Pick five of the most loaded words in business, and I would argue those five words are vision, mission, strategy, tactics, and execution. Everyone seems to have different definitions; often, those definitions are easily mixed up. Why is it important to understand these terms? When we clearly understand the meanings of vision, mission, strategy, tactics,…
One of management’s longest-standing tropes is the expression, “think outside the box”, a reference to the 9 dots problem. In this problem, a businessperson is given a sheet of paper with nine dots on it, and directed to connect all the dots by drawing four lines, without the pen ever leaving the paper. In order…
Salty. Sour. Sweet. Bitter. Flavorful. What’s similar about all of these? They’re all powerful tastes we are biologically wired to respond to. We love foods with these different flavors. A seared steak with cracked peppercorns and salt. A warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream on the side. A plate of buttery salmon sushi with…
There’s a very inspiring project created by Dan Savage called It Gets Better, in which people lend their voices to LGBT teens to encourage them in the face of bullying and harassment. I added my own perspective and encourage you to add yours. Hi. My name is Christopher Penn, Vice President of Strategy and Innovation…
What Eye of the Storm can teach us about strategy and execution Over the past weekend, the weekly battleground in World of Warcraft was Eye of the Storm. For those who don’t play, Eye of the Storm is a lot like capture the flag games from your childhood. Your team, which is randomly assembled from…
Which is more important, building new business or keeping the business you have? Which is more efficient? More cost effective? If the answer isn’t obvious, it’s because you, like me, work in marketing and have worked in marketing for probably too long. The allure of inbound marketing is compelling, the allure of winning new business…
On becoming a technomarketer and Chief Marketing Technologist Mitch Joel wrote my biography for the last seven years the other day when he described the Chief Marketing Technologist, a person in a company who is both in marketing and IT. That’s what I’ve been doing for years and years, bridging the gap between marketing and…
I had this sudden, painful flash of insight the other day: I really suck at short term marketing. By that, I mean that I don’t have the ability to generate meaningful results in marketing over a very short period of time with no base except a pile of money. When I look back at where…
I had the pleasure and privilege to attend New England Warrior Camp again this year (my 11th out of 13) in the woods of Sudbury, Massachusetts this past weekend. Others have done a much better job illuminating the actual goings-on, such as my friend and senior, Jon Merz. One of my huge takeaways from the…
