The reason most of us are so scared of failure is that it is so embarrassing. It was embarrassing at school each time a teacher ridiculed our efforts to untangle quadratic equations, or to assemble a frog from spare parts. And even more so when Anne Waites, who we young men idolised, smiled at us … Read more

I am not creative. I am better suited to a life as a mousepad. Each book on creativity that I have read features a test to measure how you fare. For instance, a picture of an empty matchbox and a candle which you must rearrange into a five course dinner in three moves. I always … Read more

In August last year Mrs Carruthers beguiled me into bringing my office home. This would save money, she argued. And with her embarking on a three-year degree course this would mean a safe presence for the little darlings. And we could then afford to live near the school, and somewhere in her sales pitch I … Read more

My first effort to earn money through the Internet was simple. At the time I presented CrashProof seminars around South Africa. Instead of faxing 30,000 business owners each month, I emailed them. Back then people were happy to get email. That effort sold a lot of seats and saved many folk from being eaten by … Read more

When I was 18 years old I visited a young woman in Glencairn. I had unrequited hopes. One late-Autumn evening I drove away from her in my AA-Yellow Mini Panel Van. Within seconds I smelled fresh dog guano. That was the icing on the evening’s cake. A long dark road runs down the mountain through … Read more

I have not yet been to heaven. I hope not to be reviewing it soon. Until I get there I think the best place in the known galaxy is Cape Town. After living in 5 countries and visiting 60 others I have some experience on this issue. Let me tell you a business story that … Read more

Adding Voice to Your Words A few days ago my eight-year-old daughter marched into my study looking for entertainment. Me, in other words. I was dictating using voice recognition software. She wanted to play with it. I did not know if it would work with her eight-year-old voice and her Norwegian singsong version of English. In … Read more

Steven Pressfield wrote a fine book about doing great work. In his context “great” is the same as “creative”. It might be writing, dreaming up a new product, starting a new venture,… It’s the kind of work where we must put our egos on the line. Egos don’t like to be exposed. As soon as the cold … Read more

Last week I wrote about the concept of being the best, surpassing everything that anybody has ever done in your particular field of endeavour. And why it was not the best way to succeed in business. That article is here. I want to differentiate trying to “be the best” from “doing your best”. Don Miguel Ruiz, … Read more

January 21, 2016/in Entrepreneurial Life, Marketing, Selling / Some very big US firms, Fortune 500 companies, spend lots of money testing new ideas to bring to market. Nine out of every 10 products that survive this process still fail. If they can’t get “new” right, then why should we small players focus on finding something “unique”, which means the only one of … Read more