Why most advice is contradictory
“Take risks, but keep your overhead low.” “Crowdsource ideas, but work in stealth mode.” “Work in an open floor plan to keep communications open but leave your developers alone.” Is it me or does most business advice feel contradictory? Here’s my theory: 1.) Specific approaches are valid at specific circumstances in the company. So perhaps […]
We, the Willing
“We, the unwilling,led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.” — Mother Teresa I remember first reading that quote when I was 16. In the past years I’ve seen it quoted by army […]
Emotional endurance
My father taught me that if you have enough will and enough time, you can out-last any opposition. If I see one problem with startups, is that they lose heart too quickly. They cave, they balk, they don’t have the battleship armor of emotional strength to weather the numerous setbacks that will inevitably happen. Every […]
Choose your relief
Coming to New York in 2001, I realized that the city had(has) a lot of energy. So much energy that I found these things out: 1.) You’ll lose an hour off your regular sleep right off the bat 2.) You’ll find a desperate craving to drink everything from coffee to clamato juice constantly, sometimes simultaneously […]
Please keep me in the dark
The less I know, the better the company works. I mean, at least it seems that way. I’ve tried both ways – micromanaging and completely hands-off. I tend to err on the side of “find the right person for the job and then let them do it.” It’s the Jim Collins approach: “First Who, then […]
Stop trying, dammit
Excerpt from an interview with Charles Bukowski: Charles: ‘What do you do? How do you write, create?’ You don’t, I told them. You don’t try. That’s very important: ‘not’ to try, either for Cadillacs, creation or immortality. You wait, and if nothing happens, you wait some more. It’s like a bug high on the wall. […]
I’m so glad I don’t work for a living
I remember when I had a real job, like when I was totally unqualified and could potentially get fired. – me explaining to an employee why I hated my work-days after college. I don’t ever want to work for a living again. Working for a living is extremely stressful. In fact, I hate the word […]
Pushing buttons
There is no button to press to make someone press a button. Read that again. It makes sense the second time around. No matter what kind of software you buy, new process you implement, or vision you give to make your team efficient, unless they have the will to DO you’re stuck in the water. […]
F*ck you, pay me
Here’s a post I’ve wanted to do for a while From the movie Good Fellas: Henry Hill: [narrating] Now the guy’s got Paulie as a partner. Any problems, he goes to Paulie. Trouble with the bill? He can go to Paulie. Trouble with the cops, deliveries, Tommy, he can call Paulie. But now the guy’s […]
I’m fine with mediocrity
A talent somewhat above mediocrity, shrewd and not too sensitive, is more likely to rise in the world than genius. Charles Horton Cooley I pride myself in being exceptionally un-exceptional in just about everything I do. I’m a passable dancer, I’m not particularly clever, I wouldn’t be your first-pick on any sport you know, I […]