Smoke detectors save lives. They are the early warning system that everyone should have in their house to alert them to the fact that there is a threat. Because, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. These days, Big Tobacco is playing the part of a smoke detector for your organization because there’s definitely smoke to report on - literally and figuratively - and with it comes a flame that could threaten your organization.

Advertising is, in part, an art of persuasion - awakening people to a personal reason to choose one product or service over another. But while advertisers help other's peddle their wares, they also have to 'sell' themselves to get firms to choose them. Unfortunately, the side effect of advertisers advertising has been the development of unrealistic expectations of what agencies actually offer on a day-to-day basis.

Between seeing highlights of the Australian Open tennis tournament two weeks ago, and my favourite team in British soccer, Manchester United, I’ve been thinking about individual sports vs. team sports, and what we can learn about advertising from them.

There really is nothing like a good quality dress shirt. The same is true for your print materials. But do the benefits warrant the extra expenditure? Most definitely. Here's why...

There’s a saying in golf: 100% of short putts, don’t go in. And it’s true, they don’t. But what does that truism mean for your organization this year?

When you approach a problem, do you approach it strategically or tactically? The difference is critical.

There is a high cost associated to not paying attention to how you look on a day-to-day basis. I'm not talking about the things you can't change, but there are things that you can change which, if ignored, say something about you - and it's not great...

There are subtle patterns in thinking that can slip into the way we do things on a day-to-day basis and undermine the success of our organizations if we don't watch for them. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, keys in on one of them in mantra that he often repeats. What can we all learn from it? Here's one suggestion...

Last week, I was walking by someone’s office here at work. They were in their office with a client and the door was open just a crack. As I walked by, I noticed that the client was sitting in my co-worker’s chair and she had just pulled up a not-nearly-as-comfortable stackable chair. That was a powerful picture that I haven’t been able to shake.