Post 533 - David Ignatow (1914 – 1997) was born in Brooklyn and spent most of his life in the New York City area. He tried for years to be a businessman, a career for which he was not suited. He wrote poems during this time, and much that he observed with a photographer’s eye of everyday life in the business world is incorporated in his writing. He was president of the Poetry Society of America from 1980 to 1984 and poet-in-residence at the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association in 1987. Mr. Ignatow's many honors include a Bollingen Prize, two Guggenheim fellowships, the John Steinbeck Award, and a National Institute of Arts and Letters award "for a lifetime of creative effort." He received the Shelley Memorial Award (1966), the Frost Medal (1992), and the William Carlos Williams Award (1997) of the Poetry Society of America.
When asked how he felt about money, he once commented, "Well, I’m not a Buddha in the sense of I can sit under a tree for a thousand years. Who can? The climate doesn’t allow for it, anyway. So we need money. We need money for houses and for comforts. To relax."
Our Masterpiece by David Ignatow.
You can stick a sign For Sale
on the biggest part of America, the people.
Nobody will complain, only there isn't a customer
wealthy enough for us, and so we sell in small
lots
to each other.
America, America on the dotted line,
and if we think we live purely on emotion,
go into any restaurant and see who flashes the
wallet,
and who counts the change,
and who leaves embarrassed by his small tip.
I don't care what any man feels outside of business.
It plays as small a part as a bass fiddle
in a symphony. Blowhard trombone and French horn
are the money-makers,
and over all is the conductor, the idea of money
itself,
pulling the song out of us, our masterpiece.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Amazing marriage facts.
Post 532 - Just in case you have to make idle conversation to the other guests at Chelsea Clinton's wedding reception this weekend, this should help you prepare ...
Californian Glynn "Scotty" Wolfe is the world's most married man. He wed 29 times and had 41 children.
Linda Essex, from Indiana, holds the record for the most monogamous marriages by a woman – 23.
Two couples share the record for the world's longest marriage – 86 years. They are Sir Temulji Bhicaji Nariman and Lady Nariman from India and Lazarus Rowe and Molly Webber from the U.S.
The oldest couple to wed were Francois Frenandez, 96, and Madeleine Francineau, 94, in 2002.
In the largest underwater wedding 105 guests wore scuba gear to see Toni Wilson and John Santino marry in 2003 in the Virgin Islands.
The world's largest wedding cake was made in Connecticut and weighed 15,032lb.
Queen Victoria's wedding cake was more than nine feet in circumference. A second tier rose from this "plateau," supported by two pedestals. On the second tier was a sculpture of the mythical heroine Britannia gazing upon the royal pair frozen at the moment of their exchanging vows. At their feet were two turtle doves (symbolizing purity and innocence) and a dog (representing faithful attachment). Completing the scene were various sculpted Cupids, one of them writing the date of the wedding with a stylus on a tablet.
The tradition of wearing the wedding ring on the fourth finger of the left hand dates back to ancient Egypt, where it was believed that the vein of love ran from this finger directly to the heart.
The practice of giving or exchanging engagement rings began in 1477 when Roman Emperor, Maximilian I, gave Mary of Burgandy a diamond ring as an engagement present.
Eighty-five percent of Canadian brides receive a diamond engagement ring today, giving Canada the highest diamond engagement ring acquisition rate in the world.
Seventy-four percent of American brides receive a diamond engagement ring. Of those, sixty percent are involved in picking out their ring, while three percent actually pick it themselves.
Alabama marriage statistics quote the oldest groom in the state as 94 and the oldest bride as 88. The youngest age for bride and groom is recorded as 13.
Thrice a bridesmaid, never a bride, is an old charm that can be broken by being a bridesmaid seven times.
According to English folklore, Saturday, the most popular American choice, is the unluckiest day to marry!
In Pennsylvania, Ministers are forbidden from performing marriages when either the bride or groom is drunk.
The kiss that is given by the bride to the groom at the end of the wedding ceremony originates from the earliest times when the couple would actually make love for the first time under the eyes of half the village!
I'm told the average wedding costs $18,874 with 186 guests. However, weddings in America comprise a $25.3 Billion dollar industry.
Californian Glynn "Scotty" Wolfe is the world's most married man. He wed 29 times and had 41 children.
Linda Essex, from Indiana, holds the record for the most monogamous marriages by a woman – 23.
