My passion is performing the best dentistry possible for my patients and doing so in a continually more environmentally responsible manner.

I lead my staff of 7. I felt stalled in reaching out to new patients even though I live Purple Cow thinking. I gave "Free Prize Inside" to my business manager Reese and asked her to have fun with it and come up with something, I was having trouble. She created systems that we all fine-tuned and our new patient referrals have increased dramatically with no traditional external "advertising". This is [Seth] Godin-style thinking at its best and these are the kind of superb people that I get to lead!

We want to continue to create a truly remarkable patient experience. As we raise the bar, we only want to raise it further. I am interested in ideas on how we can continue this process, especially from those who are from fields of endeavor that are totally different than ours.

I am simply astounded by how much I notice, as I get older I suppose, how many things are just simply done wrong. Examples are as diverse as insufferable automated phone answering systems, using TV ads to explain political candidate's positions, throwing away lots of plastic (including in the dental office!), things like that. I believe that it is incumbent upon us, when faced with these absurdities, to come up with better ways of doing business. When our "ideavirus" is truly remarkable and spreads and improves the world around us, then we have accomplished something worthwhile. My goal is to improve my business every day in this manner; whenever the old way of doing things seems wrong, I intend to replace it with a better way.

I've always thought I was a little bit odd. As I bumbled my way through life it seemed folks agreed.

As a kid in the big woods of Wisconsin, I lived a life closer to what your grandparents did than what you're living now. We didn't lock our doors. No television, and usually no radio. Neighbors were a mile or more away, through the woods.

Entertainment was music, live, right in the living room (ours or an uncle's or neighbor's.) And reading; endless reading. I pestered my mom and older brother into helping me learn how when I was 3 or 4.

In the middle of 1st grade in the little 2-room school-house about 20 miles from where I'm writing this, they realised I was working at High School level in most subjects and moved me ahead to 2nd grade. As a result I was generally the youngest, smallest kid in any class. I also thought being smart bought me something. Both right and wrong, that.

Before I could even read I realised that saying and doing what I thought didn't always have good results. Whether it was weakness of spirit or the strength of the opposition, I spent the next 40 years being what the world expected instead of who I really am.

Eight years ago, after my first marriage fell apart, I married someone who loved me for that secret personality, and she's been coaxing it out ever since. She loves my music, which is no surprise since most of my songs are about her. She loves our nomad life, which is great, 'cause otherwise I'd miss her when I traveled. She thinks I'm the smartest person in the world, which is nice even when she's wrong.