Monday Mornings with Madison

Monthly Archives:
August 2019

Will Your Company Dare to be Different? Part 1

It has been said imitation is the highest form of flattery. Perhaps for the one being imitated, but it does not speak well of the imitator. Being just like another business is not good. Staying fresh, relevant and unique is key to business success. The most successful and longest-lasting companies in the world have survived and thrived, in large part, by differentiating themselves in the marketplace. So why is differentiation so important and how does a company go about differentiating itself? Continue reading

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Cultivating the Creative Spark, Part 2

Imagine a tree replete with lush fruit weighing down its verdant branches. The fruit is ripe for the picking. Now imagine that those opulent berries are creative thoughts. If creative ideas are the most valuable fruits a mind can produce, how does one increase the harvest? Is there a way to fertilize the soil in order to be more original? Are there things a person can do to be more artistic? More innovative? More imaginative? Is it possible to increase the mind’s inventiveness and readily harvest a continual, bountiful yield of fresh ideas? In a word, yes. Here’s how. Continue reading

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Cultivating the Creative Spark – Part 1

It is predicted that in the next 15 to 30 years, robots will be used to perform the most routine, repetitious, dangerous and data-intensive jobs, displacing a multitude of workers. Given this forecast, every person today needs to consider what jobs are beyond automation. Artificial Intelligence experts agree that creativity is one area where robots will not be able to outperform humans any time soon. That places creativity as a key ability. But is creativity a talent one is born with or is it a skill that can be acquired and cultivated? Are some people just more creative while others don’t have a “creative bone” in their bodies?
The answers might surprise you. Continue reading

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Decision-Making and the Sunk Cost Fallacy, Part 2

People are so risk-averse that they prefer to AVOID LOSS even more than they desire a POTENTIAL GAIN. That explains why in 10 Seasons of Shark Tank – a program about investors who fund startups – the “sharks” invested in just 11-19% of the 895 pitches they heard in 222 episodes. Even the most daring investors are risk-averse. What’s more, this is true even if what can be gained is more valuable than what is lost, and even if what is lost isn’t valued anymore. That’s the Sunk Cost Fallacy at work, and it’s SINKING YOUR SUCCESS. 

Want to avoid this cognitive distortion?  Continue reading

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