The following post originally appeared on Forbes | April 15, 2015 In 1967, psychiatrists Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe created the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, which is meant to determine the contribution of various stressful life events to illness. Out of 43 events that comprise it, changing to a different line of work—a career change—ranks closely with such events as taking on a major mortgage, experiencing sexual difficulties, and the death of a close friend. No wonder full-fledged career changes […]
The following post originally appeared on Forbes | April 14, 2015 The flexibility of entrepreneurialism can be handy when navigating unknown or shifting markets. And its influence on Cooley LLP, one of Fortune magazine’s 100 best companies to work for, goes all the way back to their San Francisco birth in 1920 when Arthur Cooley and Louis Crowley formed a partnership to provide for the legal needs of local businesses. It wasn’t until the late 1950’s, however, that they found […]
The following post originally appeared on Forbes | March 30, 2015 In an increasingly populated media environment, it is a challenge to conceive and produce multi-season, award-winning programming. As the company behind the Emmy-winning A&E Series Intervention, GRB Entertainment has a nose for interesting programming. Gary R. Benz, their president and CEO, gives us a view into their world. See our exchange below: One Today’s Reality Television Palette Parnell: At a higher level, can you categorize today’s unscripted television palette? The different […]
The following post originally appeared on Forbes | March 24, 2015 Does wisdom come with age? History has proven this a difficult question to answer. The young say no; the old say yes; who’s right? In the 1970’s geriatric neuropsychologist Vivian Clayton constructed a definition of the term based on an analysis of characteristics of “wisdom” given by law students, law professors, and retired judges: Wisdom is the combination of cognition, compassion, and reflection. And while others have since expanded on this, […]
The following post originally appeared on Forbes | March 23, 2015 TV is a fickle business. I’m only good for the length of my contract. Tom Brokaw The Brokaw quote comes from a September 1976 issue of people magazine, and echos a sentiment that has followed us, as a race, for centuries. It is difficult to argue that we are a finicky sort, and there are few industries that prove this more so than the media. Viral videos capture attention—on […]
The following post originally appeared on Forbes | March 16, 2015 In life—and certainly in business—influence is a very precious commodity. The ability to motivate and mobilize individuals or groups toward a desired cause, at its core, is the very stuff of real-life heroes and is the essence of a good leader. And while there are any number of methodologies and theories regarding the tools of influence, story-telling is at the top of the list for many reasons, not the least […]
The following post originally appeared on Forbes | March 13, 2015 As technology advances and data builds, access to both becomes increasingly more affordable, feeding globalization and increasingly diversifying client bases across all industries. And where homogeneity of fundamentals such as attitudes, values, and motivations are necessary for an institution’s success, now, more than ever, heterogeneity of experiences, points of view, and personalities are vital ingredients in the success equation. Today I speak with Nely Galan, an Emmy award winning producer and […]
The following post originally appeared on Forbes | March 2, 2015 In January of this year, the World Bank warned us that though global economic prospects are set to improve in 2015, we are still not out of the woods. The stalled recovery in some of the middle-to-high income countries might be signs of deeper structural issues. Nevertheless, soft oil prices should prod along some growth in developing countries, and “accommodative” monetary policies and healing labor markets are helping build […]
The following post originally appeared on Forbes | February 23, 2015 Professional services firms are a different breed. Their partnership model provides myriad benefits in an intimately customer-centric business: Mutual monitoring and adjustment, higher work standards, and greater internal synergies, to name a few. It is not without its challenges, however. The firm’s “product,” is human, literally, and can up and leave should it suit. And as the partnership grows, decision making and gaining consensus become more difficult. It is […]
The following post originally appeared on Forbes | February 18, 2015 Columbia Law School professor, Tim Wu, wrote a great piece in The New Yorker contrasting the Sundance Film Festival success of the documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? —a data-driven selection for production by Netflix—and the failure of the comedy The Bronze—a personal selection for production by Sundance’s director, John Cooper. When you throw this Netflix win into the ring with their numerous others—House of Cards is a personal favorite—it is difficult to dispute the effectiveness of Ted […]