By Wayne Mates
After a couple hours of working at resolving some tricky business problems, I ran into a mental roadblock. My brain refused to do its usual work of looking at a problem from several angles, assessing information and coming to a conclusion. Reaching that point I decided to stop working. Just shut it down and do anything else.
As I cleared my mind of the clutter, I aimlessly wandered around the house, flipped on the TV and scanned through several channels. I sat back in my chair and relaxed. I started to think about what I would write in my post this week. Determining what topic to choose, I hit the bane of writers – writer’s block. My brain seemed to weave through any number of things – chores to be completed, people I needed to call, but no ideas on a topic for the post.
So what happened? As my mind was unwinding from the days stress and numerous decisions made, it began to solve some of the earlier problems I was unable to resolve. Suddenly, potential solutions were abundant. I jotted down notes and set them aside.
Then, a stranger thing happened. An idea for a new business popped into my head. The magical light bulb switched on. I wasn’t looking for a new idea. It seemed to create itself. My mind raced through various ways to make this business real. The less I thought about it, the faster and quicker ideas and scenarios developed. I wrote everything down and a semblance of a business plan began to develop. Nothing concrete, only tasks and research to be commenced. It was the equivalent of doing a mind dump, no idea was irrelevant. About an hour later, the ideas stopped and so did I.
Just as quickly as it started, it stopped. As my brain started to reengage, I realized the experience would make pretty good post.
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Filed under News, Start Up by on Feb 20th, 2012. 1 Comment. 
A Compilation by Harvard Business Review
Reviewed By Wayne Mates
This paperback is part of a series of business books recently published by Harvard Business Review, one of the most revered publishers in the country for business. As such, I looked forward to some insight into business that I hadn’t read before.
The book is composed of 9 articles covering a variety of topics. Each article mixes theory and the practicality of real world examples. As you would expect from the professors of Harvard, the articles are well thought out and provide solid business school fundamentals. Some also draw in their real business experiences to add color. There is nothing like having experienced and done it to add validity to your teaching.
Articles delve into what resources you need to start up and questions you need to answer (and what the correct answers are) if you are to be a success.
There are three articles on when to relinquish the CEO role and hire a professional CEO. This article points out that Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Michael Dell are the exceptions; that it takes an extraordinary person to both found and lead a company into market dominance. You may remember Apple forced out Steve Jobs and replaced him with a professional CEO. That didn’t work out too well for them.
Since there are a number of authors, the quality of the articles can vary from very well written and researched to marginally effective. Most are excellent and will cause you to pause and ask yourself some hard questions about what you are doing and why. Pondering the answers will give you valuable insight into your company, your senior managers and staff. Coming up with the right answers will determine how far you can take your fledging company.
This is an excellent book for those who are anticipating founding a business as well as those who have little experience and may be searching for answers. I highly recommend this book.
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Filed under Book Reviews, News by on Feb 13th, 2012. Comment.
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