Two couples share the record for the world's longest marriage – 86 years. They are Sir Temulji Bhicaji Nariman and Lady Nariman from India and Lazarus Rowe and Molly Webber from the U.S.
The oldest couple to wed were Francois Frenandez, 96, and Madeleine Francineau, 94, in 2002.
In the largest underwater wedding 105 guests wore scuba gear to see Toni Wilson and John Santino marry in 2003 in the Virgin Islands.
The world's largest wedding cake was made in Connecticut and weighed 15,032lb.
Queen Victoria's wedding cake was more than nine feet in circumference. A second tier rose from this "plateau," supported by two pedestals. On the second tier was a sculpture of the mythical heroine Britannia gazing upon the royal pair frozen at the moment of their exchanging vows. At their feet were two turtle doves (symbolizing purity and innocence) and a dog (representing faithful attachment). Completing the scene were various sculpted Cupids, one of them writing the date of the wedding with a stylus on a tablet.
The tradition of wearing the wedding ring on the fourth finger of the left hand dates back to ancient Egypt, where it was believed that the vein of love ran from this finger directly to the heart.
The practice of giving or exchanging engagement rings began in 1477 when Roman Emperor, Maximilian I, gave Mary of Burgandy a diamond ring as an engagement present.
Eighty-five percent of Canadian brides receive a diamond engagement ring today, giving Canada the highest diamond engagement ring acquisition rate in the world.
Seventy-four percent of American brides receive a diamond engagement ring. Of those, sixty percent are involved in picking out their ring, while three percent actually pick it themselves.
Alabama marriage statistics quote the oldest groom in the state as 94 and the oldest bride as 88. The youngest age for bride and groom is recorded as 13.
Thrice a bridesmaid, never a bride, is an old charm that can be broken by being a bridesmaid seven times.
According to English folklore, Saturday, the most popular American choice, is the unluckiest day to marry!
In Pennsylvania, Ministers are forbidden from performing marriages when either the bride or groom is drunk.
The kiss that is given by the bride to the groom at the end of the wedding ceremony originates from the earliest times when the couple would actually make love for the first time under the eyes of half the village!
I'm told the average wedding costs $18,874 with 186 guests. However, weddings in America comprise a $25.3 Billion dollar industry.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
How to reduce stress.
Post 531 - In the August 2010 issue of Wired, Jonah Lehrer asserts that “stress doesn’t kill us – but it makes everything that does kill us much worse.” In the article that follows, Lehrer explains how to reduce stress with science. To read the complete article once it is accessible online, please click here - http://www.wired.com/magazine/
Make Friends:
“Social relationships are a powerful buffer against stress. In fact, several studies in Europe and the U.S. have found that people with fewer friends and family members they’re close to have significantly shorter life expectancies.”
Drink in Moderation:
“While the moderate consumption of alcohol might reduce the stress response, blood alcohol levels above 0.1 percent – most states consider 0.08 the legal limit for driving – trigger an automatic spike in stress hormones and convince your body it’s in a state of mortal danger.”
Get Enough Sleep:
“Recent studies have found that even a single night of insufficient sleep ... triggers an automatic spike in stress hormones.” The result is increased stress and more insomnia, which explains why sleep problems are such an important risk factor for depression.
Don’t Fight:
Extensive recent research on baboons by Stanford biologist Robert Sapolsky suggests that human beings as well as baboons with a less aggressive personality (i.e. the ability to walk away from a provocation) have much more stable and much less stressful relationships.
Confront Your Fears:
As one research study of Norwegian paratroopers reveals, there was massive stress prior to and then following their first jump but over time, after repeated jumps, “they showed elevated levels of stress hormones only while in midair.”
Meditate:
Extensive research suggests that “even a short training session in meditation can dramatically reduce levels of stress and anxiety.“ At least once or twice a day, it's a good idea to take a brief “time out” from tensions and pressures: calm down, relax, take a few deep breaths, and envision an especially pleasant scene (such as walking along a tropical beach). Most people feel refreshed and energized after these brief moments of decompression.
Don’t Force Yourself to Exercise:
“While exercise is remarkably effective at blunting the stress response, at least for a few hours, this effect exists only if you want to exercise in the first place.” Otherwise, those who force themselves to suffer through exercise won't reduce their stress level; on the contrary, they may exacerbate it.
You can check out several videos on YouTube where Robert Sapolsky shares what he's learned about stress.
