Cornerstones

The Fusion Experience

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”― Aristotle

Isn’t that the point of training? We call it Be, Do, Have.

Be: You’re selected to attend training because there’s a skill to learn that will (hopefully) accelerate […]

Read More +

Fusion Remembers

On August 22nd, we mark the birthday of Fusion’s late Founder, Chairman and CEO, Jennifer St. John. We were fortunate to work with someone who valued our contributions, and provided numerous opportunities for professional and personal growth to help us better […]

Read More +

A Little Nudge

Sometimes you just need a little nudge to feel reengaged and renewed.

Recognition, in the form of encouragement and praise, nudges us forward to expand our capabilities and enhance our achievements. It helps raise our confidence and renew our spirit.

Share on Facebook Share
Read More +

What is “Being Smart?”

“Smart” might suggest that an individual chooses to be responsible for themselves, their condition, and what they choose to make of it.  Rather than being victimized by their station, they take every opportunity to learn, grow and build the structures of character, mind and spirit which will serve them in the long […]

Read More +

If You Can Communicate…

Share on Facebook Share
Read More +

A Winning Sales Process

We think everyone should “win” in the sales process – for the long-term.

On your next sales call:

Be an “active listener” […]

Read More +

“Practice Creates the Master”

“Practice Creates the Master.” — Don Miguel Ruiz

At first, you can’t do it at all.

Then […]

Read More +

Rise!

It’s a Communication Wasteland.  So Much Noise! And a long stretch between communication moments that move you — that speak to body, mind, and soul.

So, how does a rational person conduct themselves?

Input: […]

Read More +

Insight… REMOVE “THE BUCKET”

Read More +

Presenting for Results!®

Most People speaking in corporate roles are “Presenting to get through it.” “Presenting to get it over with!” “Presenting to Not Fail!” “Presenting to Check a Box in a Matrix!” Few people are Presenting for Results!®

— J. R. St. John (1952 – 2018), Chairman and Founder, The Fusion Group

 

Read More +

Winners and Losers

“Once I passed the tricky sections, I think I let off the gas pedal a little bit. I just didn’t continue with that aggression all the way to the finish,” the two-time World Cup overall champion said. “That’s […]

Read More +

Going Stupid!

“How many times will you repeat your morning routine? Your drive to Work? Your walk into a conference room? Your meetings, reports, e-mails… Is it any wonder that sometimes you “Go a Little Stupid” … and simply float away?”

—J. R. StJohn

It can’t have escaped your attention […]

Read More +

Getting Great Results!

Two quotes to think about from Jennifer StJohn, Founder of The Fusion Group…

Read More +

The Stammer

“Whatever you are, try to be a good one!” — William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 – 1863), English Poet & Novelist

 

Bob Newhart (comedy and television legend) once had a challenge from a television network official about the extended length of his comedy show.

“Bob, […]

Read More +

3 Days! Or A Lifetime?

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True Nobility is being superior to your former self.” — Ernest Hemingway

“These three days changed my life!” —   Participant’s evaluation of Fusion’s “Presenting for Results!®” session

Where’s […]

Read More +

Dry Cleaners, Shower Curtains & Existential Moments

I got to the dry cleaner late the other day near closing time, and as I walked to the door with that sinking feeling, he showed up at the front door to the store with my really important shirt in his hand.  “Saw you coming,” he said, “thought you might need this tomorrow.”  Wow!

I have come to realize that as much and as often as we think that this thing or that thing is THE thing in life, the reality is somewhat different. THIS INSTANT, NOW […]

Read More +

Limits on Creativity

“If I had more time, I’d have written you a shorter letter.” – Winston Churchill British Prime Minister, Author (1874 – 1965)

“Talk doesn’t cook rice.” – Proverb

 

Here’s a thought:  Without limits, creativity is merely uncontrolled daydreaming – imagine a car without brakes…

Life – we’re in it together, which imposes all kinds of structure: jobs, families, and the demand for outcomes.  All these responsibilities […]

Read More +

What’s NOT Being Said

A young woman came to me for counsel.

She talked briefly and then sat silently in the chair.

I said nothing but watched the reactions she displayed.

Slowly she made eye contact with me.

“You understand, don’t you?”

I nodded.

She began to talk more.

