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View from the FishBowl – Negotiation Series: Don’t let it get personal
Can you imagine how the politicians could have negotiated on the appropriate “best thing” for the people if it didn’t get emotional? I know … I know … politics without emotion is some sort of an paradox. However, wouldn’t it be exceptional if this were the case? Just saying … My experience in the business…
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View from the FishBowl – Negotiation Series: Cardinal Rule … don’t bid against yourself!
Per our friends at Webster, definition of cardinal… cardinal – adjective, of basic importance : main, chief, primary a cardinal principle In negotiating, I think one of the cardinal rules is to never bid against yourself. This may seem obvious but it is amazing how many times I see this play out where one side…
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Innovation Chamber: Increasing the region’s population through immigration (Part 3 of 3)
Omaha must become a more welcoming place to people who are not from here and people who are different – a solution to the provincial problem from Post One. A great bellwether for this problem is international immigrants. This is a key group not just as a bellwether but also because a high priority because…
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View from the FishBowl – Negotiation Series: Rich or famous
There is probably a more official name for this but I never could quite figure out what it should be called. However, for decision makers and negotiators, I think …
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Innovation Chamber: Increasing the region’s population through college students (Part 2 of 3)
This is a post that builds off of my first post on migration – the Silicon Prairie needs to grow. I tell people that we need to focus on college students, and the immediate response is that I don’t want to hire college students for my business. And many college students are ultimately not ready…
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Guest Post: Starting a business in Iowa … isn’t hard
(Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post by Ben Milne, co-founder and CEO of Dwolla.) I read this and I was really inspired. My inspiration felt something like wanting to rip my shirt off and scream, “What the hell?!”… But I’m not strong enough to rip my shirt off and I really like American…
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View from the FishBowl: Advice to ‘up and comers’… work on negotiation skills…
I am often asked by entrepreneurs what skill set I feel is most important in the business world. The obvious ones like leadership, decision making and the art of delegation are all keys. However, I think that understanding the skills involved in negotiating can be quantified and acquired easier than some of the others and…
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Innovation Chamber: Increasing the region’s population through migration (Part 1 of 3)
The Silicon Prairie Region needs to increase its population. Omaha has lagged fast growing cities like Austin for the last 50 years. In 20 years, one key indicator of success as an entrepreneurial an innovative hub will be whether the community has added people. Places like Silicon Valley and Austin have shown meteoric increases in…
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View from the FishBowl: Sorry…but your baby is ugly!
Grandma Fisher gave me a pretty good set of rules to live life by. All in all, her simple folksy logic has served me well over the years. When it came to being nervous about giving a presentation or a really important meeting, her advice was simple and to the point. Just remember…they can’t eat…
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View from the FishBowl: Noodling…
I have been noodling a little. No, not this kind: wikipedia.org/wiki/noodling … yikes! The kind in the photo above. Grandma Fisher always warned me that this could be dangerous; however, I think I survived it without a lot of cerebral damage (you can’t damage what you don’t have). What I have been noodling about is…