Strategy over tactics J.C. Penney Desperately Needs a Strategy - Roger Martin - Harvard Business Review

I don't know much about the situation with J.C. Penney, but I think this statement is true for all organizations: The problem with J.C. Penney is that it serves no compelling customer purpose — and neither did Borders. It doesn't have an aspiration for winning — just for improving from the current pathetic state. 
This is good too...
Investments in improvements without a clear definition of strategy are simply a waste, whether or not the CEO came from a company with an awesome strategy or not. The only competitor against which the 'new J.C. Penney' is actually advantaged is the 'old J.C. Penney'.

Apple Product Launches are Like the Federal Reserve

Interesting interview with Don Tapscott about secrecy at Apple. I think that Apple's product launches are almost like Federal Reserve announcements now: They don't wow us enough to get a surprise for a bump, as a result most announcements are treated as disappointing, but they make long term planning difficult because you don't know when change is coming. Being open and honest is a critical factor to long term success. 

Leadership lessons from the Game of Thrones

I know a lot of people love The Game of Thrones, I put it more in the good category, but it is certainly entertaining.   My day to day life in the workforce doesn't involve dragons or swords, but I a line by King Robb caught my attention as very applicable to leadership. In the second season episode, "The Prince of Winterfell", he is walking with Lady Talisa and speaking of his father Ned Stark.  Through the discussion, it is very apparent that he very much admired his father.  He says that his father said being a lord is like being a father.     This registered with me as applicable to leadership generally.  Obviously, it is possible to take this analogy too far, but the thought occurred to me that real leadership requires a more involved relationship.  As a father, I am willing to put my children first, to care for them, to teach them, to encourage them, and obviously always want the best for them.  As a leader, I think I should be willing to do the same things as well.

Are the Ads Worth Spreading any good?

Have you seen TED's Ads Worth Spreading?  If so, you have seen 10 very well done ads that for the most part are very engaging.  They are also for the most part worth spreading, but are they any good as advertisements?  I am not going to review each ad, but the short answer is no.  I would use the following acronym for criteria:

Shareable
Emotional connection
Applicable
Response oriented

Shareable is more than whether the content is engaging enough to share, I think all of these ads meet that criteria, but also could someone share the ad and concept verbally as part of conversation.

Emotional connection is whether the ad registers with an individual emotionally.  These ads score very well here.

Applicable, do you know what the product is, how the story being told relates to you and the product, and how you will benefit from the product?  This does not need to be a hard sell, but it needs to be conveyed.  These ads are much less successful on this count.

Response oriented means that you are moved to take some action as a result of the ad.  Again not great here either.