The lesson here is… Listen for what’s NOT being said

It’s in that silence that you will find the real […]

Read More +

Endless, Cheerful, Repeated Coaching

“Man, you gotta have your head in the game every second of every play. You doze for a second, and the other guys are all over you and that’s the down, the quarter, and the whole game. Too many games, and your career is done!”

—NFC Playoff Team Member

If a football team went a week without being intensely coached about the opposition, the plays and strategy for the game at hand, and the positions and roles of each opposition player on each squad, you wouldn’t be surprised […]

Read More +

The Uses of Not

“Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub. It is the center hole that makes it useful. Shape clay into a pot. Where the pot’s not, is where it’s useful. Cut doors and windows for a room; the space inside makes “room” for you. Therefore, the profit in what is, lies in the use of what is not.”

From the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Translation by Gia-Fu Feng, Taoist Priest (1919 – 1985) and Ursula K. LeGuinn, Novelist […]

Read More +

What a Story!

“A diamond is forever!” — De Beers Corporation

I was sitting in an agency conference room in the late 70’s, enjoying lunch and the view of Central Park as my clients discussed their work for De Beers.  In the course of the discussion, it became clear the “Diamond […]

Read More +

Ancora Imparo

“And still I am learning!”– Michelangelo

“Learning on the job is essential to judging!”– John Paul Stevens, Associate […]

Read More +

Keeping the Vision in Sight…

Read More +

Fusion: the Heart of a Star!

Stars and Corporations are both energized by the same force:  Fusion.

Our “Sun,” a “Star;” is a “Hydrogen Fusion Engine.”

Fusion Formula: Take two atoms of hydrogen, agitate rapidly under titanic gravitational stress, then apply cosmic heat. Caution:  Do not over-stimulate or the mixture may explode and engulf the entire solar system; but be sure to continue at a pace sufficient to keep the sphere from collapsing under its own weight. Repeat to Infinity!  Voila!  Produces […]

Read More +

The Long Now

The Fusion Group is excited to be celebrating our 40th year in business!

This is quite a milestone for a small business that was founded by Jennifer StJohn in 1984.

Share on Facebook Share
Read More +

Words of Wisdom

Here’s a concept:  your thoughts and interests are yours to create, manage and promote.

Ever had a day when the synapses just don’t fire, the neurons seem clogged and constricted, the eyes can’t quite focus, and the mind is foggy?  The internal landscape seems curiously unreal and the external landscape, well…  Outsiders seem like enemies, and insiders seem like interruptions just waiting to occur!!

That’s the sub-rational mind — infringing on the […]

Read More +

Incremental Improvement

“You can always be a little bit better.” — Drew Brees Former Quarterback, New Orleans Saints

 

Everyone’s nervous about public speaking, at first.

It’s not your stock-in-trade.  So, it’s not unusual that you find it odd to stand up to speak.

There’s that moment when you are introduced — making you feel a little bit like an item of trade, being examined.

Then you discover that with so many listeners, you have to be a little louder and more […]

Read More +

Making & Keeping

Stock offerings are launched by making promises.
Lofty stock prices are guaranteed by keeping them!

Elections are won by making promises.
Legacies are secured by keeping them!

Weddings are begun by making promises.
Marriages are secured by keeping them!

Share on Facebook Share
Read More +

Getting a Win!

“So whatcha gonna do?” —Jim Brown addressing Richard Pryor

You’ve got this presentation coming up…

Read More +

Lost in Confusion

“Never invest in an idea that can’t be explained with a crayon.”
—Peter Lynch
Legendary American Investment Professional
(1944 — )

Read More +

The Wisdom of Fusion

1. Sales Riddle: “I can’t work with you until I know that you know what I know.”

We think it’s more important to “get” your customers’ issues, marketplace and challenges first rather than trying to push a product, service or feature. “Pull or Counselor” Selling is all about allowing customers to disclose needs (perhaps fears) […]

Read More +

Wasteland or Garden?

“Every man builds his world in his own image. He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice.”
—Ayn Rand (1905-1982), Russian-American Novelist, Screenwriter & Philosopher

 

It’s a Communication Wasteland. So. Much. Noise. And a long stretch between communication moments that move you — that speak to body, mind, and soul.

