Articles

One of the factors leading to Red Lobster declaring Chapter 11 was the expense of their “all you can eat shrimp” offers. Aside from the increased cost of shrimp, the idea of allowing a pre-gastric bypass crowd the opportunity to fill up on expensive, often imported, shrimp may have also resulted in lower revenues for higher margin dishes and desserts.

Last week I was honored to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of Dr. Cialdini’s monumental book “Influence”.  Along with other members of the Cialdini Institute, we listened to a host of speakers giving their take on the application of the 7 Principlesof Influence. One of the things I love about such conferences is the focuswhich helps me think about the

Dr. Robert Cialdini’s book “Influence” has had a huge impact on many.  The late Charley Munger, Warren Buffet’s partner, in 2 gifted Dr. Cialdini a single share of Berkshire Hathaway stock after reading it.  He was so grateful to have learned the principles and immediately recognized its value and how implementing them in Berkshire Hathaway’s businesses would improve their performance.

Last week, Walmart announced that it is closing 51 health centers in 5 states including their dental centers citing “the challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs”.  Their 5-year-long experiment failed. They have not disclosed the investment that was made in this project but as you might expect, it must have been substantial.  Anyone need some lightly used medical or

It was my first experience as an expert witness.  I was engaged by the defense to provide testimony that would help exonerate a dentist against a claim of dental malpractice. I reviewed the case and told the defense attorney that his client stood on shaky ground.  The case hinged on the patient’s prior history of refusing periodontal care.  Unless that

Dr. Robert Cialdini, author of “Influence” and “Presuasion” has studied how people’s decisions are molded by various “principles”.   We would like to think that we are intelligent and rationale actors, making decisions based on the ‘facts”.  Dr. Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize for integrating the psychological research into economic science.  The research is clear…people can be manipulated without

“Let My People Go” is the refrain Moses said to Pharoah.  It became a song sung by African Slaves in the 1800’s and Civil Rights activists in the 1960’s.  But freedom yearned isn’t enough.  It needs to be earned.  That’s the lesson of Passover. Passover celebrates the freedom gained by the Israelites from the Egyptians.  What’s not commonly known is

Does having a defense system designed to repel aggression mean one should invite attack or rest on one’s laurels awaiting one? I’m not referring to the Iran-Israel conflict.  I’m referring to a dental practice that’s cruising along; has enough new patients, a stable team and a healthy cash flow.  Such a practice might have been immune to attacks from the

Don’t let a moon block out your sun.   There’s been much said about “servant leadership”, which has been defined by some asconsensus or even individual rule.  I call BS on such a strategy, whose primary aim is to create happy employees and not offend anyone. What happens when an employee blocks your growth? While people are the foundation of

This past week the world lost 2 giants, Senator Joseph Lieberman, and Dr. Daniel Kahneman.   I knew Dr. Kahneman through his work and Michael Lewis’ “The Undoing Project”, and I knew Senator Lieberman personally.  In the early 80’s, he married a woman from the Bronx, where I lived then, and when he visited, sat next to me in Synagogue.