A few days ago I wrote about the problems of “misaligned incentives”.   The focus of that article was on the sales compensation models of inside sales reps, and the importance of aligning the company’s objectives with the compensation plans of its salespeople.
Another example of misaligned incentives has come up in the last 2 days in a story that has been widely reported in the tech press.  An Airbnb customer used the service to rent her house for a week to a visitor, and when she returned her house was destroyed …

I wrote earlier about how I was underwhelmed by my Apple iPad after the first few weeks of use.  With my iPhone and my laptop always handy, I just never had a real need to use it.   Now I need to (slightly) revise that opinion.
I just came back from a 2 week vacation with my kids, my wife, and her parents, and the iPad was in constant use by all 6 of us.  The USA Today app is fantastic (while its free) and we all used it to get …

I recently took a business trip and identified four “everyday” innovations that benefited both the innovative businesses and their customers.
1. Southwest Airlines’ seating. Until recently I was the most anti-Southwest person you could find; I felt like cattle on my first flight a few years ago – people were lining up an hour ahead of the flight to get a good seat.  I cursed this “new age” airline from my center seat the entire flight, vowing never to fly them again.  But when they instituted their new policy of assigning …