OK, all those pictures of cats on Facebook — very nice.  But is there any “there” there? Lots […]

Read More +

Exposure vs. Mastery

(Masters Only in Our Minds)

“An unfortunate reality of our time is that people have fundamentally misunderstood the nature of ‘Mastery.’” — J. R. StJohn

“When we were young, we received a plain white Gi and a belt. Each week, […]

Read More +

Keep the Craft!

“Body, Mind, Spirit. Craft, Science, Art. There’s a little of each in writing, speaking, performing. Take care that technology doesn’t submerge the craft or the art in your communication!”
— J. R. StJohn

Welcome to “Rapid World!”  Tech has forever changed everything!  Type no longer has to be “Set” for a publication.  It’s […]

Read More +

AND

“It’s not binary! You can be gifted and decent at the same time!”
(Woz, talking with Steve)
Steve Jobs…the Movie

Perhaps the most significant (and insidiously unnoticed) flaw in our over-stressed, hyper-analytical existence is the pernicious tendency to reduce everything to a binary conflict.

Read More +

It’s Not Your Job to be Brilliant

We are pleased to share an interview with The Fusion Group’s Vice President, Danielle Bolla, published by finews.asia.

In the interview, Danielle discusses being aware of your own communication habits:

  • Are you speaking more than you’re listening?
  • Share on Facebook Share
Read More +

The Mind Follows Where the Eyes Lead

The “Back to Basics” Series

“Be. Here. Now.”
—Yogic Admonition and Book Title
Baba Ram Dass (Servant of God)
Enlightened Yogi & Student of Neem Karoli Baba
(Also in this life, dismissed Harvard professor Richard Alpert and
Co-discoverer of LSD with Dr. Timothy Leary)
(1931 — )

Read More +

Making & Keeping Promises

“Love and marriage, love and marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage.
This I tell you, brother,
You can’t have one without the other.”

“Love & Marriage”
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn; music by Jimmy Van Heusen
Performed by Frank Sinatra

 

Stock offerings are launched […]

Read More +

How it Began

“The End of Story mark ‘–30–’ has been traditionally used by journalists to indicate the end of a story. It is commonly found at the end of a press release. ‘-30-’ may have originated when stories were written in longhand; X marked the end of a sentence; XX the end of a paragraph; and XXX meant the end of a story. (The Roman numerals XXX equate to 30.)” —From Wikipedia

Read More +

Architects, Culture & Anthropology

 

The Fusion Group …
Built on A Solid Foundation, and Here for You.

By now, you know about the recent passing of Jennifer StJohn. She was not only our founder and CEO, she was our friend. We at The Fusion Group are beyond saddened, but our direction is well-defined.

Read More +

First Principles

“All of us have to learn how to invent our lives, make them up, imagine them.
We need to be taught these skills; we need guides to show us how.
If we don’t, our lives get made up for us by other people.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin

 

This is the first of a series of articles about First Principles, the components required to create a life, a company, […]

Read More +

Practice Creates the Master

“Practice Creates the Master.”
— Don Miguel Ruis

 

At first, you can’t do it at all. 

Then you summon up your courage. Take a run at it. Make a mess of it.

Later, with a new subject, in a new moment, you sally forth! And, […]

Read More +

Constructing One’s Self

 

“Without much formal schooling, Washington was subject to condescension from some contemporaries, especially the snobbish John Adams, who disparaged him as “too illiterate, unlearned, unread for his station and reputation.” Washington has suffered from comparisons with other founders, several of whom were renowned autodidacts, but by any ordinary standard, he was an exceedingly smart man with a quick ability to grasp ideas. […]

Read More +

The Sell By Date

“The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, it’s culture, it’s history. Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long, the nation will begin to forget what it is, and what it was…”
— Milan Kundera

They’re tired. […]

Read More +

Make Yourself Useful!

“Find a need and fill it.”
— Henry Kaiser

You say, “Can I help?” or “What if I can assist you with that?” And, just like that, you have a job.

A company says, “How about a pocket phone that also calculates, […]

Read More +

Catching the Big Idea

(The continued flogging of last week’s concept…)

“Consciousness is like a flowing river. Ideas come floating by…
If you fail to catch one, it disappears from view…”
— J. R. St.John

Does a Document, […]

Read More +

Swimming in Templates

“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch,
You must first invent the universe.”
— Carl Sagan

There’s an arrogant, self-regard among many in the sales business…

Probably a good thing though, cause if […]

Read More +

Categories

Recent Posts

Subscribe via RSS