Category: Growing Your Business

Simply *Not* the Best

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4 COMMENTS

Have you ever heard of a man named Braxton Key? Let me give you a hint: He’s a professional basketball player. Still not ringing a bell? Don’t feel bad. I had never heard of him either until I did some Googling (who says I don’t do research?). That’s because, among those who play in the National Basketball Association, Braxton Key stands out, skill-wise, for just one reason: He is arguably the worst player in the league. He plays for the Detroit Pistons – the team with the worst record this past season – and […] Click to read more…

Language Lab Lessons

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13 COMMENTS

As has become our annual habit (a two-year pause during Covid not withstanding), my wife Linda and I are working remotely in Costa Rica for the month of February. It’s a great way to escape winter – not that it ever showed up in New England this year – and thanks to the legendary degree of Costa Rican friendliness, it’s pretty easy to settle in here. Spanish, of course, is the native tongue and we do our best not to sound like complete idiots when attempting to communicate. The other day, […] Click to read more…

I Hear You Knocking

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15 COMMENTS

Guess what I haven’t done in 35 years. If you said, “comb your hair,” I am going to give you partial credit. But no, the correct answer is, “go on a date.” That’s because this past Monday was the 35th anniversary of the day I met my wife, Linda, effectively ending my unremarkable career as a single man. Did we meet in college? No. Did we meet at a bar? No. Did we meet on MatchDotBumbleTinderHinge? Please. It was 1988. Ronald Reagan was president. LeBron James was just four years old and had […] Click to read more…

Too Small to Fail

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12 COMMENTS

A few years ago, my son Evan and a friend started a board game company. It’s grown quite nicely, allowing them both to quit their jobs and do this full time. At some point over the past year, they started outsourcing customer service to a wonderful, perpetually cheerful woman named Sarah. She works virtually and part-time, as needed. Most of her customer service role – all done over email – involves responding to customers whose games were either damaged in transit or never arrived at all. Everything is shipped through third parties (Amazon, […] Click to read more…

Reverse Healing

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34 COMMENTS

Alert readers may recall that I had shoulder surgery recently. In fact, as I write this, it has been exactly six weeks to the day since I went under the knife (not that you bothered to call). How has the recovery been? Well, as the old saying goes, there’s not a lot about it that reminds you of opening presents on Christmas morning. It’s a slow and painful process. And yet, despite all that, I have to say that the human body’s ability to heal is pretty remarkable. Think about it. Somebody […] Click to read more…