Make Friends:
“Social relationships are a powerful buffer against stress. In fact, several studies in Europe and the U.S. have found that people with fewer friends and family members they’re close to have significantly shorter life expectancies.”
Drink in Moderation:
“While the moderate consumption of alcohol might reduce the stress response, blood alcohol levels above 0.1 percent – most states consider 0.08 the legal limit for driving – trigger an automatic spike in stress hormones and convince your body it’s in a state of mortal danger.”
Get Enough Sleep:
“Recent studies have found that even a single night of insufficient sleep ... triggers an automatic spike in stress hormones.” The result is increased stress and more insomnia, which explains why sleep problems are such an important risk factor for depression.
Don’t Fight:
Extensive recent research on baboons by Stanford biologist Robert Sapolsky suggests that human beings as well as baboons with a less aggressive personality (i.e. the ability to walk away from a provocation) have much more stable and much less stressful relationships.
Confront Your Fears:
As one research study of Norwegian paratroopers reveals, there was massive stress prior to and then following their first jump but over time, after repeated jumps, “they showed elevated levels of stress hormones only while in midair.”
Meditate:
Extensive research suggests that “even a short training session in meditation can dramatically reduce levels of stress and anxiety.“ At least once or twice a day, it's a good idea to take a brief “time out” from tensions and pressures: calm down, relax, take a few deep breaths, and envision an especially pleasant scene (such as walking along a tropical beach). Most people feel refreshed and energized after these brief moments of decompression.
Don’t Force Yourself to Exercise:
“While exercise is remarkably effective at blunting the stress response, at least for a few hours, this effect exists only if you want to exercise in the first place.” Otherwise, those who force themselves to suffer through exercise won't reduce their stress level; on the contrary, they may exacerbate it.
You can check out several videos on YouTube where Robert Sapolsky shares what he's learned about stress.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Some additional facts and figures.
Post 530 - Here's this week's selection of facts and figures. If I don't know about it, I can't do anything about it. And there seems to be a lot that needs doing these days:
In 1950, roughly one in 20 men of prime working age wasn’t working; today that ratio is about one in five, the highest ever recorded.
In World War Two, the ratio of U.S. dead to wounded was 1 to 4. In Vietnam it was 1 to 15. In Afghanistan, it’s been running about 1 to 40. The next time you read about the number who've been killed, remember it's only the tip of the iceberg.
Remember also that the number of homeless veterans from the Vietnam war today is greater than the number who died in it.
The average worth of Pakistani members of Parliament is $900,000, with its richest member topping $37 million, according to a December study by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency in Islamabad. The rules say that anyone who earns more than $3,488 a year must pay income tax, but few do. Akbar Zaidi, a Karachi-based political economist with the Carnegie Endowment, estimates that as many as 10 million Pakistanis should be paying income tax, far more than the 2.5 million who are registered. Out of more than 170 million Pakistanis, fewer than 2 percent pay income tax, making Pakistan’s revenue from taxes among the lowest in the world. This is a sorry performance for a country that’s among the largest recipients of American aid, payments of billions of dollars that prop up the country’s finances and are intended to help its leaders fight the insurgency. Just thought you'd like to know where your tax money ends up .....
More than 1,200 government agencies and 1,900 private companies in the U.S. work on counter-terrorism, homeland security and intelligence programs at around 10,000 sites across the country. An estimated 854,000 people have top-secret security clearance. These analysts produce more than 50,000 reports a year - a flow of paper so great that many are completely ignored.
Amazon.com, one of the nation’s largest booksellers, recently announced that for the last three months, sales of books for its e-reader, the Kindle, outnumbered sales of hardcover books. In that time, Amazon said, it sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books, including hardcovers for which there is no Kindle edition.
Ireland has the highest percentage of heavy underage drinking in Europe. It’s estimated that one in four 15- to 16-year-olds gets drunk at least three times a month, and 50,000 children get drunk every weekend.
Thousands of offenders across the U.S. are placed on a rehabilitation program called Changing Lives Through Literature as an alternative to prison. Repeat offenders of serious crimes such as armed robbery, assault or drug dealing are made to attend a reading group where they discuss literary classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Bell Jar and Of Mice and Men. Of the 597 who have completed the course in Brazoria County, Texas, between 1997 and 2008, only 6% had their probations revoked and were sent to jail. A year-long study of the first cohort that went through the program, which was founded in Massachusetts in 1991, found that only 19% had re-offended compared with 42% in a control group.
