You don’t hear things that are bad about your company unless you ask. It is easy to hear good tidings, but you have to scratch to get the bad news. | |
— Thomas J. Watson | |
[When I was young I was taught: “You don’t feel the mosquito biting until after its finished sucking.” — kmab ] | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2021 | Is Too |
Food For Thought | |
2020 | Says Every Generation Since Schools Were Invented |
Chokin’ My Thoughts Away | |
2019 | Dance The Night Away |
2018 | #45: The Poorest President In History |
2017 | Bull’s Eye |
2016 | Gifts |
Jacked 3 | |
2015 | I’d Settle For Interesting |
2014 | Old Math |
2013 | Adequate Explanation |
2012 | Superior Discovery |
2011 | Welcome Home And Thank You!! |
Two Heritages | |
Posts Tagged ‘Business Leadership’
When Scratching Can Be Too Late
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Asking, Bad News, Business Leadership, Mosquitoes, Philosophy, Quotes, Scratching, Thomas J. Watson on December 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Widening The Moat
Posted in Economics, Investing, Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Benjamin Franklin, Business Advice, Business Leadership, Charlie Munger, Philosophy, Quotes, Warren Buffett on April 16, 2022| 2 Comments »
Every day, in countless ways, the competitive position of each of our businesses grows either weaker or stronger. If we are delighting customers, eliminating unnecessary costs and improving our products and services, we gain strength. But if we treat customers with indifference or tolerate bloat, our businesses will wither. On a daily basis, the effects of our actions are imperceptible; cumulatively, though, their consequences are enormous. | |
When our long-term competitive position improves as a result of these almost unnoticeable actions, we describe the phenomenon as “widening the moat.” And doing that is essential if we are to have the kind of business we want a decade or two from now. We always, of course, hope to earn more money in the short-term. But when short-term and long-term conflict, widening the moat must take precedence. If a management makes bad decisions in order to hit short-term earnings targets, and consequently gets behind the eight-ball in terms of costs, customer satisfaction or brand strength, no amount of subsequent brilliance will overcome the damage that has been inflicted. Take a look at the dilemmas of managers in the auto and airline industries today as they struggle with the huge problems handed them by their predecessors. Charlie [Munger] is fond of quoting Ben Franklin’s “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” But sometimes no amount of cure will overcome the mistakes of the past. | |
— Warren Buffett | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2021 | Core Strength |
Thinking Of You | |
2020 | Rising Danger |
210 Day Health / Weight Update (Apr 2020) | |
2019 | Never Let ‘Em See You Sweat |
2018 | Just Two? |
2017 | Living Without Love |
Good News! | |
2016 | At This Moment |
2015 | Still Dreaming |
2014 | Good Wins |
2013 | Before |
2012 | Look To This Day |
2011 | One View Of Man |
Yo-yo Management
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Business Management, Philosophy, Quotes, Warren Buffett, Yo-yo Management on January 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
We neither understand the adding of unneeded people or activities because profits are booming, nor the cutting of essential people or activities because profitability is shrinking. That kind of yo-yo approach is neither business-like nor humane. | |
— Warren Buffett | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2022 | Yo-yo Management |
2021 | DIY: Outdoor Gym Modifications |
First Hammock Hang Of 2021 | |
Slow Moving Trains And Squirrels | |
Just Chillin’… Why? | |
2020 | Still Crazy After All These Years… |
2019 | 20 / 20 Foresight |
He Knew Damned Well… | |
2018 | Be Someone’s Kindling |
2017 | When The Moment Comes |
2016 | Changed Clothes Lately? |
2015 | Like Stone |
2014 | Resistance Is Futile |
2013 | Subtle Humor |
