2. Humor Makes Business Better

It’s almost spring. Well, it’s not actually almost spring. But we’re a lot closer to spring than we are to the start of winter, and that’s good enough for me. Cause who doesn’t love spring? Flowers. Longer days. That first sunny day where everyone drops what they’re doing to sit on the terrace. (Doesn’t anyone in Amsterdam have…

I just spent a week in Bengaluru working with partners on a high level leadership program for an international company. Having never been to India, I was in learning/new experiences mode from the moment I got in my cab from the Bengaluru airport to the hotel and realized my driver wasn’t wearing shoes. Like Marge…

Up until recently, A.I. still seemed like that thing that dystopian movies like The Matrix scared us with. Many of us thought A.I. could be a threat, but it seemed like something we would never actually see happen. Kinda how we thought about Donald Trump in the summer of 2016. But little by little, A.I., and its even more…

I was backstage at an event recently, and a speaker was about to go on. She was nervous, checking that her presentation was in order and that the technicians had her latest deck (as oppose to her second-to-latest deck, the one she emailed last night). While asking her the correct way to pronounce her name (my guess…

Last week I was at a meeting and asked what I should write about in this blog post. Someone suggested, “Are you planning to take it easy this summer? Not us!” And then I would mention all the stuff we’ve got going on at Boom Chicago over the summer. But I had to say to…

Happy Spring! If you’re like us, you spent the long Dutch Easter weekend relaxing after opening a new show, “The Future is Here… And it is Slightly Annoying.” In addition, I just finished a crazy six weeks of non-stop travel gigs. And being busy leads to stress. How do I handle busy periods? With improv of course. That flexibility to respond to unusual situations, also when I’m busy, is what keeps me going.   It started with a trip to London. Pro tip: Never, ever fly to Luton. Luton Airport is like if a parking lot and a construction site had sex, but instead of a condom, they used an ugly waiting room from the mid-80’s. If Brexit means I never have to fly there again, bring it on. Instead of getting mad at the airport, however, I just think ‘Yes…

Dear British, Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh Companies, Employees, Managers and Teams, Brexit, huh? Yikes. It’s on, then it’s off, then it’s on, then it’s off. Is this a major decision involving the economic fate of a kingdom, a continent, and perhaps the world? Or is it my dog deciding whether or not it wants…

The Economist’s R-Word index looks at the number of times the word “recession” appears in print to gauge whether or not a real recession is on the way. (Not to be confused with their “Big Mac Index” which uses the price of a Big Mac to determine if a country’s currency is properly valued. The Economist: where wacky indexes tell…

Culture, Peter Drucker (allegedly) noted, eats strategy for breakfast. And every company wants to know the magic formula to get that super company culture that encourages hard work, long hours, ownership, risk-taking (but, you know, not too much risk taking), and a willingness to say, “Holiday bonus? No, just working here is all the bonus…

I was in Helsinki a month ago to host the Nordic Business Forum. It was an exciting challenge: a two day business event with 7,500 people physically present, another 20,000 watching a live stream, some fantastic, inspiring speakers, and the big finale: a dialogue with President Obama. (Yes, this was the day before he was in Amsterdam; he’s an efficient traveler!) I was excited and planned what I would say if I met him. You see, my theory is if you meet a person who meets people all day, you have to say something unique based on your knowledge of that person. When I got to meet Beastie Boys’ King AdRock, I said, “I was a fan back when you were getting booed off stage opening for Madonna.” When I didn’t get to meet President Clinton in Amsterdam – but stood next to him…