http://www.expansionadvice.com Improving Individual and Organizational Performance Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:10:27 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en No matter the industry or health of the economy, the most common complaint I hear from organizational leaders is, “I’m having trouble finding good people”. Even today, with unemployment at multiple-decade highs, I still hear it. Perhaps the problem is not the availability of good people, but something much broader ... http://www.expansionadvice.com/?p=46 People start and grow organizations for a myriad of reasons. One of the often stated reasons is to “make more money” and, in the case of nonprofits, “to grow and perpetuate the cause.” Financially-savvy sounding people might state “to improve ROE (Return on Equity)” or “ROI” (Return on Investment), yet ... http://www.expansionadvice.com/?p=45 Getting Things Done by David Allen, first published in 2001, has been a slow moving phenomena as it has taken nearly 6 years to enter the NY Times Business Best Sellers list. Yet, when I speak to groups of executives at emerging companies, fewer than 5% of even heard of ... http://www.expansionadvice.com/?p=44 Here are several ideas for my time-challenged clients. 1.    Conduct high power work when your brain is freshest. I tend to write important drafts early in the morning (as a “morning person”) and surf the web conducting research when my brain is tired (low energy required). 2.    Make sure your to do ... http://www.expansionadvice.com/?p=43 10 Smart, Effective and Frugal Ways to Recruit the Right Franchisees Reducing franchise recruiting costs is an increasingly difficult issue facing most franchise systems. In Part II, we explored the pros and cons of traditional methods used to recruit franchisees such as the Internet, franchise brokers, trade shows and publication advertising. ... http://www.expansionadvice.com/?p=42 I’ve noticed a disturbing trend: We’ve all have become slaves to our smart phones. As the gadget du jour, smart phones are supposed to increase productivity and reduce stress. And for 20% of you, this is true. Unfortunately, for the remainder, it’s only made your life spin more out of control. It’s ... http://www.expansionadvice.com/?p=40 Do you want to make sense of all the recent turmoil in the financial markets? Check out Burton Malkiel’s A Random Walk Down Wall Street, my favorite book on investing, hands down. Now in it’s 9th edition, Malkiel does a thorough job explaining past events in the stock market along with ... http://www.expansionadvice.com/?p=41 While normally I’m a half-glass-full kind of guy, I thought with the end of the economy as we know it, I’d mix things up just a bit with 9 things that need to change. 1. Order taking employees asking “is THAT it?” Try “does that complete your order?” or “what else can I ... http://www.expansionadvice.com/?p=39 When I was building my home a few years ago, I would frequent local building supply stores. At one location, one thing that always struck me as odd was the “Parking Reserved for the President” sign conspicuously located right in the middle of customer parking (usually with the owner’s shiny ... http://www.expansionadvice.com/?p=33 8 Things You Can Do Now To Survive and Prosper Last month, using history as a guide, I made the argument that the best time to invest is during the worst economic times. The feedback I received from business leaders was essentially one of agreement followed by the question, “how do ... http://www.expansionadvice.com/?p=38