To Look Behind Green Eyes | |
2012 | The Path Is Endless |
2011 | Happy MLK, Jr Day!!! |
A Factor Of Ten | |
Better Late Than Never? | |
Whoops! | |
Acceptable Beginnings | |
Slow Progress | |
Useful Confrontation | |
When Phenomena Are Different | |
Creative Avoidance | |
Thinking | |
Fast And Flexible | |
Surrender Certainty | |
Techniques | |
Vive La Difference | |
Destiny | |
Completeness | |
Art | |
The Question Is Courage
Posted in Economics, Leadership, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Communications Decency Act, Congress, Democracy, Facebook, Facebook Will Not Fix Itself, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Instagram, Internet Platforms, Mark Zuckerberg, Monopolies, Philosophy, Quotes, Roger McNamee, Self-Determination, Surveillance Sapitalism, Time Magazine, WhatsApp on November 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Personal autonomy and democracy are under assault from surveillance capitalism. And yet today’s tech industry is largely unregulated, having emerged in the midst of an era of deregulation and defunding of enforcement agencies. This has allowed tech giants to behave as unelected governments. Their communications systems have become central to our way of life, as the impact of this week’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp outage underscores, but they have their thumb on the scale, amplifying content that triggers fear and outrage because doing so maximizes profits. | |
… | |
The sad truth is that the unregulated tech industry produces products that are unsafe. Congress has faced the challenge of dangerous products in the past. When the food and medicine industries were unsafe, Congress created the Food and Drug Administration. When petrochemical companies dumped toxic waste indiscriminately, Congress approved a series of environmental laws. Just like tech companies today, the affected industries claimed they would not be able to operate with regulation, but that turned out to be wrong. Now we need something like an FDA for technology products, designed to prevent harmful technologies from coming to market. For qualifying products, it would set safety standards, require annual safety audits and certification as a condition for every product, and impose huge financial penalties for any harms that result. There should also be amendments to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to create better incentives for Internet platforms. | |
Congress also needs to protect people’s privacy from relentless surveillance. My preference would be for Congress to ban surveillance capitalism just as it banned child labor in 1938. (The many industries that employed child labor complained then that they could not survive without it.) At a minimum, Congress must ban third-party use of sensitive data, such as that related to health, location, financial transactions, web browsing and app data. | |
The third area for legislation is competition, where Congress needs to update antitrust laws for the 21st century. The six-hour outage of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp illustrated for many one downside of monopoly: absolute dependence on a service. | |
… | |
All of this may be true in Mark Zuckerberg’s mind, but the design of Facebook’s business model suggests that growth and profits are the only factors driving “the company we know.” | |
Based on the evidence of the past five years, one might say that Internet platforms have launched an attack against democracy and self-determination. It is a battle they will win unless voters and policymakers join forces to reassert their power. We have been losing the battle since 2016, but I would like to believe that this week was a turning point. | |
We have the power. The question is whether we have the courage to use it. | |
— Roger McNamee | |
From the article: “Facebook Will Not Fix Itself“ | |
Appearing in: Time Magazine; dtd: 25 Oct / 1 Nov 2021 | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2021 | The Question Is Courage |
Never Change | |
2020 | Two Quotes Which Remind Me Of Our Lame Duck President |