The U.S. used to lead the world in educational attainment with 55.8 percent of young adults holding an associates degree or better. We now rank 12th among 36 developed nations. Canada leads the world with 55.8 percent compared to 40.4 percent here in America. The problem is even worse for low-income students and minorities: only 30 percent of African-Americans ages 25-34, and less than 20 percent of Latinos in that age group, have an associate’s degree or higher. And students from the highest income families are almost eight times as likely as those from the lowest income families to earn a bachelor’s degree by age 24. However, you can’t do anything college completion if you don’t also do something about K-12 education.
Over a 40-year career, a man earns, on average, $431,000 more than a woman, according to the Center for American Progress.
"While we consider when to begin, it becomes too late." - Japanese Proverb
In 1950, roughly one in 20 men of prime working age wasn’t working; today that ratio is about one in five, the highest ever recorded.
In World War Two, the ratio of U.S. dead to wounded was 1 to 4. In Vietnam it was 1 to 15. In Afghanistan, it’s been running about 1 to 40. The next time you read about the number who've been killed, remember it's only the tip of the iceberg.
Remember also that the number of homeless veterans from the Vietnam war today is greater than the number who died in it.
The average worth of Pakistani members of Parliament is $900,000, with its richest member topping $37 million, according to a December study by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency in Islamabad. The rules say that anyone who earns more than $3,488 a year must pay income tax, but few do. Akbar Zaidi, a Karachi-based political economist with the Carnegie Endowment, estimates that as many as 10 million Pakistanis should be paying income tax, far more than the 2.5 million who are registered. Out of more than 170 million Pakistanis, fewer than 2 percent pay income tax, making Pakistan’s revenue from taxes among the lowest in the world. This is a sorry performance for a country that’s among the largest recipients of American aid, payments of billions of dollars that prop up the country’s finances and are intended to help its leaders fight the insurgency. Just thought you'd like to know where your tax money ends up .....
More than 1,200 government agencies and 1,900 private companies in the U.S. work on counter-terrorism, homeland security and intelligence programs at around 10,000 sites across the country. An estimated 854,000 people have top-secret security clearance. These analysts produce more than 50,000 reports a year - a flow of paper so great that many are completely ignored.
Amazon.com, one of the nation’s largest booksellers, recently announced that for the last three months, sales of books for its e-reader, the Kindle, outnumbered sales of hardcover books. In that time, Amazon said, it sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books, including hardcovers for which there is no Kindle edition.
Ireland has the highest percentage of heavy underage drinking in Europe. It’s estimated that one in four 15- to 16-year-olds gets drunk at least three times a month, and 50,000 children get drunk every weekend.
Thousands of offenders across the U.S. are placed on a rehabilitation program called Changing Lives Through Literature as an alternative to prison. Repeat offenders of serious crimes such as armed robbery, assault or drug dealing are made to attend a reading group where they discuss literary classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Bell Jar and Of Mice and Men. Of the 597 who have completed the course in Brazoria County, Texas, between 1997 and 2008, only 6% had their probations revoked and were sent to jail. A year-long study of the first cohort that went through the program, which was founded in Massachusetts in 1991, found that only 19% had re-offended compared with 42% in a control group.
The U.S. used to lead the world in educational attainment with 55.8 percent of young adults holding an associates degree or better. We now rank 12th among 36 developed nations. Canada leads the world with 55.8 percent compared to 40.4 percent here in America. The problem is even worse for low-income students and minorities: only 30 percent of African-Americans ages 25-34, and less than 20 percent of Latinos in that age group, have an associate’s degree or higher. And students from the highest income families are almost eight times as likely as those from the lowest income families to earn a bachelor’s degree by age 24. However, you can’t do anything college completion if you don’t also do something about K-12 education.
Over a 40-year career, a man earns, on average, $431,000 more than a woman, according to the Center for American Progress.
"While we consider when to begin, it becomes too late." - Japanese Proverb
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Elephant is Slow to Mate, a poem by D. H. Lawrence.
