Left unchecked organizations default to bureaucracy. People default to distraction.
It doesn't take long for 3 priorities to become 10. It doesn't take long for 2 people in a meeting to become 8. It doesn't take long to move from people making decisions to committees.
The most productive organizations and people spend a lot of energy fighting what feels good in pursuit of what gets results.
One toxic employee wipes out the gains for more than two superstars. In fact, a superstar, defined as the top 1% of workers in terms of productivity, adds about $5,000 per year to the company’s profit, while a toxic worker costs about $12,000 per year.
The people who really run organizations are usually found several levels down, where it is still possible to get things done.
Bluntness is appealing to busy people.
That if you need something urgently done, give the task to the busiest (or second busiest) person in the office.
Marketing is about values. This is a very complicated world. This is a very noisy world. And we’re not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is. And so we have to be really clear what we want them to know about us. One of the greatest jobs of marketing the universe has ever seen is Nike. Remember Nike sells a commodity. They sell shoes. And yet when you think about nike …. In their ads they don’t ever talk about the product. ... What does Nike do in their advertisements? They honour great athletes. That’s who they are. That’s what they are about. Our customers want to know who is Apple and what is it we stand for. Where do we sit in this world. What we’re about isn’t making boxes for people to get their jobs done …
Some rich people keep working hard because they love doing what made them rich. I've found three other types (not mutually excl): the ambitious who keep moving the goalposts, the creatives who keep finding new passions and the Calvinists who are afraid to not be working hard.
I personally experience the three types differently: the ambitious are inspiring, creatives are fun and Calvinists are draining.
People who want to appear clever rely on memory. People who want to get things done make lists.
One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.
The greatest threat to a service is the team that operates it.