A mentor once told me that a healthy and sustainable company must be equally balanced to the benefit of employees, customers, vendors, and ownership, and that when a company is distressed there is an imbalance.

I've been jobless and felt the depressing emptiness that builds each and every day out of work, burning through savings and faking courage and optimism in front of my wife and kids.

I don't need to shock the whole organization and it's not healthy to do so. If I can smile, laugh, and make people feel comfortable while I triple their workload and hold them accountable, word will spread.

As Winston Churchill once said; “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.”

If there is no natural crisis but the leader is authentically ready for a change, then sometimes a shock needs to be created. When you tell people they need to change, they hear you but usually don't really take it seriously. When you fire their boss or shut down a division and then tell people things need to change, they usually pay attention.

Lacking controls. Running a business is more complex than flying an airplane. I've student‐flown a couple of airplanes, and I prefer a working instrument panel when I do; things like altitude and airspeed are as important as cash flow and backlog when running a business. For many businesses it's the lack of controls that gets them in trouble, they

In no particular order, here is a list of landmines that scatter the field of business and human behavior: Failure to adapt. Despite popular misconception, Darwin never said it was the strong that survive, but the adaptable. The economy is always in flux; how we read and react to that change determines our longevity. Bad luck. A motivational speake

Automatic prepay subscription businesses with no physical assets and generous vendor payment terms are the ideal cash machines.

A retailer gets paid at the cash register, so they don't have the collection period. It is the same with most consumer‐facing businesses. For them managing the CCC is all about inventory management.