Post 529 - David Herbert Lawrence, novelist, short-story writer, poet and essayist, was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England, in 1885. Though better known as a novelist, Lawrence's first-published works (in 1909) were poems. His poetry, especially his evocations of the natural world, have since had a significant influence on many poets on both sides of the Atlantic. Very prolific, his work was often uneven in quality, and he was a continual source of controversy, often involved in widely-publicized censorship cases, most famously for his novel Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928). His collections of poetry include Look! We Have Come Through (1917), a collection of poems about his wife; Birds, Beasts, and Flowers (1923); and Pansies (1929), which was banned on publication in England. A lifelong sufferer from tuberculosis, Lawrence died in 1930 in France, at the age of 44.
He once said, "I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself."
The Elephant is Slow to Mate by D. H. Lawrence
The elephant, the huge old beast,
is slow to mate;
he finds a female, they show no haste
they wait
for the sympathy in their vast shy hearts
slowly, slowly to rouse
as they loiter along the river-beds
and drink and browse
and dash in panic through the brake
of forest with the herd,
and sleep in massive silence, and wake
together, without a word.
So slowly the great hot elephant hearts
grow full of desire,
and the great beasts mate in secret at last,
hiding their fire.
Oldest they are and the wisest of beasts
so they know at last
how to wait for the loneliest of feasts
for the full repast.
They do not snatch, they do not tear;
their massive blood
moves as the moon-tides, near, more near
till they touch in flood.
He once said, "I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself."
The Elephant is Slow to Mate by D. H. Lawrence
The elephant, the huge old beast,
is slow to mate;
he finds a female, they show no haste
they wait
for the sympathy in their vast shy hearts
slowly, slowly to rouse
as they loiter along the river-beds
and drink and browse
and dash in panic through the brake
of forest with the herd,
and sleep in massive silence, and wake
together, without a word.
So slowly the great hot elephant hearts
grow full of desire,
and the great beasts mate in secret at last,
hiding their fire.
Oldest they are and the wisest of beasts
so they know at last
how to wait for the loneliest of feasts
for the full repast.
They do not snatch, they do not tear;
their massive blood
moves as the moon-tides, near, more near
till they touch in flood.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Why work for an early-stage company?
Post 528 - Why should you go to work for a startup or an early-stage company? Here are ten reasons why:
1. More influence.
With a smaller workforce, everyone has more say. You’ll have more opportunity to voice your opinions and to influence key decisions.
2. More ownership.
You may not be the founder, but you might earn some equity or stock options. A sense of ownership will give you a reason to work harder and contribute more than ever before.
3. More meaning.
The best startups have a strong purpose and are built around a vision that really resonates. This provides you and other like-minded people with a common focus and meaning in their work.
4. More camaraderie.
Startup teams have to learn to work together in order to succeed. This doesn’t mean you’ll always get along, but a little disagreement never hurt anyone.
5. More diversity.
You’re going to be expected to do a lot of different things, many of which you've never done before. You’ll be forced to move out of your comfort zone and thus have many opportunities to expand your horizons.
6. More learning.
Startup environments are crash courses in business and in life. You’re likely to learn more in one year at a startup than you will in four years at college.
7. More connectivity.
With fewer levels of bureaucracy, everyone feels closer together. You should be well connected to your executive team as well as the customers, vendors, VCs, friends and family, etc. that surround the company.
8. More emotion.
Working at a startup is usually pretty intense and the emotional charge you’ll get on a regular basis makes it a worthwhile and rewarding experience.
9. More success in the future.
Many startup employees go on to bigger and better things. Whether it’s higher paying / more interesting jobs or starting their own companies, your resume and personal story will likely benefit considerably from living the startup experience.
10. More fun.
People at startup companies seem to have more fun. They work hard, then they play hard. That’s usually the way it is ...
Granted, not all early-stage companies will give you the benefits described above. You can’t always expect to find the perfect fit. But consider taking the leap. In my experience, the learning experience is well worth the risk involved.
1. More influence.
With a smaller workforce, everyone has more say. You’ll have more opportunity to voice your opinions and to influence key decisions.
2. More ownership.
You may not be the founder, but you might earn some equity or stock options. A sense of ownership will give you a reason to work harder and contribute more than ever before.
3. More meaning.
The best startups have a strong purpose and are built around a vision that really resonates. This provides you and other like-minded people with a common focus and meaning in their work.
4. More camaraderie.
Startup teams have to learn to work together in order to succeed. This doesn’t mean you’ll always get along, but a little disagreement never hurt anyone.
5. More diversity.
You’re going to be expected to do a lot of different things, many of which you've never done before. You’ll be forced to move out of your comfort zone and thus have many opportunities to expand your horizons.
