being rogue...

Being rogue means taking a stand and making a difference.  Find something you are passionate about and make it part of your professional life.  Make it part of the story you tell your clients, they want to know that you are playing a part in making things better.

Here are some ideas:

• Employee community work days
• Corporate donations
• Align with a charity
• Create a charity
• Sponsor kids
• Work with battered women's shelters
• Take a mission trip

Just do something.

in my bag...

I get asked to make technology recommendations a lot.

Everyone has different needs so it's really hard for me to give advice.  What you'll probably get is the sense that I'm an Apple guy.

My weapons of choice include...

• Apple iMac
• Apple MacBook Pro
• Apple MacBook Air
• Apple iPhone
• Apple MobileMe
• HP Tablet PC
• Asus Netbook
• Dropbox

data management

If you don't have a data management strategy, get one.

Your organization's ability to manage and access data is a key strategic/competitive advantage.

Not a believer?  Let's unpack the story a different way.  What happens if you or your team does not have access to data?

• How does your sales team function without customer contact data?
• How does your support team function without access to client data?
• How does your finance team bill clients and process receivables?
• How does your warehouse team pick and ship your products?

Following me now?  Fear not, you have a number of choices.

Larger companies should look to a consultant to help with the evaluation and recommendation of back up systems, security, Web based applications and cloud computing.  This is big boy stuff so don't call your buddy's son who "knows about computers".  Trust me, the money you save will be spent in man hours to recover and reproduce your lost data.

Smaller companies have a ton of options including:

• Apple MobileMe
• Google Tools
• Dropbox

Do you think you're a strategist? You're probably wrong.

"Also, strategy means constantly making decisions based on incomplete information. It means taking intellectual leaps of faith that could derail many departments in an organization, and doing that with confidence."

~ Penelope Trunk

thinkers...

Hire "thinkers".

They problem solve.

They make better decisions.

They improve your business.

They generate more revenue.

Hire "doers" too. Just make sure there are enough thinkers around to tell them what to do.

a new playbook...

My playbook has changed.

It's not the structured framework it used to be.

It's not built on a "chess match" strategy of attrition.

It's not a collection of techniques and tactics.

The current state of the economy, consumer apathy and the general business malaise that has set in, has forever changed the "playing field".

Playing the new game requires an entirely different tool set.

The new playbook goes back to basics. Absorbing the teachings of the great strategists ranging from Sun Tzu's, "The Art of War" to Seth Godin's "Tribes".

Today's fight is not a war of attrition.

This is no longer a chess match where resources can be used as pawns.

Every stroke must be measured.

Every blow deliberate.

The new "plays" will be based on:

• Strategic intuition
• Brand agility
• Pattern recognition
• Focus
• Decisiveness

We all have the same tools and technology available to us. The victor will be the one with the skill and courage to leverage them.

Game on.

a new start...

I just trashed the old Rogue Industries blog.

It didn't fit anymore.

It started to look and feel like the polished blogs I've grown to detest.

Not sure how these things happen.

Read enough blogs and maybe it seeps in.

Listen to enough people and maybe you get a bit jaded and lose your edge.

Today is day one.

A new start.