Those of you who follow my blog should have noticed a new look and feel today!  If you receive this missive in your email box via an RSS feed, I encourage you to stop by www.ThePhoenixPrinciple.com to see the new look. As most of you know, I'm quite serious about helping organizations realize that ...

Nearly 20 years ago three guys from the University of Sussex were looking for dark matter. But shooting electrons on carbon rods they accidentally created a third elementary form of carbon. The buckminsterfullerene was good for a Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1996) but figuring out what to use it for ha...

Last week was quite a contrast in tech results.  Google announced it had hired 99 new employees in the fourth quarter, but was planning to lay off 100.  Not good news, but a veritable growth binge compared to Microsoft - that announced it was laying off 5,000 from its Windows business.  To pu...

If I may be as bold to call Andy Jaquith a friend, I'll do so as I welcomed both his first research report and blog as an analyst for Forrester. Andy's first topic -- Data-Centric Security Requires Devolution, Not a Revolution -- is a doozy, and an important one given the recent re-focus on informat...

2008 was quite a year.  Many businesses came out far worse than they dreamed possible when the year started.  The Wilshire 5000 (one of the broadest measures of U.S. equity values) declined 40% - losing some $7trillion dollars of value.  More than 1.2million jobs disappeared in the USA.  Foreclo...

Every time we do taharah I have to look up how to tie the special knots. On the whole, our procedures are simple. We gather upstairs in the funeral parlor, thank one another for coming, hug. We troop into the little downstairs room where a candle is burning and the person who has died is covered by ...

What a day this Monday is turning out to be.  Circuit City files for Chapter 11 (read Reuters article here, and Marketwatch article here).  Sirius radio looks like it will follow soon (read article here).  And Deutsche Bank analysts are predicting GM will end up wiping out shareholders through e...

You want people to use your association's new online community and social network? Let’s walk a mile in your member's shoes. Just like there are stages for welcoming a new member who joins your association, so are there stages for welcoming a member who joins your online community for the first ti...

Readers of this blog know my lifecycle references.  We start out in the Wellspring of ideas.  To be successful we have to find the Rapids of high growth.  In the Rapids life is  beautiful as we make money and everyone wants to give us more.  When growth slows we hit the Flat...

Yesterday I blogged about reading telltales.  Catching small bits of information that can help you predict a company's behavior and longevity.  But sometimes we don't need a telltale - because the signs are as obvious as a gale force wind.  That happened yesterday in my email inbox, w...