There’s a somewhat perverse side to innovation that Andy Zynga has touched upon in a Harvard Business Review blog post. Zynga, CEO of NineSigma International, put it this way: “It is a profound irony that the more you know about a particular industry, and the more experience you gain in it, the more difficult it […]
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Teaming and Innovation at GM
Mary Barra took the reins as General Motor’s new CEO last week, bringing the “teaming gene” to one of the more hierarchical and siloed major U.S. corporations. GM has been on my mind since mid-2012, when Randy Mott was installed as the company’s new chief information officer, followed quickly by his decision to move some […]
To Start 2014, Pick Three People and Three Books
As I thought about what to write about in my first blog of 2014 I kept coming back to something that the insightful Seth Godin wrote about last month. In a December 20th post, he suggested that if there is “one thing you could do that would transform how 2014 goes for you,” it would […]
Think Twice About Going Thug
Patent troll Erich Spangenberg has some surprisingly good advice for would-be collaborative negotiators: “Once you go thug, though, you cannot unthug.” How true! Spangenberg, owner of IPNav, brings law suits alleging patent infringement against companies on behalf of the “little guy.” An aggressive form of negotiation is the name of his game—not building long-term relationships. […]
What is building for 2014?
When a new year rolls around, you know what happens: historians highlight the past, pundits ponder the future, and I wonder whether it is all more entertaining patter than productive reflection or context. But we all get into to the spirit of the exercise anyway. We know changes can occur in nanoseconds that will impact […]
Negotiating Agreements for Highly Collaborative Relationships
By Jeanette Nyden, Kate Vitasek, and David Frydlinger It’s time for a new approach and mindset for contract negotiations—time to leave the old me-first, I-win-you-lose strategy far behind and replace it with highly collaborative partnerships. What if the agreement you negotiated was more than just a short-term, legalese-burdened piece of paper specifying a bunch of […]
Kid Rock Has a WIIFWe Mindset
On June 7, 2013, the Wall Street Journal profiled Kid Rock’s decision to cap ticket prices at $20 per seat for his tour in “Kid Rock’s Plan to Change the Economics of Touring.” His decision was radical in several ways, but from my perspective, what he did was to turn the economics of concert tours […]
Virtuosity and Vested – A Likely Pair
Yay! It’s the Christmas season. And right after my son Austin’s bright eyes and excited step, my favorite thing is the music. Concerts everywhere, carolers in the streets. Amy Grant serenades me as I drive. I even recognize the elevator music! It’s a divine time of year. I think about the musicians offering their talents […]
Getting to We: The Guiding Principles
There are six relationship principles that drive the Getting to We mindset, both in negotiating the relationship and in the subsequent operation of the partnership. These guiding principles tell the parties how to act within the relationship. In earlier posts, I’ve talked about the importance of trust and the necessary steps needed to build and […]
The Price is Not Just About Paying the Rent
It’s often said that everyone has a price, and when it comes to transaction-based deals, of course, price is all-important. I thought about this as I listened to another track from the Pet Shop Boys—Rent—while airborne recently. Last time in this space, in More to Partnership than Making Money, I riffed on another of their […]
