All in Finance
The reality of markets is that they move up or down, driven by a wide range of variables, not all of them predictable.
When they’re up, we tend to think everything is rosy and those companies reaping the benefits can do no wrong (or at least very little wrong). Conversely, when they’re down, we think the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and there’s nothing that can be done right, so best to beware.
Stock splits are a funny thing.
The fact of the matter is that when they are announced, the underlying fundamentals of the company haven’t changed and, if you happen to be an investor at the time (and when they actually occur), the value of your holdings hasn’t actually changed either.
It’s a fact that strong financial management is fundamental to sound business management. If your revenues don’t exceed your costs on a consistent basis, you will be out of business soon enough.
There’s simply no arguing with that. You can layer in whatever complexity you like, but that truism still holds (which is why it’s a truism).
I was thinking about the Dotcom era of the late 90s and the euphoria that gripped the markets for those few years as stocks climbed to record breaking levels.
The news of the day was engaged in a fevered debate - were we in a new era, one where the old models had become hopelessly outdated? Or was this simply another fad, not unlike Dutch Tulips, a bubble that would burst in due course, once we all came to our senses?
Strategy is an interesting topic.
You and I can be working in similar areas of management. We can have gone through the same set of experiences in our time at our organization. We can even have a similar view of what defines success in our chosen markets. Yet we can have markedly different perspectives as to what approach it will take to get there. And that’s perfectly normal - in fact, it’s almost always a good thing.
We have this obsession, usually rightly so, with organized, accredited education. In an era when economic disparity and the income gap is at its widest, getting a “proper education” isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have.
Which is something most of us agree on, plus the fact that a proper education is defined as not simply completing high school, but obtaining a college degree, at minimum. I think I’m on pretty safe ground when I say that.
How many newsletters do you get in your inbox every day? How many emails do you get with an update on some issue or department or project? How many notifications do you get on your phone with the latest piece of “must-have” information?
Now, how many of them do you actually read?
There's certainly a value to be placed on growth. On the continual pursuit of expansion.
It drives us to look for development opportunities, to rethink how things are done, to change what we think is 'conventional' i.e. "the way it's always been".
Growth is a tremendous value creator.
When we enter into a negotiation (in particular, a B2B deal), our usual (and natural) goal is to push for the very best deal possible. We analyze our situation, detail our requirements, assess the competition and evaluate alternative options that meet (or come close to meeting) our needs.
It's a crazy idea, one that's quite difficult, if not impossible, to implement. (And, many might argue, not desirable, either.) But like a lot of Tom Peters' ideas, it's provocative.
