The purpose of a company is to create a customer The first book I bought for my first graduate school class decades ago was “Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices” by Peter Drucker. He wrote it in 1973, and it’s 800 pages of pure genius. I’m not sure I needed to buy another business book. Seriously. I […]
Being tagged as “strategic” thinker or a “not very strategic” thinker can be a boon or a bust for your career in the business world. Unfortunately, you must dig deeper to understand what the compliment or curse means. Have you ever met a strategic payroll clerk? Probably not, though I bet there are some. Some […]
I’m always befuddled when a company appoints two people to one job. Oh, I get the job-sharing thing. If two dogcatchers work 20 hours a week, there’s one full-time dogcatcher (plus some additional administrative overhead). What amazes me is when a company puts two senior executives in one job (e.g., co-presidents), usually to identify which […]
Business and math are inextricably linked. Big data, income statements, turnover, weighted average cost of capital, customer satisfaction scores and quotas — just to name a few. And accuracy is vital. Don’t you dare make a miscalculation in a 10Q! But accuracy and efficacy are two different things. I may have a bang-on measure of […]
Thoughtful communication is key “Reason is a slave to the passions.” —David Hume Many executives innately prefer thinking over feeling. It serves them well in many situations and fails them in others. Students of Carl Jung and users of the Myers-Briggs personality assessment know, however, that doesn’t mean they don’t have access to feelings as […]
For the CEO of a company with a fiduciary board (as opposed to an advisory board), there’s perhaps nothing more complex than developing a healthy, mutually satisfying relationship with the board. I’ve been on numerous boards, worked for a few and observed many management-board relationships up close and personal. Few of them work on the […]
I had coffee recently with an executive in a family business. He isn’t part of the family. He’s talented, growth-oriented and extremely frustrated. The owner is the CEO and a wonderful guy. He has a language problem, however, that causes his business (and its people) to suffer greatly. He confused two words — value and […]
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and he’s not the same man.” —Heraclitus The balance between experience and open-mindedness toward new ideas is interesting. “Been there done that.” “I’ve seen this show before.” “This ain’t my first rodeo.” “If I had a nickel for every time … .” Those are voices […]
“God is great. Beer is good. People are crazy.” —Billy Currington, country singer Not my favorite country song, but I like the line. I don’t feel qualified to address the “God” assertion, but I’ve had my share of beer (and brew my own) and have worked with some crazy people. Been one myself a few […]
Working on one element of your strategy without the others is usually a waste of time “We tried, but it didn’t work,” said the CEO about his new strategy. What he didn’t say was that the general idea for how he’d win in his marketplace wasn’t wrong. He just didn’t understand that all the pieces […]