Still Running | |
2019 | I’m Up For Trying |
60 Day Health / Weight Update (Nov 2019) | |
2018 | #PresidentBoneSpur |
2017 | My Staggering Confusion |
Zapped!!! | |
2016 | And Bloggers? |
2015 | Ethical Energy |
2014 | Are You Likely To Defend It? |
2013 | Might As Well |
2012 | The Long And Short Of It |
2011 | Bravery |
Two Eff’n Right
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Peter Drucker, Philosophy, Quotes on October 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things. | |
— Peter Drucker | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2021 | Two Eff’n Right |
Is There A Notion For That Motion? | |
2020 | The Premium Few |
No Sympathy Here | |
2019 | Is That Why Love Hurts? |
2018 | And Honest Politicians |
2017 | Maya, Maya |
2016 | Give Value |
2015 | Believe In Substitution |
2014 | Pragmatic Religion |
2013 | How’s Your View? |
2012 | Giants Win Game 3 Of The 2012 World Series 2 To 0!!! |
Still Haven’t… | |
Accidental Me | |
2011 | What Is Your Ratio? |
2010 | Giants Win Game 1 With 11 Runs Scored – Repeat 11 Runs!! |
The Same Goes For Countries And Elected Leaders
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, David Ogilvy, Ogilvy & Mather, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes on September 2, 2021| 1 Comment »
If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But, if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants. | |
— David Ogilvy | |
Founder of Ogilvy & Mather’s | |
(a famous marketing company) | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2021 | The Same Goes For Countries And Elected Leaders |
Just Beginning… | |
2020 | Your True Standard |
But When The Smoke Had Cleared Away… | |
2019 | Ooh, Shiny |
Day 4: Surprised | |
2018 | We Are Approaching Default |
Running On History | |
Day 37: Blended Not Juiced | |
2017 | Today Is Not Lost |
Day 8 | |
2016 | Paying Attention |
2015 | An Awful Ordeal |
2014 | What Are You Doing? |
2013 | Lives > 1 |
2012 | Strange To All The World |
2011 | Unnecessary Stagefright |
The Imposition Of Position
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Peter Drucker, Philosophy, Position, Power, Quotes, Rank, Responsibility on April 13, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility. | |
— Peter Drucker | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2020 | Stand Up! |
Crowd Sourced Scouting Report | |
2019 | Only One Direction |
2018 | Respect Is Long Gone |
2017 | Dream Of Dreamers |
2016 | Dear Automakers |
2015 | And Some Not So Brave Too |
2014 | In My Lifetime… |
2013 | Democracy |
2012 | Borrowed Expectations |
2011 | Not Necessarily True |
In Business And In Politics
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Customers, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, Similarities, The Power Of Trust, Thomas J. Watson, Trust on July 31, 2020| Leave a Comment »
The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it’s very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer. | |
— Thomas J. Watson | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2019 | What Is True For War Is Also True For Elections |
2018 | Start By Trying |
Day 4: Difficult Day | |
2017 | Outlasting Division |
2016 | Said The Man Who Trained To Fight For A Living |
2015 | Tripping On Treasure |
2014 | The Flower Of Light |
2013 | Eye Catching |
2012 | The Holstee Manifesto |
2011 | Three Crooners For The Shower |
The Soldier’s Faith | |
Vacation, Books And Lots Of Movies | |
Up Again
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, Thomas J. Watson on April 18, 2020| Leave a Comment »
If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good. | |
— Thomas J. Watson | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2019 | Advice From #1 To #45 |
2018 | How Much I Will Miss The Trump Administration |
2017 | We Need To Continue Experimenting |
2016 | Consistently |
2015 | We Must Dissent |
2014 | Now What? |
2013 | Judgement |
2012 | Stuck In My Mind |
Life’s Hope | |
2011 | Just Getting Up |
Directions Please | |
But What Are You DOING About November?
