3 Lessons From My Levi's
One of the things I like about giving presentations to companies is meeting a new group of people and exchanging ideas with them. After a recent talk, several attendees and I had a great discussion about the power of branding.Later while changing my clothes, I was reminded how Levi Strauss & Company is one of the best in the business at branding. Just before I stuck my legs in the jeans I noticed a printed message on the outside of the inside flap of the pocket. From this short note, I’ve pulled three lessons that can maximize your brand.Be Different: Often when you buy clothes the only message you get is a piece of paper telling you that it’s been approved by Inspector #5 or worse, a sticker that ends up sticking to you! Some companies do have attached messages about their products. But they’re gone once you remove them.Levi’s uses a non-traditional yet permanent location for its statement of principles. You can see it every time you put on and take off the jeans.State Your Values: In a fe

Business Laws Unveiled
Each and every person in this world must have at least once thought about opening some sort of business to increase his or her income. No matter if you are thinking about opening a small family business or a larger company, you cannot do anything but obey the business laws! If you don’t, you and your business can get into serious trouble!In case you are under the impression that you need to be a graduate of a business law college or have a business law major in order to understand and use some of the basic ideas of small business law and corporate business law, you are making a very big mistake. Perhaps you have heard form the news and the headlines that employment law for business is one of the most dangerous fields, as a person can easily break the business laws and regulations.The least any business man should know is that he or she must meet the general international business laws. You must also consider the export laws, import laws and but, by all means, one must obey to the specific laws of the country in which your business is situated.The misconception stall is particularly harmful because some of your best people already realize that you are operating on faulty assumptions. Since actions based on those assumptions are folly, these key employees are losing faith in the future of the organization and the quality of its leadership. Soon, you may find recovery from your mistakes is made more difficult as your most talented people seek other opportunities.

MISCONCEPTION: The Danger of False Assumptions Abounds

How is a misconception stall different from a disbelief stall? A disbelief stall is based on something that was once true, but no longer is. A misconception stall is based on a belief that was never true. Here are some examples of harmful misconceptions:

• The future can be accurately forecast.

• Competitors will stand still while we make rapid progress.

• Agreement among colleagues means that issues are understood.

• Customers will make the decisions in the same ways they always have.

All long-held assumptions and beliefs should be questioned. Ask yourself:

• Is it really true?

• If it isn't true, why do people believe it to be true?

• What's needed to persuade people to change their beliefs?

Round Out Your View

When only an experiment will do, cross-check your idea in other ways to get a better sense of what you are about to try. Consider Columbus. While some feared sailing west across the Atlantic believing they would fall off the edge of the Earth, Columbus knew better. He had made a point of studying the early Viking explorations of North America. In fact, in 1477, 15 years before heading toward the Caribbean, Columbus visited Iceland to learn more about the northern

is made more difficult as your most talented people seek other opportunities.

MISCONCEPTION: The Danger of False Assumptions Abounds

How is a misconception stall different from a disbelief stall? A disbelief stall is based on something that was once true, but no longer is. A misconception stall is based on a belief that was never true. Here are some examples of harmful misconceptions:

• The future can be accurately forecast.

• Competitors will stand still while we make rapid progress.

• Agreement among colleagues means that issues are understood.

• Customers will make the decisions in the same ways they always have.

All long-held assumptions and beliefs should be questioned. Ask yourself:

• Is it really true?

• If it isn't true, why do people believe it to be true?

• What's needed to persuade people to change their beliefs?

Round Out Your View

When only an experiment will do, cross-check your idea in other ways to get a better sense of what you are about to try. Consider Columbus. While some feared sailing west across the Atlantic believing they would fall off the edge of the Earth, Columbus knew better. He had made a point of studying the early Viking explorations of North America. In fact, in 1477, 15 years before heading toward the Caribbean, Columbus visited Iceland to learn more about the northern

Here are some examples of harmful misconceptions:

• The future can be accurately forecast.

• Competitors will stand still while we make rapid progress.

• Agreement among colleagues means that issues are understood.

• Customers will make the decisions in the same ways they always have.

All long-held assumptions and beliefs should be questioned. Ask yourself:

• Is it really true?

• If it isn't true, why do people believe it to be true?

• What's needed to persuade people to change their beliefs?

Round Out Your View

When only an experiment will do, cross-check your idea in other ways to get a better sense of what you are about to try. Consider Columbus. While some feared sailing west across the Atlantic believing they would fall off the edge of the Earth, Columbus knew better. He had made a point of studying the early Viking explorations of North America. In fact, in 1477, 15 years before heading toward the Caribbean, Columbus visited Iceland to learn more about the northern

liefs should be questioned. Ask yourself:

• Is it really true?

• If it isn't true, why do people believe it to be true?

• What's needed to persuade people to change their beliefs?

Round Out Your View

When only an experiment will do, cross-check your idea in other ways to get a better sense of what you are about to try. Consider Columbus. While some feared sailing west across the Atlantic believing they would fall off the edge of the Earth, Columbus knew better. He had made a point of studying the early Viking explorations of North America. In fact, in 1477, 15 years before heading toward the Caribbean, Columbus visited Iceland to learn more about the northern

. Consider Columbus. While some feared sailing west across the Atlantic believing they would fall off the edge of the Earth, Columbus knew better. He had made a point of studying the early Viking explorations of North America. In fact, in 1477, 15 years before heading toward the Caribbean, Columbus visited Iceland to learn more about the northern "islands" across the Atlantic.

Apply Sophisticated Thinking

In his wonderful book, The Unschooled Mind (Basic Books, 1991), cognitive psychologist Professor Howard Gardner argues that people usually think at three different levels. Gardner defines the five-year-old's mind as the first level. Five-year-olds usually live in a world where others take care of them and keep them safe from harm. That belief persists when most people become adults and prevents many from becoming independent, fully functioning adults. Overprotection after age five makes matters worse. Another common example of the five-year-old mind is that confident people falsely believe that they are superior in every way to others. Ask any roomful of five-year-olds if they are terrific at something and almost all will agree.

The second level of thinking develops when training, usually in high school and college, gives teens and young adults a grasp of sophisticated concepts that are counterintuitive to the five-year-old's thought process. Here's the problem: The student memorizes the concepts long enough to pass the examination. But Gardner argues that relatively few adults reach the third level of thinking where they can apply the sophisticated concepts to real-life problems. In the absence of that faculty, almost everyone reverts to the five-year-old's misconceptions for making decisions.