It seemed important at the time....

My good old Jeep passes a milestone, and I catch every step!

Cover design for "What I Learned From Frogs in Texas"

I'm thrilled to announce that I've retained The James Gang, a leading global design firm, to do the cover design for the book. Franke James is a truly creative artist, and will come up with a design that captures the essence and spirit of the book.

We are still active in final editing, and anticipate going to print by the first or second week of November.

You can now pre-order a copy of the book, and we will place you at the top of the list so that you are sent a copy as soon as it comes back from the printer. [ buy now ]

Avoiding the race to the bottom - Keynotes on challenges in the global economy

Upcoming this week are a couple of keynote talks that have a common theme -- in an era of massive globalization, offshoring and the rapid impact of China on the global economy -- how do organizations innovate and restructure to survive?

I'll be talking to the leadership meeting of a major transportation company, providing my strategic insight on how they might avoid the price commoditization that is ravaging their industry; then I'll be talking to a major global food manufacturer, on the reality of "the China price" -- that's the lowest price offerred by a company which has offshored manufacturing processes to China -- and it's always the lowest price in any market!

Both of these talks draw upon issues of innovation, trends and the future of the economy, and provide critical leadership insight on some pretty challenging issues. They are roughly based on two of my core themes

• What Comes Next....And What Should You Do About It? link
  
• Leading the Future: Leadership in an Era of Innovation and Change link
  Permanent link to this item ...posted at 07:48 AM...October 13, 2004
  
  

  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  

A final manuscript!

I just got back from the gym ... and Christa (my wife, co-worker and editor-extraordinaire!) had placed on my desk, for the first time, a close-to-final-full manuscript of my latest book, "What I Learned From Frogs in Texas."

For me, an awesome and inspiring site; when you work on something so long, it's a thrill to see it begin to take on a real form. It's a beautiful day here today, and I'm off to go sit at a picnic table by the lake to read it. I haven't looked at it whole for a long time ....

Business trends, health care, skills crisis -- and more!

Where did September go?

In a hectic month, I gave keynote presentations in London, Montreal, New York, Chicago and Stockholm. I'm back on the ground now, but certainly "covered a lot of ground," so to speak.

My talks covered a broad range of issues:

• the future of health care: what trends will impact us 5, 10, 20 years out? This in two breakout sessions at a major US health care conference;
  
• the emerging skills crisis, and the challenges in recruiting and retaining Gen-Y staff, in a three hour presentation/workshop examining future trends for the annual partners conference of a major accounting firm;
  
• how to innovate and thrive in a time of constant change, in a keynote talk for senior staff of the BBC;
  
• and a keynote on the future of business and leisure travel in New York for the huge international HSMAI association
  
• not to mention an address of "The keys to innovation" for SAP in Stockholm
  

My keynotes these days are covering a huge range of issues, including lifestyle, corporate, workplace, demographic, social, technological and other trends.

They are striking a chord -- Hospitality.Net wrote an article featuring highlights from what they called a "thought provoking keynote."

I'm in the office for the week, working away to get "What I Learned from Frogs in Texas" finished off an in to print.

Mount St. Helens from the air

A few years back, I flew right over Mount St. Helens and snapped these pictures from the air. Given the news that it might erupt again soon, they are fascinating to look at.