January 21

Perceptions

Perceptions

Popular mythology would have you believe that some rock stars are spoiled prima Donna’s. For years David Lee Roth of the band Van Halen was held up as an example of this because he always insisted on bowls of M&M’s backstage – but the brown ones had to be removed.

On the surface of it, it seems pretty interesting behaviour.

Van Halen was the first band to hit the road with monster shows. You are talking 19 articulated lorries full of equipment. This meant that the shows were complicated to assemble, involved a lot of detail and there were specific requirements of the venue’s where they were going to be staged.

January 8

Against all odds….

Against all odds….

What does it mean to be really driven by success? We often hear people talk about career success using words such as drive, focus, passion and commitment. We should also acknowledge for many small businesses attributes such as dedication and self-sacrifice are part of the landscape. But what is reality?

In a Sunday Times article last year, there was a joint interview of James Dyson and his son Jake. Jake recalled how, when his father was developing his bagless vacuum cleaners, he built 5127 prototypes before he got the concept right. Yes, 5127! Can you imagine the long hours and the challenges of trying to fund this work as well as deal with a young family?

January 3

Resolutions… The Party’s Over…

Resolutions… The Party’s Over…

Was trolling through the Fast Company News bulletins this morning (recommend as a source of general business reading) and came across an article “The Trick to Actually Making Your Resolutions Stick This Year”. Made me laugh, given my post recommending that you Shouldn’t make resolutions..

However, I note the themes are broadly similar between this post and my blog so note these here for convenience: