Monthly Archives: November 2010

The lesson of Microsoft for almost everyone

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Mitch Gooze

I recently ran across a young singer in Poland with my last name (actually Mroz is a fairly common name in Poland): Urszula Mroz.  What amazed me as I watched her YouTube video was that she was singing, for a … Continue reading →

Posted in competitive advantage, first mover advantage, Innovation, product development, strategy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Why your business should look like my pit bull

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Mitch Gooze

I posted a little while ago about the pit bull we adopted after hurricane Katrina.  When I look at him he sometimes seems homely and sometimes handsome, but I always think of him as “my beautiful boy” because he is … Continue reading →

Posted in process management, retail | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Eat your children, or: all processes properly contain the seeds of their own change

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Mitch Gooze

I was looking on YouTube recently for clips of Cheri Knight, a friend who was a well-regarded musician in a former career.  In so doing I came across the clips of a new singer, Selena Gomez.  As I was listening … Continue reading →

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The 12 Days of Christmas

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Mitch Gooze

Every year a wealth management firm “prices” the items on the 12 Days of Christmas list. The cost this year for those items is up 11% over last year. Further evidence that the wealthy are back able to buy, per … Continue reading →

Posted in Down economy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The recession has returned to normal

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Mitch Gooze

The recession which started at the end of 2008 was different from almost all earlier downturns in that consumers at all income levels cut back spending dramatically. Both high-end stores and mid-range stores lost sales, while the low-end held up for the most part. … Continue reading →

Posted in Down economy, Pricing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Earmarks, Art Centers, and Employee Loyalty

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Mitch Gooze

The big subject this week in Washington is earmarks: to ban them or not.  The proponents of continuing them, IMO, don’t “get” their real significance.  To wit: taxpayers can legitimately ask “how dare you cut essential programs while there’s so … Continue reading →

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When not to hire people like you

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Mitch Gooze

I was talking with a neurologist recently and the conversation turned to another neurologist.  “I don’t understand why Dr. “X” went into sleep medicine,” the first neurologist said,”He’s one of the best neurologists I know and he must be bored … Continue reading →

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“Undesirable” niches can hold gold

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Mitch Gooze

After our beloved German Shepherd died we adopted a displaced pit bull from hurricane Katrina.  Both breeds are tragically on the verboten list of many thoughtless insurers.  But our carrier, Commerce, saw that their less astute competitors were handing them … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Tagless t-shirts and willfull ignorance

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Mitch Gooze

One of the greatest innovations, in my daily life at least, is the tagless t-shirt.  For decades every time I bought a new shirt or t-shirt, I took out a pair of scissors and cut the tag on the inside … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, market research, product development | 1 Comment

It’s about effectiveness

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Mitch Gooze

A few days ago I posted about the rise of the 15 second TV commercial. Yesterday Ralph mentioned that his wife (the smart one in the family) noted that it’s about connecting and emotion.  The announcement yesterday of the winner of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising | Tagged , , | Leave a comment