Questions Fundamental to Strategy, Execution

"Business leaders can't develop and execute effective strategy without first gathering the right information, says Harvard Business School professor Robert Simons. In his new book, Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution, Simons explains how managers can identify holes in their planning processes and make smart choices. Here's an excerpt outlining the seven questions every manager should ask."

Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution — HBS Working Knowledge

'Ugly and Different', Google Logo Works

"There are however many examples of what can arguably be called ugly design that have done very well in creating a strong visual brand.

The example that comes to mind is the Google wordmark. The same typeface, rainbow color scheme, drop shadow and beveled look applied to any other entity would never make it as logo of the day on the sites we frequent. Aesthetically, I find the wordmark horrible with its inclusion of many elements I would hesitate to put into any logo, let alone all of them into one. But wow, does it ever work."

Ugly and Bland Can Win the Race – idApostle: An Identity Love Affair / Logo Designer, Ottawa, Canada.

AdFreak: FDA unveils 36 warning labels for cigarettes

"The Food and Drug Administration today unveiled 36 proposed designs for new warning labels on cigarette packs, required under a new law that gives the FDA power to regulate tobacco products for the first time. The agency wants feedback, and will pick nine labels next June to use on packages beginning next October. There are a few gross ones, though frankly the imagery could be worse (and is worse in other countries). My favorite is probably the one above, which appears to be based on the scene in Poltergeist when Craig T. Nelson stands transfixed next to the gaping jaws of hell. See all 36 images here. What do you think of them? And will they have any effect on smokers? Via The Awl."

AdFreak: FDA unveils 36 warning labels for cigarettes:

Information is Meant to be Shared, Not Hoarded

"There are still people within organizations that limit access to information and, presumably, they believe that such limiting affords them a measure of power. That game is sadly common in companies that motivate through fear. In my view, such places will be short-lived; the power and influence of social media will destroy them."

Thank you to Barry Lowenthal, the president of The Media Kitchen, for this insightful piece: Hoarding Disorder.