6. More learning.
Startup environments are crash courses in business and in life. You’re likely to learn more in one year at a startup than you will in four years at college.
7. More connectivity.
With fewer levels of bureaucracy, everyone feels closer together. You should be well connected to your executive team as well as the customers, vendors, VCs, friends and family, etc. that surround the company.
8. More emotion.
Working at a startup is usually pretty intense and the emotional charge you’ll get on a regular basis makes it a worthwhile and rewarding experience.
9. More success in the future.
Many startup employees go on to bigger and better things. Whether it’s higher paying / more interesting jobs or starting their own companies, your resume and personal story will likely benefit considerably from living the startup experience.
10. More fun.
People at startup companies seem to have more fun. They work hard, then they play hard. That’s usually the way it is ...
Granted, not all early-stage companies will give you the benefits described above. You can’t always expect to find the perfect fit. But consider taking the leap. In my experience, the learning experience is well worth the risk involved.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Understanding how a company grows.
Post 527 - In the beginning, the company is just an idea. A need or opportunity has been identified and initial discussions about the idea are filled with enthusiasm and high expectations. The focus is on the future and the air is full of “convincing talk.”
Infancy.
Here, the initial steps have been taken. The idea has become a reality and now requires time and resources to bring it to life. The emphasis is on making things happen, selling and producing results. Each day brings new challenges. There’s little planning and few formal systems. Energy is high, consistency is low, and firefighting is a way of life.
Go-Go.
The company has learned to produce results and is beginning to expand its sense of what it can do. A new product here, a new market there, it sees opportunity around every corner. Bigger is better and nothing seems out of reach. However, rapid expansion brings risk and vulnerability. The company is so optimistic and confident in its ability that it often takes on more than it can handle and constant expansion creates continual crises. People are spread too thin. Standards become lax and excellent performance is sometimes compromised.
Adolescent.
Too much is promised. Too many projects are started, and mistakes are made. Confusion and conflict between people, departments and cliques often characterize the company at this stage. Leaders aren’t always in agreement on direction or on the risks that should be taken. Entrepreneurs are often at odds with their more conservative colleagues. Teamwork suffers. Rapid expansion can lead to a loss of focus, confusion about the mission of the company, the markets it serves, and how it should be organized. To get under control, the company moves into a period of rethinking, consolidation and reorganization. Here, the firm is born again as an entity separate from the founder.
Prime.
Here, there’s a strong, shared sense of strategy, purpose and achievement. Performance is generally predictable and processes are continuously improved. Challenges are faced and resolved efficiently and effectively. The culture is one of open communication, honesty and accountability with a norm of high-performance. Reward and recognition systems are aligned with the company’s strategy and culture. The inherent danger in this phase is complacency. Finding and developing enough capable and competent managers for new growth is often a problem. The biggest challenge for organizations in their Prime is to be able to stay there.
Stable.
When a company ceases to stretch for excellence, complacency sets in as the leaders slow down and become comfortable. Aspirations for growth and improvement begin to fade. This is the first stage in the aging process and it’s difficult to notice because the changes are very small and are spread over a considerable period of time. The company’s still profitable, and may still be viewed as an industry leader but it’s losing its energy. Honest criticism is less tolerable as politics becomes more prevalent. There’s more focus on how things are done rather than what’s actually being done. The emphasis is on activities rather than on results. The company no longer goes after what it wants; instead, it settles for what it can get.
Aristocracy.
As the drive to produce results declines, it’s replaced by a more easy-going attitude, including a tolerance for poor performance, and an culture of “don’t make waves.” The aristocratic company may still be profitable and have a good balance sheet. However, the most common behavior is denial about problems, and denial that customers aren’t as satisfied even though fewer come back each year. The drive for profit now focuses on reducing costs, or raising prices. This is the beginning of a decline.
Early Bureaucracy.
If the company doesn’t recognize these symptoms and makes no effort to re-energize itself, it'll continue to decline. When results worsen, complete denial is no longer possible. People begin talking openly about “the problems” and try to identify who’s responsible for them. Eventually, scapegoats are found, the culprits are removed, and the management team rejoices. However, because the problems are systemic, the removal of a couple of people isn’t the answer and soon the witch-hunt begins again. As people turn inward and point fingers, they turn their backs on customers. Service levels fall. Customers complain. After this point, the company generally self-destructs unless there’s an immediate and significant effort to turn the business around.
