After finishing the monumental work of The Path Between The Seas: The Creation Of The Panama Canal, 1870-1914 by David McCullough, I went for something a little lighter: Plato And A Platypus Walk Into A Bar… Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes.  It was exactly what I needed. Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you about all the...Read More

David McCullough’s exhaustively researched tome, The Path between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914, is on par with all of his great works.  McCullough is best known for in-depth research of singular events, including The Great Bridge; 1776; Truman, The Jonestown Flood; and others.  McCullough writes with great insight, humor, and elegance...Read More

Creativity:  Nobody knows where it comes from, but everybody wants it.  Most people can’t define it, but they know it when they see it.  It’s a misunderstood topic, but many of us spend countless hours trying to become more creative. In his groundbreaking work, Creativity:  Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi...Read More

Number 13 on my great big list of books I’m reading this year is Simon Sinek’s Start with Why:  How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.  It is intended to expand on his 18 minute Ted Talk, one of the top ten most watched talks of all time.  Instead , it’s a rambling repetitious repository...Read More

I opened up The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz (on the list of my 24 books I’m reading this year) with great anticipation.  I had heard much about it, and how it had great business wisdom.  Ultimately, I have very mixed thought about this book. First, what I didn’t like. At the...Read More

Anagrams.  Acrostics.  Isograms.  Alphagrams.  My mind has been bludgeoned with these and many other lexicographic terms as I just finished Word Freak:  Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players, by Stefan Fatsis (Number 24 on my list of books to read this year).  On the heels of George Plimpton, but before...Read More

As the New Year arrives, I’ve created my list of books I hope to read this year.  My goal is to read two book each month.  You ask, “How are you going to do this”.  Honestly, I’m not sure I will be able to do this.  But I hope one simple trick will help:  I’m...Read More

Referrals. Most people in the business world have a true love-hate relationship with them. Referrals tend to be the greatest source of new business and we know we’re supposed to ask for them. But, we hate asking for them and usually don’t even know the right way to ask for them. This isn’t because there’s...Read More