actionable.co.

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How to Stay Competitive in the Evolving State of Martech

Marketing technology is essential for B2B marketers to stay competitive in a rapidly changing digital landscape — and with 53% of marketers experiencing legacy technology issues and limitations, they’re researching innovations to expand and refine their technology stacks. To help practitioners keep up with the rapidly evolving martech landscape, this special report will discuss: How practitioners are integrating technologies and systems to encourage information-sharing between departments and pr

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Sherman County Oregon Threatens to Seize 2,000 Acre Organic Farm and Spray it with Roundup

MishTalk

Sherman County Oregon believes the 2,000 acre Azure Farms is not doing enough to control Canada Thistle, a noxious weed. In this case, not doing enough means not spraying weeds with herbicides. To remedy the alleged problem, the county proposes seizing the farm and spraying everything with Roundup and other herbicides. Azure Farms is certified organic.

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Purpose with the Power to Transform Your Organization

BCG

Article Monday, May 15, 2017 Purpose can be powerful—but only if it’s authentic. A four-step approach helps organizations move beyond superficial statements to activate and embed lasting purpose.

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WIC’s LinkedIn Event Sold Out

Women in Consulting

By: Amy Huson. Sixty plus Women In Consulting members made the trek to Sunnyvale last week to hear the latest tips on how to grow their consulting practice with LinkedIn. WIC members got to network with each other and the LinkedIn team. Between sips of wine and excellent food, every WIC member in attendance got a professional headshot courtesy of LinkedIn.

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Being Human — Why Robots Can’t Create Business Success

Actionable

In my book Being Human, I challenge the notion that technical competence and a Robotic approach to Human Management still has a place in a Humanistic world. The post Being Human — Why Robots Can’t Create Business Success appeared first on Actionable.co.

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Savings Consultants Are Needed in Today's Market More Than Ever

Savings Consultants are needed in today’s market more than ever. With an increase in expenses, businesses are looking for opportunities to save. Often unknown to businesses are savings in expense reduction, specialized tax savings, specialized savings including medical underpayments, health benefits cost reduction, zero cost processing, and more. Blue Coast Savings, with over 20 years in business, assists Savings Consultants in helping these companies move toward more profitable businesses.

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Death Spiral for Car Ownership? End of Fuel-Powered Cars by 2024?

MishTalk

I have been a leading proponent that self-driving vehicles, especially trucks, will be here sooner than most think. My estimate for long-haul trucks taking over is 2021-2022 or so. Widespread adoption of self-driving cars will be slower. Many of my readers think that 2021-2022 is impossible. However, some recent studies claim I am far too pessimistic in my assessment.

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How Do You Build an Awesome Marketing Team?

Clarity Consultants

Your marketing team is the source of some of the most important work products in helping your business grow and your clients learn about your company in an ongoing marketing strategy. Chances are that without an all-star team of marketing experts, your business is missing out. But in the ongoing war for talent, how do you make sure you’re hiring. Read More.

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Cracking the Code in Private Equity Software Deals

BCG

Article Tuesday, May 16, 2017. PE firms must prepare to capitalize on the wave of software companies hitting the buyout market. Software industry expertise is essential for capturing outsized returns.

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Build Trust to Help your Clients Get in the Game

Actionable

Taking the time to build trust in relationships results in increased engagement, agility, and collaboration—qualities teams need to thrive business today. The post Build Trust to Help your Clients Get in the Game appeared first on Actionable.co.

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TOOLS and METHODOLOGIES for developing DECISION SUPPORT PACKAGES

This White Paper targets opportunities for Management to develop proficiency in the Decision Framing and Analyses element of input to Decision, & Risk Analyses for Major Project Funding Decisions.

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Treasury Yields and Rate Hike Odds Sink: Investigating the Yield Curve

MishTalk

The futures market is starting to question the June rate hike thesis. For its part, the bond market is behaving as if the Fed is hiking the economy into a recession. Here are some pictures. (more…).

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Being Ready for a Crisis

Strategy+Business

The likelihood that your business will be hit by a highly threatening, unexpected event has never been higher. It might be an operational disruption, a cyber-breach, a terrorist attack, a major accident, a natural disaster, a crime, a pandemic, a food safety scare, a major labor dispute, a financial meltdown, a product failure, a sexual harassment case, or your company's ethical scandals coming to light.

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Is Cash Better Than Food Vouchers for Syrian Refugees?

BCG

Article Thursday, May 18, 2017 A United Nations World Food Programme–commissioned study found that giving Syrian refugees unrestricted cash instead of food vouchers yielded similar or better food security.

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To Change Your Strategy, First Change How You Think

Harvard Business

Tim Evans for HBR. It seems that everyone these days is looking for a disruptive business model. But a business model is only one part of the equation. Equally important is the mental model behind the business model, as well as a measurement model for both. It’s the combination of mental, business, and measurement models that allows real transformation to occur.

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Why You Need to Use Case Studies in Sales and Marketing (and How to Start Now)

Case studies are proof of successful client relations and a verifiable product or service. They persuade buyers by highlighting your customers' experiences with your company and its solution. In sales, case studies are crucial pieces of content that can be tailored to prospects' pain points and used throughout the buyer's journey. In marketing, case studies are versatile assets for generating business, providing reusable elements for ad and social media content, website material, and marketing c

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WannaCry Cyber Attack Hits 99 Countries, FedEx, Nissan, Hospitals, Universities with NSA Developed Malware: Five Questions

MishTalk

The National Security Administration (NSA ) has its hands in the biggest ransomware cyber attack in history. The NSA found holes in the Windows operating systems and instead of alerting Microsoft it chose to exploit those holes for its own benefit. The problem with such an approach is the NSA is not the only one who can exploit the holes. At least 70 countries have been hit.

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What Henry Ford understood about wages

Seth Godin Blog

Every time Ford increased the productivity of car production (in one three-year period, he lowered labor costs by 66% per car), he also raised wages. Not merely because it's the right thing to do. He did it because well-paid workers had more to spend. On houses, on clothes, and of course, on cars. There's a positive ratchet here. You can't shrink your way to greatness.

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Your Next Corporate Leader Should Have a Pilot's License

Strategy+Business

CEOs who fly planes in their spare time take on risks and seek out new experiences, traits that lead them to preside over firms with better innovation outcomes.

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How Digital Technology Is Changing Farming in Africa

Harvard Business

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations , the world population will reach 9.1 billion by 2050, and to feed that number of people, global food production will need to grow by 70%. For Africa, which is projected to be home to about 2 billion people by then, farm productivity must accelerate at a faster rate than the global average to avoid continued mass hunger.

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ABM Evolution: How Top Marketers Are Using Account-Based Strategies

In times of economic uncertainty, account-based strategies are essential. According to several business analysts and practitioners, ABM is a necessity for creating more predictable revenue. Research shows that nearly three-quarters of marketers (74%) already have the resources needed to build successful ABM programs.