Bureaucracy.
If the declining company is big and essential to the nation’s economy, the government intervenes, driving it into full-fledged bureaucracy. When this happens, employees focusing on form rather than function, paper work abounds and customers are left crying in the wilderness.
Knowing where a company is in its life cycle helps you to understand and put its problems in perspective. It also helps to set priorities for avoiding and solving problems and for knowing what to change.
Now, answer the following three questions:
1. Where is your company in its life cycle?
2. What does it need to focus on to continue its drive to Prime?
3. What's your role in making this happen?
Infancy.
Here, the initial steps have been taken. The idea has become a reality and now requires time and resources to bring it to life. The emphasis is on making things happen, selling and producing results. Each day brings new challenges. There’s little planning and few formal systems. Energy is high, consistency is low, and firefighting is a way of life.
Go-Go.
The company has learned to produce results and is beginning to expand its sense of what it can do. A new product here, a new market there, it sees opportunity around every corner. Bigger is better and nothing seems out of reach. However, rapid expansion brings risk and vulnerability. The company is so optimistic and confident in its ability that it often takes on more than it can handle and constant expansion creates continual crises. People are spread too thin. Standards become lax and excellent performance is sometimes compromised.
Adolescent.
Too much is promised. Too many projects are started, and mistakes are made. Confusion and conflict between people, departments and cliques often characterize the company at this stage. Leaders aren’t always in agreement on direction or on the risks that should be taken. Entrepreneurs are often at odds with their more conservative colleagues. Teamwork suffers. Rapid expansion can lead to a loss of focus, confusion about the mission of the company, the markets it serves, and how it should be organized. To get under control, the company moves into a period of rethinking, consolidation and reorganization. Here, the firm is born again as an entity separate from the founder.
Prime.
Here, there’s a strong, shared sense of strategy, purpose and achievement. Performance is generally predictable and processes are continuously improved. Challenges are faced and resolved efficiently and effectively. The culture is one of open communication, honesty and accountability with a norm of high-performance. Reward and recognition systems are aligned with the company’s strategy and culture. The inherent danger in this phase is complacency. Finding and developing enough capable and competent managers for new growth is often a problem. The biggest challenge for organizations in their Prime is to be able to stay there.
Stable.
When a company ceases to stretch for excellence, complacency sets in as the leaders slow down and become comfortable. Aspirations for growth and improvement begin to fade. This is the first stage in the aging process and it’s difficult to notice because the changes are very small and are spread over a considerable period of time. The company’s still profitable, and may still be viewed as an industry leader but it’s losing its energy. Honest criticism is less tolerable as politics becomes more prevalent. There’s more focus on how things are done rather than what’s actually being done. The emphasis is on activities rather than on results. The company no longer goes after what it wants; instead, it settles for what it can get.
Aristocracy.
As the drive to produce results declines, it’s replaced by a more easy-going attitude, including a tolerance for poor performance, and an culture of “don’t make waves.” The aristocratic company may still be profitable and have a good balance sheet. However, the most common behavior is denial about problems, and denial that customers aren’t as satisfied even though fewer come back each year. The drive for profit now focuses on reducing costs, or raising prices. This is the beginning of a decline.
Early Bureaucracy.
If the company doesn’t recognize these symptoms and makes no effort to re-energize itself, it'll continue to decline. When results worsen, complete denial is no longer possible. People begin talking openly about “the problems” and try to identify who’s responsible for them. Eventually, scapegoats are found, the culprits are removed, and the management team rejoices. However, because the problems are systemic, the removal of a couple of people isn’t the answer and soon the witch-hunt begins again. As people turn inward and point fingers, they turn their backs on customers. Service levels fall. Customers complain. After this point, the company generally self-destructs unless there’s an immediate and significant effort to turn the business around.
Bureaucracy.
If the declining company is big and essential to the nation’s economy, the government intervenes, driving it into full-fledged bureaucracy. When this happens, employees focusing on form rather than function, paper work abounds and customers are left crying in the wilderness.
Knowing where a company is in its life cycle helps you to understand and put its problems in perspective. It also helps to set priorities for avoiding and solving problems and for knowing what to change.
Now, answer the following three questions:
1. Where is your company in its life cycle?
2. What does it need to focus on to continue its drive to Prime?
3. What's your role in making this happen?
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