I’m always fascinated with the day-after fallout of the Super Bowl adfest. There are plenty of people doing their Monday morning armchair quarterbacking thing, lamenting how terrible the commercials were and how much they continue to suck year after year. It’s at this point I try to take my branding hat off and recognize something [...]

I love Iron Man. It just happens to be one of my favorite (and best written) comic book series being published right now. And as for the movie...I saw it twice in the theater and I've seen it three times since buying it on DVD. On my daily walk this morning, Black Sabbath's Iron Man came up on my iPod and I started to think about scenes from the movie. One particular scene flashed across my thoughts and led me down an interesting path of reflection. [SPOILER ALERT: the scene below is a crucial plot point so if you haven't seen Iron Man...Wait...you haven't? Okay, hurry up, buy it, and watch it...then come back. I'll wait.]

The BBC reports that McDonald’s is working to get the word ‘McJob’ stricken from the Oxford English Dictionary. The dictionary defines it as, “an unstimulating low-paid job with few prospects.” Will McDonald’s next go after Grey’s Anatomy claiming that McDreamy sounds too much like one of their frozen desserts?

Boomerang, Cartoon Network’s retro channel for old cartoons, decided to connect St. Patrick’s Day with Gazoo, the snarky, little green alien on The Flintstones. In one episode, Fred gets tired of being kicked around by his boss and asks Gazoo for help. Gazoo’s suggestion? Why don’t you try to be boss for a day. Great [...]

From the Department of Silly Diversions (I consult there on a regular basis), comes this article asking Which Movie Boss Do You Have? Here’s their list:1. Andrew Shepherd, "The American President" Friendly, popular but can sometimes make things difficult.  2. Obi-Wan Kenobi, "Star Wars" Wise, loyal and always there for guidance. 3. Bill Lumbergh, "Office Space" Evil boss who loves [...]

It’s funny how events sometimes happen in our lives, almost as if they have been planned and directed by someone else. Sort of like being in our own Truman Show. For instance: You sit down for a cup of coffee at Starbucks expecting to just be with yourself, but joyfully, you’re pulled into an amazing [...]

There’s an interesting critique of the business moguls on TV (Trump, Cuban, and Branson) and their leadership flaws in today’s Globe and Mail (Reality TV reveals real-life leaders’ flaws). While each might provide great theater (Cuban and his reality show aside), I wouldn’t hold any of them up as outstanding models of leadership. But then, maybe [...]

I went on a rare date with my wife last night (those with kids understand the rarity) and saw the movie Ray with Jamie Foxx. I didn’t know much about the life of Ray Charles and found among the film’s themes someone pursuing his own voice. There’s an interesting scene where Ray is beginning to [...]

Isaac Cheifetz poses the following question: Can the principles of evolutionary biology be used to guide our careers? In his article, he compares the “stop and go” path that some middle managers find in their journey to executive management to the evolutionary development theory of Punctuated Equalibrium popularized by Stephen jay Gould. In Gould’s theory, evolution [...]

We all know how the United States basketball team fared at the 2004 Olympics and a similar thing seems to be happening with the U.S. Ryder Cup golf team. Both groups, filled with exceptionally talented individuals and seemingly dominant on paper compared to the competition, provide a stark reminder of one of the pitfalls of [...]