Category: Execution

Managing Business, Managing Time, and the Case for Doing Nothing

Balance is an elusive concept — and so relevant to so many business situations.  I have enjoyed adding to our series on Balance — last year, we identified more than 20 things a business owner must balance.  Should we focus inside or outside?  Should we… Continue reading

Perfect Business Financing — Maybe No Outside Equity

Many of the businesses that I end up working with in my investment fund, Greybull Stewardship, do not need outside equity capital — of the traditional sort.  They are growing and profitable and creating real value already. I learn about perfect business financing from them.… Continue reading

Invest in Strength Rather Than Work on Weakness

For your business, do you believe it is more important to spend more time on your challenges or your opportunities?  Similarly, do you believe that you should invest in your strengths or work on your weaknesses? The answer, of course, depends.  If the challenge in… Continue reading

Investment Returns Are Not Greener by Changing Industries

It is easier to earn outsized investment returns in some industries over others — I agree with that conventional wisdom.  As an investor or entrepreneur, it often pays off to think hard about which industries to enter.  If you have a choice, why not increase… Continue reading

Business Owners Must Balance Math (Finance) and Soul (Company Culture)

Owning a business means balancing all sorts of things.  We have explored this idea in a few other posts: the Art of Balance that has a starter list of 20 things a business owner must balance such as strategy vs. execution and delegating vs. doing,… Continue reading

Know Thyself Helps You Manage Yourself by Peter Drucker

“Managing Oneself”, as written by Peter Drucker, may be a modern business addition to the foundation of “Know thyself,” the famous saying from the Greek Temple of Apollo at Delphi, and “To thine own self be true” in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (although this phrase’s speaker in… Continue reading

Best Way of Giving Thanks — Make It Personal

Giving thanks — and the power of making it personal — came across clearly in a recent article in Fortune magazine about Yum Brands.  They don’t allow managers just to give plaques or gifts — everything must have a personal note on it, or along… Continue reading

Path of Equity Value Creation Not Easy to Plan or Pace (see Disney)

Equity value creation, in my experience, does not follow a smooth, straight path or a predictable timeline. It zigs and zags, stalls and spurts. Therefore, forcing a company into a certain path of possibilities or tight timetable is often counter-productive. I have found it to… Continue reading

Phantom Stock, Shadow Stock, or Virtual Stock — Employee Ownership (a series)

An employee who “thinks like an owner” is the Holy Grail — having employees for owners — as we have discussed in other posts.  Therefore, I have been writing a series of posts about tools that owners can use to assist employees to think like… Continue reading

Great Tool for Business Decision Making in Uncertainty

In business decision making, we never have as much information or certainty as we would like.  The best business and investment minds know how to focus on the factors in a decision that are the most relevant and ignore extraneous factors.  It is a real… Continue reading