Ivory Towers pt. 2

Written by Richard. Posted on August 12, 2010. Filed under business, life. 2 Comments.

I was thinking some more about my post yesterday on Ivory Towers. Not being on the front lines not only means that you don’t get the lay-of-the-land, but you can’t get a sense of the morale of your people. I’m sure that no one would be enthusiastic about being ordered to march to their own demise. And when you’ve been told to shut-up and to stop being negative, what can you do but put your head down and blindly follow orders. Not exactly the most productive environment to work in. I’ve been watching “Undercover Boss” recently, and nearly every boss is surprised when they find the people at the bottom have very low morale. That the orders they pass down the line just end up causing more problems, lower productivity and lower quality offerings. It’s a classic case of bosses living in their Ivory Towers and thinking that all is well is good, while the people at the bottom grumble and can see all the problems before them. Reminds me in a way of the Cylon rebellion against their makers and in the end against their masters. You can never excel when you feel like you’ve been set-up to fail.

Ivory Towers

Written by Richard. Posted on August 11, 2010. Filed under business, life. 2 Comments.

I get this a lot. Orders come from up high about what needs to be done, while the people on the front lines are reporting back that it’s not working and something needs to be done. This can only be a losing battle. So what does one do? Give up and go home? Ignore the orders given to you and forge your own path forward? How can you work with someone who isn’t willing to listen to your input and advice? Simple answer is you can’t. If people are not willing to take on my advice based upon my experience and from what I’m seeing first hand, then they deserve to fail based upon their own decisions.

It amuses me to no end when in this situation. It’s evil and cruel I know, but you can’t save someone from their own moronic whims and desires. When that person’s decisions and actions are based upon emotion and reaction rather than logical and rational thought. It reminds me a lot of people I see in the gym. The posers who come in more to look like their doing something rather than actually achieving anything. They’ll swing some dumbbells around, run a bit on the treadmill and maybe even attend some classes. But they won’t break a sweat and they won’t progress. They want to appear to be busy. They want to spin the wheels. It’s the same in the business world. Meeting and greeting people and telling them about your hot new startup is just spinning the wheels when you’re not taking care of the flip side of it. Don’t sit in your ivory tower. Get down to the front lines and see for yourself what the real deal is.

Is thinking really doing?

Written by Richard. Posted on August 10, 2010. Filed under life. No comments.

Does thinking really count for anything? I’m not talking about solving problems or equations. I mean, if I spend all my time reading books on business or computing, where is it really getting me? If the practical doesn’t meet the theoretical side, then I don’t believe it counts for much. I’ve grown weary of reading business books over the years. The vast majority of books have the same underlying message. When you boil away all the fluff, you’re usually left with the same thing. The same thing is true of self-help books. I used to read a tonne of them until I eventually realised I was digesting the same thing just phrased differently. There comes a point when it comes time to put the books down and to put what you’ve learnt into practice. Pondering the finer points of business or self-help won’t get me anywhere. Turning that knowledge into something tangible is where it’s at.

Grit & Determination

Written by Richard. Posted on August 9, 2010. Filed under life. No comments.

“They realized that to be in power, you didn’t need guns or money or even numbers. You just needed the will to do what the other guy wouldn’t.” – Verbal Kint in the Usual Suspects

Everything in life is about getting up after every fall. If you want to achieve anything in life, you’ve got to be willing to take the punches. A life where we just roll over and accept our fate is no life to live. If that’s the life we choose, then it’s a life spent solely waiting for death. You need to get up every time life knocks you down. Don’t accept the cards you’ve been dealt, because you’re the one dealing them. Get up and fight for what you want.

Are you seeing the results that you want?

Written by Richard. Posted on August 8, 2010. Filed under life. No comments.

Sometimes it’s easy to meander through life thinking we’re doing well, that we’re achieving all the things we set out to do, but are you really? The biggest example of this is at the gym. You see so many people keep coming back, but who aren’t actually going anywhere. You see so many people pumping iron and getting “big”, but really just look fat. We kid ourselves into thinking we’re doing alright, when really need to take a good, long, hard look in the mirror. I’ve done it. I’ve been going to the gym for years, but have I really got anywhere? Not really. I still look fat, flat and like I don’t even go to the gym. Only now have I really made the commitment to reach those goals that I would lie to myself about, as being unreachable. And only now have I broken the cycle of getting big but looking fat.

Are you really seeing the results that you want? Don’t kid yourself, but be honest. Don’t flatter yourself to feel better. Don’t congratulate yourself for a half won battle, because the hardest part has yet to come.