Whose advice should you take? There’s no shortage of it. And not all of it is helpful.
Crisis 8: let science decide
Science cannot tell you what to do. It can tell you what will happen if you do it; whether that justifies the action needs something else…
Crisis 7: how NOT to think about the crisis and its aftermath
The crisis has created a moment of liberation in our thinking, where necessity frees us from the bonds of routine, scrutiny, measurement, caution and perfection to consider things we would never have dared before…
Good meetings
You won’t have fewer meetings. Abandon that fantasy now. Meetings are to a manager what lessons are to a teacher. Plenty of vital work goes on around both, and you can have too much of a good thing, but they are the arena in which the work comes to fruition.
Culture
Driven to extravagance by the forces of career selection: what aspects of your organisation are merely beautiful but useless plumage?
Owning the downside
You can only measure an organisation’s commitment to a strategy or principle by the pain it is willing endure and the price it is willing to pay for its choice…
Political influence for outsiders
In any confrontation, the outcome will be driven by the actions of the most powerful participant. But that outcome need not be in their interest. That is, a weaker opponent can steer the powerful into delivering the outcome they want.
Strategy 2
Have you ever watched a heist movie where the result depends on perfect success in every one of a large number of improbable steps? Do you ever think, if that guard had walked by ten seconds later, everything would have collapsed? In the real world, the guard always walks by ten seconds later than expected.
Unity
Unity is best served by disagreement. That is, people are most likely to commit to an action – even one they disagree with – if they have had the chance to make their point…
Truth doesn’t rise to the top
People are less likely to bring you bad news. They are more likely to agree with you. They are less likely to tell you that you are being an idiot. People are more reluctant to interrupt you with helpful observations. People may assume you have deep and wise reasons for your outwardly baffling decisions….
Note to self 