There are plenty of reasons not to tell someone they're wrong. It's uncomfortable, for one thing. You also might come off as rigid, unsympathetic, arrogant, or worst of all, politically incorrect. In some cases, depending on how much alcohol is involved, you might even get smacked in the mouth. Here are eight tips for striking a delicate but crucial balance.
Steven Berglas, Contributor
In most folktales, when a young man sets off to rescue the princess and become the king, one of the first tests of his mettle involves generosity. An old woman asks that he share his meager meal, or a beggar pleads for a coin. The young man's older brothers have already refused this request, and bad things have invariably happened to them. read »
The Innovator’s Paradox read »
Acceptance of social media, especially Facebook, runs similar to the political spectrum. There are extremists on both sides: those who live on Facebook and those who want nothing to do with it. I, along with the rest of the American public, sit somewhere in the middle. There a big rush in the corporate techie space to get everything on to a social media platform like Facebook, from internal communication to job postings. Most of them are uncomfortable fits, but I think there is one area that does[...] read »
Can you remember the last time you stayed up late watching a movie while you should have been asleep? You weren’t wasting your time. In fact; you may have gained some insights into managing your portfolio. In case you missed them, here are 10 kernels of wisdom from Hollywood classics. 10. [...] read »
Tomorrow I leave on a 330-mile, 4-day cycling adventure: the NorCal AIDS Cycle. I’m a little impressed with myself. “Athletic” is not a word frequently used to describe me. As a kid, I wasn’t picked last for team sports, but I was never picked first. And until three months ago, I had never cycled more than 10 miles at a stretch. My last training ride was an easy, fun, quick 30 miles. I have good reason to be self-impressed. read »
With the number of vacant jobs on the rise and employee choice slowly returning, what are companies to do to retain their best talent? For some like Microsoft, which faces intense competition from companies like Facebook and Google, the answer so far has been to boost salaries for top performers. read »
This is a guest post from James Slavet of venture firm Greylock Partners, which invested in LinkedIn, Groupon, Pandora, Redfin and One Kings Lane. Slavet represents Greylock on the boards of Redfin and One Kings Lane. read »
Ms. Horn raises an important issue in her article “Here’s What’s Wrong with Open Innovation - A Case for ‘Open Protection:’” how can creative people make a living in a world of “open innovation”, where the wisdom of the crowd might trump the ingenuity of the creative individual? read »
I had a very interesting conversation this morning with Betsy Banks Saul, the co-founder of Petfinder.com. Petfinder is one of the Internet’s greatest – and most touching success stories. Over the past 15 years, the company has facilitated over 17 million adoptions and is showing no signs of slowing down. This year, Petfinder is aiming for 2.5 million adoptions. read »
