The week that was 20190622

PROUDEST | MOST GRATEFUL MOMENT

I am so grateful for the new friendships made at the Brand Summit South Africa in Johannesburg two weeks ago. On Monday evening we got together at Addis in Cape. A wonderful evening of good company, delicious Ethiopian food and loads of laughing.

BIGGEST LESSON THIS WEEK

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Not necessarily a quote, more a thought for the week from Nataniel: (thank you for sharing Chrisnetta!)

Find something to be say thank you for each day
Even if it's your hallway that takes you to your fridge
Or for your neck that prevents your head from hanging on your chest
And, if you seriously can't find anything to say thank you for,
Buy yourself a dog, and baptize him "Thank you", so that you can say "Thank you", a few time a day.

WHAT made me giggle

There were a couple:

Jason Hilley's parenting 101:

Hardcore Goth~ing with comfortable shoes...

One last one...

READER'S CORNER

Good to Great ~ why some companies make the leap…and others don’t, Jim Collins

This is an excellent book that I think every business owner should read. Even though some of the companies referred to are unknown to us in South Africa and the book is quite old, the concepts are timeless.

There are two key things that have stuck with me:

“The Hedgehog and the Fox,” Isaiah Berlin (Chapter 5, pg 90), divided the world into hedgehogs and foxes, based upon an ancient Greek parable: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. “The fox is a cunning creature, able to devise a myriad of complex strategies for sneak attacks upon the hedgehog. Day in and day out, the fox circles around the hedgehog’s den, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. Fast, sleek, beautiful, fleet of foot, and crafty – the fox looks like the winner. The hedgehog, on the other hand, is a dowdier creature, looking like a genetic mix-up between a porcupine and a small armadillo. He waddles along, going about his simple day, searching for lunch and taking care of his home.

The fox waits in cunning silence at the juncture in the trail. The hedgehog, minding his own business, wanders right into the path of the fox. “Aha, I’ve got you now!” thinks the fox. He leaps out, bounding across the ground, lightning fast. The hedgehog, sensing danger, looks up and thinks, “Here we go again. Will he ever learn?” Rolling up into the perfect little ball, the hedgehog becomes a sphere of sharp spikes, pointing outward in all directions.  The fox, bounding toward his prey, sees the hedgehog defence and calls off the attack. Retreating back to the forest, the fox begins to calculate a new line of attack. Each day, some version of his battle between the hedgehog and the fox takes place, and despite the greater cunning of the fox, the hedgehog always wins.

Basically ~foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity…never integrating their thinking into one overall concept of unifying vision. Hedgehogs on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organization idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything. It does not matter how complex the world is, a hedgehog reduces all challenges and dilemmas to a simple – indeed almost simplistic – hedgehog idea. For a hedgehog, anything that does not somehow relate to the hedgehog idea holds no relevance.

*I can definitely attest to this ‘hedgehog idea,” as we are laser focus our core service offering to reputation research.

The other take home = ruthless vs. rigorous:

In a good to great transformation, people are not your most important asset. The right people are.

Rigorous, not ruthless ~ the good-to-great companies probably sound like tough places to work – and they are. If you don’t have what it takes, you probably won’t last long. But they’re not ruthless cultures, they’re rigorous cultures. And the distinction is crucial.

To be ruthless means hacking and cutting, especially in difficult times, or wantonly firing people without any thoughtful consideration…To be rigorous means consistently applying exacting standards at all times and at all levels, especially in upper management. To be rigorous, not ruthless, means that the best people need not worry about their positions and can concentrate fully on their work. (pg 52)