In hierarchical business structures, people will be promoted as long as they continue to work competently. This is the primary theory behind the Peter Principle as formulated by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull in 1969. It goes on to say that eventually they will be promoted to a position that they are no longer competent – their...
Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal. – Friedrich Nietzsche You have this great idea. It’s massive. One of those $100M ideas. Are you sure that you have it 100% right? Positive? What if you were 90% right – that would be ok wouldn’t it?...
Sometimes, I think that businesses have the wrong attitude towards competition and the “competitive landscape”. I’m a very competitive person, but I don’t care about my competition – not in the way other companies seem to obsess about theirs. Perhaps it is where they see themselves and their attitude towards business strategy. Leader or Pack...
I’m finally reading Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. I say finally because its been on my reading list for a couple of years now. This is a great book for anyone interested in business strategy and although many of the references are out-dated, the information is still relevant and compelling. There...
Although perhaps not officially a “generation”, the term Generation F is being used to describe the wave of people entering the workforce who have grown up with social networks and Facebook in particular. There’s been a lot of written about these Millennials (the official term) and their attitudes to work but the impact that social networking has...
I often hear how hard people are working – how much they are trying. Sometimes, I think it is easy to confuse activity with action. Don’t get me wrong – a high work ethic is essential. It shows character. It should be admired and celebrated and encouraged. But there is a difference between being busy...
There’s a lot written in blogs and in books about Values – both corporate and personal. Zappos, for example, created its 10 core values as the foundation for the entire company – their culture, their self-image, the benchmark against which each employee is measured. Values become the collective morale compass for a business. But...
A likes B too much and B leaves. C and D like each other and think no one knows, they do. C and E like each other and gang up against F. I leaves when G is promoted. H is great at their job which makes J and K jealous. No one likes L....
Journaling is a technique used for personal development and self-improvement. It involves keeping a daily diary / journal to record your thoughts and feelings about your life at that particular moment in time. These are not necessarily “dear diary” moments, but they can be. The main point is that it provides an opportunity to let rip....
There’s been this series of intersecting ideas coming at me lately centered around business strategy and the planning time-horizon. Recently, Evernote announced that their latest round of funding was not an exit strategy for its founders but a foundation for building a “100 year company” I read Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh that describes how Zappos was built and...