Rebel Brown

Are you Stuck in Failure?

If you asked me that question a week ago I would've told you, "Absolutely not!" I think most of us would respond that way. We're all positive people, right? I unearthed a new mental reality about myself last Saturday.   I didn't even know I was stuck in ... Read >

What Do You Expect?

Last week I was in Monument Valley, camping and touring around the property of a Navajo clan. Effie and family have worked that same land, raising horses, sheep and goats, for generation on generation. They've evolved with the times - moving from traditi... Read >

Control is an Illusion

We all want to feel like we’re in control. It’s safe and comfortable place. It’s also a position of power. If we control a product line or a department - we feel more important. If we control an entire business - we’re even more powerful. Controlling a c... Read >

The Danger of Knowing

Knowledge and expertise are things we all seek. Whether it's in our area of business, our golf game, a musical instrument, cooking, cleaning, raising kids...whatever our passion, we strive for excellence and expertise. Sometimes that expertise stops us c... Read >

Blinded by the Light

Afflicted by love's madness all are blind. ~ Sextus Propertius As many of you know, I put my baby dog child Lyra to sleep on Saturday. She was only six and was the light of my life. She burned so brightly in this world, my life is dark today without her.... Read >

Success as a Circle

Innovating in Place is what happens when we circle our status quo focus areas in search of innovation, instead of shifting our perspectives and examining areas we never thought we'd explore. Today I'm going to contradict that article with a real world ex... Read >

Innovation in Place

Innovation is today's buzzword. Almost everyone is looking for ways to innovate in their business, their products and services and their delivery. After all- innovation fuels distinction, and distinction fuels market advantage. When you've cut as much ... Read >

The Straight Line to Mediocrity

I came out of Business School believing that all business success was really a straight line. We identify our value - that thing we do so well. We then identify who wants to buy that value - the market that needs us. We create a plan to serve that ma... Read >

The Gravity of Failure

There was an article in HBR a while back aboutThe Power of Positive Failure. It promoted the beliefs that we can all learn from failure, that failure gives us the chance to grow. It's a nice article with some great examples. Check it out! I agree with... Read >

How to Defy Analysis Paralysis

I wrote about the Infinite Loop to Nowhere - otherwise known as analysis paralysis. Today let's talk about the flipside - or how to avoid getting wrapped around the axle by our need to analyze. Business School taught us all that analysis was the foundat... Read >

What do You Deserve?

This week I have been talking about customer service and our expectations, and my own experiences. Today I want to share a lesson I learned as I evaluated my own behavior patterns when it comes to selecting vendors and their service levels. Part of being... Read >

The Art of Demanding

Last week someone told me I was too demanding. It's not the first time I've heard it, so I decided to share some of my experiences and let my readers tell me what you think. So here goes.... Case 1: I hired a PR firm. They didn't exactly get the message... Read >

Three Cheers for Marketing Innovation

I love great marketing. I especially love great marketing that shows Zero Gravity thinking - mapping innovative value to real-time buyer needs. After all, the formula for business growth doesn't have to be difficult. It's really quite simple. When we pro... Read >

Angels Are All Around Us

On Monday I wrote about the New Breed of Digital Wolf. Before everyone starts thinking I've gone negative, I want to point out all the powerful positive angels created by the digital age. Not everyone is a wolf. In fact - the angels far out-number the wol... Read >

High-Velocity Business Growth: Instagram

I love it when a company consciously learns from real world users, then takes off like a rocket ship. That's exactly what's happening to Instagram, a hot photo-sharing startup. It only took three months for the mobile application vendor to capture one m... Read >