It would be great if the leak had permanently gone, but alas, unfortunately and in all probability, the problem with the faulty leaking valve has just gone away for the summer! This is because in summer, when the heating is not being used and the boiler is mainly in hot …

Guess what? Press releases have never been exclusively for the press. My first job in the mid-1980s was on a Wall Street trading desk. Every day, I would come to work and watch the Dow Jones Telerate and Reuters screens as they displayed specialized financial data, economic information, and stock …

Consumers are much more knowledgeable about their market, make decisions based on facts as opposed to emotion, and are motivated by different factors compared to a typical consumer.

You need to reach a very specific target audience with precise messages, at the right time.

To achieve this, you need a …

Leadership always starts with you. Your influence does not begin with the number of people you lead, the size of your budget or salary, the political environment, the stock market, or any other person or circumstance. Your influence begins and ends with who you are and with how you lead …

For disruptive brands, the brand, especially the strategy behind it, is as relevant inside an organisation as it is outside. We know that the culture of a company should be driven by brand and that the entire organisation takes responsibility for its success – from the shop floor to the boardroom …

There is almost always a celebrity premium that the market is willing to pay, but the balance of how much paid for celebrity versus talent varies depending on the industry. In sports, no one hires a bad ballplayer and keeps him around, no matter how much the tabloids love him …

I have a rare cherry tree planted outside of the kitchen door. It has spread its branches to cross the kitchen window. The tree is a heritage English morello cherry brought into North America by a pioneering family two hundred years ago. I even know where the original cherry seed …

In one of my classes, someone once said, “I was taught to do several process diagrams together on a page – more or less seven – to integrate the related processes for an area. Should I join some of the event-based diagrams together to make composite diagrams?” No – normally, we don’t …

Have you ever wondered why some people spend so much time, effort and energy on an idea only to give up on it when the first obstacle presents itself? It’s as if they’ve hit a home run and suddenly run out of gas rounding third base. What happens …

Drum towers are unique and significant structures in all Dong villages. The oldest standing drum towers date to the seventh century, but they are believed to have been first constructed as early as the second century. Every tower is built entirely without nails and features carved or painted phoenixes and …

Miao’s Tales Embroidery Costume Museum in Guiyang, but she spends most of her time now in Beijing where she writes, designs, and educates, devoting her life to the study and preservation of Miao textiles. This may seem an unusual choice for a Han woman not born into Miao traditions …

Tourism plays a complex role in the ethnic minority areas of Guizhou. Since the 1980s, when ethnic minority villages opened to international and domestic tourists, local and national government, tourism bureaus, and cultural agencies have continued to push the limits of ethnic tourism. Often, visitors are required to pay a …

The challenge of a history so long in the making is that facts vary and fade, leaving some of the details more abstract than concrete, like so many Miao embroidery motifs. The minority ethnic groups live in Guizhou, but as you wander through their villages, you feel as though they …

About 39 percent of Guizhou’s population is made up of more than thirteen ethnic minority groups, including Miao, Dong, Gejia, and Shui. These ethnic groups date their time in China by the century, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that they were officially recognized by the Chinese government …

In spite of my success in The Great Lobster Contest, I was not destined for a lifetime working in a restaurant. Following my graduation from journalism school, I searched for a job at a newspaper. But times were tough and few positions were available. So I decided to start a …

He furrowed his bushy black eyebrows as he brooded over the dire state of affairs. He knew that just extending the 172nd for four months was merely a Band-Aid—and an inadequate one at that—not a solution. The U.S.-Iraqi operation to quell the violence was failing. Chiarelli …

Two days after the fall of Baghdad on April 9, 2003, the head of the CIA’s Middle East Division, Rob Richer, was on the ground, driving around the sprawling, dun-colored city in an armored car with the station chief. Iron rebar jutted from bombed government buildings, and looters moved …

Think about the leaders you admire. Whether it is at work, in government or sports, or in a social organization, you regularly come in contact with or observe from afar, leaders in all aspects of your life. You have probably noticed that some leaders are more successful than others. Some …

Campania is the Italy of your wildest dreams: a rich, intense, hypnotic ragù of vibrant street life, decadent palaces, pastel-hued villages and aria-inspiring vistas. Few corners of Europe can match Campania’s cultural conundrums. Should you spend the morning waltzing through chandeliered Bourbon bedrooms or the frescoed villa of a …

When it comes to influencing a change in behavior, you want to activate people’s creative minds instead of their survival or analytical mechanisms. You don’t start by telling them what they did wrong. When you ask people to review what happened in a situation, they usually know what …

The world has shifted, times have changed, and we continue to move rapidly into an unprecedented and unpredictable future. Although still in the early stages, Industry 4.0 will continue to impact every aspect of our lives. What makes Industry 4.0 significantly different is both the extent and pace …