All tagged Doing great work
Earlier this month, the neighborhood I live in, Andersonville, was voted “The Coolest Neighborhood in the US” and the second coolest neighborhood in the world in the 2021 Time Out Index survey which polled 27,000 voters across the world.
Andersonville beat out such luminaries as Chelsea (New York), Sai Kung (Hong Kong) and Gracia (Barcelona).
Strategy matters.
A good strategy differentiates your offering. It galvanizes the right resources to their best effect. It positions your organization for success.
A good strategy, though, is just the starting point. Once you’ve mapped out your path, you still need to run it.
And a badly run race will slow you down, allow your competition to gain on you and overtake you, possibly even prevent you from finishing.
When I started in Management Consulting, everyone wanted to do “Strategy” work. Strategy was sexy. It was glamorous. It was something to brag about. Newly minted Analysts and Associates would jostle for pole position to be part of those teams.
And make no mistake, Strategy work was interesting and fun. But, for the most part, that wasn’t what paid the bills.
The fact of the matter is that my most productive periods have come when I’ve been immersed in my work and not the idea of it.
What does that mean?
My son took me to the driving range over the weekend. It was a great chance for us to spend some time together, enjoy the outdoors and work on our golf game.
It had been a long while since I’d even picked up my clubs, so my “golf game” really did need work. (When golfers ask me what my handicap is, I say I don’t have one. Not because I’m a scratch golfer - a zero handicap - but because it’s so high, it isn’t even worth measuring!)
If you spend any amount of time in the Bay Area, you can’t help but be struck by the entrepreneurial spirit on display (seemingly) everywhere. Billboards promote the latest AI startup, not the usual Fortune 500 monolith. Coffee shops all over are filled with twenty and thirty somethings typing code, while random overheard conversations inevitably turn to the latest tech venture or entrepreneurial startup.
You’ve probably seen some version of the cartoon.
Two characters in front of a complex flowchart or process map drawn on a whiteboard. The steps on the chart are numerous, many run in parallel, all interlinked and codependent in some way. There’s no clear path to the end until, a single process step with the miracle action we’ve been waiting for:
I remember watching an interview many years ago with Kevin Cronin, lead singer and one of the main creative forces behind R.E.O. Speedwagon. He was talking about his creative process behind their hit “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and how, as a creation of his, it was one that was very difficult for him to let go of.
