I love learning about a wide variety of businesses and ministries. Not only do I get bored easily, I also find others' successes and failures to be profoundly instructive regardless of what I'm currently slaving away at.

Sometimes though, insights are lurking not around the corner but within my own organization. Check out this great post on The Consultant Within.

You likely have folks within your business that came from other fields, utilized different technologies, and found solutions that you've perhaps never considered. Next time you're stumped, seek out these talented problem solvers who've successfully sown in a variety of soils.

On a completely different front, this great article from Fox Business chats up commerce in the "recommendation age." The key thought: don't miss the chance to participate in and encourage online conversations about your organization. These discussions are happening with or without you.

No, you shouldn't become as obsessed with what's being said about you online as a teenaged girl vying for prom queen. But you shouldn't fool yourself into believing that virtual ratings and dialogue won't impact your business success.

Want proof that you're living in the recommendation age? Look closer at the next news article or blog post you read online? Those "digg it," "fave it," "seed it," and other buttons at the edges of the post allow folks to recommend or bash the content. And tens of millions of web watchers depend on such ratings to choose businesses.

Embrace the recommendation age. If you're not sure where to begin, drop me a line.