Posted in Leadership, Politics, Quotes, Work, tagged #DefeatTrumpism, Business Leadership, Good Intentions, Hard Work, Peter Drucker, Politics, Quotes on July 17, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work. | |
— Peter Drucker | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2017 | Some Good |
2016 | Edges |
Sums | |
2015 | I Hope Not |
2014 | Study The Means Of Expressing Yourself |
2013 | That Stubborn Thing |
2012 | Like Mike |
2011 | Flawless Or Candid |
2010 | Browning… |
100th Day
Posted in Leadership, My Journal, Politics, Quotes, tagged #DonTheCon, #DumbDonald, #IncompetentDonald, #StillLosingDonald, Business Leadership, My Journal, Peter Drucker, Political Leadership, Politics, Quotes on April 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »
A manager develops people. Through the way he manages he makes it easy or difficult for them to develop themselves. He directs people or misdirects them. He brings out what is in them or he stifles them. He strengthens their integrity or he corrupts them He trains them to stand upright and strong, or he deforms them, whether he knows it or not. | |
— Peter Drucker | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2016 | Or Blog |
2015 | Stretched Today? |
2014 | Outta Here |
2013 | Getting Words Right |
2012 | There’s A New Dog In Town |
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is | |
2011 | A Conservative Is… |
Training Shoulders
Posted in Leadership, My Journal, Quotes, tagged A Real Boss, Business Leadership, My Journal, Quotes, Training Subordinates, William Feather on March 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »
He isn’t a real boss until he has trained subordinates to shoulder most of his responsibilities. | |
— William Feather | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2016 | You Just Have To Care |
Day 4 – Blending | |
2015 | My Slow Education |
2014 | Great Service |
2013 | You Really Should Wear More Sweaters |
Here I Am God | |
2012 | The Serenity Prayer |
2011 | The Victory Of Life |
Or You Don’t
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Google, Laszlo Bock, Leadership, People's Nature, Philosophy, Quotes, Work Rules! on April 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »
You either believe people are fundamentally good or you don’t. If you do believe they’re good, then as an entrepreneur, a team member, a team leader, a manager, or a CEO — or a government leader — you should act in a way consistent with your beliefs. If people are good, then they should be free. Too many organizations and managers operate as if, absent some enlightened diktat, people are too benighted to make sound decisions and innovate. | |
— Laszlo Bock | |
Google’s head of human resources, (senior vice president, people operations) | |
From his book: “Work Rules!“ | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2014 | If You Ever Fall… |
2013 | Glory Days (part 2) |
2012 | They Follow A Pattern – If You Know What I Mean |
What I Live For (Precis) | |
2011 | Giving |
Consensus Is Only One Side
Posted in Leadership, Quotes, tagged Business Leadership, Mitsuyuki Masatsugu, On Business, On Japanese Competition, Quotes, The Modern Samurai Society on October 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »
The Japanese are among the most competitive people in the world; otherwise they could not have achieved their recent economic successes. Consensus was established to keep the society cohesive and to control excessive competition, which would cause friction and make tireless rivals of the people in the isolated areas. So the comment that Japan is a society of consensus is only one side of the story. | |
— Mitsuyuki Masatsugu | |
From his book: “The Modern Samurai Society“ | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2021 | Give It Time |
Spending That Last Dime | |
2020 | I Like The Feeling |
Everything I Hoped For | |
Let The Landslide Begin!! | |
2019 | Somebody’s Watching You |
2018 | First From Within |
2017 | Or Vote Against You |
2016 | Cupid Must Say It Too |
2015 | Some Of This And A Pinch Of That |
2014 | Consensus Is Only One Side |
2013 | Not Ought |
2012 | If You Want To, If You Have Something To Offer |
2011 | I See Lots Of Fools |
2010 | Orange Inside!! |
And The Band Played On… | |
Happy New Year!! | |
The Not-So-Modern Samurai
Posted in Book Review, History, Leadership, Movies, Reading, tagged Business Leadership, Highly Recommended Reading, History, Mitsuyuki Masatsugu, Movies, Reading, The Last Samurai, The Modern Samurai Society - book review, Tom Cruise on September 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Today I am home ill with what seems to be an ear infection. Every few years, I get this swollen sensation on the right side of my head. It feels like my head has a weighted balloon attached to the right side. When I turn my head, stand or look quickly in any direction, I get a light-headedness and it feels like my vision / brain is continuing to move after my head (or eyeballs) have stopped. Several years ago I had to go to the ER to get seen by a doctor about this condition. Then, I also had an associated fever, which I fortunately don’t have this time. In any case, I take some decongestants and my vertigo pill and I kind of spend the day in a half-stupor of fatigue and dizziness. | |
