One of the biggest frustrations I hear from employees at organizations we work with, is that they don't get invited into high level meetings. They feel decisions are made at these meetings, but they have little or no input. I understand how they feel. When I was working my way up, I was always trying to get into higher level meetings. But the point is, most employees don't get invited for a few simple reasons. In most cases, it's not because they don't have good ideas. In most cases, it's a value issue. If you're an employee, here's a few thoughts that will help you get ... read more

I went to an event this week where the keynote speaker simply stood at the podium and read his speech from his notes. It reminded me of a college professor I had during a summer class at the University of North Carolina who walked into the class, opened his notebook, and read the lecture. At the end, he closed the notebook and walked out. Both cases are examples of people who don't have a clue about what speaking in public is all about. Make some notes here readers, because whether you speak in front of crowds, lead a team at work, teach a Sunday School class, or lecture your kids, you need to understand what makes a ... read more

I interviewed "Invictus" producer Lori McCreary last night at the Biola Studio Task Force Meeting at CBS Studios. She said something that made a huge impact on me. As the producing partner with Morgan Freeman, she confirmed that they never consider a project that they wouldn't be willing to spend at least seven years working on. Think about it. How many projects do you get sick of within weeks? When it comes to making movies, they take years to create, develop, produce and market. To start something you don't like and then ... read more

In a new book called "The Marketplace of Ideas: Reform and Resistance in the American University," Louis Menand shares some pretty interesting statistics about changing attitudes at major elite universities in America. In his last chapter, "Why Do Professors All Think Alike?" he tackles the perception that university professors are predominately liberal. Guess what? They are. (No surprise there.) More than 95% of humanities professors at elite universities voted for John Kerry, and 0% for George Bush. More generally, only 19% of faculty identify themselves as conservative, and many would say they keep pretty quite about it. But the startling news is that ... read more

While most people think the Internet is making everything more democratic, more fair, and easier, I would beg to differ. In Nicholas Carr's landmark 2008 article in The Atlantic, "Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains," he argues the point that the Web has literally changed the way we read. He says: "Marketers have always used vague wording to hide the shortcomings of products and services, but the Internet provides an ideal setting for such obfuscation. The Net has trained us all to be superficial readers - to skim, scan, surf and browse. This style of reading allows us to gather lots of information very quickly, but what we often ... read more

Somewhere in the DesertOK - so I tweeted that Kathleen and I were driving from Nashville to LA in a pickup truck and we got such a big response, I thought I'd fill you in a bit. At Christmas, we bought our daughter a used Prius, so she needed to sell the pick-up truck she'd been driving for the last couple of years. (Keep in mind she's a roots music banjo player, so a pickup is perfect.) But it had so many miles on it, it wouldn't be worth selling, so we thought we'd just drive it back to LA and use it for hauling stuff at our office at Cooke Pictures. So after the NRB Convention, we loaded up and headed West. We haven't done that drive since college, and here's a few things we discovered: ... read more

This past week, Kathleen and I went on a "road trip" - something we haven't done since college. I'll write about the trip tomorrow, but the sad news was that as we were driving home, our housesitter called to tell us that our dog Maggie had died in the night. We don't know what it was, especially since she was only seven. It always sounds weird for a grown person to be blubbering about their dog, but Maggie certainly was special. Not the smartest dog by any means, but possibly the most loving. She was the company dog at Cooke Pictures, (see the bottom of the page), and if you've ever been to our office, you've met her, and probably wiped her hair off your pants in the process. At home, neighbors who don't know our name, know Maggie. Today was the first day we woke up in the house without her, and it was tough. Maggie will be missed. ... read more

During the current recession, companies have discovered that in a chaotic, disrupted business environment, business plans don't always work. As the market changed with lightening speed, marketing plans were tossed out the window in favor of being more nimble. Walt Shill, head of North American management consultant Accenture says, "Strategy as we knew it, is dead." Increased flexibility and making decisions on the fly is the order of the day as executives react to a ... read more

This week, our daughter Bailey took us out to The Station Inn in downtown Nashville. It's a bare bones local music venue, but one with a great history. On Monday night's the group "The Time Jumpers" play classic country music - mostly Western Swing, and the great thing about the event is the performers. The band is made up of some of the most talented studio players & performers in Nashville, with folks like Vince Gill sitting in as well. In fact, during the performance, Elvis Costello showed up to play a few great country numbers himself. The atmosphere is great. Mostly locals, who have paid only $10 at the door. A bar in the back. No bodyguards or security. The performers - including Vince - all carry their own ... read more

