Hinton :

Grey zones are costing your organization big time

Deborah Hinton — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:01:43 +0000

There’s a lot of focus in organizations on moving fast to meet customer needs and shifting market conditions. We’re encouraging employees to be more involved in defining and delivering organizational success. People from all levels and all functions of the organization are getting together to ‘hack’ solutions to important business problems. Collaboration is our mantra. Innovation [...]

Saying goodbye to jargon

Deborah Hinton — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:40:30 +0000

Saying goodbye to our favourite jargon isn’t that easy. A recent chat on the IABC linked in page asked for jargon no one wanted to hear ever again. Here are just a few examples: Incentivize, c-suite, granular, customer-centric, innovation, collaboration, creative, low hanging fruit, breaking silos, verticals, blueprint for change, under the tent, run of [...]

Don’t leave them laughing

Michael Hinton — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:35:26 +0000

Is there a right way to write? Ever since Dr. Johnson wrote his dictionary people have been laying down laws for the English language. Perhaps the most famous rules today are Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules for writing, which begin with: Number 1 – “Never open a book with weather” – as in “It was a [...]

A master class with Ed Sullivan

Michael Hinton — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:44:47 +0000

On Sunday night when I was a kid everyone gathered around the TV to watch the Ed Sullivan Show. The papers joked about his voice, his awkwardness, and his look – old stone face they called him. And impressionists like Rich Little and John Byner made a living “doing” him, even on his own show. Sullivan’s show was a [...]

Innovation & collaboration: Strategic priorities or not?

Deborah Hinton — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:17:52 +0000

For all the talk in Canadian business about innovation and collaboration, I just read a startling and rather disappointing fact from a talk given by BDC late in 2011: Canadian “businesses invest $2,400 less per employee, per year, in computers, software and training than American companies do.” A few years ago that amount spent on [...]

The truth about the number 1 fear

Michael Hinton — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:34:30 +0000

Can it really be true that public speaking is the number 1 fear of ordinary people like you and me? Presentation coaches often say so. I should know because among other things I’m a presentation coach. But the evidence for the claim is underwhelming. Years ago Jerry Seinfeld used to open his comedy act with this story. [...]

Want to know the secret to writing a great speech?

Michael Hinton — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:02:46 +0000

The other day I was listening to a speaker on TEDx talk about the secret to writing the great speech. She had me hooked. Afterall, in one part of my life I’m a . If anyone has found the holy grail of speech writing - the secret to writing a great speech - I want to know it. The secret [...]

Connecting for big business benefits

Deborah Hinton — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:29:56 +0000

This morning I came across three articles. Three different perspectives. Same conclusion. The more connected we are as leaders and as organizations the better. Perspective 1 - CEOs. A study of 65 chief executives from around the world discovered that CEOs spend an average of 6 hours out of their 55-hour work week alone. The remainder of [...]

Staying in touch with reality

Deborah Hinton — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:50:22 +0000

The single most challenging thing facing my clients is staying in touch with reality. And, the pace of change just makes it harder. It’s easier to assume we know what we don’t, or can’t, know. After all we have to get onto the next pressing issue. It’s easier to react and respond rather than ask ’why‘? [...]

“Just hire a Dalek”

Deborah Hinton — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:31:44 +0000

Last week I checked out a Kevin Rose interview with Chris Sacca thanks to a referral from Mitch Joel’s blog. For those of you who are like me and not part of the geek tech world, Kevin is the founder of Digg and serial start-up guy and Chris is a tech investor whose investments include things [...]