Author Archives: John Boudreau

Why a Software Engineer Should Join Astonish Results

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After reading a recent article in TechCrunch, I thought I’d write my own post about why a software engineer would want to join the Astonish Results’ team. I know in the current economic environment, the best employees tend to stay put and not move. They think the, “devil I know is better than the devil I don’t know”. But we have something special at Astonish and I thought I would talk about it here: Opportunity to make a huge impact At Astonish you have the opportunity to make a huge impact on the product and in return, on our customer base. If you’re passionate about creating great products and putting your stamp on something, you can do it at Astonish Results. Be Read more [...]

Every Small Business Must Have a Facebook Strategy

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The latest Comscore study made it very clear – Facebook is a dominant player grabbing both unique visits and time spent by users. Marketing is all about getting your message in front of your target audience. This is why Google is so powerful, unlike a billboard, with online channels like Google, you can present your message or product at just the right time, when people are searching for it. Facebook is using a similar advertising model, by placing ads in Facebook, advertisers are getting access to this captive audience. If you felt that you should have a solid Google (organic and paid search) strategy, you should feel the same about Facebook. Having a solid strategy is critical if you’re Read more [...]

In Life, “The Excuse Department is Closed”

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“The excuse department is closed” – I got this quote from a recent blog post on TechCrunch by 2X entrepreneur and VC Mark Suster.  I’ve really enjoyed Mark’s blog posts and insights. Is this post, Mark talks about TEDIC and how it relates to sales. I wholeheartedly agree with his comments.

As this applies to life, there are so many things that we can use to excuse us from doing what we KNOW we should do. The successful people are the ones that can say no to what they want to do and yes to what they should do.

Bringing Efficiency to Your Company

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A recent HBR blog caught my eye. The author conveyed the fact that many organizations have low hanging fruit that can be harvested fairly easily, only if someone was looking. Here’s a quote from the blog that really spoke to me: “Think of all the business processes you interact with as a consumer, citizen, and worker. What percent of them amaze you with their efficiency? What percent amaze you with their inefficiency? See what I mean when I say that there's a lot of low-hanging fruit left? “ As the owner one of the fastest growing companies in the US, I am forced to look for these opportunities to bring efficiency to our processes. As I consult with our customer base, what I Read more [...]

Four Qualities of a Great Employee

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At Astonish Results we look for a few vital qualities in our employees: -          Teachability -          Positive attitude -          Ability to communicate and interact with others -          Proactive The older I get the more I realize that the ability to communicate your point of view and cooperate with others is probably THE most important characteristic of a solid employee. Couple that with teachability – the ability to learn and absorb knowledge and positive attitude – and you’ve got yourself Read more [...]

Setting Monthly Goals

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What separates those people who are moving their lives forward from those that stagnate? How do some people seem to always be growing, changing, excited about life, looking forward to the future?I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. Maybe it's because I just turned 40, but I want my life to move forward. I don't want to stagnate. I want to see progress physically, intellectually, spiritually, emotionally. How do I make sure I'm making progress?In my mind it's all about setting goals. I've gotten into the habit of creating life goals. What I realized is that I wasn't defining incremental goals to achieve the life goals I've committed to. They are broadly defined with no real time limit. Read more [...]

Great Insights on Improving Performance

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A recent blog post entitled “Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything” on HBR by Tony Schwartz really caught my eye. Mr. Schwartz points to research which dispels the myth that certain people are gifted for certain things and that’s that. Here’s a quote from the post: “I've accepted the incredibly durable myth that some people are born with special talents and gifts, and that the potential to truly excel in any given pursuit is largely determined by our genetic inheritance. “ This turns out not to be true. There are things that you can do to excel. He are Schwartz’s six keys: Pursue what you love Do the hardest work first Practice intensely Seek expect Read more [...]

Interactive UIs and the Xbox Kinect

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Like 8 million other people this Christmas season, I purchase the Kinect system for my kids Xbox. It’s pretty amazing and allows YOU to be the controller. That same weekend, Minority Report was on TV. Check out a clip from the movie here. I couldn't help but think that interactive UIs like we see in Minority Report are not far off from becoming a reality. Read more [...]

Who Is the Process Owner In Your Company?

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In a recent blog on the HBR website, Brad Power asks the question “Where Have All the Process Owners Gone”? In the post Power brings out a couple important points that really spoke to me. Processes must be improved across departments There must be a process owner I can relate to the idea of improving processes. In my experience many companies haven’t even defined their processes in the first place. What I’ve realized recently is that we weren't doing a good job of communicating and improving processes across different departments. It’s easy for individual department managers to be so focused on their piece of the puzzle that they miss the big picture. Cross-departmental Read more [...]