Too much leadership
Reading one of Ethan Garofolo’s daily emails, I bumped on this video by James Womack of the Lean Enterprise Institute. On it he argues that there’s too much leadership and not enough management. However, the way Womack describes leadership and management gets mixed up and take an outdated view of what leadership is. 3 points to highlight Leadership equals heroic leadership. Leadership equals authority. Leadership is about convincing others. It has nothing to do with leadership. Here’s the…
Crushing solutions
“Don’t come to me with problems. I only want to hear solutions.” That’s part of friend-of-the-list Genevieve Hayes’ email about solving problems in isolation —and a generalized thinking framework in the business world, as the focus of this “don’t bring me problems” doesn’t let you see the forest for the trees. Here are a few thoughts on it: This kind of thinking from management has ramifications: “You bring fresh eyes, get me solutions”. If i see the problem —that you don’t consider a…
Unethically-led
Using the wording of [THING]-led takes off the responsibility of whatever sleazy/unethical actions they might do. The decision-makers feel they’re off the hook. If it’s led by sales, sales is what matters most. The decisions will be whatever makes sales grow. It’s only about the end. So if you get scammed/conned, it’s your fault, not the company’s or who runs it. “We’re sales/growth/innovation/whatever-led. We gave you a crap product, but it’s not our fault. “The thing” made the decision”….
Focused, instead of led
Are you afraid of using sales/growth/product/growth-focused and so on, instead of [THING]-led? My perception is that whoever came up with this [THING]-led concept was afraid of using [THING]-focused. Because when you change that tiny word, you can see how odd that would sound. As if focusing on the thing will have a tell on what you actually do. What if we change the wordging? Product-led? Product-focused. → So we focus on the product. Growth-led? Growth-focused → We focus on the biz growth…
Who’s McKinsey?
• You and Larry David wrote Seinfeld together, without a traditional writers’ room, and burnout was one reason you stopped. Was there a more sustainable way to do it? Could McKinsey or someone have helped you find a better model?• Who’s McKinsey?• It’s a consulting firm.• Are they funny?• No.• Then I don’t need them. If you’re efficient, you’re doing it the wrong way. Interview to Jerry Seinfeld – Harvard Business Review While “better” means for the interviewer a way to keep the show…
A shitty business strategy
Charging by the hour is nonsense. Time is not a measurement. Time is not an asset. Time is nothing but a constraint. “Selling” time focuses on the seller, not on the buyer. It transfers the risk to the buyer, taking the seller’s efficiency unclear (and the more inefficient, the more they make). It turns the goal-setting from “Something concrete to get the thing done”, into a financial assessment of “Something should be done BUT how much (more) it’d cost me? Do I have the money to (keep)…
On a ledger
Do you give your clients what they ask for or what they, really, deeply want? That was Christopher Nolan with Heath Ledger. He didn’t focus on what the fans were asking for —an “evil” actor. He focused on what they deeply wanted: a serious actor who’d tear the role and make them feel. Who’d blow their minds. Nolan stuck to his guns. The studio backed him up. They trusted the process (and the project), even when they “didn’t get it”. And that’s how we ended up with the best Joker. Now, when…
Telling hands from brains
Know how to tell when you’re hiring an order-taker (hands to do a job) from an advisor (brains to think different)? They’ll do everything you do. Everything you need. They’ll keep you happy — until you’re not. You won’t get push back on what to do. You won’t get asked the uncomfortable questions to explain WHY you have to do what you say you have to do. It’ll just be to get things “better”, without defining what “better” is. And to “get better”, you’ll get sold on more things. More metrics….
The cost of time
Pricing can’t include the cost of time. Because time… Doesn’t have a cost. Can’t be stored. Can’t be bought. Can’t be traded. Price is the representation of your promise —and of the opportunity cost to your buyer. It gives a context to the thing you can do with that money and what other ways you could spend that money on that you say no to. Time is nothing more than a constraint. I cannot cost.
Ranking number 1 on Google
Optimizing keywords and your website to have all the stats at 100%. Loading time Responsiveness Image Alt text Accessibility And so on… That’ll get you to be number 1 on Google. The question is: What kind of number 1 on Google you want to be? What if you’re first on Google right next to McDonald’s? Odds are, it won’t drive the prospects you want to your expertise business (unless you do want to be looked for after McDo for a strategic decision). Optimizing for the wrong thing will make you…