This morning I completed a book I’ve been reading off and on for several years now. Our local library system has an annual shelf clearing book give-away each August and they have about 800 to 1,000 boxes of books which are set out for anyone to take what they want – as much as you can carry, and come back tomorrow. Today’s book was one of these and I picked it up about three years ago. It has mostly sat in my car waiting to be read. I would grab it whenever I had a doctor / dentist visit to have something to read in the waiting room. Unfortunately, if you don’t wait much, you don’t read much, so this has taken quite a while to get through. | |
The book is titled: “The Modern Samurai Society: Duty and Dependence in Contemporary Japan“, (1982©) and was written by Mitsuyuki Masatsugu. The book attempts to explain contemporary (circa 1982) corporate Japan in terms of the historical legacy of the Samurai (“samurai” means “one who serves”) society which held sway in Japan for several centuries. The samurai tradition fell out of favor with the coming of the industrial revolution in the last half of the 19th century. (As an aside, part of this transition was portrayed in the Tom Cruise movie: “The Last Samurai“.) In essence, it attempts to explain Japanese business management techniques to non-Japanese. | |
To Masatsugu, successful Japanese management stems from eight factors which incorporate two features from Japanese culture. The eight factors (guiding principles) to success are: | |
1) Paternalism; | |
2) Guaranteed lifetime employment; | |
3) Seniority-based promotion; | |
4) In-company unions; | |
5) Periodic transfers; | |
6) Overtime work as a safety valve; | |
7) Enriched welfare program; and, | |
8) A selective retirement system. | |
The two features which Masatsugu believes to be uniquely emphasized in Japanese society are: | |
1) Diligence – the duty each individual has towards their country in general and towards their company in particular. And, | |
2) Dependence – a recognition that even though the employees are individuals, they must work together to surpass non-Japanese companies. | |
Like any “valid” theoretical explanation, management theories must meet a minimum of two criteria: does it accurately describe what is currently happening, and two, does it have predictive value either for when external conditions change or when internal structures are abandoned (or both). In this book’s case, we now have the benefit of thirty-two years history to see that Masatsugu’s proposal was pretty spot on. | |
Since the book’s release Japan has suffered both a housing boom collapse and an economic drought now approaching the middle of its third decade. The housing collapse happened in the 1980’s and the start of Japan’s economic drought (I hesitate to call it a collapse as Japan has only recently been surpassed by China as THE economic power in Asia) occurred in the 1990’s. In fact, the 1990’s is sometimes referred to in Japan as “the lost decade” because there was so little economic growth. | |
Specifically, Masatsugu suggests the structure of Japan’s economic strength is based on these principles and if any one (or combination) fails, the entire structure will waver and ultimately collapse. Masatsugu predicts the gradual incorporation of western management will bring about an economic failure. He leans towards the abandonment of guaranteed lifetime employment and seniority-based promotion when “times get hard”. Masatsugu says that in past times, management held to principle and the economy eventually turned around. He cautions that future management might not have the fortitude to withstand to pressure to abandon principle in an effort to meet “western style” quarterly objectives. We now know Japanese management has moved away from guaranteed lifetime employment, seniority-based promotion and selective retirement. All of these actions have had a detrimental effect on business (and societal) productivity in the U.S. over the last 40 years. It will be interesting to see if the same happens in Japan and how long it will take to happen (if it does). | |
I doubt very much that this book could be written in today’s “politically correct” world as it has several racist and sexist comments which, in context, seem common sense, but are actually inculcated cultural biases. For example, women are generally considered unequal to men in the business world, because… Wait for it… Because they are! (Well, except when they aren’t.) In the author’s view, a woman can be one of the main reasons a man succeeds in business. But, a female can never succeed in Japanese business on her own. In all, though, these are trivial reasons to be critical of a book which I believe is overwhelmingly a valuable (if dated) insight into Japanese business culture. Highly recommended! | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2021 | MAGA Choice: Reality Or Lies |
You Seem To Be | |
2020 | A Good Reason To Blog |
Finally Enjoying The View | |
2019 | Living Free |
2018 | Relative Imagination |
2017 | Thank You, Senator McCain (So Far Anyway) |
2016 | What About Friends? |
2015 | It Tastes Good To Me |
2014 | Others’ Footsteps |
The Not-So-Modern Samurai | |
2013 | Doin’ |
2012 | A Lover |
2011 | What Have We Found Here |
Words | |