This last year, I’ve felt burnt out on business books. I read enough of them and, frankly, I find myself less and less motivated to do so. I used to take 3-4 of them on every personal holiday and devour them. But I find myself less and less interested. Last weekend, as an example, I [...]
Tag Archives | Business
What Does Wall Street Reward?
A recent analysis said that, all things being equal, a heavy reliance on marketing spend will hurt a company’s stock valuation. Of course, we say. Duh, we think. But have we ever really thought about how much a factor that is? Let’s think about it using an example. There are two stores in the middle [...]
Must Read Weekend Reading
Seems like most of the content we find online starts with a list as in 6 ways to do X, or 5 ways to improve Y. Curating the more thoughtful pieces worth reading in full is what this post theme of must-read work is all about. This week’s assortment has a very corporate theme. Must [...]
What is Happening To Netflix Is Unfair
Here’s the deal. Companies are around to profit maximize – a corporate form of self-interest. For many years, this was the organizing principle of all commercial enterprises. The rules, and rewards seemed fairly clear. Not many people argued with it as a system that worked. Then came the social era we live in. More than [...]
Is Success Predictable?
So many teams fail in growth. They blame their strategy, or their tactics, or the market, or bring up some issue about product/market/timing fit was off, or that some people failed at execution and so on. The list of reasons is almost endless for any team. As often as this happens, don’t you wonder if [...]
What’s Your ScoreBoard?
During my first marriage, I thought the goal was to stay married. In jobs, I thought the goal was to get promoted to the next big title/level/responsibility. When I used to seriously run, I thought it was all about completing a marathon. This lens on life caused a vise-like grip onto certain outcomes. The wrong [...]
Speed Over Greed
Anyone who wonders why we don’t have more start-ups hasn’t noticed that it is the hardest job in the world. You start from nothing. One team I was working with in the spring of this year just oozed joy when they had earned their first $49 from someone they didn’t know. Getting to this point…building [...]
Collaborate To Save Lives
Collaboration is often used in feel-good ways rather than value-add ways. Having done a book with a theme on creating more collaboration at work, I realize now how many people use the word as a paper-over word. Meaning, when “I want them to follow me, I ask them to collaborate”. They go into it unwilling [...]
Calling: The Fighter
There’s been enough research to show that buy-in happens when people shape the decision. There’s been enough clarity on knowing the “why” causes people to align behind decisions. There’s been enough qualitative and quantitative work to show the value of collective networks in accomplishing real change. If you followed the 3 links, you know that [...]
Stop Blaming the Systems
The next time a customer service rep says, “The computer won’t let me do that” or “The system tells me what to do,” remember this: Behind every such phrase is a set of processes designed, or at least endorsed, not by computers but by human beings somewhere in the corporate hierarchy. The system may tell [...]