Recently released UFO records from the British government confirm the power of perception. If you study how people's UFO reports have changed over time, you'll note that in the 1940's and 1950's people reported UFO's as "flying discs" or "flying saucers." At the same time, the popular Hollywood depictions of UFO's as in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) or "Forbidden Planet" (1956) was intergalactic Frisbees. But as science fiction movies changed, UFO reports oddly changed as well. After the powerful opening sequence of Star Wars featured the ... read more

When discussing politics, religion, marketing, or any debatable subject, the key word is "converts" - which refers to people who don't start out agreeing with you. Most media and public figures today are simply "posturing." They're exciting and motivating to those who already support their cause. Just because you can get your talk radio, church, political party, or TV audience worked up, doesn't mean you're actually engaging the other side. It doesn't mean you're making a difference or changing people's minds. In measuring social, cultural, religious, political, or any other type of change, the secret is ... read more

I spoke to a class of university film students at Biola University in Los Angeles, who asked me to give them some career advice before graduation. A friend, award winning advertising writer David Morgenstern, shared some tips with me for the class that he had given to USC film students a few years ago, and they were so fantastic, I wanted to share them with you: ... read more

Just when you thought social media and online entertainment were replacing traditional TV viewing, Emmy Magazine and Nielsen reports that we shouldn't count TV out yet. When DVR's are factored in, TV viewing is actually up 12.3% - especially for prime time viewing. Some other interesting information from the latest reports indicate that only about half of DVR's fast forward through commercials, and comedies and science-fiction programs are doing well, but reality isn't. DVR owners are also using Friday night to catch up on programs they've recorded during the week. When the network started programming weaker shows on Friday nights, viewers apparently decided to ... read more

"Tenure" usually refers to job security, particularly in the academic world. Essentially, it's about a senior professor's contractual right to keep from being fired without just cause. Supposedly, tenure helps keep senior professors at a university, so the school isn't always searching for new teachers, but more important, it's a guarantee that a teacher won't be fired for speaking out or teaching controversial ideas. Essentially, the core values of tenure are academic freedom. It's supposed to give teachers an incentive to stretch their thinking. However, we've discovered that without an element of risk, people do exactly the opposite. Instead of pushing the boundaries, many would say that ... read more

Every day, great ideas are shot down because they look stupid at first. That's because our natural tendency is to make an immediate judgement. Perhaps over the millennia, making a quick judgement has been helpful in hostile situations, but in a creative or business environment, it's deadly. Even if it's part of our DNA, we have to fight the desire to make snap judgements. When a new idea is presented, no matter how strange or unlikely it may seem, give it some space. Ask some questions. Look at it from different perspectives. Above all, don't use ... read more

Having worked with some of the largest churches and ministries in the country during my career, I've seen a lot of controversy. Some is legitimate, and some is manufactured by disgruntled ex-church members, or the local media bearing a grudge. As a result, I've been keenly aware of what I call "Flash Points" that pastors and ministry leaders should avoid - no matter what size your church or organization. A flash point isn't necessarily a matter of what's right and wrong or what's legal or not, it's a matter of ... read more

Back on December 14th, I wrote a blog post on the fact that Tiger made an early strategic mistake by not releasing a statement shortly after the incident in Orlando. By (wrongly) assuming it should be a private issue between him and his wife, he allowed others to shape the story, which resulted in numerous false and inaccurate stories to circulate. During the last couple of months, I know he's considered making a public statement, (I know ... read more

I'm captivated by the genesis of noble and often risky projects, and as a result, the most interesting aspect of the Invisible People website is how it was born. Having been homeless himself, founder Mark Horvath had worked his way back to a position as a marketing director for a large non-profit organization. He was a born storyteller, and had the skills and talent to work for any corporation or non-profit in the country. But from my perspective, the tug of the street simply wouldn't let him go. I remember discussing his future one day, and mentioning that as a storyteller and former homeless person himself, no one knew better how to document the tragedy and triumph of people on the street. It took awhile, but when the moment of realization hit him, it was like ... read more

For a 24/7 connected generation, office etiquette that used to be assumed isn't followed much anymore. That's a shame, because even though you may "feel" connected, you may still be dropping the ball on important issues or projects. Here's a few principles I follow which make a dramatic difference in my productivity and it might be worth sharing with your friends (or forward to people who don't return your calls): ... read more