Pointless Pollution: The Chlorine Whitewash

Paper mills dump tons of dioxins - byproducts of the chlorine bleaching process - into American streams and rivers. Dioxins accumulate in fat cells, and have been implicated in higher cancer rates, as well as reproductive and developmental harm in both animals and humans. If paper mills only had to bleach a very few premium products, how much less dioxin would be released into the environment?

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Leadership | Environment | Optimism

1 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 9:56 AM

Firing People is Easy

Many supervisors feel tremendous angst when they must fire a coworker. But there are two groups for whom the termination process is easy: bad supervisors and great supervisors.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Management Skills | Leadership

2 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 9:38 AM

Customer Service Heroes: Veterans Health Administration

Did you know that the Veterans Health Administration is the largest single medical system in the country? It is also one of the most efficient, and, according to numerous independent surveys, provides the highest quality of care.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Customer Service | Leadership

1 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 7:22 PM

Customer Service Hero: Trader Joe's

When was the last time an anonymous customer wrote a song and produced a music video praising your company? This YouTube video, called "If I Made a Commercial for Trader Joe's," has been viewed over half a million times.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Creativity | Customer Service | Leadership | Competitive Advantage

4 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 6:17 PM

Everyday Criminals

Here is a fascinating story about groups from extreme poles of the political spectrum finding common ground in opposition to the federal government's sweeping, yet vague, criminal justice machinery:

Right and Left Join Forces on Criminal Justice

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Categories: Entrepreneurialism | Leadership | Ethics

0 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 11:46 PM

Entrepreneurial Culture in the Schmatta Trade

Some of the upscale thrift stores along Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles organize their used clothing by decade. Browsing through the racks, one sees that the items from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s are vibrant, daring, and in surprisingly good condition. They were obviously very well made. One also notes that nearly 100% of these shirts, dresses, skirts, jackets and pants were made in the USA.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Entrepreneurialism | Leadership | Family

7 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 6:14 PM

Third Person Narrative

Third-party perspectives help a company better know itself, even as a one-person start-up. After your business gets big, outside points of view become essential, because when you reach the top of a mountain, you can see a lot, but you can no longer see the mountain. 

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Management Skills | Entrepreneurialism | Leadership | Competitive Advantage

10 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 12:25 AM