Everywhere we go, we hear the message that to get ahead in life, we need to have a formal education. The more formal education we receive, the more we will excel in our professional careers. Unfortunately, this has become true in many industries that once allowed you to start a career and enter a new profession, regardless of your formal education.

With the costs of higher education spiraling out of control, many young adults are now finding that advanced education is not an option. The good news is that pursuing formal education is not the only thing that can get you ahead in a career.

Leadership HacksAdam WitmerNovember 25, 2013business, education, leadership

Premium Content - Why I Want to Pay for It

Content is everywhere. Products are available from many different sources. In the online information age we live, there is so much content available for free that you have to wonder why anyone would pay for it. One of the biggest hurdles for us content creators is to be able to justify to ourselves that our content has value. Why would someone want to pay for content when they can get so much for free? And, why would they want to pay for my content anyway?

Michael Hyatt recently published an excellent blog post on this topic where he explains why charging for your content is a good thing. The interesting thing about Michael, a person who makes a living on content creation, is that he also allocates a large budget for spending money on content. He has said that his budget is one of the largest content budgets he knows. While my budget isn't even close to Michael's, I too have placed a value on paying for content and paying for products. You have to understand that I am a "penny pincher" by nature, but I have come to realize that content is more valuable to me when I pay for it. Yes, I would rather pay for content than get it free. Here is why:

General Business StrategyAdam WitmerNovember 13, 2013content, innovation, strategy

How Rules Affect a Corporate Culture

The corporate culture of an organization is the difference between a great place to work and one that is constantly working to retain good talent. While the culture of an organization is something that is talked about quite a bit, I am always surprised how many organizations are not pro-actively creating a great culture that cultivates the type of employees they desire. While corporate culture is usually thought of as a top down initiative, it can be cultivated from within by middle management or even general employees. The challenge that businesses face is to ensure that the culture being created corresponds to the mission, vision, and strategic direction of the company.

Rules Rules Rules

I was recently talking to a friend that works in a call center environment and we were discussing the rigidness of expectations management has on employees. Call centers face some unique challenges in that employees must constantly be available to handle the never ending feed of incoming calls. Therefore, many call centers around the world have a set of defined rules their employees must stay within.

Adam WitmerNovember 11, 2013corporate, culture, leadership

Innovation as a Discipline

Innovation can transform an industry. It can provide a competitive advantage or even solve a problem. It can even be considered an artistic masterpiece. But innovation doesn't usually happen overnight. It happens over time as an organization develops and cultivates an idea. Innovation is the result of strategic discipline and is just like any other skill. The more you work on an innovation, the more you master it.

Innovating the Light Bulb

Thomas Edison is usually credited as the inventor of the light bulb. This however, is not a completely accurate statement.

Business HacksAdam WitmerNovember 7, 2013innovation, innovation forms and types

How to Create a Great Culture

A great corporate culture is an asset to the bottom line. An ineffective culture, however, can be very costly. The corporate culture of an organization is the difference between a great place to work and one that is chronically drained by spending energy to bring in and retain good talent. Personally, I am always surprised at how many organizations are not pro-actively creating a culture that cultivates and attracts the type of employees they desire.

So how is a corporate culture created, even in a small business?

Be Pro-Active

The first step to creating a great culture within an organization is to understand that a culture is going to develop whether or not you plan for it. If cultural outcomes are not strategically developed, the result is going to be less than ideal.

Change Management, General Business StrategyAdam WitmerNovember 3, 2013Culture, Corporate, Business