All companies have a culture. In some cases, the culture is one that has been carefully constructed and nurtured, in others, the culture has evolved haphazardly over time, but either way, a culture is present, and it is defined by what it tolerates. Think of IBM in the early days. They wanted a culture of
“Let people accomplish your objectives their way.”
Where systems or processes are concerned, it really is essential that everybody use them uniformly. Imagine an assembly line. Each station on the line must perform its function in a very precise way, each and every time, or stations further down the line won’t be able to do their work. But for the most part,
“Progress always involves risk, but you can’t steal second base and keep a foot on first.”
“Change with the world – or it will change without you.” There is always risk with change, and in general, the greater the change, the greater the risk. But you know what? There’s also risk in not changing . . . arguably even greater risk. Changes in the business world are coming at us faster
“Never let the urgent crowd out the important.”
As small business people, we spend a lot of our time putting out brush fires. When we arrive at work in the morning, we probably have in mind the things we hope to get done during the day. But five minutes later, our best customer calls with a problem or a key piece of machinery
“One of the greatest challenges as a manager is how to delegate so effectively that once you have gotten the monkey off your back, your employees don’t return it to you . . . with instructions for its care and feeding.”
An important part of leadership, delegation, is growing the people who are under the leader’s care. It takes time and it takes effort, but it’s the only way to develop a strong, effective team. Picture this. You’ve just given one of your direct reports an important assignment. Soon the direct report returns with questions, lots
“If your horse dies, get off.”
Inertia can be a terrible thing. It can keep us rooted in decisions and activities that may no longer be productive. It can keep us astride ol’ Trigger long after it has become obvious that Trig isn’t going anywhere. For example, let’s say we launch a new product or service, but the new offering isn’t
“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right person’s brow.”
Bruce Lund is the owner/founder of Lund and Company Innovation, a toy design and product invention company (inventors of Tickle Me Elmo). His company is dedicated to the proposition that toys are profoundly important. Great toys teach, entertain, surprise, inspire and invite inquiry. Mr. Lund wrote this blog and I thought it was so good,
