Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

In Zero to One , Peter Thiel refers to a law that his friends named after him that states, "A startup messed up at its foundation cannot be fixed." When looking at the company that you work for, what elements of the foundation have to be absolutely on point?  Leadership? Management structure? Communication architecture? Talent management and recruiting? Organizational health and maintenance? Operating model?  Some, or all of these?  As many startups that fail because their foundation was cracked to begin with, I think that there are many companies in existence today that are built like a game of Jenga .  You pull that one piece out and the whole tower comes crashing down.  Question is -- what is that one piece?  Leadership? Management structure? Communication architecture? Talent management and recruiting? Organizational health and maintenance? Operating model?  You get the idea... 

If you stay in professional services long enough, at some point your salary is going to cap out.  For those of us that continue to trade time for money, at some point you are going to run out of time and the market is going to stop paying for you at a certain rate per hour.  It's at that point that companies make up for the cap by offering equity, incentive based variable compensation, or some other benefit that compensates for the fact that you can go no higher in your salary without the company making some margin off of you.  For some that have a "number," they may never reach that cap.  But for the ones that know that the only reason to work this hard is because there is a brass ring or a carrot that could feed Bugs Bunny for his lifetime-- realizing that you've been capped out is a frustrating circumstance.  There is no reason to make professional services a career unless a.) you really love what you are doing and feel what you are getting for your...

Recently, the entire top layer of the company that I work for resigned and started a new consulting company.  As much as I've always wanted to have a Jerry Maguire moment, this is about as close as I've come to witnessing one in real life.  People ask me questions like, "What is going on?" "What does that mean for you?" "What do you think about all of this?"  My response, unfortunately is, "I don't know what to think."  The only thing that I can do is observe and talk to people to see how they are reacting to the situation.  Since the "coup d'état" as I'll call it (only fitting since my origin is Thai), I've observed three sets of reactions from employees and only one reaction from the company's leadership.  Reaction #1, Employee Apathy - Huh? Those guys left. Does it affect me? No? Back to work.   Reaction #2, Employee Self-Interest - The leadership team left! That means more opportunity for m...

The Hard Things About Hard Things is the book I'm currently reading by Ben Horowitz , cofounder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz. I'm also listening to Zero to One by Peter Thiel. It's safe to say that I'm getting my Silicon Valley technology startup fix taken care of at the moment. I'm always intrigued by those that think differently. By different, I mean in the "business acument genius off the chart" type of way. In both of these books, I've realized that you will never learn enough about how to start, run, and manage a business. To me, good advice is something that you don't want or need to hear, but you know deep down that it's right. Both of these books tell it like it is and there is some great substance in both of them. Check them out if you have the time.

Why is taking the high road so hard?   It's because we are ruled by emotion.  Everyone demands a certain level of respect and professionalism.  When we feel that trust has been broken, that we've been disrespected, or the level of professionalism is just plain amateurish, our natural instincts to say, "Hold my stuff, I'm about to bust someone..."  Other triggers that make us want to take the jacket off and put on the brass knuckles include--  playing office politics in a self-interested manner, not communicating the whole story- only the part that is self-promoting, and taking credit for other people's work.  For once, just once, take a day and be real. Be direct. Be transparent. Be authentic. Show some vulnerability.  There would be a lot less drama and a lot more productivity in the workplace. 

These are the three most dangerous words in the business world today. The direct report says, "Well, I could do that, but I have this, this, and that to do."  The IT developer says, "The system should do that, but it's really designed this way because we worked around it."  The boss says, "I would   escalate that issue, but the time isn't right."  All three of these words reflect inaction and sub-optimal organizational performance. Remove these words from your vocabulary in the workplace and replace them with "can", "will", and "must."  The workplace will be better off because of it. 

The days of working 30+ years in the same organization are over -- and it's not because the Millenials are taking over.  Large organizations reorganize more than ever in an effort to make the numbers look good. As a result, your political alignment today now becomes a political alignment of yesterday.  Many people would love to believe that promotions happen through demonstration of merit and added value.  False.  Climbing the corporate ladder is paved with height, hair, an ability to BS, and lack of real business acumen or content-- in general.  Find the company that puts the people before the numbers, as Simon Sinek says, and you'll find loyalty and stability.  Unfortunately those companies are few and far between. 

Dry Erase Nuclear Explosion The majority of people that work in corporate America must have had maids or cleaners growing up.  I don't know how many meeting rooms, conference rooms, and hotel spaces that I've been in that looked like the previous tenant was planning to come back, only to have been deserted for days. White boards that have not been erased in months because somebody was brilliant enough to write "DO NOT ERASE," have got to be one of my biggest pet peeves. You know there is a problem when dry erase marinates so long that it becomes permanent marker. Other examples of Pigpen-ish behavior:  Coffee cups and paper towels left on tables.  Grimy tables with pencil and pen marks on them. Tables and chairs in disarray or not put back like they were found.  Somewhere on the interweb there has to be a dissertation on how unclean workplaces are directly correlated with an undisciplined organization.  Even in my child...