Check out the headline in The Wall Street Journal last month. “Apple Teams with Jack Ma” The headline didn’t say “Apple Teams with Alibaba.” Why? And don’t say because the word “Alibaba” wouldn’t fit in the space for the headline. It turns out that both words take up seven characters. I think it’s because the …more
There aren’t many companies that crank out over $100B in revenue each year. GE is one of them. GE’s succession planning and consistency in leadership has been a Harvard Business Review case study. So when the company punts its CEO to the curb after a year and change on the job, it becomes big news …more
Between the internet, social media and human beings’ proclivity for talking, transparency is the rage. Companies figure that even sensitive information — especially sensitive information — eventually finds its way to the outside world, so they’re better off sharing their perspective before the grapevine kicks into gear. Yet, there’s zero transparency in the letters that …more
It’s been a rough week for United Airlines. When my mom — who is still getting the hang of this thing called the internet — asks if I’ll continue flying on United, you know the PR debacle has reached the masses. I have this theory that a PR crisis typically breaks down into five stages: …more
Andrew Mason’s resignation letter last week reflected the best of storytelling in business communications. With this in mind, I tried to track down Mr. Mason to take us behind the curtain in how the letter came about. Unfortunately, he proved elusive. If Mason had agreed to an interview, I suspect the exchange would have gone …more
Virtually every blog strives for reader interaction. Beyond posted comments, I’m hoping Ishmael’s Corner can evolve into a platform for anyone who has a “story” on this form of communications called storytelling. Toward this end, today brings our third guest post – the first one came from Michael Margolis and the second from Julia Sinykin …more
